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  "Where were you around two p.m. yesterday, Debrett?"

  His question surprised Adrian. “At the university with Clara Reese from about noon until after three. Why?"

  "Easy enough to check out."

  "Gray, what's going on?"

  "The cops found a staked body in Serra Mesa last night."

  "They need to notify Garland. Staked vamps are his territory.” Obviously, it didn't have anything to do with Adrian, but he had a hunch as to why Gray was questioning him.

  "It's not a vampire, Debrett, and they're checking the list of all licensed staker owners."

  "That's where my name comes in, right?"

  "It surprised me to see your name on that list, Debrett.” Gray gave him a long, searching look. “Anything I ought to know about?"

  "Nothing I can't handle.” Adrian kept his features composed, meeting Gray's gaze.

  "Does that include Ramirez spotting you with Prince Garland at the Sang Erotique? Is that the reason for the staker?"

  "Like I said, nothing I can't handle."

  "Dangerous crowd you're hanging with, Debrett. Careful you don't get stepped on."

  That part Adrian already knew. “I'll watch my step. Anything on the Southside Park, Gray?"

  The man shrugged, not answering the question.

  "Just call me when the cops get him, Gray, okay?"

  "I will. I know you want him as bad as we do."

  Glancing past Gray's shoulder, Adrian saw James Masterson as he passed near them. His eyes narrowed, watching Masterson. “Son of a bitch."

  Masterson had the wraith of his wife in tow, and she looked miserable. Dakota had been right about his suspicions. The poor woman followed her husband, and she looked completely unhappy.

  Careful not to turn his head, Gray asked. “What's wrong?"

  Adrian sent out a sliver of his energy to the woman, letting her know he was nearby. Her head jerked in Adrian's direction with a surprised look. Keeping the communication silent, he let her know who he was and that he would be trying to help her out.

  "I'll explain in just a minute.” Adrian said out loud to Gray. His eyes were on Masterson's wife as the two walked out the door to their car. She looked away from Adrian, giving a slight shrug. Adrian could see the plate number through the window and quickly memorized it. “You can look now, Gray. It's the guy getting in the maroon Mustang."

  Gray looked over his shoulder, giving Masterson a quick, professional once over; Adrian filched Gray's pen from the counter, writing the license on a napkin before stuffing it in his pocket.

  "What was that about?"

  "Guide problem."

  "Not much I can do to help you there."

  "Yeah, I know, Gray. I've got to go, so call me later if you need anything else.” Since Gray was the one who had called, Adrian left the bill for him to pay.

  Grunting a goodbye, Gray stuffed his notepad into his jacket pocket and finished his coffee as Adrian walked out.

  * * * *

  Back home, Adrian poured another juice and called Dakota. After the necessary pleasantries, he got down to business. “You in the mood to put somebody to rest with me?"

  "For who?"

  "I saw Masterson a few minutes ago with his wife. Odds are, you were right about Griffith."

  "Son of a bitch, I knew something was up. We'll consider this one a freebie, Adrian. I'll help out."

  It'd take both of them to do it because Masterson had bound her, and even though he'd asked for Dakota's help, Dakota expected no favor in return. “Let me get some more information, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

  "Call me back when you're ready. Bye."

  After repeating the goodbye, Adrian hung up before quickly making another call to Yar. He could trace the plate number for Adrian and get an address. Next, Adrian called the club to set up a meeting with Gabriel. Asking for his help would be the sticky part.

  * * * *

  Two hours later, he entered Gabriel's office. All right, he had balls and knew it. Adrian had turned the man down and refused to see him, but now he wanted to ask Gabriel for a favor. Sitting in the seat Gabriel gestured to, Adrian said bluntly, “I need a little help."

  Gabriel seemed to see the irony in it as well; his features were amused as he asked, “Tell me, Adrian, why is it that you need my help?"

  "I just need one of your goons to do something for me."

  "I assume this is not exactly legal.” The arched brow was in high evidence. “So, remind me why I should be willing to help."

  Because he asked would not be a good reason, so Adrian asked a question instead, “What do you want in trade?"

  "What are you willing to give?"

