was right. The similarities to Juarez were disturbing.
“And then she started to get in touch with some of her contacts in Mexico,” Dez continued. “When she called me… Baojia, I’m sorry if you feel like I exposed you in some way, but if this is like Juarez, then it has to be stopped. The killings down there have been going on for years. They’re still going on, despite what the Mexican authorities say. If this is a vampire in Ernesto’s territory—”
“I’ll look into it.” He came out of his frozen stance, continuing in his practice as his mind started to catalogue the information he’d been given.
“You will?”
“Of course I will,” he said, slightly annoyed. “Did you think I was going to let some vampire run rampant in the desert?”
“Well, no, but—”
“It would look incredibly bad for my sire if I allowed something like that to continue.” The fact it had happened in Ernesto’s territories at all was bad enough. Did Rory know about this? Why hadn’t he come to him for help? He felt the water from the fountain draw to his chest as he resumed practice. Cross. Thrust. Center. Draw back. Center. Sweep. His loose practice pants brushed silently against his legs.
“There’s the whole innocent-people-being-slaughtered thing, too,” Matt said.
“That too.” His thoughts tripped back to the curious redhead. “How did your friend get Ivan’s name?”
“I have no idea,” Dez said. “Honestly, I’ve never even heard of him before. But Natalie… she has a way of finding out things. She didn’t mention Ivan to me. Who is he?”
Matt said, “Not anyone you’re ever going to meet. That’s for sure.”
Baojia took a deep breath, willing himself to be patient toward the human man. Really, did he think keeping his mate uninformed was to her benefit? “Ivan has a similar job to mine, Dez, but he works for the vampires who control most of Mexico and Central America.”
“Who is that? Are they in Mexico City? I thought you said something about Ensenada.”
“Who runs Mexico is not important. Yes, Ivan runs things in Ensenada, and he’s the one who I’ll have to talk to if there’s a vampire ou hea vampit of control in Northern Mexico.”
“Ensenada’s only a few hours away. Shouldn’t he be taking care of something like a vampire on a rampage?”
He tried not to roll his eyes. “He should be. But Ivan often does what he wants. I’m curious how your friend got his name. She shouldn’t go talking to him. Can you persuade her to leave this alone?”
“Natalie?” Dez snorted. “Not likely. And she never mentioned his name to me, so I can’t warn her without making her even more curious.”
“You’re going to have to stall her.”
Now it was Dez who sounded exasperated. “Look, you don’t know this woman. She’s like a really friendly bulldog. If she gets her teeth into something, she’s not going to let go. And she has very little sense of self-preservation.”
He frowned, unaccountably irritated with the human reporter. “Is she stupid?”
“I thought you said you met her. Did she seem stupid to you?”
No, she seemed clever. Persistent, obviously. Funny. Tempting. He willed away the image of the reporter stumbling into her little house and immediately stripping off her dress before he could escape. The light dusting of freckles on her pale skin was scattered… everywhere. He cleared his throat. “No, she didn’t seem stupid, but she needs to stay away from Ivan. Other than his mistress, he has no regard for humans. They’re food and entertainment, that’s all.”
“Wow. He sounds like a peach.”
“She needs to stay off his radar, Dez. Give me some time to investigate this without having to worry that your friend is going to trip into something that will get her killed.”
“But, Baojia—” Dez sighed after Matt whispered something to her. “I’ll do what I can. I’ll try to distract her, but if she finds out, she’s going to be pissed.”
“Better pissed off than drained in the desert.”
“True,” Matt said. “And if there’s anything we can do on our end, let us know.”
“I will.” He wasn’t going to pass up that offer, not while he was stuck in San Diego. Matt Kirby could be a good ally in Los Angeles. “And Matt, I’d appreciate your discretion in all this, if that’s possible.”
In other words, don’t tell Vecchio.
A tentative alliance existed between Matt’s employer, Giovanni Vecchio, and Baojia’s sire, Ernesto Alvarez, mostly because Vecchio was married to Ernesto’s favorite granddaughter. But like most in-laws, there was tension. A vampire of Vecchio’s age