Andrei emerged from the shadows, as the convoy of vehicles drove up to the estate. He walked to the lead truck and talked to Gustaf about the estate. No guards patrolled outside and the house was dark. After Andrei talked with Gustaf, he walked to the box on the pole by the gate and pushed the call button.

A mechanical voice sounded, "May I help you?"

"Police, we have a warrant to search the premises. Can you let us in please?" Andrei replied.

The gates slowly slid open and the convoy moved forward to enter the estate. A small force of armed guards met them in front of the house. The leader of the guard force walked down the majestic stairs and greeted Gustaf as he stepped from the lead SUV. The two men shook hands in a cordial manner.

"May I see your search warrant, sir?" The leader asked.

Gustaf took a copy of the warrant from his pocket and handed it to the guard. He said, "We know that vampires live here and we have a suspicion and information that at least four of the vampires are wanted in connection with six murders in the city."

"I see. You are welcome to search the estate, but there are no occupants here, but the staff and the security force." The guard replied.

"When did the black van arrive at the estate?" Gustaf asked.

"Earlier this evening, just after sundown the van appeared. Why do you ask?" The guard inquired.

"We suspect that the van carried four coffins and the vampires for whom we are searching." Gustaf alluded.

"The four people, who were in the truck, dropped it here and took one of the cars and left immediately," the guard added in a disgusted manner. He did not like the four vampires. "They have been gone for over an hour. I do not know where they went, but I can give you the description of the car."

"That will be fine. We still want to search the house and take the coffins with us tonight." Gustaf strongly said.

"But of course, right this way, sir," the guard replied, as he led Gustaf into the house.

The convoy spread out in a small semi-circle in front of the house in the driveway, but the big van drove around to the back area. It backed in next to the other van and the occupants got out and took the big van into custody. The forensics team swarmed over the truck gathering fingerprints and DNA evidence and secured the coffins, which were still in the van. The haphazard position of the coffins and the fact they were still in the van said a lot. It meant that the vampires knew they had trouble and needed to evade capture.

The van was sealed and closed, as the forensics team moved into the house proper. They carefully photographed, tagged and carried some things out of the house to their van. The kitchen area was pristine and the crew left it all behind. The dining room where Andrei and Leona defeated the family patriarch and son got the most attention. The walls and floor held many blood samples from the carnage.

While the techs scoured the house, Leona, Eran, Gustaf and Andrei descended into the underground cells. Gustaf looked around and liked what he saw. He spoke quietly to Andrei in Romani, as the women looked deeper into the area.

"This might make a good interim holding area for the Vampire Justice System to use," Gustaf said.

"Yes, it is very secure, isolated, well guarded and far enough away from things making escape very difficult," added Andrei.

"We should look into the ownership records of the property and try to take control of it. It belonged to a family of vampires and therefore reverts to the vampire community and the Vampire Justice System." Gustaf alluded.

"That means the business property also falls into that area too," added Andrei.

"When we get back to the city, we need to get our lawyers working on getting this property and all the other assets." Gustaf said with a happy lilt to his voice.

Eran and Leona came up to the men and followed them back upstairs to the main house. Leona noticed that Gustaf was very happy and wondered what was on his mind. She had not seen Gustaf this happy since they took over control of the vampire community in the city. Leona and Eran sat in the dining room and chatted about the estate. They watched Gustaf and Andrei as they huddled in a corner whispering about something that looked important. Gustaf left the room in search of the Security Commander. Andrei came and sat with the women.

"What is going on Andrei?" asked Leona.

"Not much, we can't really talk about it until some legal matters get resolved," replied Andrei. "Shall we take a tour of the rest of the estate or go back to the car. I believe the techs are done here for tonight."

"Let's get back to the city. We need to find those rogue vampires, before they kill some more innocent people." Eran piped up. "If we need more information or data, the techs can come back without us with the warrant, which is in place."

Gustaf joined the others as they went to the trucks and left the estate. The black van with the coffins joined the convoy back to the city. They talked among themselves as they drove into the city. They drove to the transport company to leave a small security force in case the vampires came there to sleep and guard the human gang members for the police to arrest later.

When things quieted at the transport company, the trucks left and drove deeper into the warehouse district to a large complex of buildings. These buildings were the complex used by the Vampire Justice System for jail cells, offices and courtrooms. Eran sat wide-eyed as they drove through the complex. There were guards and electrified fences around the whole area. The building where the two big vans went was the laboratory area, where the evidence collected at the estate would keep people busy for days. The SUV containing Gustaf drove into a large building that contained nothing but offices.

