There were several messages from Raphael's number, which she deleted without listening. It could have been Duncan calling, but she didn't want to chance it. Raphael was altogether too good at convincing her that whatever he wanted was reasonable. And besides, Cyn had her pride. He'd walked away from her weeks ago and now suddenly he was all hot to get ahold of her. Was it coincidence that she'd recently been in Texas with a rival vampire lord? Cyn didn't believe in coincidences. Especially not where vampires were concerned. They made Machiavelli look like a piker.
There were two other messages, one from Dean Eckhoff, her old training officer at the LAPD, and one from Lucia Shinn, her friend from college who ran the teenage shelter and whose name she'd given to both Ramona Hewitt and Liz's friend Kelli. She called Lucia first, hoping against hope that Elizabeth had gotten the number from Kelli and called in.
"Hello?” The teenager's voice held so much suspicion and resentment that Cyn wondered why the kid bothered to answer the phone at all. Not that she expected anything else. Luci gave “her” kids the run of the house as long as they observed some basic rules, which came down to no drugs, alcohol, or fighting. Other than that, they were encouraged to think of it as home—a concept which held few fond memories for most of them.
"Hey,” Cyn said. “Is Lucia around?"
"Maybe. Who's calling?"
She rolled her eyes, but swallowed her impatience. “Tell her it's Cynthia."
"Luci!” The kid yelled so loudly that Cyn winced away from the phone. “You got a call!"
Cyn heard Luci's voice as she approached the phone, soft and unhurried, as always. If Luci ever raised her voice, Cyn had never heard it. The self-appointed receptionist passed on her name, saying, “Some chick, says her name is Cynthia."
"Cyn! Where've you been?” Luci exclaimed a moment later.
"Hey, Luce, you rhyme."
Luci groaned. “So what took you so long?"
"I picked up your message two minutes ago; I've been a little busy. When did you call?"
"Two days ago. Where are you?"
"Sitting in an airplane hangar waiting for sunset."
"Waiting for...” Luci sighed. “Vampires, again? I thought you were in Texas. Someone from Child Services there called, Ramona Hewitt, and she said—"
"Yeah, she told me. We talked. Thanks. You haven't heard from my missing girl, have you? Elizabeth Hawthorn? Blond, blue-eyed, on the tall side, probably with a bit of a twang?"
"No,” Luci said slowly, as if running through a list in her head. “No.” More confidently. “What makes you think she's here?"
"She's the reason I was in Texas. Her guardian hired me to find her, and I'm pretty sure she took off for L.A. I gave your number to a friend of hers, hoping she'd get in touch."
"Okay, I'm confused. Is this teenager a vampire or what?"
"Not if I can help it,” Cyn said grimly. “It's a long story, but if the kid shows up, don't call anyone but me, okay? She does not want to end up back in Texas."
On the other end of the line, Lucia sighed. “If she says it's okay, you'll get a call, otherwise—"
"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. Tell her Mirabelle's with me; she'll call."
"Who's Mirabelle?"
"Her older sister and the reason I'm sitting in an airplane hangar instead of on my way home. Like I said, long story. So you called, what's up?"
Lucia drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I need your help."
"Anything I can do, you know that."
"You might be the only one I can turn to for this. Listen...” Luci's voice became muffled, as if she was shielding the phone. “Can I come over there?” she asked. “I'd rather not discuss this on the phone."
Cyn drew back in surprise, but said, “Sure, if you don't mind baby-sitting a vamp. Hey, as long as you're coming, can you make a couple of stops for me? I'm kind of stuck here—"
* * * *
While she waited for Luci to show up with her requested supplies, Cyn called her friend Dean Eckhoff. Eckhoff had been assigned to Homicide not long after Cyn's rookie year, and they'd stayed in touch after she left the force. He'd help her track down a local Russian Mafia bigwig last month, when she'd first been hired by Raphael to find his kidnapped sister.