Chapter Ten

BloodMeld

Logan marveled at the handling of the Cleaner's luxury automobile as she parked it a block away from Sanders Securities. "This baby rides like a dream! Way better than Mick's Mercedes! The way you shifted gears cutting that hard left turn on a yellow? I should get one!"

The Cleaner exited the BMW, followed by Logan. "Really? What do you drive now?"

Logan paused his work on a small tablet in his hands, and gave her an embarrassed look. "I … I drive a Vespa," he said softly.

A darkened van turned onto the street and navigated towards them. The Cleaner gave it a wave as it passed by. "Lauren got my message," she said. "Now back to you. A Vespa?"

Logan lowered his head. "Yeah."

The Cleaner gave him a small smile. "Well, any car will definitely be an upgrade for you. We can discuss it further after you tell me what we're looking at in the building."

"Already done." Logan around and held up the tablet for her to see. "I tapped into Sanders Securities' surveillance system and motion detectors using the protocols I pulled when Mick first visited a couple of weeks ago. I'm picking up three humans inside."

The Cleaner frowned at the three dimensional schematic of the seven-story building and its sublevels. "The blue dots indicate the humans? And this is a real time display?"

"Yep, on both accounts."

"Then why aren't they moving on your screen?"

Logan blinked at the screen. "They were active signatures. What do you mean they're not moving?"

They both stared at the displayed in silence for two long minutes before the Cleaner shoved the tablet into Logan's chest. "They're unconscious," she said. "They're still alive, based on the temperature gauge you also have on display. I don't suppose you also have infrared readings as well?"

Logan shook his head. "Never thought I needed it for this place, and plus the owner doesn't have that type of camera," he said apologetically.

The Cleaner sighed, contemplating the next move as her attention diverted to the top of Sanders Securities. She stood motionless, focusing all of her vampire senses as her gaze slowly wandered from one corner of the roof to the other.

Logan turned his gaze up to the top of the building as well. "You found something?"

The Cleaner nodded, her eyes suddenly darting to a dim light blinking from around the corner of the building. "Maybe. The best way to follow up on it is to head down."

#

Standing at the gateway leading into the underground parking garage, Coraline detected the decay before the two sets of footfalls landed behind her. She spun around, a short sword in hand ready to strike.

Logan wailed in terror, nearly dropping his tablet at the sight of the long haired vampire and her weapon. "Wait! Please don't kill me!"

Standing behind Logan, the Cleaner trained a pistol on Coraline. She smiled as she said, "You can lower that sword, Miss Duvall. Beth sent us."

The women simultaneously lowered their weapons. Logan blew out a sigh of relief. "Thank you," he whispered.

The Cleaner paused after a few steps past Coraline into the parking garage. She took note of the empty company cars parked, as well as the open elevator at the end. "What's going on? Are there people here?"

"Yes. Malcolm is believed to be upstairs, but there are four in the sublevels of the building I believe is looking for this doctor of yours." Coraline slid her short sword back under her dark jacket. "We decided to retrieve him first."

The Cleaner glanced over her shoulder.

"We?"

#

Malcolm picked up a marksmanship trophy from a shelf it rested on underneath the wall monitor as Sanders laid unconscious on one of the couches while Hayley and Allison were dragged into a corner by the serving bar by two of his associates. "You must have done some redecorating since the last time I've been here, Miss Sanders," he said, turning the trophy in his hands as Allison was placed rather awkwardly against Hayley on the floor. "I wasn't aware your military career was so extensive."

One of the associates snorted as he walked over to the bar and picked up a bottle of bourbon and sniffed the cap. His face wrinkled in disgust and he put the bottle back. "I'm sorry, but I don't consider six or seven years a military career."

Malcolm replaced the trophy on the shelf, chuckling at the comment. "You must forgive William. When it comes to military warfare, he has learned from the masters. Cornwallis, Washington, Grant, Patton, Eisenhower, Powell … the list is endless."

The other two women remained still where they laid on the floor, but Malcolm found himself frowning when Sanders slowly began to stir. First one finger.

Then two.

William noticed the movement as well. He looked down at her from behind the couch. "That's never happened before. Normally your paralyzing dust knocks humans out for hours."

"I know." Malcolm squatted beside Sanders and thumbed open her good eyelid. "Her constitution is stronger than I thought. I should have realized that upon seeing her. Twenty-four hours ago, I put this woman in a hospital."

