Retribution

WHEN I WAS HUMAN, I'D FALL ASLEEP AFTER SEX. It's what Edie does now. She has a half smile on her face, a look of contentment. I cover her with a quilt from the foot of the bed and watch for a moment. The vampire is content; the human Anna wonders what the hell just happened.

I close the bedroom door behind me.

Ortiz and Brooke are nowhere to be found. The house is quiet. I let myself out.

What a bizarre way to start the morning. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at Ortiz the same way again. But the anxiety that had been building with the hunger is gone. I'm clearheaded, refreshed.

Horny.

Too bad Lance is in New York.

Too bad I have a witch to kill.

I call Frey's cell phone to check in.

Sandra picks up.

Her voice on his phone causes a ripple of alarm. "Where's Frey?"

"Don't worry," she says. "He's sleeping."

"And Culebra?"

She sighs. "The same. Any news?"

"I'm heading back to the warehouse now. I'll get that receptionist to talk if I have to scare the shit out of her to do it."

After I've finished, Sandra waits a beat to say, "Hurry, Anna."

It's all there in her voice-concern, uneasiness, fear. What isn't there is the antipathy she displayed toward me when I showed up two days ago. I ring off without bringing it up. When Burke is dead, when Culebra and Frey are safe, there will be time for us to talk.

It's not yet seven. Too early to head for the warehouse. I doubt the office staff reports before eight. I still have those two women Williams' identified as the blood-hungry pair who attacked their dates. The pictures are on the seat beside me. One has an address not far from Ortiz' house. I'll head there first.

I'm doing the thing I hate seeing others do, holding the pic up against the steering wheel while I drive so I can read the notes printed on the back. The first woman's name is Valerie Storm. The before picture shows a heavyset forty-six-year-old with dishwater blond hair. The woman in the after picture looks twenty-six with a good bleach job and glamour-shot makeup.

Maybe that's Burke's secret. Diet and a dynamite makeup artist.

Valerie Storm lives on Hilltop Drive. It's a nice neighborhood. I'm halfway down the block when police cars scream up behind me. Shit.

Did Ortiz send these guys after me? Is he so pissed that I ruined his playdate he's having me arrested for that woman Burke dumped in my bed? I pull over, shoulders tight with aggravation. If he did this-

But the cars don't stop. They keep going. After a second, I do, too, still looking for Valerie's address.

I should have simply followed the police cars. We all end up at the same place.

There are three police cars at Valerie's, one in the driveway, one in the street, one on the front lawn. The cops in the two that passed me are racing toward the front door. I pull up across the street and watch. Neighbors are beginning to venture out to see what all the commotion is about. I join them.

The chatter among the neighbors tells me that the Storms are nice people, that no one can imagine trouble in the family, that if there was trouble, it probably had something to do with Valerie's remarkable transformation from suburban duckling to bombshell swan.

One of the men makes a comment about the transformation that earns him an elbow in the ribs from another of those suburban ducklings.

She must be his wife.

It gets quiet when the coroner's wagon pulls up. The attendants go inside, followed a minute later by a man in a suit. I recognize him. San Diego's medical examiner. Either Valerie or someone in her family is dead.

My money is on Valerie.

The second of Burke's test subjects to turn up dead.

My stomach is queasy with the speculation that I may be responsible. Didn't Burke say she wanted to play a game with me? See how clever I was? I know she's capable of murder-she killed an innocent out of spite when Frey and I stopped her demon -raising last Halloween. But why is she killing the very women who are living proof of the effectiveness of her wonder cream? If her plan is to implicate me in their murders, I can't see how she'll do it. They have no connection to me. Even with her power, I doubt she could conjure up the kind of evidence necessary to make it look like they did.

After all, it didn't work last night.

What game is she playing?

I return to my car and flip open my cell. I call Ortiz. His voice mail picks up so I tell him where I am now and where I 'm headed next-

to El Cajon. To the home of the third of Burke 's test subjects. I ask him to call me when he finds out what happened at the Storm residence.

That's two of three women connected to Burke to wind up dead. I hope I get to the third in time.