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Chapter 10
"Just what has Josef been doing?" Rayna demanded in concern as Moriah raised one hand to halt further questions. She quickly answered her phone.
"Hello Josef, we were just discussing you," Moriah said sweetly as she clicked on the speaker so the others could hear more easily.
"No nibbles on our bait yet but we have heard from the Southern Cartel. It looks like I will have to go smooth some ruffled feathers on this operation," Josef reported.
"And just what bait is this? And who is the Southern Cartel?" Rayna enquired.
"Ah Beauty, don't worry," Josef's response came soothingly over the phone. "It is nothing dangerous, just a business deal. Moriah will explain. How are things on your end?"
"We've made a connection between the cities where the blood harvesters have been operating and where Blake Winters has been working. He seems to be following the story," Robert spoke up.
"And Mick and I have found a club that all of our missing women have frequented. One man has been identified as speaking to the girls before they vanished," Tyson added.
"Are you holding a party without me?" Josef asked pretending to be hurt.
"No darling, Mick and Tyson just arrived. Do you want to join us?" Rayna asked.
"I would love to but I still have some business snarls to untangle thanks to my absence. I swear that things don't function without me. Heads may roll," he grumbled mildly.
"You will fix it all and I will be home soon," Rayna assured him sweetly.
"I will see you then my love. Moriah, don't keep my lady too long," Josef instructed. "Goodbye."
After he had broken the connection, Beth looked over with distress written all over her lovely face.
"Is Josef having business troubles in only one week?" she asked Rayna.
"No….not really," Rayna laughed. "That was his happy growl. The vamp loves believing his business can't run without him. Trust me; he has good people working for him. Josef is very content but he does love his drama. But Moriah…please fill us in on what plan you two cooked up. What bait is being dangled?" she inquired turning to the older woman.
"Josef owns a west coast business that buys and sells blood to vampires and clubs that cater to vamps. He has put out a request here in the south, offering top dollar for blood. He hopes the harvesters will respond," Moriah told them.
"Smart move," Mick approved.
"But in doing so, he's stepping on the Cartel's toes," Tyson said thoughtfully.
"We will speak to the Cartel," Robert said quickly. "Josef has no intention of actually buying the blood. They will understand once we explain what we're doing. No responsible vampire wants to encourage blood harvesters."
"I am positive they will understand," Moriah said confidently.
"Well…..Josef can sweet talk his way out of anything," Rayna grinned. "By the time my vamp is done with them, the Cartel will be begging to do business with Josef."
"I don't doubt that," Mick agreed. "When it comes to business there is no one better or smarter than Josef. Now the question is does the Cartel know they are buying illegally gathered blood?"
"I cannot believe they know where the blood is coming from if they are buying from them. But it is something we will investigate, you can be sure," Robert said firmly. He was impressed with the way Mick looked at the problem. "I refuse to believe that they are knowingly dealing with vamps who harvest illegally. It's not our way down here."
"This has the potential to become very ugly," Tyson observed. "I worry that we won't be able to celebrate Charity and Anthony's wedding Thursday night. This investigation could force Savannah to lose her evening off."
"She has requested the evening off and most of her work needs to be done in the daylight hours so she should be able to attend," Moriah replied. They were able to discuss this freely since Charity had left before Mick and Tyson had arrived.
"We will not destroy Charity's special night," Tyson declared. "She deserves a perfect wedding. Do you think she would postpone this until the whole mess is settled?"
"Charity won't accept that and you know that Tyson," Moriah scolded with a smile. "Her wedding will be perfect; we will not allow anything else."
"Damn straight we won't," Tyson nodded, feeling silly for even suggesting it.
"Well, if this is all settled for now I am going to take Beth back to Josef and Rayna's. There is not much else we can do until more information rolls in."
"You are correct, tomorrow is another day," Moriah agreed. "I think we should discuss our next steps tomorrow evening."
"Sounds great, so we will see you then," Mick informed everyone as he held his hand out to Beth. She bounded quickly to her feet and stood beside him ready to leave.
"I think I will head home as well," Rayna announced getting to her feet as well. "This has been fun but Josef needs to relax after a rough night at the office," she added with a twinkle in her eye.
"Of course," Moriah smiled. "We will have plenty of time to compare notes tomorrow."
