"Are you going to tell Sean?" she asked.
With their boss already livid over his daughter's upcoming marriage, Austin wasn't that big a glutton for punishment. "I'll have to think about it. Did you see any vampires last night?"
"Unfortunately, no."
"Good. There are only five of us, Emma. We can't afford to lose you, so think before you play the hero." He trudged back to his desk. Crazy woman, hunting vampires all alone.
He sipped his coffee while he studied the pictures on the screen. Speaking of vampires, who was the demon guy who had driven the gorgeous blonde to DVN? Austin scanned the photos until he located the black Lexus. He ran the license plate through the system. The vehicle was registered to Gregori Holstein, address on the Upper West Side. Date of birth was 1964, which made him a very young vampire. Of course, vampires were probably adept at falsifying documents.
Austin wrote down Gregori's address, then did a credit search. The guy worked at Romatech Industries, not a big surprise. A lot of vampires worked there at night. The place manufactured artificial blood, which meant Gregori might not be a biter. That was good news. She wouldn't have to worry about him nibbling on her sweet little neck. If she was human.
The click of heels on linoleum warned him that Emma was approaching. She stopped in front of the photo printer and began looking at his pictures.
Maybe he'd been too hard on her. "Look, I know you have something personal against the vampires."
She shrugged one shoulder. "Where did you take these?"
"Parking lot at DVN. Last night."
"Lots of license plates." She set a stack of photos to the side. "I suppose all these cars belong to vampires."
"Most of them. Want to help me run the plates?"
"Love to." She picked up another bunch of photos.
"Emma, I won't tell Sean about Central Park, if you'll let me know whenever you go hunting again. I'll give you backup."
"That's super. Thank you." She gave him a brief smile, then resumed her study of his pictures.
"These are very interesting."
"You recognize any of the cars?"
"No. But I recognize a woman's bum when I see one."
"What?"
"You must have twenty pictures of her legs and even more of her derriere. Who is she?"
Austin's nerves tensed, but he kept his face blank. He reached out his hand. "Those are personal. Give them to me."
"Doing personal business on company time? Shame on you." She set the pictures down and retrieved some more from the printer. "Oh, look. Boob shots. And the back of her head. Lovely hair."
"I said give them to me." Austin gritted his teeth and stared at the stack of pictures Emma had set down. They zipped across the table and stopped next to his keyboard.
Emma gasped. The photos in her hand tumbled to the table. She stepped back. "Oh, my God."
He wheeled his chair over to the printer and collected the photos she'd dropped.
"You're telekinetic," she whispered.
"Yeah. Big deal." He gathered the rest of the pictures from the printer, then pushed himself back to his computer.
"But it's brilliant! I didn't know you had such wicked powers. Oh no! Austin's powers." She chortled with laughter.
He groaned. "Very funny." He separated the pictures into two stacks—license plates and the girl in blue. "It's not like I earned the ability. I was born this way." Even his dad hadn't been able to squelch his abilities, though you had to give the guy credit for trying.
"How exciting." Emma grinned. "An international man of mystery, using his special powers to fight evil."
"Yeah, right." What could possibly be evil about her? After one last, lingering look at her stack of pictures, he stashed them in his desk drawer.
Emma crossed her arms and propped a hip against the worktable. "You're quite smitten with her, aren't you?"
"No." Was he? "I don't know who she is."
"The international man of mystery has a mystery woman? Super! Let's figure it out. Where did you take her pictures?"
"Outside DVN."
"Good heavens, Austin. She probably works there. That means she's a vampire."
"I don't think so. Romatech has lots of human employees. And DVN has some, too."
"Did you try the 35-millimeter on her?"
"No, I… didn't get a chance."
"Because you were too busy taking a hundred photos of her."
"I didn't take a hundred. Only about… sixty." Sheesh. He was smitten.
Emma lifted a dark brow and refrained from saying the obvious. "Was she alone?"
"No. She arrived with a male I have identified as Gregori Holstein, and an unknown female. They're both undead."
"So, she's traveling with two vampires to a vampire-owned television station? Austin, this is what we in the business refer to as a clue. The woman is a vampire."
"It's not proof." She had to be alive. She had to be.
Emma regarded him sadly. "You are smitten. And with the enemy, no less."
"We don't have proof that she's a vampire."
"Is she or isn't she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure." Emma gave him a wry smile. "She wouldn't show up in the mirror."
"Forget it. I doubt I'll ever see her again." He divided the license plate photos in half. "Let's get to work on these."
"There you are!" Sean Whelan strode toward them. "I need you in the conference room now. Garrett and Alyssa are already there."
"Yes, sir." Emma picked up a legal pad and pencil from her desk, then headed toward the conference room.
Austin checked quickly that there were no more pictures of her lying about. He followed his boss, wondering if he should convey condolences over Shanna's engagement to a fanged fiance. Probably not. Sean's face was grim as he held open the door to the conference room. Austin entered quietly and sat in one of the chairs at the long oak table. He gave Garrett and Alyssa a brief nod. Emma greeted them personally. And cheerfully, of course. Austin yawned and wished he'd brought his coffee.
"Any news about your daughter?" Garrett asked as Sean closed the door.
Austin winced. He was beginning to think Garrett wasn't the sharpest guy around.
Sean stiffened and gave Garrett a cold stare. "Do you have anything positive to report?"
Garrett shifted in his chair, his clean-shaven cheeks reddening. "No, sir."
"I thought not." Sean stalked toward the head of the table. He grasped the leather back of the chair there, his grip so tight his knuckles showed white. "My daughter is still missing. What's more, that bastard Draganesti has twisted her mind to the point she has agreed to many him."
Alyssa and Emma gasped.
Garrett's mouth fell open. "But—but how do you know?"
"It was announced on DVN last night," Austin spoke quietly.
A strangled sound vibrated in Sean's throat as if he were suppressing another long litany of curses. He released the chair and began to pace about the room. "Obviously, time is running out. We have to find Shanna immediately, and the stake-outs are not getting us the information we need."
"We should check Draganesti's financial records," Emma suggested. "He may have rented or purchased another residence."
"Do it," Sean growled as he continued to pace.
Emma made a note on her legal pad.
"We need someone on the inside," Austin muttered.
"An informant?" Alyssa asked.
"No, an agent working undercover." Sean stopped at the head of the table and narrowed his eyes on Austin. "I was thinking the same thing. And I know how we can do it."
Silence pervaded the room as they all waited for Sean to elaborate. He began to pace again. "A month ago, I had Homeland Security contact businesses in the five boroughs and give them a list of names and businesses to look out for. One of those businesses was the Digital Video Network, the bogus name the vampires use for their network when dealing with humans."