“How do you deal with him? I mean seriously. Is he always so uptight?”
“Not always, but he was born in a time and place where class differences were a huge thing. And women were—well not like you. He has no desire to change with the times. Noah is Noah and you’re going to have to accept him as is Tiffany. You may have to work closely with him one day when I eventually need you at another clinic.”
She nodded, hoping if that day ever came it would be later rather than sooner. “For you I’ll try harder with Noah. But all bets are off if he starts dissing me or women in general. Everyone has to change with the times whether they want to or not.”
“Just do your best. That’s all I ask.”
Asa who had been standing behind them during the exchange began chuckling. Both she and Christian turned and faced him.
He glanced between them, grinning. “I wouldn’t lay any bets on Noah accepting you around here, Tiffany, but for the record I’m glad you’re here. I think you’re going to be perfect for Christian.”
Tiffany wasn’t quite sure what brought him to that conclusion, but she appreciated Asa’s approval. She knew how important Asa was to Christian.
Christian grinned at him. “Why do you say that?”
“Because you love a challenge, Chris and I think Tiffany will be the biggest of your life. A good challenge though.”
Tiffany smiled a thanks. She knew she wasn’t the easiest person to get along with. She liked very few people, but those she loved she’d die for. She might not always get it right with Christian, but she’d never give up on him no matter how crazy they made each other.
Christian’s phone pinged. He pulled it from the pocket of his lab coat and looked at it. “Nathan and Dominic are here. I need to go let them in.”
Tiffany nodded. Of course Nathan or Dominic could have let themselves into the building. No locked door or security system in the world could thwart the telekinetic and physic abilities of a mature vampire. Truth be told, she kind of looked forward to the day when hers kicked in. She made a mental note to quiz Christian on that subject at some point.
Once he was gone, she walked over to a roll away cart by the door which held a tray of upside down coffee cups and some sugar, Splenda and creamer packets. She sat Christian’s dinner on top. When she turned, Asa was watching her, with a contemplative expression. “Something wrong?”
Asa walked over to her and crossed his arms. “Have you really accepted him as your life mate?”
Ah. He was worried about his friend. She couldn’t blame him. All he’d viewed from her thus far had been crazy behavior. “I have.” She meant that. She’d resolved within herself to step off into new unknown territory with Christian. He was an amazing man worth the risk.
He nodded once, slowly. “Then I wish you both the best. However, if you ever screw him over, you’ll answer to me. And it will get far uglier than that night I wrangled your wild ass back into bed.”
Tiffany laughed. Respect for the man shot to the top of her admiration meter and his threat didn’t faze her in the least. She’d have given a similar speech to some guy one of her sisters was in love with. In fact, she’d been very mistrusting of Nathan in the beginning. Dominic too. “Fair enough and bring it on if I do.”
Footsteps coming down the hall stalled further exchange. She glanced toward the door. Moments later, Christian entered followed by Nathan and Dominic who as usual were dressed like the Wall Street executives they were, wearing silk ties and designer suits. Noah brought up the rear. All three doctors wore lab coats over their street clothes.
Christian made the rounds of introductions for those who hadn’t yet met, then asked everyone to be seated. He turned to Nathan and said, “I briefly filled in Noah and Asa on this security system we discussed earlier. Can you explain what you have in mind and how this could help us catch this bastard?”
“I’ll let Dominic field that question.”
Dominic picked up a briefcase he’d brought in, sitting beside his chair and laid it on the table. He opened it, extracted some papers and handed them to Nathan who in turn distributed them to everyone in the room. Tiffany flipped through the paperwork with pictures and descriptions of tiny black devices she assumed to be what Dominic had in mind to install.
“So, this system outlined for you in the handout has both state of the art audio and video capabilities. The devices are incredibly small and can be installed in HVAC vents or fire alarms and some light fixtures for instance. The audio is so sensitive it could pick up whispers. If you choose to do this, I would need to know how many rooms are in the building and other areas such as hallways you want monitored so I can order accordingly. Also, a base station will have to be set up somewhere, preferably within the building, but it can be done mobile or in any building within a two-block radius.”
Tiffany was impressed. She’d set up a few spyware systems for clients in the past, and could have easily managed this assignment with a couple of tech support guys to help with the installations. Under normal circumstances as the IT she should have headed the project, but nothing had been normal since she woke up in that hospital room five days ago.
Noah was the first to offer an objection. “This system sounds as if it could pose serious patient privacy violations. I’m not comfortable with that at all.”
“Agreed,” Asa said. “But we can field that issue. The most important one on the table is protecting lives. If this can help, I’m in.”
Christian added, “Me too. However, I agree with Noah, we can’t violate patient privacy. One of us would always need to be present in this base station. I don’t want anyone besides the three of us watching patient procedures. It wouldn’t be ethical.”
Dominic nodded. “Understandable and not a problem. Actually, I’d planned to suggest that. I’m assuming you still think a staff member responsible for what happened to these women and Tiffany?” He cast her a brief, sympathetic smile.
