As they sped toward the city, her cell phone rang.
LaCroix answered.

“This is LaCroix.”

“Well, I think I will enjoy doing business with you,
Mr. LaCroix. Tell Dr. Knight to take the Hawthorne
Street Bridge to Mt. Tabor Park off of SE 60th.” The
line went dead. LaCroix repeated the instructions, and
then sent a mental message to Janette, and received a
flash of triumph and predatory glee in return.

“So, Natalie, what is this Mt. Tabor Park?”

“It’s a hill, with trees and a reservoir on it. Did he
say where we are supposed to go? It’s a fairly large
area.”

”No, but I have no doubt that he will contact us
again. Janette is already on the way and should be
there shortly.”

Natalie shot a glance at him. “How are you able to
communicate with her so easily? I thought Nick was her
master now.”

”That is true, but Janette and I have recently
established a vampiric blood link by sharing our blood
with one another. My link to her, while not as strong
as her link with Nicholas, is still quite effective.
Especially since Nicholas is not here.”

They drove for another 15 minutes, crossing over the
bridge and then driving up Hawthorne, then approaching
the park. Natalie’s phone rang again. LaCroix,
answered.

“LaCroix here. Where do you want us to go?”

There was a chuckle. “Tell Dr. Knight to park her car
next to the reservoir and to go into the building
there. It will be open. And for her daughter’s sake, I
hope that the two of you are alone.” Silence.

“We are to go to the reservoir and enter a building
there, he said it would be open. Do you know where it
is?”

Natalie frowned. “I think so.” They pulled into the
driveway leading into the park and took a right turn
and LaCroix could see the reservoir. He could feel
Janette’s presence in the immediate vicinity. Natalie
pulled up into the service driveway. There were no
other cars, but there was a dim light inside the
building. She parked the car, turned off the motor and
reached into the back for the duffel bag. LaCroix
caught her hand.

“Natalie, remember, if anything starts happening, you
will need to grab Nicole and then GET DOWN. Bullets
obviously won’t hurt Janette, or myself but you and
little Nicole are very vulnerable.

Natalie nodded and the got out of the car. Natalie
nodded; they got out of the car, closed the doors, and
walked over towards the high fence that surrounded the
reservoir. They noticed a gate left wide open;
LaCroix went through it first, his senses extended and
alert. He sensed one heartbeat inside, and two others
within several yards of the building. He felt Janette
on top of the building, lying flush against the roof.
He sent her a silent warning to wait and she
impatiently agreed.

They walked into the building. Natalie could barely
see in the dim light, but LaCroix saw the machinery
lining the walls and the body heat of a man standing
behind one of the large pumps.

“That’s far enough. Put the money on the floor and
kick the bag toward me. And I have a gun, so don’t try
anything.” The voice was the same one from the phone.
Natalie dropped the gym bag to the floor and then gave
it a quick kick toward the voice. A dark figure walked
forward and Natalie could see light gleaming off the
barrel of a gun. LaCroix had made no move, but stood
in front of her, watching. The figure bent down, never
letting the muzzle of the gun waver.

LaCroix could see the man perfectly clearly with his
enhanced vision. The man had on a hat and was keeping
to the shadows in the dim light cast by a lantern. But
his face was that of a man in his mid forties, with
the build of someone used to hard physical exercise.
Powerful and confident in his own strength. The man
opened the bag enough to see the money in it, then
slung the bag over his shoulder.

“Very good, Dr. Knight, Mr. LaCroix. I’ll assume that
the correct amount is there.”

“Where’s Nikki? Your money is all THERE.” Natalie
finally demanded.

The man chuckled. “Well, you see Dr. Knight, I’ve
grown rather fond of your daughter, and I think I
would like to keep her company for just one more day.
But we have an old friend in common that I haven’t
seen in so long, and I think that he should join us,
and we can have a reunion. Then perhaps your daughter
can go home to her mommy.”

Natalie was angry. “Who the hell are you talking
about? What do you want?”

The figure chuckled. “Why don’t you have Detective
Nick Knight come join us for a visit? I really would
like to see him again. Now, you have 24 hours to get
him to Portland. I’ll call you at midnight tomorrow
night and we can arrange a little family reunion.”

