10

John felt that his fangs had finally receded fully into their sockets. The danger was over. For now. But he was still in Savannah’s flat, still in her presence. And he could still taste her on his tongue.

He’d acted impulsively, without thinking. And like an animal. But his control had snapped like a twig under the weight of an elephant, leaving him no choice but to do what his body commanded. What, in fact, Savannah had offered. Offered under duress. And that was the reason his mind had finally triumphed over his base needs, and he’d been able to wrench himself out of her arms. Not a moment too soon either. His fangs had already descended, readying themselves for the bite they craved. Savannah had no idea how close she’d come to finding out what he truly was. Not the hero she believed him to be, but the vampire who wanted to drink her blood.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

He acknowledged her words with a nod. She was probably relieved that she didn’t have to go through with her offer. After all, what woman would willingly submit to a stranger, giving him leave to do with her as he wished without even knowing how depraved the man might be? Not that John considered himself to be depraved, but he had his appetites, and those were insatiable. A quick fuck in the missionary position wouldn’t be sufficient to slake his hunger. Particularly since he’d not engaged in that kind of activity in a while.

“I should go now,” he said.

She nodded in agreement, but didn’t move. “What are you going to do to find her?”

“I need to check up on all the people in her life and find out what Buffy has in common with the other children that disappeared. Things like going to the same school, having had the same babysitters, the same doctors, anything that ties them together. There has to be something.”

“I understand. If there’s anything I can do to help…”

“I received your email with the information about your employees. I’ll start there.” He didn’t mention that he’d already looked into the babysitter’s background and checked out her place. “I’ll be in touch soon. But if you remember anything else, even if it seems insignificant, I want you to call me. Day or night.” He pulled out a card and gave it to her. It only had his name and cell phone number on it. “This is my private line. Call me on this number only, no matter what time it is, even if you think I might be asleep.”

She took the card. “I will.”

With a last look at her, John walked past her into the hallway and out the door. Downstairs he opened the front door and stepped outside, glad to be able to breathe in the cool night air and rid himself of Savannah’s delectable scent. A scent that was driving him insane with lust.

The twins were waiting for him, both leaning against one of the Porsches on the opposite side of the road. They exchanged a grin.

He crossed the street to join them.

“I hope we weren’t rushing you,” Benjamin said with a smirk.

“As I said before, it was a short errand.”

Damian motioned back to the building. “Yeah, I could see that. Short, but clearly worth it.”

John looked over his shoulder and stared up at the brightly lit second floor window. The living room, where he’d kissed Savannah. And the spot where he’d pressed her against the wall and kissed her was framed by the window as if a photographer had arranged it so. With hybrid vision, which was as perfect as vampire vision, the twins would have seen everything as clearly as if they’d been sitting in front of a television screen.

Shit!

He spun his head back to Damian and Benjamin and glared at them. “It’s none of your fucking business. Not a fucking word. Is that clear?”

The two hybrids exchanged a quick look, then nodded.

“We didn’t mean any harm,” Damian said.

Benjamin added, “You’re entitled to your privacy. We won’t interfere.”

“Good. Time for your hands-on-training.”

“Excellent, what are we gonna do?” Damian asked eagerly, and both hybrids stared at him in eager anticipation.

It struck him then. It didn’t matter that Scanguards had rejected the abduction case, because all he needed were a couple of guys who could do some snooping around for him. And two very eager—and rather capable—guys were right in front of him, willing to follow any order he gave, just to prove that they were ready for their final examination so that they could join the ranks of full-blown bodyguards at Scanguards.

But he had to make sure they knew the rules of this game. And the rules were whatever he decided. Because for the next few days he would be their superior, the one who decided how they spent their time.

“Listen up. I’ve decided that you’re advanced enough to engage in a covert super-secret operation. Nobody, and I mean nobody can find out what this mission is. It’s vital if you want to pass this test. Understood?”

Both grinned. “Cool!”

“During this mission, assume that anybody might be armed and dangerous, because they may be. This is a live-ammunition event. Anybody could attack you at any time, human or vampire. Their weapons will be real, as will their bullets and their intention to harm you. Trust no one, except me and each other. Everybody is a suspect until you can prove he’s not.”

They nodded eagerly, their eyes wide with excitement.

“Take the utmost precaution in whatever you do. Treat this as a real mission, not a training exercise. Keep your cover. Nobody can find out you’re not human. Use every skill you might find necessary.”

“Yes, of course,” Damian said rather impatiently. “Come on, don’t be so mysterious. What’s the goal?”

John let out a slow breath. “The goal is to crack a child trafficking ring and save a dozen girls aged nine to twelve.”

“Wow!” Benjamin exclaimed and bumped shoulders with his brother. “Awesome!”

“Who’re the bad guys?” Damian asked.

“That’s for you to find out.”

“Got it,” Damian said.

John motioned to his car. “I’ve got the facts in a file.” He motioned them to follow him to his car. He’d brought the file with him to hand it back to Donnelly after telling Savannah that Scanguards wasn’t taking the case, but all that had changed now.

It took a half hour to relay all the pertinent facts to the twins, and for them to photograph those pages from the police reports that they deemed important. Then he gave them their final instructions.

“The last girl disappeared four days ago. Buffy Rice. She’s the freshest lead. That’s why I want you to start with her. We need to look at her environment, at the people who know her. Her mother runs a cyber security company and employs two programmers, Alexi and Rachel. I want you to split up and take one each. Find out what they’ve been doing every minute since Buffy’s disappearance. Look into their background, their finances, their habits. Anything odd, I want to hear about it. I’ve got their details here.” He pulled out his cellphone to scroll to the email Savannah had sent him.

“Is Alexi a girl’s name?” Damian asked.

“He’s a guy.” John suppressed a chuckle. Figured that Damian would want to investigate a girl. “Enjoy, he’s all yours. Benjamin can take Rachel.”

Benjamin grinned and winked at his brother. “Better luck next time, bro.”

Damian shrugged it off.

John copied the names and addresses for Alexi and Rachel and texted them to the twins. Their cellphones chimed, and they both looked at their displays.

“Got it,” they said in unison.

“Clock’s ticking,” John said. “Check in with me every couple of hours, whether you’ve got news or not. I want to know where you are at all times. Stay safe.”

As he watched the twins saunter to their cars and get in, he could only hope that nothing bad would happen to them. Amaury would have his hide if harm came to his sons. But Scanguards had left him no choice. He had to help Savannah. Not because of that kiss or her offer of sex, but because his heart was breaking seeing her eyes tear up whenever she spoke of Buffy. She needed her daughter safely back in her arms. And once he’d achieved that, he would be at peace again, too. He would be able to go back to his lonely life and continue to live night by night. Do his duty to Scanguards. And maybe one day get over the loss he’d suffered.

Maybe by saving this little family, he could make up for having failed to save his own.