Thirst [All-American Vampires 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (3 page)

Claire couldn’t help but wish that her circumstances were different. That she could really relax and make friends and forget about the dark path her life had taken. But it was impossible. She shook off the twinge of jealousy that had overtaken her and pulled her mind back to what she was doing. She didn’t have time to stand around wishing for something that would never happen.

Claire glanced surreptitiously around the almost-empty room as she pushed through the door. The technohub for the casino was usually a bustling place. Day or night, it didn’t matter. A casino was on the go twenty-four-seven. But it was barely dusk, and most of the vampire employees hadn’t yet arrived at work. The day shift, which consisted mostly of werewolves but a few humans also, was drifting out. She’d been desperate for a little unobserved time on the computer and had planned this attempt carefully after examining the ebb and flow during her normal work night over the last several weeks. This was the whole reason she was here. She was getting desperate to locate the file containing the information she needed. She had already been here two months. Two long months. The other times she’d tried hacking into the protected files she’d not had enough time. She could only allow herself a few more times to try getting in. And she had to succeed. She had to find the file. Or…God, it didn’t bear thinking about
.

She waved to the lone tech still in the room, an older werewolf female who tended to keep to herself. Claire could tell that Isabelle was closing down her station and knew that she would be leaving shortly. When Claire reached her cubicle on the opposite side of the room, she sat down, took a deep breath, and logged on. Painstakingly, she began working her way through the computer network. She had a limited amount of time to accomplish what she needed to and get out before more of the night shift arrived. With so many people around, it was likely that someone would notice she was doing something she shouldn’t. She bit her lip and straightened her spine. Nothing was going to stop her.

Finally she reached the point she’d made it to the last time she had tried to hack in. She worked meticulously, moving past several security points and firewalls and searching for what she needed so badly.

At last she was in further than she’d ever made it. After several tense moments of scanning through the folders, she thought she might be close to finding the right file. A tingling ray of hope began making its way into her consciousness. Yes. She was almost there. Nearby movement and noise reminded her that she didn’t have much time. The other members of the night shift were arriving. She let out a breath and sat back for a moment. She couldn’t afford to get careless. No. Not yet. She was so close. She didn’t want to stop, but there was too much at risk. If someone caught her, all hope would be gone. Though she didn’t want to, she backed out of the program as quickly as she could. Next time, she promised herself. Next time she would have it.

* * * *

Hawk was sitting at his desk in the office of the private detective agency he’d started over ten years before and grown into a very successful business. But it wasn’t business that was on his mind tonight. In his left hand was a bracelet made of twisted copper wire. With a delicate touch, he rubbed his fingers over the strands in a continuous stroking motion, almost a caress. Next to his other hand rested a glass of a dark-red liquid and an unopened bottle of expensive scotch. It was a test of his willpower. He kept the bottle in his desk drawer just to prove to himself that he had overcome that one particular demon. Some days the desire to give in was almost overpowering, but still, somehow he managed to resist. Would this be the night he failed? He often wondered, and tonight was more trying than usual. His dark thoughts were weighing heavily on him these days. Maybe it had something to do with his friend’s recent wedding. Seeing Ty and his new wife and how happy they were together just emphasized the emptiness of his own life.

Shoving himself away from the desk, he stood and paced across the room. He reached out to part the curtains and looked blindly out at the bustling streets that lined this strip of coastal Mississippi. Usually, he didn’t let himself think about the past. It served no purpose. They’d been gone for so long now that even their bones were nothing more than dust. But tonight was one of the rare times he let those memories through, when he allowed himself to see their faces, to remember their smiles. Their dark, laughing eyes. Ahawi, his beautiful wife. Inola, his precious daughter. In his mind he could still see the deft hands of his wife as she wove the copper strands together, teaching their child the gentle skill. Inola’s pride when she presented the gift to her father had made his heart glow. He had sworn to wear it always. They had died around this same time of year, and it didn’t matter that more than two hundred years had passed. Whenever the leaves on the trees began to fall, he felt the same pain. That pain was still as real, as immediate, as it had ever been.