The group exited the vehicle and it drove back out the door and disappeared. Gustaf escorted the group to a large door that had 'Vampire Justice System Magistrate Office' painted in gold across it. When the doors opened there were a few offices, but it looked like a prestigious Law firm. Eran gasped at the opulence. Her feet sank into the carpet as if she walked on a new lawn. People moved about but there was very little noise heard. In her mind she thought, "I want an office here."

"Eran, Eran are you with us?" Leona asked her.

Eran shook her head, "Yes, I am with you, sorry."

The group entered the magistrate's offices and walked into the office proper. This was where Gustaf held court over vampire affairs. The administrative assistant brought a full tea service into the office with small tea cookies for everyone. She left quietly, when she finished serving the tea. Everyone sat around a small table and enjoyed the refreshing respite from the night's activity. Small talk and banter accompanied the tea. Everyone relaxed with thoughts of a job well done.

Meanwhile at the warehouse, Slade and Connie sat on the large couch in the lounge area watching the big screen TV. Connie nestled her head on Slade's shoulder and held his hand. This was the closest she had been with him ever and it felt so good and right. She started to nap and dream about how she wanted the night to last forever.

Just as Connie fell into a nice sleep, the big door rolled up and a black car entered the warehouse. Connie and Slade turned and watched as the car entered and stopped. Two men got out of the car and stopped as they saw Slade and Connie on the couch. The men reached around their backs, drew guns and approached the couch slowly. Slade took out his gun and handed Connie his spare. Slade took careful aim and shot the man on his side in the leg, but he did not stop. Connie shot the other and he turned and looked at his friend. They turned, ran back to the car jumped in and exited the warehouse.

After the car left, Slade opened his phone and called Eran. "Eran, the vampires were just here at the warehouse. They may be heading over to the transport company. I assume they were not at the estate earlier?"

"No, we missed them by thirty minutes. We confiscated their van and coffins. The technicians gathered a lot of evidence and samples from the van and the estate." Eran informed Slade.

"Where are you?" Slade asked.

"I am in the magistrate's office of the Vampire Judicial System. We will call the squad at the transport company to warn them. Are you and Connie all right?" Eran hesitantly asked.

Slade confidently answered, "We are fine."

When Eran hung up, she told Gustaf, who immediately called the squad guarding the human prisoners. He got no answer from them and quickly he notified the other squad members. They left the area quickly and drove to the transport company as fast as legally possible. As they turned down the block, gunfire erupted from a car, which sped away from the scene. The arriving truck did not give chase, but stopped at the scene. The squad entered the area carefully, searched for the prisoners but found only six dead guards. Each guard lay on the ground executed. It looked as if the prisoners and vampires trapped and executed each guard gangland style. They never had a chance.

The squad leader opened his phone and called Gustaf. "All the guards are dead and the prisoners and vampires escaped. It appears that the two female vampires hid in the loading area and released the prisoners giving them guns. They overpowered the guards as their friends drove in and it was over very quickly."

"Do you know where they went?" Gustaf asked.

"No, but I suspect they will go where they left their coffins. It is the only place that is dark during the day that they know." The squad leader added.

It was two hours before sunrise and the fast moving car left the highway and turned onto the road to the large estate in the suburbs. The car slowed as it drove through the narrow tree-lined roads. As the car approached the estate, the gate swung open and allowed the car to enter. It drove around to the back of the house and stopped quickly. The seven occupants piled out of the car and ran into the house toward the security center.

The head of security opened the door and stepped out into the kitchen. The vampires gestured and yelled about the missing truck. They screamed about their missing coffins. The head of security told them to quiet down and listen.

"Your coffins are safe. We unloaded them and replaced them with some from the dungeons below the house. You can sleep down there today while we guard you. The police from the Vampire Justice System took the truck and contents last night." The head of security said. "They may be back but it will be a while. They took a lot of stuff, but most of it came from the dining room."

The vampires felt relieved and thanked the man for his assistance. He went back inside the security center, as the vampires went to the dungeons and retired for the day. The three gang members went to the kitchen and looked for food. They found a full larder, made breakfast and ate. They wandered the estate and found a very nice entertainment center that looked like a full home theater. This was the space where they would spend the day. They took beer to the room, turned on the soccer sports channel and watched games all morning long.

Once again, the murderers escaped and sought refuge in a place well guarded. Gustaf and his forces knew about it but let it lie for the day. Vampire Justice only functioned at night when vampires awakened. The local police force had no control over this part of the investigation. Eran, Slade, Connie and Leona went to bed early before sunrise. Eran pulled her car into the warehouse where Connie now lived. Slade stayed with Leona in her room after cooking a good breakfast for Eran, Connie and him.

