by Alice Brown
He walked slowly around the entire truck, checking the underside. Finally satisfied the truck hadn’t been bugged, he put the pole away and climbed back into the truck. He had just barely turned in his seat when Meredith launched herself at him, curling up against his chest. She was shaking, and her skin felt cool and clammy to the touch.
Her head was buried in his neck, but he could feel the wetness of her tears as they fell from her. He ran his hand soothingly up and down her back as he placed small kisses on her forehead. “Shh, baby. I’ve got you. I am so sorry that happened back there.”
She made no motion to acknowledge him; however, he noted she was breathing his scent in deeply. Good, that should help calm her down somewhat. Before he could figure out his game plan from there, his cell phone rang. He looked down to see an unknown number.
Lucas picked up the phone, convinced it would be Eddie himself calling to gloat over the small victory he’d just had. Growling into the phone, Lucas answered, “What do you want, fucker?”
“Hey! Watch it!” Walter growled back at him.
“Sorry, buddy, thought you were someone else,” Lucas mumbled out. “What happened to your phone?”
“Hmm, it ran into a wall after Kade took it apart and discovered a bug had been planted in it. I’m on a throw away number for the time being. Listen, I’d be willing to bet money we are going to discover a bug has been planted in my office also. I am still trying to keep things contained, so I figure you and I can do a sweep later tonight after everyone leaves. In the meantime, I have to go with the assumption the meeting point of my house has been compromised. Take her to safe house “B”, and I’ll meet you there with the other two and Kade.”
“Got ya, see you in a few,” Lucas stated before disconnecting. He turned the phone over and took off the back, searching inside for a small bug device. Satisfied when he didn’t find one, he tossed the phone over into the passenger seat and turned his attention to his still shaken-up mate.
Meredith looked up at him with red-rimmed eyes. He tightened his hold around her as he tried to comfort her. “Are you okay?” she asked him.
“Yes, baby, I am fine. Are you?”
The sun was shining directly into the front windshield of his truck. She turned so she could put her face in direct line with the sun. Closing her eyes, she moaned softly. “Boy, have I missed this.”
“Baby, I promise you, we are going to take Eddie down. And when we do, you can stay in the sun all you want. Does it drain you at all like it does full-vamps?” Despite what Hollywood insisted on shoving down the public’s throat, real vampires could be out in the sun. It did drain them, and they needed to go to a very cool or cold spot afterward to rejuvenate, followed up by fresh blood, but they could definitely be out in the sun, at least for a while.
She smiled serenely as she kept her face in the sunlight. “No, I have never had any aversion to the sun whatsoever. I can stay out in it as much as I like. The only effect is I do burn very easily, so I have to watch my exposure.”
He moved his hand up to caress the back of her neck, and then moved to massage her scalp. He let her stay there, basking in the sunlight for about five minutes before saying anything. “Sweetheart, we have to get going. We are meeting Walter and his wife and sister-in-law at a safe house. Don’t worry, you’ll be protected there, and Kade is going to stay with you women, just to be on the safe side.”
*****
It was just reaching dusk when Walter and Lucas neared the small publishing house. Walter had told Lucas on the ride out there was just something suspicious about the whole thing. And after the ambush this afternoon, he was even more suspicious. The publishing house looked to be legit, although with enough digging, it became obvious they were in financial hot water. And Walter had not been able to find a single thing they had published since Eddie showed up. Prior to that, the small company had been in no position to take on Wall Street, but at least it was keeping its head above water.
They had changed plans after the attack earlier that afternoon and decided not to take the horses. They drove Lucas’s truck until they reached about a mile out, and then left the truck to do the remainder of their trip on foot. When they were close enough to the building to see what was going on, without being detected, they watched a number of vampires coming and going through the front door. From where they were watching, it looked pretty much like an ordinary business.
But something was off and just didn’t look right. They were especially concerned when they had watched a couple of human females enter along with Eddie’s goons. To the untrained eye, it may have looked as if they were accompanying the men of their own accord, but the Rangers knew better. They knew how easy it was to get inside the mind of a human and manipulate it to do whatever you wanted. And it didn’t take a vampire to drug an unsuspecting woman, either. It was impossible to know exactly what you were dealing with when it came to rogues.
A moment later, Walter murmured, “Hmm, I don’t like the looks of this. I wish there was a way of getting closer so we could see what they are doing.”
“Give it a few minutes until it is dark out. Then I should be able to sneak over there and do some poking around,” Lucas replied.
They waited patiently and silently. It was almost nine o'clock at night when Lucas quietly spoke. “I’m going in, cover me.” A whistle went off toward the back of the building. Even though Lucas had whispered, evidently one of the security vamps walking the perimeter had caught it. He had alerted the other security members that something out of the ordinary had been spotted. Lucas glanced over at Walter, who simply shook his head and pointed behind them. It didn’t look like they would catch a break tonight. They eased back, leaving as silently as they had arrived. The security officers were now all on alert, listening and looking for anything unusual as they began to fan out and scan the nearby woods. They would never find the Rangers; the two were long gone.
