To all of you who have read and reviewed, a big thank you! I'm thrilled you like the story and hope you enjoy the following chapter. Lots more to come….

Chapter 13

Cushioned by the icy water, Mick dreamed of Beth. The liquid caressed him and Beth was there softly touching, whispering her love. He welcomed her, feeling her smooth embrace. He was complete in her arms…..

Guillermo raised his head above the rushing water. He saw the dawn light and knew they needed to get moving soon.

He located his friend and swam over to him. Mick was still unconscious under the chilly current and Guillermo grabbed his arm to bring him to the surface.

"Wha-" Mick sputtered. Interrupted from his dream, it took a moment to remember where he was. The fact that Beth was missing crashed down upon him and he dragged himself out of the pool, shedding the rope tether as he went. He was surprised at how refreshed he felt.

Guillermo was already out of the pool, water streaming off him. With no embarrassment at his nakedness, he pulled the blood bags from the stream. Satisfied that the packets were viable, he handed one to Mick who was shaking his hair dry.

"Thanks," Mick said, opening the corner and draining it. The blood satisfied him and he felt better.

Finishing his bag, Guillermo said, "Let's get dressed and get back to the car. Uh, no problems with the fish?"

Mick grimaced. "I suppose I'll never hear the end of that."

"Don't worry amigo, I won't tell Beth. She's probably got enough on you already."

It had rained overnight but their things were dry under the tarp. They both pulled on their clothes and climbed up the slope, loading the gear into the back of the SUV. Getting in, Mick was pleased his cell phone was fully charged. There was a text from Josef saying they would be taking off at 7 am. It was a little after that, so Mick called his friend.

"Mick," he heard Josef's voice with the airplane noise in the background. "Where are you?"

"We're about where we were the last time we talked to you," Mick replied.

"Never mind, I've got Logan tracking your GPS. Did you find someplace to spend the night?"

"Yeah, you need to tell me about rivers and tying yourself to a tree."

Josef chuckled. "Just one of the perks of being a vamp, brother."

"So where are you?" Mick asked. He heard Josef say something to someone and getting a muffled reply.

"We're near the place we were last night. It's about twenty miles from where you are. We're going to follow the main road and keep running a grid."

"Okay, we'll head in your direction," Mick said, glancing at Guillermo and getting a nod.

"Fine, if we get a signal, we'll call you." Josef hung up.

Mick breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad to have something positive to do. "Hey, G, did you bring the scotch back up?"

Guillermo looked askance at him. "It's a little early there, Mick."

"I don't want it now, but after we find the girls."

"Yeah, I've got it. Y'know when we find them, they might be sick from blood deprivation. IV's won't work, they're too slow. I brought syringes, large ones, to inject the blood directly."

Mick nodded, remembering when he did the same to avoid tasting the blood necessary to keep him alive. He didn't want to think of Beth and Simone being that bad, but it was a possibility. "I've done it, so I can take care of Beth if you handle Simone."

Guillermo nodded, keeping his eyes on the dirt track in front of them. "Check on the road. How far until we reach the area Josef's flying over?"

"About fifteen miles, but it will take longer because the roads twist around," Mick said. A thought occurred to him. "Say G, how much gas do you have?"

Guillermo smiled. "Don't worry; I've got a couple of jerry cans with enough gas to fill the tank."

Mick leaned back, feeling foolish again. "Man, you are open for business. Are you sure you didn't bring a freezer?"

"You wish," Guillermo chuckled.

Now a little less fearful, Mick worked with the tablet and the paper maps to make sure they were on the right road to get to Josef's location.

In the airplane, Josef was confident about the search. Simone's signal was coming in more strongly than last night, and the pilot worked with Rider's coordinates to adjust his flight path.

It was almost 8 am, and Josef called Mick.

"Yes, Josef?"

"Hey Mick, were over the mountains and picking up Simone's signal."

A rush of hope spread over him. Mick said, "Can you tell where they are?"

"Almost," Josef said in a buoyant tone. "I'll have Rider send you what we have. At least you'll be in the area. Get there as soon as you can," he hung up.

Mick turned to Guillermo, with a grin. "We'll find them soon."

A fearsome jolt in the track distracted him, and Guillermo replied, "Yeah, as long as we don't break an axle. These aren't roads, they're ruts."

At that point, Mick's phone dinged with a text from Rider, letting them know the location. Mick quickly looked on the map and found a road nearby. "G, stop and look at this."

Cooperatively, he stopped in the middle of the trail and took the paper map. "There it is. We'll have to backtrack five miles or more. Let me see the tablet."

Mick handed Guillermo the device and they both poured over it. "Okay, let's get there and maybe by then Josef will have a closer signal," Guillermo said.

With more hope than they had the day before, Guillermo maneuvered the large SUV and turned around to head toward the possible location.

