Hopefully, she’d find what she was looking for in one of the two bedrooms above the holly bushes. She paused beneath the window closest to the front of the house. She couldn’t see what was inside, but people were rarely silent. She listened intently, but there was nothing. Not the scrape of a foot, not a single whimper or cry. Sighing, she crept through the prickly bushes to the second bedroom and stood up just enough to see that this window, too, was sealed off tightly. It was as if they didn’t want any bit of sunlight to creep in, as if . . . She froze as a horrible thought occurred to her. What if there weren’t slaves in the house at all? What if it was nothing but vampires?
Her heartbeat kicked into panic mode as she checked her watch. Nearly 4:00 P.M., and this was December. Days were short, nights were long. She’d actually counted on the early darkness to help her slip away after her little recon. But if those were vampires in there, she had to make like the birds and get the fucking flock out of there right now.
Sid forced herself to move carefully, ignoring the old fight-or-flight instinct that was telling her to Run! Now! She kept telling herself she had time. Sunset had to be at least half an hour away, and if the vamps were at all like people, they wouldn’t jump up and be ready. Didn’t they have to pee like everyone else? Brush their teeth or something? She rolled her eyes and concentrated on the important stuff, like remembering how long she’d been lurking in the bushes, and how long since the guards had made their last switch. Glancing toward the front of the house, she considered slipping out through the front yard instead. The covered porch where the guards sat had an old railing around the open sides and more of the unruly holly bushes. It was just possible she could sneak past them and blend into the shade of the big apartment building next door. That was certainly a better alternative than risking a dash across the wide-open back yard with the guard sitting right there and nothing moving but her.
The weak winter sun was fading fast, the shadows growing deeper. And the more she thought about slinking through the front yard, the better it sounded.
She shrugged out of her hoodie, put the ball cap in her backpack, then tightened the straps until it lay flush with her back. Donning the hoodie once more, she zipped it fully and yanked the hood up over her hair, with her braid tucked inside. Then she got down on the ground and crawled along the base of the house until she reached the edge of the porch. On this side of the house there was an open lattice along the base of the porch that let her see the underside of it. It was dark in there, and it smelled wet and rotten, not like something recently dead, but maybe something long-ago dead that was taking its time to decay completely. She briefly thought about hiding in there, but realized that the noise she’d make breaking through the latticework would alert everyone to her presence. She shuddered in relief, then froze when she heard the guards talking.
“What time’s the sun go down?”
“Hell if I know. When it’s dark.”
“Do we wait ’til they come out? I ain’t sure I wanna hang around that long. What if they wake up hungry, man?”
The guard snorted. “You rather they hunt you down for not doing the job they paid you for? You don’t want these fuckers coming after you, bro. Besides, they like the women better.”
“Yeah, the women. Think they’ll share?”
“You ask too many questions. Better you sit there and shut up.”
Sid heard all of this with a mixture of fear and triumph. She shivered at the idea that some of Klemens’s old vampires were sleeping only a few feet away. But at the same time, there was a zing of vindication in discovering she’d been right about the slaves being held here.
Now, if only she could persuade the police to do something before the vamps and their captives were long gone. She sighed in frustration, then had a sudden thought. She’d seen the flash of rage in Aden’s dark eyes when she’d told him about Klemens’s slave trade. She hadn’t imagined that. He might not want her involved, but his reaction had been real.
On a whim, she pulled out her phone and dashed a quick text message off to Aden. He’d probably ignore her, but just maybe he’d be interested enough to check it out, or at least have one of his guys do a drive-by.
She tucked her phone back into her pocket and looked around. The shadows had grown much deeper in just the few minutes since the guards had started talking. The apartment building next door towered four stories over the small house, casting a long shadow this late in the afternoon. The street lights had flicked on a moment earlier, but they were dim, and it was probably no coincidence that the light closest to the vamps’ house was dark, the lens sporting a star-shaped bullet hole.
