“While I appreciate the new clothes, I’m not sure how they are going to help us break into a police station,” I said as we pulled up in front of the nondescript downtown police station. We drove past it, and Jack parked in a twenty-four-hour parking structure a block away.

It was about 1:00 am, and the streets were practically deserted. All the bars and other nightlife were farther north or east, closer to the waterfront.

“We’re going to pretend to be plainclothes officers making our weekly report, but those sweats would have stood out like a sore thumb. A precinct this big, no one will know everyone. We just need to get back to a computer, find your case number, and take a look at who’s had access to it. Just keep your hood up, head down, and follow my lead.” Jack popped his door open and got out.

Jack had a big grin on his face and walked with a swagger to his steps that hadn’t been there before. He clearly missed police work and was eager to be back in his element, even for a brief while.

As I stared at the logo etched on the door, I got an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. I started picturing all the ways that this could go wrong, including us in jail, or shot to death by nervous cops. Breaking into a police station seemed like a big risk just to get some information.

I grabbed Jack’s hand and pulled him back, my heart beating faster at this quick touch. “Wouldn’t this be easier to do electronically? Just hack in, take what we need?” I whispered to him.

“Do you know how to hack?” Jack gave me a long look from underneath the shadow of his hood.

“No, and I’m guessing you don’t either?”

Jack shook his head. “C’mon, it’ll look suspicious if we stand here too long.” He batted away my hand and opened the door. I sighed and ducked my head to tail Jack inside.

The lobby, lined with uncomfortable-looking plastic chairs, was empty. A bored-looking cop sat behind a pane of bulletproof glass at the far end, hunched over the counter reading a beat-up paperback novel.

Jack ignored the cop and headed past the desk to a door on the wall left of the glass, but the door handle didn’t turn. He frowned and turned his head. I followed his gaze to the bored cop behind the glass.

We changed course and headed over to the glass. Jack rapped on it.

The cop glanced up, sighed, and put down his book to pick up a microphone. “What?” he asked. His voice crackled out through a round intercom set into the glass at about head height.

“We’re here to see Detective Polly Gatou,” Jack said into the intercom. He pulled a bi-fold leather wallet out of his pocket and flipped it open towards the officer for a moment before stuffing it back in his back pocket. I didn’t see what was inside, but figured either he had a fake badge or was bluffing.

The officer yawned, flapped his hand to the door we’d already tried, and picked his novel back up. It seemed we were dismissed. The door buzzed as we approached it again, and this time it opened right up when Jack tugged on it.

I followed Jack into the station. The hallway was empty, although I could hear the clacking of a keyboard coming from one of the half-open doors down the hall.

“Who’s Polly?” I whispered to him as we walked down the hall. Jack shushed me and ushered me farther inside. The hall opened up into a big, open room filled with lines of desks. Harried officers sat at a few of them, but they barely glanced up at the pair of us as we wove our way through.

We exited through a door at the other end into another hallway that ran left and right. A sign on the wall said “Records Room”, with an arrow pointing right. Jack turned right, but to my surprise, he walked right past the records room to go into the men’s restroom. Figuring he needed to use the facilities, I leaned back against the wall outside to wait for him.

Since I’d become undead, I would have thought I didn’t need to use the restroom anymore, but I’d been wrong. Stupid vampires and their still semi-human biology. However, I didn’t need to go right now.

Jack opened the bathroom door after a few seconds and gestured in a “come here” motion, then let the door swing shut again. Frowning, I pushed off the wall and went into the men’s room after Jack. He waited for me in front of the line of sinks, his arms crossed.

“There are more officers here than I thought there’d be. We need to get to one of those computers, but since we don’t have a login, we’ll need one that’s already logged in.”

“We don’t need the records room?” I asked in surprise.

“No, we don’t need the paper files. We need to see what leads the cops have on your disappearance and your roommate’s murder. We can do that with the electronic record.”

“Why don’t we get this Polly person’s help?”

Jack shook his head. “No, she’s the agency’s contact in the precinct, and when we used her before, you ended up getting shot. Either she’s double dipping, selling info to us and someone else, or she’s being monitored by whoever is after you. Either reality means that we can’t trust her right now. I took a risk using her name at the front desk as it was.”

“So what’s the plan?”

Jack eyed me. “Think you could hypnotize someone?”

“Vampires can hypnotize people?” My eyes widened in surprise. “That’s so cool! So, what do I need to do?”

Jack grimaced. “I assume they can—at least, I’ve seen Stacy do it on uncooperative shapeshifters before—but we don’t have time for you to learn. I’d hoped maybe you’d have like an instinctual idea of how to do it. Plan B then. You wait in the handicap stall. Stand up on the seat so it looks empty. I’m going to go lure in a likely subject, then you bite them.”

“What? No!” I frowned and held up both my hands in a stop gesture. “You said it might be dangerous to bite people. That I could accidentally kill them. And I don’t want to kill anyone! Also, I’m not sure how feeding an officer to me will help.”