*****
While the men were busy trying to come up with information on Eddie McDaniels’ workplace, Meredith spent her time chatting with Walter’s wife, Sissy, and her sister, Betty. Both had welcomed Meredith with open arms. Although they had never met, Sissy was aware of the situation with Meredith. Her husband had asked for her help in shopping for Meredith, since it was impossible for Meredith to go out and take care of things that she needed until Eddie was apprehended. Then, hopefully Meredith would feel comfortable and safe enough to get out and enjoy life. So when Walter had phoned his wife earlier that morning to ask if she would mind Meredith camping out there while he and Lucas did recon, she readily said yes. Of course, she had no idea her husband would come hurrying into their front door that afternoon along with another Ranger, telling both ladies to grab what they needed, they were leaving immediately. On the way out to the safe house, the Rangers filled the ladies in on what happened at headquarters.
Now, the three ladies sat in the living room of the safe house chatting away as if they had been friends for years. And Meredith suddenly realized how much of life she was missing. While she was hiding away from everything and everybody, life was marching on without her. She missed chatting with a friend or two. She missed shopping. She missed going to the occasional movie or show.
Sissy had excused herself to go make some tea in the kitchen for the ladies. The conversation quieted down for a moment, and it was then Meredith was struck by everything she was missing in life. Tears sprang to her eyes without warning. She was sick of living her life this way, but what other choice did she have while Eddie was still on the loose?
“Hey, hon, what’s the matter? Have we said something to offend you?” Betty was by her side in a heartbeat, gently holding her hand.
“No, no, it’s nothing you two have done or said. It just hit me how much I am missing out on in my life. I haven’t been able to do anything in eighteen months. No shopping, friends, shows, movies, dinners, nothing. It’s just not fair. Eddie continues to go free and live his life the way he wants, while I have to s
uffer because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Well, I agree with you, it is not fair at all. But look at it this way. Eddie’s days are numbered. And once he’s caught, he won’t be around on this earth any longer to cause trouble. Meanwhile, you will have the rest of your life to make up for this time. And, you’ll have a mate to share it all with. Just think of how much fun that will be!” Betty encouraged her.
“You’re right, and you know what? I am sick of that bastard stealing my life. I have had enough. I want to start enjoying life, not spend the rest of my days looking over my shoulder. I just wish I had the strength and courage to stand up to him.” Now that she’d had time to think about it, she was mad, not just scared like she had been. It wasn’t fair, and she’d had enough. Eddie needed to be caught, because she had a mate now, and she had a life to live.
“Are you aware of how I came to be a vampire?” Betty inquired.
With a final sniff, Meredith shook her head. “No, I haven’t heard anything about your past.”
“My son and I were living with my alcoholic boyfriend a few years ago. He had a horrible temper. Demanded the house be just so when he arrived home from work. Dinner had to be on the table at a certain time, and not two minutes late. I tried keeping his temper away from my son, but sometimes after he was finished beating on me, he would go after Timmy.
“One evening, I was just a few minutes late getting dinner on the table. I ended up putting it on the table about five minutes past his set dinnertime. He blew up, took the casserole I had worked hard all afternoon putting together, and threw the hot dish in my face. The burned flesh was bad enough, but then he started beating on me. I couldn’t take it anymore. I was already weak from prior beatings. Timmy heard the commotion going on downstairs and came down to see what was going on. As soon as he saw Gregory beating on me, he jumped in, trying to get him to stop. Gregory had been drinking that afternoon, and when Timmy jumped in the middle to save me, he turned on my little boy.
“There was no way I could stop him. I couldn’t even move myself, let alone help my son. Gregory dragged Timmy back upstairs and I could hear him hitting Timmy with his belt. I must have blacked out, because the next thing I know this beautiful young woman is standing over me telling me help is on the way. I don’t remember too much after that, I know I was taken to the hospital, and because I was in such bad shape, they were frantically trying to find next of kin to help Timmy. My father and sister both got called.
“Unbeknownst to me at the time, Walter had changed my sister into a vampire a few years back. Once they arrived and consulted with the doctors, they made the decision the only way I would heal a hundred percent was for them to turn me also. So that is what happened. I was taken to a vampire underground hospital and changed over in order to save my life.” By the time she finished, Sissy had returned, carrying a tray with tea. Betty paused and looked over to her sister, a loving smile on her face. “Best damn thing that has ever happened to me!”
*****
Two days later, Lucas had just walked out of a planning session with Walter when two of his coworkers, Adam and Donte, walked past him heading for the door. “Hey, man, I’m impressed. Never figured you for a flowers kind of guy. So, who’s the chick you are trying to impress? Is she a new nurse upstairs?” Adam questioned over his shoulder, as Lucas watched him and Donte snicker. Suddenly, he felt like someone was squeezing the very life out of his chest. He reached behind him and threw open Walter’s door at the same time yelling, “Stop!” to his two coworkers.
Both men stopped in their tracks as they watched their boss come flying out of his office to see what was going on. One look at Lucas’s face told them something was definitely wrong.
Donte put his hands up in defense. “Hey, man, no need to get upset. We were just teasing you.”
Lucas shook his head, while trying to get the vise grips to loosen around his chest. Finally, he felt like he could speak. “When and where?”