The office door opened, and David hastened inside. "We might have a problem, sir," he said, holding out a cell phone.

Malcolm frowned as a mixture of blood curdling growls and screams issued from the speaker. Every few seconds the growl would overpower the screams which seemed to be growing louder and more telling. His eyes diverted over to the monitor on the wall that was displaying the paused image of the doctor.

An image now replaced by the Sanders Securities logo rotating on a black screen.

David disconnected the call and slid it back into his jacket. "Everyone went down there to take care of the doctor's retrieval," said David.

"And Lance?"

David shook his head. "I don't know."

Malcolm rose to his feet and straightened his clothes. "It seems that the doctor's usefulness has ended, David. You and I have to pay some friends of ours a little visit," he said, making his way to the door.

"What about our friends here?" queried William.

Malcolm gave a small shrug without even looking back. "They're nothing. Leave them."

#

Four figures dressed in black tactical gear marched out into the parking garage. Three of them held back by a dark van, while the fourth, wearing a gas mask, guided a staggering Doctor Ellis by the elbow towards Coraline, Logan, and the Cleaner. Those two came to a halt in front of the vampires.

Coraline examined the doctor, who nearly fell to one knee in front of her. She looked at his guide. "What's wrong with him? He looks like he just woke up."

Hands reached up to the gas mask. The device was pulled up and off the face of its wearer, a handsome man with short, blonde hair. "Some type of sleeping agent was released into the air conditioning unit," he said, sliding the gas mask into a pouch strapped to his side. "It knocked him out as well as three others upstairs. It has no effect on vampires. Natasha is checking on them now."

The expression on Logan's face was one of puzzlement. "You're human."

Coraline smiled. "Very astute, Logan. Allow me to introduce you to Xavier King, right-hand man and great-nephew six or seven times over of Marcus Daggett, one of the most prominent vampires in Detroit."

King gave him a short nod. "We tried to keep it clean in there, but … you know. Have you got in touch with a cleaner?"

The Cleaner raised one gloved hand. "I have a crew standing by."

King smiled. " Perfect. We cut the video feed when we came across a computer terminal, but none of us are tech savvy like that. We may need to wipe the building's feeds in case the cameras picked up anything."

"Oh, I can take care of that." Logan held up his tablet. "But I have a question. Who are you guys?"

King looked over his shoulder at the three silent figures behind him. The largest stepped forward, reaching up to remove the goggles and ski mask from his head.

The Cleaner and Logan gasped at the sight before them. King merely smiled. "Mr. Griffin, I believe you already know Magnus McClane."

McClane reached up to ensure his top knot holding his long black hair was intact. "Aye, the fat one knows me."

Logan gulped nervously as McClane stepped close. "What's wrong with you?" he whispered. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"It's known that several of the more prominent vampires outside of Los Angeles are enroute here because of Josef Kostan's betrayal of Mick St. John." He pointed shakingly at McClane. "You're one of them."

The Cleaner looked up into McClane's bearded face. "Judging from your intervention, it seems that you now believe that all this has been one carefully planned manipulation of Malcolm Rehnquist."

McClane gazed down upon the Cleaner approvingly. She rolled her eyes as she tilted his chin up to where they were locked with his. "My eyes are up here."

McClane chuckled softly, patting her hand. "Rehnquist is proving to be a bigger pain in the arse than all the vampires in this God forsaken city combined, so aye, lass. Kostan's head stays attached to his body."

Logan threw his hands in the air, clearly exasperated. "Okay, well that's all well and good! We've only been working to convince you of that same instance for the better part of a month!"

McClane took a step towards Logan. "Careful, young one. We may be in a basement, but I'm sure I can find a high window to drop you out of."

All heads turned to the parking garage entrance as a dark van made its way down the ramp towards them. "I guess that's the cleaning crew," said King.

The Cleaner nodded as she waved them forward. "Time to get to work." She started to move towards them, but turned back to McClane. "I thought you had a cleaning crew on site as well."

McClane smiled. "They are on site, lassie. They are not like you and your house where you clean up the mistakes made by careless vampires to hide our secrets from preying human eyes. No. My group, my brainchild and headed by the always reliable and competent Xavier King, travels the world to eradicate the vampire scum at the root of the problem."

He turned to the two silent vampires standing silently several feet away. "My friends, no one will be able to withstand the might of BloodMeld."

