by Bree Younger
* * * *
Half an hour later, Hawk pulled the car into the driveway of the house where the girls were living. He saw Claire lean forward as if she couldn’t wait to get out of the vehicle and charge inside. “Claire, do I need to remind you again that—”
She rolled her eyes at him. “No, Hawk. You don’t. I know that I shouldn’t get my hopes too high. That there is no guarantee that this girl, Tatiana, knows where my sister is.”
“That’s right. It’s possible the necklace was given to her by someone who took the necklace from Cassidy.”
Her gaze swung to meet his, and he saw that she knew what he meant. She snapped at him, “You mean after they killed her? I know. I’m very aware that my sister could be dead. It’s been so long, and anything could have happened. But I have to believe that there is still a reason to hope.” Her voice broke, and tears filled her eyes. She turned away.
Hawk pulled to a stop in front of the house. After he put the car in park, took the key from the ignition, and got out, he walked around to Claire’s door and opened it. When she slid out, he didn’t say a word, just pulled her into his arms. She stood stiffly at first, holding her body away from him as much as possible. He tightened his hold, and after another moment she slumped against him. He rested his chin against the top of her head. “I’m not trying to hurt you. I just want you to be prepared. I wouldn’t hurt you for the world. Don’t you know that?”
“Yes. I know.” Bending down, he took her lips in a kiss that was meant to be reassuring and gentle. But when her mouth moved against his and her lips parted, he couldn’t resist delving inside for a taste of the warmth and generosity that was this strong and beautiful woman.
He ended the kiss and hugged her again, noticing over her shoulder the woman standing on the front stoop of the large ranch- style house. Nudging Claire back, he tipped her chin up so they were eye to eye. “I want you to know that I will do everything in my power to find your sister, Claire. I promise you. And I never break a promise.”
He saw the muscles working in her neck as she swallowed, and he knew that she was trying to get herself under control. He gave her a few more seconds, and at last she offered him a slight smile.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
“Good, because we’ve got company.” He indicated the woman on the porch, and Claire turned quickly around, a blush covering her features, and he knew it was because someone had witnessed the intimate moment between them. But he didn’t regret it.
He wrapped his fingers around her slender arm and escorted her forward. The woman standing there to greet them came down the three short steps. She was an older woman, about fortyish, a human, but Hawk knew that she was very familiar with paranormals. “Eloise. Hello. It’s good to see you again.”
Eloise smiled in greeting. “Hawk. It’s been a while. How have you been?”
“Good. This is Claire Landry. Claire, Eloise Hatten. She runs this halfway house.”
He watched as the two women said their hellos, and then Eloise led them inside. They walked down a wide hallway. Eloise stopped at an open door and indicated that they should follow her in. It was a small, cluttered office. The director walked around to sit at her desk while Hawk and Claire took the two chairs facing her.
Hawk studied Claire as she looked around before she commented, “So, I’m not exactly sure I understand what kind of place this is. You said a halfway house? I thought that was for recovering drug addicts or alcoholics.”
Eloise took off her glasses and set them on the desk. “That is partially correct. A halfway house is really a way to aid people in reintegrating with normal society for a variety of reasons. There are halfway houses for addictions such as drugs and alcohol, even for gambling addictions, and for released prisoners. This house and several others like it were created more for humans who have been exposed to the paranormal world for whatever reason and need to find a way to learn to deal with what they have learned and also to insure that they are made aware of how vital it is to keep what they have learned secret. There are some houses, I know, that the vampires and werewolves run for helping those who are suddenly or violently turned.”
“You’re not a vampire. You’re human?”
“Yes. We felt that since a lot of our guests had been traumatized in their introduction to paranormals, it was best that they not be even more traumatized by having a vampire or were or whatever running the homes. Although we do have paranormals who come in to assist in the treatment and adjustment for the humans. They need to know, especially those who were attacked, that not all paranormals are monsters out to cause them pain or death.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, how did you find out about paranormals?”
“My family has always known of the existence of the paranormals. We are loosely affiliated with the vampires and have often functioned as donors. I myself was a donor until I took this position a few years ago.”
Hawk watched Claire’s expression closely and knew that she was learning some new things about vampires that she hadn’t encountered before on the National Paranormal Association’s website. When Eloise mentioned that she had been a donor, Claire’s face froze for a second. If he hadn’t been watching her so closely, he probably would have missed it. He wasn’t quite sure what had caused that reaction but found it interesting and reminded himself to ask her about it later. But now he had another agenda on his mind.
“So, Eloise, when are you going to let us see the girls?” He caught the expression of chagrin on her face. “Now, you know you don’t have to worry about protecting your little pigeons from the big bad vamps. We only want to ask them a few simple questions. No torture, I promise.”
Eloise laughed. “Damn, Hawk. You know me too well. All righty. I’ll get the girls in a minute.” She grew serious. “They’ve just been through some horrible stuff, and I want to make sure that you two understand that. I won’t stand for any browbeating or anything like that.”
Hawk knew that Eloise had a good heart. “Come on, El. You know me.”
“That’s exactly why I’m laying it out, Hawk. Don’t pull that mean-assed vampire crap with my girls, or you’ll be out on your tush so fast you won’t know what hit you.”
