Vampire born, p.30
Vampire Born, page 30
“That’s not true. You’re not a failure. You’re not unemployed. You’ve been placed on leave. There’s a difference. And there’s still a good chance the charges against you will be dropped. I’m going to do everything I can to keep you out of jail. Now, as far as Nick goes, I can’t tell you what to do, and Lord knows I have no idea what the right thing is in your situation. But I know that man loves you. I know you’ve been happier since the two of you met than I’d ever seen you before.”
“Angie, he—”
“I know, I know. And I’m not excusing what he did or saying it was right, but I will say that I think his heart is in the right place. It’s understandable that he wouldn’t want people to know he’s a vampire, especially if he’d gone to great lengths not to be one.” She stood and stretched, pressing her fists into her lower back. “I’d never tell you to put up with someone lying to you. You can’t build a solid foundation with a lack of trust. But these aren’t ordinary circumstances, and if this is the only thing he’s hidden in all the time you’ve been together, well, then I might be able to understand why he did it.”
“Are you saying I should forgive him? That I should take him back?”
“Again, you are the only one who can decide what you can forgive and whether this marriage is worth saving. All I’m suggesting is that you hear him out and not be so quick to jump straight to divorce. Determine if the two of you could find a path forward together before you sever it so completely.”
“I’m not jumping straight to anything. I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do. You’re saying I’m the only one who can decide, but how do I make that decision? How do I singlehandedly determine what’s best? And what if I’m wrong? What if I pick the wrong thing?”
“Then you reevaluate and change course if needed. Isn’t that what life is? You make the best decision you can, and then based on the outcome, you either stay the course or change it. You can’t pick the wrong thing.” She rubbed her hands lightly on top of her thighs and stood. “I need to make some calls. I have to find out what paperwork is needed for all this, and I’ve got to try and figure out what I’m going to do without you.”
“I’m sorry, Ang. I’m sorry I screwed up and now you’re going to be short-handed.”
She waved away my apology. “We’re all good, love. I just need you to lay low for a bit until the dust settles and they find something else to fixate on. We’ll figure it all out together.”
“So, do I need to leave now?”
“I would understand if you want to go now, but if you could finish out the day, I’d really appreciate it. Tie up any loose ends you can, and then just make notes for me so I know where you’re at with the rest. I’ll see if I can pay you through the end of this week.”
I returned to my desk in a daze, overwhelmed by the prospect of wrapping up everything within a matter of hours and then having no work and no pay for an indefinite period.
Off and on throughout the afternoon, Angie would close the door to her office when taking a call, and I knew when she did that, she was discussing some aspect of my situation.
While I appreciated that she didn’t make me listen to those conversations, I felt shut out and cast aside, in disbelief at how screwed up things had become.
Not surprisingly, I found it hard to focus. Twice, I left originals on the copier and had to get up from my desk and walk back over to get them. I sent two emails without the attachments, and I sent one to the wrong person who happened to have a name similar to the intended recipient’s.
At some point by late afternoon, I wondered if it would have been better for everyone involved if I’d just packed up my stuff and gone home as soon as she told me.
Even though I understood Angie’s decision, it still stung. Especially when everything else in my life already seemed to be unraveling. I felt abandoned on all fronts—by Nick, by Angie, by the universe.
She was still behind closed doors when the outreach center phone rang about an hour later, and despite feeling down in the dumps, I attempted to sound enthusiastic and professional when I answered.
“Outreach Center, how can I help you?”
“Well, hello, Ari.”
I froze, momentarily paralyzed as terror-induced goosebumps popped out all over my skin.
I’d know that voice anywhere. For years, I’d had nightmares about him finding me, and somehow, I always knew that’s how the conversation would start.
“Cat got your tongue?” Mike said. “I knew once I found Angie if I kept sniffing around, you’d be close by. Imagine my surprise when I was searching the internet today for her name and suddenly, there you were. Making the local paper for beating up some guy. What a naughty girl you are, Ari. Getting arrested? Wow. That’s kind of hot. And here you always made me out to be the bad guy.”
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“Well, I have plenty to say to you. Is that any way to greet me? Especially after you ran out on me without even saying goodbye?”
“We both know why I ran out on you, and we both know why I didn’t say goodbye. So, unless you have a valid reason for calling the outreach center, I’m going to hang up now.”
“You know, I got sober recently, and I was feeling nostalgic, so I came back to our old stomping grounds to reconnect with old ties and make some amends. Imagine my surprise when I heard the rumor that you’d come back home knocked up when you left me. So, I said to myself, ‘Self, that’s probably your baby she was carrying.’ And I decided right then and there, I had to find you and do the right thing.”
I was so angry that I wanted to punch something, and at the same time, I was so terrified that my mouth had gone completely dry.
“You and I have nothing to discuss, Mike. Don’t contact me or Angie again.”
“If you had my child, I have rights, Ari.”
“I didn’t have your child,” I said. She never had been and never would be his, regardless of her DNA.
“So, are you saying you weren’t pregnant when you came back home, or are you saying you got rid of my baby without even telling me?”
