He smiled. "Yes, I think we did." He disappeared.
Lara sighed. The man was far too tempting. But far too different. Did she really want to be a part of his world? Did she want a boyfriend who was dead during the day and could live forever without getting older? Where would that leave her? As far as she could tell, she had two options with Jack. She could grow older and end up alone, forgotten, and heartbroken. Or she could stay with him forever as a vampire.
She shuddered. How could she do that? How could she be a police detective if she was a vampire? How could she give up daylight and good food and chocolate? How could she tell her family? How could she have a family?
No, she was going to have to be sensible about this. Jack would make an interesting friend. But no more than that.
She would have to love him at a distance.
CHAPTER 20
Jack arrived at Romatech in a good mood. Lara had heard his psychic voice, and she knew that he still loved her. The meeting had started off a bit awkward, but by the end of it, she'd allowed him to touch her and comfort her. She'd shared important moments from her past. She'd offered her friendship. That had to mean she was willing to trust him. In time, their relationship could grow into something deeper. She was such an amazing woman. So strong, brave, clever, and beautiful. There was no doubt in his mind that Lara was the one for him.
But she was still in danger. His happy mood evaporated as he strode toward the MacKay security office. A month had gone by with nothing to show for it but one botched attempt after another to find Apollo. Jack's muscles tensed and his hands curled into fists. When it came to his work as an investigator, he was not accustomed to failure.
He grudgingly admitted that so far they had failed to find Casimir. But the wily Malcontent leader stayed constantly on the move. This Apollo had a base. He was staying put. It was ridiculous that they couldn't locate the bastard.
Jack entered the office and found Phil sitting at the desk, studying something on the computer. "Where is everybody?"
Phil didn't even blink at the anger in Jack's voice. "I guess your meeting didn't go well?"
"It went fine, but we're running out of time. Where is everybody?"
"Robby's still chasing leads in Europe. He said he'd probably crash at your place."
"Fine." Jack always offered his palazzo as a sanctuary for Vamp friends who were traveling. "And Connor?"
"Connor and Phineas are investigating a place in Ohio," Phil continued. "And I've been scouring the Internet for any place that mentions Apollo or a sun god."
Jack paced across the office. "How many false leads have we followed?"
"Over a hundred," Phil muttered.
Jack slammed a fist against the chain-link cage that housed their weapons. "It shouldn't be this damned hard. There are Vamps all over the world. Why can't we find this one sick bastard?"
Phil leaned back in the chair, frowning. "I have a theory about that."
"To hell with theories. I need results!" Jack paced toward the door. Merda. He needed to get a grip. Anger was not going to help Lara. "Okay, what's the damned theory?"
"Well, now that you ask," Phil began with a wry twist to his mouth. "I've noticed over the years that Vamps tend to live in well-populated areas. Of course, in the past, you probably wanted to be close to your food source, and the more people who were available to bite, the less likely you were to be noticed."
Jack kept pacing. "Go on."
"You like to hang out with each other, too. And party a lot. It's been hard on Jean-Luc, going into hiding in the countryside. I think he'd be crazy by now if it weren't for Heather and her family. I know it's been tough on Robby."
Jack nodded. "And your point is?"
"If Apollo's resort is far away from any city or towns, then there aren't any Vamps around to notice it. Not many mortals around, either. That's why Apollo kidnaps people. He has no other food supply."
Jack sighed. Phil was probably right, but it made their chances of finding Apollo sound hopeless.
Phil leaned forward, propping his elbows on the desk. "Now shifters are completely the opposite. They avoid civilization. We enjoy roaming the more remote areas of the world."
Jack halted. "You think a wolf pack could find Apollo?"
"I think it's worth a shot. I could ask the Pack Masters across the country to help us." Phil frowned. "I offered to do it last night, but Connor didn't like the idea. He didn't want to involve the werewolves in Vamp business."
Jack resumed his pacing. He understood Connor's reaction. For centuries, the vampires and shape shifters had coexisted with a tense attitude of mutual distrust. They stayed away from each other, wary that another species knew of their existence. Angus had tried to breach the gap by offering shifters high-paying positions of trust.
Even so, Jack knew that most of the shifter employees at MacKay S & I were considered traitors to their own kind. Howard fared better since male bears tended to be loners. But Phil was a wolf and expected to be a member of a pack. A rogue wolf was a bizarre and dangerous phenomenon.
"Would the werewolves help us?" Jack asked.
"They might." Phil dragged a hand through his shaggy brown hair. "The truth is, they would like to have you indebted to them."
"Ah." That was why Connor had refused. He didn't want to owe any favors to a pack of wolves. But Jack was desperate enough to make a deal with the devil if he had to. "Ask them to help. Any debt incurred will be mine."
"Can you hear me now?" Jack asked again. It was Wednesday night, and this was his third session with Lara.
"Just a few words here and there." She sighed. "This is so frustrating."
"Tell me about it," Jack muttered. He'd had high hopes for the meeting on Tuesday, but it had ended after only ten minutes because it made Lara's head hurt too much. He knew she was in pain, for he could feel it, too, and he hated being the one who caused it.
"Do you need an aspirin?" he asked.
"I took one before you came." She massaged her temples. "It's either kicked in already, or I'm getting better at this. The pain is not as bad tonight."
"That's good. Your brain could be adjusting." He settled on the bed beside her. She didn't give him that wary, skittish look, so he took that as another good sign. She was adjusting to him, personally.
He believed he was slowly regaining her trust. He wanted more. He wanted her love, but he could be patient.
He had a few new leads to check out later tonight. A western wolf pack had spotted two isolated mortal compounds in Wyoming and Utah. He doubted either place would pan out. They were so far away, and they'd been described as log cabins. But still, he was desperate enough to look anywhere.
"I can't let you do this, Lara. Apollo could teleport you anywhere, and I'd never be able to find you."
She frowned. "I'll be wearing a tracking device. I'm getting it tomorrow."
"Tracking devices can be lost."
"The FBI is aware of that. They have something special planned." She gave him a stern look. "This is going to happen, Jack."
"No, it's not. I can't let you do it, so I have an alternative plan. When Apollo shows up for the seminar, Robby and I will grab him and teleport him to Romatech. We'll hold him prisoner in the silver room there."
Her frown deepened. "What about the other girls? We have to know where he's keeping them."
"We'll make him tell us."
She winced. "How?"
"Depriving him of blood might do the trick. Or we can try taking over his mind."