All activity in the estate ceased as they waited for Raven. Slade and Leona returned to the main floor outside Molly's office. Eran and Kevin joined them.
“What do we do now?” asked Eran. A search and seizure warrant never involved her presence before.
Bitterly, Slade answered, “We wait until Raven arrives and show her the warrant. She reads the warrant and explains to Molly what we are looking for and makes sure we do not overstep our boundaries doing the search. It is rather boring and tedious work from there on in.”
An hour after Raven was called; she arrived at the estate and proceeded to Molly's office. She was not angry, but her demeanor was hurried and gruff (really just a show for the gathered VJS forces.) When she entered the office, Molly looked up from the desk. As Raven walked into the room, she left the door ajar, hoping Slade and Leona would eavesdrop on the conversation.
“Hello, Molly. Now, what is going on here? What have you done? Where is Carlo?” Raven asked in rapid fire. She did not let Molly answer until she finished, hoping Slade heard the conversation.
Molly spoke, but Raven quieted her until she closed the door. Then Molly resumed, “Carlo is here with two kidnapped men, one for him and one for me. We have done nothing to these men, but they are upstairs ready for us. What can I do to get out of this mess?”
Raven pondered for a moment and asked, “Has only Carlo been with these men? I hope they have not been with you yet.”
“Why is that important? I have been in a room with one of the men, but he has not been touched. He only knows Carlo,” Molly volunteered.
“That is good for you. As long as you did nothing to either man, then you are safe. We need to get Carlo down here and explain what we are doing. He will have to go back to jail, and you will lose your bail money. The financial loss cannot be avoided, but you will be free.” Raven opened the door and invited Slade and Leona in, giving them a hard sneer.
“You may continue your search, but we want Carlo to join us here rather than be upstairs. When you finish, you may arrest Carlo and return him to jail for violating his bail restrictions. We will forfeit the bail money for now.” Raven spoke quietly to force Slade and Leona to stay focused as Molly moved about.
As Slade and Leona sat in the office with Raven and Molly, the two kidnapped men were taken from the estate and put into a VJS car by Eran and Kevin. A pair of VJS officers drove off with the two men. Eran thought that was safer for them. She also thought that getting them away from the estate freed the victims to become witnesses against Molly and Carlo.
Slade asked Molly, “Who are the man and two women residing in this house? What is he to you?”
“Sebastian is a life-long dear friend and one-time lover. Why do you ask?”
“We will be taking all people found in the estate to VJS headquarters for interrogation and potential jailing. We will arrest Carol for violation of his release. We are also considering charges against you as well.” Leona told Molly and Raven.
Raven started to object, but Molly quieted her to prevent any more charges or legal hassles. Raven sat with Molly but felt strange in the office. She wanted to change to her werewolf form and run on the estate grounds. It was the time of the month to evolve and be a wolf.
“Sebastian and his two consorts will be allowed to leave the estate. They will not be allowed to return here until the case against Carlo settles. Only Molly will be allowed to be in the estate. There will be a VJS officer present at the property until all legal matters close by VJS.” Leona informed Raven and Molly. Leona held up her hand to quell the objections of Raven. Molly stood and walked to leave her office. Raven followed her into the center of the estate entrance. Slade and Leona followed the women.
Eran and Kevin pulled Slade and Leona aside. “We put the two kidnapped men in a VJS car and took them to headquarters where we can chat with them and have them used as witnesses against Carlo and eventually against Molly if possibly needed.”
“That was a smart move,” Leona told the young detective. “We can resume the search and seizure of the estate now. Will you inform the officers to re-start the search?”
Kevin ran up the stairs to inform the officers to search again. Eran sat in a chair with her laptop open and noted the search begins again. She kept the best record of criminal investigations Slade ever saw. She was a great asset to the new VJS squad.
With the search starting again, Sebastian and his twins came down trying to leave the estate. “Where are you going?” Leona asked with a menacing edge to her voice.
“We are going back to Verona where we belong,” Sebastian replied haughtily.
“I think you had better stay around the city, where we can find you and bring you into court for testimony in Carlo and Molly's trial. You are witnesses to what occurred here tonight.”