He turned and looked back at the bottle as it rested on his desk. Once before, long ago, he had succumbed to the sweet relief to be found in that glistening liquid. Firewater. Whiskey. That was years before he had been turned, in the dark weeks and months after the disease brought by the traders had swept through his village and taken his family and many of his friends from him. He had begged the Great Spirit to spare their lives and to take him in their place. He had prayed with a fervent desperation, even bargained with the Evil Ones. Nothing had saved them.

Afterwards, his prayers had turned to curses. He had turned his back on the Ancient Ones, the spirits of his ancestors, and had crawled into the bottom of a whiskey bottle. It had been hard, but he had eventually pulled himself out again. Since then, he’d walled off his emotions and pushed his memories down to the deepest, darkest part of his soul. He had been sober ever since. But always there was the temptation to try just one sip. Just one.

He walked back toward the desk and stared again at the bottle. The light glinting off the liquid was beautiful, and he knew that the taste would be smooth going down. Like liquid sunshine, Ty Buchanan had once said. Not like the rotgut he’d drunk during his human life. But the effects would be the same. He craved that sweet forgetfulness. It was so tempting. He had just reached out toward the bottle when the ring of his cell phone broke the silence, and he jerked his hand back. He shook his head with a rueful grimace. “Saved by the bell.” He gave the bottle one last hard look before pulling his phone from his pocket. “Hello. Blackhawk here,” he answered in his usual clipped tone.

Quinn Buchanan’s voice greeted him. “Hey. You busy?”

“Quinn.” He reached again for the bottle, but this time it was to put it back into his bottom desk drawer, which he then shut with a firm push. “No. I’m not busy. What’s up?”

“I’ve got something I need to talk to you about. It’s pretty important. Do you think you could come over here and meet with me and Mick?”

Mick O’Neill was the resident computer guru who worked for Quinn at the casino. “Of course. Is there some kind of problem?”

“Yeah. I think so. I double-checked to make sure I had my facts straight before I decided to come to you with this.” Quinn’s voice carried a suppressed sense of urgency mixed with not a little anger, and Hawk knew that his friend was deeply disturbed by whatever had occurred. “Dammit, Hawk, someone’s trying to break into our protected files.”

“What?” Hawk was concerned but not really surprised. It wasn’t the first time someone had tried to access the casino’s files, and it wouldn’t be the last. It was a hazard of the gaming industry. Usually it was someone trying to find a way to rig the electronic games or embezzle money from one of the wealthy casinos. He had heard nothing to make Quinn as anxious as he seemed to be. “Why do you think that?”

“Mick’s been running some diagnostic checks after that last system update we did, and he found some suspicious activity.”

“And you need my help? Surely this is something your own staff can handle?”

“There’s possibly more to it than a simple hack,” Quinn told him. “I’d like to talk to you in person about it. Not over the phone.”

Hawk’s brows rose in surprise. It must be important if Quinn didn’t trust his secure phone line. “Sure.” Checking his watch, he saw that it was just a little after eight. “I’ve got nothing going on tonight that the others can’t handle on their own. When do you want me there?”

“Could you come now? I’ll treat you to some of your favorite blood. AB negative.”

Hawk smiled briefly into the receiver. “Now that’s an offer I can’t refuse. Give me about thirty minutes?”

“All right. Just come straight up to my office.”

“You got it.”

“Thanks, Hawk. I really appreciate this.”

“No problem.” Hawk hung up the phone, somewhat curious about what his friend had to say, but his Cherokee blood made him somewhat fatalistic in his attitude toward life. No use worrying over whatever the problem might be. Trouble would come soon enough. He slid the bracelet back onto his wrist before he pressed a button on his desk.

“Yeah, boss?”

“Could you come in here for a minute, Kirby?”

“Sure. Be right there.”

A moment later the door opened, and Kirby Hardy stuck her head in.

“What’s up, boss?” Kirby’s red hair was standing on end, a different look for her, which was nothing new. The young vampiress had a habit of changing her looks on a regular basis. In fact, her whole appearance was usually a bit wild, but tonight she seemed especially…bright. Hawk had heard her brag once that she did all her shopping at thrift stores. She definitely believed in marching to the beat of a different drummer. Tonight’s bright-orange top, patchwork skirt, and pink high-tops were a perfect example. Hawk should probably fire her. Her appearance didn’t exactly inspire confidence in their clients or present a very professional appearance. Except she was the best damn PA he’d ever had. And the woman knew her way around a computer almost as well as Mick O’Neill did.