Natalie started to walk forward, but LaCroix put his
hand out in front of her. She stopped, but he could
feel rage seething along even their very weak link.

“What do you want with Nick? And WHERE IS MY
DAUGHTER?”

“Temper, temper, Dr. Knight. As I said, I just want a
little get together. I’ll call you with instructions
tomorrow night, at midnight.” He shot the gun on the
floor at their feet, then backed through a second
door. “Oh, and I wouldn’t recommend that you follow
me. That would be bad for your daughter’s health.”
With that he backed out the door and sprinted across
the grass toward a waiting car.

LaCroix could feel Janette ready to spring after him,
and he sent her a sharp command to stay where she was
until they were sure that the kidnapper was well away.
When he could sense that the three heartbeats had left
the vicinity, he called Janette to join them. She did
so, her eyes golden with rage.

“Why didn’t you let me follow that scum, LaCroix?” she
hissed.

“Because he did not have little Nicole with him, and
until we have her safely within reach we will need to
act cautiously.” He turned to Natalie who was crying
silent tears of rage and frustration.

“Natalie, let us go back to your house. I think it is
time that we contact Nicholas.”

She looked up at him, her blue eyes sparkling with the
emotions blazing inside of her.

“Fine. Let’s GO.” She stalked out of the small
building. The two vampires looked at one another, then
followed after the irate woman.

An hour later, they were at Natalie’s house. She was
still enraged as well as frightened. She had pushed
into her link with Nikki and it appeared that she was
asleep. She was pacing in front of the fireplace. Both
Janette and LaCroix were seated, glasses of blood wine
in their hands.

Finally Natalie stopped pacing and whirled to face the
two vampires.

“Well, let’s do it. You said you wanted to contact
Nick. Let’s call him.” Her blazing eyes challenged
both of them.

Janette put her glass of blood wine down on the coffee
table and gracefully walked over to the phone sitting
on its credenza. She hit the speakerphone and dialed a
number.

The phone rang three times until it connected and the
familiar voice picked up.

“Nick Lambert here.” A sad smile crossed Natalie’s
face as she realized that he had taken HER name for
his new identity, as she had taken his.

“Bon nuit, Nicholas. It’s Janette.”

“Janette? Why are you on a speakerphone? Where are
you?”

“I am in Portland, Oregon. I’m here with Natalie and
LaCroix, we need to talk to you.”

There was a pause and then an almost reverent whisper.
“Natalie?”

Tears filling her eyes, Natalie spoke. “Hi Nick. I’m
here.” Even across the 3,000 miles separating them,
Natalie could feel a spark along the blood link they
shared.

“LaCroix is there with you? What’s going on? Are you
ok?”

LaCroix sighed. “Oh Nicholas, please cut the
melodrama. Yes, I’m here, and it is at Natalie’s
request.”

Stunned silence greeted them. “Nat? Why is LaCroix
there?”

“I asked him to help me, Nick. Three days ago my
daughter was kidnapped and I needed to come up with
the ransom. And before you tell me I should have
called you, I had my reasons for contacting LaCroix.
It doesn’t matter now. It looks as if the kidnapper is
Sergei Andropov. I talked to Joe Reese and Andropov
escaped a few months ago. We delivered the money
tonight, but he didn’t have Nikki with him, and he
gave us until midnight tomorrow to get you to Portland
before he releases her. He wants us both there.
Please, will you come?”

“Oh Nat…of course I’ll come. I’ll leave on the next
flight I can get out of Logan.”

Janette spoke up. “Nicholas, contact me on my cell
with all your flight information and I will make sure
you are picked up at the airport. My number is
503-555-1002.”

“Thank you Janette. LaCroix, can you please pick up
the phone so I can talk to you?”

LaCroix stood up and walked over to the phone to pick
it up. Janette and Natalie exited the room. Obviously
Nick wanted to talk to LaCroix alone.

“Natalie, come. You should eat and I would like to
refresh my glass.” Janette held her hand out to
Natalie. Both women suspected Nick’s desire to speak
privately with LaCroix had to do with how Nick would
handle seeing Natalie and how they could accomplish it
safely without endangering her.