“Why would I want to testify against the woman I love?” Sebastian said as the twins gasped at him.
The twins moved away from him and huddled together feeling betrayed. They watched as Sebastian moved closer to Molly. The twins put their bags on the floor and hugged each other in fear.
Eran noticed the twins' state and walked to them. As she approached the twins stood taller and projected an attitude. They tried to show that things were fine, but their eyes and stooped shoulders displayed a different feeling. Eran smiled at the women and asked, “Would you like to come with me and get away from these people?”
The twins smiled shyly and opened up to Eran. As they nodded to her, they moved closer. Eran bade them to follow her into a small room off the estate entrance. Leona followed them to talk with them about their presence at the estate. Raven started to follow Leona, but Slade began to talk with Molly. His chatting with Molly forced Raven to return as her lawyer giving her advice.
“Did you force Carlo to come to the estate tonight?” Slade inquired.
“She had no part in his being here,” Raven quickly answered Slade.
Slade grimaced but kept questioning Molly. As he talked to Molly, Leona took Sebastian aside and chatted with him. With Sebastian away from Molly, he opened up about his stay at the estate and the activity of Molly since he arrived.
“How often was Molly at the estate lately?” Leona asked.
“She was here every night after the tavern closed.”
“Was she alone all the time?”
“No, she was with her fey friends and had a different human with her. She never had the same man with her. There was always a lot of noise coming from her room when she was here. I do not know what she did in her room, but I remember how she was with me when we were an item. She has some strange tastes and desires for a succubus. Any human, who was with her, had to be strong to survive her needs.”
Leona looked at Sebastian and asked, “What do you mean?”
Sebastian replied, “I rather not get into too much detail, but let's just say her physical demands went far beyond casual sex with some sadistic overtones.”
“What do you mean?” asked Leona innocently.
Sebastian smiled and with a serious look said, “Have you looked in the basement of the estate? There are some interesting rooms and few of what look like prison cells down there. The rooms contain some interesting additions for a sadistic lifestyle. You might want to look for yourself with Slade later.” Sebastian winked at her with a knowing look of trying it out for yourself.
Leona looked with much chagrin on what Sebastian implied to her. She and Slade had recently become intimate and were discovering each other's desires and needs. Slade was the first and only man that Leona felt comfortable with and had any feelings for in her long life as a human and a vampire. Leona moved away from Sebastian and called an officer to her side.
“Please take this man and his two lady friends into custody. We need to interrogate them gathering information about the estate and its owner,” Leona said with a disparaging voice. The officer pointed to Sebastian and the twins to follow him outside to the waiting van for transport to VJS for interrogation and possible incarceration as guilty partners.
Molly observed the exchange between Sebastian and Leona and felt disturbed by it. She was afraid of what Sebastian could tell about Molly and her life as well as the activity at the estate. She nudged Raven and spoke quietly, “You need to follow Sebastian and get him to be quiet and say nothing about what he saw or did here at my estate.”
“I will handle it,” she replied discreetly as she took her phone out and moved away from the group.
She called her secretary and asked, “Can you have one of the partners meet with a man named, Sebastian and his twin concubines at the VJS headquarters?” She gave her the particulars and hung up joining the group again.
The officers who searched the upper part of the house gathered with Slade and Leona. “Did you find anything incriminating or suspicious?” asked Leona.
The group leaders replied with negative results. The upstairs was empty and contained nothing of interest. They stood around waiting for further orders to search the basement.
Leona said, “That is fine. You can take your men and leave the estate now. We will check out the rest of the building. Please escort Molly and Raven back to VJS where we will handle any new things that we find."
Raven objected strongly about being taken away as the estate continued to be examined. Slade interrupted, “You and Molly can stay, but you must stay with us and do not interfere with our search of the basement.”
Molly started to object, but Raven hushed her. Molly looked beaten, and Raven saw the expression and felt there was something amiss. Raven wanted to get Molly alone to find out what was wrong.
“Excuse me, Slade. I need to confer with my client in private. Please wait here until we return?”
Slade nodded and watched as Molly and Raven went back to her office.