Christian glanced between Asa and Noah. “Yes, most likely, but we can’t narrow down one source tying all these incidents together. Before this happened to Tiffany, we thought our blood supply or vitamin booster shot might have been compromised because the mothers who tested positive for what we call the Vampire Hemolysis Syndrome or VHS all received those shots and transfusions here. After Tiffany was poisoned we realized those patients most likely ingested it. We offer beverages and snacks to our patients while they’re waiting to see one of us. We’ve always done that. Also, it’s not uncommon for patients and family members to eat in our cafeteria. Bottom line, we believe each woman ingested the poisons somewhere in this building and in the case of our vampire subjects possibly more than once. What we don’t know is if the victims were targeted specifically for some reason or if we’re looking at arbitrary mayhem. We have seven victims at this point. Six vampires. One human.” He sent a sympathetic glance Tiffany’s way.
“Are there any common threads between these victims,” Nathan asked.
Christian focused on Noah. “Can you think of anything we haven’t already discussed?”
Noah laced his fingers together on the table top. “I’m afraid not. Our last fatality was a fledgling vampire at twenty-six weeks gestation. The other five pregnant vampires were all over the age of two hundred. Then of course there is Miss Peebles who at the time was neither vampire or pregnant. It leads us to an inevitable conclusion no pattern exists in the mind of this killer with the exception of all victims were female.”
Nathan shared a troubled look between Dominic and Christian. “This is really disturbing. After a rather thorough investigation, I no longer believe the man Dominic and I have been dealing with is the mastermind behind these crimes.”
“I never have, but why do you feel that way?” Christian asked.
“We’ve discovered nothing to tie him or any associates to the V clinic and we’ve been very thorough with our investigation. It seems more likely your culprit is someone closer to home. I assume you’ve done background chec
ks on recent employees?”
Noah answered. “Yes and they are always very extensive.”
Dominic added to Nathan’s previous comment, “I agree with Nathan. It seems more logical you have a rogue staff member completely unrelated to our man, Damien Alexander. Have you learned anymore about this drug that was given to these women?”
Christian replied, “This was a cocktail of arsenic and cyanide, poisonous to humans but not vampires. We aren’t sure why these women present a condition called hemolysis when it’s not one given to our kind. We suspect there could be a toxin or drug our testing failed to identify. We’ve shipped these patient blood samples to the Vampire Center for Disease Control for more detailed testing. Unfortunately, we’ve yet to hear back from them.”
Asa injected, “So for now all we can do is treat these women based on symptoms and what we viewed in their blood. The problem is they aren’t responding to the treatments we’ve chosen as well as we’d like. They aren’t worsening either, but to sum up, they shouldn’t be having this problem at all. We all agreed at a meeting earlier today they might respond better to vampire blood. It’s a stab in the dark, but one without risk. As you know life mates ingest each other’s blood all the time in small amounts.”
“What sort of knowledge would a person need to figure out how to do this to our kind?” Nathan asked.
Noah answered, “A sick person, obviously, but one with medical and scientific knowledge of our species. We believe a human employee responsible for infecting our patients and Miss Peebles. We all know our own history well. We have been hunted and hated by humans since we evolved from them. However, to answer your question, a person capable of figuring out a cocktail of poisons to break through the antibody barrier of our kind would need to possess the knowledge of a scientist of our kind.”
“Have you spoken with any other clinics, hospitals or doctors to see if they might have experienced similar incidents?” Nathan asked Noah.
“No. As Dr. La Mond said, we’ve sent blood samples to the VCDC, but we have no answers yet. What’s happening here might not be an isolated incident. Once they review our samples, it’s possible they could pair our problem with other hospitals and clinics suffering similar troubles, meaning a widespread attack on our kind. I find it unlikely, but one never knows.”
Tiffany couldn’t help herself, she had to jump in here with questions, which she addressed to Christian. “What does this VCDC do? And how long do you think it will take them to get back to you with something?”
“I don’t know. Soon I hope. The VCDC’s job is to find causes and cures for our diseases and in cases such as ours reasons for why these poisons have affected our patients. Testing can take time but we can’t afford to wait, which is why we took some measures of our own today. All three of us.”
Nathan crossed his arms and leaned into his chair. “Such as?”
“We enchanted our entire staff and questioned them about the incidents, the poisonings. Unfortunately, we learned absolutely nothing.”
Nathan released a ragged breath.
Noah said, “I’ve headed this investigation because Asa was absent and Christian was tending to Miss Peebles shortly after the incidents began. As far as Miss Peebles, she obviously consumed the substance here and we’re assuming the same occurred with the other women. Even under enchantment few people could remember what each of those patients ate or drank the days they were here. None had any traces of duplicity in their minds when asked if they’d administered an unordered drug or spiked drink or food.”
Nathan released a frustrated sigh and looked at her. “Tiffany, I have to ask you a hard question, Honey. Take your time and use your gut instinct which I know to be solid. Who present here the day you were poisoned might stand out to you as suspicious?”
She didn’t need time. A person came to mind instantly and had been setting off her weird meter from the day she’d met him. She swallowed hard and looked at Christian. “Sorry. It’s still Blake.”
