Up in a Blaze (10 page)

“You know, you haven’t taken anything for pain this morning, babe. Why don’t you go ahead while we are on break before Walter gets back? He had to step out for just a moment for a phone call or something.” Donte made sure his body was nice and relaxed as he shrugged his shoulders, as if nothing of any importance had occurred.

*****

Walter led Samuel to his office and shut the door behind them. He gestured for him to sit in one of the two chairs placed in front of his desk, while he went and sat down in his own seat.

“Give me just a moment, and I’ll be right with you.” He quickly tapped a few keys on his computer and did a search for the man sitting in front of him. He wasn’t going to divulge anything to him until he knew he was legit. Three minutes later, after accessing both the Oklahoma State Trooper site and the National Vampire Data Base (NVDB), everything matched up with what Samuel had told him in the conference room. The NVDB was a private database that listed many of the vampires along with pertinent information. Several vampire computer specialists worked tirelessly to ensure the database stayed private, and was only accessible to certain vampires of authority.

“Okay, you look legit, so I am going to give you the benefit of doubt here, but I still want to know why you were chasing my secretary.” He held his hand up when Samuel started to speak and continued, “You need to realize that not only is she my secretary, but she is also my sister in-law and under my protection. Now,” he made a hand gesture over to Samuel, “proceed.”

“First of all, I apologize for interrupting your staff meeting. Like I said, I drove half of last night to get here as quickly as I could. The very last thing I was thinking about when I walked in the front door was to run slap into my mate. I made the trip with the sole intention of alerting you that someone was using your server to search out some powerful magic, and then maybe stick around and help you find that person if needed. As you can probably guess, I’ve been around a longtime.” Samuel stopped and shook his head. “I’d given up on finding my mate. When you reach my age, and you still haven’t crossed paths with her, it’s time to hang up the hope of finding her.”

“So Betty is your mate?” Walter verified.

“Yes, she is. I know she is one of us, however, why she ran from me I’m not sure. She should have felt the mate pull the same as I the moment I walked in the door. When she took off running, I just wanted to stop her, for fear she was running from me, and I’d never find her again. Again, I apologize. Barging into a morning staff debriefing is not the way I wanted to meet you.”

Walter sat back in his chair and laughed. Actually laughed. “Oh this is too good to be true,” he crowed.

“I’m sorry. I fail to see the humor in the situation,” Samuel replied, clearly lost in what was really happening.

“There must be something about that front desk out there. Betty is temporarily filling in for the last secretary that was there, who happened to meet her mate, which is my brother, almost the exact same way you just met yours. The only difference is Susan is a human, but she already knew about our kind.”

“Really? Well, I can see where you would find humor in that situation.”

Walter sat up and placed his hands on his desk in front of him. “However, there are a few very serious topics we need to discuss concerning Betty.” For the next ten minutes he filled Samuel in on Betty’s ex, them showing up at the hospital with her on death’s door, Sissy changing her over to being a vampire, and then bringing her home. He then told Samuel about Gregory’s escape from prison, his visit to Betty’s friend, Cassie, and Donte going to retrieve her for protection just two days prior.

Samuel sighed deeply and shook his head. “Well I guess that explains why she ran from me. Has she ventured out and socialized since the change over?”

“Yes, she has to some extent. She has no problem working here in a building full of male vampires, but then again, she is fully aware I’d clock any yahoo idiot who tried to take advantage of her. You will need to go slow, my friend. Very slowly. Now, let’s talk about this magic crap, because that shit gives me the willies!”

*****

The door to the conference room opened and everyone immediately became quiet and took their seats. Walter walked in with Samuel following close behind him.

“Gang, I’d like to introduce Samuel Grey from the Oklahoma State Troopers. He also knows quite a bit more about magic than we do, so for the time being, he has agreed to stay on and help us out with this case.”

Cassie glanced next to her where Betty was still sitting just in time to watch her eyes go big. Did she know the man Walter introduced as Samuel?

“In light of this, I’m going to be spending today getting Samuel completely caught up on this case, as well as see what we can do about Cassie’s problem,” Walter continued and then looked directly at Cassie. “Cassandra, Donte has already filled me in on Gregory trying to access your mind while you are sleeping. We are hoping Samuel here can shed some light on things for us. I’ll be sticking around the office today, and Nathaniel,” he stopped and turned his gaze to the other ranger. “I think it might be best if we keep the women together until we know exactly what we are up against. I’m going to be calling Sissy and have her here, and I would strongly recommend bringing Susan in.”

Walter turned his attention back to Betty and Cassie. “Ladies, I will do everything in my power to make your stay here as comfortable as possible.”

Both women gave him a short nod, while Cassie couldn’t help but think,
it’s going to be a long day.

The remainder of the morning was spent with Walter and Lucas bringing Samuel up to speed on Gregory’s entire case, and Donte and Nathaniel turning one of the spare offices into a lounge for the ladies. Nathaniel had left for a short time and returned with his wife, Susan. Cassie also got to meet the other females in the unit, Bethany and Meredith.

She was surprised at how open and friendly all the women were. It was obvious the others had been friends for a while, but they seemed to take her into their fold without question.

The men carried lounge chairs they had found elsewhere in the building into the large room for the ladies to sit on. They even found a couch and a television that they hooked up. As he set it up, Nathaniel stated, “You ladies will probably be too busy chit-chatting to watch anything, but we thought we’d go ahead and set it up anyways.”

His spouse, Susan, turned to him and shot him a glare. “Are you insinuating that we talk too much, Mr. Andrews?” She placed her hands on top of her baby bump, lightly stroking over her extended stomach. “Because I know you don’t want me going upstairs and telling doc that you have upset me needlessly.”