Over their breakfast, Slade and Eran talked about the evidence collected at the estate. The processing of the evidence would happen under the control of the Vampire Justice System. The results of testing would take a few days rather than weeks. Private labs performed the entire tests and results appeared quickly. Eran made sure that Slade and she received the results with Gustaf. That assured them there would be no surprises. When they finished breakfast, they went to their respective rooms.

Eran pulled off her clothes, folded them neatly on the long loveseat in Connie's chamber and crawled naked under the silk sheets of the bed. Connie lay in the coffin provided by Gustaf, when the room became hers. The big bed was in the room mostly for decoration or use by visitors who stayed the night. She snuggled with one of the big body pillows and slept soundly through the morning. The deathly quiet made her sleep deep and restful, the best she'd had in months.

Seven hours after she crawled into the bed, Eran awoke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and a smell that reminded her of home. The air was heavy with the aroma of freshly baked bread. It hung there enticing her to get up and wander into the warehouse. She rose, sat on the bed, crawled to the edge and jumped to the carpeted floor. She hunted around the room and found an over-sized t-shirt in the closet, which she pulled over her head to cover her naked body. The material of the t-shirt had worn thin from use, but covered her to mid thigh. She rolled up the sleeves, satisfied with the look and walked out into the warehouse.

Eran looked over at the kitchen area and saw Slade, as he worked at the counter, removing fresh baked bread from pans. He wore a white wife beater tank top that revealed his muscular arms and chest. Her mind spun with thoughts of how good this man looked. The desire to be with him rose within her. She walked closer and the smells of bread and coffee overwhelmed her senses.

She went around the counter, walked up to Slade and huskily said, "What's cooking?"

Slade turned quickly, as if he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He tried to cover the fact that he stood there in front of her, clad only in his boxers and wife beater tank top. He blushed at Eran and spoke, "Uhh, umm, er hi Eran."

She noticed his embarrassment, but let it slide. She wanted this man and loved what she saw. She looked into his eyes, stood on tiptoes, kissed his cheek and said quietly, "hi, I did not know you could cook so well. What is for lunch?"

"Excuse me, I will be right back." Slade said as he walked to Leona's room. He soon returned and wore a pair of loose fitting jeans. "We have fresh baked bread and fresh brewed coffee. There is ham, turkey and cheese in the refrigerator along with makings for a good salad."

While they ate, a big black SUV drove into the warehouse. Kevin stepped out of the truck and greeted Slade and Eran. Eran blushed, as Kevin pulled up a stool and sat close beside her. He paused as his eyes drank in the sight of the young woman who sat next to him. She was beautiful. When she finished her lunch, she pushed the dirty dishes to Slade and revealed a bit too much flesh to Kevin. He did a fast intake of breath and she blushed more, but felt good about it.

Both men watched as she got off the stool and walked seductively to the room where she slept. At the door, she turned, waved to them and went inside. She left the door ajar, took off the t-shirt and held it aloft so the men saw it. She dropped it outside the door. Kevin picked it up and delivered it to her in the room. She stood behind the door, when he entered. She closed the door, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with great urgency. He picked her up, carried her to the massive bed, put her down and looked at her. He soon joined her and discovered the smoldering lust they had for each other.

The phone on the counter next to Slade buzzed harshly, as a new text message flashed on the screen. The message asked, "Where do the results of the lab work get delivered?" Slade picked up the phone and sent back Eran's email address. She gathered, cataloged and filed all the data for the murders and other crimes related to the vampire gang.

Slade finished cleaning the lunch dishes, put away all the food and trash and went back to Leona's sleep chamber. For the first time Slade saw Leona, as she lay in her coffin. Even in her 'sleep' state, she was a very beautiful woman. She was the first woman in his life who really captured his heart, love and soul. The time they spent together every night was precious to both of them. He turned away from the coffin, walked to the edge of the bed and sat.

As he sat, his mind wandered and thoughts of the women in his life flooded him. There was Leona, Connie and Eran, although Eran had Kevin in her arms and bed. Connie expressed her feelings for Slade very openly and challenged Leona for his affection. Leona made his life exciting, as she brought out his hard rough side. His choice was not easy. He shook his head, crawled into the bed and rested his head, as he thought of the women.

As he drifted back to sleep, his last thought was, "Why did he have to choose only one woman? Why can't he have them all?"