United Service (6 page)

His father stood at the top of the stairs. “Sterling, the door chimes told me you had come home.” He studied his son as though sizing up Sterling’s physical condition. “You seem better.”

The aroma of alcohol and sex covered Sterling, and it was obvious to him that his father noticed. “I’m much better. Thank you for asking,” he said as he walked to the top of the stairs. “The security chime woke you?”

“The noise woke up one of the dogs, and the dogs woke us up,” his father explained. When Alex had moved in with his father, she brought the dogs with her. And while Sterling liked them, even enjoyed petting them, he would rather they not rat him out to his father as he snuck into the house.

“A wife would be someone you could share your life with, someone to ease your pain.”

Sterling rolled his eyes. “I’ve heard it before. I’ll put ‘get a wife’ on my list of things to do this week. Right now I need some sleep.”

“We need to talk about this problem right now,” his father insisted. “I’ve tried to talk with you about this before, but half the time you don’t even listen to me. When you’re sick, especially like tonight, I am reminded of how much a wife could help.”

Sterling’s lips pursed, and he nodded in agreement. “I understand. My skin issues and headaches are …”

“Are no excuse for sleeping with any human you can compel into your bed,” Raymond cut in. “We can ask the Council again and see if they will grant you an arranged marriage.”

A scowl crossed Sterling’s face as he glared at his father. “I’d rather not go through the humiliation again. They don’t want me. Nobody does.”

Through gritted teeth, Raymond pressed, “Nobody wants to marry someone who has sullied themselves the way you have. Prostitute after prostitute … you’re lucky you can no longer get diseases.”

Sterling looked away from his father. The man had always assumed the worst, and so be it. “Yeah, that’s me. A sick lowlife.” He cleared his throat. “Now I really do need to get some sleep.”

In a softer tone, his father confided, “Son, you work so hard. I’m so proud of the service you do, but your ability comes at a price. I love you too much for you miss the joys a wife and a family can bring you.”

Sterling reached for his door handle. “Love for me will never happen, and you know it.”

“Then find a nice human and I can turn her for you!”

“I’m tired.” Sterling entered his bedroom and shut the door on Raymond and the lecture.

Once safely behind the closed door, he heard his father go into his own bedroom. He could hear Raymond and his wife talking. The idea of cuddling up with someone who loved him appealed to Sterling. He longed to talk intimately with a lover into the wee hours of the morning. It was something he had never experienced. Of course, all the women he ever spent time with were of the same caliber as the woman tonight. He didn’t want a woman like that to share his life with, but that was all he attracted or deserved from the fairer sex.

After a quick shower, he climbed into his king–sized bed. It was big and roomy with plenty of space for him, a wife and a couple of kids who could crawl into bed after having a nightmare. But there were no kids and no wife in his future. The human women he attracted were not family material.

He lay in the bed alone as the sounds from his father’s room turned from talking to lovemaking.
“God, they’re like rabbits,”
he thought.
“We need to soundproof this house.”
He grabbed a pillow and held the muffler to his ears as he did his best to fall asleep.

When Sterling entered the room, he noticed his father, Raymond, seated in the command center of Fang Manor with his wife, Alex, the retiring Colony Director, Dixon, and his replacement, Brandon. Sterling took a chair opposite of his father’s across the round conference room table. Setting his coffee mug down on the wood finish, he plopped down into the plush leather seat as though hung over from last night’s festivities.

“You feeling all right?” his father asked, tossing him a coaster. Sterling only huffed as he ignored the cork disk and looked up at the information displayed on the smart wall. The team usually held weekly meetings, but sometimes, when warranted, daily meetings were not unheard of. No matter the frequency, Sterling hated these gatherings. He always found his father to be thorough as the head of the Colony and the material he presented. What Sterling hated was always being assigned the simplest tasks. And, at some point during the meeting, he would be pointed out as the weak link in the chain. What hurt more than always being reminded of that fact, was that he knew it was true.

He sighed and began reading the information. On the computerized wall were the query results of abducted and missing children, each cross–referenced with a vampire family line database.

“The Miller and Cochran families, each have reported children missing within the last few days. We know the kidnappings are related because of a calling card that was left behind.” Raymond tapped the keyboard and brought up another image on the smart wall. “This dagger, left by a group calling themselves The Hands of God, was left at each of the crime scenes.” Switching the screen to a picture of Lenora Miller, he added, “The attack was at night, the mother killed, and the boy, Stephen, was kidnapped.” Bringing up a picture of the Cochran family, he explained, “The attack on the Cochran household did not occur at their home, or at night. The girl, Tiffany, was taken from a nearby park while her nanny was watching her.”

“Do the authorities suspect the nanny?” Brandon asked.

“She’s a person of interest,” Raymond answered. “She gave her reports to local police and FBI agents, but the testimony means nothing. She’s a vamp, and she could compel them to believe anything she wanted.”

“So, she’s not in custody,” Alex said, more of a statement than a question.

Sterling took a sip of his coffee and then set the hot mug down on the bare wood. “She had the opportunity. Is there a picture of this nanny?”

Raymond shook his head. “No. And, what is odd, is she’s a vampire. We’re not sure if the kidnappers were human or not, but if they were, she could have overpowered them. For some reason she chose not to do so. According to the police report she ran after the car, but tripped.”

“Yeah, right,” Sterling said suspiciously.

“Plus,” Raymond continued, “they couldn’t hold her for more than 24 hours, but she probably had them release her after 10 minutes. Something else that’s odd,” he said, looking around the group, “is the Miller attack seemed organized. My gut is telling me the Cochran one was one of opportunity. Whatever the case, the kidnappers changed their modus operandi. Perhaps it was different circumstances, perhaps the nanny is working for the kidnappers, or maybe it could be because of the Cochran’s home security system. They’re rather wealthy, with servants, and have a home security system that is state of the art. Whatever the case, the dagger was left in Mr. Cochran’s office, stabbed into his leather chair. He wasn’t at work that day.”

