Out of the Night (Harlequin Nocturne) (8 page)

“Have you heard anything about the Nefari enlisting humans to work for them during daylight hours?”

“Humans? What kind of crazy person would do that?”

“Maybe ones who like the looks of the money involved, no matter where it’s coming from.”

“No, haven’t heard anything. Sounds like just a rumor to me.”

“Rico, you paint yourself as a man in the know. I can’t believe you’ve heard nothing.”

“I’ve been a little busy with other things.”

“The female I heard.”

“Used to be a yoga instructor. Very limber.”

“Classy.”

“Don’t get me wrong, man. I love her. I just appreciate her abilities, too.”

“Love? Did you cross someone one too many times and they dropped you on your head?”

“Now who’s being classy? Man, forever’s a long damn time to be alone, don’t ya think?”

What the hell was going on? First he couldn’t stop thinking about a human woman who was off-limits to him. Now his informant was going all lovey-dovey. The world was surely coming to a vile and bitter end.

“Listen, just keep your ear to the ground, okay? It’s very important we know immediately if you hear anything, anything at all, about the Nefari using humans to abduct other humans.”

“You think they’re doing that to get past the only two defenses humans have?”

“I hope not, but there’s chatter. And if it’s true, daylight and buildings will no longer help humans.”

“They’ll be sitting ducks.” Rico drew in a deep breath he didn’t need. He could no longer be part of the living crime families, and the Nefari wouldn’t accept him because he had a soul. The only reason he hadn’t been taken out was because he’d saved the life of one of the Nefari’s big bosses. They allowed him to coexist in the same section of Little Italy because they didn’t consider him a threat. Little did they know he’d been an informant even when he’d been alive.

He’d reached out to the NYPD, to Campbell, after seeing his higher-ups wipe out an innocent family because the father refused to pay protection money. Because of Rico, who was never going to be the guy you suspected of ratting you out, the NYPD had put away half a dozen mobsters for all manner of crimes. By tapping him in this instance, Campbell hoped that good fortune would continue and they could wipe up this using-humans-as-fetchers mess before it got out of hand.

“I’ll let you know if I hear anything,” Rico finally said.

“Thanks.”

Just as Campbell disconnected the call, someone knocked loudly on his door.

“Hey, man,” Travis said through the door. “Got something you’re gonna want to look at.”

Campbell stood, determined to flood his mind with work so he’d stop imagining greasy humans snatching Olivia and dragging her off where he’d never see her again.

He shook his head and tried to convince himself that it didn’t matter if he never saw her again as long as she was safe, from vampires and her own kind alike.

“Be right there.” He made the mistake of closing his eyes for a moment, and a vision of Olivia immediately materialized against his eyelids, her hair dancing in the breeze and sunlight glinting off those golden waves. He had to forcibly yank himself from that daydream and head out into the work area.

“Find something new?” he asked, in command.

Travis slid behind his desk. It was loaded with two computers and four monitors and all kinds of other high-tech gizmos Campbell couldn’t even begin to name. Travis had garnered the nickname Wizard not because he looked a thing like Gandalf or Harry Potter but rather because the dude could do magic with computers. It was hard to believe he’d been a stockbroker instead of some tech wonder boy out in Silicon Valley.

“I was checking security cameras around the city and spotted this from a couple of hours ago.” Travis pulled up a video recording and pointed at the screen. “Watch this building here.”

It looked like the back entrance to a high-rise apartment building. After a few seconds a van with Dan’s Carpets written on the side pulled into the parking lot close to the large garbage bin. Travis hit a button to skip ahead a couple of minutes to when a woman carrying a garbage bag stepped out the door.

Campbell realized whoever was in the carpet van hadn’t gotten out. Just as the woman tossed her garbage into the bin, the van’s sliding side door opened behind her. Before she could scream, a masked man clamped his hand over her mouth and dragged her backward into the van. The door slid closed before a total of five seconds had elapsed.

“Think that’s our guys?” Colin asked from where he stood with his arm propped on top of one of Travis’s four-drawer filing cabinets.

“I’d be willing to bet a week’s supply of blood on it. The abductee is Jennifer Watson.” Travis looked up at Campbell. “She’s on the list and type AB negative. They all are. We hadn’t been able to reach her to tell her about the danger.”