There were too many people back home who had known I was pregnant for me to pretend that wasn’t true. So, my only option was to convince him the baby wasn’t his.
“My baby didn’t belong to you.”
“Is that so? You cheated on me?”
Despite being away from him for years, the tone of his voice still triggered me, and I immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
I had to be careful what I told him. It wouldn’t do for him to be suspicious, because then he’d just dig deeper. And if I made him angry, I didn’t put it past him to come looking for me, and that couldn’t happen.
“This conversation is over, Mike.” I kept my voice as level and unemotional as possible, trying to project a facade of control. “We have no reason to speak. As I said before, don’t ever contact me again.”
I hung up the phone, and then I ran to the restroom and threw up. Prior to the call, I’d been sitting there thinking things couldn’t get any worse, but I’d been wrong.
THIRTY-THREE
NICK
I’d been in a foul mood since my call with Aria ended the night before. The last couple of times we’d talked, I’d been encouraged by her curiosity and her willingness to ask questions, thinking perhaps there was a chance she might accept my reality and hang in there with me as I searched for a solution.
But then last night, her obvious distress over our situation and her seemingly hopeless outlook erased any progress I thought we might have made.
I’d been tempted to visit her today—maybe offer to take her to lunch—hoping that seeing each other in person might be good for us both. But I worried it was selfish thinking on my part, pushing her when she needed space, so I’d stayed away another day. Which only served to make my mood worse.
The last thing I felt like dealing with was Francesca and the drama of my father’s death, but I genuinely wanted to know what she’d found, and I’d already made the commitment to Francesca and to my mother.
Valentina and Matteo were in the conference room waiting when I arrived, and I greeted them both warmly before taking a seat at the massive table.
“You have any idea what she found?’ Matteo asked as he held a chair out for Valentina at the end of the table.
I shook my head. “No. You?”
Taking a seat next to his mother, he shook his head as well. “Still can’t believe the old man’s gone. Somebody had to have taken him out, right? No way he screwed up something in the lab.”
“Teo,” Valentina admonished. “Let’s not speculate.”
In front of him went unspoken, but I felt it in her eyes as she looked at me and then toward the door.
My mother entered, followed closely by Francesca and two gentlemen. One I recognized as Dr. Whitt, but the other I’d never seen before. He was an older man with sandy blond hair streaked with gray and in dire need of a cut. He wore a thick, tweed blazer too heavy for spring and carried a well-worn leather satchel over his shoulder. He didn’t exhibit any vampiric characteristics, but he clearly wasn’t mortal.
“Thank you all for coming,” Francesca said as she directed the men to sit in the empty seats nearest her at the conference table.
After greeting everyone else and then giving me a warm hug and a kiss on each cheek, my mother took my father’s seat at the head of the table, opposite of Valentina at the other end.
Francesca wasted no time in getting right down to business, which I appreciated. “As I’ve mentioned on the phone with each of you, we’ve had a few developments in our investigation. I believe you all know Dr. Whitt, who’s been handling Dr. VanCleave’s autopsy.”
Whitt cleared his throat. “What we’ve found has been quite disturbing. First, we noticed that Theodoor’s body was showing signs of decay at a rate that was alarming. We thought perhaps it was due to some foreign substance that had entered his body.”
Matteo leaned forward. “You mean, like a poison?”
“That was our initial thought, yes. But as we delved deeper, we discovered more signs that confirmed our growing suspicion. Theodoor’s body was mortal when he died.”
Valentina gasped with her hand over her mouth, and my mother slumped back against her chair with a vacant stare while Matteo cursed and I sat stupefied.
“Mortal, meaning human?” Matteo asked, his olive skin suddenly pale.
“It would appear so, yes.”
“That can’t be,” Valentina said. “How would he suddenly become human? I was with him before he left for the lab. He was perfectly normal, and I can assure you that our activities that morning left no doubt he was most certainly a vampire.”
My mother flinched at Valentina’s intimate reference but remained silent.
“Mr. Gaenor,” Francesca started, but then she paused with an arched brow. “May I call you Nicolaas?”
“You may,” I said, immediately wary that she’d turned her focus on me.
“I’m told that some years ago, around the time your relationship soured with your father, you procured a shadow contract and achieved a successful human shift. Is that true?”
It wasn’t something I’d typically confirm in unknown company, but as it was already common knowledge to most in the room, it wasn’t something I could deny.
“It is. Why?”
“We have to consider shifting as one of many possibilities that could be at play here.”
“Impossible,” my mother said. “Theodoor loathed any manifestation of magic. He spent centuries in his pursuit of a return to humanity but would never even consider any method not rooted in science. He never would have sought out a shift.”
Valentina nodded. “For once, Gwen and I are in agreement. Theo never would have engaged with a shifter in that manner. He didn’t trust magic, or any who wield it.”
“You both make valid points,” Francesca said. “All the same, I’d be remiss in my duties if I didn’t at least consider it. There is no other known method for an immortal, especially a vampire, to die mortal. Nicolaas, did you ever discuss your transition experience with Dr. VanCleave?”
