Widget.
Unfortunately, even with all their information, they had been unable to take any kind of action against the owners of the club or any of the suspects involved in the criminal activities at the location.
And what a smorgasbord of illegal activities, he thought as he flipped through the reports.
Drugs. Illegal gambling. Prostitution and a number of missing women who had been known to frequent the Widget.
The last brought him upright in his chair. Maybe the suspects at the club were involved in more than just providing favors. Maybe they were also luring young girls into the business or even selling them, either of which could account for Andrea McAnn’s alleged disappearance at the club. But of all the missing women, only Andrea had last been seen in the Widget. The others had apparently disappeared from a few of the nearby clubs.
“You seem incredibly absorbed in that file, Garcia,” said Carlos Orendain, the head of his department, as he exited his office.
Orendain sauntered to Alex’s workstation, thick forearms crossed against the even more muscular expanse of his chest. Since his chief barely topped five foot seven and his head seemed to rest immediately on his shoulders, all the muscle made him look like a squat fireplug.
Alex tossed the papers he had been reading onto his desk and leaned back in his chair, seemingly nonchalant. Orendain had a tendency to be controlling with his agents and their cases. He would never approve of Alex deciding to investigate the club unless it appeared as if Orendain had made the decision. With that in mind, he said, “The Widget seems like an interesting place, Chief. Lots going on there.”
“Is that why you paid a visit last night?” Orendain countered.
He hid his surprise by chuckling and shaking his head. “Hell, no. I met a woman the other day and was hoping to run into her again.”
And this morning he had been busy contemplating what he would do about Stacia and her claims that she was a vampire. Claims reinforced by his dreams and the scattered memories of the night he had almost died. But then again, he had been in such pain, physically and emotionally, his mind scattered from the loss of blood, that he still didn’t know whether or not to believe what he thought he had seen. The fact that Stacia’s claims could be true somehow didn’t wipe out his fascination about her based on what little personal nuggets he had gleaned from their meeting.
Orendain plopped himself, or at least part of himself, on one corner of Alex’s desk. “What did you think?”
Alex shrugged, trying to appear noncommittal. “About the woman? She was rather … unique. We spent some time—”
“Cut the bullshit. We both know you’ve been visiting some of our hot spots even though you were supposed to be on modified assignment.”
Alex couldn’t argue so he cut to the chase. “Just keeping my cover intact in case you decide to let me go back undercover, Chief.”
His boss considered him through narrowed eyes, his head tilted to the side, clearly attempting to discern if the subservient pose was a ruse. When his chief’s eyes widened with surprise and undisguised glee, Orendain said, “This is a change, Garcia.”
Definitely, he thought. In the past they had always been at odds because of Orendain’s nature and his own. Their last big battle had been about Alex’s agreeing to the undercover assignment up in New York. His boss had warned him about the mission, and in a way, Orendain had been right.
The assignment had chewed him up and spit him up into pieces he was still trying to put back together.
“I learned a thing or two in New York,” Alex admitted with another nonchalant shrug as he looked down at the papers on his desk.
A bigger man might have held back, but Orendain was big only in terms of muscle. “Hate to say I told you so, but—”
“You were right that the assignment would show me what I was made of,” he said, not that his chief would take that statement in a positive light. He kept to himself that the mission had also proved to him that he was a man who held others above himself. A man who accepted the pain of losing someone he loved. Twice, because he knew that someone else could make her happier.
“Damn straight,” his boss replied with some relish and jerked his finger in the direction of the reports on the club. “I know the doctors cleared you for duty, but are you ready for an undercover assignment?”
Alex nodded, picked up the papers on his desk and held them up in the air. “There’s a lot going on at this club. It would be quite a coup for you if we found a way to shut it down or brought in some of the bigger dealers.”
“You finally understand, Garcia,” Orendain said with a smug smile. “See what else you can find out. See if we have enough for you to investigate it further,” his boss added, rising from his desk and swaggering away.
As he watched him go, Alex thought, I do understand. If finding Dan’s daughter meant sucking up to Orendain, he was willing to go along with it.
Others above self, he thought, opening the file and turning toward his computer. If he was going to convince Orendain that he should investigate what was happening at the club, he would need a lot more than Dan’s missing daughter to do it.
Stacia roused in the late afternoon with an odd sense of lethargy.
She wrote it off to being unable to feed last night thanks to her meeting with Alex Garcia.
Alex had certainly been looking far better than he had the first time she had run into him. Then again, he had been on death’s door, bleeding from a couple of gunshot wounds and barely conscious.
She was surprised that he had remembered seeing her.
She had assumed that he had been too far gone to recall their encounter, but he had apparently remembered quite a bit about that meeting. And he had clearly seen her demon face. But from their talk last night, it was obvious that he still doubted his recollections even though she had made no bones about confirming his suspicions.
Of course, seeing was believing, only …
His audacity was enticing. It had been some time since anyone had actually dared to fight back against her power. And his attraction to her was unmistakable, despite his trying to deny it.
Real human attraction, she acknowledged, untainted by the thrall of vampire power.
For the first time in a long time, she could see a temporary respite from her ennui by spending some time with the good-looking law-enforcement officer. She could even picture herself sharing a pleasant interlude with Alex. After all, he was quite handsome in that Latin kind of way with his dark hair, olive skin and amazingly green eyes.
As for his body …
They hadn’t had much of a chance to dance last night, but she suspected he would be able to easily handle carrying her with those broad shoulders. Build her passion with those mobile hips and bring her pleasure with that engaging mouth while that intense gaze absorbed every last little detail.
But just to make sure she was not wrong about all that he could provide …
She had decided to put Alex to the test tonight. Push him to the limit and see how he would respond. She had no hesitation as to where to find him—she was certain he would be back in the club tonight. He had said as much last night when he had dropped her off at her door, ever the gentleman until she had grabbed hold of his shirt and hauled him close for a hard, demanding kiss. They had both been shaking by the time he had pulled away, and for a moment, she had considered using her elder power to bring him under control, but only for a moment. For the first time in centuries, she wanted to explore the attraction between them, free and clear of the vampire’s stain.
First, however, she had to feed. But the blood-bank bags she had in the minifridge would do little to satisfy the hunger she had worked up by skipping last night’s meal.
With the worst of the afternoon sun gone, she could venture