AUTHOR'S NOTES: Yea! You have no idea how happy I am to get this chapter finished. Been a hard one to write. Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 12- To Catch a Thief

It was late in the day when Karen was approached by Carlton and Juliet and informed of the idea on how they could finally get an idea where Shawn was being held. It had already been a busy morning, contacting the press and having to do a lot of PR for the new station. It was still under construction but with all of the outpouring of support, Karen felt it was her duty as chief to thank the people that had helped and were still helping to get her station back on its feet.

However, after hearing the plan that her officers had come up with, Karen Vick almost wished she'd stayed in bed that day. It wasn't the plan itself, which was risky but surprisingly not against the law… As long as all parties agreed to it, which apparently they had. The problem was that she was going to have to use unsanctioned police resources to help them. If the mayor ever found out, she'd lose her job.

The plan was to ask the Santa Barbara Historical museum to advertise a shipment of rare gold coins that would be coming in the following week and would be put on display. She was concerned that they'd have to wait another week, but Carlton assured her that the thieves wouldn't wait that long to case the museum.

Pierre Despereaux, of all people, had figured with as detailed and organized as the thieves were, as soon as they saw the fliers advertising the display, they'd come and check the place out so they could make their plans. They would probably only have to wait a day, two tops, and the thieves would come to them.

Lifting her head off of her desk, she'd let it fall there after they said the words Pierre Despereaux, she looked at the desperate faces of her detectives. "O'Hara, you're supposed to be on desk duty. The only way I'll agree to this plan is if you stay put. I'm not going to have you out running around after vampires in your condition."

"I couldn't agree more chief." Carlton nodded then cringed away at the cold glare of betrayal Juliet shot him.

Looking back to Karen, Juliet frowned. "This isn't fair. Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I can't do simple surveillance!"

Karen rose out of the pregnancy chair she'd drug out of storage that week, and stood with her hands on her desk. She was trying to be the calm one, but having to deal with Santa Barbara's human crime rate was hard enough. Now she was having to deal with the vampire crime rate too, but could only do it 'under the table' so to speak. "Listen here detectives. I realize the personal situation you are in but I still expect you to do. Your. Jobs." She accentuated the last few words. "O'Hara, you will stay here. If and when a viable suspect is brought in, you can sit in on the interrogation."

It was the best compromise she could come up with for the woman. Luckily, Juliet nodded in agreement.

"Now, Detective Lassiter. I do not want to know about whom you are concocting this plan with." Her eyes flashed dangerously. "But as long as you have permission from the museum, I give you my blessing to use whatever department resources you need."

"Got it." Carlton rose and helped Juliet to her feet before heading out. Carlton briefly stopped at the door, letting his partner go through first. He turned to the chief and muttered a "Thanks." Before leaving.

Karen watched them go sadly. She couldn't believe how out of hand and dangerous this case had become, but she didn't blame Shawn. He was just being himself and hadn't expected anything less than his gung ho nature when she called him in on the case. She reached down and felt her stomach. She was a few weeks more along than Juliet was and it was hard to fathom what she must be going through without Shawn. Karen couldn't imagine her life without Richard and really didn't want to try.

Pushing the thoughts from her mind, she focused on her other tasks for the day. Today she had to oversee a few aspects of rebuilding the SBPD and hold a conference on a couple of drug busts Detective Buzz McNab had helped on. He was turning out to be a great detective after all.

She was just about to leave when her phone rang. She sighed loudly and answered, "Chief Vick."

Her face flushed white when she heard what the officer on the other end of the phone had to say. "I'll have them there in ten minutes." She hung up and hurried to the office door. "Lassiter! O'Hara! Get back in here!"

Gus forced himself to look down at the bloody corpse of the museum manager that had gone missing that morning. Scratches and bite marks marred almost every piece of exposed skin. Some of the scratches went down to the bone. He'd overheard one of the officers wondering aloud what kind of animal could maul a grown man like that.

Carlton was there as well, having been the one who called Gus in the first place. He was examining the body along with Pierre, who Gus had picked up from his hotel room a short time later.