“No. I already told you my father and I hadn’t spoken in six years. I was shifted after our last conversation.”
Francesca made notes in her binder and then addressed me again. “Did you reveal anything about your father to those you contracted with? Were they aware of his position? His work?”
“I didn’t discuss him, no, but I can’t speak to knowledge that other beings have. I would think if they did any research at all before agreeing to work with me, then it’s highly likely they knew my lineage.”
“I’d like to speak with this shifter of yours. Can you give me their contact information?”
“I don’t have any. It was a meeting set up through a network of people, and I never actually met the shifter who fulfilled the contract.”
“You never met the shifter?” Dr. Whitt asked, brows lifted. “Are you saying this was a being powerful enough to shift you without being in the same room with you?”
“I can’t say for sure whether they were in the room at the time. I wasn’t conscious for the procedure.”
“Interesting,” Francesca said, and I wondered if it was her favorite word since she seemed to use it frequently. “Perhaps you could guide me toward the starting point in your journey, and I can follow the trail from there.”
Already annoyed before I’d even arrived, my patience had long since worn thin, and I wasn’t happy to be the focus of her questioning.
“You don’t seem to understand how the black market works, Ms. Giatelli. They don’t give out phone numbers and email addresses. They don’t exchange business cards.”
“Surely, you had regular correspondence with someone if you were able to set up a contract and have it fulfilled.”
“Well, it’s not like you can just call them up. You make it known what you’re looking for, and then, they reach out if they want to talk to you. If you do receive a text or a phone call, you can be assured it’s a burner phone with a number that’s not traceable. If you call it outside the parameters they’ve established, you’ll get a recording saying it’s not a valid number.”
“Since you found them once before, I’m sure you’ll find them again. When you do, I’d be interested in speaking with the shifter.”
Did she know I was currently searching? Was she aware of my trip to Memphis and its purpose? Since I’d traveled on the Gilde’s jet, it would be easy for her to find out my destination if she was keeping tabs on me, but how would she know the trip’s purpose? And was she watching us all? Or just me?
“Even if I did find the same shifter again, by nature of what it is, the black-market values confidentiality on both sides of any transaction. So, if I had contact information—and I don’t—I wouldn’t be able to give it to you.”
Francesca arched her eyebrow so high it nearly reached her hairline. “So, your father’s possible murder doesn’t warrant you breaking someone’s confidence?”
Mam pushed her chair back enough to cross her legs. “Are you saying Theodoor’s death is now officially a murder investigation?”
“It’s starting to look that way.” Francesca’s gaze was now leveled at Mam. “But at this point, we don’t have enough definitive proof to say for sure.”
Dr. Whitt gave my mother a sympathetic look. “I’m still waiting on toxicology results as well as a full blood work-up. We’ll know more once I confirm what was in his system.”
Valentina looked from Dr. Whitt to Francesca. “You think someone shifted Theo into a human and then murdered him?”
“As I said before, I’m not ruling out any possibilities. Absent any other explanation for his mortal state, a shift is certainly a theory worth pursuing, and since the two women who knew him best insist it wouldn’t have been voluntary, I must consider it may have been done against his will.” Francesca returned her focus to me. “I’m curious, Nicolaas. Since you’re no longer human, I assume you ended your contract. How did that come to pass?”
“How is that any of your business?” I damned near had to grit my teeth to keep from growling at her. This entire meeting seemed to be a calculated attempt to grill me in front of the others and make me appear guilty of something.
Francesca flashed a smile that might have been beautiful had it not been marred by the acid in her voice. “The timing is just so odd. Your father ends up dead under suspicious circumstances, possibly as the result of a shift gone wrong, and then suddenly, here you are. The prodigal son returned after all this time, but back to your original biology. You must admit, it sounds a bit fishy.”
“That’s enough,” Mam said, her voice carrying enough authority that even Dr. Whitt and the stranger sat up taller and straighter. “This is not an interrogation, and my son is not a suspect. Now, if this is the only finding you wished to share, it’s become a waste of time, and we all have places to be and things to do. I’d like to suggest we adjourn.”
“Not just yet, Gwenhwyfar. You see, there’s a reason I think the timing of Nicolaas’s return to immortality is worth noting. There’s another development I find peculiar, and it also involves your son. Tell me, madam, what do you know of Dr. VanCleave’s will and the plans of succession for VanCleave Blood Industries and the Gilde?”
Mam’s eyes cut to Valentina and then back to Francesca. “I know quite a bit, as my husband and I had those documents drawn up together many years ago. When Valentina and Matteo joined the family, he amended his will to include provisions for them, and Theodoor had indicated he planned to make adjustments due to his feud with our son, though I can’t say for sure if he did so. I always thought it to be an empty threat.”
She gave me a sympathetic glance, and I acknowledged her with a slight tilt of my head. I’d always assumed my father followed through on his threat to disinherit me when I departed, and I wondered if that was the big reveal Francesca was salivating over. Did she think it was a big family secret that I was to be passed over during the reading of the will? If so, she was going to be greatly disappointed.
