The boy smiled as he followed her thought process. “I hope you find some sort of clue, Leisha. But if not, just enjoy the company.”
Leisha narrowed her eyes at her son. “It sounds like you really want to get rid of me.” She pulled him in for a hug. “The only time we’ve ever been separated were under wretched conditions. I feel a little anxious leaving you again.”
Reassurance shown through his eyes as he leaned up to kiss her cheek. “Trust me, mother. This is for your benefit. Think of it as a belated Christmas gift.”
Trying to read through the enigmatic expression was impossible. Leisha sighed as she tossed the vague words around in her mind. “Well, it was my idea in the first place, and I agree that you’ll be safe here.”
“Then get going already,” Rinwa huffed as she went back to her computer. “I’ll book you guys a flight while you pack up. It’ll be nice to have some space around here.”
Walking down the hall, Leisha had to agree with her daughter on that score. They were staying in a cheap, two bedroom place that barely held a kitchen and front room. The bathroom was squeezed between the bedrooms and the front. It was a joke of a living space, but she knew it was as safe as could be.
Tafari followed her to their bedroom and started packing things into a suitcase. “I think Liam does not like hearing the lustful thoughts I keep having about you.”
In spite of Rinwa’s tortured groan from the other room, Leisha smiled coyly and sauntered to her husband. “It’s probably for the best that I can’t hear your thoughts.” She slid her arms up his chest. “If we could read each other’s minds, we’d never get anything done.”
As they kissed, Rinwa called out to inform them that she booked them on a flight for the following day.
The next morning, Leisha went through her disguises and found a dark brown wig that was cut in a bob. The color wasn’t the most flattering, but that’s what Leisha wanted. She applied makeup to make herself appear as plain as possible in hopes that she wouldn’t draw any unwanted attention. She didn’t give herself any distinguishable features, like warts or a big nose, but used latex to make it look like she had some mild acne. She used a foundation that made her skin tone flat and unremarkable.
Tafari was another matter. Leisha applied a skin salve that temporarily changed his pigmentation from dark black to medium brown. But his tall, muscular physique was almost impossible to hide, even when she gave him padding to make him look overweight. He applied colored contact lenses to darken his eyes, but the brown didn’t mix well with his silvery blue eyes and so he had to take them out.
Sighing, Leisha placed a baseball cap on his head and hoped it was enough.
Liam’s soft laughter filled the small apartment, making Leisha’s chest feel a little lighter.
“You two look hilarious,” he said between giggles. “I wish Samantha was here to see this. She would have just the right comment to make fun of you.”
“No,” Rinwa denied. “No one could have a perfect comment for the sight of you, because there are no words to describe just how pitiful and absurd you look!” She and Liam put their heads together as they laughed heartily.
Clearing her throat, Rinwa straightened and walked over to give Tafari a tight hug. “Take care of yourself, big guy.”
Tafari squeezed her back and angled his nose into her hair, taking in his daughter’s scent. “I know I can trust you to take care of Liam and to do nothing rash while we are away.”
Pulling back, Rinwa gave him wide eyes. “Me? Rash? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Smiling, she stepped back and looked at Leisha. They held eye contact for a moment, then Rinwa inched closer. With hesitant, awkward movements, she placed her arms around her mother’s shoulders.
Leisha closed her eyes and reveled in the contact. She hugged her daughter back, making certain not to squeeze too tightly in case Rinwa wanted to end it. After a brief moment, her daughter stepped back and once again looked into Leisha’s gaze.
The vampire could see tender emotion leaking out of those silvery blue eyes and knew that, regardless of everything in their past, Rinwa did love her. Blinking through a mist of bloody tears, Leisha nodded and tried to convey the same message.
The flight to the Virgin Islands went smoothly. Leisha let Tafari make the arrangements with the ferry and car since he had a better idea of where they were headed. They drove around one of the islands to the shoreline. There, Tafari walked her along a dock and pointed to a small island in the distance. If she hadn’t been a vampire, she would have needed binoculars to view it.
“Is that a private island, by any chance?” she asked.
“Yes. I remember that the compound took up almost the entire island,” Tafari said. “We had to evade their people who patrolled the water as well as the roads.”
“So it would be prudent to try and sneak on the island again.”
“Agreed. Since we do not have access to the planes that we used to rescue you before, I thought we could swim.” Walking back to the car, Tafari opened the trunk to reveal wet suits and scuba gear.
Picking up the smaller suit, Leisha quirked a brow at her husband. “You were able to get the right size for me.”
He wrapped his hands around her waist. “It was easy enough to estimate.” Tafari leaned down and kissed her thoroughly.
It was more than arousing, and Leisha broke away so they wouldn’t get sidetracked. “We’ll have to continue this discussion later, in our hotel room.”
The heat in Tafari’s gaze matched exactly how she felt.
It was tedious to pull the wet suits on over their clothes, but they knew it was best in case they needed to shed the suits in a hurry. Leisha accepted the mask, since she hated opening her sensitive eyes under water, but laughed when he tried to give her a tank.
“You know I can hold my breath indefinitely, right?”
