Seduced by the Night

by Robin T. Popp

  “Stay here,” Dirk said, throwing back the covers. He pulled on his jeans and walked to the door, bare-chested, hair rumpled from sleeping. Bethany thought he’d never looked sexier.

  He opened the door a crack, reached through, and took the phone. Then, closing the door behind him, he brought it to her.

  “Hello?”

  “Bethany, this is Suzanne again. It’s almost four and I still haven’t seen or heard from Mr. Van Horne. He missed all his appointments. I’m really worried now.”

  Bethany cast a worried glance at Dirk. He wouldn’t like it, but she knew he’d help her. “All right, Suzanne. I’ll go by his place and see what I can find out. If we haven’t heard from him by morning, then you should call the police again.”

  “Thank you, Bethany. I’ve felt so lost these last two days.”

  Bethany disconnected the call and looked up to find Dirk watching her carefully. “Miles hasn’t been seen for two days. His secretary is worried and frankly now, so am I. This isn’t like him. I think he might be in real trouble.”

  “Why, because he took some time off for a couple of days without telling anyone?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact. Someone like Miles, who owns a large business and has social obligations, doesn’t just disappear.”

  “Maybe he needed a vacation.”

  “But going off without telling someone?”

  Dirk shrugged. “The man has a right to disappear if he wants to.”

  “But it’s not like him.”

  Dirk’s gaze burned. “Yeah, and you know him so well, right?”

  The retort cut deep and she clenched her teeth together so she wouldn’t react to the hurt. “No, you’re right. Lately, I seem to be a terrible judge of character, but you know what? If you disappeared for two days, I’d worry about you, too.”

  She struggled to get out of bed, pulling the sheets off to cover herself. She’d barely taken a step before Dirk was there in front of her.

  “I’m sorry, Beth. It’s just—” He paused and Bethany filled in the blanks herself.

  “Miles made you doubt me? No, I don’t think so. It was easier to think I was using you than risk letting me get too close.”

  She held her breath and waited for his denial, but it didn’t come. Instead he nodded. “You may be right. I’ll help you look for him.”

  She couldn’t believe it. “Really?”

  “Beth, you know I don’t like the guy and if there was any way in the world I thought I could convince you to stay here, I’d do it. But I know you’ll just sit here and worry. And God help me, I don’t want you being with me, but thinking about him.”

  She let the sheet fall to the floor as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you. I’ll let you in on a little secret.” She pulled him closer so she could whisper in his ear. “It doesn’t matter who I’m with or what I’m doing, you’re the only one I ever think about.”

  Chapter 20

  It was after dark when Bethany and Dirk finally left the mansion and they had just reached the city limits when Bethany’s cell phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, she frowned.

  “Miles, are you all right? Where have you been? Suzanne and I have been worried sick about you.”

  “I’m sorry, my dear,” he said, sounding fine. “Some unexpected business came up and I was temporarily away. I’m sorry if I worried you, although to be honest, I’m touched that you were.”

  “Of course, I was worried about you. We’re friends—at least I hope we are.” She sighed. “Well, if you’re okay, then I guess we can go back.”

  “Go back? Where are you?”

  “On our way to your place, to check on you.”

  “I’m touched. Let me make it up to you—how about dinner?”

  Bethany looked at Dirk, certain he’d heard Miles’s offer through the phone. She knew she was right when he shook his head.

  “I don’t think so,” she began.

  “Drinks, then—or is Mr. Adams so insecure that you can’t even share a drink with an old friend?”

  Bethany saw Dirk grip the steering wheel tighter, but he didn’t say anything. She wasn’t that interested in meeting Miles for drinks, but she was curious to know what had happened to him, because it really wasn’t like him to disappear like that with no word to anyone. She made up her mind.

  “A drink sounds good, Miles. Where should we meet you?”

  Dirk found a place to park outside the bar and grill. He wasn’t thrilled to be there and didn’t trust Miles at all. To make matters worse, the minute they’d pulled into the lot, Dirk had started to pick up what he privately referred to as “a disturbance in the force”—something bleeding through to him on the psychic link. It was difficult to know what it was, but his senses were on full alert for another vampire attack.

