Secrets in the Shadows (3 page)

Wishing he had a little more time to plan his strategy, he hurried back to his bedroom to continue packing.

***

Hannah Moore’s office always seemed huge and empty, now that she was going it on her own. She’d donated Carolyn’s desk to charity so she wouldn’t have to be reminded daily that her former business partner had moved on to a bizarre new career as a vampire hunter. Hannah wondered if she ought to go looking for another partner, but she wasn’t sure she could stand working with anyone other than Carolyn. She chuckled to herself as she unlocked the door and flipped the light on. Okay, so maybe it was more of a problem that no one else could stand working with her.

Her first task of the morning—as always—was to start a big pot of coffee, of which she would drink way too many cups before the morning was even halfway past. She inhaled the rich, heady scent of the freshly ground coffee as she scooped it into the basket. Then she pushed the Brew button and waited impatiently for the carafe to fill.

“Extra strength, as usual?” a voice asked from behind her.

A little shriek of surprise escaped her as she whirled around to see Carolyn standing in the doorway. Hannah put a hand to her heart and glared at her best friend.

“Geez, Carolyn! You’ve been hanging around with Dracula too long. Don’t you know better than to sneak up on someone?” Hannah hated just about everything about vampires, but that quiet, sneaky way they moved was at the top of the list.

“I thought we had an agreement that you weren’t going to call Gray Dracula anymore. Or Vlad.”

Hannah sniffed and pushed her new glasses—damn, she hated those things!—back up her nose. “I forgot. So sue me.” There was a mug’s worth of coffee in the bottom of the carafe, so she stuck her mug in the stream and poured, sticking the carafe back on the warmer with only a few drops spilled. “Wanna cup?”

“No thanks,” Carolyn said, holding up her hand. “It’s too close to bedtime.”

“Ah, so this is still yesterday for you.” Doing daytime investigation work for the Guardians while spending quality time with Gray at night, Carolyn had adopted a bizarre sleep schedule that Hannah still hadn’t quite figured out.

“Something like that,” her friend laughed, taking a seat on the couch that served as a waiting room.

Cupping her hands around her coffee mug, Hannah joined her. And that was when she got a good look at the side of her face. Hannah thunked her mug down on the coffee table, heedless of the coffee that spilled over the edge and dampened the Sports Illustrated beneath it.

“If Gray did that to you, there’s nowhere on this earth he can run that I won’t find him.” She hadn’t liked Gray when he was mortal—in her opinion, he’d been way too much of a stickin-the-mud for Carolyn—and she didn’t like him any better as a vampire. He wasn’t a stickin-the-mud anymore, but he’d morphed into a testosterone-laden alpha male. The kind of guy who was guaranteed to rub Hannah the wrong way.

Carolyn waved off her concern. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t Gray.”

“Then who was it?”

“Don’t worry about it, Hannah. That’s not what I’m here to talk about.”

Hannah bit her tongue. She’d always felt this overwhelming urge to protect her friend, but she was trying to learn to back off. There was something about Carolyn’s petiteness, her fragile, china-doll looks that made Hannah want to mother her. Only Carolyn didn’t need mothering. Despite her delicate looks, she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. And now that Gray was back in her life, filling the great emotional void he’d left when he’d jilted her … Hannah had to admit she kind of missed being needed.

She picked up her coffee cup, ignoring the drips that ran down its side, and took a gratifying sip. From the seriousness of Carolyn’s expression, she guessed she’d need the caffeine. “So, what’s going on? Another vamp invasion?” Usually, Hannah resisted asking about Carolyn’s vampire-hunting job. When at all possible, she’d rather pretend that vampires were just a myth. Hey, what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her, right?

“No, nothing like that.” Carolyn rubbed her hands together in a gesture that looked suspiciously nervous.

Uh-oh. This didn’t look good at all. “Come on, honey. Out with it.” She couldn’t help harboring a secret hope that Carolyn had decided to dump Gray. And all the rest of the Guardians, for that matter. Yes, Gray undeniably made her happy, and Hannah was correspondingly happy for her. But unlike Carolyn, who was living very much in the now, Hannah couldn’t help peeking into the future.

What would happen when Carolyn aged, and Gray didn’t? Gray had broken her heart once—would he do it again?

“Okay,” Carolyn said. “This is going to sound kind of weird.”