As they walked into the kitchen, Natalie could feel
Nick more strongly through their blood link. Janette
could also feel Nick and was carefully watching
Natalie. Janette went to the refrigerator and pulled
out a bottle of blood wine, and Natalie pulled out a
wine glass for herself and pulled a bottle of red wine
out of a cabinet. Janette raised one eyebrow. Natalie
looked at her and smiled as she opened the bottle.

“After all the stress tonight, I need to unwind just a
bit, and I can feel my link to Nick fairly vibrating.
Hopefully the wine will blunt it just a bit.”

Janette smiled back and nodded. “Oui, it may help at
that.” She carefully considered her next words to
Natalie. “Natalie, you must realize that when
Nicholas gets here your life will be in danger. As
soon as the two of you are in the same place together,
his vampire will surface. I know that LaCroix spent a
year working with him on his control, but there are no
guarantees when the two of you see one another.
Between us, LaCroix and I * might * be able to exert
enough control over him, but Nicholas is very strong
when his full vampire is unleashed. Have you thought
about this?”

Natalie sipped her wine and nodded. “Yes, it was the
first thing I thought about when Andropov pulled his
little stunt. The only thing I can think of is to see
if Nick and I can stay separate during this whole
thing. The most important thing in this is Nikki.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “Janette, if anything
happens to me and Nikki manages to come through this,
will you make sure she is cared for? I only have my
sister-in-law in Vancouver as family, and she is
remarried with three kids. I know she’d take Nikki in
a heartbeat, but I want to know that Nikki is
protected. If…if possible, would you ask Nick to raise
her? I know she isn’t his daughter, but she knows who
he is to me. I think she imagines him as her father in
some respects. If he cannot or will not, I guess the
next thing is to call Sarah.” The tears spilled down
her cheeks.

Janette walked over to Natalie and pulled the mortal
into an embrace. “Shh. Of course I will make sure your
Nikki is cared for. And, if for some reason you are
not able to care for her, I promise I will make sure
that Nicholas knows your wishes. I cannot imagine he
would say no to you or your daughter.”

All the fear, anger, and frustration Natalie had been
experiencing finally burst the tight emotional control
she had been leashing on it. She started sobbing into
Janette’s embrace, knowing that Nick would probably
feel it along their link, but knowing that he would
understand. Her slender body shook with the intensity
of her sobs. Janette stroked her hair and crooned
wordlessly to her while her emotions spent themselves.
After a few minutes, Natalie raised her head,
sniffled, and tried to pull herself together.

“I’m sorry Janette. It’s just all the stress of this
whole situa---“

“Hush. There is no need to apologize. You have been
dealing with a terrible situation and sometimes tears
are a needed release. You should finish your wine,
yes? I believe LaCroix has finished his conversation
with Nicholas. Let us see what he has to say.” Natalie
nodded, got her glass of wine, and the two women
walked back to the living room just as LaCroix was
putting the phone down. He looked at both women
speculatively.

“Nicholas thinks he can be here before sunset. He is
going to order the jet from the de Brabant Foundation
to meet him in Boston and then bring him directly
here.” His look softened. “Natalie, we need to plan
for his arrival. I’m sure you are aware of the fact
that this situation is going to put you in danger.”

She nodded. “Janette and I were just talking about
it.”

“Excellent. The first thing we can try is to see if
there is a way to keep this…meeting…with Mr.
Andropov…between only the two of them. If he insists
on the two of you meeting him, the best that we can do
is try and set up a buffer between the two of you.” He
turned to Janette. “Janette, how many members of the
community are there here? And, do you have any
fledglings of your own here? It * might * be possible
to control Nicholas if there are enough of us within
the family here.”

Janette nodded. “There are about 100 vampires in
Portland. There is a fairly large population in
Seattle, and if I make some calls we can have
reinforcements here by sunup. It is only about an hour
flight here from there. I have two fledglings here in
Portland, and I believe Landon is still in Seattle. I
shall call him.” She pulled out her cell and started
making calls.
=============
Kristen Fife, all Rights Reserved 2004
fenix23fyre@...