It was now or never.
Checking her gear one last time, Sid turned off her cell phone and shoved it as deep into her pocket as it would go. She drew a long breath, closed her eyes, and whispered a prayer to whatever universal forces might be listening, then rose into a bent-over crouch and made a dash for it.
She nearly made it. A few minutes sooner, and she’d have disappeared into the shadows with no one the wiser.
But those gods she’d whispered to obviously had a twisted sense of humor, because just as she made her dash for safety, the third guard came around the corner from the back and caught her movement. He gave a wordless shout, alerting the other two guards, and suddenly she had three armed thugs coming after her.
She ran for it anyway, but the guard nearest to her position, the talkative one who’d asked all the questions, hopped directly over the porch railing and landed only a few feet away from her. Sid was fast, but he had the advantage of height and caught her in three strides. He grabbed the back of her hoodie and twisted, nearly yanking her off her feet.
“What you doin’, fucker?” he growled and hauled her back against his thick chest. Her hood fell back, revealing her braided hair, and the guard grunted. “Well, fuck me, we got us a real live girl,” he crowed and dragged her kicking and fighting back to where his buddies waited at the foot of the stairs.
“Fuck.” Sid recognized the other guard’s voice, the one who’d been the voice of reason. “This ain’t good. Where’d she come from?”
“Side of the house there. She didn’t see nothin’.” Her captor shook her, his big hand gripping her hoodie so that it dug into her throat. “You didn’t see nothin’, did you, bitch?”
“I gotta tell the boss—” the reasonable one started to say.
“Fuck that. She’s ours.”
“Let go of me, you asshole,” Sid hissed and kicked backwards, hitting him in the shin hard enough that he howled. Unfortunately, the howl was mostly anger. He shifted his grip to her hair, grabbing her braid like a rope and yanking her back against his chest.
“You’re gonna be sorry for that, bitch.”
“What’s this?”
The thug holding on to her turned sharply toward the porch, jerking Sid with him. What she saw there didn’t make her feel any better. A man stood in the open doorway. He was average height, slender, with dark hair and . . . eyes that flashed red when he stepped out into the faint light of the porch. He was a vampire, and his gaze scanned the three guards before moving to her and staying there.
“Who’s this?”
“Caught her sneaking around the back, sir,” the more reasonable thug said. “We’ll take care of—”
His words ended in an unmanly squeak of surprise as the vampire was suddenly standing right in front of them, his hand reaching for Sid. He lifted her chin to the meager light and studied her face.
“Let go of her,” he ordered quietly.
“Aw, she ain’t nothin’ but—”
Sid fell to her knees, her captor’s grip suddenly going lax as the vamp wrapped long fingers around the man’s throat and lifted him off his feet.
“That wasn’t a request, human,” the vampire said. He threw the gasping thug several feet to land choking and coughing on the hard ground.
She looked up as a hand appeared in front of her face. “Come,” he said, and mindful of
his reaction to the thug’s insolence, she chose the path of least resistance and took his hand.
He pulled her effortlessly to her feet. “Jordan will pay you,” he told the others, then hustled her over to the driveway where a late model Audi sedan was parked.
Once in the car, he backed onto the street with a squeal of tires and then immediately got on his cell phone and punched a number.
“I have something that belongs to your master,” he told whoever answered, then laughed cynically. “It’s red, and he had it with him at the party the other night.” He nodded. “Ten minutes.”
“Look,” Sid started, “I don’t know who you just called, but—”
“Save it,” the vamp said tersely. “Just sit there and shut up. And be grateful about it.”
“Grateful?” Sid gave him a disbelieving look, for all the good it did, which was none, because he didn’t even glance at her, much less acknowledge her.