Pierre knelt by the body. Scrutinizing every gash and bite mark carefully before he closed his eyes and sniffed. His brow furrowed and he stood, apparently not believing what he'd sensed. Looking down at Carlton, who was about to get a scent himself, he warned, "Detective, you might not want to-"

Too late. Carlton sniffed the body and like Pierre, stood and stared at it in disbelief. "Son of a BITCH!" He spat and stalked away from the body angrily, officers watching him with puzzled glances. Gus caught the sight of his pale face and white eyes as he left.

Woody, who had been standing on the sidelines until the examination was done, approached with his body bag and checked out the wounds carefully. He cast Gus a wide eyed, knowing look before nervously chuckling and turning to face the other officers who were observing the scene. "Well, clearly this is definitely the work of a mad coyote. Couldn't be anything else..."

Content Woody was covering for them, Gus went to find where Carlton and Pierre ran off to. Neither of them had seemed happy at their findings and Gus hoped Carlton had just been overreacting. He found them at the detective's car. Carlton had his head down on the vehicle while Pierre was standing awkwardly beside him, unsure of how to comfort him… or if he even should. Their current alliance was a very uneasy one.

"What did you smell?" Gus asked, "Was it something helpful?"

When Carlton didn't turn around, Pierre offered his explanation. "Not exactly helpful, more disturbing than anything really. You see, I caught the scent of at least four vampires on that unfortunate man… one was definitely Shawn."

Gus shook his head vehemently. "No. Shawn wouldn't do that. There is absolutely no way." He wasn't exactly talking about feeding from someone. The body in the storage facility had proven that if pushed, Shawn was capable of it. However, this new information posed a problem. If there were four of them that fed on the same man, it could mean that Shawn was a willing participant, and not a captive.

Carlton spun around, fully changed and upset, his silvery white irises bored into Gus' brown ones. "Get your head out of the clouds Guster and look at the facts. We knew something like this could happen. Maybe he figured if you couldn't beat them, join them."

Ignoring the danger he could be putting himself in by pushing an already angry vampire, Gus stepped up and defended his friend. "You think just because you've started to get all "buddy buddy" with him these last few months that you know anything about Shawn? Newsflash! I've known him since we were three. He would never join them!"

"Boys! Boys!" Pierre got in between the two men, holding Carlton back. "This changes nothing. We still have to set up at the museum. It will be at least another day before they notice the paper and send a scout. We can't assume the worst because of one body."

With one last glare, Carlton spun around. "Fine. I'm going to go tell O'Hara." He climbed in the vehicle and started talking on the police radio.

Pierre took Gus and led him away, giving the detective some space. "That wasn't a smart move on your part Burton, but I did enjoy the show."

"That guy." Gus huffed. "He has no idea, none."

"Quite right." Pierre nodded, "Now, do you think that his father would like to know some of this, or would it just upset him?"

Gus sighed, "He'd kill me if I didn't tell him. I'd better go call him."

"I'll be right behind you, I have my own phone call to make." Pierre pulled out his phone as Gus went to retrieve his cell phone from his car. He could have sworn he heard the name Mick coming from the thief's direction but he couldn't be sure.

Well, at least someone is keeping him informed. Mick hadn't been on his mind much. There were so many people to keep in the loop and Gus was tired, really really tired of all of this. He kept wondering what would have happened if he'd skipped out on coffee with Coraline and gone with Shawn. Would he be dead? Would he have stopped Shawn from doing something stupid? He didn't know, but asked himself those questions over and over again until he couldn't think straight anymore. Gus knew he wasn't the only one whose guilt was eating him up from the inside, but he was sure that if guilt were physical wounds, he would look just like the corpse laying on the ground, not twenty feet from him.

Mick slammed the phone down on the receiver, breaking it into three jagged pieces. Pierre had just informed him about the body. Josef and Morgan were not going to like this. The cleaners were going to have a fit too. He truly hoped Pierre's plan would work, or the cleaners would have to take matters into their own hands and they had a tendency to burn first and ask questions later.

Beth walked into the room at the sound of the phone breaking. "Mick… what's wrong?"

"They found a body with vampire scent all over it in Santa Barbara. Pierre thinks it was Shawn that killed him, but they can't be sure. They know they are dealing with at least three other vampires too."

