Jack and Stacy waited for me in the parking lot when I pulled up in Jack’s destroyed car. Jack did a double-take, his mouth dropping open as I pulled up to park alongside them.

“What the hell happened?” Jack cried as he got out of the passenger side of a red convertible Porsche that I assumed was Stacy’s. He was wearing another set of the shapeless, baggy sweats from the office rather than the clothes I had seen him in last.

“Drive-by shooting,” I said, futilely pushing at the driver’s-side door, which was refusing to open. “Sorry about your car.”

Jack came around and grabbed the door handle, and with both of us together we managed to pry it open. I got out, and to my surprise, Jack leaned over and wrapped his arms around me. “I don’t care about the car. I’m just glad you’re safe.”

I leaned into the hug, sniffling. “You too. I was so worried when they called me to ransom you.”

Jack’s arms stiffened around me. “Everett, you’re bleeding. Were you shot?” Jack looked down at me in concern.

I frowned, confused. “What? No.”

“The back of your leg,” Jack said. “Stacy, will you take a look?” Jack turned sideways, turning me with him.

Stacy got out and walked around the front of her car to come over, her heels clacking on the pavement. She glanced down at my back and nodded. I looked down, twisting back to see. The back of my right pant leg had dried blood running down it.

“I don’t feel anything,” I said, staring with fascination at the blood.

“From the flush in your face, it looks like you fed well tonight, so it would have healed near instantaneously,” Stacy said, looking me up and down with narrowed eyes, her lips pressed tightly together. The expression made me uneasy.

“Fed?” Jack asked with alarm. “You didn’t—”

“I didn’t kill anyone…” I protested automatically, and then trailed off as I realized that maybe wasn’t true. I had killed that vampire, hadn’t I? Or had I? I didn’t know. Jack was looking at me with wide eyes. “I think. It’s complicated,” I said as my eyes met Stacy’s. “How do you tell if a vampire is dead?”

Stacy glared at me. “What kind of a question is that? And we don’t have time for this.”

“What about my car?” Jack asked, eying the wreck.

“Leave it. I’ll send Zoe or Ted over later with a tow truck.” Stacy walked back around and got in the driver’s seat of her convertible.

Jack opened the passenger side door and gestured at the back seat. The top was down, but I hesitated, glancing down at my bloody leg and then back at Stacy’s immaculate car.

“Don’t worry about the blood,” Stacy said, glancing at me over her shoulder. “There have been far worse things on my seats.”

Shrugging, I climbed over the side and into the back. Jack shut the door and vaulted over the side and into the back next to me. I gave Jack a shy smile.

“May I? Jack asked me with his hand hovering over my shoulder.

I nodded, trying to not to blush as he snaked his arm around the back of my neck. I relaxed back against him.

Stacy started the car, and the automatic top began to unfold up and over our heads as she pulled out onto the road. By the time we approached the nearest stoplight the top was up, encasing Jack and I in the tiny back seat. It was surprisingly intimate.

As she drove, I caught Stacy glaring at me in the rearview mirror. When she noticed me she didn’t stop or look away, and if anything her glare deepened. I remembered what Jack had said about not trusting the vampires. I wished Jack had brought someone else with him.

“How’d you get away?” I asked Jack as Stacy wound her way through the maze of tight St. John streets, avoiding the major roads. I guessed she was trying to throw off any tail that might have followed me here from MLK Street.

Jack chuckled, his white teeth flashing in the dim light when he shot me a smile. “They were humans, and they didn’t know I was a shapeshifter. When it finally got dark and they left me alone, I shifted to my jackal form and slipped right out of the ropes.”

I leaned against Jack, enjoying his warmth along with the feel of his strong chest against my side, and the press of his arm around my shoulders. It made me feel safe. “I was so worried. I didn’t know what to do. What did they want?”

“They asked a lot of questions about where you were and how you’d survived, but I played dumb.” Jack shrugged. “You did the right thing by bugging out and not trying to play the hero. Alerting Dave and Stacy was a smart move too. Where’d you hole up during the day?”

“Your place.” I bit my lip, looking down. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. Like I said, good instincts. I’m impressed you managed to day-proof my place so fast with only the minimal instruction I gave you the other night.”