Tafari’s eyes widened and he glanced at the tank he was holding as if it had just appeared in his hands. “You are right, of course.” His sheepish grin looked strange on his usually stoic face. “I guess I forgot you are a vampire.”
Pecking him on his large lips, Leisha whispered against his mouth. “I’ll just have to remind you about everything I’m capable of later tonight.”
Without any more preambles, they put on their flippers and dropped from the dock into the water. It was clear and they could easily see almost a hundred feet in the crystal blue Caribbean. Fish of every color swam around them as they made their way toward the island.
Tafari was an accomplished athlete in the water, and Leisha didn’t have to move slowly so he’d keep up. She adjusted the pressure in her ears more frequently than Tafari needed to as they descended, but it helped to keep her hearing piqued for any surprises they may encounter, natural or man-made.
They emerged from the water and Leisha sucked in the humid air. Walking up the sandy beach, she immediately recognized the area as the same beach they’d departed from during her escape. She stopped and closed her eyes, listening and sniffing the air for any electronics, people, or gunpowder.
“Nothing,” she stated. “It seems as if the place is completely deserted.”
“Just like all the other leads we have tried to follow,” Tafari’s tone was grim, though unsurprised.
She knew that this idea was slim at best, but the vampire still felt her chest sinking with disappointment.
Her husband placed a warm hand on her shoulder. “We can still take a look around. Just like you said before, there may be a clue that they have left behind.”
Leisha forced a smile and nodded. “Who would think that the government would allow this branch to waste so much money? I mean, they’re just going to sit on their own private island without making any use of it?”
“It would appear so.”
She unzipped her wetsuit and peeled it off her body, Tafari following suit. The
y tucked their scuba equipment under a small bush at the end of the beach and walked along the path toward the compound.
The last time she’d been here, Leisha hadn’t gotten much of a look of the place. She’d been more focused on escaping than surveying her surroundings. As they walked over the parking lot toward the entrance, she was struck by how massive the place really was.
“I’ll bet this thing can be seen by satellite easily enough,” she commented.
Tafari grunted his agreement but didn’t say anything. His eyes were scanning every which way, never holding still for more than a second. Leisha used her other senses to make sure they were safe, which allowed her to gawk at the large building.
“You could house all the vampires and all the immortals here.” She shook her head. “This is going to take some time to do a thorough search.”
Her husband pulled his phone out of its waterproof case. “At least we have service here. So if Rinwa finds anything, we will be able to leave and no longer waste our time.”
Taking a breath, Leisha marched through the front doors. “Let’s get started, then.”
It smelled stale, as if even the dust was old. She walked over to a light switch to turn on the lights. Nothing happened. Sharing a look, the couple moved forward. All the debris from when they bombed and shot their way out of there three years ago was gone. The lobby was spacious and clutter-free. A thin layer of dust softened the echoes of their footsteps.
“There are no stairs,” Tafari noted.
Brows drawing together, she looked over at the elevators. “That’s right. I remember that from when I tried to escape the first time.”
Tafari glanced in her direction as they continued to the elevators. “You never told me you had tried to escape before I rescued you.”
Leisha snorted. “Well, it wasn’t much of an escape attempt. I didn’t get farther than the hallway before they dragged me back to my cell.”
Her husband placed a hand on her arm. Surprised, Leisha looked at him with her brows raised.
“It does not seem fair,” he murmured. “Everything you have had to endure. It is not right.”
“But if we’d had this conversation four years ago, you would have thought I got everything I deserved,” she quipped. The smile melted off her face when she saw shame dull the gleam in his blue eyes. “I meant that as a joke.”
He shook his head. “You may have said it lightly, but it is no less true.”
Stepping closer, Leisha wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled her torso into his. “If there is one thing I’ve learned from all that I’ve been through, it’s that there’s no point in dwelling on the past.” She kissed him softly. “We’ve gone over some pretty high hurdles to get here. May as well enjoy it now that we’re here, my love.”
He nodded once before his mouth swooped in over hers. This kiss was not soft and reserved like the others they’d shared that day. It was full of emotion and possession. Leisha’s body melted against his as their tongues invaded each other’s mouths.
Before Tafari’s hands began their usual wandering of her curves, he groaned and broke the kiss. “I suppose we should not allow ourselves to get distracted in this place.”
She knew he was right, of course, but it took a few moments of controlling her breathing before Leisha was able to focus her attention on their task instead of her handsome husband. “Right.” She cleared her throat. “Well, if these elevators aren’t functioning, there may not be much for us to see.”
Walking to that destination, she pressed the button. She wasn’t surprised when it didn’t light up.
“We are both in good shape, love.” Tafari tried to squeeze his fingers in the crack to force the doors open. “We can climb through the shaft.”
Leisha stepped up next to him and gently moved his hands. She replaced them with her own and had the doors opening in only a few seconds. Smiling over her shoulder, she said, “Working with a vampire has its benefits.”
“You do not have to look so smug about it.” Tafari’s tone was warm and light.
As she reached the ceiling of the elevator and opened the crawl hole, she muttered, “Of course I’m going to be smug about it. After all, who would think that a little thing like me could best such a fine specimen of masculinity as yourself?”