Sid sat in silence for a few blocks, then slanted a sideways glance at her vampire companion. Now that he had her, he seemed to be ignoring her. Taking a chance, she slipped her fingers into her pocket and withdrew her cell phone. She wasn’t sure exactly whom she’d call, but—
“Whatever you doing,” the vamp said, almost wearily, “don’t bother. It won’t—” He glanced over and amended whatever he’d been about to say. “A cell phone? Please. Who’re you going to call? Buffy?”
Sid glared back at him, refusing to admit she hadn’t had a plan to call anyone. But she’d no sooner had the thought than the vamp was pulling up in front of a familiar building. She leaned forward to scowl through the windshield as the car came to a sliding stop, but before she could voice a protest, she was swinging around as someone pulled her door open.
“Babe,” Trav said, grinning as he took her arm and half pulled, half lifted her out of the car. “You’ve been a very bad girl.”
Sid tried to slap his hand away. “Let go of me.”
He held onto her as he leaned down to talk to the other vampire. “Thanks for this, Elias. Anything else?”
Elias shook his head. “I’ve gotta get back. Tell Lord Aden I should know more after tonight.”
“Will do. You be careful,” Trav said, then straightened up and slammed the car door. He watched the Audi drive away, then gave Sid a reproachful look.
“Sid, Sid,” he chided. “What did you think you were doing out there tonight?” He was careful not to hurt her, but he didn’t let go, either.
“What I was doing long before I met you,” she retorted. “Besides,” she admitted grudgingly, “I meant to be gone before it got dark, but I got stuck, and suddenly it was too late.”
“Good planning.” He started toward the front doors, taking her with him, but she dug in her heels. Trav had the strength to force her, but not without making a scene, and she counted on him not wanting to draw that kind of attention.
“I don’t want to go in there,” she insisted.
“Babe, you stuck your nose where it doesn’t belong, and now—”
“What do you mean where it doesn’t belong? I’ve spent months doing exactly what I was doing tonight. This is my investigation, not yours. And—Wait a minute. You already knew about the slaves, didn’t you?”
It hit her then how stupid she’d been. Why had she thought Aden would be any different than Klemens? Why had she assumed he’d be willing to let go of Klemens’s very profitable businesses, regardless of whether they were moral? Or even legal?
“Let go of me, or I’ll scream,” she said quietly.
Travis let go of her arm, but not before giving her a truly offended look. “Jesus, Sid. You really think we’d have anything to do with that crap tonight? That I would?”
“I don’t know. I don’t really know any of you, do I? But tell me, Trav, why else did that vamp know who I was, and why’d he bring me here? And why does Aden shut me down every time I try to talk about it?”
“Maybe because it’s none of your damn business,” Trav snarled, then glanced around. “We’re not discussing this here. If you want to talk, you come upstairs.”
Sid frowned at him unhappily. She didn’t want to go upstairs, but she did want answers.
“Fine. But only long enough—”
Trav didn’t wait for her to finish, just hooked her arm again and started walking, not saying anything until they were in the elevator alone. He let go of her arm and said, “You’re a pain in the ass, Sid, but Aden insisted—”
“Wait, Aden’s upstairs? Let me out of here.” She started punching all of the floor buttons. Trav caught her hand.
“Stop that. Fuck! What’s wrong with you?” He grabbed her again, wrapping his arms around her and trapping her back against his chest.
Sid fumed, but stopped struggling, feeling a little stupid when she saw the row of lighted floor buttons. Fortunately, it wasn’t a very tall building. The elevator stopped at the next floor, and the one after that, the doors opening and closing without anyone getting on or off. Trav made a disgusted noise, but Sid fought back a grin.
When they transferred past the guards to the private elevator on the fifth floor, she stopped grinning. She reached up automatically to check her hair and discovered her braid was beginning to unravel. With a guilty glance at Travis, she tugged the coated elastic off the end and forked her fingers into the mess, trying to restore some semblance of . . . well, attractiveness was out of the question, but sanity would be nice.
Travis chuckled. “Don’t worry. You look fine.”
