Love Bite (Just One Bite #1) (9 page)

Alexar stood
up and wrapped his arms around her and RaeLynn, planted a fatherly kiss on the
top of Diandra’s head, and summed up what the paperwork told him. “We now have
documented proof showing the chain of individuals involved with the drug
smuggling. Now we need to see what else we can come up with. This is fantastic,
and all this proof is admissible in court, but only if we’re willing to expose
Jonah’s part in this. I’d rather not do that out of respect to you, Diandra,
and the years of friendship he and I once shared. There must be another way.”

Lizbeth cut
in. “There is another way. I can go undercover and infiltrate the organization.
None of the cops involved are from our precinct now that Jonah is gone, so I
doubt I’d be recognized as being back on the job.” She held up her hand to
forestall any arguments. “No, let me finish please.” Diandra and Alexar
reluctantly subsided. “Now, they know I lost my job because of this- they’ll be
suspicious of me, obviously. But when I go in there bitter and angry, wanting
to put one over on the department for firing me when I was innocent? I’m sure
they’ll be willing to give me a shot. Then I can garner information from the
inside that will be admissible without involving Jonah in any way.” She turned
to Diandra then. “Dia, honey, I cannot promise his involvement won’t come out anyway.
When this goes to court one of them may bring his name up, but I’ll do my
damndest to keep him and his name out of it.”

The arguments
started instantly, and Lizbeth heard them out but in the end she wore them
down. They reluctantly agreed there was no other way unless they wanted to show
how they came by the information. No one wanted to do that. The taint of
Jonah’s betrayal wouldn’t be his alone if the truth came out. Diandra and
Alexar would be under the microscope, and RaeLynn would grow up with that
stigma painted on her as well. She didn’t deserve to know the hard truth about
her father. Lizbeth showed Alexar to the door, already planning how to
insinuate herself into the organization the next day.

The next
morning Lizbeth woke with a skip in her step. She had all the evidence she
needed, more than she would ever have expected to clear her name, if only she
were willing to use any of it. Part of her regretted being unable to actually
use everything in her possession, but no matter- it just meant she had to be
creative. Now all she had to do was find a way to get involved with the same
criminals who brought about so much pain in her life. She’d bring them down,
she vowed, from the inside.

She left the
house an hour earlier than she usually did and showed up at the coffee shop she
knew Sergeant Miguel Rodriguez frequented every morning on his way to work. She
wore dark blue jogging pants and a plain sky blue tee shirt with black track
shoes. She normally dressed neatly and businesslike but that was not the
appearance she was going for today, nor was it one likely to inspire belief in
her story. She needed him to believe she was just getting back on her feet.

He pulled up
in his year-old silver BMW and she stepped out of the early morning shadows to
meet him. His face underwent several changes of expression when he saw her:
confusion, fear, concern, and finally the standard cop blank face. “I remember
you,” Rodriguez said. “You’re that dirty cop they busted last year.”

Lizbeth gave a
hard laugh. “Gee, that’s funny coming from one of the guys who set me up. I’ve
got the proof, but I just don’t give a damn anymore.”

“And what is
that supposed to mean?” Rodriguez asked in a dry tone.

“It means I
don’t give a rat’s ass if they bust up your operation or not. In fact, I’d
rather they didn’t. But since I was your fucking scapegoat, I think you owe me
some consideration,” Lizbeth said, stepping into his personal space.

She watched
him contemplate backing up a step, and grudgingly admired the way he resisted
the urge to do so.
“Consideration, huh?
That’d be
really funny if I knew what the fuck you were talking about. When did you get
so hardened? You never used to use language like that when you were still a cop.”

“Funny the
language you pick up on the street, Rodriguez. And you owe me for that- the
loss of my career, my apartment, and my self-worth. You own me a lot, but we’ll
start with a piece of the pie. Cut me in on this deal, give me a job to replace
the one you cost me or I’ll make sure you lose yours like I lost mine,” she
said, thoroughly enjoying the conversation. She watched him think about it,
searching for a safe response. This was a lot more amusing than she had thought
it would be. He was definitely the weak link.

“Look, Snyder,
I don’t know what the Hell you are talking about,” he started to say.

