Guardian's Joy #3 (38 page)

Dead silence followed her question as Deter
and Marta exchanged worried looks. Then they both whispered at
once.

“Isaac isn’t a fanciful man…”

“Vampires.”

Nardo choked on his sip of water and grabbed
his napkin. The delicious soup turned sour in JJ’s stomach. They
too, spoke together.

“How does he know this?”

“Where is this place?”

“There are other researchers involved,” Marta
said, disconcerted by their reactions. She’d expected disbelief and
was now more worried than before. “They’re not supposed to talk
about their work, but Isaac said he couldn’t help but overhear
things.”

“And Marta has heard things, too, about those
girls who were murdered.”

“Isaac doesn’t know where it is. They’re
taken there in a windowless van. They take a different route every
day so he can’t judge by the turns, but the trip is never more than
a half hour and never less than twenty minutes. Could all this be
true? Do you think he’s in danger? He was here for dinner the
morning before last and he said there was talk about keeping
everyone at the facility, because the project was so close to
completion. Oh Deter, you were right. We shouldn’t have let him
go.”

“It was his decision, my dear. He was afraid
of what might happen if he refused.” Deter turned to Nardo. “I know
where to find the address.”

“How?” three voices asked.

“I followed the money. I started with Gregory
ad Fenton, the doctor who administers the program.”

“Definitely not doing the stirrup thing or
answering his call,” JJ said.

*****

JJ walked along the row of shops lining the
square, stopping at each one to check out the shops and the window
displays they’d passed on the way in. If the price tags were any
indication, the residents of Moonlight Sanctuary must lead pretty
comfortable lives.

Nardo was back at Deter and Marta’s place,
glued to their computer, tracking leads from the information he’d
gleaned from Deter. In between the tap-tap-tapping of keys, he made
several phone calls to Canaan to keep him abreast of
developments.

Both the accountant and his mate had returned
to work; Marta to her regular duties and Deter with a whole list of
details to be researched through various accounts. Both offered to
stay, but Nardo was afraid Marta’s absence might be noticed and he
and Deter both needed computers.

Soon after Deter left, Nardo began receiving
messages from him, each eliciting another round of key tapping.
Other than the phone calls, the only words he spoke were swear
words when the tap-tapping didn’t bring the expected results.

JJ knew what he was doing was important, but
there was nothing she could do to help. With no magazines to leaf
through and no television in evidence, she was going stir crazy.
Out of desperation, she suggested she take a stroll through the
village. Since their arrival time was noted, her presence in the
shops would provide an excuse for not leaving the Sanctuary
immediately after her appointment.

She stopped in a stationary store which
offered monogrammed everything and all of it expensive and a
jewelry store that would rival Tiffany’s. Having come to the end of
the row, she crossed the end of the square. As she passed the
school, a teacher exited followed by six pint sized students and JJ
laughed as the last one in line turned the wrong way and headed for
the play yard. That’s the child she’d like to have; a bit of a
rebel who marched to his own beat; a little Nardo.

Whoa! That stopped her in her tracks. Would
she really like to have a child? Well, yeah, maybe. Did Nardo want
kids? How did you bring up the subject? At this point, the answer
was moot. There would be no child without some sort of mating
ceremony. She’d done that once and didn’t think she could handle
another, no matter how much she loved him. That thought made her
smile. Yeah, she did love him, with an intensity she found a little
frightening. For now, that was enough.

As luck would have it, the first store she
came to was a children’s shop. Setting personal thoughts aside, she
entered, browsed, and bought several items for Grace. The next
store was men’s wear. Broadbent would love this place, but it was
all too conservative for Nardo. At the back of the shop, discreetly
displayed in the corner, she found something perfect; not very
romantic, but something he would nevertheless appreciate.