The group separated for the night, Robert remaining with Moriah.
"MC*MC*
In a large, old plantation house on the way to Paradis, Louisiana, a muscled black vamp escorted two young women to a large room at the rear of the house. Holding each girl firmly by the upper arm, Roland Carter guided them over to two sofas where his partners; Hayden Pryce and Oliver Finnegan waited. In the background, Kendra Pryce who was Hayden's wife and the sire of all three men hovered near two gurneys equipped with medical paraphernalia. Her dark eyes flashed greedily and with complete approval as she observed the submissive demeanor displayed by the tow humans. She was aware that the girl's behavior was thanks to Roland's ability to relax the women. His skills at physically pleasuring the women made their blood richer than if drugs had been used to subdue them.
Each girl dutifully took their places beside either Hayden or Oliver with no hesitation. They smiled up at their vampire expectantly as they had been conditioned and then presented their wrists to the men. Hayden took Felicity Jenner's wrist gently in one hand as his brown eyes locked on her blue ones, his thumb rubbing her inner wrist while his other hand stroked the back of her neck.
"I find it such a pleasure to drink from you dear Felicity," he said as his deep voice sent a thrill of pleasure through her. He definitely was the "handsome devil" that Tanya had described to Mick and Tyson.
Oliver was a very pleasant looking man, not nearly as handsome as Hayden who appeared to be in his late twenties with reddish blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Most women did not notice him at first but found him difficult to resist once he began to speak. His charming Irish lilt drew women to him and made them melt.
"Marla my love," he crooned as he accepted her wrist, his other hand resting lightly on her shoulder. "I've been waiting for you all night," he added to the light-skinned black girl beside him. Marla Kemp smiled up at him adoringly and moved closer to him.
When Kendra cleared her throat and tossed her head, flipping her long dark braid over one shoulder, both men knew she was becoming impatient. They both bit, drinking enough to cause both women to swoon in ecstasy. As quickly as the women relaxed the two vampires swiftly withdrew their fangs and snapped the girls' necks. They gathered up the bodies and carried them to the gurneys where the process of draining the blood began. Blood flowed through the tubes inserted in their inner elbows and deposited the precious liquid into labeled glass bottles.
"You do that so well my love," Kendra said to Hayden as they worked together.
"Thank you darling. We must get all of this one, she's AB negative. We can set a higher price for her blood," he responded.
"Kendra, I've heard of a new player on the scene," Oliver spoke up from where he and Roland drained Marla. "AOB Fresh, LTD from the west coast is offering top dollar."
The Irishman was in charge of sales and shipping. While the foursome was new to the blood harvesting business, they had been together for seventy-five years. Kendra had carefully chosen her men and chose the businesses that they dabbled in.
"Tell me more later," Kendra instructed.
"And where do I dispose of these two?" Roland asked. It was his job to get rid of the bodies.
"There is a strip mall on the west side of town…..heading out on Highway 48," Kendra answered. "You can dump them there."
"Really Kendra…..why can't we leave them in a bayou? The gators will deal with them quickly. I do not like this carelessness. Humans get curious and we have to move on so soon," Oliver protested.
"We do this my way," Kendra snapped. "I do not care what the humans think. It is wrong for us to hide in the night, we are the superior race."
"Relax Ollie…this city has a vampire medical examiner. He is not about to let the humans discover what we're doing. He will cover for us even if he doesn't like it. We should be able to work this city longer than others," Hayden said smugly.
"But one of the elders in this city is a nine hundred year old voodoo woman. You can't expect her to sit back and let us work undisturbed," Oliver pointed out. He had studied this city and the vamps that inhabited it. Research was his strong point. "There is great power in this city. Her lover is five hundred years old, we must be careful."
"Oh grow up Oliver," Kendra commanded sharply. "I have no fear of Moriah Fortuna. We are smarter than her. Someone who stays in one place this long has grown complacent in her position. I make the decisions for us, you just follow instructions." None of the others wanted to oppose her and Oliver backed down as usual.
End chapter.
So now you have met the blood harvesters, lovely crew aren't they? I seem to love to write arrogant women vamps…where have we heard someone say that Moriah didn't frighten them before? Kendra should have talked to Cassandra. Thanks for reading.