“Does anything put the Nanny in the office during the time the dagger was left there?” asked Dixon.

“No. She said she was home alone, with no alibi. The nanny’s fingerprints were all over his office, but during school hours she works as a personal assistant to both of the parents. This includes running errands to Mr. Cochran’s office when needed.”

“So the kidnappers went back after they already had the girl,” Dixon murmured.

“They needed something. The girl wasn’t all they wanted,” Sterling interjected.

“Exactly.” Raymond shuffled some paperwork on the desk. “The police report indicates some personal computer files were accessed, but nothing related to his company. Mr. Cochran also said his address book was taken.”

“What about an address book for the Millers?” asked Alex. “Was one found in the house?”

Raymond shook his head. “No. But that doesn’t mean there was one.”

The door to the office opened, and Sulie entered the room. “Sorry I’m late. I was checking on some lab results.”

Brandon looked across at the others at the table. “So why target these two children? What is the connection?”

“Both families denied any connection, but their bank accounts tell the story,” Sulie said. “Evidently, Mr. Cochran has a problem keeping his pants on – he is the father of Lenora Miller’s son, Stephen. Each month an allowance was withdrawn from his personal account and deposited into Lenora’s account.”

“That doesn’t mean Mr. Cochran is the boy’s father,” Alex suggested.

“Oh, the money just tipped me off about the connection. The lab work I was just checking on involved DNA testing. He’s the father,” Sulie explained.

“Perhaps his philandering ways explain why the nanny’s fingerprints were all over his office,” Dixon suggested.

“Maybe.” Raymond rubbed the palm of his hand across his chin, and sat back in his chair. “I studied the phone records and email accounts. No personal communication existed between the boy and his father, or to Lenora for that matter. Mr. Cochran’s personal date book showed no visits with his son.”

“At least he took financial responsibility,” Sterling said.

Raymond typed away on the keyboard. He read the screen output to the group. “Mr. and Mrs. Cochran have a thirty–seven year old son, and he is listed on his father’s family line. Their daughter, Tiffany, is listed on her mother’s family line.” He tapped the keyboard slightly with his fingertips. “That isn’t too surprising … a second child would never be listed on the family line.” He clicked on the keys once again. “Lenora Miller is a turned vampire, so her two children both have a spot on her family line.”

“I already checked. Stephen’s birth certificate does not list his father,” Sulie offered.

“Mrs. Cochran couldn’t have been too happy about the child support they had to pay for Stephen. Second children usually don’t get such consideration,” Raymond commented.

“Yes, and it was a sizable consideration each month,” Sulie added.

As an arguing point, Dixon threw out, “So maybe Mrs. Cochran decided to stop the payments, so she killed Lenora.”

“Doubtful,” said Sulie. “The payments go back easily a decade. Why wait ten years?”

“Maybe she only now found out,” Alex guessed.

“No. The situation wouldn’t make sense seeing how Tiffany was also targeted.” Raymond shook his head.

Brandon, who had recently accepted his new position with the group, raised his hand, like a kid awaiting notice from a teacher. “I don’t understand this family line. What exactly is it, and why is more than one kid bad?”

Raymond frowned. “It’s not information we usually share with humans, but it does seem important to the case. Vampires register their family lines with the Vampire Council – let’s just say, our ruling body of government. Registered families have access to blood banks, to social considerations, such as arranged marriages, and other niceties. Family lines keep our numbers low by allowing each vampire to place only one child directly onto it. It’s like a never branching family tree. Over centuries family lines gain money and prestige, especially if strategically arranged marriages have been involved.”

“Money and power. I guess poverty would suck if you live forever,” Dixon commented.

“Many have to suffer. I’m sure it must suck ass,” Sterling said.

Raymond lifted an eyebrow. “Crudely put, but correct. The more children a vampire has, the more at risk the secret of our existence is. Our resources are stretched. Blood banks are thinned out. A poor, starved vampire is always a recipe for disaster. If you have more than one child, you cannot claim them on your family line. Hopefully, the child can be listed on the other parent’s line.”

Brandon’s brow rose, and he said in a critical tone, “The hierarchy doesn’t sound fair if you’re unlucky enough not to be born first.”

“No more so than human monarchs,” Raymond retorted. “Firstborn sons get the title, the kingdom, the prestige … the younger brothers get very little. Sisters, even those who are born first, get nothing at all. At least with the vampire family lines girls are treated the same as boys.”

Dixon furrowed his brow. “Whoa, backup. Why does Lenora get two children in her family line?”

“She was turned. All turned vampires are allowed two children because they are a new line and no wealth has been accumulated yet,” Alex said.

Brandon nodded¸ letting it all soak in. “So purebred vamps and half–breeds are born into family lines, turned vampires are the start of their lines.”

Cocking his head, Raymond corrected, “That’s essentially it, but not exactly. Half–breeds cannot be listed on family trees.”

The room collectively looked over at Sterling, who just rolled his eyes.

“He has no interest in sitting on the Council board, and he gets money and blood from the government … so he doesn’t care about such things. If he has a child, if it is born a purebred, it can be listed on our family line,” Sulie pointed out. “That is,” she added, “if the placement has not already been taken.”

Brandon raised his hand again. “Half–breeds can have purebred children?”

Sterling respected the man for doing his best to be thorough, but still rolled his eyes.

“No, I’m not going into the reproductive possibilities of half–breed vampires. Just understand that there are purebreds, half–breeds, and turned vampires. That’s all you need to know,” Raymond said sternly.