It was after one in the morning and so far, they had seen no sign of the ES, or any vampires.
“Wait a minute!” Lucy swung back to scan the street. “Someone else is out there, I just saw movement.”
Evan scanned the dark street below. “Where, I don’t see anything?”
Lucy adjusted her binoculars. “The guy in the white shirt, look where he’s walking and go ahead two buildings. There’s someone standing in the doorway, just out of the lamplight, and he looks huge.”
“Damn, you’re right,” Evan cursed. “Good eye. That guy’s headed right for him. This could get ugly. If it is a vampire we don’t have a clear shot from here.”
Lucy’s stomach dropped. “We can’t just let him get attacked!”
“We don’t have to, look,” Evan said and pointed to a car that had come up to the corner. The drug buyer got in the passenger side and the car sped off. Lucy sighed in relief, but then gasped. The shadows seemed to shift in the doorway they were watching.
“Evan, that’s got to be an ES. This is so weird.” Lucy could make out a vague shape moving up the sidewalk, but she couldn’t see enough detail to make out the person that it was. “It’s one of those guys with the black skin, isn’t it?”
“A true marvel of science, aren’t they?” Evan murmured. “He’s headed our way. Johnny, it looks like you’re closest. Tranq him, if he doesn’t go down, kill him.”
“Roger that,” Johnny acknowledged, the jovial tone Lucy was used to was absent, replaced by detached professionalism. Seconds later the vampire dropped. “Tranquilizer appears to have done the trick,” Johnny confirmed.
“What now?” Lucy asked.
“Now we wait,” Evan explained. “If there are others they’ll make themselves known soon enough. If no one appears, we’ll go bring him in for questioning. Not that I expect to get much out of him, we’ve never had a successful interrogation of an ES vampire yet, but I have to try.”
“What happens if he won’t talk?”
“He dies.”
Lucy turned her attention back to the street, scanning the shadows for movement. Her back ached, so she shifted positions, wondering how the watchers managed to do this all night. Thinking about the watchers made Lucy realize something about the previous night. “Evan, something’s been bothering me about last night. The watchers, who was in the area with me and Hugh?”
“Honestly, I’d have to check, why?”
“I didn’t recognize the one who sent the call I responded to. Lona called the one Hugh responded to, but the other one was a male, with an accent like Andre’s.”
Evan frowned. “I’ll check it out, we record all of the calls, but this doesn’t bode well. I can’t think of any watcher with an accent that isn’t local. Are you sure it wasn’t Cajun? Cajun sounds French and Andre’s picked up some of their dialect over the years.”
“No, I know what you mean, but I’m talking about when he first came back, he sounded French.”
Evan laughed. “That might be because he is.”
“I didn’t know that. So you’re French too?”
“Well there’s got to be some somewhere down the line,” Evan replied. “But no, Andre’s mother, my sister, went to Paris to head up EJC Europe. She met and married a Frenchman and had Andre over there. He came to the states after their death in ninety-three.”
“Oh.” Lucy did a quick calculation. Andre lost his parents around the same age Lucy lost her own mother. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Evan shrugged, but his face briefly shadowed. “We’re in a dangerous line of work, Lucy, never forget that.”
Lucy was taken aback. “They were attacked?”
Evan shook his head. “Not in the way you’re thinking. My sister wasn’t a hunter, but her husband was. He ran the Paris project for me. Unfortunately, the organization was still very young at the time. EJC was a corporate entity back then and unbeknownst to my father, sister or I, the ES held a controlling interest in our stock. We were beyond infiltrated. They were assassinated, in broad daylight, on their way to a shareholder’s event.”
“Oh my god!” A sick heaviness settled in Lucy’s stomach. “How did you know it was the ES?”
“A letter, a warning really, left at the scene of the crime. That’s how the government came to be involved. The team that was tracking the ES realized what we were doing and stepped in. At first, they tried to warn us off, threatening to have all of my employees jailed for vigilantism. But in the end, our track record convinced them it would be in everyone’s best interest if we cooperated. They were instrumental in reworking international laws that allowed me to buy out all of the shareholders and make EJC a private company again.”
