Memory Zero (Spook Squad 1)

Her hesitation was brief, but nevertheless there. He couldn’t say he entirely blamed her. So far, he’d given her no real reason to trust him.

“Two vampires. Guards, I presume.”

And somehow, she’d bested not one, but two of them. Something no human should have been capable of—even when armed with a Holcroft laser. The human eye and brain just weren’t designed to assimilate the speed with which a vampire could move. That was why most humans thought vampires could disappear into shadows. The fact was, they couldn’t. Humans just couldn’t see their movements.

Usually, the only vampires killed by humans were the newly turned, the careless, or those so fed up with eternal afterlife that they virtually committed suicide. From what he’d seen of Kazdan, the two guards he’d sent with his wife would be the best. Yet Sam had beaten them.

Maybe Karl was right after all.

“Why did you leave them alive?”

Her eyes widened and color leached from her face, only to be quickly replaced by a flush that spoke of anger. Her fingers clenched and unclenched around the laser. He watched her warily. Her psych profile suggested her hatred of vampires ran so deep that her response when confronted by one would be to shoot first and ask questions later.

She might have shot, but she didn’t kill. A huge difference.

“I wanted to give Jack some reason to trust me.”

“If it weren’t for Jack, would you have killed them?”

She glared at him. “What do you think?”

He thought not. Somehow, the profile and the computers had gotten it wrong. She might hate them, but she wouldn’t kill them, not unless forced to. As she had been forced to kill Kazdan’s clone.

“I think it’s time we get something to eat.” He stepped back and motioned her to go first.

After a moment, she did. The bright yellow cab waited out front, stopped right behind an old Caddy with darkly tinted windows. A vamp wagon if ever he’d seen one. He frowned slightly, studying the car as he opened the cab door for her. When he’d walked past it earlier, he could have sworn he’d felt heat coming from the engine. But that didn’t make sense—not if the two men inside were vampires.

“Did the vamps arrive in that car?”

She glanced at him over the roof of the cab, and then glanced at the car. “I don’t know. It wasn’t here when I arrived, though.”

Odd. But as they were probably being watched by those still inside the house, he resisted the impulse to inspect the car. Instead, he climbed in the cab and fed the computer the address of a restaurant in the Southgate entertainment complex. It was owned by a good friend, and he knew it would be safe to talk there.

The seat belt sign flashed. He buckled up, then glanced across at Sam. Her color was still high, and she refused to acknowledge his

stare. At least she no longer held the laser. Maybe she’d put it away to avoid the temptation to shoot him. Where had she gotten the weapon in the first place? At Kazdan’s? And if so, how did that fiend get hold of it? Through Sethanon, or through his sources on the street? Either was a pretty frightening thought.

The cab sped away, the electric motor humming through the silence growing between them. He returned his gaze to the road and watched the traffic roll by. It took just over half an hour to get to Melbourne. The cab rolled to a stop near Princess Bridge. He swiped his credit card through the debit slot, then climbed out and walked around the cab. Sam stood on the pavement, arms crossed, eyeing the mid-afternoon crowds somewhat pensively. “When you suggested we talk, I thought you meant to go somewhere quiet.”

“What can be quieter than standing alone in a crowd of strangers?” He led the way to the steps leading down to the promenade. Han’s restaurant sat in the shadows of the bridge, overlooking the Yarra River.

She flashed him a surprised look, a smile almost touching her lush lips. “Is that a quote from Kuchoner?”

He nodded. “A great poet and something of a favorite of mine.” He noted the surprise that flitted across her face and smiled grimly. “What, I’m with the SIU, so I’m not allowed any interests outside the paranormal?”

“Well, that’s the rumor, and from what I’ve seen, the truth.”

“Then you haven’t seen enough.”

“Obviously.”

He opened the restaurant door and ushered her through. Inside, it was dark, the only light coming from the rainbow sparkle that played like stars across the ceiling. But in an hour or so, when the restaurant officially opened for evening trade, candlelight would join the stars and help provide the intimate, magical atmosphere that made Han’s so popular.

“Gabriel, my friend.” A big man loomed out of the darkness, arms opened wide. “It is so good to see you.”

He allowed himself to be engulfed, and he briefly returned Han’s embrace. “And you, old friend.”

Han stepped away, wide grin barely visible beneath his bushy handlebar mustache. “And who is this pretty little lady?”