#

Mick, Josef, and Beth stood around the kitchen island. The vampires sipped on glasses of blood, while Beth had her hands wrapped around a coffee mug.

Each of them regarded each other over the rim of their glasses, unsure of what to say, or who should start. Beth exchanged a look with Mick, who eyes diverted over to Josef as if gesturing a motion. Beth sighed and set her coffee mug down.

"Josef?

He looked over at Beth. "Yes, Beth?"

Beth started to speak but looked over at Mick. He gave her a barely perceptible nod. "Josef, I admit when Mick was taken from me, I wanted … I wanted you dead."

Josef smiled. "That's a downgrade from saying it will be a cold day in Hell before you forgave me."

Mick frowned. "Josef," he admonished.

"Sorry, Beth. Go ahead."

Beth sighed again. "I said a lot of things, but I have to admit I never wanted anything to happen to you. I know you were in a difficult position when Sarah was taken."

She reached for Mick's hand and grasped it. "But after everything that happened, you did do what you could to try to get him back. It's probably because your neck was on the line and -"

Mick turned his gaze upon Beth and cleared his throat. "But in the end, everything turned out for the best. I got Mick back, you got that death sentence commuted -"

Beth caught Josef's down expression. "What now?"

"There's still the matter of that, Beth. Do you still have that SD card?"

The blank expression on her face gave way to embarrassment. "Oops! I almost forgot!" she said, reaching for her purse. She dug the card out and placed it in his hand, squeezing it tight.

He looked down at it and then into her smiling face, unsure of what to say. She stared back at him in silence as she covered their clenched hands with her free one, and shook them in a conciliatory gesture.

Mick finished his A positive and remained silent throughout the entire exchange, joyful that the two people who meant the most to him finally put the past month behind them and move forward.

The moment made him reluctant to interrupt the happy moment. "Uh, what's on the card?"

Josef held it up between two fingers. "Only Malcolm's confession that he orchestrated everything from Sarah's abduction to our current situation. Magnus McClane wants his sword through my neck because of the part I played, but once I take this to Madame Wen, she can call his dogs off."

Josef smiled at Beth and turned for the door. He paused to look over his shoulder as he reached for the handle to pull the door shut behind him.

Beth slowly walked around the island to Mick, who pulled her into a tight embrace. They stood together, moving ever so slightly.

#

Hayley poured three glasses of bourbon from the bar in Alex Sanders' office. She carried the glasses to the coffee table and sat them down. "Thank God Alex doesn't have tequila. Otherwise, I would have definitely broke my vow tonight after how I feel."

"You and me both." Allison reached over and grabbed one of the glasses. She sniffed the contents as Hayley sat down beside her and did the same.

"Any ice?"

Hayley grimaced as if she bit into bitter fruit. "Ugh. Stop being a punk and drink."

Allison grinned. She started to turn her glass up before one of the doors opened to the office. Nate Cullen held it for a clearly agitated Alexandra Sanders to step through.

"Happy to see you at least poured me a drink, Hayley," she said, pulling her pistol from her back pocket as she marched over to her desk. "Do me a favor and pour Nate one as well."

She dialed a number on her desk phone. "This is Caddie," a feminine voice answered through the speakerphone.

"What do you have, Caddie?"

"Feeds have been wiped clean. Probably magnetized. And Alex? I physically checked the cameras in the sublevels. Some of them were cut."

Hayley frowned as she handed a glass to Nate. "Cut? Cut as in snipped?"

"Cut as in cut, if I had to bet on it. The camera casing is suppose to withstand impact of up to twelve hundred PSI. There are three cameras leading from parking to the room where the doctor was held that looked as if someone took a sword to them."

Allison sighed as she sat back. "Well, we're screwed. The feeds have been wiped, and cameras chopped in half by samurai. What are we going to do?"

Hayley exchanged a look with Sanders, who grinned at her in return. "Caddie, keep up with your investigation. I'll call you back." She picked up the receiver and replaced it to disconnect the call while reaching for her cell phone and began dialing a number.

Allison finished her drink and leaned over to set it on the table. "What's she doing?"

"Only what makes Alexandra Sanders what she is today," said Nate. He stood behind the couch opposite of her and Hayley. "When she set up shop in this building, she had the customary security specs installed and everything. That system is fried. It will be a miracle to pull anything from it."

