Blood and Sand (5 page)

“What murders on the border? Did you say Juarez?” Baojia stopped mid-extension. His arms hung perfectly still, but he felt his heart thump once. “Dez, what murders?”

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Finally, Dez said, “I… I thought you would have known about it. I mean, it’s on the edge of Ernesto’s territory. That’s why I gave her your name. I really wasn’t trying to cause problems, but I thought if anyone would have information…”
 

Baojia heard Matt talking to his wife as his mind raced. “Honey, Natalie’s a reporter,” the human said. “A really smart, persistent one, if I remember correctly. Why on earth did you think giving her an introduction to a vampire would be a good thing? She’s going to figure out something’s not what it seems, and the last thing Baojia or Ernesto need is someone really smart and really curious poking around!”

“Don’t talk to me like that! You didn’t see what happened in Juarez. I did. And looking back with what I know now, I’m almost positive there is some sort of tie-in with a vampire. None of the human authorities could make sense of it. And there were hundreds of girls, Matt. Hundreds. And if what was happening in Juarez is moving into California—”

“Desiree,” Baojia said. She stopped as soon as she heard his voice.

Dez still sounded annoyed. “What?”
 

“Thank you for making me aware of this.”

That seemed to surprise her because she fell silent.

Matt said, “I’m sorry your name was brought into this, Baojia. I know you keep a low profile, even in LA.”

“I’d rather be informed than anonymous. It’s fine. I’ll deal with it.”

Murders along the border. He’d tracked the activity in Juarez for years, and he had to agree with Dez. There was probably a vampire or a group of them that was responsible for the deaths of so many young women. But since Juarez, Mexico, was clearly out of his sire’s territory, there wasn’t much that he could do about it. It was horrible, but not his concern. Murders along the California border, however…

“When did she start following this story?”

“Natalie said it started a few months ago. There were isolated reports out in Imperial Valley about farmers finding bodies, but the police investigations went nowhere. Then the Border Patrol reported that nine bodies were found out in the middle of the desert two months ago. They guessed that a
coyote
, a smuggler, had taken the women’s mo

“Why not?”

“All the women were found together, within a few yards of each other. If they’d been left out there, they would have walked. Probably some would have fallen behind. They would have been spread out, at least a little. But the bodies looked like they’d been dumped in one location.”

Smart human.

“And there were no visible signs of death or struggle?”

“No bruises or wounds. Could they have been—”

“Drained?” He hated to think it. “Yes. A vampire could have drained them and sealed the wounds. It would be unusual, but it’s possible.”

Most of their kind didn’t need to drink much blood. To drain a human was wasteful. Gluttonous. Like killing a chicken to get the eggs. Only the youngest and most immature would do it, and a responsible sire wouldn’t want to attract the attention. No, vampires only drained when they were out of control or intended to kill an enemy. How could nine young women in the desert have become a target? Dez was right. The similarities to Juarez were disturbing.

“And then she started to get in touch with some of her contacts in Mexico,” Dez continued. “When she called me… Baojia, I’m sorry if you feel like I exposed you in some way, but if this is like Juarez, then it has to be stopped. The killings down there have been going on for years. They’re still going on, despite what the Mexican authorities say. If this is a vampire in Ernesto’s territory—”

“I’ll look into it.” He came out of his frozen stance, continuing in his practice as his mind started to catalogue the information he’d been given.

“You will?”

“Of course I will,” he said, slightly annoyed. “Did you think I was going to let some vampire run rampant in the desert?”

“Well, no, but—”

“It would look incredibly bad for my sire if I allowed something like that to continue.” The fact it had happened in Ernesto’s territories at all was bad enough. Did Rory know about this? Why hadn’t he come to him for help? He felt the water from the fountain draw to his chest as he resumed practice. Cross. Thrust. Center. Draw back. Center. Sweep. His loose practice pants brushed silently against his legs.

“There’s the whole innocent-people-being-slaughtered thing, too,” Matt said.

“That too.” His thoughts tripped back to the curious redhead. “How did your friend get Ivan’s name?”

“I have no idea,” Dez said. “Honestly, I’ve never even heard of him before. But Natalie… she has a way of finding out things. She didn’t mention Ivan to me. Who is he?”

Matt said, “Not anyone you’re ever going to meet. That’s for sure.”

Baojia took a deep breath, willing himself to be patient toward the human man. Really, did he think keeping his mate uninformed was to her benefit? “Ivan has a similar job to mine, Dez, but he works for the vampires who control most of Mexico and Central America.”

“Who is that? Are they in Mexico City? I thought you said something about Ensenada.”

“Who runs Mexico is not important. Yes, Ivan runs things in Ensenada, and he’s the one who I’ll have to talk to if there’s a vampire ou hea vampit of control in Northern Mexico.”

“Ensenada’s only a few hours away. Shouldn’t he be taking care of something like a vampire on a rampage?”

He tried not to roll his eyes. “He
should
be. But Ivan often does what he wants. I’m curious how your friend got his name. She shouldn’t go talking to him. Can you persuade her to leave this alone?”

“Natalie?” Dez snorted. “Not likely. And she never mentioned his name to me, so I can’t warn her without making her even more curious.”

“You’re going to have to stall her.”

Now it was Dez who sounded exasperated. “Look, you don’t know this woman. She’s like a really friendly bulldog. If she gets her teeth into something, she’s not going to let go. And she has very little sense of self-preservation.”

He frowned, unaccountably irritated with the human reporter. “Is she stupid?”

“I thought you said you met her. Did she seem stupid to you?”