  Bargaining was something Adrian was excessively familiar with. Knowing he had nothing of any material value that would interest Gabriel, he figured time might be of interest as, for some God unknown reason, Gabriel was interested in him. To help Mrs. Masterson, yeah, he would trade on it. Watching him carefully, Adrian tried to gauge how he took the question. “Is my time worth anything to you?"

  "You would be willing to spend time with me in exchange for one of my goons, as you put it?” Gabriel's expression appeared thoughtful, but something showed in his eyes, almost like he was laughing at Adrian. “What is it you wish them to do?"

  "Break into a house.” He took the piece of paper with Masterson's address out of his pocket and put it on the desk.

  That astonished Gabriel. “Is that all?"

  "I need something from the house. Any personal item that belonged to Mrs. Masterson."

  "I see.” Pausing, Gabriel smiled, obviously highly entertained by all of this. “I'll grant your request, Adrian."

  Adrian had asked the all-important question, and he felt relieved Gabriel had agreed to it, as Adrian couldn't ask any of his friends to do it. He didn't want them in jail for breaking and entering if they were caught. One of Gabriel's people could get in and out unseen with no problem, and no worries about jail. “What's it going to cost me?"

  "Two evenings of my choosing. Is that too much to ask?"

  "One evening and no, but it depends on what you plan to do, Gabriel."

  "Both will be here in the club, not in my bed. That is, unless you want to be there."

  The silky soft purr wove through the words as Gabriel stood, moving around his desk to behind Adrian's chair.

  Adrian got out of the chair and turned to face the vampire, not wanting his back to Gabriel. “I'll stick to the club, and it's for one night. Thanks for the help, Gabriel.” His attempt to sound businesslike wasn't as successful as he'd hoped it would be.

  Raising his hand, the tip of his finger ran slowly down the side of Adrian's throat. “Two."

  Fuming, Adrian's lips tightened and he glared at Gabriel, but he didn't have much of a choice if he wanted to help Masterson's wife. He slowly nodded. Actually, it wasn't a high price to pay for the favor Gabriel was doing; it was just annoying as hell. Abruptly stepping away from Gabriel, Adrian whirled around and stalked out.

  Without incident, he walked through the club, headed outside to the parking lot and got into his car to return home. Thankfully, in San Diego, any place you might want to go was only ten minutes away by highway. The light congestion of the streets gave him time to think, and he wasn't very happy with his thoughts. He would have to wait until Gabriel could come up with what he needed before they could free Mrs. Masterson. Leaving the poor ghost with her husband made him fume, but he couldn't do anything else. Any attempt to drag the police into it would fail. There were no laws on the books against binding one's spouse after death. There should be, but there weren't.

  He pulled into his parking space and turned off the car. After he picked up his mail, he unlocked the front door and went in. He closed the door behind him, dropping his jacket and mail on the armchair. Without any warning, Trisha came walking in from the hall to the living room as if she owned the place.

  Adrian sized up the blonde woman as he watched her waril
y and lowered his hand to the holster of his staker, unsnapping it. Keeping half turned away from her, he pulled the staker out. He didn't trust the smile hovering across her lips. She'd already nailed him once across the throat at the club. From the tense movement of her body, it was clear she wasn't going to play with him this time.

  "What do you want, Trisha?"

  "Time to take out the garbage, as Gabriel won't. You really should have accepted his offer.” She took a step closer to him. Her tone taunted him, playing a cat and mouse game with him as the mouse. “I'm sure you'll enjoy this less than having to drink his blood."

  "Why don't you take your ass on home before somebody gets hurt?” Her comments told him Gabriel wasn't behind the attack.

  "It won't be me.” Trisha seem to feel very positive about it. She began to step around him like she had nothing to fear and was only playing with her food. “And I'm not stupid enough to let you run around loose."

  That was his signal; Adrian aimed the gun at her in a two-fisted stance. Yar had been a great teacher. And he was greatly in favor of being underestimated, which Trisha had a serious problem with. “Oh, you're stupid; you just haven't figured it out."

  Eyeing the gun, she started laughing. Malice laced her tone and she slowly circled to move behind him. “That won't do much damage. What will you bring out next? A cross?"