The next store, dedicated to women’s formal
wear, had JJ staring through the window at a matt gold mannequin
torso draped in a paler champagne gold dress that was the most
beautiful thing she’d ever seen. The deep vee of the halter
neckline plunged all the way to the waist where it met a pearl
encrusted medallion that served to gather the two panels that
softly draped the hips. The skirt flowed to the floor, a waterfall
of fabric that would cling just enough to hint of the legs moving
beneath it. The gown was sleek, elegant, and sophisticated,
everything JJ wasn’t.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Enamored by the dress, JJ hadn’t heard anyone
approach. It took her a moment to place the young woman beside her.
Today she wore a knee length pleated skirt, pale hose and modest
pumps. Her camel car coat was buttoned up leaving only a glimpse of
the white cotton oxford collar at the throat. It was the girl from
the night of the rave, the ‘other’ who gave her a finger wave as
the group passed.

“Sure is,” JJ answered her and then she
smiled at the girl. “I almost didn’t recognize you without the
make-up and heels.”

The girl colored a little. “My cousin takes
me out sometimes. He says there’s more to the world than Moonlight
Sanctuary and he wants me to see some of it. My parents forbid it.
They’d be so angry…” She shrugged apologetically.

JJ winked. “The first time I saw you was
right in front of this window.”

“Thanks. I’m Evie, by the way.” Evie nodded
at the gown. “Why don’t you try it on?”

“JJ. Because it looks better on that dummy
than it would on me. Besides, where would I wear something like
that? It doesn’t exactly fit my lifestyle.”

“You’re going to the dance, aren’t you? My
mother said all the Guardian’s ah…” She blushed a deep red. “Women
would be there.”

“They’re mates, blood bonded, red roses and
everything, so if your mother has a problem with that, maybe she
should take it up with a higher power. Now me, she can say what she
wants about me and it would probably be true, but not the others.
They’re good women mated to good men. The other single woman there
has lived through your worst nightmare times ten. She’s the
strongest person I know and she’s my best friend.” JJ was furious.
How dare these people pass judgment on the best people, male and
female, she’d ever met.

“It’s not me! My cousin Nathan wants to
become a Guardian. He was born with the tear. His father won’t
allow it, but in another six months or so, Nathan will have his
lilies and his father won’t be able to stop him.” Evie gripped JJ’s
arm. “Please, I didn’t mean to offend! We want to be like you.”

JJ let out her breath. “No you don’t, kid.
It’s great that your cousin wants to be a Guardian, but you don’t
want to be like me. You’ve got family, friends, a good life. Don’t
be too quick to throw that away.” She smiled to take the sting out
of her words. “But your mother’s right about one thing, Evie. Lord
Canaan has decreed we will all attend the dance whether we want to
or not, so if you’ve got a few minutes to spare, I could really use
some help here.” She nodded at the store.

“You mean it? You want my help? Will you try
on the dress in the window? Please? I swear it was made for you.
Please?”

Chapter 38

By the time Nardo called to say it was time
to leave, JJ had more than a dress and all the accoutrements to go
with it. She also had some interesting information to take back to
the Guardians.

Everyone was crowded into the kitchen. Dinner
was over and dishes were done, but no one had taken Grace’s
suggestion to move to the War Room

“According to Evie,” she told the others,
“The first Paenitentia victim had the hots for some Indie named
Ryan, no last name. This Ryan had a lot to say about the
superiority of the Race and taking their rightful places in the
world of men. Evie says the girl went on and on about Ryan says
this and Ryan says that until they were all sick of hearing it.
Then no talk of Ryan for maybe three months. The vic says he’s away
doing something important. Her friends all thought he dumped her.
Now here’s where things get hinky. Rumor has it, Ryan contacted the
girl, wanted to meet. She goes and gets dead. A couple of the girls
came forward and told the constabulary what they knew. Supposedly,
Sanctuary’s finest checked the guy out, but his place was empty,
even though his rent was paid up for the next six months. They’re
calling it an elopement.”

“Nice of them to pass the information along
to us,” Nico snarled.

“This Ryan on your list?” Canaan asked
Nardo.

“Yeah. JJ and I were kicking this around on
the way back and here’s what we came up with, farfetched as it
sounds. If this ad Fenton has found a way to create these things,
maybe he’s testing to see if he can control them outside the lab.
Maybe they wanted to see if the vamp could control himself around
someone he knew, cared for even. The vic was a test.”

