She lifted her eyes to spear Jack with a steady gaze, having no doubt he could hear every word of the conversation. Could he have been the one? "How sure are you about Ilyana?" she asked.
"We barely know her. But I do think she hates Gregor as much as the rest of us do, having been his captive. Don"t you?"
"Yes. But we know she has other motives. Secrets she"s keeping. Who knows what they might cause her to do."
"Hang on, Topaz. Got to check something out." And then he switched from speaking aloud, to speaking mentally. She knew he was allowing his thoughts to be heard only by her, and she quickly blocked her own mind to keep Jack from listening in.
We have to at least consider the possibility that it could have been Jack.
She thinned her lips. All right. What do you suggest we do about it?
Tell him I"m heading to Pennsylvania. Say...Philly. I"m not, I"m actually going to the western end of the state to meet with some vampires who might be able to help us with this situation. But you tell him Philly. I"ll have someone watching. If the CIA end up in Philly, we"ll know.
Did you tell anyone else about this plan? No one. And then he returned to speaking aloud again. "Sorry. It was nothing. Here"s the address where we"ll be spending the next day or two."
She nodded slowly, committing it to memory as he recited the phony address. "Philly, huh? Ring the Liberty Bell for me, will you?"
"Thanks, Topaz." I hope to G.o.d I"m wrong.
I do, too. "Goodbye, Reaper." She disconnected, a thumbnail to a b.u.t.ton, then slid the phone back into the holster that rode on her slender hip.
Jack was studying her closely. "He okay?"
"You must have heard. The CIA spooks nearly caught up to them again. He can"t figure out how they knew where he was."
"They"re the CIA, that"s how."
She nodded. "Yeah. Well, they"re heading to Philadelphia. We"ve got this safe house out there. Vampire-owned, usually vacant, safety features built in-"
"The one on Mariposa. I know it."
"I figured you did. I just hope those a.s.sholes don"t find them again."
"Me, too. Or if they do, that they"re still a few steps behind."
She narrowed her eyes on him.
"So who"s the next daddy candidate on your list, hmm? The actor or the mobster?"
"Wayne Clark Duncan"s last known address was all the way down in Laguna Beach, so he"ll have to wait for tomorrow night.
The mob guy, though..."
"What?"
"Well, it"s a Sat.u.r.day night. According to the police reports, he"s a silent partner at a nightclub not far from here-or he was, then, anyway."
"I think a night out is exactly what you need," Jack said with a smile. "Besides, I"m starved."
"I don"t have anything stored up. Maybe we could go find a blood bank or a hospital on the way?"
As he thought, the dimples in his cheeks deepened, making her gut tighten and clench. She found it extremely difficult to believe he would betray Reaper for money. And then she wondered why, when he"d done it to her. And why it was she had some idiotic desire to trust him again.
"What would you say to a good old-fashioned vampire hunt?"
"Human prey?" She widened her eyes at him.
"We don"t have to kill them. Come on, it would be fun. And this nightclub, if it still exists, should provide a ton of potential victims."
She smiled slowly. It was her nature to relish the hunt. It couldn"t be helped. "We erase their memories afterward?" "If you insist."
"I"m in." Then she glanced down at her attire. "But if we"re going to do this, we really need to, uh, dress for dinner."
His smile was quick and bright and devastating. And everything in her reacted to it, just as it always had. She ran upstairs to change into an elegant, full-length dress, scarlet, with a slit up one side that would make Jack"s eyes pop. She lowered her head, shaking it slowly. What was wrong with her? She shouldn"t want to make any part of Jack pop.
But she did. And in spite of their history, in spite of the fact that he"d already proven himself untrustworthy, she still didn"t believe he was informing on Reaper. She couldn"t.
The club was called The Underground, and it didn"t look like a mob hangout. Music thrummed from inside, strobe lights flashed blindingly through the windows, and the last thing Topaz wanted was to go inside. So instead they struck up a conversation with the doorman to try to find out what they needed to know.
As they"d approached him, Topaz had flashed a smile and a good bit of thigh as she said h.e.l.lo.
He looked her up and down, unimpressed, then picked up a clipboard. "Names?"
"You won"t find them on the list," she said.
"You aren"t on the list, you don"t get in. Move along."
She pursed her lips. "I didn"t want to go in, anyway. I just wondered, didn"t this place used to be owned by Tony Bonacelli?"
His head came up slowly, and he met her eyes. "Who"s asking?"
Topaz held his gaze and exerted the full strength of her will. "I"m asking. And you"re going to answer me. You want to answer me. You want to tell me anything I need to know. You know you do."
He blinked, looking dazed. "Tony Bonacelli"s been dead for five years. His son Vic owns the place now. Took over the...family business."
"And is Vic here tonight?"
"Yeah. He"s here with his girl. Tiffany Skye."
Tiffany Skye. The name rang a bell. "Should I know her?"
"She"s done a few movies. Recording a CD now."
"Right," Topaz said. Another of the young blond celebrities who appeared to have gained fame for no apparent reason. "I really would like to talk to them. Are you sure you won"t let us in?"