Flying above the mountains, Rider and Logan had their faces planted in their computer screens. Suddenly, Rider looked up with a happy smile. "Boss, I've got something!" There was a weak but consistent beeping sound.

"What?" Josef demanded. The plane was too small to allow him to get behind Rider to look at his computer.

The beeping became more pronounced. "I've got the signal," Rider cried.

Logan quickly keyed into the marker as well and breathed a sigh of relief. Being trapped in a small plane with an upset Josef Kostan was not his idea of a fun time. He studied the computer and looked up. "We've got it, boss."

Josef nodded. "All right, let me call Mick." He dialed and when Mick answered he said, "We've got a positive location."

"Great," Mick grinned. "Text it to us, we're heading that way now."

"Call me the minute you know something," Josef said, his voice deceptively calm. He knew Mick would understand his concern about Simone. He also knew Rider and Logan felt his emotions, but he wasn't about to verbalize them.

"I'll call as soon as I can," Mick responded, then hung up.

It was over an hour before they parked the SUV on a barely marked track on top of a ridge near where Rider found the signal. It had taken them longer than they thought to negotiate the roads, especially after the rain. Mick was tense with anxiety, trying to keep himself in check after Josef's call.

Guillermo looked at the coordinates and the maps, then to the forest. It was midday, but the sky was still cloudy from the rain the night before. He gathered up blood and other supplies into a backpack. Slinging it on, he saw Mick loading a pack with weapons, including a machete and a small cross-bow. Vampire-hunting tools. Guillermo didn't comment, but was glad they would be prepared for anything.

Checking the map, Guillermo said, "This way," and let them down from the hilltop. They made their way through the rocks and trees, noting when they got to the bottom of the slope; they were in a dry ravine. Guillermo pointed the way, then turned off the GPS. It was useless in the canyon.

It was a little cooler at the bottom with the wind gusting. They didn't move at vampire speed, wanting to make sure they wouldn't miss anything. They both started to take big whiffs of the air and suddenly Mick thought he scented Beth.

He turned to his friend. "I think I've got them!" he exclaimed, and hurried forward.

Within twenty feet they could smell vampires. Coming to a copse of trees, Mick stopped and closed his eyes, scenting not only Beth and Simone, but also other vampires. Inhaling deeply, he saw two vamps put the boxes in the trees, then cover them. The vision was fleeting, but Mick thought he might be able to recognize them.

Guillermo asked, "Did you get anything?"

"Yeah, I think so. They're in there," Mick replied nodding toward the thick trees, then plunging in. He found the wooden crates, covered with dirt and branches. With vampire strength, fueled by fear for his wife, he pulled the box into the clearing. Guillermo dragged the other one close behind. Mick took a knife from his pack and Guillermo pulled one from his belt and they both started to open the crates.

Finally, he forced the top that revealed Beth packed into a fetal position, a wooden arrow through her. With a snarl, Mick yanked it out and threw it into the underbrush. He drew her up, his relief that he'd found her was tempered by seeing her skin was grey and she was unresponsive.

Guillermo had opened Simone's box, and removed her stake as well. He knew she was going to need a lot of blood as well as a freezer soon.

"G, she looks really bad," Mick said in anguish.

He looked over at Beth and said, "Don't worry amigo, she'll be fine once we get her some blood and a freezer. Lay her out over here and we can start the injections. If we can get them enough blood, they'll wake up and it'll be easier to get them to the car."

Guillermo picked up Simone and put her on the ground, trying to avoid the larger rocks. Mick put Beth next to her while Guillermo rummaged in his pack. Drawing out the syringes and blood, he handed one to Mick.

With resolve, Mick injected half a dozen syringes into Beth's vein. She looked less gaunt, but was still comatose.

"She's not waking up," Mick said, concerned.

Guillermo, who had been working on Simone, reassured his friend. "It's all right. They're both so young, they can't stand the stress. I guarantee they'll be okay once we get them to a freezer. Then we can start the IV blood and that will get them back to normal pretty fast."

"I hope so."

As he was preparing another syringe, Guillermo's head went up, his eyes narrowed. "Mick," he hissed in the vampire undertone. "I hear someone coming."

Turning, Mick caught a scent on the breeze. "Humans—two I think."

"Shit," Guillermo responded. They couldn't be found with blood and needles, not to mention unresponsive vampires on the ground. "Quick, get Beth into the trees."

Mick picked up his wife, and Guillermo took Simone and they quickly hid in the undergrowth.

In a sudden panic, Guillermo said, "Mick, I forgot the backpack." It contained the blood and medical supplies.

Mick poked his head out from the bushes and saw it lying on the ground. "I'll get it."

He gently put Beth down and moved with vampire speed back to the clearing. The humans were close and Mick just had time to throw the backpack toward Guillermo when two men in park police uniforms appeared.

"Hey, what's going on?" One of them said loudly.