“Guess he got an F on that one,” Dov
muttered.

“What about the other victims?” Nico wanted
to know. “How do they fit in?”

“Dog training,” Dov answered before Nardo
could.

“Dov,” Canaan reprimanded harshly, “We don’t
have the time or patience for your humor.”

“Who’s laughing?” Dov was confused. “You can
train a vicious dog to be nice, but you ain’t gonna know if your
training’s good until you take that dog out in public.”

“That’s why the attacks are so sporadic,” Col
concluded. “They’re taking them out on test runs. Makes sense,
bro.”

“Hey! Sporadic. That was one of your words
from a couple weeks ago. Way to go, Col.” Dov high-fived his
brother.

“Much as it pains me to say this, I think the
Terrible Twosome may be on to something. Their thought processes
might be somewhat convoluted, but their reasoning may prove sound.”
Broadbent thoughtfully pressed tobacco into his pipe. “They could
be feeding regularly on donor blood.” He raised his hand to the
murmured protests. “Not from blood banks, but from their own
willing or unwilling supply. If they’re creating these creatures to
begin with, I doubt they’d have any moral apprehensions about
keeping blood slaves. If there are several of the creatures, live
feedings would become a logistical nightmare unless, to capitalize
on Dov’s dog training theory, they’re trying to teach the creatures
to feed without killing.”

Grace shook her head in disbelief. “Surely
you don’t believe this is possible.”

“I hope to hell we’re wrong, sweetling, but
it’s best to prepare for the worst.” Canaan tucked his mate
protectively under his arm. “I want surveillance on the exits at
Sanctuary and on this building they’re using. How soon?” he asked
Nardo.

“Tonight, but it won’t be easy,” Nardo
admitted. “The labs are out on Route 36, about two miles past the
warehouse district and outside city limits. The building’s fairly
new, one story and it was vacant until about six months ago. The
land’s flat and any perimeter guards will see us coming from a mile
away. JJ suggested she drive us out there before nightfall. She
drives and we stay in the back of the van until it’s safe to get
out. It would give us a few minutes before anyone came to
investigate, but it won’t be enough.”

“Why hide?” Col asked. “Just do what you and
Dov did. Why can’t you pretend you’re the phone company?”

“Because little old human ladies are easy to
fool,” Dov explained. “These guys come out and check on us and
they’re gonna know right off we ain’t the phone company.”

“Not if you put a uniform and a cap on Hope
and have her knock on their door,” Col argued. His idea made sense.
“She can warn them the phones will be down for twenty minutes.”

“No,” Nico growled.

“When do I need to be ready?” Hope patted
Nico’s hand consolingly. “I’ll be fine. Grace can’t do it. She’d be
swimming in those uniforms and JJ’s coloring is too distinctive.
Besides, this doctor already knows her. I can knock while it’s
still daylight. If I can get in the door, I might see something
useful.”

There was that iron backbone again. JJ kept
her smile to herself. These women were something else. How could
she ever have mistaken them for weak?

Canaan nodded his assent and Nico glared.

Broadbent and Col were assigned to the road
leading past the Sanctuary service entrance since Deter’s friend
was sure this was the departure point.

“Numbers?” the Lord Guardian asked.

“These are guesses based on what Deter could
dig up on short notice. We’ve got a dozen science guys being paid
through ad Fenton and you’ve got to figure some of them are like
Deter and his friend, not true believers. There’s another dozen
from the Sanctuary who’ve hired on as security, but three of them
are no longer being paid.” Nardo paused to grin. “I’m assuming one
of them is in our freezer. There were fifteen Indies, but likewise,
seven are no longer being paid. Again, assuming freezer man is one
of them, are the others dead or turned?”

“So we’ve got maybe sixteen fighters and who
knows how many vamps…”

“There’s also a housekeeping staff. Generous
payments are deposited for these worker’s families, but Deter can’t
find any personal expenditures in their accounts. They have to be
staying on site and that makes me think Broadbent’s got it right.
They’d serve the dual purpose of menial labor and blood donor.”