I got the girls’ numbers, then assured him that I was on it and would call the moment I knew something. I already knew something. I knew that I was going to track down Jessie fucking Patrick and do whatever it took to find out where my sister was.
Unfortunately, Bailey’s friends didn’t have any additional information. Because Bailey lived across town, she’d taken a different cab. They’d all three waited outside together, however, the girls had left before her. Was Bailey taken from there, or was she lured somewhere else?
My final call was to Tymon. To say that he was angry was putting it mildly. He wanted to pull me from the case, not because my sister was involved, but because he suspected something was going on between me and Zack. After he accused me of being unethical and unprofessional—and was just downright rude—I decided I’d had enough and ended the call. When he called back, I sent it to voicemail. When he called a third time, I muted my ringer.
By the time Zack appeared, I was done with talk and ready for action. On the way to the car, I laid out the plan. We were going to Venom, and we were going to make Jessie tell us where Bailey was.
“We can’t,” Zack replied.
I stopped walking. “What do you mean we can’t? He has my sister, Zack.”
“We don’t know that, Diana.” His calm, cool tone made me want to kick him.
“Okay, let me explain how it’s done in my world. I gather information. That information can either be a lead or a dead end. If it’s a lead, I follow it. If it’s a dead end, I let it go. Jessie is a lead.”
“I’m not disagreeing with you. However, as head of the SVO, I can’t just waltz into Venom and accuse Jessie Patrick of wrongdoing without proof. Yes, he’s part-owner of Venom, and yes, he looks guilty, but we need proof. Also, it’s broaching on four in the morning. Venom closes at dawn, which is less than an hour away. I’ll need to be home before then.”
The thought that my sister had to suffer one more second in that hellhole was unconscionable.
As if reading my thoughts, he said, “I’ve put in a call to Milo. He’s head of my day security. I’ve asked him to put some men on Jessie. They will follow his every move. If we still have nothing by tomorrow evening, we’ll go see him. I need you to hear me, Diana. We’re going to do this my way.” I conceded, not because I agreed with him but because I was worried what he’d do if I said I didn’t.
Once we were in the car, I addressed what happened in the hospital. “What did you mean when you said it was a nest?”
For once, he was forthcoming. “To turn a human into a vampire, they have to be drained. I’m talking one heartbeat away from dying, before they’re fed vampire blood. Sometimes it works, but most of the time it fails, in which case, the human dies anyway.” His eyes shifted from the road to me. “It takes a powerful vampire to make a nest.”
One person came to mind. “Lenora?” I asked.
“Possibly.”
“So what? She’s building an army?”
“I don’t know.”
“By nest, I take it you mean a bunch of newly turned vampires?”
“The correct term is baby because essentially that’s what they are. A baby comes out of the womb with two instincts: to eat and expel. Baby vampires are somewhat the same, minus the expelling part. It takes a year, sometimes two, for them to gain the ability to reason. Until then, they are extremely dangerous.”
My sister was being fed to a nest of baby vampires. “If Lenora is behind this—”
His hand found mine, and a feeling of well-being washed over me. “If Lenora is behind this, I promise she’ll be taken care of. For now, we need to focus on your sister.”
Zack didn’t push for me to spend the night with him. Instead, he drove me to my apartment, where he walked me to my door and gave me a chaste kiss goodnight. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. Just because he came to my rescue with Victoria, then whisked me back to his private lair and gave me the best sexual experience of my life, didn’t mean we were going steady. Was it wrong that I kind of wished we were? Was it bad that I wanted more? Was I completely screwed up? Yes, yes, and yes.
As good as my cushy new bed looked, I was too anxious to sleep, so I made a pot of coffee and planned. My baby sister was all I had left. Zack said his people were on it, but I didn’t know his people. I knew me. I trusted my intuition, and my gut told me that the key to finding Bailey was at Venom. He wanted proof that Jessie was involved? I would get him his damn proof, but I was going to do it my way.
After scarfing down a protein bar, I took a quick shower. One of the first things I’d learned in the academy was that long hair could be used as a weapon. Not if I pulled it into a tight bun. I also learned to choose clothing that allowed you to bend and move, yet still offered protection. I went with a black, long-sleeve, fitted top and army-green cargo pants. The shirt would hide the machete strapped to the middle of my back, and the cargo pockets were perfect for stashing extra ammo. I completed the outfit with my favorite Salomon boots.
