After working my way through almost every line of the document, I closed the laptop and rubbed my temples for a good five minutes before heading off to the shower. The warm water eased all the tension I'd built up leaning over my laptop for four hours. Immediately after stepping out of the shower I was filled with new energy and got ready quickly, leaving my hair down and slightly wavy and deciding to skip the makeup since it was just Meekel. Since the club would be closing by the time I got there, I didn't have to worry about trying to "blend in" to the crowd and settled for slipping on some blue jean pants, a strapless white shirt, and my brown ankle hiking boots. I carefully put my binder into my backpack and headed down the stairs, pausing only for a moment to read Ashley's note to me informing me that she would, in fact, be staying at a friend's house tonight.
I was feeling confident after I'd gotten out of the shower…but as I drove to Fangtasia my stomach started to knot. What if Meekel was expecting me to have her exact location figured out already? Would he be disappointed with how little information I did have? All my wondering made the drive go very quickly, and before I knew it, I was pulling around back of the bar to park my car next to Meekel's….which was empty…which meant he was inside…and the club was not as empty as I think he thought it would be at one fifty seven in the morning. Suddenly, I was underdressed. But, with my head held high, and honestly for the most part not caring, I hopped out of my jeep and strode toward the front entrance. While there were still quite a few cars in the parking lot, there was no line, only a very bored bouncer examining her nails until she decided to acknowledge my presence.
And by acknowledge, I mean a complete twice over of my appearance and a raise of the eyebrows. "Sugar I think you're lost." She drawled in a bored southern voice. "Think again." I said flashing her my I.D which I'd had at the ready. She stared at me for a moment before looking at the I.D for one second before shrugging and letting me in. I suppressed the urge to bolt as there was a group of three, two vampires and one human boy, practically having sex as soon as I entered. I weaved through the crowed desperately trying to avoid any physical contact with anyone in this place. Once I reached the bar I leaned back and surveyed the area trying to find Meekel. He was sitting on top of some sort of dais with another vampire who seated on a throne like chair, Eric Northman. I guess the two knew each other which wouldn't really come as a surprise. Meekel was eight hundred some odd years old and Ashley had told me that Eric was a very old vampire, one thousand years strong by my research. I shrugged around a group of people and made my way through the throngs of leather clad people and finally emerged at the foot of the dais.
"Well well, what do we have here?" I ignored the blonde and focused on Meekel. "How are you?" he shook his head and his dark brown eyes held such sadness behind them I felt my chest get tight. "It is good to see you, though I wish it were under better conditions" he said standing to embrace me. "Hopefully the conditions will be improved in the next couple of days." He nodded though there seemed to be no belief behind it. "Eric has generously allowed us to use his office to go over your findings since the club is busier than would have been anticipated." He turned and bowed his head slightly in a grateful manner. "How kind of him." I said following Meekel's lead and bowing my head slightly. He flashed a smirk at me as I did so causing me to nearly roll my eyes. I was only being so polite because we were in front of his customers. Meekel offered his arm to me and led me through the people and into a hallway before entering a room near the back.
The second the door shut Meekel turned to me, staying silent as I carefully moved everything off of the giant desk and pulled out my binder, setting out each individual folder before placing their contents into separate areas. "What is all this?" I was expecting Meekel's voice, but was caught off guard by a giant near seven foot, blonde who had apparently decided to abandon his public for our meeting. I glanced at Meekel who also had a curious look about him. "I tracked down the email you received to a computer in the library of a nearby town." I paused from my new position on the opposite side of the desk where I'd walked as I'd been speaking. "Now, with that information as well as the precise date and time that it was sent, I went through the security tapes and managed to pull the I.D.s of everyone who was on the computer at the time it was sent." The vampires stared at me, waiting for me to continue. "Then with some face recognition software I designed, I obtained the identities and records of the eleven people who could potentially be the ones." I slid the photos forward keeping their other papers separate. "Then I drove around a bit and took a look at their houses, only three of the "suspects" have basements and one of the basements is light tight." I swallowed, purely out of thirst, not out of nervousness. Eric said something quietly and very quickly, I only had to wonder what he was saying for a moment before the blonde woman who had been checking I.D's outside entered and handed him a water bottle, which he handed to me. I took it with a quick thank you before opening it and taking a few quick gulps before getting back to what I was saying. "Now, every person except one has a shed in their backyards but none of them are light tight." , "How do you know this? There are no blue prints for the sheds." Meekel who hadn't moved from before I placed the papers down suddenly interjected. "I checked, the old fashioned way. There was no light tight technology, and nothing aside for gardening equipment…and in one case, some very disturbing porn." I twitched at the thought of the posters and video collections I'd seen, and caught Eric's smirk out of the corner of my eye. Shocking.
"Well, it's a start." Meekel muttered, eyes pouring over the papers, eyes narrowing as he glanced at the pictures of the people who potentially took his mate from him. I smiled with slight satisfaction, "There is one more thing though which I didn't get a chance to investigate, and I was planning to check it out tonight before the sun comes up." Two sets of eyes watched me carefully as I reached into my bag and pulled out my final blue print, spreading it out on the table on top of all the other papers. "Ted Hankleford owns two acres here in Shreveport on which there is a sort of complex, half of which is underground and, light tight." I saw a flint of hope and anger flash across Meekel's eyes. "Why didn't you investigate it before you came here?" Eric asked me with a raised eyebrow. I rubbed the back of my neck, "Because, the co-owner of the building is a vampire and I didn't think it would go well getting caught snooping around the property…" He stared at me as I drifted off. "Let's go then!" Meekel urged us sounding more than desperate. "No." Meekel and I both stared at him with wide eyes and he opened his mouth to protest but Eric cut him off. "The human and I will go, I am the sheriff of this area so he is under my authority. Plus, you're too emotionally involved to be rational." He crossed his arms in a 'that's final' manner and frankly…I had to agree with his reasoning. Meekel, sensing he had no other options nodded in agreement.
Eric went back out to the bar to speak with the woman who had brought me water earlier, Pam as I could now identify her, leaving Meekel and I alone. "It's going to be okay, if there is a vampire there as the deed states, he answers to Eric right? So he'll have to help us." I offered with a smile. Meekel tried to return it, but was too caught up thinking about his beloved. "I wish I could come and help though…it doesn't feel right staying behind." I touched his shoulder lightly, "I know, but unfortunately the Viking is right, it will be best if you stay behind." He nodded and the door swung open again. "Shall we?" Eric asked me gesturing toward the end of the hall that led away from the crowded bar area. I offered Meekel one more smile before walking out with Eric on my heels. Once we were outside he flashed in front of me looking…slightly angry. "How do you know of my heritage?" I narrowed my eyes at him, "I did my research, do you really think I would let my sister work for someone without finding out about them?" He leaned closer so I didn't have to tilt my head as much, "She said you didn't know she worked here." I nodded, "And that will continue to be her understanding, but shouldn't we be going now? The property is a good thirty minutes away and we need to get you back in bed before sunrise." I said the last part with a baby voice as I pinched his cheek for a moment before he grabbed it in a vice grip. "Don't patronize me." He growled before scooping me up into his arms bridal style and launching into the sky. It's a bird, it's a plane, no! It's Eric fucking Northman!