With a chuckle, Tafari swatted her bottom. “Get up there before I show you just how masculine I can be.”
Leisha feigned a squeal and jumped up. Once they were both in the shaft, they climbed up the small ladder to the next floor. Leisha pried open the doors and they got in the hallway.
There were no windows to allow a trickle of light, but Leisha could see into the shadows enough to get around. Tafari had a pen light in his pocket. It gave poor illumination, but it was better than nothing.
“This level looks like the place they take visitors to. The ones the government wouldn’t want to know what was really going on,” Leisha stated after they’d explored all the rooms. The whole place appeared to be a typical office atmosphere, with desks in each room. There were no computers or anything of interest left behind.
They proceeded to check the third and fourth floors and found each level similar to the others.
“Do you remember what level I was on?” Leisha asked as they climbed up the ladder once again.
“I believe it was on the ninth or tenth floor.”
Pursing her lips, she decided, “Let’s just skip ahead to the eighth floor and go from there.”
Once they were standing on the higher level, Leisha could feel it. The floors below had just simply been empty. The eighth floor was a few degrees cooler—which made no sense since they were in a warm climate and heat was supposed to rise. It almost sounded like whispers were echoing from the walls, but it was so faint that Leisha was sure she imagining it. Unlike the lower levels, the eighth floor held no dust. All she could think was that this floor felt . . . “Haunted,” she murmured.
Tafari stepped closer to her side. “It does hold a strange ambiance.”
Pulling in a breath, she moved forward. “If we are going to find anything, it would be in the place that feels the creepiest.”
Since there was no power, the doors to the rooms were easy enough to force open, but Leisha knew from personal experience that they would be impossible for even a vampire to open with the power operating.
Nothing of significance stood out to her in the first three rooms, though they felt more oppressive with every step. Each of them looked just as her cell had three years ago: small, with a metal slab in the center to be used as a bed, complete with restraints. Cupboards that could only be opened with correct clearance and key card. “If the walls could show us what they saw, it wouldn’t be pretty.”
At the fourth door, there was a good amount of old, dried blood coating the floor. It flaked off onto the bottom of their shoes as they moved in further to investigate. The rest of the rooms were not as messy, though most revealed some amount of blood on the floor or splattered over a wall. Besides that, there was nothing useful to them.
They completed the search through the next four floors in the same manner, finding the same things in all the rooms. By the time they clambered up to the fourteenth floor, Leisha was feeling emotionally exhausted.
What pulled her out of her despondency was the second set of doors that appeared after she’d pried open the elevator doors. Tafari climbed onto the floor with her and studied the obstruction. “This could be promising.” He kicked the doors in the center. They vibrated under the force.
Leisha put a hand on his shoulder to stop him, then repeated his action. The doors cracked inward. Tafari put his body against one of the doors and pushed it until they could squeeze through. “Just remember,” he said as he glanced back at her. “I loosened them for you.” His lips twitched as he gestured for her to go ahead of him as he held the opening.
Chuckling as she wormed through the opening, Leisha wiggled her bottom a bit since it was in plain view of her husband. He growled and tapped her playfully. Since she’d been so busy flirting, she hadn’t noticed the room until Tafari was almost beside her. Once she finally did, she whistled. The entire level was one open space. Beakers, vials, and microscopes lined tables with computers everywhere. There were other items that Leisha was not familiar with. They appeared to be high tech, and she assumed they were some kind of tools for Mason Campbell’s experiments.
She walked over to one of the computers and fiddled with some buttons and wires, trying to see if it ran on a battery system. No such luck.
“We will take all of the hard drives with us. Rinwa can look at them and see if she can find some information.” Tafari moved to a different computer and pulled out the hard drive as expertly as any computer programmer.
Nodding, Leisha watched him take another one and slowly mimicked his movements. It took more effort for her since she didn’t know what she was doing, but had four pulled out when Tafari had the other eight in his arms. He flipped his shirt up to use as a carrying sack for the drives.
Leisha admired his muscular abs for a second before leading the way down the elevator shaft and into the lobby. The sun was blinding when they exited. The ocean breeze rushed toward them and Leisha took a deep breath. The oppressiveness of the compound now behind them, she relaxed.
“Rinwa will probably hate us for bringing her more work,” Leisha commented as they walked toward the beach.
“She will complain,” Tafari agreed. He found his equipment and pulled out plastic sacks to keep the hard drives dry while they went back through the water. “But if we find anything of use on these, it will be well worth it.”
Leisha prayed that this trip would garner the results they so desperately needed.
Chapter 19
Liam was having a difficult time filtering the thoughts that flowed through the walls and floor of their apartment. Voices from people’s minds bombarded him, each with a different pitch and level of emotion. Couples fighting, kids throwing tantrums, and a couple of teenagers trying to sneak out so they could smoke weed were just a few of the things pounding through his brain, and it felt like the thoughts that overwhelmed him were no longer contained in just their apartment building. It meant that he wasn’t getting enough rest. And the more overwhelming the thoughts got, the more draining it became.
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