Slade turned to Eran and Connie, as Leona and he walked to his car. "We are going to talk with Gustaf and Andrei to open a dialog with the vampire community. Why don't you go question Maria? That way we can do more in less time," Slade said as he helped Leona into the car.

Connie looked up and smiled at Eran. "We can interview Maria easily. If Slade were there, he would intimidate her. Let's go to her place."

They looked at the cars in the warehouse. One of the cars was Eran's tiny compact, but it was not the right vehicle to impress anyone as a police car. Connie walked to a classic Mercedes and climbed in behind the wheel. Eran joined her, as she put her briefcase on the seat beside her. Connie drove out of the warehouse and headed to the area of the city that bordered the college campus.

The streets were tree-lined and the houses looked like two-story duplex homes. The houses built in this area were for married couples or family members who wanted to stay together. Maria started out living with her brother, but he failed to keep up his grades and left school as a sophomore. She kept the apartment by sub-letting it to another woman. When Steve came to live with Maria, the other woman moved out.

Connie pulled to the curb in front of a well-kept house and grounds. It was the best-looking house on the street. Eran and Connie got out of the car and walked to the front door. They rang the bell and Maria answered. They saw the man from the video, sitting watching TV. Connie and Eran identified themselves and asked to enter. Maria escorted them into the home and introduced Steve as her boyfriend. At first, Maria felt as if the police came to arrest her for her off campus activities.

Connie explained why they were there and watched, as Maria relaxed. She sat next to Steve and held his hand tightly, her knuckles turning white. As Connie continued talking, Maria relaxed, but was still wary of the two women. Eran took over from Connie and talked to Steve about his involvement with the gang. Steve gave her his full name and Maria's home as his current address. Eran wrote all that down on the photograph of him and listened while Connie continued with the interview. Eran wrote relevant information as they spoke. So far, nothing said meant anything important to the case. It was all background of how Steve and Maria met and what happened since that night.

With the background established and the couple relaxed, while they spoke, the topic switched to the gang members and their relationship to Steve. Steve was a fringe member of the gang. They kept in touch with him and invited him to parties at their place of residence. He supplied the names of all seven gang members and listed all their cell phone numbers. Eran smiled, when she wrote the numbers next to the names. As long as the gang members activated their cell phones, Eran could follow them and their locations.

Eran took her laptop out of her briefcase and turned it on. As the main screen came online, she activated her tracking software. She entered the seven cell phone numbers and watched as the cell-tracking program found the location of the gang's phones. The location showed the phones clustered in one place. As Eran had Google Maps display the location, she did a sharp intake of breath. On her screen, the location of the gang was the estate they searched the day before. She wanted to pick up the phone and call Slade to mount a raid on the estate. Her anxiety flashed across her face and Connie stopped talking and looked at her.

"What is wrong, Eran?" Connie asked while trying to be casual.

Eran replied with subdued excitement, "I found the gang, the whole gang of seven members. I want to go arrest them now."

Connie contained her excitement and looked at Steve and Maria. She had to hide her feelings from them. She wanted to continue the interview, but with what Eran discovered, they needed to get back with Slade and Leona. The news was excellent and Eran felt giddy with excitement. Connie tried to get Eran to calm down so they could leave. Connie had Eran close down her computer and put away all the papers and notes. She stood and thanked Steve and Maria for their time. She turned to Eran and signaled it was time to leave. The two women shook hands with Steve and Maria and left her home. They did advise, they might return for more information. Maria and Steve noticeably calmed as Eran and Connie left. They let out deep sighs and hugged at the door as the police drove away.

As they drove away, Eran started giggling and bounced on her seat. Connie looked over at her and knew exactly how Eran felt. She felt the same way on her first case when pieces fell into place to bring about an arrest and conviction. She let Eran celebrate and waited until Slade talked to them about the gang's location. As they drove, Eran quieted her enthusiasm. She waited patiently, as they drove to The Main Artery nightclub. When they arrived, Eran jumped out of the car and walked briskly ahead of Connie. The doorman held Eran up until Connie caught up and then he let them enter the club together unescorted. When they entered the main room of the club, Connie saw Slade and Leona with Gustaf in the VIP section.

Gustaf stood, greeted Eran with a handshake, hugged and kissed Connie. It was the first time Connie returned to the club since the bombing. She felt a little apprehension being there, but when she saw Gustaf, it vanished. She sat close to him, looked at Slade and Leona and smiled. Eran sat next to Slade and bounced on the seat. Slade looked at the excited young woman and smiled.

"OK Eran, what has you so excited?" Slade asked.

"We got a big break in the case tonight. I know where the gang is, all seven of them," Eran proudly said.

Slade's voice rose with an edge of excitement and skepticism. "Where are they right now? How do you know that?"