The muscles in Campbell’s crossed arms bunched. “They’ve taken her for a blood slave.”

Travis nodded. “She’ll bring top dollar. All of them will if the slavers get their hands on them.”

What happened to the days when picking up the odd human who wandered out at night had satisfied the blood slavers?

Campbell pointed at the computer monitor. “Find out everything you can about Dan’s Carpets and Jennifer Watson. I want these guys stopped, and stopped yesterday.”

He had to put an end to this newest threat before the trail to AB-negative humans led them to Olivia’s front door. And if they even attempted to touch her, he would rip them apart limb by limb and not be the least bit sorry about it.

Chapter 7

O
livia tied the garbage bag as she glanced toward where Mindy was adding up the receipts for the day and reconciling it with the cash and credit card slips. “Go on home,” she said. “I can finish that up.”

Mindy gave her a suspicious look. “I do this every day.”

“After everything that’s happened, I’m a little jumpy. I want to make sure you get home before sunset.”

Mindy returned her attention to her work. “I’m almost done.”

Truth was that Olivia wanted to be alone. Well, no, that wasn’t exactly true. The idea of being here alone when kidnappers might break in at any moment frightened her near senseless, but trying to ignore all the looks Mindy had been shooting her all day was exhausting. She’d felt as if she had to play at normal when her life felt as if it had left normal far in the rearview mirror.

She picked up the trash bag and headed for the back door. She stopped halfway there, overrun with a not totally irrational fear of stepping foot outside despite blue skies and plenty of sunshine left in the day.

“Olivia, what’s wrong?”

Olivia dropped the bag and leaned against the center worktable. “Don’t get mad. Just listen.”

Mindy’s expression hardened, but she stayed quiet.

“I’ve talked to Campbell more than once. He was who called this morning.”

Mindy cursed and took a couple of angry steps to her right.

Olivia pressed on. “He told me something you need to know.”

“I doubt he has anything to say I want to hear.”

“He said his team had heard that something called the Nefari—I can’t believe I’m saying this—the vampire Mafia, has employed humans to work for them during daylight hours.”

Mindy jerked, startled. “Humans? Working for vampires? That seems unlikely.”

“Is it? Think back to before we knew vampires existed. There were always people who would do anything for money. Maybe they’re even doing it for guaranteed protection.”

Mindy paced across the room and then back. Her face was scrunched up as if she was thinking hard.

“I wondered the same thing, you know,” Olivia said.

Mindy stopped pacing and met her gaze. “What?”

“If he had some ulterior motive for telling me that, but I can’t think of a single reason it would benefit him.”

“Maybe scare you so you trust him more?”

“Scare me into staying inside? That doesn’t exactly put me within his grasp.”

Mindy seemed genuinely stumped, and she wasn’t happy to be left without a quick vampires-are-evil answer.

“Trust me. This doesn’t make any sense to me either, especially after seeing what vampires can do up close and way too personal. Either he and his team are different or I’m the world’s biggest fool.”

“I’m leaning toward the latter,” Mindy said. She stood silently in the middle of the kitchen for several seconds, biting her lip as if debating with herself. “What did he say these humans were doing? Stealing from blood banks or something?”

Olivia eyed the back door again and imagined replacing it with a metal blast door that would keep out a nuclear bomb, not to mention people with a nefarious purpose.

“They think they’re kidnapping people for blood slaves.”

Mindy cursed again then eyed the door with as much suspicion as Olivia had. “Bastards.” She returned her attention to Olivia. “What else did he say?”

“That his team discovered a list of names of people the slavers are evidently after.” She swallowed, trying to keep a new wave of fear at bay. “I’m on it.”

“No.” Mindy sounded pained by that revelation. It was the first time since Olivia had revealed her attraction to Campbell that Mindy had shown her anything other than anger and disbelief.

“He asked if I had a gun.”

Mindy stared at Olivia for a few seconds before slowly shaking her head. “I feel as if the world just got turned upside down again.”

“Welcome to my past twenty-four hours.” Olivia glanced out the front window. “You really better get going.”