“I just wanted to let you know that I’m leaving the office and heading over to the Midnight Moon.”

A spark of curiosity lit his secretary’s face. “Something going on with the Buchanans?”

Kirby was a relatively new vampire and still very young, even in human years, having only been turned about five years before. She had an eagerness and energy that Hawk didn’t think he’d ever had. He shook his head. “It doesn’t really sound like much, but Quinn asked me to stop by and deal with it personally. I’ll call you if I need any help. Can you handle things here while I’m gone?”

“Of course. Don’t worry about anything. I’ve got it under control.”

Hawk just shook his head as she returned to her own office. For Kirby, everything was simple and sweet. She breezed confidently through life, full speed ahead at all times. Hawk just felt old—old and worn. Many might look at his life and envy it, but having lived centuries longer than his family, than the people he’d grown up with, that he’d loved, had taken its toll. He’d watched all he’d known fade away and die over the past couple of centuries. And there was nothing to be envied in that.

Refusing to succumb to the morose thoughts again, he stood and grabbed his cell phone from where he’d placed it on his desk before walking out the door. It wasn’t too long before he was pulling into the parking lot of the Midnight Moon. He was very familiar with the casino, having spent a lot of time there with Quinn and Ty. Most of the employees knew his face and his vehicles, and one of the valets came rushing up to get his car as soon as he’d been spotted. After tossing his car keys to the eager youth, Hawk entered the front doors and crossed to the bank of elevators that led to the offices upstairs. A vampire stood on guard in front of the private elevator. He smiled and nodded when he recognized Hawk.

“Mr. Blackhawk, sir. Nice to see you this evening. I was told to send you straight up.”

Hawk nodded in acknowledgement and entered the elevator as soon as the doors slid apart. The elevator ride was smooth and fast, and within minutes he’d reached the top floor. Stepping out, he moved to the double doors where Quinn’s office was located. His PA, Nicolette Girard, looked up with a smile.

“Hawk, it’s good to see you again.”

“You, too, Nic. How have you been?”

“Can’t complain. Go right on in. Quinn is expecting you.”

“Thanks.”

Quinn looked up when he entered. “Hawk. I’m glad you’re here.”

Another man seated in one of the chairs facing the desk stood and turned around. Hawk recognized him as the head of the casino’s computer department.

“Hey, Mick. How’s it going?” They shook hands.

“All right, Hawk. You?”

“Can’t complain.”

He looked over at his friend. “So, what’s going on? You think you’ve got a hacker?”

Mick sat back down, and Hawk took the chair next to his.

Quinn nodded toward his employee. “Tell him what you’ve found, Mick.”

Mick leaned forward. “I was running a systems check and saw some suspicious-looking activity. When I backtracked, I began to notice some other things, little stuff I’d overlooked earlier. It was obvious that someone had made several attempts to break through some of our firewalls and into our password-protected files.”

“Could it be an embezzlement attempt? Or someone trying to fix the electronic games?” Hawk asked.

Mick shook his head. “It’s not the business files they’re interested in. It’s the personal files. Quinn’s files. And Ty’s.”

“Interesting.” Hawk still didn’t understand what was making Quinn so tense.

“More than a little interesting,” Quinn interjected. “It’s suspicious as hell. You know what’s on most of those private files? All the information we’ve been compiling on Simone.”

“Damn.” Hawk hadn’t thought of that. Simone d’Amboise was Quinn and Ty’s maker. She was also a crazy and vindictive bitch. Though Quinn and Ty had managed to escape her clutches more than a century before, she had never forgiven their supposed betrayal. Recently, she’d tried to kill Ty in retaliation, and when that didn’t work, she’d kidnapped the woman Ty loved. Libby had survived, but she’d been turned into a vampire by Simone’s followers. Hawk had heard Quinn vow then that he wouldn’t rest until Simone was brought to justice. They all knew that they hadn’t seen the last of her. If whoever had attempted the hack worked for her, things were taking a darker turn than Hawk had thought. He was beginning to understand Quinn’s concern.