Nathaniel was smart enough to know he needed to back pedal fast to get out of this mess. “No, baby. I would never upset you on purpose.” He walked over and crouched down in front of her, kissing her swollen stomach. “I just meant that you all would probably be busy getting to know one another. How’s my little munchkin today?” He had that look in his eye that clearly stated he was hoping his mate would allow for the change in subject matter.

Susan cocked her eyebrow at him as she looked down at him still crouched in front of her. “Good save, Mr. Andrews, good save.” She picked up her hand and ran her fingers through his hair. In a staged whisper she added, “Nice try changing the subject also.”

He chuckled then gave her a wide grin as he looked up at her after giving her belly another kiss. “Love you, cariño. I didn’t mean to upset you, truly. Can I do anything for you?”

“Hey, hey now…you two need to get a room if you’re going to start that up,” Donte teased as he went by, carrying a small table into the room. “Besides, isn’t that what got her in the condition she’s in already?”

“Shut up, Donte!” Nathaniel growled as he stood and wrapped his arms around his mate. “I’m currently digging myself out of the dog house.”

“
Coño batida,
” Donte called out as he sat the table down over in the corner. He knew his friend’s Spanish was horrible, and figured the only way he’d be able to figure out what he said would be if one of the ladies translated.

Cassie’s eyes went wide and she looked over to Betty, who clearly didn’t realize what was said. Betty walked over and Cassie whispered in her ear, “It means pussy whipped.”

Because she whispered it, she never thought anyone else could possibly hear what she said, but as Betty clamped a hand down on her mouth to keep from laughing out loud, a growl came from the side of the room where Nathaniel was.

Nathaniel glared at Donte for a second. “
Connard!
”

This time it was Susan who raised her eyebrow up at her husband. “Why did you just call him an asshole in French?”

“Because he knows I don’t know very much Spanish and just told me I was pussy whipped a minute ago.”

Susan rolled her eyes, right along with all the other women. “Right, and boys will be boys. Well, boys, thank you so much for all of your help, but I think you two can go find something else productive to do.”

They chased the guys out and shut the door behind them. “Men!” Betty stated as she shook her head. “Can’t live with them, can’t kill them. What exactly are we supposed to do with them again?” This had all the women laughing, and soon they were joking and exchanging stories as if they had all been friends for years. Cassie watched with some interest, trying to stay out of the conversation as much as possible, after all, she was just a guest, but the rest of the women weren’t having that. They made sure she was included in everything, and before she knew it, the morning had passed and it was lunchtime.

“I’m going to go find Walter and see if he deems it safe enough to go to lunch together,” Sissy stated as she stood and stretched.

“Certainly he will approve if we all stay together. I mean, even if Gregory is hell bound for Texas, he’s just one man. We are six women strong to his one hu…bity self.” Meredith barely caught herself from saying that Gregory was human. That would have certainly raised suspicion with Cassie.

“I’m going to go ask. I’ll be right back.”

Out of all of the women in the room, Cassie hadn’t had the opportunity to talk with Meredith very much yet. “So, you’re Lucas’s wife?” she confirmed.

Meredith gave her an open smile. “Yes, he got injured while out on assignment. Actually the bad guys had gotten the jump on him, and hurt him pretty badly. The other rangers just barely found him in time. I’m a registered nurse, so I was working upstairs with Dr. Weathers when they brought Lucas in.”

“Oh wow. So, was it love at first sight?”

Meredith giggled. “Not exactly, at least not for me. The reason I was working upstairs was because I was hiding from the same men that had attacked Lucas.” She stopped and shook her head with a grin. “I’ll never forget the first thing he said to me.”

“What was that?” By this time, they had gained the attention of everyone else in the room.

Meredith smirked as she continued, “After checking his vitals, I asked him if he needed anything. His response was, ‘yeah, your name and phone number, baby’.”

Cassie giggled. “Really? A bit lame, don’t you think?”

“Oh yeah, and if he hadn’t been hurt so badly, I might have tortured him for a while, but there was just something in his eyes…” she trailed off with a faraway look in her eyes.

“So, Cassie, what about you and Donte?” Susan asked.

“Oh, I’m staying with him right now until Gregory is found. Walter didn’t want me going home with Betty and end up leading Gregory right to her. That’s all.”

Susan cocked her eyebrow up at her, clearly stating, I don’t believe you. “So, you don’t think he’s cute? I’ve always loved his gentle, quiet personality. And his voice reminds me of smooth honey.”

Cassie blushed from her roots down as her mind quickly replayed the dream of the two of them sitting on a riverbank, then the one later where they were necking like a couple of teenagers. “Well yeah, duh, he’s about the most handsome man I’ve ever met, but we’re just friends for now.”

“Uh-huh, we’ll see how long that lasts!” Betty stated from behind her.

“Hey! Whose side are you on anyways?” Cassie asked in mock dismay.

Betty came up and gave her a hug. “I am on your side, sweetie. Always yours. I just want you to happen to fall in love while you’re out here so you’ll move and live close to me.” She sighed dramatically. “I’m selfish, I know.”

Cassie giggled at her friend. “Are not! You are one of the most unselfish people I know.”

*****

Lunch was an interesting affair. Walter agreed to let the women leave for lunch, but only if Donte and Samuel accompanied them. It was beyond her why they would need two men. Gregory was only one man, and they were six women. Surely they could hold him off even if he did decide to show up.

But since she was growing more and more comfortable around Donte, she remained quiet and followed the rest of the women out of the office turned lounge, and out the front door. Donte came up beside her.

“How are you doing? How’s your pain?” he inquired out of concern.

She looped her arm around his. “Not bad, that pain pill I took this morning is probably still working. I’m surprised I didn’t pass out some place after taking it.”