Leona and Slade left the Main Artery and drove to Cafe Rendezvous. Leona sat next to Slade, but touched him less and never looked directly at him. She tried to hide that she cried, about the night's earlier events with Connie. The argument between Gustaf and Andrei at the club was about what happened earlier. Something went radically wrong with the healing process and the least desirable side effect happened. The three va...

There was a thin layer of frost covering the city as the bright red sun rose slowly. Slade woke early, looked outside and put the coffee on before showering. While he was in the shower, Eran called and left a message about the estate in the suburbs. The owner of the transport company indeed owned the estate and had for over 150 years. She also had more photos of the estate from various angles showing guards patrolling and...

The sun disappeared below the western horizon and another beautiful day ended in the city. Late October in the city was a beautiful time. The oak and maple trees dropped their red, yellow, orange and brown leaves. They swirled around when cars passed, creating small funnel clouds of crushed leaves and debris. When it rained or frosted, the streets became slick almost like ice. It was so warm during the day that people wal...

The Step Van with the sleeping vampires cruised through the city to another area away from the warehouse district. It left the city behind and entered the suburbs, where very large estates dotted the landscape. The truck entered an estate surrounded by a high wall made of stone along the front and natural barriers around the rest. Built into the natural barriers was a very high chain link steel fence. Cameras scanned the...

Eran awoke sandwiched between two male vampires in the front seat of the red pickup truck. They left the club parking lot in a slow deliberate manner, so as not to attract undue attention. The mist, which blanketed the city, turned to a soft gentle rain coating everything it touched and soaking into everything. She sat up straight, looked at her captors and watched the surroundings as they passed through the city. They le...

Slade drove to his office and entered the basement of the building looking for the Coroner's office. As he walked, he mentally questioned, why do they place them in the darkest place of the building. It was so tough to bring next of kin or other people down here. He turned a corner and the light was so bright, he squinted until his eyes adjusted. He arrived at the offices and walked in where the intern sat at her desk. Sh...

When Leona gasped, Slade stood up, spun towards the door as the lone dark figure ran out. Rather than chase the person, he opted to stay with the women and assist the wounded officer. Leona pushed the emergency button, nurses came running to the room and security arrived shortly behind them. As the door flew open, Slade stood up pointing at the wounded officer. The nurses moved as if they were a swarm of bees and hovered...

Leona stood in the warehouse watching Gustaf walk to the car with Sam, his bodyguard driver. They left her behind to fume some more and make her appeals to Slade. She flipped open her phone, dialed Slade and waited for him to pickup. The phone on his desk rang and went to voicemail. She hung up not leaving a message. She tried his other number, which was his cell phone. He answered on the first ring, gave his typical gree...

Slade noticed Leona relax, when she closed her cell phone. The tension drained from her body, her posture went from sitting up straight widely alert to comfortable. He wanted to know what happened, but decided this was not the time and the place to ask questions. Leona took Slade's hand, picked it up and nuzzled it against her cheek showing how relaxed she really was now. She kept his hand not wanting to let go. They fini...

Slade sat at his desk, looked over the squad room and thought of his missing partner. Connie was not there, she was in the hospital in a coma caused by an explosion when she visited The Main Artery's owner Gustaf. It appeared the explosion concentrated on his office and destroyed his sleep chamber. Gustaf was the master vampire of the city and had many friends and just as many enemies. This explosion targeted him, but onl...

Connie wondered why Slade left so early. He usually waited until she was ready to leave, walked her to her car and said goodnight. Tonight he left, never said goodnight and was very secretive about it. She went to her locker, grabbed her workout bag and left the squad room quietly. She had a post midnight rendezvous with Gustaf, the master vampire of the city at his club The Main Artery. She headed home now where she show...

Connie sat at her desk staring at the words on her screen while shock and surprise washed across her face. She pushed the print key and printed four copies. The data was there, she read and re-read the screen in disbelief but computers do not lie. Connie took the four copies, filed three where they belonged and carried the fourth over to Slade. She silently handed the fourth copy to Slade, watched as he read it and waited...

The day was coming to a slow end, as Slade and Connie came back to the squad room. After they filled out their reports earlier, they left until their duty shift began in mid-afternoon. The weather took a downward turn with the sun blocked by dark clouds and the threat of rain. To Slade, it seemed as if every time he went to see Leona or Gustaf, the weather was foggy or rainy. At least now, Slade was back in the squad room...

Slade and Connie headed back to the squad room. Instead of going home back to bed, they had to report on what they saw and file the appropriate paperwork. For every incident a detective covered, there was a corresponding paper trail in quadruple copies. One copy went into central files, one copy to the evidence locker by case number, one copy to squad files and one copy to the officer. It seemed like a lot of work, but it...

Slade caught up with Connie as she sauntered down the alley to the street. She was still euphoric from her first meeting with vampires. They controlled her easily and kept her out of the direct exchange between Slade and Gustaf. As far as she knew, the vampires were lovely people and could be trusted. When Slade got beside Connie, she wrapped her arm around Slade's arm and rested her head on his shoulder. Slade went along...