United Service

by Regina Morris

  “Sterling. She’s here,” Ben announced. “But I don’t think she’s a vampire.”

  “Compel her to stop then.”

  After a brief pause on the phone, Ben finally said, “Oh, I don’t think she’s human either, or a half–breed. She looks like the walking dead.”

  Sterling ran through the crowd to the front entrance of the building. “What are you talking about?”

  “She doesn’t have an aura, man. She looks dead. I’m approaching her now.”

  Over the phone, Sterling heard Ben compelling his way through the guards at the front entrance of the building.

  “I think she’s seen me. She’s going down the East hallway. Correction. She’s running down the East hallway. She’s making a break for it. I’m in pursuit.”

  Once Ben had hung up, Sterling exited from the South exit and ran around the building to confront her.

  *******

  Kate ran down a walkway filled with pedestrians towards the Metrorail line, tripping many times in her haste. She knew a vampire, and what she assumed was a half–breed, pursued her. And, Lord help her, they were fast.

  She wasn’t going to make it to the Metrorail, and the tram was the only mode of transportation she had. Needing a Plan B, she ran behind a building, grabbed a thick tree branch and waited for her attackers to corner her. Kate knew she was stronger than the half–breed, but let’s face it, there were two of them. And she didn’t have any martial arts skills. Hell, she had never even taken a self–defense class. She took a deep breath as she held the branch; her knuckles whitened from the intensity of her grip.

  She mistook the half–breed for human when she first laid eyes on him. A cute human, but judging on the man’s speed, he was a half–breed. Other than her rather distant half–brother, she had never seen a half–breed in public before. Even knowing that half–breeds don’t give off predator signals, she had been surprised that she could feel his eyes following her when he had watched her enter the elevator. Of course, they were beautiful soft brown eyes that were framed by thick dark–blond eyebrows. Goose bumps went up her spine as she thought back to his thick, lush hair.

  Praying the half–breed would be upon her first, she readied the branch.

  WHACK!

  Her prayer had been answered, and she had knocked the good looking half–breed to the ground. He had blood streaming down from his nose because of her direct hit. Kate stood over him, holding the branch as a weapon. “Back off!” she warned. The vampire then rounded the corner of the building and she corrected her stance to protect herself from both of them.

  “Son of a bitch!” cried the half–breed, his eyes pitched black and his fangs extending. Kate’s eyes widened as she took note of his eyes. She hadn’t realized their eyes could do that. The half–breed had gorgeous ebony eyes, more so than any purebred she had ever seen.

  “Now, we want to talk. That’s all.” The vampire said, helping his partner up off the ground.

  “What the hell, Kathryn? Stealing children not enough for you?” the half–breed yelled at her.

  Outrage built in her body as her muscles tightened. She took a deep breath. “I’m trying to find Tiffany. I didn’t take her.” She took a good look at the half–breed. “You were at FBI headquarters. For all I know you are one of the kidnappers.” She raised the broken tree limb back into the air, preparing for another swing. “What do you know about Tiffany? She was kidnapped a few days ago.”

  “We work for the FBI. Here. I’m going to show you my badge.” The vampire reached into his pocket. She immediately held the branch up in his direction, but relaxed her arm and brought the weapon to her side when she saw the badge.

  Leaning forward, she studied the credentials. She had never seen an FBI badge before, at least not up close, so she had no idea if it was real or not. She had started to read the name on the badge when the half–breed grabbed the branch she held and threw her only means of protection to the ground. Before she could react, he had her hands in a deadlock.

  “Fuck the badge. I’ll get what we need,” the half–breed said as he held her tightly.

  She tried to twist her hands to get loose, but realized the half–breed didn’t care if she broke her wrists in the process. The vampire companion just stood by, watching. Obviously purebred solidarity wasn’t his thing.

  “Let go of me!” She watched as the half–breed closed his eyes and rubbed his bare hands over the white gloves she wore. His strong grip for being a hybrid surprised her. The man obviously worked out. Knowing she couldn’t get loose, she formulated an alternate plan. With all her might, she kneed him as hard as possible in the groin. The half–breed instantly let go of her hands and fell to the ground with a growl.