“Wow,” Lucy sighed. “That’s horrible. I understand why Andre doesn’t trust me. How could he? I wouldn’t trust a vampire if I was in the same situation.”
“You’re forgetting that Andre was raised by not only me, but Dara, his vampire aunt. I’ll admit, when he first learned of your modified DNA he questioned my motives, but I don’t think Andre’s issues with you stem from your background. He’ll never admit this, but I think Andre’s a bit jealous of you.”
“Jealous?” Lucy laughed. Of all the reasons she could come up with for her problems with Andre, Evan’s assessment was the furthest from her mind. “Jealous of what?”
“Andre’s an incredibly intelligent and talented kid. He graduated high school a year early and used the extra time to obtain degrees in engineering, chemistry, and microbiology before the age of twenty-two. When he joined the team, we had an understanding that he was to be our chief science and engineering officer. He would develop weapons and new technology that would make the job of hunters easier. When he approached me, and told me he wanted to hunt, I was shocked, and quite frankly, I said no. He convinced me to let him train and honestly, those of us with the enzyme are a rare breed and I wasn’t going to let the opportunity to add to our numbers pass me by. But Andre jumped through hoops for over a year before I let him out on the streets. That was four years ago, and since then he has proven to be one of the best hunters on the team, but he had to work hard for it.”
“Ah, so the fact that I had just two months of training before you put me out there didn’t go over well.”
“Not so much. Look, regardless of what Hugh or anyone else says, I’m not just partnering up people that I think will clash with each other. To be honest, my decision to partner you with Andre was made before he even returned from Paris. When you put aside your differences, you’ll both come to realize that working off one another’s talents is going to make for a formidable partnership.”
“If we don’t kill each other first?” Lucy asked with a grin.
“If you don’t kill each other first,” Evan agreed. He checked his watch and hit the talk button on his earpiece. “No sign of movement out there. Bring him in. Thanks for helping out, Lucy. You don’t want to be there when we revive the vampire, so go get some rest. I’ll send for you tomorrow when I have a clear plan of action.”
Chapter 18
“I should have known I’d find you up here.”
Lucy blinked herself back into the present at the sound of Ida’s voice. She was sitting in her favorite alcove on the roof, with her chin resting on her knees, and her arms wrapped around them, staring into space.
“Hey Ida,” Lucy smiled halfheartedly. “I didn’t hear you. I guess I was distracted.”
“You were moping,” Ida’s voice was gentle yet accusatory. “Lucy, you’ve been moping for the better part of the day. If I didn’t know better than to say it out loud, I’d say you’ve been spending an awful lot of time thinking about your new partner. Well look at that, I did say that out loud, didn’t I? Want to talk about it?”
Lucy didn’t, but she knew Ida would never give up until she did. “I spoke to Evan last night and he explained a few things,” Lucy said softly. “I have to talk to Andre. We didn’t get a chance to say anything at all to each other before…” L
ucy couldn’t finish the sentence. “I don’t remember the last things I said to him, but I know it was snotty and we were probably fighting. If he had died…”
“He didn’t,” Ida cut in, “and neither did you. But Lucy, this is a dangerous profession and terrible things could happen to either of you at any time.”
“I know, and I know we’re not going to become best friends, but I want to at least let him know that I don’t hate him. I don’t like him,” Lucy emphasized the last point, “but we have to work together and knowing what I do now about his family, I understand why he doesn’t like me. I don’t blame him, but something’s got to give.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of what?”
“That you don’t like Andre,” Ida said lightly. “You’ve had yourself twisted in knots since he was brought in. Seems to me that’s a lot of worry about someone that you merely don’t hate.”
Lucy was silent. Of course, Ida was right. The old woman had seen through Lucy from the moment they met. But Lucy was not yet able to admit her feelings to herself, let alone anyone else.