Hannah groaned. “Man, if you think it’s weird, I’m in big trouble!”

Her friend grinned at that. “You’ve got a point there. But seriously. It’s about Jules.”

Definitely not something Hannah’d been expecting. “Jules? You mean Mr. I’m-prettier-than-you-are?”

Carolyn stifled a laugh. “You know anyone else named Jules? Yes, him.”

Hannah hadn’t set eyes on any vamp but Gray since last year’s excitement. And that was just the way she wanted things. Actually, if she could have skipped Gray, too, life would have been just about perfect. “So, what about him? Did he break a nail?”

“Hannah,” Carolyn said reproachfully.

“Hey, I can’t help it. First impressions die hard.” And Jules made quite a first impression! His wardrobe must cost more than the gross national product of several small countries. And he probably spent hours in front of a mirror to get his hair just so—the casually wind-blown look that he no doubt thought was sexy.

Okay, so maybe it was kinda sexy, but his obvious pride in his appearance ruined the effect.

“Okay, go on. What about Jules?”

Carolyn bit her lip. “I think he’s in trouble.”

Frowning, Hannah listened as Carolyn told her about the outburst at Eli’s. She had to admit, she kind of agreed with Jules. There was something downright wrong about letting this Squires guy just keep killing people with impunity. Still, it wasn’t like there was anything anyone could do about it if the Great and Powerful Oz put his foot down.

“Okay, so Jules is going off the deep end. So what?”

“So I think he’s going to run off to Baltimore after this guy without Eli’s permission.”

“I repeat, so what?”

Carolyn wouldn’t meet her eyes. Yet another bad sign. “So you can imagine what kind of trouble a vampire could get himself into in a strange city. He won’t have a house to spend the day in, and hotels are dangerous places.”

“Let me get this straight—the guy’s going down to Baltimore to try to kill a vampire who’s stronger than he is, and you’re worried about him staying in a hotel?”

Carolyn’s lips twitched into a smile that swiftly faded. “I think he’s going to get himself killed. Eli thinks it’s some kind of trap and I tend to agree.” She met Hannah’s gaze. “We can’t afford to lose him, Hannah. He’s the oldest, most powerful Guardian.”

“Except for that Drake guy, right? The serial Killer with a heart of gold?”

Carolyn acknowledged that with a slight nod. “Drake’s great, but …” She shrugged. “The Guardians work with him because Eli says they have to. They’ll never fully accept him. We need Jules.”

Hannah narrowed her eyes at her friend. “Okay. Let’s say you’re right. Why are you telling me?” But she already had a damn good idea, and Carolyn’s sheepish grin confirmed it. “So, you’d like me to dump all the cases I’m working on right now and follow Jules to Baltimore. And do what, exactly?”

“Keep him safe during the day when he’s completely helpless. And if you could talk sense into him, that would be great.” Carolyn grinned. “Though somehow, I don’t think that’s happening.

“I’ll pay your retainer, of course. I’d go myself, but I don’t think Gray would quite understand. And I think Eli might understand even less.”

Hannah had never met the founder of the Guardians, and she profoundly hoped to keep it that way. He sounded like a real weirdo. The guy was some kind of über-vamp, but he refused to leave his house even when people were getting killed right and left and he might have been able to stop it. She was less than impressed with him, no matter how much Carolyn and Gray seemed to revere him.

“He’s not the kind of guy I want to piss off,” Carolyn concluded. “No other Guardian would dare go with Jules now, but going down there alone is incredibly foolish.”

“So why don’t you just tell Yoda what you think is up? He can lock Jules in his room or something.”

But Carolyn shook her head, not even cracking a smile at the Yoda reference. “I’d feel like the worst kind of tattletale doing that.”

“And telling me doesn’t count as tattling.”

“Right. It’s up to you, Hannah. I know you don’t want anything to do with the Guardians, and I know you didn’t like Jules much. I won’t hold it against you if you don’t want to do this.” Her features turned stern. “And I will hold it against you if you decide to go down there and give Jules more than just a little daytime logistical support.”

With a sigh, Hannah leaned back into the cushions of the couch, sipping at her coffee. Why should she stick her neck out for Jules? She barely knew the guy, and like Carolyn said, she wasn’t exactly fond of him. She had a full case load at the moment, though admittedly nothing that couldn’t wait.