  Unfortunately, her freedom was brief. The vampire now grabbed her from behind. She remained in a deadlock. She twisted her body left and right, but there was no way out.

  “Let her go, Ben. She’s Tiffany’s nanny. She wasn’t involved with the kidnapping,” the half–breed wheezed out as he stood back up.

  Kate’s face grew red with anger. If looks could kill, both of them would have been toast. “What did you do to me?” she demanded.

  “I took you off my suspect list,” was all the explanation the half–breed offered. “Her name is Kathryn Spencer, and she’s a purebred vampire.” Sterling’s eyes narrowed as he studied her face. “Although you sure can’t tell since she appears human. She works for the Cochran family, the family of the missing child, Tiffany.”

  “I’m Kate,” she corrected, her voice indignant. “And you assholes are?”

  “Ben and Sterling. We work for the FBI,” Ben offered as everyone relaxed a little.

  Kate closed her mouth tight and looked directly at them as they studied her face. Even as upset as she felt, she knew her eyes didn’t pitch to black – neither did her fangs extend. She wished they’d stop inspecting her.

  Ben’s eyebrows furrowed as he studied her closely. “Was that a piercing on your tongue?”

  Damn. She hadn’t closed her mouth fast enough.

  “What were you doing at FBI headquarters?” Sterling asked.

  Screw it. She didn’t care how they were looking at her. She only wanted Tiffany back. “I asked the suspect where he had taken Tiffany, and he told me.”

  “You also fucked up his head. You don’t compel them into vegetables, Kate.” Sterling wiped the blood from his upper lip. His nose was broken, but Kate knew half–breeds would heal. “You also messed with my head too, as well as my …” he continued.

  Kate’s eyes narrowed in on Sterling as she cut him off mid sentence. “You know, you’re not very pleasant, Sterling. Maybe we can chalk up the tree branch and your family jewels as karma,” she sneered.

  “Stop arguing,” Ben said, getting between the two. “This isn’t helping.” He turned to Kate, “What did the suspect tell you?”

  Now focusing her attention on Ben, Kate said, “I asked him where Tiffany was taken and he told me a place in Tennessee. I’m going to fly there now and look for her.”

  Sterling let out a heavy sigh. “Tennessee is a big state, Kate. Did he narrow the area down a bit?”

  “I have an address,” she snapped back. “But I need to hurry. They’ll be moving her soon.”

  “Give us the information and we’ll take care of everything,” Ben suggested.

  “I’m not telling you the location unless you take me with you. Tiffany was in my care when she was kidnapped. I love her and I’m going to help bring her home!” She was proud she had held her ground, even it if was currently a stalemate. She watched as Sterling pulled Ben aside.

  “Hell, no. She ain’t coming.” Sterling glared at Ben. “She can barely walk in those shoes. She’ll be nothing but a rotten liability weighing us down.”

  “I can hear you,” Kate said. “You’re such an ass!”

  After a moment of silence, Ben said, “Look, man. She’ll be able to help out since she’s a nanny.” When Sterling looked up, he added, “Wh
at? Are you going to control a crying little girl who’s scared and wants her mother?” When Sterling glanced back towards Kate, Ben continued, “Plus she has seen one of the kidnappers, which might help. She should be able to handle herself against humans, look what she did to you with the tree branch.”

  Sterling shook his head. “I saw the kidnapper in her mind as well, so we don’t need her for that.”

  Kate was aware of Sterling studying her. His eyes were no longer black. They were back to their soft brown and they traveled up and down her body, sizing her up.

  “Fine. She can go. But, not in those shoes.” Sterling pointed down to her high heeled boots.

  “They’re the only shoes I have at the moment,” she retorted.

  “I have a pair at my apartment that may fit you.” Sterling growled.

