have it, we’ll decide the best way to use it to beat down the bad guys.”
“Any ideas on that?”
He watched her out of the corner of his eye. “We could try to do it all on our own, but I’d rather confer with Rafferty and Ambrose. They’ve got clout where it counts.”
“Wow, I am impressed. That’s some plan. It’s complex, with multiple steps and everything.” She stared back out the window. “And here I was worried because the bad guys have helicopters, rocket launchers and dozens of mercenaries at their command, while we just have...”
When she hesitated, Conlan finished it for her. “We have us, Kat, but don’t count out Rafferty and Ambrose. When we really need them, they’ll step up. I know you have no reason to trust them, but I do.”
Then he reached over to squeeze her hand. “Bottom line—we’re not alone, Kat, even if it might seem like it right now. Once we have the proof of your innocence in hand, Ambrose O’Brien will go after the Institute or whoever is behind all of this with the full weight of the Coalition.”
“And if we can’t provide the proof, Conlan? What then? Right now, all you know is what I’ve told you. If I were in your place, I’d kick me to the curb and then drive straight back to Rafferty’s.”
Conlan stopped for a red light, his expression grim when he turned toward her.
“I don’t believe that for a second, Kat. You think I haven’t finally figured out that you left me because somehow someone threatened your nieces and your sister? I do get why you ran, but what pisses me off is that you didn’t trust me enough to help you. And what I don’t understand is why you waited that long to take off.”
He meant long enough to end up in his bed, in his arms. “It took them that long to find out that I managed to alter the data from not only my work but Richard’s and Rory’s, as well, enough to make it all useless to them.”
“Why haven’t they replicated the study with other researchers? You can’t be the only one capable of that kind of work.”
“No, I’m not, but the data that I left for them to find was designed to lead their replacement team to a dead end. If they used that formula, it would’ve also proven fatal to humans, not just vampires and chancellors.” She sighed. “I was hoping it would be enough to keep them from pursuing it any further. It seems to have worked this long.”
He glanced her way. “So are you thinking the Dowitar Institute is a front for a human-supremacy group?”
“It’s either that or the company that hired them to do the research in the first place that’s behind it all. There’s no way to know at this point.”
Conlan lapsed into silence for a short time, but then he asked, “Were there any chancellors working for the Institute?”
His question surprised her. “Come to think of it, not at the particular facility. No vampires either, although there were a few of each at the first site where I worked. I guess that would lend some credence to the theory that it was an outside group who wanted to create a chemical weapon against those who carry the vampire genes.”
On that cheery note, he pulled into a driveway in a residential neighborhood, stopping to key in a security code to open the garage. As they pulled inside, she looked around in surprise. Evidently they were staying, because Conlan shut off the engine and climbed out of the transport.
She joined him and helped gather up their few possessions. “Is this place yours?”
“Nope, it belongs to a friend.”
He hit the button to close the garage door before heading inside. Kat followed him, looking around. What she noticed first were the sparse furnishings in the living room. The next was that, unless she was mistaken, those were bullet holes in all of the walls.
“Uh, Conlan, who owns this place, and what happened here?”
He actually laughed. “If you think it’s torn up now, you should’ve seen it before we cleaned it up some.”
The man definitely had a perverse sense of humor. “You still didn’t answer my question.”
“It belongs to Joss. This was her place before she hooked up with Rafferty.”
He set down his pack and started pulling out weapons while he talked. “A while back, Ambrose was negotiating what he thought was a simple dispute between a human clan and their vampire