He bit down on his irritation. He knew it came from tiredness more than any real annoyance . Is she there at the moment?
Seline hesitated. No. But I can pull her off the other case easy enough. This is more urgent. She's being used as bait, and you know I don't like doing that. I really do prefer to work alone. We haven't the time on this one, Michael. We have to flush them out fast. Katherine can defend herself well enough, believe me.
He knew she could defend herself. He just didn't like setting anyone up as bait. No matter how carefully you planned, things always went wrong. And more often than not, the bait became the victim. As annoying as Kat could be, he didn't want her dead. Where are we staying in San Francisco?
The three kidnappings happened within a radius of two blocks from each other. The third victim was taken from the Diamond Grand—and that's where you'll be staying. He frowned. He'd heard the hotel mentioned recently, but he couldn't remember where—or why. Surely they won't hit the same place twice?
Instinct tells me the Diamond Grand has a major part to play in this. But it also tells me it's not the location that matters as much as the people themselves. The victims have three things in common—they all originally came from Boston, they all married extremely wealthy men, and they all attended a fund raising benefit at the Hyatt two and a half weeks ago. Kat attended that benefit, which is why I wanted her along.
Michael raised an eyebrow. Does that mean you think all the women who attended the benefit might be potential victims?
I doubt it, though it's not beyond the realm of possibility. That benefit went badly wrong—six men broke in just before dessert and took everyone's cash and jewelry. It's linked to the kidnappings, I'm sure of that. I'm just not positive how yet.
How did the thieves get past security?
No one knows. They disappeared just as easily, as well.
What about the security tapes? They been checked? Even vampires wrapping themselves in shadows would not escape the camera's eye—simply because no hotel could afford to have foyers or corridors half-lit these days.
Yes. Nothing was found. The people behind the theft or the kidnappings aren't getting into the hotels through any normal means.
If vampires were behind all this, then all it took was one employee under their control to leave open a window, and they were in undetected. Did Kat give you much of a description of the men involved?
She said there were six of them, and that they were all vamps. They wore leathers and motor bike helmets, so it was impossible to see any features. But she did say there was one maker and five Loop members.
Which suggested two things — not only that the head vampire was gay, but that he liked more than one partner. Though five was taking it a bit far. Even Elizabeth at her worst only had four lovers at any one time—and they were never created at the same time. Controlling a fledgling was often difficult. Dealing with a Loop of them—whether that Loop contained three, five or more vampires, would be overwhelming.
Did she sense anything else?