  With his hand at the small of her back, Dirk guided Beth to the door, feeling only marginally safer once they were inside. Miles was already seated, waiting for them, and rose when they approached.

  “Did you have any problems getting here?” he asked politely as they all sat.

  “No,” Dirk replied tersely.

  “Good.” Miles raised his hand to summon the waiter to take their drink orders. “Isn’t this nice?” he asked after the waiter left. Dirk wanted to physically wipe the smile from the man’s face, but refrained.

  “Bethany, I’m glad I got hold of you. Santi was disappointed with the results, but he did pay for the work you did.” He looked at Bethany expectantly.

  “That’s great, Miles,” she congratulated, glancing at Dirk, who kept his expression carefully neutral. Half his attention was still focused on the uncomfortable feeling slipping through the link. Instead of it going away as he’d hoped, it had gotten worse, making Dirk wonder if he’d made a mistake in bringing Beth here.

  “There are a couple of pieces of new equipment that would be nice to have,” Bethany was saying, unaware of Dirk’s inner turmoil.

  Miles smiled at her. “Excellent suggestion. Maybe you could put together a list and send it to me to review?”

  She nodded. “I’d be happy to.”

  Their drinks arrived then and they opted not to order dinner, much to Dirk’s relief. When the waiter left, Miles pulled a paper roll from a briefcase on the floor beside his chair.

  “What’s that?” Bethany asked.

  “It’s the blueprint for the new offices I’m thinking of having built.”

  “Really? Miles, that’s so exciting.”

  “Isn’t it?” He smiled as he unrolled the paper in front of her, then scooted his chair closer to hers, so they could both study the pages. He pointed out various aspects of the drawing, but his arm kept bumping into Bethany.

  “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, finally putting his arm on the back of her chair under the pretense of getting it out of her way.

  Dirk didn’t like it, but Bethany shot him a look, more or less begging him not to make an issue of it, so instead he downed the contents of his drink and ordered another, praying she’d hurry so they could get out of there.

  After what seemed an eternity to Dirk, Miles raised his glass and said, “A toast.” He waited until Bethany and Dirk raised their glasses before continuing. “To a bright future and the woman who made it all possible.”

  Bethany blushed and Dirk wanted to throw up. Surely she saw how transparent Miles was in his attentions? He set his glass down without taking a sip, noticing that even though Miles had raised his glass to his lips, he hadn’t actually taken a drink, which Dirk found odd.

  Dirk’s psychic senses were fairly screaming in alarm now and he scanned the room, looking for the source of it. He felt certain the dark, evil prickling was coming from a vampire, but he didn’t know where the creature lurked.

  “Thank you, Bethany,” Miles said, setting down his glass and reaching for her hand. “I knew you could do it. I’ve always said we make a great team.”

  He gave her hand an affectionate squeeze, not bothering to let go. Dirk stared p
ointedly at their joined hands, feeling his temper skyrocket. Bethany took one look at his face and then excused herself, using the pretense of needing to go to the ladies’ room.

  Dirk watched her disappear through the crowd, tempted to follow her, to make sure she was safe.

  “She’s not much in bed, is she?”

  The question, as well as the cold, calculating tone coming from Miles, caught Dirk by surprise. “Excuse me?”

  Miles gave him a tolerant smile. “Oh, don’t get me wrong. She’s a beautiful woman and a brilliant scientist. With her on my arm, I’ll be the envy of my peers—and as my wife, her research will keep Van Horne Technologies a financially viable institution for a long time. That’s why I don’t mind postponing the wedding.”

  Dirk wondered what game Miles was playing now. “Beth isn’t going to marry you.”