He was about to respond when Claire spoke. “Oh, we would never do anything like that.”
Hawk could see the sympathy on Eloise’s face as she turned to Claire. Eloise was a tough broad, but she had a heart of gold. It was obvious that she was torn between protecting her charges and helping them find Claire’s missing sister. Finally she nodded.
“Okay. What do you know about the girls here?”
Hawk shrugged. “The basics, I guess. I was there when we discovered them, but I didn’t really interact with them too much.”
“There are four girls at this facility who were rescued together, all from various Eastern European countries. The oldest, Olga, is only twenty. Katarina and Marta are both nineteen, and Tatiana is just seventeen.”
“Oh, my God. Seventeen?” Hawk knew Claire was thinking of Cassidy. He himself was stunned, though he managed to hide it better. Seventeen was too damn young to have to deal with all the crap this young girl had been faced with. “That’s terrible. So young. I promise you that we will be very careful with them.”
Hawk agreed. “Yes, we will be careful. We already spoke to Anya, the werewolf who was rescued with the other girls. I think it went fine. We had to have an interpreter, though. Will that be necessary here as well?”
“Yes.” Eloise rose to her feet. “We have an interpreter here with us tonight. Darren works at the college and has been helping the girls with the language, and he has agreed to help us tonight with the translations.”
“Good.”
“If you will follow me. There’s a meeting room across the hall that we use. I think that would be the best place for your interviews.”
They moved across the hall. The meeting room was a large room that contained a sofa and several chairs at one
end with a long table surrounded by metal folding chairs at the other end. Eloise directed them to the sofa and chairs. “I think this will be best, don’t you?”
Hawk agreed. “Let’s keep this as informal as possible. I don’t want the girls to feel like they’re being interrogated.”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I was thinking. Why don’t you two take those two chairs? I’ll send in the girls in just a few minutes.”
“Thanks.” Hawk led Claire to her seat and then sat in his own when Eloise left the room.
He tried not to be ridiculously pleased when Claire reached over and took his hand. He gave hers a squeeze, but before he could speak the door opened, and Eloise reentered with several females and one male. The girls were heartbreakingly beautiful and so young they made Hawk’s heart hurt.
He didn’t know what was going on with him. Ever since he had lost his wife and daughter, his emotions had been in a perpetual deep freeze. Oh, he had friends, like Quinn and Ty. And he’d had relationships that he had considered somewhat serious. But no one had ever breached that wall that he’d put around his heart. But since he had first seen Claire, there had been some cracks appearing in that wall. And now these girls were reaching something inside him that added even more slivers. He didn’t know if he would be able to stand it. Remembering how devastated he had been when he’d lost his family, it scared him to think of ever going through that again. He should reinforce his walls. Get away from Claire as fast as he could so that he could go back to the blissful numbness that he had lived in for the past two centuries
Yes, that would be the smart thing to do. But somehow he knew that he couldn’t do it. Whatever effect Claire was having on him, he didn’t have the strength to turn his back on it. He’d just have to see it through. Maybe he could protect his heart. Maybe.
Chapter Six
The girls sitting huddled together on the couch kept darting looks at Claire and Hawk ranging, Claire observed, from curious to downright frightened, especially when they looked at Hawk. He did give off an aura of menace, and Claire, like the girls, was very aware of it, had been since the very beginning. But it was deceptive. Why no one else could see the gentle sympathy glinting in the corners of those dark eyes she didn’t know. She only knew it was there, that Hawk had hidden depths that apparently no one saw but her.
She felt hyperaware of his every movement, every inhale and exhale, every glide of muscle across bone. She had to force herself to tune him out and concentrate on the others in the room. They were so close now, so close to finding Cassidy, and she couldn’t let herself get distracted by an attraction that had her so confused.
She smiled as Eloise introduced each of the girls and their interpreter, Darren Baldwin. Heads bobbed and tentative smiles crossed strained faces as each name was called. It was easy to see that the girls were very uncomfortable with vampires in the room, despite the fact that vampires were the ones who had saved them. Claire understood. It was, she supposed, a little like a mouse being stuck in a room with a large cat. The cat might be tame, but one never knew at what moment the cat might decide to pounce. She tried to show them how unthreatening she was with her body language, sitting back and trying to look relaxed and at ease, but she couldn’t do anything about the huge, dark warrior sitting beside her. Her eyes zeroed in on the necklace dangling around Tatiana’s neck, and her pulse jumped. She was positive that it was Cass’s.
Pulling out the picture of Cassidy, she passed it over to Eloise and spoke to the girls. “This is a picture of my sister, Cassidy. She’s been missing for almost a year, kidnapped by the same people who were holding you. I hope that one or more of you girls might have seen or met her recently. I’d really appreciate it if you could look at the picture and tell me if you recognize her.”
Eloise nodded toward the interpreter, who proceeded to translate Claire’s request. The picture was duly passed down the couch, each girl taking several long seconds to study the picture carefully then raising her head to shake it negatively. Claire could see the regret in their eyes when they could not help her. Her hopes were all resting on the youngest and final girl. Tatiana.