Mick turned, realizing he couldn't escape. He had a choice of killing them or bluffing his way out of the situation. Despite his worry about Beth, he couldn't kill innocent humans. He looked at the men—one was tall and heavily built and the other was lean and smaller. He could feel they were suspicious.

"What are you doing here?" The taller one asked.

"Um, I'm just hiking," Mick said, trying to appear non-threatening.

The men saw the broken crates. "What's this stuff?"

Mick shook his head and shrugged. "I have no idea. I just found it a few minutes ago."

The short one asked, "Where is your car?"

"I guess I'm a little lost. My GPS doesn't work down here."

"Which way did you get here?"

Mick pointed in the opposite direction of Guillermo's vehicle. "That way, I think." He could tell they humans didn't believe him.

"So, what are you doing out here all alone?"

Mick smiled and said, "I'm just taking a hike. A friend said this was a good place."

The taller human held out his hand. "Let's see your ID."

Obligingly, Mick handed over his wallet.

"You're a PI from Los Angeles?"

"Yeah," Mick answered, shortly.

"And you just happen to be walking around in the middle of the State forest and found these ripped up crates?" The taller one asked, sarcastically.

The shorter ranger was still poking around and suddenly said, "Hey, look at this!"

Mick realized they'd found the backpack with his weapons. Damn, he'd forgotten about them.

The ranger rummaged around, taking out the small crossbow. "Are these yours, Mr. St. John?" The taller ranger asked, looking at his ID to get his name.

"Uh, no. I have no idea about that, I just got here," Mick bluffed.

The smaller ranger seemed to believe him, but the taller one remained skeptical. "So you're just hiking out here with no gear, no water, no nothing. And these weapons aren't yours? You do know that hunting is prohibited in the park?"

Mick took back his wallet and said, "Yeah, I know, but I'm not hunting. It's not against the law to hike here, is it?" He hoped he could get the park rangers to leave so they could take care of Simone and Beth.

The two men looked at him and the taller one said, "We've had problems with drug trafficking. Some of the cartels are using the park as a pick up spot because it's not well-traveled. That's why we've added patrols in this area."

Mick held up his hands. "Hey look, I'm not involved in anything like that."

The shorter ranger frowned and said, "We saw a car up on the ridge above here. Is that yours?"

Quickly, Mick improvised. "Is it a white pick-up?"

Shaking his head, the ranger said, "No, a black Tahoe."

Mick shook his head in return. "Oh, that's not mine. I've got a truck, but I've been hiking for a couple of hours so I think it's farther away than that."

The two humans looked at each other, and the short one said, "Sorry, but we'll have to take you in."

"On what charge?" Mick frowned, trying to keep calm.

"Suspicion of drug trafficking, possession of illegal weapons, possible Homeland Security violations."

Mick couldn't believe it and said with exasperation, "So you're going to put me in park jail?"

The shorter man gave a snort and the taller man said, "No, the State Police will take custody. You can call a lawyer from there."

Mick lowered his head and walked a few paces toward where he knew Guillermo was listening. "Get the girls back and make sure they're OK. Let Josef know," Mick said in the vampire undertone.

"But Mick—" Guillermo tried to dissuade him, but the humans were talking again.

"Come with us, sir." The taller man said and stood behind Mick to ensure he complied. Mick gave a final shrug and look toward where Guillermo was hidden with his wife before walking away with the two humans.

Guillermo sat back on his heels. Hijo de puta, he thought viciously. His first impulse was to go after them and tear the humans to bits. Sighing, he realized Mick would hate that and Guillermo would feel guilty. Mick had been his friend for many years, but sometimes his compassion for mortals was too much.

Looking down, he saw the wasted frames of Beth and Simone and knew he had to put them first. He didn't feel safe staying in the canyon to administer more blood to them so he had to get them to safety.

Waiting until he was sure Mick and the humans were far enough away, he lifted Simone and carried her up the hill. Getting her into the SUV, he went back for Beth and the bag of medical supplies.

Both women were still unconscious, but he knew they would be fine. He needed to let Josef know what happened to Mick, and to get Beth and Simone to a freezer as soon as possible.

Checking the maps, Guillermo headed toward the closest entrance to the park. Glancing into the back of his SUV, he noted the women were covered by the all-purpose tarp and weren't readily visible to the casual observer.

Now that he had cell service, he called Josef.

"Yes?"

"I have Simone and Beth," Guillermo replied.

There was a moment while Josef was silent with relief. "Are they all right?"

"Yeah, they'll be fine with a little more blood. They need a freezer as soon as possible."

Josef said, "Take the west entrance out of the park. Head for an abandoned gas station on a secondary highway. Rider will text you the location. My guys have a freezer truck there and the girls can rest during the trip back to LA. Its better they get into the cold right away than try to get a plane back. Let me talk to Mick."

Guillermo took an unneeded breath, and said, "Josef, we have a problem."

TBC

What will happen with Mick, and will Beth and Simone recover? The ladies need to get better and Mick needs to get out of custody. Thank you for reading!