"Yes,” she nodded vigorously. “My friend Kara and I went twice. It was scary at first, but the vampires were really nice. And some of them were good-looking too, just like the romance books say."
Raj turned his head to share his amusement with Sarah and was startled to find her glaring at him. He frowned, but switched his attention back to Jennifer, not wanting to lose her or the perfectly clear image he was getting of a blood house he recognized from his own tenure in this city. “Did you meet anyone at the blood house, Jennifer? Anyone special?"
The young girl blushed. “There was one guy. He really seemed to like me. We danced all night, and he said I should come there again, that maybe we could go out or something."
Raj frowned at the image he was getting from her, which was no image at all. Whoever it was had spent enough time with her to seduce her mind and alter her memories.
"He really liked my jacket."
Raj blinked. “Your jacket?"
"It wasn't really mine,” Jen confided, leaning closer to him. “I borrowed it from Trish. She has such nice clothes.” Jen looked sad. “She was wearing our jacket when she went away."
Raj stared at her intently. “Do you remember the vampire's name, Jennifer? The one who danced with you?"
She frowned. “I can't remember."
"What did he look like?"
She frowned again, looking down at their joined hands and concentrating. “I can't remember that either. I'm sorry.” She looked up at him and he could tell she was growing increasingly distraught as she tried to break through the other vampire's conditioning in order to please him. He didn't want that.
"That's all right,” he said quickly, soothing her. “You've been very helpful tonight."
"I have?"
"Absolutely.” He took her arm and led her over to one of the twin beds. “You should sleep now."
"I am tired,” she said, yawning widely and curling up on the bed.
He leaned down, pulled the covers over her and touched her shoulder. “Good night, Jennifer."
He stood upright and found Sarah standing right next to him, almost vibrating with anger. “What—” he began.
"Outside,” she said furiously.
He gave her a narrow look, not used to anyone giving him orders. “What is your problem?"
"Out fucking side."
"Look, Sarah, if you want to leave, go ahead. I need to make sure that—"
"I'm not leaving you alone with her."
Raj felt his own anger rising to meet hers. He grabbed her arm, holding on when she tried to yank away, pulling her from the room and down the battered stairway, not letting go until they stood next to his BMW.
"What the hell is wrong with you?” he demanded.
"Me? What's wrong with you?" she demanded. “You practically raped that girl!"
"Are you out of your fucking mind?” he said, every word enunciated clearly. He was holding onto his rage by the thinnest of threads. That she would accuse him of—
"Why? Because you didn't touch her? You think rape only happens to the body? Guess again. I know what it's like to—"
"You don't know shit because I would never hurt a woman,” he growled, stepping so close he could feel her body trembling. “Don't you ever accuse me of something like that. Never. You got it?"
Sarah stared at him. “Fuck you, Raj,” she whispered. She spun around and stomped away through the parking lot, pulling her cell phone out of her purse.
Raj used his vampire speed to place himself in her path. “Get back in the car. I'm not leaving you here."
She laughed. “Well, I'm not getting in the car with a rapist, so tough luck for you."
Raj stared at her, not quite believing what she was saying. How could she think that of him? How could any woman think he was that kind of a monster, much less this woman?
She was talking on the phone to someone and he realized she was calling a cab. He considered picking her up bodily and throwing her back in his car. Hell, he could erase this whole fucking nightmare from her mind and she'd never remember a thing. But he wouldn't do that. Not again. And not to Sarah.
He watched her storm across the parking lot, heading for the street where, presumably, the cab would meet her. Maybe it was better this way. He'd wanted an excuse to walk away from her. To make her walk away from him. To get her as far away as possible from vampires in general and him in particular. This wasn't what he'd had in mind, but it would do. It would do nicely. And they'd both be better off in the long run.
He strode back to his car without another word, sitting there until he saw the cab arrive, until Sarah was inside and safe. And then he drove into the night alone.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Raj pulled up to the warehouse and twisted off the ignition key. He sat there for a while listening to the ping of the cooling engine, the occasional whine of a big truck on the nearby Genesee Road. The airport was silent. The last passenger flight came in from Chicago around midnight. After that, the terminals pretty much shut down until morning and the first cargo flights at six.