Claire watched as Tatiana accepted the picture and bent her head forward, her long, dark hair falling down to conceal her pale features. Hawk shifted beside her, drawing her attention for a brief second. Their eyes met. She wanted to reach out to him, but she didn’t. She wasn’t sure why. He’d held her hand before, offered her his silent support. In fact, so far, he’d made all the advances and had instigated almost all the touches. She wondered if he felt everything was one-sided. That maybe she didn’t really want him. It was just so hard for her to admit when she needed someone. As if sensing her thoughts, Hawk reached out, and she grabbed onto his hand like a lifeline.
Claire jerked her gaze back to Tatiana just in time to see her hand reach up to close around the necklace she wore. She looked up and straight into Claire’s eyes. “Cass.” Claire heard her whisper it, though it was spoken so softly she wasn’t sure that anyone without vampire hearing could have heard the small puff of sound.
“Yes. Cass. Cassidy is my sister. You’ve seen her.” Claire spoke confidently. “That’s her necklace you’re wearing, isn’t it?”
As soon as the interpreter finished translating Claire’s words, Tatiana nodded. She reached up and unclasped the chain, holding the necklace out toward Claire. Claire reached for it. As soon as her fingers closed around the necklace, tears filled her eyes. Memories of her sister flooded her. She remembered the day her stepmother had given Cass the necklace and how much her sister had loved it. Blinking back tears, she turned the necklace over and saw the initials JVK inscribed there. Joanne Victoria Kilmer. Cassidy’s grandmother. She rubbed her thumb across the back, feeling the slight roughness of the lettering. A sob broke free even though she tried to hold it back. Though she had sworn to herself that she wouldn’t, she couldn’t stop the eruption of tears that overflowed her eyes and began trickling down her face. Hawk got out of his chair and squatted down in front of her, taking her hands in his. He squeezed them and then raised them to his mouth, dropping a warm kiss on the back of each one. She squeezed his back, so grateful that he was there that she couldn’t find the words to express it, but she wanted him to know.
Again she felt his presence lend her a measure of calm, and she was able to get herself under control. He passed her a tissue that Eloise had handed him and resumed his seat. She blotted at her eyes and then looked around. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to break down like that. I’m not usually so emotional.”
Hawk scowled. “Quite frankly, I’m relieved to see it. I had a feeling you had a lot of stuff stored up. It’s good to get it all out.”
It was Eloise who spoke then, commenting in her no-nonsense manner, “Hawk’s right. Don’t apologize, Claire. You’ve been under considerable strain for the past several months, from what I understand. I think everyone here realizes that sometimes a good cry helps relieve some of that tension. Now, let’s see if Tatiana can tell you anything about your sister.”
Claire took a deep breath and looked back at Tatiana. “Can you please tell me everything you remember about when you met Cass?”
The girl nodded. As Tatiana began to relate her story, Claire concentrated on every word as the interpreter translated them. Every detail, no matter how seemingly insignificant, might lead her to Cassidy. She heard Tatiana explain how she and several other girls had been held captive together in a house somewhere near the coast. Tatiana was very confused about where that was exactly. Vampires would come and look over the girls periodically, sometimes selecting one to take away with them. Those girls were never seen again. About two months ago, another man had shown up. This one had a young woman with him with shiny, silver-blonde hair cut very short. This girl had stood nervously at the man’s side, speaking only when spoken to and keeping her head low, though her eyes had constantly darted around the room. Her gaze had lingered on the girls with what Tatiana described as pity.
> When the man had left to discuss some matter with one of the captors, this girl had tried to speak with some of the captives, but the language barrier kept them from having any real, meaningful conversations. Tatiana had been sitting in a corner, holding herself apart from the others, huddled up into a ball. She’d been afraid that she might be selected to be taken away.
The new girl had come to sit beside Tatiana and put her arm around her shoulders, just holding her and offering her comfort. When Tatiana had touched the beautiful necklace the girl had been wearing, she’d taken it off her own neck and slid it around Tatiana’s. Then the man had come back and taken her away.
She looked apologetically at Claire. She had never seen her again.
Claire asked, “Did you hear the man’s name, Tatiana?”
After the interpreter had put the question to her, Tatiana thought for a moment and then said, “Hunnerson?” She shrugged.
Hawk looked thoughtful. “Maybe Henderson? Or Harrison?”
Tatiana shook her head and then looked confused, and Claire knew that she was doing the best she could. At least now they had a name…or sort of. Then Hawk asked if Tatiana could describe the man. After thinking for a moment, she told them he was very tall, over six feet, and thin, with salt-and-pepper hair and green eyes. She also mentioned that he had been missing his right pinky finger, and he’d dressed very expensively, Tatiana was sure. She’d worked selling men’s clothes in Russia, and his clothes were better than anything she’d ever seen. Claire was thrilled. The vampire was unusual looking and wealthy. Surely they could find him from that description.
She stood and walked over to Tatiana. Taking her hand, she leaned down and kissed the young girl on her cheek. “Thank you so much. You have helped me more than you could ever know. I truly feel like there’s a real chance we can find my sister. And it’s all thanks to you. You are a brave and beautiful young lady.”
