The moon was a sliver of white in the eastern sky as Leona and Eran left the police station. They did not notice that a truck followed them through the city. They went directly to the hospital to see Connie and find out when the hospital would release her. The truck followed them into the parking lot and stopped a few rows behind them. The two men inside got out of the truck and followed them into the hospital.

They knew the floor where Eran and Leona rode up to in the elevator. They watched the number of the floor click off as the elevator ascended. When the elevator stopped at Connie's floor, the two men took the stairs to the same floor. Who were these men? What did they want? Why did they want Leona, Eran and Connie? They entered the floor and looked about to see if the guard paid attention.

The guard sat quietly in the chair not aware of the two men who approached him. They moved so fast that the officer reacted too late. The men knocked the officer out and moved his chair and him to the empty room across the hall. The men went back to the door of Connie's room and listened to the sounds from within. The voices of the three women chattered within and the men smiled. It was time to act. They removed their guns from their back of their pants, opened the door to the room and entered with guns firing at what they thought was the bed area.

A bullet struck Connie in her upper arm. Eran ducked to the floor unharmed. Leona and the officer on duty inside ran toward the doorway and subdued the two men. They disarmed the assailants quickly and quietly, but the men fought back, ran out into the hall and escaped down the stairs. Leona returned to the room and checked out the two women. Eran stood shakily, but Connie bled from a wound on her upper arm. Leona looked at the wound and saw that it was just a nick with no internal damage. The bullet lodged into the wall behind her bed. With Connie's new abilities, the wound already started to close and heal.

The officer walked back from the stairwell and heard moaning from the room across the hall. She entered the room and saw the other officer sitting on the floor feeling his head. The officer stood up shakily and sat on the chair. He looked up at the other officer and shook his head questioningly.

"The women are OK. Connie got a flesh wound and her visitors are fine. How are you?" The female officer asked him. "We need to call this in and get a team up here tonight to get the weapons left behind."

Connie sat on the edge of her bed and watched her arm heal before her eyes. Less than an hour after the assault, the wound closed and left no scar. She was so happy that she healed fast. This was a wonderful thing, she thought. The new powers enabled her to survive minor injury easily. She wanted to go home tonight and get out of the hospital. She needed her clothes and a way to get home. She wanted to capture these murderers and get them off the street fast.

Eran opened her phone, called Slade and sat beside Connie on her bed. Slade answered his phone on the second ring. Eran explained what happened and told Slade the killers were the two vampire murderers they sought. He asked her to stay there and he would arrive in a few minutes with a forensic crew to catalog the guns and any usable fingerprints. Eran hung up the phone turned to Connie smiling and watched Leona as she paced the room.

Leona paced the room as anger welled inside her. She wanted to find her vampire children and wipe them off the planet. The two women vampires were just following their boyfriends, but that did not matter anymore. Her gypsy blood boiled with her rage. She wanted to contact Gustaf and Andrei to get their help. They had the manpower and knowledge where vampires stayed in the city. She needed their help and soon.

As Leona paced, her thoughts wandered all over. She knew that she had to get these vampires and put them away, but she felt something strange about why. She had feelings, which she never experienced, before or after she became a vampire. When she grew up her closest and only friend was her older brother, Gustaf. They were gypsies and spent so much time together as the family traveled all over Europe. She never had friends or a sister. She never felt love directed at her or from her for another person. She had both. Slade was a man who loved her and she felt love for him very strongly.

Connie and Eran watched as Leona paced. The face they saw had a determined very serious look on it, as if serious thoughts and plans ran underneath. Connie wanted to interrupt but felt it was not the thing to do right then. Instead, she looked at Eran and saw her watching Leona too. Eran looked at Connie as if to silently ask, what was going on? Connie shrugged as if she said let it be.

Suddenly, the door to the room flew open, Slade ran in and grabbed Leona to him hard. She wrapped herself around him and buried her face in his shoulder. As he held her, she shuddered with tears and loud sobs came from her. She never showed this much emotion in public before. Everyone felt mystified by this sudden display from Leona. Slade led her over to the guest chair in the room. He tried to get her to sit down, but she would not let go of him. Finally, he sat down and she sat in his lap wrapped tightly around him.

He looked at Connie and Eran, smiled and commented, "Are you alright? Leona seems to be affected the most."

Connie shrugged pointed to her arm and said, "The wound I sustained healed already and there is no scar or hurt." She smiled and continued, "Leona paced the floor with a wild, hungry determined look as if she plotted some type of revenge."