“Look, Lucy,” Ida laid a worn and wrinkled hand on Lucy’s arm. “Sitting ‘round here with your head full of worry isn’t doing anyone any good. Now if I know Andre, I know that even though he’s injured and confined to his quarters, that boy ain’t sleeping, he’s working. You’d be doing him a favor if you made him take a break.”
Lucy mulled over the idea. “It couldn’t hurt,” she finally conceded. “What’s the worst that can happen, another fight?”
Ida chuckled softly. “The worst that can happen is you lose your nerve between here and there. Stop by the kitchen, I heard there’s an old vampire lady who makes coffee so good that the Middle East crisis would be settled if only the warring parties sat down to drink some together.”
Lucy rolled her eyes. “Okay, I’m going already!”
Lucy hesitated outside Andre’s quarters and wondered if she should just turn around and go back to her room, when the door suddenly opened. Andre stepped out in the hall and looked to his left and right before settling his gaze on Lucy. “Are you alone?”
Lucy looked around the deserted corridor. “Unless we have a ghost that I’m not aware of,” she attempted a half smile. “I brought you some coffee. Can I come in for a minute?”
Andre eyed her suspiciously. “Is there rat poison in it?”
Lucy’s face fell. “I just thought-”
The side of Andre's mouth curved upwards ever so slightly. “I was joking, Lucy. I’d love a cup of coffee. I could use a break anyway.”
“I wasn’t aware you had a sense of humor.” Lucy brushed past him and set the cups down on the kitchen counter. Andre closed the door and followed. His arm grazed hers lightly as he reached for one of the cups.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Lucy,” Andre murmured.
Lucy blushed and took a step back, suddenly aware of how small the kitchenette was with the two of them standing in it. “You’re right, of course.” She took a sip of coffee. “But I do know a bit more than you think. Look, we have a lot to discuss, but before that, I just wanted to tell you that I’m glad you’re, you know…”
“Alive?” Andre supplied. “I understand I have you to thank for that.”
“Yeah, well...” Lucy suddenly found the tile pattern on the floor very interesting.
“Lucy?” Andre touched her arm lightly.
“Huh?”
“Thank you.”
Lucy glanced up, startled at the naked sincerity in Andre’s expression. “You’re welcome,” she sighed, some of the nervousness draining from her body. “I thought you might be…I don’t know, angry, freaked out?”
“It’s a little surreal, yeah,” Andre admitted, “but I can’t be angry with you for saving my life.”
“Yeah,” Lucy said, barely above a whisper. “Look, at the risk of it getting a little deep in here, you scared me, Andre. I made a promise that if you lived, I wouldn’t give you a hard time. I know you don’t yell at me without a reason, and I know I’m a little bit…okay, a lot stubborn. I promise to listen objectively. The coffee,” Lucy smiled weakly, “call it a peace offering.”
“Peace offering accepted. Thank you.” Andre smiled the first genuine smile Lucy had seen. She tried not to notice how much more attractive it made him. “Not just for the coffee. I know I can be an overbearing ass sometimes and I promise to keep that in mind.”
“Hey, if we can stick to that through our first job together as partners then I’ll call it progress,” Lucy joked. “Well, I don’t want to bug you anymore, so I’ll let you get back to your wires and circuit boards.”
“Actually, I could use your help if you have a minute.”
Lucy shrugged. “Sure, I don’t have anything important to do for another hour. But I don’t really know anything about computers, except how to use them.”
“You don’t have to.” Andre picked up a device from the clutter on his desk. “I’m working on an update for our phones that will give us a huge advantage in the field, but it needs fine tuning. When you showed up it kind of went haywire.”
“Is that why you were acting weird?”
“Exactly.” Andre connected some wires to his computer and the device that looked like a phone with its screen missing and insides exposed. “I’ve developed some hardware that will enable us to tell if we’re dealing with vampires, mods, normal humans, or hunters. It’s part GPS and part hemotography. I’ve managed to tweak it so that we have a fifty foot perimeter in which to work. It even scans through walls and doors, though some materials will shield it.”
