I smiled and took another sip. I really did love Moscato. One of the few vices I could enjoy without any serious repercussions. “I see. You have official channels covered. You have espionage covered. But you need someone on the preternatural side. To deal with the coven without being misled by them.”
“Exactly.”
“If Amperdyne’s so good, how’d they take Vincent in the first place? Even if a vampire could—how did you put it? Sway them? Why would they let one get close enough?”
“That’s why we think Vincent was involved himself. The bodyguards would’ve been smarter than that. The solar screens on the windows were disabled.”
“Also not in the FBI report.” I raised my brows.
“Nor is the fact that all recording devices within thirty feet of Vincent were simultaneously deactivated.”
“An EMP.”
Joseph nodded. “Gibraltar thinks you get by on your abilities. On your seduction. I told him you’re smart.”
“Flattery won’t help find Vincent.”
“No. But I want you to know that I respect you. Trust you. The old man and his grandson treated you like they treat me. A monster. They underestimate you. And they fear you. I trust you. That’s why I asked to be the one to deal with you.”
“Gibraltar’s safety had nothing to do with that?” A thought occurred to me. “Wait, if you’re here with me, who’s watching him?”
“Anton Thrace.” My blank expression amused him. “The werewolf puts in overtime in situations like this.”
“The files you gave me were thick. But they lacked almost any pertinent information. Such as the werewolf’s name. Or his location at the time of the disappearance. Nothing about Amperdyne. Nothing useful at all.”
“You’ll never find anything in writing about Amperdyne. Other than corporate filings. Required minimal paperwork. Patents and payroll. Internet scrubbers see to it. And they respond rather—severely if their privacy is encroached upon by clients.”
“Alright, let me get that part straight. Tell me if I heard you right. Gibraltar can’t hire human replacements for Amperdyne because the company will, what? Assassinate them?”
“Hardly. Every death will appear accidental. Mechanical or tech failure.” Joseph reached for the glass but it was empty. “More please?”
“Lush.”
He grinned. I fought a smile in return and refilled his glass. Then I stared at mine and did the same for me. “Amperdyne either continues to guard the grandkids or the Atlantic Revenants are Gibraltar’s only choice. Vampires can survive any accidents the company might throw their way.”
“Now you’re up to speed.”
“That seems like a long game for the vampires to play. For what? What do they get by being the new bodyguards?”
“Besides an unprecedented legitimacy and a buttload of money? Don’t underestimate the value of being placed in a position of trust and power for a group long forced to live in the shadows.” He laughed. “All that aside, do you know how much a contract like that pays?”
I shook my head. “You said billions over ten years. I still find that hard to believe.”
“Henry doesn’t pay that much on his own. I was referring to the company’s client base disappearing overnight. But he does pay a pretty penny. Each grandkid’s security is about a million a year. That doesn’t include installation of tech. Servicing the tech. Updates even more.”
“The vampires wouldn’t be paid upgrade fees. Or for any tech. So they’d get the million for providing bodyguards.”
“Per grandchild.”
“Three grandchildren is only three million a year.”
“Only?”
“Sorry. It may be a lot of money to some people, but wealth is low on my list of priorities. And even so, it isn’t really that much money. Not for Gibraltar.”
“No. But for vampires who have no legal means of income except passive businesses? Legitimacy is icing on the cake. It’s definitely a motive.”
Something nagged at me. I sipped my Moscato. Smiled as it tickled on the way down. Then I had it. “Vampires can’t guard them in the daytime.”
Joseph blinked at me. “Am I an idiot? Damn it. No. We can’t. That’s why Anton handles the day. The coven would need dayminders as well.”
“Dayminders? Isn’t that the term for people who guard vampire sleeping grounds?”
He nodded, still focused on the problem of who they’d hire. “Can’t be anyone human. Amperdyne would take them out. The grandkids would suffer. Vulnerable during the day. They’d have to have a plan. It wouldn’t work otherwise.”