Eran piped up, "I think she knows who these guys are and plans to involve more vampires in finding them and defeating them badly. Maybe you can calm her down and find out from her what she thought."

Slade shook his head and slowly spoke, "I have never seen her like this. There is a look of determination here but underneath, I feel frustration and hurt, which is new. We all need to talk when she calms down."

Leona pushed up off his shoulder and looked at him. She looked at the other women and spoke, "If we had not been aware of potential danger tonight, we might be seriously hurt. As I thought about that, I realized that in this room are the only friends I have had in my life. I almost lost two of them too. The man I love is here and I am complete. "

Leona sat up and continued, "When I grew up as a gypsy girl in Europe, I had no friends near my own age. The only person I had was my brother Gustaf. I have a man who loves me and I love him. I have two friends, Eran and Connie who are dear to me. I want to keep you all and stay with you. I don't want to ever be alone again."

She sobbed a little, but spoke through tears, "The vampires who attacked us tonight are my children. I made them and hoped they would be my friends. Instead, they turned against me. They tried to kill all of us. I want to capture them and punish them for this and the six murders."

Slade pulled her down to him and stroked her hair to comfort her. He spoke softly to her, "Do you know where they stay during the day? It is the only way we can capture and confine them."

Leona nodded, "They keep moving from warehouse to warehouse. I asked Gustaf about it and he told me they no longer stay in any place that TMA Ltd. owned. They have a new place and it is not known by any vampires here in the city."

Eran stopped her and spoke up, "The truck they left the warehouse in came from the transport company of the family that kidnapped you and Andrei. Could they be staying in one of their properties?"

Connie shrugged. Slade and Leona looked at each other and turned to Eran.

Leona asked, "Is there any place near to the warehouse where I sleep that they own?"

Eran answered, "There is their main office and a small warehouse distribution center about a mile away. It appears that it is still actively in use mostly at night. We are working on getting a search warrant to search the place soon."

Leona shrugged, "If I can have a phone, I can get a vampire search warrant and raid the place tonight. Will that help with the investigation? If there were vampires there, the Vampire Judicial System would deal with them. Any humans found, human authorities would have them. Does that work for everyone?"

Eran and Connie nodded. Slade said, "That sounds like a good idea. We would have to turn the vampires over to Gustaf at some point. Why not have Vampire forces capture them directly?"

Leona asked Eran for the address of the facility. When Eran replied, Leona took Slade's phone and called Gustaf. She spoke in Romani when he answered. She gave him the location of the facility and asked that he and his police force raid the place and take anyone found into custody human or otherwise. She told him what happened earlier and he understood the urgency of the warrant. Before she hung up, the Vampire Judicial System issued the warrant and the forces gathered.

Leona turned to everyone and said, "The warrant is ready and the forces are on the way to the facility. We should know in a little while if they were there."

Eran, Connie and Slade smiled and the tension level in the room drained like water from a bathtub. Leona giggled like a young teenager that she was able to join in the hunt for these murderers. As she giggled, Eran and Connie started to laugh and hugged each other. Slade laughed and grabbed Leona closer to him and nuzzled her neck.

Connie stood up, walked to the closet and grabbed her clothes. The doctor was due to release her tonight and she wanted to shower and get dressed. Just as she put the bag on her bed, the doctor walked into the room. He looked at everyone, smelled the gunpowder in the air and had a question on his face. He noticed no one was hurt so relief washed over him.

"Connie, I looked at your latest tests and scans. Everything is fine and I have signed you out of the hospital. Go home, rest for a few more days and get used to your new life. Go back to work on light duty." He pronounced, turned and abruptly left the room.

Connie smiled and ran to the shower. "Be ready in twenty minutes and let's get out of here fast!" She yelled as the door closed.

Eran walked around the room, gathered up all the cards and plants into one area and packed them away. She noticed that Connie only took her underwear into the shower area. She felt there was an awkward moment coming soon, when Connie emerged from the shower. She chuckled to herself, as she realized Connie wanted to let Slade see her as a woman not another cop. Just as Eran finished that thought, the bathroom door opened and Connie walked out wearing a frilly lacy red bra and the skimpiest red lacy panties, Eran ever saw.

Connie walked over to Slade stopped in front of him and turned to show him who she was. Slade took notice and smiled. Connie walked to the bed and slipped on a frilly sundress over a pair of skinny jeans. She slipped her feet into a pair of white canvas slippers that looked made for the outfit she wore. She took the cards, stuffed them into her bag and called the nurse to tell her she was ready. When the nurse came, Connie gave her all the plants to give to other patients on the floor.