Beth covered her mouth in shock. "There's no way. Shawn wouldn't do that."

Shaking his head, Mick grabbed his cell phone, since he had just broken his land line. "Tell me something I don't know. He says they have it covered for now but if the cleaners get wind of this, their plans will go down the drain."

"Plans?" She questioned as Mick finished dialing.

Mick cursed when he got Josef's answering machine. "Josef, I'm heading to Santa Barbara. They have a lead on Shawn and might need my help. Do me a favor, keep the cleaners off our back for as long as you can, you'll see why soon." He hung up and sighed. These guys got into more trouble than he did, which was saying a lot.

"I take it I'm supposed to stay here again?" Beth asked wryly.

"No, actually. You have to come with. If there are vampires around, they could sniff us out if they know what to look for. We need a couple humans to help and Juliet is out of the question. I want to make sure you are okay with this." He put his hand on the side of her face and she leaned into it. " And…I don't like leaving you behind. I just worry because you're so…"

"Human?" She finished for him with a smirk.

"Yeah. I can't lose you."

"You won't." She grabbed him and pulled him in for a kiss.

One day later:

Carlton and Pierre had been standing around the museum for hours and both men were getting impatient, as were Mick and Beth, who had been in the security room and the main display room respectively for just as long. Gus was also in the AV room with Mick, because he was already familiar with the system, having spent hours in it a few years ago while testing it with Shawn. They still hadn't updated the security system, much to his surprise.

"Are you sure they are going to be here?" Mick asked through his microphone. Each had been given a police issued head set or wire so they could communicate immediately if they saw anything suspicious.

Pierre rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm sure. They put fliers everywhere. They had to have seen them."

Carlton, who was standing close enough that Pierre could hear him without the mic, asked, "What makes you so sure they're going to take the bait?"

"Detective, how did you feel when you first became one of us?" Pierre gave him a curious look. "And be honest."

Frowning, Carlton admitted, "Well, after the shock wore off… I felt, powerful. It was a bit of a high, like I could do anything."

"Precisely." Pierre nodded. "It is a natural thing to feel that way when first turned. Breaking boundaries, feeling alive even though you are, in fact, undead. The first couple weeks you act like the world is yours for the taking… which is why I know they will show up detective. They are thirsting for a challenge, and I mean to give them one. Well, at least dangle it in front of their little armature noses."

Oddly to Carlton, that made perfect sense. It suddenly occurred to him that Pierre might actually know what he was talking about. He was a very old vampire. He made a note to ask him about it later.

A group of school children entered the museum then, as well as a woman leading the way for them. Following closely behind was a man who looked out of place walking with a bunch of pre-schoolers. Mick spotted him on the security cam first.

"Guys, look at the entrance. Brown hair, following a the group of kids that just came in."

According to the plan, Beth was supposed to walk close to him, so she could try and see if she could spot anything different about him that would give him away, without revealing the existence of other vampires. It seemed the guy was sticking close to the class, probably to avoid suspicion. It would be a good cover if you were casing a place so you could rob it.

Carlton and Pierre separated, moving to opposite sides of the room, preparing for the attack.

Beth was about to give the signal for them to move in, until the woman, obviously the teacher, addressed the man and pointed to Shawn and Gus' dinosaur. All the kids 'ooed' and 'awed' at the skeleton, but the man and woman seemed to laugh at something on the name plate. A boy broke away from the group of kids and took the man's hand leading him to another exhibit. The guy was nothing more than a reluctant parent chaperone.

"Stand down." She whispered into the mic. "False alarm."

The men in the surveillance room fell back into their seats. They had thought they were so close.

Mick glanced at the screens and pointed a bit to the left of one of them. "Move the camera over here a bit so we can see more of the entrance."

Gus started moving the camera to the left, but was having trouble with the controls. Mick reached for them and out of habit, Gus slapped his hand away. "I got it! I got it!"

"I'm just trying to help." Mick defended, "You know it would be better if you were out on the floor like Beth, it's kind of cramped in here with the two of us."

"I am not going anywhere near that mummy room. I told you that when we came in here." He figured if vampires were real, then mummy curses weren't so far out there, no matter what Shawn had said about them.