Both Donte and Adam watched him for a moment, trying to figure out what he was asking. They then looked to their boss for help.
“Tell me what was said right before I came out.” Walter put a calming hand on Lucas’s shoulder.
“We just said we had never figured him for a flowers kind of guy. A dozen roses arrived about ten minutes ago for some chick named Meredith from him. We figured she was a new nurse, so we sent them upstairs.”
Walter immediately took off at a dead run, yelling for a couple of Rangers to follow him. He bypassed the elevator and took the stairs, knowing his vampire speed would put him upstairs much quicker. He heard footsteps behind him, so he knew he had backup. The problem was he still wasn’t sure who was leaking information out. He hit the top of the stairs and flung the door open. Just as he stepped around the corner, he spotted the roses sitting at the front desk. And then all hell broke loose.
The roses and glass vase exploded, sending shards of glass everywhere. He and whoever was behind him hit the floor, knocked backward by the force of the blast and all bleeding from glass fragments embedded in their skin. This had been exactly what he was afraid of.
He had an awful ringing in his ears, but he could still hear Lucas bellowing Meredith’s name. She suddenly appeared out of nowhere, seemingly unharmed, of which he was very thankful. Evidently she hadn’t been around the flowers when they exploded.
He sat in the middle of the floor for a minute or two, trying to regain his equilibrium. He looked over and watched as Meredith and then Dr. Weathers started attending to his men. After they had moved a few to exam rooms far enough away from the blast that they hadn’t received much damage, Dr. Weathers came over to him.
“Hey, buddy, how are you feeling?” the kind doctor inquired as he started checking him over.
Walter looked over at the doc and frowned. “Man, I’m not sure. I don’t feel right.”
“Hmm, that might have something to do with a nasty piece of glass that is embedded in your skull right now. We are going to get you to an exam room so I can remove it. Can you walk, or do I need a gurney?”
Walter shook his head, and then was immediately sorry that he did. Even that little bit of movement had his stomach pitching. Something he had never experienced since becoming a vampire. “I can walk, just help me up.”
Dr. Weathers bent and offered his arm, then helped get him up and into an exam room. “Sorry, we are doubling up. The nurse’s station is completely wiped out, and we sustained heavy damage to the three exam rooms across the hall. There are other rooms that received some damage, but the three straight across from the nurse’s station are a total loss.”
Walter looked up and saw Lucas sitting on the exam table. “Hey, can you call downstairs and make sure they have everything on lockdown? I don’t want anyone entering or leaving this building.”
“Sure, no problem. Here, you need to be seen first. Change places with me,” Lucas informed him as he hopped down off the exam table and grabbed his phone with one hand, while holding out the other to help steady his boss.
“Who all was behind me?” Walter inquired, as he made it to the exam table and felt like collapsing on it.
“Other than myself there was Adam, Donte, and Ethan.”
Walter closed his eyes for just a moment. Four Rangers down, including himself. “How bad?”
“Nobody serious. You are probably in the worse shape; you were closest and took the brunt of the blast. I am just thankful Meredith was in the studio when the blast occurred. I hate to think what would have happened if she had been carrying those damn flowers.”
“Still, this is an insult that he was able to get through everyone. And I want our leak found and dealt with. I fucking hate walking around questioning my trust in people I’ve worked with and trusted for years.” Walter shook his head as he sighed deeply, then glanced over to Lucas. “This stops today. Hell, maybe I’ve been too lax, but not anymore. This situation has just escalated to our top priority.” Two nights ago, they had discov
ered the bug that had been planted in his office. Walter and Lucas had then gone through the entire downstairs area, doing a thorough sweep, to check for any more. They found a total of three that night: one in Walter’s office, one at the reception desk, and one in the conference room.
“Tell me what you want done, Walter. I am none too happy knowing that it is pure luck that I still have my mate. If she had been holding those roses, or even close to the vase, she would have been seriously injured at least.”
“I am holding a meeting just as soon as we can get everyone patched up and back downstairs. Help me keep a close watch for anyone looking away, or shifting from foot to foot, increase in heart rhythm, or anything else we might label as suspicious behavior. I seriously doubt we will get that lucky, but we’ve got to start somewhere. We don’t stand a chance of truly shutting down McDaniels until we find our own damn leak!”
Dr. Weathers came in and the discussion was dropped.
Chapter Five
It took Dr. Weathers several hours to get everyone patched up and sent back downstairs. Lucas held Meredith’s hand tightly as they took the stairs down to the meeting. Walter planned on opening up and informing the Rangers who were present about the situation, then see if they could get a read on anyone who might be suspicious.
Lucas knew they had a mole, there simply wasn’t any other explanation. What ate at his gut was he had worked with each of these guys for several years now. He had trusted each one of them to have his back at one time or another, as he had theirs. To know someone wasn’t who they were supposed to be left a sour taste in his mouth.
He and Meredith were the last two to show up for the meeting in the large conference room downstairs. The room was eerily quiet when they walked in, with Lucas continuing to hold Meredith’s hand as he led the way over to a couple of empty seats. He had come too close to losing her today, and he had no intention of letting her go anytime soon.