An orderly arrived with a wheelchair to take Connie down to the waiting car to take her to her new residence. Leona and Slade arranged to move all her possessions from her apartment to the same warehouse where Leona slept every day. Slade drove his car around to the pick-up area. Connie climbed into the car and slid over next to him. Eran and Leona followed in her car. They drove to the warehouse, entered the drive in area and waited for the door to close. Connie waited for Slade to help her out of the car and she held his hand, as he led her into her new room.

Connie entered the room and looked around. She saw bright colors and subdued spring scenes. Her bed had flowery covers and large fluffy pillows. The carpet was the color of beach sand. The walls were the color of the sky above water for as far as the eye could see. She stood there mouth agape at the magnificent room. Next to the head of the bed was the entrance to her private bath salon. Built into the wall was a huge closet, which contained all her clothes with plenty of room for her new clothes, which Gustaf and Leona would provide later as she lived there.

She turned to Slade and spoke softly, "Who did all this for me?"

"Gustaf, Andrei and Leona did it as a welcome home gift. It is all yours with more to come as you live here. It is a place fit for the new head of the Vampire Liaison Office of the City Police Department." Slade answered.

"Wow!" She said, as she walked around. "What else is there here that I might like or need?"

"Everyone is waiting to greet you back at the squad room tomorrow. There will be a special ceremony in your honor to promote you to your new position. We will continue to work together closer than ever." Slade told her.

Connie smiled and ran to Slade. She stopped just short of knocking him over, but hugged him tightly and kissed him long and hard on his lips. Her heart fluttered and her love flowed to Slade. Slade stood there and hugged her back kissing her. They kissed for a long time and when they pulled apart, both were breathless and smiling. She grabbed his hand and let him lead her around her room to explore the bath salon and the closet space. She put her bag on the bed and walked out into the warehouse proper to check the rest of the facilities out.

While Connie and Slade toured the warehouse, Eran and Leona drove to the transport company to examine the place after the warrant execution took place. When they drove up on the building, there was a lot of activity outside. Men in black uniforms paced the perimeter guarding it from intruders. The building lights shone brightly in the upper windows below the roof. Several men patrolled the roof to prevent escape that way. A large black van blocked the open door to the distribution area. Several black SUVs parked around the area.

Eran parked in the street halfway down the block from the building. As they walked toward the building, Gustaf and Andrei met them. Both men had looks of disappointment, which Eran detected immediately.

Leona in Romani asked, "What happened here?"

"The vampires escaped again. They were not here, but we captured three human gang members. We will turn them over to the police after we are done with them. The gang lived here and there is evidence that they slept here too, but their coffins are gone and a large transport vehicle is missing." Gustaf sadly reported.

"I think I know where they went," Eran told them. "I have a warrant to search the place if you want to go there tonight."

"Where is that?" Leona asked.

"It is for the estate and grounds where you and Andrei were held." Eran replied. "I requested it to search and rescue you, if you did not show up. The warrant is still valid."

"Can we take part of this force and go there?" Leona asked Gustaf.

"We only need to leave six men here to guard the prisoners. The rest of the men can mount up and be ready to roll in less than five minutes. You can ride in the lead vehicle if you want." Gustaf replied.

Andrei told them, "I will fly on ahead and scout the area for any signs of the large black van. If it is there, I will phone you and try to make sure no one leaves the estate."

Andrei flew off into the sky headed toward the estate. Gustaf told the commander his orders and got into the lead vehicle. Leona and Eran joined him and sat in the back of the large SUV. In less than five minutes, the commander and his driver entered the SUV and rolled out of the area. The large black van followed the lead truck and four more trucks followed the van. The radio crackled with each vehicle reporting their position and status as the convoy formed and rolled out of the area.

As the group formed up, they gained speed and left quickly to get out of the city and to the estate. Everything went smoothly with no traffic slowing them down. Andrei flew overhead near the estate and saw the black van in the back of the house at the loading dock. There was no activity seen outside the house.

Andrei landed outside the walls of the estate and called Gustaf. He reported, "The big black van is rolled up to the back loading dock, but there is no activity around the exterior of the estate. I will be by the main gate waiting for you. If they leave I will follow them and report."

Gustaf hung up, told Leona and Eran about Andrei and told the driver to speed it up.