“Vampire fangs contain a natural sedative, to make victims more pliable.”

I lowered my hands and looked at him skeptically. “Didn’t seem to work on you.” I paused. “Or that guy at our apartment.”

“Shapeshifters are immune, and it did work on the guy at the apartment; you were just too startled by everything to notice.” Jack shrugged. “And don’t worry, I wouldn’t let you hurt anyone. I’ll stop you before you take too much.”

I bit my lip. “What if he turns into a vampire, like me?”

“You really don’t remember.” Jack shook his head. “There’s more to it than that. You don’t turn from just a bite. If you did, there’d be vampires everywhere.”

“Alright, fine. As long as you promise not to let me kill them.”

I got into position and waited for Jack to return. It didn’t seem to take long. After a short wait, Jack and another man entered, chatting animatedly. All of a sudden the talking stopped, and the line of stalls vibrated as the two men fell against them. What was Jack doing, fighting him? What happened to the plan? I was about to jump off the toilet seat and go to help Jack when one of them moaned in pleasure and I heard smacking sounds.

Really? Jack had lured my victim in here with promises of sex? I stifled a stab of jealousy, wishing I was the one being kissed by Jack. I bet Jack was a great kisser. The stalls rattled again, and there was a gasp.

“Not here,” Jack said in a near whisper. “What if someone comes in? Handicap stall. End.” His words were cut off. I imagined it was from the other man’s mouth pressing against Jack’s. Another pang of jealousy nearly made me growl, and I swallowed forcibly to stop myself.

Shuffling steps began to move in my direction, then the door to the stall I was hiding in swung open. Jack and the other man stood in the doorway, arms wrapped around each other and lips locked in a passionate embrace. My fangs descended to press into my lip. I didn’t know if it was from jealousy, anger, or hunger, but it didn’t matter. They came down when I needed them.

Jack pulled, then lashed out with both arms, pushing the officer backward into the stall. I didn’t need any more encouragement. I leaped off the toilet, landed on his back, and buried my fangs into his neck.

The man flailed for a moment before stumbling sideways into the tiled wall, smashing my leg. I barely even noticed. The sweet nectar coming from the man’s neck was so much better than the crap from the red squeeze bottles, even better than Jack. This time I was able to keep my head, unlike the first time with Jack when I’d blacked out from the ecstasy, but it was a near thing.

The officer sagged beneath me until we both lay on the floor, in a heap with me on top. The man’s eyes had closed as I sucked, and he made little moans of pleasure that didn’t sound much different than the ones he’d made earlier when he and Jack were kissing.

Jack grabbed my shoulder, tugging gently at it. “That’s enough, Ev.”

I growled at him around the flesh of the man’s neck without letting go.

“If you don’t stop now, I’ll make you,” Jack warned, bending down over us. He grabbed my chin, leaning down until our gazes met. The color of his eyes faded from dark-brown to gold, and for a moment I swore it was more animal looking out at me than man. “Everett, come back.”

At first it was like a fog covered my vision, but as Jack continued to say my name, I came back to myself. I relaxed my jaw and pulled away, but I couldn’t stop myself from taking one last lick at the blood that continued to slowly well from the two needle-like puncture wounds on the man’s neck.

Jack helped me to sit up, propping me against the tile wall while he put a hand to the man’s wrist, feeling for a pulse. He nodded to himself after a moment, then pressed a wad of paper towels up against the bite mark. I licked my lips a few times, shuddering with pleasure as the last few drops of blood I found there hit my tongue.

“Is he okay?” I asked. Jack offered me a paper towel. I took it, and used it to wipe my lips.

“He’ll be fine. He’ll wake up tomorrow with a hangover, unable to remember how he ended up on the bathroom floor.” Jack stood, then offered a hand to lever me to my feet. “We need to hurry back to his computer though, before the system automatically locks his screen. C’mon.”

“Wait.” I tugged at Jack’s arm, looking down at the officer lying on his stomach on the floor. His eyes were only half-closed, and he had a goofy smile on his face. “I thought you said it was a sedative, but he’s still awake.”

“It’s a sedative, like alcohol.” Jack shrugged. “I don’t know much more. Vampires and shapeshifters don’t tend to mingle much.”

“Let me try something then.” I crouched down and rolled the officer over so I could see the man’s name tag. “Officer Hubbs, what is your username and password?”

Hubbs’s grin widened, and he slurred out both slowly while I concentrated on memorizing them. I went to stand up when Hubbs grabbed my hand with surprising force. “That was the best time I’ve ever had with a guy. Can I get your phone number?”

I looked up at Jack helplessly. He just grinned at me, his eyes flashing with humor. Some help he was. I rolled my eyes and glanced back at Hubbs, who was still clinging to my hand like it was a lifeline.

“Your number? Please?” Hubbs pleaded.

“Three.”

“Thanks,” Hubbs sighed, and let go of my hand as his eyes slid closed.

“Very funny,” I said to the smiling Jack as I passed him out of the stall.