“If Amperdyne’s so high tech, aren’t they a threat to the coven? UV grenades, that sort of thing?”
“Sure. If they were going to assassinate the coven. But Amperdyne operates on a black ops level of secrecy. Accidental deaths are one thing. Outright assassination of several registered vampires brings them into the light. No pun intended.”
“So if Amperdyne doesn’t find Vincent, Gibraltar can’t keep using them. They’ve failed him. He’ll have to turn to the coven. So it’s imperative to Amperdyne that they find the boy.”
“That sums up that, too.”
I drank some more. Wishing I could get a little bit intoxicated. I felt like I needed something to take the edge off. Or maybe it was my hunger returning. I hadn’t really dealt with that.
“Is there any possible motive for Amperdyne to have taken Vincent themselves? Not just a couple of rogue bodyguards. But the company?”
“No. I told you, they lose everything because of it.”
“Is there someone I can talk to about the missing bodyguards? A way to figure out if they decided to go rogue?”
“No. That would be dangerous for everyone. Including Hank.”
I studied him for a moment. Noting the handsome strength of his jaw. The way his blue eyes caught the light. Saw my own reflection in them. “Does Amperdyne at least know that you’ve hired me?”
“Yes. That much we had to tell them. I knew you’d need access to the villa. They still protect the grounds until the matter’s settled one way or the other.”
I glanced at the files. “What about Maureen. No reference to her or Blake in the files.”
“Part of Hank’s paranoia. Trusting you with the FBI material was easy enough. Some of the specs on the layout of the house. A history of the family.”
“Up to Gibraltar himself. Nothing on his kids or their kids.”
“Exactly. As far as the public knows, two of the three grandchildren died when Gibraltar’s children died.”
“When in reality, they’re under his watchful eye.”
“Yes. As for Maureen? She’s a year older than Blake. Works as a computer-tech for one of Gibraltar’s subsidiaries.”
“Is she a Mansfield?”
“No. Anyone suspecting they were alive would be looking for a brother and sister. She’s an Edwards.”
“Married? Single?”
“Single. None of the grandkids have been encouraged to foster relationships.”
I stared at Joseph. That raised an interesting possibility. “Vincent’s only sixteen. Was he even allowed to date?”
“No. That’s why it was so easy for the coven to get their fangs into him.”
I stared in horror. “They fed on him?”
“No, Bianca. It’s just a turn of phrase.” He took a drink. Slower now. Savoring the wine like I had. “He’s still a virgin according to his security detail. Although he does rustle around under the sheets enough alone to know he’s capable of more.”
“That’s an awful degree of intimacy invasion. I can see why Vincent might have wanted out.” I swirled the wine in my glass. Watching it dance in the light. “How did Vincent get introduced to the coven. You said it was your fault. Details also not in the files.”
“Hank needed the coven for a job. Don’t ask what for. He refused to go to them for the first meeting. So they insisted on coming to the villa. I had to arrange for them to en
ter. The UV traps are only at the windows and extraneous external doors. Otherwise I’d burn up just doing my job. But the bodyguards had to be prepped. Cameras disabled for the rooms they entered.”
“So vampires do show up on film?”
“No. But our voices do. I don’t understand the physics of it. Not that I really care.”
“Alright. Good to know.” I eyed him shrewdly. “Vincent wasn’t supposed to be there.”
“He insisted. I was the only vampire he’d ever met before that. The only excitement in his life. He wanted to watch from the second floor landing. I didn’t see the harm.”
“But he came downstairs?”
Joseph nodded. “His bodyguards were with him. The same two who went missing, in fact. The coven didn’t hurt Vincent. They didn’t even sway him in any unnatural way that first night. But he talked to a couple of them at great length.”
“How many came?”
He frowned and stared at my fingers holding the glass. “The entire coven.”
“You sound upset.”
He raised his eyes to hold my gaze. “There was no reason for them all to come. It felt like—like an invasion. A show of force by sheer numbers. Psychological intimidation.”