Sid bit back a retort, knowing whatever she said would only add to his amusement. Flattening her lips, she remembered she didn’t have an ounce of makeup on. She’d been trying to look ordinary. Unfortunately, she’d succeeded. Digging around in the small backpack which she’d removed from underneath her hoodie, she found a sample tube of pale pink lip gloss. It wasn’t her best color, but it was better than nothing. Not even trying to conceal her actions from Trav, she unscrewed the cap from the rollerball end and smoothed it on her dry lips. Trav made a rude noise anyway, but she ignored him, too busy slicking her tongue over her teeth and remembering how many hours it had been since she’d brushed. Note to self: add an emergency kit to backpack with all of the basic necessities. Basic necessities being defined as those things necessary to look good after a couple of hours spent lurking in the bushes and spying on criminals.
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened on the sixth floor penthouse. Travis started to take her arm, but she jerked away, unwilling to be dragged into the great Aden’s presence.
The elevator opened onto a small foyer, with a marble floor and a lovely Chippendale table against the opposite wall. A wide hallway opened off to the right, delineated only by the change from marble floor to carpeting, and the door to the offices was about twenty feet down. At the end of the hall beyond the offices was a set of double doors, deep red and highly lacquered. She’d noticed them on her earlier visit, mostly because she was absolutely certain that they weren’t standard issue in the building. They were far too expensive for that, and, in her view, it said something about the man behind those doors that he’d been willing to put forth the money and the effort on a set of doors that most people would never see.
As she and Trav neared the door to the office suite, Sid started to turn, expecting him to lead her into Aden’s office, like before. But he touched her arm lightly, steering her instead down the hall to the red lacquered doors she’d admired. This close, she could see that while they appeared to be nothing more than decorative, they were in fact security doors of some sort. There was a keypad entry, which Trav accessed, and when the doors closed behind them, it was with a solid thunk of sound, like the noise a big refrigerator door would make, or maybe a bank vault.
What greeted them wasn’t a vault, though. The corridor continued, but everything else was different. The carpet was deeper, and the walls were painted a warm, sandy beige. There were no more harsh fluorescents. Wall sconces lined the corridor, incandescent and l
ovely, casting a soft light that illuminated without being garish. Closed doors lined the walls, three to a side, and at the very end of the hallway, a final door stood open slightly.
Travis guided her to the open door and paused, giving her scruffy athletic shoes a meaningful look. “Shoes off, Sid.”
She looked at him in surprise, but complied readily enough. Sid was well-traveled enough to know that it wasn’t uncommon to encounter cultures, or simple personal preferences, where one was expected to leave shoes at the door. She bent over and untied her Chucks before toeing out of them, scowling when she realized it cost her an inch of height. In her previous meetings with Aden, she’d worn high heels. With her feet bare, he would tower over her even more than he usually did.
She set her shoes neatly side by side on a small, elegant rug to one side of the door, which had obviously been placed there for that purpose. She couldn’t help but note that hers were the only shoes there, and that Travis hadn’t removed his loafers.
She gave him a questioning look, and he grinned. “It’s just you and Lord Aden, babe. Just what you always wanted.”
Without any further warning, he tapped lightly on the door. No one answered, but Trav made a sweeping gesture with his hand, indicating she should go on in. Sid frowned unhappily, but then gave a resigned sigh and pushed the door open.
She took two steps inside and paused, letting her eyes adjust to the muted light. There were no overhead lights, no wall sconces, not even the elegant ones that had lined the hallway. As her eyes adjusted, she realized this was someone’s—probably Aden’s—personal suite. It was decorated in rich colors of burgundy and gold, with an occasional streak of brilliant blue. An intricate silk hanging covered one entire wall, drawing Sid like a siren’s song, offering her a rare glimpse of ancient history. It was incredibly well-preserved, the threads gleaming with color, and those gold strands were the real thing. Their color was too warm, too deep to be anything else.
Aden (Vampires in America) Page 9