  Kate picked up her overnight bag which she had thrown to the ground in an effort to quickly break off the tree branch. They walked a short distance to where Ben had parked his car.

  Sterling put his gloves back on as he walked over to the passenger’s side. “Fifteen. You nearly tripped fifteen times in those shoes just getting to the car. Hopefully, we can find some shoes at my apartment that will fit you.”

  Great, the half–breed could at least count. “Let me guess, I’m the same shoe size as your wife,” Kate guessed.

  “I’m not married, sweetheart.” He looked impatiently at Ben, “We ready to go?”

  Ben opened the trunk of the car and searched through his emergency overnight bag all agents carried with them. “I’m ready. I have everything I need. Kate has hers. Since I’m assuming you didn’t drive here, the first stop on our journey is to get you a bag packed.”

  “Fine. One of my apartments is close by,” Sterling said getting into the car.

  *******

  They drove over to the Patriot Heights neighborhood to one of Sterling’s homes away from home. A beautiful vamp chick was finally going to be in Sterling’s apartment, but this wasn’t quite the scenario he had had in mind. For starters, his friend Ben was in tow. Secondly, he was sure Kate hated his guts.

  Ben pulled into the apartment complex. “Which apartment is yours?”

  “Turn right. I’m on the second floor of building number five.” Sterling pointed to the apartment building which stood directly in front of them. He turned to look at Kate, who quietly rubbed her wrists. He had hurt her, and possibly scared her too in the process. He had considered not saying anything until she pulled up her gloves slightly and he could see a bruise. A bruise he had caused. Since she was a purebred vamp, he had grabbed her tighter than he normally would have. He felt a lump in his throat; he had never hurt a woman before. “I am sorry for hurting you, Kate. Getting the kids back is top priority, but I didn’t have to be so rough.”

  She glanced over to him, her gray eyes softening by the apology. “I’ll heal,” she said as she pulled down her gloves. Sterling watched as recognition set in her eyes. “Kids? There’s more than one?”

  “Two recent ones, with possibly a dozen or more over the years. The mother of one boy was murdered last night,” Sterling said.

  Kate looked away and nodded slowly. “I didn’t ask about other children. I was just so worried about Tiffany.”

  “How long have you been her nanny?” Ben asked as he parked the car.

  Wiping away a tear, she replied, “Three years. We were playing at the park. It was our usual after school outing.” She paused briefly, but then pressed forward. “I didn’t realize it was getting so cool out. She needed her jacket, which I had left in the car. … I saw the man grab her.” She took a deep breath. “I chased after him, but … she was gone.”

  Sterling was the first one out of the car. He opened Kate’s door for her. “We’ll find her, and the others.”

  The three went up to Sterling’s apartment. As carefully as Sterling avoided touching the hand railing, he noticed Kate held on tightly to it with her gloved hands. Kate also made smacking sounds with her gum and thundering clanks with her high heels. Wasn’t silence supposed to be golden? And how could she chew gum with a tongue piercing?

  “So this is your bachelor pad, huh Sterling?” Kate asked as she nearly tripped on the last stair at the top of the steps. “You sure you don’t want to run ahead and tidy the place up a bit?”

  “Whatever.” Sterling kept walking up the stairs behind her. Instead of enjoying the view of her backside in her tight jeans, he was on the lookout to catch her if she fell. Why did women wear such stupid footwear? High heels really didn’t serve any purpose other than making their asses and calves look good. He grinned. Asked, and answered. He unlocked the door and led them into his tastefully decorated one bedroom apartment.

  “This place is homey, Sterling,” Ben said, noticing the living room had been converted into a giant bedroom.

  “Wow. Color me impressed!” Kate echoed. “I expected something different in a handsome bachelor’s apartment.”

  Sterling caught the backhanded compliment. He was a half–breed, not some lowlife without taste.

  “Well, you probably are the first woman Sterling has brought up here that he hasn’t slept with,” Ben said under his breath as he walked into the room.

  Sterling hoped Kate hadn’t heard the comment, but shrugged his shoulders as he walked into the small, and very empty, bedroom and fetched some clothing out of the closet.