"They are in the estate we raided yesterday in two groups. I know that because I can read the GPS locators on their phones and tie them to Google Maps. Can we go raid them tonight?" Eran replied quickly and impatiently.

"No, we need to pull the proper people together and wait until daylight. That way we can capture the vampires easily. The other gang members will be easy to catch too," Slade quietly added.

Eran looked at Slade and disappointedly said, "I guess we have to plan these things and can't just run in with guns blazing and capture them. The on-site security team may be protecting them now." She sat back with a slight pout on her face, "I can wait but I want to be there when this all goes down."

Slade looked long and hard at her, shaking his head. He saw in her what he saw in Connie's first arrests. There was a high level of eagerness to get the bad guy. That would change when the day ended. It always did. Making an arrest was usually a simple act. The bad guy gave up and everyone went back to work. With these arrests, four of the murderers will be in their coffins. That made apprehending the human gang members the more difficult task. With the security team in the estate, no one knew what to expect. Were they friend or foe?

Gustaf offered his forces to join with the police in gathering around the estate and cutting off any means of escape. He wanted the vampires badly. His forces were human so they stayed awake during the day and night. At night, his bodyguards were vampires. What Gustaf did, was bring a different point of view to the investigation. He offered to have his forces go out to the estate tonight. They would watch the estate and follow anyone that left the place. When the police arrived in the morning, they would join in the arrests and take the vampires to their prison. Slade liked the help and the fact that there was a high level of cooperation between the two cultures. With Connie involved, the two groups became almost one and this was the first big test of that relationship. It was also a time of speculation to see how forces worked together.

Gustaf pulled out his cell phone, spoke to someone and hung up. "I dispatched three vehicles with three man teams to patrol outside the estate and make sure no one leaves, who are part of the wanted gang," he announced.

Slade relaxed and smiled. He thought, "Things are falling into place, we will get them now." He took Leona's hand, stood up and excused them from the group. He took her out of the club and went to Cafe Rendezvous for a quiet cup of coffee and tea. As they sat with their drinks, he held her hand and gazed into her eyes. She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder. She raised her head and brushed her lips across his whisker-covered cheek. They left the teahouse and went back to the warehouse where Leona slept. Slade needed sleep and Leona wanted to stay close by his side.

"I think I need some sleep, if we are going to raid the estate later in the day," Eran said, trying to get Connie's attention away from Gustaf. "Plus a nice Bavarian Creme donut from DDs with hot chocolate will help me sleep better."

That got Connie's attention. She quickly turned to Eran and gave her a yearning look. She kissed Gustaf on the cheek, stood quickly, grabbed Eran's hand and dragged her out of the club. They practically ran to the car and sped out of the parking lot almost hitting another car in the process. Connie wanted a donut and coffee in the worst way. She craved them as an addict craved their next fix. They got to DDs in record time, parked in the back and forced the other police there to make space for them. Everyone there gave a hearty hello to Connie and asked if she was back on duty.

"Unofficially, I am on duty," she strongly replied. "I need my donut and coffee to get back to working strength." Everyone laughed loudly as she took a big bite out of the donut and creme leaked out. Connie was back and Eran was her partner. A half hour later, it was if Connie never left, jibes and jokes flew across the counter, as other police came and went. An hour after they arrived and greeted all their friends, Eran and Connie went back to the warehouse for the rest of the night. Eran and Connie went to her room, changed into their sleepwear and curled up together in the huge bed.

About an hour before sunrise, Connie and Leona left their beds and entered their coffins for the daytime sleep. Eran and Slade slept through their departures and woke up at mid-morning. As soon as Eran sat up, her cell phone buzzed with a text from Kevin. It read, "The estate is quiet and nothing moved all night. When are you and the troops coming? We are itching for a fight." She looked at the message and smiled.

"Just waking up, will get to my office and rally the troops there. Have you got a van to haul away the coffins?" Eran replied.

She got dressed, entered the kitchen area and saw that Slade made coffee and there were fresh Danish still hot from the oven. She showed Slade Kevin's text and her reply. He liked what she wrote and asked him. If they got the van, it made Slade's preparations easier. The van would take the coffins to the Vampire Justice System facility.

As they sat discussing the logistics of the joint operation, Eran's phone buzzed. "The van is on its way and will be ready to transport the four coffins, when needed." Eran showed the message to Slade and smiled. He smiled back with a look of relief on his face.

They went together in Slade's car to the office and gathered the needed paperwork to set up the raid on the estate. They made sure, the arrest warrants were still valid. Eran put on her bulletproof vest with 'POLICE' emblazoned across the front and back. She felt as if she were a real police detective with it on. She opened her briefcase and took out the notes from the interviews. As she sat there reviewing them, she decided to check the location of the cell phones of the gang members.