Lucy didn’t understand most of what Andre was saying. “Hema-what?”
“Hemotography, pictures of blood, to simplify. It works like an x-ray, but instead of bouncing radiation at an object, it senses blood types. I actually lifted the idea from one of the guys down in pharmaceutical research. They’re developing the technology for the real world application of lab analysis without needles. All I had to do was tweak the settings and come up with a much smaller device that I could incorporate into our existing hardware.”
“So what you’re saying, is that if this works, all we have to do is point our phones at someone and we’ll know if they’re a mod or not? That’s really impressive technology!”
Andre blushed. “Thanks. You know, you were part of the inspiration for this.”
Now it was Lucy’s turn to blush. “All this to keep me from getting bit?”
“In a way, yes. I mean, I had this in mind for a while, but yeah, I sort of ramped up my efforts when I saw what you were doing.” A slight frown crossed his face. “You were right, by the way.”
“About what?” Lucy asked.
“I tend to rely on technology. With this, I’m hoping that you’ll be able to rely on it a little more. But after what happened the other night, let’s just say I’m not putting all my eggs in one basket.”
Lucy was silently flattered that Andre would devote that much time and energy into a project just to keep her from getting injured. “Well, according to Abe, you might have inherited some of my healing abilities, so that makes us even.”
Andre raised one eyebrow. “Is that so?”
“Yep.” Lucy nodded. “So how does it work? Not the technical stuff, I mean how would we know who’s who?”
Andre’s fingers flew over his keyboard and suddenly the computer’s monitor lit up with blinding blue and yellow light. He hit the arrow keys a few times and the light shrank to the center. Several other colored dots appeared as well. “I’ve assigned colors to each blood type. Normal humans, without vampire DNA or the hunter’s enzyme, are green, hunters are blue, vampires are red, and mods are yellow. The large cloud of blue with the yellow throughout is you. You’ve confused the settings because of your mixed blood and higher ratio of enzyme. What’s bugging me is that I set parameters for anomalies earlier using Lona as the base. When she first scanned, she was an odd greenish yellow because of the mo
difications to her blood. Knowing that we might run into others like her, I set white for anomalies. You broke the formatting. I’m going to need to add your data.” Andre opened a different window and began typing code that meant nothing to Lucy. “I just need you to sit here for a minute while I run a full diagnostic and assimilate your traits into the array.”
“Sure.”
“It shouldn’t take long, but you said you have something to do in an hour?”
“A meeting with Evan, no idea what it’s about. I’m sure you could tell him you’re holding me hostage.”
“That would knock him for a loop wouldn’t it? It won’t take long to scan you, but rewriting the code and rendering it to the equipment takes a while. I wanted to test it, but I can wait. I’m supposed to meet with Evan in a couple of hours myself to discuss the Paris assignment.”
“Oh, I hadn’t realized you’d be leaving so soon,” Lucy said casually.
“Going to miss me?” Andre cocked one eyebrow up.
Lucy laughed to hide her blush and the fact that, yes, she actually was going to miss Andre. “Hey, like it or not, we’re partners, I was kind of looking forward to not being shuffled anymore. Besides, who else am I going to argue with?”
“I thought you weren’t going to argue with me?”
“I never said that,” Lucy protested. “I just said I would be nicer about it.”
Andre smirked, but his face still showed humor, something Lucy wasn’t sure she was used to yet, but she was enjoying the moment nonetheless. “The scan is done and now we render. You’re free to go. Actually…” Andre checked the calendar on his phone. “My meeting with Evan is now as well. Must be something else then. Maybe they actually got some info from the vamp you guys brought in last night. Hang on a sec while I get this program running and we can go together.”
Chapter 19
“Ah good, you’re both here,” Evan said, ushering Lucy and Andre into his office. “Andre, how are you feeling?”
The Eyes of the Sun: The Complete Trilogy Page 19