Allison glanced over at Sanders who sat on the edge of her desk with her back facing the office as she spoke on her cell. "Okay, well why is everyone in here grinning like Cheshire cats?"

Hayley clapped a hand on Allison's knee. "Because she believes in redundancy."

#

Allison whistled. "A secondary system? Alex has a secondary recording system installed?"

She, Hayley, and Nate watched from an enclosed office through panel glass as Sanders and a stout, bespectacled man with a receding hairline worked in the security room. The man had set up a laptop and desktop on an empty desk, and now was standing on a stepladder, poking through ceiling panels with a flashlight.

"Anyone knows that a high level security installation like this would have cameras all over the place, so if there was any kind of infiltration, it would be the first or second thing hit," said Nate. "So Alex decided to have a second system installed totally separate from the primary device. Every office, every room in the building has one or two pinhole cameras installed. Chances are it's still running because the server hub is in her office. Nowhere near here."

He looked up and around on the ceiling until he found what he was searching for and pointed. Allison's eyes followed and found a small, darkened circle enclosed in the ceiling panel. "Impressive."

The man lowered himself from the ladder with a handful of ethernet cable leads running from the ceiling. "And who is this guy? From the cardigan and the pocket watch, he looks like a butler."

"Niles runs her Malibu beach house and her home in Calabasas," said Hayley. There was a playful twinkle in her eye as she spoke. "She hired him when the business really picked up. Highly recommended. But don't let the get up fool you. There are rumors that he's former MI6. Royal Air Force. Interpol. No one really knows. He has no online presence, is paid in cash, proficient in hand-to-hand combat, and can bake a turkey that looks like it's on steroids."

Nate rubbed his stomach for emphasis. "Hmm mmm."

A knock on the glass brought their attention back to the adjoining room. Sanders pointed a finger at Allison and signaled for her to come in. She frowned and went to the door connecting both offices.

Niles had an image already up on the laptop as Allison entered. Sanders turned at her approach. Allison noticed that the patch covering her right eye was removed. Though it was red in splotches, and the skin around the eye was discolored, Sanders stared back unflinching at Allison as she handed her a photograph.

"Who is the woman with Beth Turner?"

Allison stared at a picture of her talking with Beth and Coraline earlier in the day. "She introduced herself as Mick St. John's ex-wife. Duvall. Coraline Duvall. Why?"

"Because of this, my dear." Niles turned the laptop to where the women can see a freeze frame of Coraline standing outside of the parking garage. "This was a few minutes after you all were knocked out in the office. Chances are she knows what happened to the doctor."

Sanders turned back to Allison and guided her back to the door by the elbow.

"You and I need to find her, Turner, and St. John. Right now."

#

Mick sat alone on the couch in his loft, staring down at his empty hands. Unblemished, uncalloused, perfect in every way. The marks he bore while tending as a medic during the war, or a guitarist after his return, long gone.

He opened and closed his hands, resting in his lap as he sat. The emptiness bothered him as a vaguely familiar voice in the recesses of his thoughts kept asking him one question.

What are you waiting for?

Mick held his right hand up close to his face, examining the palm for several seconds before turning it and looking at the smooth, pale skin.

"Penny for your thoughts."

He looked up to see Beth descending the stairs. She wore one of his button down long-sleeved shirts while drying her hair with a towel. "What?"

Beth tiptoed from the stairs to the couch and sat down beside him. "For a second, you looked like you were deep in thought sitting here."

Mick noticed that he still held his hand up in the air. He started to lower it, but instead reached behind Beth and scooped her up to where she was straddling his lap facing him. "I was thinking about you, actually."

He reached up to move a lock of her damp hair from out of her eyes as she cupped his head in her hands and looked down into his face. "You know, we really haven't been alone since we decided to give this a go, Mick," she whispered seductively.

Mick smiled back. "We've been alone, Beth. There was the night before you went to Detroit, the night after when you came back -"

Beth playfully hit him on the shoulder. "You know what I'm talking about, Mick St. John."

"I know, I know." His tone fell serious. "Beth, are you sure -"

He never finished as Beth reached down and began kissing him hungrily. He returned the kiss with equal passion, wrapping his hands tight around her waist as her fingers groped for the bottom edge of his shirt. He finally relented and disengaged long enough for it to be pulled over his head. She tossed it on the floor.

It was joined seconds later by her shirt.

#