He had the connection he'd been looking for. Jennifer, sweet Jennifer, had given it to him. It was the blood houses. Trish Cowens had never made sense to him. Why would any vampire stalk a victim on the streets, when he could find plenty of women at the blood houses who were willing to spend an hour or a weekend if that's what he wanted? But it wasn't Trish Cowens the vampire had been after. It was Jennifer Stewart, who looked so much like her roommate and who'd worn a leather jacket the night she'd gone to visit a blood house. The same jacket Trish was wearing the night she was taken.
But what was the connection between the kidnapped women and Estelle Edwards's vampire research project? Would she need human subjects to test her research? And what about Krystof? Even if he was behind this scheme, he certainly hadn't been the one who'd danced with Jennifer Stewart at the blood house or, for that matter, the one who'd taken Trish Cowens off the street. And he kept coming back to the fact that it was Krystof who'd brought him to Buffalo to figure out what was happening.
Raj swore and shoved open the door. Too many damn questions and not enough answers. He strode over to the warehouse, expecting it to be empty. But when he stepped inside, he found Em heading for one of the big SUVs, the only one left in the warehouse bay.
"Raj,” she said, veering toward him. “I didn't expect you here."
"Do we have any human assets in town, beyond these guards?"
She blinked, obviously taken aback by his cold demeanor, but he wasn't in a friendly mood.
"None I would trust, my lord, but I can have someone here by daybreak."
"Do it. I need more daylight guards for this place and a twenty-four hour watch on Sarah."
Emelie paused in the act of punching buttons on her cell phone. “You think she's—"
"I don't have time to baby-sit her, but I need to know what her involvement is. She's been lying to me all along and I need to know why. Did Simon find anything more on her?"
"Nothing relevant, my lord, but he's still digging. There is one oddity—"
Raj looked at her sharply. “What's that?"
"She doesn't seem to exist before maybe ten years ago. A little less."
"What does that mean?"
She shrugged. “There's no birth certificate, no high school graduation, no driver's license that we can find before then. Of course, it's possible she was home schooled and really didn't drive a car until she broke away from her parental units, but it makes Simon's Spidey sense tingle. He's looking deeper."
Raj frowned. “Let me know as soon as you find something. Where is everyone?"
"Throughout the city, as you ordered, my lord. We've been rotating the blood houses between us, and I can tell you this much. There's no one in charge here. None of the local vamps raised an eyebrow when I showed up, and I don't exactly blend."
Raj nodded. Most vampires were men, although it was more by happenstance than planning. Contrary to what popular fiction would have one believe, there weren't that many vampires in the world. Only master vampires had the power to make and hold a child, and the most common reason for a master to make children was to defend his territory. There was a strong cultural bias among all but the youngest vampires that put women in the to-be-protected category, while males were seen as defenders. And then there was the need for blood—if a vampire had a female lover, even for a short time, he wanted her to remain human so he could continue to feed from her. All of which resulted in more male vampires than female, which in turn meant that Emelie definitely should have been noticed.
"Jozef told me my first night in the city that Krystof was making children left and right,” Raj said. “The local blood house managers are probably so used to new faces they don't bother to question anyone."
"Or maybe they're overwhelmed,” Emelie said. “The houses I've been to are far too crowded. The ventilation systems aren't working properly, and the humans are drunk on vampire pheromones."
Raj nodded, not surprised by this. “The blood houses are the key, Em. I think Trish Cowens was a mistake. Someone meant to grab her roommate and got Trish instead.” He frowned. “And Sarah says she saw Krystof talking to Estelle Edwards at a university reception."
Em's face reflected her shock. “That's pretty damning, boss."
He nodded. “It looks like it, but damnit, Em, it just doesn't fit. Krystof wouldn't have brought me here if he was the one. He knows I'll figure this out. I'm missing something. I just don't know what it is.” He drew a troubled breath. “It doesn't matter,” he said finally. “If it's Krystof, I'll deal with him sooner than planned, that's all. And he can't be the one taking the women from the houses, because the house managers would damn well remember if Krystof had visited. I was out in Corfu the other night and no one said a word to me about Krystof. So even if he's in on it, he's not acting alone."