"What the hell is going on in there?" Carlton grumbled into the microphone. "Would you two numbskulls learn to share?"

As the bickering continued, Pierre noticed something and whispered into his own headset. "Detective..."

Carlton was still trying to get through to the two men fighting over the cameras.

"Detective." Pierre tried louder as Beth started to get into the verbal fray.

Exasperated Pierre called out. "DETECTIVE!"

"WHAT?" Carlton yelled back, pissed off from the argument.

"If that man wasn't the thief, then why do I still smell vampire?"

All fighting instantly stopped and they all frantically looked around. There was a large man slinking back toward the entrance at a quick pace. He'd apparently heard their heated exchange and decided to beat feet while he could.

"Aw hell..." Carlton cursed. "Go go go!" Carlton called into the headset and the suspect started to run. He wasn't fast enough for both Carlton and Pierre, who came at him from both sides. They double tackled him just as he reached the revolving doors.

The man reeked of vampire and Carlton, pent up as he was, roughly turned him over and pinned him to the floor. He growled loudly at the man who flinched away and covered his face. Carlton blinked and both he and Pierre looked up towards each other at the same time.

The person in front of them may smell like a vampire, but if the stink of fear on him was any indicator, the man... was definitely human.

Adam couldn't believe his bad luck. There he was, standing in the middle of a museum, checking the place out, when he heard someone shout, "DETECTIVE."

Zack had read the flier for the new exhibit just that morning and instantly told him to go take a look. Adam tried to talk him out of it, being so soon after the police found the other museum curator's body, thanks to Ben, but Zack was obsessed. He'd been a bit of a thrill junky when he was human, even if that isn't why they'd started their thieving, but now that he was a vampire it was so much worse. Safety was the last thing on his mind. He was almost getting as bad as Ben was.

He shivered at the thought of Ben, not wanting to even think about him. Adam knew he had to keep his mind on the task at hand. Figure the place out, let Zack know if it was worth setting up a robbery.

Adam turned around quickly at the realization there were cops around and tried to walk slowly out, so he didn't attract any unwanted attention. There was no way anyone could know he was casing the place could they? It was just some kind of coincidence... unless it wasn't. Did they set a trap? I knew that rare coin thing was too good to be true!

"Go go go!"

His suspicions were confirmed when, at those words, a blond man rushed at him from his left and another tall black haired man, who looked a lot like Mr. Bean, came at his right side. Their combined weight hit him to the floor face down, only inches away from the front door. The impact knocked the wind out of him enough that when he was flipped around, we was still unable to speak and was gasping for breath.

The black haired man leaned in close and growled, chilling Adam to the bone. He knew that growl all too well. Zack had been right. There were more of them. He covered his face, sick to death of vampires and the problems that came with them.

Strong hands pulled him to his feet and he finally found his voice. "Please, don't kill me! I won't tell anyone I swear. I've had enough!"

He could finally see beyond the two men. There were two other men and a woman, all were exchanging worried glances. "Alright, let's go." The same man who had growled at him a minute earlier, took charge and led him out of the museum. Adam was sure they were taking him somewhere private to kill him.

"Oh God... I'm sorry." He hung his head hoping God was still listening after all he'd done.

The black haired man glanced at the cross around his neck before he slammed and pinned Adam against the car. "St. John, take Ms. Turner and I'll meet you at the station. You too Guster, take Despereaux."

The blond man stepped forward, "If I may, I'd like to come along. Just in case." Adam got the feeling that just in case meant so you don't murder him. It didn't make him feel better at all.

"Despereaux, you know you can't be seen at the station."

The blond, Despereaux, smiled. "Then I won't be seen."

"Station?" Adam questioned. It almost sounded like the vampire was about to arrest him, then he remembered one of them had been called 'detective.' "Are you guys cops? What the hell kind of town is this?"

He was whirled around to face the black haired man. "That's Head Detective Carlton Lassiter to you, and you are under arrest for the assault and kidnapping of Shawn Spencer. You have the right to remain silent."

END NOTES: :( Sad I wasn't able to put Shawn in this one, but I loved having Lassie and Despereaux work together. You'll have your fill of Shawnie boy next chapter. I promise.