“The hell with that. I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying here tonight. If bad dudes show up, two chicks with weapons are better than one.” She stared hard at Olivia. “And I’m not comfortable leaving you alone when you’re not thinking clearly.”

Olivia didn’t even bother to argue. Once Mindy made up her mind about something, there was no changing it. Plus, she was right.

They were both single and lived alone with no other family in the city. That made them easier targets. And if Olivia’s name was on a list for her neighborhood, Mindy’s might very well be on one for hers.

After they finished all the closing tasks and locked up for the night, checking both doors about three times each, they headed upstairs.

When they reached Olivia’s apartment, an odd awkwardness settled between them. Mindy looked around the main room, antsy and appearing as if she wished she were somewhere else. But it was too late now.

“What do you want to do?” Mindy asked.

“Honestly, I want to take a long hot soak in the tub. I’m feeling every one of my bruises tenfold.”

Mindy waved toward the bathroom. “Go on. I’ll scrounge up something to eat. I’m in the mood for something with no nutritional value whatsoever.”

Olivia sighed. “Man, I miss just ordering pizza or Chinese food.”

“Yeah, the filthy vamps robbed us of a lot of stuff.”

Olivia sighed, unsure whether she could handle Mindy’s attitude all night. Her friend was entitled to her opinion, but Olivia was tired and confused and wanted to sleep for a week. She headed for the bubble bath that was calling her name.

When she sank into the tub of warm water, it was nothing short of heavenly. She didn’t read as she thought she might, instead laying her head back and closing her eyes. As the warmth soaked through her, relieving her aches and pains, she drifted into a state of semiconsciousness. Her thoughts drifted, as well, and ended up settling on one Campbell Raines, all six-plus muscular feet of him.

Somehow her mind knew this wasn’t real and so it was safe to go where she wanted. He stood in the middle of her living room, and she stared at him in confusion.

“How did you get in here?” she asked.

“You invited me in, remember?”

“I did?”

“Yes, Olivia. You wanted me here, where I could touch you.”

“Bite me?”

“Only if you want me to.”

Did she want that? No, of course not. But something else? She walked closer and looked up at his handsome face. Yes, she definitely wanted something else. “Kiss me.”

He smiled and she was glad to see his fangs were safely tucked away. His mouth lowered toward hers, and her heart rate picked up in anticipation of the feel of his lips on hers. When their lips met, her entire body started to vibrate with need, with wanting him. He seemed to feel the same, and the kiss deepened. Why hadn’t she invited him in sooner? Why had she been so afraid?

She was so caught up in the kiss that she didn’t notice the change in him at first. A low growl, an animal sound, had started in his throat. Fear leaped inside her and she tried to push away. He didn’t let her.

“Campbell, let me go.” She pushed at his chest, but it was no use.

“Never,” he growled next to her ear. He pulled back enough for her to see his fully descended fangs a moment before he plunged them into her neck.

Olivia gasped and sat up so quickly she sloshed water over the side of the tub. Her heart was beating so fast she wondered if it would ever slow.

“Liv, you okay?” Mindy asked from the other side of the bathroom door.

Olivia stared at the door for a few seconds as reality fell a little more into place. She was fine. She hadn’t invited any vampires into her home. She lifted her hand to her neck and found it free from puncture marks.

“Yeah, fine. I just drifted off.”

“Well, don’t drown yourself. I can’t eat all this food by myself.”

Olivia smiled a little, thankful her friend sounded a bit more like herself. No doubt she’d pulled out every bit of junk food in the apartment and made a smorgasbord of it. When Mindy was working out a problem, she fueled her brain with chips, dip and snack cakes—enough salt and sugar to freak out every cardiologist in Manhattan.

“I’ll be out in a minute.”

When she heard Mindy walk away from the door, Olivia sank back into the cooling water for a moment to let the rest of her scrambled thoughts sort themselves out between reality and dream. And then between the parts of the dream she liked and the part that was pure terror. Maybe it was her subconscious reminding her that no matter how nice Campbell seemed, no matter how attractive, he was still basically a killing machine.

But that kiss. She had no idea if that was how it would really feel, but it made for a mighty fine dream kiss. She lifted her hand out of the water and touched her lips, realized just how much she missed being held, being made to feel desirable and loved.

