"Rather unbelievable, my dear, and so you leave me no choice." He gestured to Big John. "Go pick up Rivera."
Diana accepted the envelope from Diego, looked at the photos and combined them with the other papers on her desk. She calmly tucked them into the folder.
"What do we do now?" he asked, unnerved by her quiet.
"We don"t do anything. I"m going to see my a.s.sistant director." She rounded her desk, intending to leave her office, but Diego grabbed her arm as she went by.
"We are going to see your director."
"That"s not SOP, Diego." She met his gaze, her own defiant, but he was not about to back down.
"I don"t even care what SOP means. Let"s go."
She clearly resented his insistence. Despite that, she nodded curtly and ripped her arm from his grasp, once again surprising him with her strength as she stalked out of the office.
He was hot on her heels and nearly bowled her over when she stopped abruptly at one door. Entering, he realized they were in a large anteroom. The door to the office beyond was open and a handsome Latino sat in a leather executive chair, his head bent as he pored over the papers on his desk.
Diana walked to the door and knocked.
He looked up and appeared confused for a millisecond before he smiled. "Come in, Diana."
"Gracias, Jesus. This is Diego Rivera," she said, motioning to him.
Diego held out his hand and the other man rose, shook it and introduced himself. "Jesus Hernandez, a.s.sistant Director in Charge."
"Thank you for taking the time to meet with us," Diego murmured.
"Is that what I"m doing?" he asked, arching an eyebrow, though his look and tone were friendly.
"Jesus, I need to ask for a search warrant," Diana said, and handed him the file.
The earlier good humor on the man"s face fled with her request. Without another word, he sat in his chair and reviewed the papers she had a.s.sembled. With each sheet he flipped, his manner became more abrupt, until he reached the last item and slammed the file shut.
"Please tell me you didn"t work on this case," the ADIC said, glaring at Diana as he did so.
"Diego and Ramona are my friends. I couldn"t-"
"You deliberately defied the review board. At a minimum-"
"A woman"s life is at stake," Diana pleaded, but Jesus continued as if uninterrupted.
"They will extend your suspension from active duty. At worst-"
"They"ll ask for my resignation. I"ll gladly give it if I can save Ramona"s life." Diana reached for the file on his desk and opened it again. "This is a solid case," she urged. "We"ve got van Winter"s bodyguard on video doing the s.n.a.t.c.h, and his prints on threatening photos."
Jesus closed the file. "Frederick van Winter is one of the most powerful and influential men in the country, and from all appearances, Ramona Escobar is a forger."
Diego jumped to her defense. "Ramona did not commit forgery."
Diana laid a hand on his arm. "Look again, Jesus," she said, and gestured to the file.
He did as she asked, and his eyes widened while reviewing one piece of paper. When he put it down, he said, "Our experts peg van Winter as the one who put the signatures on the paintings?"
Nodding, Diana said, "There were undeniable characteristics between van Winter"s signature and those on the masterpieces sold at auction."
Closing the file, Jesus handed it back to her and said, "We"ll have to get a warrant."
"There"s got to be some way to expedite this. Her life is at risk without her medications," Diego interjected but the ADIC was already on the phone to a judge.
After, he motioned to Diana. "Finish this tonight. Tomorrow I"ll have to bring your actions before the review board." The agent rose from her chair. "Gracias, Jesus. I"ll need backup-"
"Take Maggie Gonzalez. I think she"s still down in the lab. Her medical expertise should help, as well. After you"ve got the warrant, call NYPD and put out an APB on the van and the two suspects. Also ask for some uniforms to secure the scene."
"Will do," she said, and headed out the door.
Diego lingered, shifting from foot to foot, torn up about the a.s.sistant director"s comments. "Diana did the right thing by helping us."
"I expect my agents to follow the rules. If they don"t, I"d have bedlam in here." Shaking his head in disgust, Jesus added, "Good luck finding your friend."
Chapter 21.
N ot even the Inquisitor had inflicted the kind of torture visited on Diego as he sat outside the judge"s chambers, waiting for him to issue a decision on the warrant Diana had requested. Beside Diego sat the attractive doctor that Jesus Hernandez had named as Diana"s backup.