I blushed. “I had a good teacher.”

Stacy glared at us in the rearview mirror. “Try to keep your pants on in my backseat.” Her tone was dry, but held an undercurrent of anger. I got the feeling she didn’t like me much.

Jack laughed. “No promises, but we should change the subject. Ev, you mentioned they called you about ransoming me. What did they want?”

I warmed at the nickname. Normally I hated people trying to shorten my chosen name or make it cutesy, but for some reason I enjoyed hearing it from Jack. The question Jack was asking, however, turned my insides cold. I didn’t want to reveal the amulet to a vampire after the other attack, and I doubly didn’t want to admit to Jack, the former cop, that I was a thief.

“You never answered my question about vampires, Stacy,” I called to the front seat in an attempt to change the subject. I could feel Jack’s gaze boring into the top of my head, but I ignored it and kept my eyes on the bit of Stacy’s face I could see past the headrest. “If a vampire looked like, let’s say a desiccated, dried out corpse, would they be dead?”

Stacy slammed on the brakes, stopping in the middle of the road. Jack and I were thrown forward, and my seatbelt dug into my stomach for a moment before I fell back into my seat. Stacy twisted around to glare at me. “What the fuck, Everett? Of course a vampire’s dead if it looks like that. Are you fucking stupid? You’re a vampire, you should know these things.” She huffed, giving me one last glower before straightening back up and hitting the gas again.

I crossed my arms and bit back a reply. I agreed with Jack’s assessment that I needed to keep my true situation from the vampires for now, especially given that I’d killed one of the locals. I wondered if Stacy had heard about that death yet. The PCA, as the enforcers of the supernatural world, would likely get word of it eventually. I kicked myself for saying anything at all to her. Oh well, nothing to do about it now.

The rest of the ride passed in awkward silence.

Stacy pulled up to the curb in front of a nondescript house and hit a button on her dash. The automatic top began opening. Once it was all the way down, Stacy turned to glare at Jack, studiously avoiding looking at me.

“I’m only doing this for you, Jack. I didn’t like it when I found out you lied for him, but I was willing to put that aside because I know how passionate you are about helping people. That was, until he put your life in danger by dragging you into his mess. It’s clear by his jokes about dead vampires that he’s not taking this seriously enough.”

“That’s not—” I protested, but Stacy kept talking over me.

“I want him gone by tomorrow night.” She jerked her thumb at me. “Now both of you, get out of my car.”

Jack climbed over the side of the car and offered me a hand. I took it and got out. We began walking up the sidewalk, me still clinging to the comfort of Jack’s hand. Stacy peeled away before we’d taken two steps.

“Sorry,” I said to Jack. “I don’t mind her being mad at me, but I didn’t mean to ruin your relationship with your boss.”

Jack shrugged. “She’ll get over it. Besides, she doesn’t know that you never got shown the introductory Powerpoint presentation.”

I snorted out a laugh at Jack’s serious tone. “Powerpoint? Don’t be… Wait, you are kidding, right?” Jack’s wry smile made me cautious.

“I’m afraid not. Shapeshifting and You: Exploring Your New Body.” Jack made air-quotes with his free hand as he said the name. ”Got bad clip art and everything. I’ve never seen the vampire one, but I imagine it’s similar.”

“Oh. My. God.” I shook my head in disbelief as we went up the steps to the door.

Jack let go of my hand so he could retrieve a key from his pocket. He unlocked the door and pushed it open. “After you, sir.”

“Thanks,” I said with a laugh. “What is this place anyway?” I asked, looking around the living room. The decor could have come right out of an Ikea catalog.

“A safe house, of sorts. We put newbies up here when a situation demands. Like if they have a roommate, or are having trouble adjusting and need time away.” Jack closed the door behind him and flipped the lock, then went around the room, closing the blinds and curtains. “Only PCA employees know the address, plus it has light-proof rooms for vampires.” Task done, Jack flopped onto the couch and patted the spot next to him.

I dragged my feet over and sat down on the other end of the couch, as far from Jack as I could get. I hugged my legs to my chest, putting my feet on the cushions—I didn’t miss Jack’s wince at seeing my shoes on the furniture—and rested my face on my knees.

