as a child was his own form of meditation.
Curreatantly, the patience he was so known for was being tried by the woman on the other end of the phone.
“Well, what do you want me to tell her?” Dez asked. “She’s going to expect a call back.”
“Then delay her until I can find out more, Mrs. Kirby.”
“Please, call me Dez. I feel weird with you being so proper.”
He paused, slightly uncomfortable at her informality. “Dez, I don’t know how much Matt has told you about Ivan, but—”
“I haven’t told her anything about Ivan.” Matt broke in. “This is the first I’ve heard about all this.” Baojia could tell Matt Kirby was annoyed with his wife. He could also tell Dez didn’t really care.
Dez said, “This is the first I’ve heard about Ivan, too! She did not mention that name to me. She asked me about the murders happening along the border because I worked on a documentation project down in Juarez when I was in college. Nat remembered I’d had some experience with that case, so she called to ask me—”
“What murders on the border? Did you say Juarez?” Baojia stopped mid-extension. His arms hung perfectly still, but he felt his heart thump once. “Dez, what murders?”
There was silence on the other end of the phone. Finally, Dez said, “I… I thought you would have known about it. I mean, it’s on the edge of Ernesto’s territory. That’s why I gave her your name. I really wasn’t trying to cause problems, but I thought if anyone would have information…”
Baojia heard Matt talking to his wife as his mind raced. “Honey, Natalie’s a reporter,” the human said. “A really smart, persistent one, if I remember correctly. Why on earth did you think giving her an introduction to a vampire would be a good thing? She’s going to figure out something’s not what it seems, and the last thing Baojia or Ernesto need is someone really smart and really curious poking around!”
“Don’t talk to me like that! You didn’t see what happened in Juarez. I did. And looking back with what I know now, I’m almost positive there is some sort of tie-in with a vampire. None of the human authorities could make sense of it. And there were hundreds of girls, Matt. Hundreds. And if what was happening in Juarez is moving into California—”
“Desiree,” Baojia said. She stopped as soon as she heard his voice.
Dez still sounded annoyed. “What?”
“Thank you for making me aware of this.”
That seemed to surprise her because she fell silent.
Matt said, “I’m sorry your name was brought into this, Baojia. I know you keep a low profile, even in LA.”
“I’d rather be informed than anonymous. It’s fine. I’ll deal with it.”
Murders along the border. He’d tracked the activity in Juarez for years, and he had to agree with Dez. There was probably a vampire or a group of them that was responsible for the deaths of so many young women. But since Juarez, Mexico, was clearly out of his sire’s territory, there wasn’t much that he could do about it. It was horrible, but not his concern. Murders along the California border, however…
“When did she start following this story?”
“Natalie said it started a few months ago. There were isolated reports out in Imperial Valley about farmers finding bodies, but the police investigations went nowhere. Then the Border Patrol reported that nine bodies were found out in the middle of the desert two months ago. They guessed that a coyote, a smuggler, had taken the women’s mo
“Why not?”
“All the women were found together, within a few yards of each other. If they’d been left out there, they would have walked. Probably some would have fallen behind. They would have been spread out, at least a little. But the bodies looked like they’d been dumped in one location.”
Smart human.
“And there were no visible signs of death or struggle?”
“No bruises or wounds. Could they have been—”
“Drained?” He hated to think it. “Yes. A vampire could have drained them and sealed the wounds. It would be unusual, but it’s possible.”
Most of their kind didn’t need to drink much blood. To drain a human was wasteful. Gluttonous. Like killing a chicken to get the eggs. Only the youngest and most immature would do it, and a responsible sire wouldn’t want to attract the attention. No, vampires only drained when they were out of control or intended to kill an enemy. How could nine young women in the desert have become a target? Dez