Dr. Maggie Gonzalez had a model"s long build, enhanced with the kinds of curves a woman should have. Her remarkable green eyes were filled with intelligence, and thick auburn hair framed her striking features.
Though she was the kind of woman a man couldn"t fail to notice, Diego"s only interest in her centered on whether she could help find Ramona.
The door to the judge"s chambers opened and Diana walked out. "I"ve got it. Let"s go."
Diego would have preferred to use his vampire speed. Instead he had to climb into the backseat of a standard issue, late-model sedan and endure the delays. Even with the siren and lights, they battled traffic heading uptown. As Maggie drove, Diana called a contact at the police department, ordered the APBs and requested uniformed backup.
Although it took less than twenty minutes to make the trip, it seemed forever. When they finally arrived at the van Winter building on Sixth, two police cars were waiting there, along with some familiar faces.
Ryder and Melissa stood on the sidewalk with the uniformed officers, plus Detective Peter Daly, an old friend who could be trusted to guard their secrets.
After Maggie pulled the sedan behind the police cars, they exited and met up with the detective and uniforms. Daly was the first to speak.
"I hope you know what you"re doing, Diana. Van Winter"s attorneys are already here," Daley explained. "He called them from the charity event he was attending when one of my partners went to fetch him."
"We need to get inside and search as quickly as possible. A woman"s life is at stake," Diana informed the detective.
"First hurdle"s going to be the suits. They"re waiting for us by the front door." Daly gestured to the building set a distance back from the avenue. The gla.s.s encircling the entire lower floor provided a clear view of two men in business suits and a cadre of four or five security guards.
"Let"s go, then," she said. But as Diego went to follow, Diana stopped him. "No civilians."
Melissa protested first. "She"s going to need medical attention. I stopped by the hospital earlier to get some supplies."
Diego noticed she held a medical bag in one hand, along with a cooler labeled with a biohazardous sign. Blood, he suspected. Maggie Gonzalez stepped forward. "Give it to me. Once we find her, we"ll call for you to meet us."
Melissa handed over the cooler, reluctant but aware that time spent arguing was time wasted.
Diana shot Ryder and Diego an anxious look. "You know what I need to do. The main thing is to preserve the crime scene so we can nail the old b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
"Let"s get moving, Di," Daly said, and as they walked away, he called the uniformed officers to go with them.
Diego watched them. At the door to the building, they met resistance just as Daly had expected. Diego itched to go over and burst through the phalanx of security guards blocking the way. He hadn"t even realized he"d made a motion in that direction until Ryder"s arm swept across his chest, holding him in place.
"Easy, amigo. Diana knows what she"s doing."
Diego watched as she handed one of the suited men the warrant and they conversed. Her hands were braced on her hips, her posture confident. With a wave of her hand, she managed to part the sea of security guards, and her people moved forward toward the elevators.
"How long will it be now?" he wondered aloud, glancing up at the metal-and-gla.s.s building. Where in all that coldness had van Winter hidden Ramona? He didn"t want to consider the possibility that she wasn"t there.
Ryder followed his gaze, and once the majority of people had cleared out of the lobby, his friend said, "Race you up."
Confusion reigned for a moment as Diego scanned the fifty or more stories to the uppermost floor and van Winter"s penthouse.
The sheer gla.s.s walls would make the climb impossible and there were no buildings nearby to provide a launch point for accessing the penthouse, unless...
The older buildings on Seventh were not as tall, but their rooftops would be easier to access. A strong enough leap might get them to their target.
"Let"s go," he said, but Melissa protested.
"Diana said-"
"That we needed to preserve the crime scene. She meant that we should look but not touch," Ryder explained.
Melissa nodded as if realizing that with their powers, Ryder and Diego might have one up on the humans searching the scene.
"Call me as soon as you know anything."
"The same," Ryder said. At his nod, they sped off toward Seventh, moving so quickly that the few scattered pedestrians on the street likely sensed no more than a breeze as they pa.s.sed by.