“But they left of their own accord. Nothing happened.”
He grunted. “No. Other than that Chilton left his indelible imprint in the house.”
“Chilton? The Rake?”
Joseph blinked. “Yeah. You’ve been reading up on us.”
“A good PI does her due diligence.”
“I bet.”
I wasn’t sure what he was implying, so I left it alone. “Your connection to the coven. You always say it like it’s personal. Like you know them well.”
“I should. I was the Rake until Chilton showed up.”
I blinked. Ready to drop this case because they’d withheld too much information. There was more I didn’t know than knew. “How long ago was that?”
“Still trying to glean my age?” He frowned. “Long. Chilton’s European. Not as mainstream as some of us want to be.”
“Meaning?”
Joseph shrugged. “Meaning I don’t know what he would or wouldn’t do. I left the coven and he took over. It’s as simple as that.”
“You and Mr. Gibraltar haven’t been very forthcoming, Joseph. Is there anything else I should know that wasn’t in the files that I haven’t thought to ask yet?”
He stared at me again. Not gazing down at my breasts. Nothing lecherous. Suddenly tired. “Nothing I can think of. I know I said that they probably took Vincent for leverage. Promise to return him unharmed if they get the contract. But if you find that Chilton has Vincent, Gibraltar won’t hire them. Even if Vincent was a willing accomplice. He won’t concede. He doesn’t like to be tricked or trapped. He’ll cut off his own arm before he’ll give in.”
I watched him stare into space for a second. Lost to thoughts I couldn’t guess. Finally I prompted him. “But?”
“But he wouldn’t have to fire Amperdyne if Vincent assisted the coven. The company’s reputation remains intact. More or less. Hank believes that if he calls their bluff, they return Vincent undamaged rather than risk—the consequences.”
“Retribution against the coven for violating federal law.”
Joseph nodded. “We’d need proof that they’d turned Vincent. Otherwise, we’d have already tried that approach.”
I frowned. He’d admitted to a willingness to kill potentially innocent vampires on the chance that they’d taken Vincent. Would have killed them if the other covens wouldn’t require proof. I liked Joseph and Gibraltar less by the minute. But Vincent was an innocent. I didn’t have to like my clients to do my job well.
“If they took him by force?”
“Then Amperdyne has to figure out how. Otherwise they lose their reputation. Which is everything. Like I said. If they failed in any way, Hank can’t let them stay.”
“So what happens then? No coven. No Amperdyne.”
Joseph let worry show in his eyes for the first time. “Without some kind of specialized protection, the Gibraltar legacy dies with Hank’s grandchildren.”
Chapter Eight
Joseph left and I sat in the quiet of the darkened room. I needed to think about everything he’d said. I had a final glass of Moscato, which finished the bottle off. And still hadn’t figured out whatever I was missing. My instincts were whirring. There was something staring me in the face that I hadn’t put together. A pattern that left the motive just at the edges of my consciousness.
Sighing, I locked the outer door of my office and walked through the brightly lighted hall. No shadows for muggers to hide in. Refracted glass to prevent snipers from shooting true. Precautions the previous tenants had insisted on. I’d never inquired why because the same safeguards suited my needs.
Of course, it had been a few years since the last real assassination attempt. Angry husbands or wives aside. That time, Christian fundamentalists had found common ground with Islamic fundamentalists. Their shared God, my God, the one true God despite where the Koran and the Bible differed, wanted me dead. At least, according to their manifesto. Thankfully, God hadn’t agreed. I was still alive. Some of them were, too. Serving a very long prison sentence. Hate crimes included targeting preternaturals.
I stepped into the night air and felt an ocean breeze caress my skin. I thought about Vincent’s sexual innocence. Being watched every waking moment. Never touched by another person. Not intimately. I could sympathize. It had been too long for me since I’d even kissed a man voluntarily. The Bible frowned on premarital sex. I was a good Christian. Not that good. I wasn’t a virgin by choice. My chastity was the sacrifice I’d made to keep people safe.