  “Is that what she told you? I’ll admit that I was a little put off when she said she wanted to have her fun before getting serious, but like I said, she’s worth the wait.” He shrugged. “Besides, anything you teach her in bed only benefits me, doesn’t it?” He paused, giving Dirk an apologetic half smile. “I hope you weren’t getting too attached. You two never really did have a future together. To her, you’re nothing more than a phase—a playful interlude, so to speak.”

  Dirk sat there, wanting nothing more than to beat the shit out of the man, yet there was that small voice in his head that wondered how much of what Miles said might be true. Bethany returned at that moment and Miles stood up to hold her chair. After she sat, he placed his hands on her shoulders and began to massage them.

  Dirk fought to control the raging inferno inside as he carefully folded his napkin and stood up. “Time to go.”

  He could tell the announcement surprised Beth. She glanced anxiously at Miles and he braced for her refusal, but then she grabbed her purse and deftly slid out from under Miles’s touch.

  “Good night, Miles. I’m glad you’re all right,” she said, standing. “Be sure to call Suzanne, okay?” she added, walking around the table to stand next to Dirk, who reached into his pocket and pulled out enough cash to pay for his and Beth’s drinks. Then, putting his arm around Bethany’s waist, he escorted her from the restaurant.

  “What was that all about?” she asked the moment they were outside.

  Dirk had to give her credit for waiting. The question he wrestled with was how much to tell her. If he told her the truth, she might not believe him. Worse than that, if she did, Miles’s comments would crush her and Dirk didn’t want to hurt her, not that the old man didn’t deserve to lose her friendship.

  He used the time it took to climb into the SUV, start the engine, and pull out of the parking lot to think about what he’d say. Finally, he made his decision.

  “Do you remember me telling you about the psychic link that Mac and I share through the adult chupacabra?” he asked her.

  “The link shared by all those attacked by the same chupacabra? Sure, but I thought you said it was more or less defunct.”

  “It has been, but every now and then, I pick up something through it. It’s like watching TV with really bad reception. Mostly you get snow and white noise, but once in a while, it clears up enough that you can get a signal.”

  “And tonight, during drinks, you got a signal, so to speak?”

  “Yes, and the longer we were there, the worse it got. I was afraid that we were about to face another attack and I wanted to get you out of there before it happened.”

  She seemed to weigh his words and then Dirk thought he saw her relax as she leaned back and stared out the front windshield. “I was afraid that you and Miles had gotten into it; that maybe he’d said something. I’m glad that’s not the case.”

  They drove along in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

  “Are you hungry?” she asked. “We could stop someplace and grab a bite?”

  “Not tonight. I think we’d better eat at the mansion.”

  “Still picking up a signal on the link?”

  He smiled. “Yeah. If there’s another attack coming, I’d just as soon be at home where I have a better chance of beating them.”

  Julia, who was turning out to be an accomplished chef, had once again cooked dinner. Bethany and Dirk arrived back at the mansion in time to join Julia and the admiral for dinner. Mac and Lanie had gone out, wanting to spend time alone.

  They were almost through with their meal when Dirk’s cell phone rang. He frowned when he saw Detective Boehler’s number on the caller ID.

  “Dirk here.”

  “Dirk, it’s John. I’ve got a body you might want to take a look at.”

  “Now’s not a good time,” Dirk said, not wanting to leave Beth at the mansion unprotected.

  “This one you’ll want to see,” John replied. “We found it outside of Miles Van Horne’s apartment.”

  Dirk glanced at Beth, then stood up and walked out of the kitchen, going into the living room where he could talk without being overheard.

  “Dirk?” John asked when he’d been silent for too long.

  “Yeah, I’m here. Who’s the victim? It’s not Van Horne, is it?”

  “No, some John Doe. We’re checking missing persons now. I thought that you might want to see it, since you’re already watching his fiancée. The two might be related.”

  Dirk didn’t bother telling John that Bethany and Miles were no longer engaged. It didn’t have any bearing on the situation. “What about Van Horne? Was he home at the time?”

  “No. In fact, we haven’t located him yet. The manager said he’d been gone for the last two days but the man couldn’t say where. Hell, I don’t even know if he’s in town.”