On the northwest corner of Seventh stood a small commercial building, barely more than four stories high, but it ab.u.t.ted a taller structure. Once on the roof of the first building, Diego paused beside Ryder and surveyed their possible options. A leap to the next building"s roof and then a dash up the fire escape on another would put them within ten stories of the penthouse of the van Winter building across the street.
With a running start, Diego could make the leap, but could Ryder, who was younger and arguably not as strong? "Can you make it?" he asked, even as he was in motion, easily jumping the few stories to the rooftop of the adjacent building.
On that level, Ryder paused beside him, surveyed the distance across the avenue and upward. "I"m not sure."
"If we make the jump, will we be noticed?" "It"s clear for now," Ryder said, glancing toward the uppermost floor.
Diego was puzzled by his friend"s certainty, until it occurred to him. "You can sense Diana and what she"s thinking. You"ve bitten her often."
A flush of chagrin swept across his friend"s face. "Yes, I can sense her at times, when she"s not blocking me. She"s gotten quite good at that."
It was a power that came with intimacy of the most intense kind between lower vamps. Elders possessed that ability solely due to their age. As Diego released the tight control he exerted over his own vampire abilities, he picked up sketchy images from Ryder"s mind. Violent images, but not of vampire mayhem. Of human malevolence. Within him the connection blossomed and suddenly, much as he imagined it was with Stacia, the vision sharpened and he tapped into the emotions running rampant through his friend.
Diego was nearly undone by them all, so vividly alive. So achingly sad as he realized the truth of his friend"s relationship. Of Diana"s failing mortality.
Ryder could not make the leap, but it wasn"t just about the jump to the next building. Ryder couldn"t make the leap to turn Diana.
Diego understood it well. The maelstrom of doubt and yearning was much like his own.
Snagging the back of Ryder"s neck, he pulled him into a tight embrace and whispered, "I understand."
When they broke apart, Diego turned his face upward to the skysc.r.a.per that gleamed like silver in the moonlight. Ryder, however, looked downward. Diego glanced where his friend pointed-the entrance to the parking garage beneath the building.
In silent agreement, they separated. Ryder returned to the lower rooftop, dropped to the ground below and dashed across the street in a blur to human eyes, though Diego noted his pa.s.sage easily.
When his friend had entered the parking garage, Diego moved to an edge of the rooftop and gauged the distance to the van Winter building. He summoned every ounce of his inhuman strength and raced back across the roof.
With a surge of power, he made the leap.
He flew upward, streamlining his body to avoid wind resistance. It occurred to him in midflight that this leap was about more than the chasm of the busy New York avenue below and the gla.s.s skysc.r.a.per before him.
It was a leap away from his vamp life as he had known it, and into the embrace of humanity with all its attendant pain and death.
With all its emotion.
Whether it was love or blood that had called him, he"d be a fool to ignore the emotions Ramona roused in him.
The impact against the side of the building jarred the breath out of him, but he luckily found a hold in the metal window washers"
channels between the gla.s.s panels. Taking a moment to collect himself after his less than graceful landing, Diego realized he was just a few feet below the penthouse level. Luckily again, the floor with which he had painfully connected was empty and dark.
Nothing within or above hinted that his presence had been noted.
Down below might be a different story, he thought, wondering whether anyone would see him plastered there, fifty stories up.
Maybe an eagle-eyed tourist with his trusty camera.
With that thought in mind, Diego braced his toes as best he could against the gla.s.s, dug into the metal channels with his fingers and heaved upward one last time. He managed to get himself over the ledge, and as he landed, rolled toward some tall, dark shapes along one side of the penthouse balcony.
Trees. A row of them in large pots created a barrier along one edge. He crouched behind one of the immense ceramic containers and peered toward the windows along one wall of the penthouse. With his heightened vamp senses, he could see past the gla.s.s to the figures who had entered and were once again arguing by the front door.
Closing his eyes, he focused on those m.u.f.fled sounds until they sharpened and he could make out the discussion.
"The warrant is for the van Winter building, including any and all offices, residences or common areas owned, inhabited or frequented by one Frederick van Winter or John Henry," Diana calmly told the multimillionaire"s attorneys. She didn"t wait for a reply. "Fan out," she instructed her team.