“Bianca Savage?”
I turned toward the voice, my fingers slipping around the hilt of my gun. I hadn’t sensed the man. He’d blended into the shadows between buildings. Not moving.
He stayed leaning against the cement wall, hands visible. “Easy. I’m not armed.”
He was mid-thirties. Muscular. His stance masculine but relaxed. I should’ve tasted his lifeforce long before he’d gotten this close. But I’d felt nothing. Still couldn’t feel anything. Not even undeath.
I gripped my 9mm tighter. “What are you?”
“Pardon?” He seemed startled by the question. “You mean, ‘who am I?’”
“No. I mean ‘what?’”
“A man.” He pushed away from the wall and took a step toward me. Hands still raised. As if to insist, hey, I’m harmless. If I couldn’t sense his lifeforce, he wasn’t harmless.
“That’s close enough.” The Glock was in my hand. A reflex. One that had saved my life more than once.
“No need to shoot me.” He tried to smile but my expression was grim. His lips twitched into a frown. “Please.”
“Then tell me—.” I started to reveal the truth. That I couldn’t sense him. But I didn’t want to give that secret away. I opted for his question. “Who you are. Why are you here?”
“My name is Paul Chandler. We have a mutual acquaintance.”
I waited.
“Do I have to spell it out?”
“I know a lot of people, Mr. Chandler. Not all of them on my Christmas list.”
He scowled. “Blake Mansfield.”
That surprised me. Chandler took another step forward. I raised the gun to aim squarely at his heart. “Lift the shirt please.”
He jerked it up carefully. Revealing something that looked like an ornate back-brace. “You sensed it, huhn? I told him you would.”
“Go on.” Asking anything would tell him that I didn’t understand. That I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. I liked to keep my ignorance to myself.
“Blake paid a pretty penny for it. Guaranteed to keep you from sucking me dry.”
“I’m not a vampire.”
“My life-force or whatever. But I knew you’d know it was there.”
I tried not to get impatient. The fact tha
t tech existed that could keep my powers at bay was news to me. “Why are you here?”
“He said he didn’t trust the vampire to tell you what you needed to know. So he sent me.”
“How are you acquainted with Mansfield?”
Chandler smiled and shrugged. “I do odd jobs for him. Stuff off the books. Even his bosses don’t know about me.”
He’d said ‘bosses.’ Not grandfather. Was he being discreet or did he simply not know Mansfield’s true identity?
“What did he tell you about the vampire?”
“That you’re helping find the old man’s heir. That the bodyguard was supposed to answer questions. Mansfield wants to make sure his employers aren’t being two-timed.”
“I see. And what can you provide that the vampire didn’t?”
“I know stuff, see? I’ve been skulking around for Blake a long time. It’s why I knew where to get this here charm.” He patted his belly.
The shirt clumped around the edges of his pants. He looked like a hobo. Not quite homeless. But close. And his speech was affected. A bad hodgepodge of movie quotes from the forties. Fifties.
“And where’s that?”
“Oh, no. Nice try. I promised I’d keep that bit on the down low. In case you wanted to put them out of business.”
“Okay. Then tell me what you came here to tell me.”
“The other vamps, they know about you. They know you’ve been hired to find the kid.”
“Who told them?”
“Blake thinks it was Josh.”
The way he said it sounded like he disagreed. “Who do you think it was?”
Chandler grinned. “I appreciate that I am duly appreciated, Miss Savage. Or can I call you Bianca?”
“I don’t have a preference.”
Formality was a means of creating class distinction. I didn’t need a title to know who I was. Or how powerful. Miss. Mrs. Madam. President. Men had set up that system for their own purposes. As a woman, I didn’t give it power. As something not human, I cared even less.
The Billionaire's Heir (Sucubus For Hire Book 1) Page 6