No, she seemed clever. Persistent, obviously. Funny. Tempting. He willed away the image of the reporter stumbling into her little house and immediately stripping off her dress before he could escape. The light dusting of freckles on her pale skin
was scattered… everywhere. He cleared his throat. “No, she didn’t seem stupid, but she needs to stay away from Ivan. Other than his mistress, he has no regard for humans. They’re food and entertainment, that’s all.”

“Wow. He sounds like a peach.”

“She needs to stay off his radar, Dez. Give me some time to investigate this without having to worry that your friend is going to trip into something that will get her killed.”
 

“But, Baojia—” Dez sighed after Matt whispered something to her. “I’ll do what I can. I’ll try to distract her, but if she finds out, she’s going to be pissed.”

“Better pissed off than drained in the desert.”

“True,” Matt said. “And if there’s anything we can do on our end, let us know.”

“I will.” He wasn’t going to pass up that offer, not while he was stuck in San Diego. Matt Kirby could be a good ally in Los Angeles. “And Matt, I’d appreciate your discretion in all this, if that’s possible.”

In other words, don’t tell Vecchio.
 

A tentative alliance existed between Matt’s employer, Giovanni Vecchio, and Baojia’s sire, Ernesto Alvarez, mostly because Vecchio was married to Ernesto’s favorite granddaughter. But like most in-laws, there was tension. A vampire of Vecchio’s age and reputation didn’t exist in any city without tension. He was a fire vampire and a powerful one. It was only through Beatrice’s influence and her mate’s desire for a low profile that Giovanni and Ernesto could exist in the same city without killing each other. For Ernesto to look weak to Beatrice’s husband would tilt the alliance in Giovanni’s favor, which would throw off the delicate balance of power.

Matt heaved a sigh Baojia could hear from 120 miles away, even without the phone connection. “I swear vampires are like kids in high school some days.”

Baojia chuckled, knowing exactly what Matt meant. “Some of us act our age, human.”

“That’s because you’re the guy who has to clean shit up when things get messy.”

He smiled. Matt was human, but Baojia still considered him a peer, and a competent one at that. He’d tried for years to get Matt to work for him, but the human preferred his more low-key role underspay role the fire vampire’s aegis.

“We have to make sure Beatrice doesn’t hear about it,” Dez said. “She and Natalie were friends, too. If B hears that Natalie may be in trouble—”

“She and Gio will step in,” Matt added. “And if they step in—”

“I won’t have to worry about being stuck in San Diego anymore,” Baojia said. “Because Ernesto will kill me.”

“You said it, not me.”

“All right. Let me dig around down here.” He walked to the giant windows that looked over the water and crossed his arms. How was he going to poke around without raising Ivan’s ire? Or Ernesto’s? And why was he still concerned about that annoying human woman who had complicated his life? “Just distract your friend, Dez. However you can.”

“I’ll do my best,” Dez said as a baby cried in the background. He’d forgotten Matt had recently become a father. “I gotta go.” There was a slight pause. “Baojia?”

“Yes?”

“I know I’ve kind of made a mess of things, but Natalie’s a really great person. And she’s really dedicated to helping people with her work. Just… keep that in mind. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to her. If she gets in trouble, will you help her?”

He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ignore the weight of obligation she was thrusting on him. Damn woman. Once he was given a job, he was incapable of not seeing it through.

“Baojia,
please
.”

He shook his head in resignation. “I’ll do what I can to keep her safe.”
 

Shit, shit, shit.
Why couldn’t he just say no?

“Thank you. I won’t forget it.”

Neither will I.
In fact, Baojia had a feeling there was a lot about this situation he wouldn’t forget anytime soon.

Despite the new complications in his life, Baojia walked into Boca that night in a better mood than he’d enjoyed in months. Maybe years. He ignored the boring pulse of music and the human women who tried to catch his eye. He nodded once to Luis, then ducked into his office to call Paula, trying not to smile. For the first time in almost two years, he wasn’t bored out of his mind.

He dialed the old-fashioned rotary phone and swirled the ice water the waitress brought back. He was watching the ice cubes tumble when his sister answered.

“
¿Cómo?
”

“
Paulita
.” He slipped into Spanish. “What are you doing tonight?”

“
Hermanito
, Rory complained all last night about spreadsheets and résumés. What are you doing to my husband?”

He smiled. One of the things he disliked most about being in San Diego was missing the company of Paula. There were few vampires or humans he liked spending time with, but Paula was one. “It’s not my fault he doesn’t have your keen appreciation for numbers. What’s going on at home?”

“Oh, the usual. Lots of meetings with the accountants as we get ready for the end of the fiscal year. And there’s a trade meeting with a Japanese company that Father seems anxious about.”

“Any security concerns? Human or vampire?”

“Human. And not that I know of,” she said. “It’s more financial. Their earnings reports don’t seem to match their investment activity…” She started in on a litany of business information he would catalogue and examine later. Ernesto’s shipping inte="1hippingrests had shifted in the past forty years to focus on Asia, which created new balances of power and influence that Baojia had to keep track of. He had a hard time getting excited about the business side like Paula did, but the political and security ramifications were interesting.
 

Power followed money in the vampire world, and both fed into the influence that individual immortals wielded. An immortal in power only lasted as long as he could support those under his aegis. And what had been the status quo for hundreds of years could shift in the space of a heartbeat if the balance of power became tenuous. Considering most immortal business empires were run like combinations of corporations and organized crime, it had never been a boring job. Paula handled the business end, and Baojia had been in charge of security and information. Up until he had fallen out of favor with his sire, the balance had worked beautifully.

“Paula?”

“Hmm?”

He could tell she was distracted by something. She was probably looking at financial papers the same way he read police reports or watched security tapes. “Have you heard anything about humans being killed along the border?”