  “Really? The first one, huh? So let’s hope his mother never came to visit him then.” Kate joked loudly so Sterling could hear.

  As Ben laughed, Kate took in the beautiful living room. The place featured a gorgeous bed with matching furniture and had a homey charm, like a professional designer had worked on the room. “This place is right out of Pier One.” She sat down on the edge of Sterling’s bed.

  “Ethan Allen,” Sterling corrected, noticing where Kate now sat. He walked from one end of the apartment to the other collecting what he needed for the trip. When the two of them stared at him, he added, “What? I like nice things.” Sterling always thought a room with only one piece of furniture looked too eerie, especially if that one piece of furniture was just a bed. He liked the decor and had just called up the company, quoted a page number in the catalog, and had the entire room delivered. He had found the task quite easy to do.

  Speaking of nice things, Sterling looked over at Kate. She took beauty to a whole new level. She sat playing with her long brunette hair. Her legs were crossed and she looked … well, gorgeous to him. Sterling had always found women to be beautiful since they had the cure he needed to remain sane, but Kate was different. He was drawn to her like a moth to a flame, but he didn’t know why. Kate then smacked her gum and blew a bubble, ruining the moment.

  “You even have plastic plants.” she commented. “Really, Sterling? Plastic?”

  Sterling glared over to Ben, “Women feel more at home if there are plants in the room.”

  “Fake ones?” Ben asked.

  “What? Like I’m going to remember to water real ones?” Returning to the task, Sterling opened the coat closet and took out a box labeled ‘lost and found’. He pulled out a red gym bag. He dug through it to find a pair of sneakers. “Check if these fit.” He tossed them over to Kate as he reached for his carry–on bag for his own clothes to take on the trip.

  “Someone else’s shoes? Ewww.” She made a face as she stared at Sterling.

  Beautiful, but annoying. “Better than being left behind,” Sterling pointed out.

  While Kate busily tried on the shoes, Ben pulled Sterling aside as the two walked into the kitchen to get some fresh bagged blood. “Lost and found?”

  “Don’t judge me. At least I donate the stuff to Goodwill once the box is full.”

  “Let me guess. You caught a woman on the way to the gym one night. She must have figured she’d burn more calories doing you than the Stairmaster. And after you compelled her to leave, you noticed she left her gym bag.”

  “Sure. We’ll go with that.” Sterling replied.
r />   Ben laughed. “You don’t remember when this gym bag appeared, do you?”

  Sterling shook his head. “No clue.”

  “They’re a little too big,” Kate complained loudly from the living room. “Your girlfriend must be Sasquatch. They aren’t even a good name–brand.”

  “If they’re big, it means they fit,” Sterling yelled back. He then leaned in towards Ben and whispered, “How can someone that beautiful be this irritating?”

  “Irritating, huh?” Ben glanced over at Sterling. “Looks like someone has a little crush on the pretty vamp lady.”

  Sterling looked over to Kate and corrected Ben. “The very beautiful goddess that is sitting on my bed?” She was mesmerizing. “Hell, yes.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Once in the car, the three drove to Powel Airport. Sterling felt a reprieve when Kate grabbed the backseat since his gut reaction had put him on the defensive. He remained unsure of what to say to her, or how to act around her. He feared he would come off sounding, or acting, like a complete jerk in front of her — which seemed odd to him since he never considered himself to be too self–conscious of how others perceived him.

  He always had an end objective in mind when meeting women, but not so with Kate. He was excited about what could happen this time. Yet he remained unsure how to woo a vampire woman, especially one that seemed to dislike him. And, more important than anything else, he didn’t want to blow his shot with her. That is, if he even had one.

  He decided to focus on the case. Like that would take his mind off the goddess in the back seat.

  Sterling bought electronic plane tickets they could pick up during check in at the airport. Both he and Ben hated flying commercially, but Kate was a civilian and it was hard to compel humans over the phone while making flight arrangements.