“Is this about that vampire you mentioned to Stacy?” The couch creaked and I felt Jack’s weight settle in next to me. There was a light touch on my shoulder.

“Yeah.” I shuddered and leaned into Jack’s touch. “I think I killed him, Jack, but it was an accident, I swear.”

“I know Stacy thought it was a bad joke. I’m sorry, but I could tell you were serious. Do you feel like you can tell me what happened?” Jack moved his hand over and began rubbing my back.

Jack’s tone was very even and nonjudgmental, and I found myself telling him everything, starting with realizing he was gone and ending with the hostage exchange. I left out all mentions of the amulet. In my story, the vampires demanded I leave the territory and attacked when I refused, and I said that Lady Ann wanted me in exchange for him. As I talked I felt himself relaxing more and more, until we were cuddled up together, with me leaning back against Jack’s side with his arms around my waist, and his head resting on mine.

Jack hugged me close, and I heard the frown in the distressed tone of his voice even though I couldn’t see his face. “How long after the phone call before the shooters showed up?”

I paused and thought about it for a moment. “Maybe ten minutes?”

“Sounds like you were on the phone with her long enough for her to trace your call’s location to the nearest cell tower. But for them to get there that fast, she must have had people combing the city for you.”

“You think it’s Lady Ann trying to kill me.” He confirmed what I’d already suspected.

“I don’t know the why yet, but yes, there’s a good bet that she’s the one that set up the hits on you. That’s also why she wanted to have you trade yourself in for me. When you hesitated to send her the selfie that was probably when she sent those thugs to kill you, thinking you’d rethought the deal. What I can’t figure out is the vampire angle.”

“I had some thoughts about that,” I said, remembering my investigator’s notebook. I sat up and pulled it out of my back pocket while Jack gave me a curious look. The pages were a little crumbled from the run and the car ride, but still legible. “Your Detective Pikachu poster gave me the idea,” I said, holding up the page labeled “Clues”.

“That one is in my office.”

“I know. Why hide it there? What, you a closet Pokémon fan?”

Jack waved his hand. “Not important. Anyway, what do we have here?” He leaned over me to look at what I’d written. “You think the vampire turning you is a different person than whoever tried to kill you? I agree.”

“But what I can’t figure out is, why turn me?” I sighed.

Jack scooted away and turned to face me, putting one bent leg up on the couch.

I mirrored his pose, closing the notebook and clutching it.

“I don’t know, and I don’t think I can speculate. Let’s ignore that for now and concentrate on the humans after you. You don’t have any idea why this mobster wants you? You sound like you know her. How?”

“I don’t really want to talk about her right now.” I crossed my arms and turned to sit back on the couch, covering my face with the notebook.

“I’m sorry to bring up bad memories, but you heard Stacy. We only have tonight to figure this out.”

I groaned, but Jack had a point. “I… work for her. Or I did. Obviously not anymore.” I snorted, and imagined I could feel Jack’s disappointment and disapproval, though I couldn’t see his face from behind my paper shield.

“Doing what?” Jack’s voice was low.

I sighed and lowered the notebook, but kept my gaze fixed on the far wall so I wouldn’t have to see Jack’s judgment. “I was a dual major in archeology and art history at the University of Oregon. I got a few loans, but my parents were paying for most of my education. Until I came out to them. They totally cut me off, and I ended up homeless.” I let out a shaky laugh, trying to keep from crying. I thought I’d gotten over this, but talking about it still hurt.

“Geez. I’m sorry, Everett.”

“At least it happened between semesters. Glad I listened to the people online in the support groups.” I sighed. “I guess Lady Ann found out somehow. One of her people contacted me on my cell phone before my parents had it shut off. They set up an entry level job for me at the art museum, in the restoration department.”

“And in return?” Surprisingly there was no judgment in his tone, just compassion.

“She wanted me to steal things for her. Little things, here and there, from the storeroom. She always paid me for them, on top of my wages.” I twisted the notebook in my hands, curling it up into a tube.

“So she’d ask you to steal specific things?” Jack shifted over closer and put a hand over mine until I let go of the notebook with one hand, and took his hand. I didn’t know why, but it made me feel better.

