Deadly Desire

work, at least.'

Jessica continued to frown, her sharp gaze racking the length of me. Her fingers tapped against the arm of he chair, the movements as brusque as her voice. 'Do we know each other? Because you look familiar.'

'I've only just arrived down in Melbourne, but I have worked other clubs interstate. Perhaps you've seen me onstage sometime?'

'I doubt it.' Her gaze went back to Matthew. 'Open the schoolroom up for bookings. I'll go talk to Hanna.'

And with that, she rolled away. I let go of the breath I'd been holding, and glanced at Matthew. 'What's a special?'

Matthew grimaced. 'Usually some dirty old vampire who likes to get his rocks off by watching younger girls simulate sex. They pay big money for the privilege, so Hanna tends to allow it. Jessica doesn't like it, though.'

Which made me wonder what else Jessica didn't like. Because there was a tightness about her that suggested a woman very unhappy with something. 'How young we talking about?'

'Eighteen. We can't legally allow anyone younger than that, but the girls who do the specials are usually our less experienced dancers.'

And I was betting they weren't dancers at all, let alone eighteen. Martin Shore's girlfriend had said he'd met his last lovers here, and that one of them was no where near legal age.

I nodded, then asked, 'While I think of it, do you have a stripper named Vicki Keely working here?'

He frowned. 'I don't think so. Why?'

I shrugged. 'My old boss asked me to say hi if I ever ran into her, that's all.'

'Sorry, I don't think she's ever been here. Not that I can remember, anyway.'

I reached out mentally, pushing past the nanowire to scan his thoughts. I could see no lie. Which didn't mean Vicki hadn't been here, just that he didn't know about it.

He walked away. I stood there for a moment, drawing in the air, sorting through the various scents for any hint of the magic that had been in the warehouse or the homes of the murdered vampires. Perfume rode the air, almost masking the heavier scent of humans. Someone was having a shower in the bathroom, and in the lounge people talked softly, though it might have been the TV given it was two male voices I could hear.

There was no familiar scent and nothing seemed out of the ordinary or suspicious. Not to my novice-stripper eyes, anyway.

I glanced around the room again, and saw the discreetly placed cameras in the corners. I was being watched, which meant standing here doing nothing wasn't such a good idea. I turned and headed for the costume department. Time to get down to work.

Dancing might have seemed like fun when I was practicing the art with Ben's Amazonian friend, but after eight long hours of dancing in heels and smiling so hard it felt like my face would crack, I was bone tired and ready for sleep.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and headed for the back exit. The bouncer stationed there gave me a cheery smile as he opened the door. 'Will you be all right out there at this hour? Or would you like someone to walk you to your car?'

'I'll be fine, thanks.'

He nodded and stepped aside as I walked through. 'Be careful, then.'

I smiled and walked into the night. Naturally enough, it was raining and I didn't have a coat. I did have a woolly hat, and I shoved that on, tucking my hair underneath it and pulling it down over my ears. I did likewise to the sleeves of my baggy sweatshirt, although the material was pretty flimsy with age, and not exactly warm. Shivering, I crossed my arms and headed toward King street in the hope of finding a taxi near one of the nightclubs. If not, I could always head back down to Spenser Street and catch a bus, because the trains didn't actually run at this hour.

When I was out of earshot of the club, I pressed the button in my ear and said, 'What a fucking miserable way to end a shift. Tell Jack thanks for not giving me a car on this one.'

'Your character is not the type to own a car, Riley, and the Directorate cannot control the weather,' Jack said dryly. 'How'd things go in there?'

'Tryout went well, I earned lots of money, and they've asked me back on a permanent basis.'

'Excellent. Did you learn anything?'

'We've hit the jackpot. One of the owners is the crow who's controlling the zombies, and the other smells the same as the magic I've sensed in our victims' houses.'

'So we have a tag team of killers?'

'Most likely. I also found out that one of the owners runs 'specials' for certain vampire customers.' I explained what apparently happened, then added, 'I linked with most of the women working here tonight, and none of them have ever worked a special. To me it suggests that Hanna Mein is bringing in inexperienced teenagers to work the specials and somehow hook up with the vamps. Shore's girlfriend said he liked them young.'

'Armel didn't mind it, either,' Jack murmured. 'Although I can't understand why they'd be killing the girls afterward. With the sort of money they apparently earned, they're not likely to say anything to anyone.'

'But a dead seducer definitely tells no tales.' And if Hanna and Jessica were behind the vamp murders, then they certainly couldn't risk even the slightest whisper getting out. It'd definitely kill the stripper business, not to mention them. The Directorate wouldn't be the only ones hunting these killers. Kye certainly was.

Jack grunted. 'Anything else?'

'Yeah. Most of the managerial staff is wearing nanowires, and there's psychic deadeners in every room.'

'The deadeners are probably used to stop vamp customers 'leaning' on dancers or staff to get that little bit extra,' Jack said, a trace of amusement in his voice. Which suggested to me he'd done more than his fair share of 'leaning' over his lifetime. 'The fact they've got so many wires in one place is interesting, though. We've been making sure they're in short supply on the market at the moment, and the price is sky high.'

'Which only means these women are in the position to spend big.'

'And yet their financial records suggest that should not be possible.'

'Unless they're getting their cash flow through other means. Like raiding the safes of their victims.' I rubbed my wet arms and tried to ignore the water dripping off my nose. Neither was working.

'It would explain the robberies, but not the violence. Did you get close to any of those guarded doors Kade mentioned?'

'Had no legitimate reason to, and I didn't want to do anything that would raise suspicions on my first night.'

Ahead of me, a door slammed and the sharp tattoo of heels echoed across the rainswept night. I stopped in the shadows, watching as a blond-haired women stepped out of the shadows and turned onto King Street. I didn't immediately recognize her, but her scent told me who it was soon enough.

Hanna Mein herself.

'Gotta go, Jack,' I said softly. 'I've just spotted one of our targets.'

'Report back as soon as you're able.'

'Will do.' I clicked off the sound, then slipped off my stilettos, shoving them into my bag and padding barefoot through the cold, wet night. The woman ahead was moving quickly, her blonde hair barely visible in the thick furry collar of the coat she was wearing. The click of her heels rode across the silence-a sound that was punctuated by the occasional car roaring past on the empty street.

She turned left and marched toward Bourke Street. I dashed across the street, and followed on the opposite sidewalk. I couldn't wrap the shadows around me full time, thanks to the streetlights and the occasional car sweeping by, so there was less likelihood of her realizing she was being followed if I wasn't right behind her. Not that she was bothering to look around her anyway. She seemed more intent on simply getting to wherever she was going as quickly as possible. Not that I could blame her.

I swiped at the drips running down my cheeks and chin, but my sleeve was as wet as my face and really did little to remove the rain. My top was soaked and it clung to my skin like… well, a second skin. It was providing so little cover that I might as well have been naked-only that might have drawn too much attention from the cops who were always cruising King Street at this hour. With all the nightclubs in this area, there was always some kind of trouble for the police to hose down.