“Oh, Jeremy,” she whispered. “Why did you have to leave me?”

She pushed thoughts of Jeremy and Campbell away as she got out of the tub, toweled off and put on her most comfortable cotton pajamas. If the bath didn’t set her troubled mind at ease, maybe a night of TV and junk food would do the trick. She walked out to find Mindy had baked a sausage pizza and some mozzarella cheese sticks, held a bag of barbecue potato chips in her hands and by the smell of things had a pan of brownies in the oven.

“How long was I in there?” Olivia asked.

Mindy shrugged. “Awhile.”

Olivia swiped a slice of pizza and a soda and headed for the couch. The buzzer went off on the stove, sending Mindy toward the kitchen to retrieve the brownies.

“Turn on something,” Mindy said. “It’s too damn quiet in here.”

Olivia flipped channels until she found
Leap Year
just starting, then sat back to enjoy her pizza. It was so good to have something escapist to watch again instead of the nonstop news coverage during the virus outbreak and the revelation of the vampire threat. Worse had been when so many media people died that TV broadcasts were intermittent. Gradually, on-air time had returned to a normal schedule with something other than all gloom all the time.

Mindy slid the pan of wonderful-smelling brownies onto the coffee table and sat down with her own plate of pizza.

They ate in what could only be called a tense silence. Olivia cursed herself for revealing anything about Campbell and ruining the friendly ease between her and Mindy.

“You didn’t have to babysit me tonight,” Olivia said.

“You’re in danger and already injured. Of course I had to stay.”

“
Had
to?”

“You know what I mean.”

Olivia was afraid she did. She’d committed the one unforgivable sin—thinking anything remotely positive about a vampire.

Mindy motioned toward Olivia’s ankle. “How’s it feeling?”

“Better.”

They fell into silence again and watched some more of the movie. Olivia set her plate on the coffee table, her appetite gone. She stopped paying attention to the movie even though it was one of her favorites. Instead she started thinking about how to protect herself against the latest threat. “Min, when my ankle heals, will you teach me self-defense?”

Mindy had taken karate, Tae Kwon Do, kickboxing and who knew how many other classes meant to ensure she was never an easy target. She nodded. “Good idea, on one condition.”

“What?”

Mindy turned toward her and met her gaze. “You promise me you’ll never talk to this vampire again.”

Olivia hesitated a moment but realized this was for the best—for her relationship with her best friend, not to mention her own safety and sanity. She nodded. “I promise.” Why did those words feel wrong?

“One other thing.”

“What?”

“Find someone to date, someone with a heartbeat.”

Olivia shook her head. “I’m too busy for a relationship. I have the restaurant to run, and I’ve got to figure out a way to start delivering meals again.”

“If you’ve got time to talk to a vampire on the phone, you’ve got time for a relationship.”

“I don’t think I’m ready.”

“It’s been two years. You know I loved Jeremy, but he’s gone. And if the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that we don’t know how much time we have.”

“We never knew that.”

“No, but doesn’t the distant possibility of heart disease or being hit by a crazy-ass cabdriver seem so minor now compared to global pandemics and vampires?”

She had a very good point. Still, it was a huge step to move from being in mourning to trying to find romantic happiness again. She wasn’t sure she was ready or able to take it.

“Well, I obviously have time to think about it with no viable prospects on the horizon. And what about you? I don’t see you pairing up.”

“Oh, honey, I’ve been looking. Just haven’t found the right guy yet.”

“And what would Mr. Right look like to you?”

“I’ll know when I see him.” Mindy sounded surprisingly serious in her answer.

The phone rang, startling Olivia and causing Mindy’s jaw to tense. Olivia forced herself not to say anything as Mindy answered.

“No. This is Mindy, her best friend. Who is this?”

Olivia knew it was Campbell even without hearing his voice.

“She doesn’t want to talk to you, so don’t ever call back. And if you show up here, I will find a way to stake your ass deader than dead.” Mindy slammed down the phone. “There, that takes care of your vampire-caller problem.”

Olivia forced herself to nod and return her attention to the movie. She tried not to focus on how much she wanted to call Campbell back and apologize. This was for the best. Then why didn’t it feel like it?