“Can the
bullshit, will you? I know the whole score, and all the players,” Lizbeth
replied, then rattled off the list of people involved. She enjoyed watching his
face pale further with each name she listed.

Rodriguez
swallowed hard. “What do you really want, huh?”

Lizbeth
smiled, pleased. “I told you. I want in. I could try to bust you all, I have
the proof to do so, but I’d much rather stick it to the people who were stupid
enough to believe all the lies. This way you are all paying me back for costing
me my job, and I’m sticking it to them by becoming guilty of what they accused
me of to begin with. I like the irony, don’t you?” Lizbeth gave a wicked laugh.

Rodriguez
blinked stupidly at her a few times, and then finally nodded. “You get one
chance. Fuck this up and they’ll never find you. Since you’re just so damned
smart, you’ll know where to meet me tonight at 9 to pick up your first
delivery.” With that he brushed past her and entered the coffee shop. She
walked down the block to where she’d left her car- no need to explain how she
had one when she should be broke- and climbed in. As she drove off she let out
a war cry, and then laughed like Hell. Getting invited in was easier than she
thought. Boy would they regret
that
later! She floored the accelerator
and rocketed home to change before work, enjoying a relief she hadn’t known in
a long time. She would bring down every single one of these bastards, and rebuild
the life they tore down. There’d be no more black cloud hanging over her head.
There’d be no more smudges on her police record. She hadn’t been guilty, and
everyone would know because these men were stupid enough to buy into her story.
The freedom of it all had her turning up the volume on the radio, rolling down
the windows in the car, and singing along at the top of her lungs. Life was
finally looking up.

“Well?”
Diandra demanded, meeting Lizbeth at the door when she returned home from work.
“What happened?”

Lizbeth smiled
as she led the way to the parlor, stopping to pick up RaeLynn who was laying in
her bassinet cooing. “It went better than I could have dreamed. I have to meet
them at 9 tonight to pick up my first delivery. I hate getting involved in this
end of things but I have no choice if we want them to ever be prosecuted.”

“What’s the
next step?” Diandra asked, reclining on the loveseat with her nightly baggie of
blood. She was in a ratty pair of sweatpants that hadn’t fit her since high
school, and a baggy sweatshirt that fit her before RaeLynn was born two months
previous.

Lizbeth looked
up from RaeLynn’s happy face to answer. “The next step is to have Alexar wire
me up before the delivery tonight. Then I catch as much information on tape as
possible, and I can take it to the District Attorney’s office tomorrow.”

“You’ll be
safe, though, right?” asked Diandra, worry evident in her voice. “Let me get a
sitter for RaeLynn and come with you. I’m a vampire now, remember? I’ve got to
have powers or something that could be useful. Isn’t that the whole point?”

Lizbeth
started to comment back, but at that moment the ivory cat made his way into the
room.

“What the Hell
is this?” Diandra asked. “When did we get a cat?” She looked puzzled a moment,
then her face cleared. “Oh, this must be the ivory cat the letter mentioned.
When did you let him in?”

“I didn’t,”
Lizbeth said. “He seems to find his way inside without anyone’s help. We really
need to start checking the windows more carefully. I’ll go put him back outside
with a can of tuna.” She moved to pick the cat up and he backed away, gave her
a distinctly disgusted look, and then darted around the corner. They looked
after the cat where he disappeared a moment before, and then a strange man
walked into the parlor.

Diandra jumped
to her feet and hissed, much like a cat herself. Her fangs protruded and she
poised to strike the man. He wore jeans faded to white in some spots, with rips
at each knee, and a black sleeveless tee shirt that showed off his well-defined
upper body. He was undeniably handsome, a muscular man who appeared to be about
30 or so, with the strangest shade of hair either woman had ever seen. It was
almost…
Ivory?
Lizbeth whispered, “Eamon?”

“It’s always
good to be recognized,” the man said with a cocky grin. “Of course, I guess
this gives me a lot more explaining to do, huh?”

“Oh yes,”
Diandra said.

Eamon
shrugged. “I figured as much. I’m kinda used to it. May I have a seat, or are
you still planning to make a meal out of me, babe?” he asked Diandra. “Of
course, since I’m a vampire, too, I’ll make a damned poor meal.”