It was Carolyn who got her jollies fighting the good fight, making the world safe for truth, justice, and the American way, or whatever. Hannah was happy in her own little corner of the world, hunting down deadbeat dads and photographing cheating husbands.

“I’ll think about it,” she said.

Carolyn smiled at her. “That’s all I could ask for.”

But Hannah had a pretty good idea Carolyn was hoping for more. Worse, she had a pretty good idea she was going to get it.

Drake wasn’t surprised when Eli asked him to stay after the meeting adjourned. When Jules had failed to put in an appearance, he’d known there would be trouble. Eli had waited until all reasonable hope that Jules would show up was gone, then started the meeting without comment. No doubt everyone in the room had reached the same conclusion—the damn fool was on his way to Baltimore to get himself killed.

When the last of the Guardians left the room, Drake sat on the couch facing Eli, waiting for the Founder to speak. But Eli just looked at him, an assessing gaze that made Drake want to crawl under the sofa and hide. He fought his instinctive reaction and scowled.

“Stop looking at me like that!” he said.

Eli blinked, and the penetrating stare turned into a slight smile. “Like what?”

Like you’re trying to peal the flesh away and get a peek at my soul, he thought, but refrained from saying. “You know damn well what I mean. If you want to know something, just come straight out and ask me.” Unlike the true Guardians, Drake refused to let Eli intimidate him. He’d known Eli too long, and understood him far better than anyone else. Not that that was saying much.

“I need you to go to Baltimore,” Eli said.

Drake nodded. “Yeah, I kind of figured that’s what you had in mind.”

“You have to bring Jules back.”

Drake met the Founder’s steady gaze. “Why?”

“He has no idea what he’s walking into.”

It was Drake’s turn for the long, hard stare, but Eli seemed disinclined to volunteer any more information. “And you do?”

Eli’s chin tilted down in the slightest of nods. “The task he’s set himself is beyond him.”

Drake mulled that over. When he wanted to, Eli could wipe even the faintest trace of emotion—or humanity—from his expression. He was doing it now, his eyes strangely blank, all the muscles of his face immobilized. Even Drake found that look unnerving, and despite his assertion that he wasn’t intimidated by Eli, it was hard to push words out of his throat. He forced himself to speak anyway.

“What’s going on, Eli? You have to give me a little more to go on.”

“It’s very simple. I want you to bring Jules back. As soon as possible.”

Eli made a habit of being close-mouthed, but this was an extreme even for him. “So it’s okay for me to have no idea what I’m walking into, but it’s not okay for Jules? Is that what you’re telling me?”

Eli visibly debated with himself before speaking again. “My intention—and my hope—is that you bring him back before any trouble starts.”

In other words, Eli wasn’t going to give Drake even a hint of what was happening in Baltimore and why he was so eager to save Jules from his own idiocy. “Not enough info, Eli.” Drake was in a unique position amongst the Guardians in that they needed him more than he needed them. Considerably more. Which gave him a strong enough bargaining position to say no when he wanted to.

The temperature in the room dropped, and Eli’s face no longer wore that disturbingly impassive expression. “Once upon a time, people respected me enough to take things on faith.”

It was true that before last year’s troubles, the Guardians—and even Drake himself—had followed Eli’s orders with barely a question. But things had changed. Eli no longer seemed infallible, and that necessarily weakened his authority.

Drake chose his words carefully. “I respect you a great deal, or I wouldn’t be here. I know you have secrets.” He allowed himself a faint smile. “I might even know what some of them are, and I’m not about to share them with anyone. But you’re asking me to do something that my every instinct tells me is dangerous, and I’m sorry, Eli, but I’m not walking blindly into it.”

With an irritable grunt, Eli rose from his chair and turned to face the fire. For long minutes, he stood silently watching the flames while Drake waited for him to speak. No doubt the Founder was trying to decide how much to tell. Drake wished Eli would trust him enough to tell him the whole truth, rather than calculating what was the least amount of information he could reveal while still getting his way.

Finally, Eli turned to face him once more, shaking his head. “I can’t afford to have Jules kill Ian Squires.” He returned to his seat, his expression grim. “He’s more likely to get himself killed than actually succeed in his quest, but I can’t take any chances.”