She watched the screen light up with seven distinct spots in two groups. One group of four was the vampires in their coffins away from the gang members in a group of three. Satisfied things were good, she set aside her laptop and filed the papers that accumulated on her desk. When she finished her filing, she joined Slade and the two SWAT leaders in the conference room. They talked with the group commander on site via phone. There was no movement all night. Spotters were in trees, which overlooked the walls. Nothing moved on the grounds. They set up the communication channels for the radios and left the conference room to gather and brief the rest of the teams.

Eran joined the briefing and met the squad members. They greeted her with enthusiasm and welcomed her presence. Eran felt as if she were a member of the team. The briefing took an hour with maps and positions of the two organization's teams. The men, with Eran, felt confident this would be an easy capture and arrest. The teams laid out all the plans and talked of contingencies if things went sideways. They were ready.

Eran texted Kevin, "We are almost ready to get in the convoy and set out to you. I watched the cell phone locations and they are clustered in two groups." She checked the screen and saw the two groups.

"We are waiting and I can't wait to see you again. This will be fun to share our jobs. Our commander is in touch with your SWAT commander by radio now," Kevin texted back.

"We will leave here at 12:30 and be there by 2:00. We will gather and lay out the plans again and get ready to raid the estate. I will stay with you in the command center watching the whole thing unfold," Eran quickly sent back.

"I wanted to be in on the capture, but if I can be with you that is even better. See you soon. ;)" Kevin sent back quickly.

Eran smiled as she closed her cell phone and walked back to the squad room. As she entered, she went to her desk. She gathered the needed papers, put them in a folder and secured them in her briefcase. She walked to Slade who stood talking with his captain and waited for them to finish.

He turned to her and asked, "Is everything ready to get this raid going?" He walked to the conference room and entered it with Eran following behind him.

"Everyone is briefed. The troops are ready. I came up here to get all the papers we need and gather anything else we require. Have you got anything else we need?" Eran said, as she gathered the papers spread over the conference table.

She took the papers and put them in file folders on the table as Slade replied, "Everything is ready. Gather these papers and take them with us. You will be staying in the command center watching things unfold and keeping a log of things as they happen. Kevin will be there as the Vampire Justice System representative."

"We have been texting and they have the van there and are waiting on our arrival. I will check the location of the gang members once again before we leave." Eran replied as she left the conference room, walked to her desk and secured the new folders in her briefcase.

She closed her briefcase and stood it on her desk. As she sat down, she looked at the display of cell phones and it had not changed. She smiled and refreshed the screen again to make sure. The dots stayed the same when Google Maps overlaid the estate. They were still there. She felt good that they were finally ready to capture these criminals.

Slade's phone rang and he picked it up. He looked over at Eran, "Let's go. We are in the lead vehicle and they are ready for us in the garage."

Slade put on his vest, grabbed his gun and put his windbreaker over it all. Eran closed her laptop, grabbed her briefcase and walked toward the door. Slade quickly caught up with her and took her briefcase from her. They walked quickly down the stairs to the garage with not a word exchanged between them. It was as if a shroud of seriousness descended upon them and the tension level ratcheted up by 50 percent. When they got to the garage, the team members milled about with not a sound. Tension and nerves ran high, but when the operation started things would smooth out and get better. This group was like a diesel engine, hard to start, but once it ran, things smoothed out.

The convoy moved slowly out of the police garage and turned to head out of the city. Eran sat in the lead SUV holding her laptop in her hands making sure she did not drop it. The trucks moved at the speed limit until they hit the interstate. The lights on the trucks stayed off and no sirens sounded. It was a silent raid and there was no need to make an announcement.

When the convoy arrived, the command center van pulled up and Kevin, his commander, Eran, Slade and the Swat Commander joined up in the van. Eran set up her laptop and checked the location of the cell phones. All seven blips appeared on the screen, four in one spot and three in another. The teams moved out and got ready to crash the gate if the security team did not open it.

The SWAT commander announced their arrival and reason for being there to the security man. He made them wait outside until he came to the gate and verified the warrants. This took about fifteen minutes and the teams got edgy. The men stood outside the gate as the security guard read each warrant carefully. Everyone knew this was a stalling tactic, but no one moved outside the estate. No vehicle moved on the driveway and the grounds of the estate remained empty of movement.

Eran sat beside Kevin and muttered, "What is taking so bloody long? Just storm in there and capture the criminals." She watched the screen of her laptop as she spoke.

Kevin told her, "The criminals are still in the house and we can see them if they move. We can arrest the security team for obstruction if they get away. My commander will not let this go lightly."

Eran turned to Kevin and pecked his cheek with a soft brush of her lips. Kevin pointed at the screen as the three blips moved on the screen. Eran turned and watched the movement. As the distance between the blips, increased Eran saw something strange happen. The lead blip flickered and disappeared. The other two blips did the same as they came to the same point inside the house.

"They are getting away!" Eran screamed into the radio at the two commanders. "Get in that estate now. Break down the gate. The human gang members have disappeared."