  Her stupidity was his gain; Adrian followed her every movement, not about to let her get near enough to make the gun ineffective. Before she could move closer, he fired. The look of shock on her face froze there as she crumpled to the floor. She hadn't realized he had a staker or she wouldn't have laughed. And Adrian found out Yar wasn't kidding when he'd said it would paralyze a vamp in a split second.

  Adrian dialed the number to the club. Tapping his foot impatiently, he waited for Gabriel to get on the line after being put on hold.

  "To what do I owe the honor of you calling so soon, Adrian?” Even over the phone, the tantalizing tone of Gabriel's voice could make Adrian shiver like someone whispered unspeakable things to him.

  "I got your bitch Trisha here in my apartment. She's bleeding on my carpet like a stuck pig, and I'm billing you for the cleaning. You need to send somebody over to cart her away."

  Silence reigned for a moment on Gabriel's end before he spoke, “I'm not sure whether to be angry or laugh at how you put things."

  "Just get her out of my apartment, will you? I have to be at work in less than an hour. And tell your friends the same thing will happen to them if they try to come after me."

  "Trisha will be dealt with."

  From the abrupt change of tone, Adrian had no doubt Gabriel would do the dealing. “Do that or I'll call the cops; she needs a lesson in law."

  "You will have no more problems from my court, Adrian. I will send my children over to get her."

  As he put down the phone, Adrian wondered how Gabriel had gotten the others off his back. He couldn't think on it, though, as he wasn't feeling very well, and it would be a while before he could get to bed.

  Adrian figured Gabriel would send somebody over quickly, and he did. It took fifteen minutes for his vampire kids, Skyler and Wolf, to get to Adrian's apartment and take Trisha's body away. With them, Adrian had the feeling of friendly faces in a hostile crowd, but he wasn't about to trust in it. After they left, he downed several aspirin with some juice before heading into work.

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  Chapter 7

  By eight the next night, Skye had stopped by to drop off what Adrian needed. Apparently it had been easy, since Masterson, devoted husband that he was, hadn't disposed of his wife's possessions yet.

  Dakota and Adrian headed up to La Jolla to set up a circle in a vacant lot cattycorner to Masterson's property. It would take both of them to summon the poor woman because her husband had bound her to him, and they needed to be as close to her as they could get. Getting out of the car, Dakota quickly started setting up the circle. Adrian placed the rings Skye had stolen on the ground in the center.

  They both concentrated on combining their energy, and Dakota and Adrian focused on summoning Mrs. Masterson into the circle, using the rings as a beacon. Instead of the normal bluish hue, Adrian's power cast red tinged ribbons, combining with Dakota's completely blue strands of energy. It puzzled both of them, but they didn't have time to focus on it. Mrs. Masterson materialized slowly within the circle, extremely confused.

  "We're here to help you, Mrs. Masterson,” Adrian said quickly, hoping she would remember him from the other day. “It's past time to let you sleep."

  Her confusion became a great deal of pain she couldn't hide. “Sleep? I can't. James won't leave me alone. He can't hit me anymore, but...” she trailed off into silence.

  "We'll take care of it, Mrs. Masterson, and he won't be able to bother you ever again."

  "I don't care what he does anymore, how many women there are, I just don't want to see it.” Her head drooped and she stared at the ground, whispering, “He just won't let me go."

  Adrian and Dakota looked at each other. Masterson had played serious head games with his wife; they both had already realized that.

  "It won't take us long, I promise."

  They quickly began the ritual, hoping Masterson wouldn't notice his wife's disappearance quite yet. Dakota echoed each word Adrian spoke, their movements in sync as they went through the ritual to lay her to rest. She watched them silently, but Adrian saw a small measure of hope dawning on her face as they worked.

  A sudden shout came from across the street, and Masterson ran from his house toward them. The energy within the circle whirled around them in an impenetrable barrier. Masterson wouldn't be able to get near them with the circle keeping him out, but Adrian could see his face distorted with rage as he screamed obscenities at them. His wife hovered close behind them. Terrified, slender silver threads from her body thrashed wildly around them. Ignoring her husband, Adrian and Dakota continued, focusing on the ritual.