  “He is. I just saw him an hour ago.”

  “Where?”

  Dirk gave him the address.

  “Okay. I’ll send a car over there now. What about you?”

  “On my way.” He hung up and went back into the kitchen. “I’ve got to go out for a while,” he told the others.

  “Problems?” the admiral asked. “Maybe I should come with you?”

  “No, just a John Doe. I can handle it. I need you to stay here.” He gave the admiral a meaningful look.

  The older man glanced at Bethany and nodded.

  Dirk then turned to Bethany. “Walk me to the door?”

  She rose and followed him out of the kitchen. He stopped in the foyer to double-check the dagger in its sheath at his waist. When he was ready, he placed his hands on her shoulders, needing to see the emotions reflected in her eyes when he talked to her.

  “I’m sorry—I have to go. Hopefully, it won’t take long. While I’m gone, don’t, under any circumstances, go outside, okay?”

  She stared at him with her impossibly green eyes, worry marring the delicate features of her face. “Be careful. I . . .” It seemed like she wanted to say more, but settled instead for, “Be careful, okay?”

  He smiled and kissed her good-bye. Before he could get distracted, he turned and left.

  It took twenty minutes to reach Van Horne’s apartment building and Dirk spent the entire trip wondering why, all of a sudden, the vampires should have an interest in Miles.

  Once there, he took the elevator to the top, flashed his ID to the uniformed officers on guard, and walked down the hall. He knew right away which door was Van Horne’s; the body still lay slumped against it. Dirk went to take a closer look.

  The deceased appeared to be a man in his mid-thirties. He wore blue jogging shorts and a white Nike T-shirt. Aside from the two puncture wounds in his neck, there wasn’t anything overtly different about this body compared to the other vampire victims Dirk had seen. A typical vampire kill. And yet . . .

  “What do you think?” John asked, coming up to stand behind Dirk. “Just a coincidence that this man, who’s not a tenant of the building, should be found here at this particular door? Or is someone trying to send Van Horne a message?”

  Dirk peeled off the gloves he’d used to examine the body an
d stood up. “I think we both know the answer to that. The question is—what’s the message?”

  “Maybe they gave up trying to kidnap the fiancée and are going for Van Horne himself.”

  “But why? That doesn’t make sense. Van Horne may own and run a research firm, but he’s no biochemist.”

  “Maybe they were never after a biochemist. Which reminds me, we found Stuart Meyers’s body.”

  “You did?”

  “Yeah, earlier today. Same M.O., more or less. Looked like he’d been dead longer, though. Some of his extremities had withered and dried—I’ve never seen anything like it. The body’s at the morgue if you want to swing by and look at it.”

  Dirk nodded. “I will.” He glanced up at the detective. “You mind if I have a few more minutes alone here?”

  “Suit yourself.” John shrugged. “We’re done.”

  Dirk waited until he walked off before pulling out the small wood stake he’d put in his pocket. He kept a supply of them in his SUV for just such emergencies. He lifted the victim’s shirt so he had a clear view of the man’s chest and drove the wood deep into the dead man’s heart. It would have been difficult to do if he’d been only human, but he wasn’t. He would have preferred to haul the body back to the mansion and decapitate it, but too many people had seen this one for it to just disappear. He’d have to be satisfied with staking it. He took some small solace from knowing that the creatures he’d staked the other night at Nicolette’s hadn’t risen after being stabbed through the heart.

  Finished with that chore, he turned his thoughts to Miles. It made no sense that the vampires were now targeting the man and Dirk couldn’t help but wonder if there was something he was overlooking. Still troubled, he walked into Miles’s apartment to find the detective.

  “Still no sign of Van Horne,” John informed him, closing his cell phone.

  Dirk thought about it. “I’ll stay here and wait for him, in case someone shows up to deliver another message.”

  John thought about it, then nodded. “Okay. I guess we’re done. I’ll give the master key back to the manager. Be sure to lock up after we leave—and call if Van Horne—or anyone else—shows up.”