"Yeah, if you want, but they"re leaving. I just called for the limo. It"ll pick "em up around back."
"Why, thank you, Bruno. You"ve been very helpful."
"Name"s Dave," he muttered.
"I don"t particularly care." She placed her palm on his cheek. "You"re not going to remember any of this conversation, Dave. Not even that it happened." He didn"t answer as she turned and walked away, Jack falling into step beside her. Once they were out of sight, she released the bouncer"s mind from her control. From around the side of the building they watched as he frowned, blinked and looked around, clearly aware that something had just happened, but at a loss as to what.
The vampires stalked the night, moving silently through the shadows near the rear of the nightclub. Or at least, they were silent when Topaz could suppress her occasional laughter-and it was odd that she could laugh at all, but Jack was right. She was having fun. Stalking, hunting, using her vampiric powers to elicit the information she needed-it gave her a rush. Vampires, for the most part, had become far too civilized. Most rarely embraced their nature these days.
"It"s a shame Bonacelli"s dead and gone," Jack said.
"There"s still hope. He might have let something about my mother slip to his son. And if this Vic knows anything, he"ll tell me."
"Oh, I believe it. You had Bruno eating out of your hand." Jack shrugged. "Then again, he is male."
He sent her a wink, and she averted her eyes. She loved flirting with Jack. Always had.
He nudged her with an elbow. "There"s a limo skulking toward us," he said. "No headlights."
"That"s a good sign. She"s a celeb, so they probably want to be discreet."
Near the rear door, which had Dumpsters flanking it, they waited as the limo pulled to a stop.
Eventually the club"s back door opened, and a young starlet staggered out, a hot-looking Italian on her arm. He was, Topaz guessed, twenty years older than she was, but he didn"t look it. Both of them were wasted, though, and she was pretty sure Tiffany was underage.
Topaz met Jack"s eyes, and he nodded. This had to be Tiffany Skye and Vic Bonacelli.
They stepped out of hiding, blocking the couple"s path. The drunken pair came to an unsteady halt, looking at them, false smiles beginning to falter. Vic"s hand instantly moved toward his side. Topaz felt the rush of Jack"s power as he stopped the motion with nothing more than mental force.
"You want to invite us to ride with you in the limo," Topaz said softly. "You"re compelled to."
"She"s right," Jack said. "You need someone you can trust to be sure you both get home all right. And you know the driver"s probably on some tabloid payroll. But you trust us."
"You trust us more than anyone," Topaz added.
The couple"s smiles had died completely by now, and their eyes seemed vacant.
Jack slid his arm through Tiffany"s, which was about as big around as a pretzel. Topaz did the same with Vic, pleased to feel some decent biceps lurking beneath his shirtsleeve. Smiling and chatting as if they were old friends, they walked toward the limo.
The driver emerged to open a rear door, glanced at Vic and asked, "Mr. Bonacelli?"
"These are friends of ours, Ralph." He spoke in a monotone, his voice without any hint of inflection. "They"re going to..."
"See you home," Topaz told him.
"Yeah. They"re going to see us home."
"Yes, and put the divider window up, Ralph," Topaz said, sending him a killer smile. "We have private things to discuss." "Very well."
He held the door as the four of them climbed in. They settled in seats facing one another. Jack sat beside Tiffany, Topaz beside Vic. The driver got in and put the car into motion. A second later, the divider window, darkly tinted, rose with a soft hum.
Topaz turned to the man. "So you"re Vic?"
"Yeah," he said, staring into her eyes, mesmerized.
"You"re Tony"s son?"
"Yeah."
She patted his hand. "And you"re dating an actress. Like father like son, I guess."
"I guess."
"I think your father knew my mother. She was an actress, too. Mirabella DuFrane. Have you heard of her?"
He nodded, his gaze still stuck to hers like glue. "Everyone"s heard of her."
"Well, yes, but I meant-did your father ever speak of her? There"s a rumor they were lovers."
Again, he nodded.
Impatience jabbed at her, but she fought it down, took her time. "What did your father say about her, Vic? I"d really like to know, and I know you want to tell me."
He nodded slowly. "He put a hit out on the guy who killed her. Called a sit-down with the other bosses. Put up a million bucks to the guy who could take out Mirabella"s murderer."
Topaz felt her brows rise as he spoke those words. Tony Bonacelli would hardly have done that if he"d been behind her mother"s murder. Dammit.
"Did anyone ever collect on it?" she asked.
"No. The offer stands to this day. He made me promise to see it through."
She swallowed and glanced at Jack, who was gently moving Tiffany"s platinum curls behind one ear, exposing her slender neck.
Don"t take too much. She"s bird-sized.
Yeah, I noticed that.
She focused again on Vic. "Did your father ever tell you that you might have a sister out there, Vic?"
"You mean Mirabella"s baby?"
"Yes. That"s who I mean."
"He told me once that he wished she was his. But the timing was way off. He didn"t say more than that."
"I see."
Jack was looking at her again. Let"s get on with this and get out of here, Topaz. We got what we came for. She nodded. "Vic, you know what a rush you get from drugs? Like ecstasy?"
"Yeah."