  "It's almost over, Mrs. Masterson,” Adrian told her reassuringly. He would be ready to answer the bastard, but only after she'd been safely put to sleep. Between Dakota and himself, Masterson would be lucky to come out in one piece.

  A heart-rending gratitude altered her expression of fear and a subtle shimmering appeared around her, startling Adrian. Shock quickly replaced the initial emotion when her arms reached for him, and Adrian could feel her solid form hugging him. Completely dazed, he stared uncomprehendingly at her. When Dakota caught sight of her, his mouth dropped. The energy that had built around them started to weaken. Neither of them concentrated on it, and a surge back lashed on them.

  The sudden bolt struck both Dakota and Adrian, sending them to their knees, allowing Masterson to break the circle when his foot kicked at the line of earth and salt. Adrian heard Mrs. Masterson screaming and struggled to get off his hands and knees. His brain had been short circuited by the snapback of energy, leaving the world hazy and distant to his senses. Blobs of incomprehensible shapes floated in front of his vision as he tried to anchor himself back to reality. When it finally cleared, the lot was empty except for the two of them. Badly shaken, Dakota's face had turned ashen, and Adrian knew he probably looked the same. Dakota got to his feet before helping Adrian up.

  "What the hell happened?” Adrian wasn't sure how Mrs. Masterson had gained solid form.

  "I don't know, but we lost control, and we're going to have to find her, Adrian. No way am I going to let that bastard keep her."

  Dakota started putting their gear away, his hands still shaking. “Legally, she's dead and therefore no concern of the law, so the police won't be able to help us with this."

  Adrian knew they couldn't just walk up to the house and demand to get her back. It would take some planning because Masterson had been alerted to them now, and Adrian needed to talk to Gabriel again. He was the only one Adrian could think of with the ability to get them into Masterson's place. After piling everything in the car, Adrian made Dakota driv
e straight to the club. Neither of them said anything, lost in their thoughts.

  At the club, he left Dakota in the car to wait while he went into the Sang Erotique. The less Dakota knew about what Adrian would be doing, the better. Wolf, after one look at Adrian's face, took him back to Gabriel without a word. Thankfully, it didn't take Adrian long to convince Gabriel to follow along with him, and to his credit Gabriel didn't ask many questions. They would discuss the price later. Adrian really wasn't concerned about it right now as he was worried more about Mrs. Masterson.

  On the return drive to La Jolla, Dakota kept giving Gabriel speculative looks.

  "Nothing spectacular or funny, got it?” Adrian sat in the back seat, eyeing Gabriel as well. “Just in and out, and nobody gets hurt unless we have to."

  "I understand what you want. I can get you past whoever is at the front door."

  "Dakota and I will handle Mrs. Masterson; you just put whoever gets in our way under, Gabriel."

  Throwing an amused look back at him, Gabriel said, “I don't think I need instructions on doing that, do you, Adrian?"

  He ignored that. “We all clear on this?"

  "Let's just get her out of there as fast as we can, Adrian."

  "No violence unless we have to, got it?” Adrian wanted to remind Gabriel of that fact in case he forgot, and Adrian needed Gabriel to get them past any security at the front door.

  "Understood."

  Dakota gave Adrian a curious look before focusing on the road. The rest of the drive was conducted in silence. Adrian knew Dakota wondered who Gabriel was, and how he had gotten a vampire to come along with them. He wasn't about to speculate on any of Gabriel's thoughts. When Dakota parked across the street from Masterson's, Adrian ignored both of their looks and got out of the car. Without a word, they followed him to the front door.

  A servant answered the door when Gabriel knocked. He quickly put the man under, ordering the butler to step aside and let them in. Adrian had expected more than the butler, but it seemed Masterson didn't think they were bold enough to come straight to his home.

  Low-toned, Gabriel continued speaking to the butler, and from what Adrian could hear Gabriel was telling the servant he hadn't seen them. Gabriel thought way ahead of Adrian, blocking the man's memories. Dakota followed as Adrian walked away. Adrian had caught a small energy trace of Mrs. Masterson, and he followed its trail up the stairs.