Diandra and
Lizbeth exchanged a glance, and then Diandra nodded. “Yeah, sure, sit down.
What the Hell, why not? Nothing makes sense anymore so why should this be any
different?”

“Aw, no need
to be like that, babe,” Eamon said with an easy smile as he settled himself
comfortably in the pale pink armchair. Lizbeth and Diandra sat on the loveseat,
Lizbeth holding the now-sleeping RaeLynn in her arms.

“For starters,
Eamon or whatever your name is, do not call me babe or any other term of
endearment. Call me Diandra or Dia. Second, what is it that you want? Lastly,
what the fuck are you? You can answer the questions in any order you like, but
you’d better answer them all or I will take a chunk out of you with my teeth,
regardless of whether it’ll do much damage or not.” Diandra forced herself to
lean against the back of the loveseat and calm down enough to hear him out.
Somehow she knew he was going to say some very important things and she needed
to hear every word.

“All right,
Dia. My name is Eamon, and I’m a shape-shifting vampire. I can change into any
animal or person, as many vamps can. The reason I am here is that I’m kind of
like a tour guide to acclimate you to your new life. Each new vamp gets one.
Usually vamps are turned out of love, so their ‘creator’, so to speak, is their
guide. It is against our laws to turn someone against their will. The vamp that
breaks those laws is always punished severely.”

Lizbeth cut
him off. “Punished? Punished how?”

Eamon looked
at her very seriously. “By death, of course- true death. We are hunting your
creator, Dia, and rest assured he’ll turn no one else.”

Diandra
blinked at him.
“Jonah?
No, you can’t kill him! He’s
my husband, or was. I don’t know what tense to use. He’s RaeLynn’s father.
Please, don’t kill him.”

“The law is
the law, Dia, and he broke it, whether he knows it or not,” he said calmly.
“I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do. I am not in charge of hunting him down,
nor am I on the council. Only they can call off a hunt. He’s being hunted right
now, and for all I know it may already be over with. I am sorry.” Eamon looked
genuinely regretful, but Diandra didn’t care. She just wanted the hunt stopped.

“You need to
tell this council or whatever that he shouldn’t be punished. It wasn’t his
fault. He was being a jealous husband, and I think it was instinct, not
something he did deliberately. Please, Eamon, before we can talk further, I
need this stopped!” Diandra knew she was begging and she hated it, but she had
no choice. This was the father of her child, and her husband and lover of so
many years. She couldn’t bear the thought of him being hunted down and killed,
however that was accomplished. She knew what he'd done to her was wrong, and he
was obviously not the man she thought he was, but that didn't mean she wanted
him dead. He hurt her, and treated her in a way she'd have never expected from
him, but that contradicted everything she knew after nine years. Those years
had to count for something, and if he was murdered like this, what would she
tell RaeLynn when she was grown and asking about her father?

Eamon sighed
heavily then spoke.
“Fine.”
He closed his eyes and the
women exchanged curious glances. Just what the Hell was he doing, taking a nap?
Just as Diandra was about to try to wake him up, he opened his eyes and they
bore into her. “I passed along the message. The council is debating about it
now. There’s nothing more I can do, but they may take my advice to leave this
Jonah alone. I never stick my nose into council business so they will at least
take me seriously. Now, may I continue?”

“You mean you
just had a conversation with some council without leaving my parlor?” Diandra
was skeptical.

Eamon glared
at her. “I’m not lying, and I’m not making up a story to waste your time.” At
Diandra’s look of surprise his glare turned into a grin. “Oh yes, I can read
minds. I have very strong mind skills, including insinuating myself into
other’s heads long distance to hold conversations. It comes in handy, as you
now see.”

Diandra
blushed as much as her low body temperature would allow. “I am sorry, it’s
just…”

He cut her
off. “I understand- now, to resume where I left off. Since you were turned
against your will, the council has appointed me to be your guide. That means
watching out for you in the beginning as well as providing you with blood
baggies until you make your own connections. It also means helping you figure
out what powers you may have gained from your change, as well as teaching you
the rules.”