Chapter 16
Noah stared at Tiffany with a mixture of horror and indignation. “Blake responsible? Impossible. He and Katie were employed by my mother over five years and there were no such incidents at her clinic. Your life mate is mistaken, Christian.”
The resentful look Noah sliced her way didn’t escape Tiffany’s notice.
Christian scowled back at him. “I’d like for her to be mistaken, Noah, but we don’t have the luxury of sweeping conjecture under the rug. I want to hear Tiffany’s reasons.” Christian took her hand and squeezed. “It’s okay, Darlin’. Why is it still Blake? Has he done something else that seems suspicious?”
She hated the fact she might be offering up a sacrificial lamb who might be guilty of nothing more than nosiness. “It may be nothing, but this morning I spoke with Blake. Long story short, I found out that he as well as most of the staff aren’t buying these incidents as coincidence. Because of me they think people are being poisoned.”
“That’s true,” Asa said. “When I enchanted him, I felt fear and worry for himself and others. But when I questioned him he claimed innocence and I sensed no guilt.
Christian nodded. “I enchanted him myself several days ago. Same thing, fear without guilt.”
“Well, see there? Maybe I’m making mountains out of molehills. He and others are considering resigning because they’re afraid they might be next. But he did say something that didn’t set right with me. He said I was really lucky to be alive.”
“Tell me verbatim what he said.”
“That was really about it, Christian. It was just the way he said it, like he was indicating I should be dead. I don’t know if he said that because of the food poisoning diagnosis in my chart or if he believed something else was responsible for my near demise and he really is afraid he might be next.”
“None of the staff know about the arsenic and cyanide being responsible for our patients’ miscarriages or Tiffany’s event,” Christian told Nathan and Dominic.
Both just nodded.
Tiffany continued, “What creeps me out the most about him is the fact he asks too many personal questions but I’m not suggesting that makes him capable of murder. You enchanted him, Asa. You were in his mind. You would have seen something, sensed something if he were behind this, right?”
Noah answered her question. “Normally yes. However, there are humans with strong minds who can block an enchantment. Before transfusions and blood banks when we all had to feed naturally, occasionally I encountered a human whose mind I couldn’t penetrate and control.”
Nathan added. “So have I. If a human knows they’re being enchanted and that person has a strong mind, they can block the enchantment. They can even fool us into believing they’re under enchantment when they’re not if they’re a skilled enough actor. Normally that doesn’t happen because humans are oblivious to our existence and have no idea they’re being enchanted.”
Christian said, “But our employees know enchantment is always a possibility particularly in a case such as this. Upon hire, they sign a form consenting to enchantment as part of the hiring process.” He paused there and glanced at Tiffany. “We have to do this for the privacy and wellbeing of our patients.”
“I know, but please realize I’m not trying to hang Blake out to dry. Yeah, he’s a weird guy, but that doesn’t make him a murderer. Let’s not jump the gun before we have some facts.”
“That’s a good idea,” Nathan said. “Before we pronounce anyone guilty, let’s get this system installed. Whether the perpetrator is Blake or someone else, you’ll know as soon as this person attempts to make their next move.”
“How long will it take to put it into place?” Asa asked.
Dominic answered. “Forty-eight to seventy-two-hours depending on how many rooms need monitoring. I would suggest no staff or patients be present. It would defeat the purpose. Do you think you can make that happen?”
The three doctors shared a concerned look, then Christian said, “I think so, but the s
oonest would be this Saturday. We can close the clinic and move maternity patients to my country lodge. I suppose we could come up with some story. Repairs, maintenance, utility issues. I don’t know, we’ll figure it out.”
Dominic nodded. “I’ll leave that to the three of you. Call me in the morning with a room count and I’ll place an order, then give me a suitable time I can bring in the installation crew.”
“Will do.” Christian stood, and the meeting ended.
Christian and David flanked Tiffany across the parking lot to Nathan’s Navigator. She checked her cell, surprised to see the time a little after eight. “Wow. Time flies when you’re planning to net a psychopath.”
Christian glanced down at her with a concerned look. “Tiffany, until this guy is caught I don’t want you here. David or not. It’s not safe and I can’t be with you every minute to protect you.” He turned his attention to David. “I’m sure you have Tiffany’s best interests at heart, but you won’t always know who or what could be a danger to her.”
David nodded. “I understand, Dr. La Mond.”
“I’m coming back to work soon though, Christian, whatever the outcome of Dominic’s surveillance system. I need to work and I can only do so much from home.”
“I understand. We’ll discuss this later.” Christian opened the passenger door while David got in on the Navigator’s driver’s side. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours. I still have some things to wrap up here.”
She hunched a shoulder, then slid into the tan leather seat. “No hurry on my account. Do what you need to do, Christian.”
“I won’t be long. Just a couple hours.”
He leaned inside, gave her a quick, but smoking hot kiss.
“That’s no fair, leaving me in such a state,” she complained.
He chuckled devilishly. “I see no reason to play fair with you. I’d never win. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He tweaked her cheek then closed the door.
Dark Experiments Page 21