I shook my head. “No, she just said to use my best judgment. Her only requirements were nothing new, gold and other precious metals preferred, and to make sure they were authentic. I think that was why she hired me.” I hesitated, and ran the sweaty palm of the hand Jack wasn’t holding along my pants, feeling the amulet in my pocket. Jack had done nothing but help me, and I owed him the truth, no matter how much I didn’t want to. “It had been that way for almost a year, until a few weeks ago.”

I risked a glance at Jack, who was smiling gently at me. “What changed?”

“She wanted something specific. My contact described the amulet they wanted perfectly, even knew the lot number. But that store room is a mess. Parts of it haven’t been touched in almost a hundred years, and the lot that amulet was in was from the 1920s. I couldn’t find it.” I shuddered, remembering the stressful phone calls I’d had with my contact. “She was getting impatient. I never dealt with her directly, but my contact was starting to threaten me, and calling me daily for updates.”

Jack nodded. “I’ve seen this before. Those early thefts were tests, to see if you’d do what they wanted and if you could do the job without getting caught. Then, when they were sure they could trust you, they had you go after what they really wanted all along.”

I frowned and ran my thumb along Jack’s hand. “But why threaten me?”

“I’d guess they thought that you were holding out on them. The attempts on your life make sense, at least if we ignore the vampire angle.”

I stared at Jack, the pieces coming together at last. “I get it. The mugging. The thief stole my pass card so they could get in and search the storeroom themselves.”

Jack nodded. “And killing you ties up the last loose end. I’m guessing that no matter what, after this job they’d been planning to kill you.”

“What?” I gasped, squeezing my eyes shut against the tears that blurred my vision. “Even if I’d given it to them like they wanted?”

“That’s how these guys operate.” Jack slid off the couch to crouch in front of me and took my other hand in his. “Look at me, Everett.”

My head spun at the revelation I’d just been a tool—and a stupid, gullible one at that. I clutched Jack’s hand as I opened my eyes, tears streaming down my cheeks. “Why hire me, if they just broke in anyway?”

“I’m guessing that they would have preferred the theft go unnoticed, but they thought you forced their hand.” Jack reached up and gently wiped a tear away and then cupped my cheek with his palm for a moment before dropping it back down. “It’s not your fault, Ev.”

“That makes sense.” I did my best to gather my swirling thoughts. Jack’s presence both helped and hindered, making me feel better about being manipulated, yet at the same time making my stomach do excited flip-flops about the intimate pose. I was suddenly distinctly aware of the fact that Jack was pressed up between my thighs. I pushed the thought down, focusing on the facts about the storeroom. “With a break-in the contents of the storeroom will be audited, and the thefts discovered. But if I died—”

“Especially if they made it look natural or accidental, like a car accident…” Jack added in.

“Then they might not find out anything was missing for another decade. Or more, judging by the dust in there.” I swallowed, surprised my nose wasn’t running like a faucet like it usually did when I cried. A small benefit to being a vampire, I was guessing.

“Well, they might have gotten the amulet, but at least you’re still alive.” Jack frowned, realizing his faux pas, and hastily corrected. “Or undead, as the case may be.”

I swallowed again, and reached into my pocket to finger the amulet. Jack hadn’t blamed me for the thefts, so I could tell him. Should tell him the truth. Jack was giving me a curious look.

Taking a deep breath, I gathered my courage and reached into my pocket, pulling out the amulet, presenting it to Jack on the palm of my hand. “They didn’t get it. I had finally found it the night that this all started. The mugger didn’t find it because I had it in a hidden pocket of my coat,” I said softly. “It wasn’t me. This is what she really wanted in exchange for you.” As I said it I realized why she’d asked me for a selfie with it: to ensure I’d have it with me, or go to where it was, and not use an old picture.

Jack stared at me, barely even glancing at the gold amulet resting in my palm.

“Like I said, I would have sold it to them, but then everything happened…” I sighed and closed my hand around it. Having it in plain sight like this was making me anxious for some reason. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I was afraid you’d have me arrested for stealing or something.”

Jack gave a relieved smile. “I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to tell me. But I meant what I said, the amulet doesn’t matter. What’s important is keeping you safe.”

Before I could respond, Jack leaned forward and kissed me.

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Continue on to Chapter 15

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