“I thought so,” Jack said, his voice bouncing with what I swore was suppressed laughter.

We walked back to the big room. The clock on the wall said 1:33 am, and the room was emptier than it had been. Jack went to a desk near the corner and sat down in front of the computer, which still showed a half-written incident report. Jack minimized it and began scrolling through the list of programs.

I stood next the chair, glancing around nervously.

“Sit down,” Jack hissed. “You’re being too conspicuous.”

I grabbed the rolling chair from the neighboring desk and sat down next to Jack.

“Here we go,” Jack murmured, clicking on the program to start it up. A little login box popped up. “Guess you had the right idea. What did he tell you? I couldn’t hear him.”

I patiently gave Jack the username and password Hubbs had given me. They worked, and after a quick search, he pulled up my case. Jack had been right. I was listed as missing, not dead, and was wanted for questioning as a person-of-interest in my roommate Lindsay’s murder. There was no mention of the officers spotting me at the apartment, which was odd. I was sure they’d seen me in the hallway. If they had really been officers.

Jack glanced at the clock again with a grimace. “We need to hurry. This place will fill up fast after last call.”

“Just print it all out and we’ll take it with us,” I whispered.

“Good idea.” He clicked a few buttons and a printer on the wall began whirring to life. “We’ll need to read it carefully, but I don’t see any leads in here so far. No unusual access on the file that I can see.”

“I see a lead.” I tapped the screen on the names of the two officers who’d found Lindsay’s body. “These officers. It says they were there for a welfare check on me when they found the body, but it was midnight. And if they’re the ones that were pounding on the door, why didn’t they mention seeing me in the hall? And nothing about my neighbor calling the police. My apartment was ransacked, and my neighbors are nosy. Someone would have called. Everything about this seems off.”

“The police uniforms could have been a lie to get you to open the door. Let me see,” Jack muttered, opening up a different program. He pulled up the two officer’s profiles. “Are those the men you saw?”

I squinted at the pictures, mentally comparing it to the men I’d seen. “Yes, that’s them.” Odd. They hadn’t lied about being cops, but why all the lies in the report?

“Alright.” Jack grabbed the sticky notes from the desk and scribbled down the officer’s names and home addresses. He checked the time again. “Time to go.” He stood and retrieved the stack of papers from the printer. It was still going, but he shook his head when I lingered by the printer to grab the next page to come out. “This will have to be enough. Come on.” He tucked the pages under his arm and began to walk purposefully back towards the door we’d first come in through.

As we got to the door, two officers entered from the back hall that led to the records room. We both glanced back to see one pointing us out to the other. “There they are. You two, stop!”

Jack quickened his steps. I followed his lead. The officers behind us broke into a run as we entered the hallway.

“Crap. Run.”

We both broke into a run, footsteps behind us speeding up.

“What’s going on?” A woman asked as she stepped out of the office ahead of us, the one I’d heard clacking coming from before. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of us and the officers chasing us. She was dressed in slacks and a button-down, but to my surprise she moved to block the hallway. “Hold it right there!” she yelled as we ran towards her.

Even with her arms outstretched, she couldn’t cover the whole hallway. I darted to the left, and Jack right. Seeing me as the easier target, the woman lunged toward me. She grabbed my right arm, twisting it behind my back as she body-checked me into the wall. It didn’t hurt, not really, but I cried out in surprise.

“Let him go!” Jack yelled. A second later there was a thud, and then I was jerked backwards a moment before the woman let go of my arm. I stumbled to the side and almost fell, but managed to catch myself in time. I whirled around to see Jack shaking his hand, knuckles red, and the woman sprawled on the floor.

The delay had given the officers who’d been chasing us time to catch up. One slowed down, his hand going to his gun, but the second one ran at Jack and tackled him from the side. They fell to the floor in a heap, the officer on top.

Groaning, the first officer snapped his gun out of the holster and looked at me, raising his gun. “Freeze!”

My eyes widened.

“Jack!” I yelled, backing away.

“Run!” Jack yelled. My eyes felt glued to the barrel of the gun pointing at me, but I managed to glance down to Jack and the officer rolling around on the floor. Jack had managed to get on top, an arm wrapped around the officer’s neck in a chokehold, his knee pressing into the officer’s back. With his free hand, Jack fumbled with his jacket pocket and pulled out his keys, which he tossed to me underhand.

I caught them, but didn’t move. “I’m not leaving you.”

The woman he’d punched sat up groaning, putting a hand to her hip where I noticed a gun holster. Doors opened all up and down the hall, heads popping out to see what all the commotion was about. I heard a buzz behind me, and glanced back to see the sleepy officer from the front desk come in. I also saw the stack of papers Jack had been holding sitting on the floor near my feet.

“Run already!” Jack yelled. “I’ll catch up!”

Shaking, I bent down and scooped the papers up, clasping them to my chest before I darted down the hall toward the exit. Time seemed to slow again, and the officer between me and the door moved in slow motion as I ran past him, out the door, and into the night.

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Continue on to Chapter 10

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