The Hunt for a Vampire_An Alien Vampire Romance Page 2

  Dakota was thinking of checking in with the local police chief to see if she could get an update on the case but suddenly, Arianna was standing in her doorway. The twenty three year old female was mixed heritage, although mostly vampire. Though thin and fit, she moved with a grace of a dancer. The young woman had short, dark hair and pale blue eyes that set off her delicate facial features. She was wearing street clothes today rather than her usual red academy uniform.

  Dakota had to admit that she genuinely liked Arianna. She was strong, intelligent, highly motivated, well trained, and accustomed to success. She was a little rough around the edges but showed great promise.

  Dakota motioned for the woman to sit and spoke cautiously. “If you’re back at class today, I assume your father has been found safe and sound.”

  The young woman’s face was blank. Dakota tilted her head slightly and motioned for her to have a seat. “Detective Weaver just told me you probably won’t help find my father. He said you are a busy woman and you normally reserve your time for those who are vulnerable like children and people no one else cares about. I guess I always thought vampires fell in the category of people no one cared about.”

  A perplexed frown wrinkled Dakota’s brow. “I followed through with the consult on the very day it was requested. If the police need anything more from me, they usually contact me. You must have a virtual army searching for your father. Pay the money and get him back. Just so you know, I reserve my time for complex cases, not necessarily cases involving ‘nobodies’ as you put it.”

  Arianna stared at her despondently. “Either way, my father’s case is a challenging one. No one has contacted us requesting a ransom. The only thing unusual going on with him when he went missing was that he had recently discovered some financial irregularities in one of the non-profits he chairs. He had his personal accountant perform a financial audit and the accountant was found dead in his apartment two days after my father went missing. The police are calling it a suicide but I suspect otherwise. We really thought the police were making headway until I got a call from the lead detective this morning. My father has been gone for nine days, they are pulling their officers, but assure me they are keeping his file open in case new leads materialize. I have virtually no hope of finding him at this point. Is that fascinating enough to get your attention?”

  Dakota’s was stunned. That did not seem like correct information. Another voice came from the doorway. It was Dakota’s son, Jared. “Mr. Shardon is now what is commonly referred to as a cold case. The police ran down what few leads they had and they went nowhere. Will you take the case, for me, just because I asked?”

  Dakota looked thoughtfully at her son for a brief moment. He was strong and handsome, like his father. He was quickly growing into a large vampire warrior. Even at seventeen, it was apparent that he was going to be one of the strongest of his kind. Mixed heritage vampires usually were small and unimpressive but Jared’s long, dark hair with a slight red cast to it and sparkling teal eyes were the hallmark of his biological father’s line. Jared had no idea how important he was.

  Dakota sighed. For now, Jared was just a regular person, not a vampire legacy. He was just a young man, a grown up version of the little boy she never knew, and she felt the overwhelming urge to protect him with her entire being.

  Today, he looked as tired and worn out as Arianna. He held her steady gaze, waiting for an answer to his question. Dakota blinked back to the reality of the situation and slowly nodded her affirmation. “You are my son. I hope you know, I will hunt for you any time of the day or night. All you have to do is say the word.” He smiled his gratitude and she thought she saw a hint of pride in his face.

  He looked so much like his father. wearing his training leathers. The thick leather straps, strapped diagonally across his chest marked him as a hunter in training. Leathers began as a convenient way to carry excess gear. It was merely a leather utility belt with a bandoleer attached for carrying extra ammo. As the years wore on, they became more decorative than utilitarian and were worn only by hunters and hunters in training. Jared was a hunter in training and this was easily identifiable because of the thick red line than ran down the strap across his chest.

  Dakota asked, “Do you mind if I ask what your interest in this case is?”

  He looked at her evenly. “Does it matter?”

  “It absolutely does not matter at all. Because you asked, I will hunt.”

  Jared looked serious. “I expect your best work on this one, Mother.”

  Tears welled up in her eyes because it was the first time he called her Mother instead of Dakota.

  Grabbing up her phone and called Detective Charles Weaver. She put him on speakerphone. “Arianna tells me you are pulling your officers from her father’s case. The man has only been missing nine days. You could still find him, but obviously not if you pull your officers. He’s pretty prominent. We don’t usually leave prominent members of our community high and dry. What is going on here, Charles? Do you suddenly have a missing human to focus your attention on?”

  The detective’s voice was stressed as he responded. “I didn’t pull them. That decision was made up the chain of command because we have had a diplomat’s teenage son go missing. International relations trumps missing local CEO. It is that simple for the white shirts upstairs.”

  Dakota shot back. “Mr. Shardon is a war hero and a citizen of the Empire. His safe recovery should be prioritized above a non-citizen from another republic.”

  “One would think so and I agree with you entirely, Dakota. However, some decisions are not mine to make.”

  “Mr. Shardon is counting on your officers. That missing teen is probably not. As you well know, missing teenagers are usually runaways and his consulate would have rallied an army of resources to assist in tracking the teen down.”

  “Trust me, I don’t like this at all myself. For pity’s sake, Dakota, he is a personal friend of mine. My hands are tied.” She could hear the anguish and frustration in his voice. She had known Charles a long time and it tore at her heart a little but she couldn’t help but to force his hand.

  She automatically asked. “Is this teenager a human or a vampire?”

  Charles became agitated. “Don’t make this about alien verses human. It is not discrimination.”

  Dakota replied smoothly. “Of course not. Don’t worry about it, Charles. I’ve been asked to take over the case. Forward me everything you have. The job of law enforcement will once again fall to civilian hunters. Really Charles, you know I love you but sometimes, I wonder where our tax dollars go, if not to ensure the protection of our citizens.”

  Charles’ voice sounded extremely pleased. “Snark it up all you like, Dakota. There’s some truth to your words. I do want to say, thank you for taking the case. At least now Alek has a fighting chance of survival. He is a nice person. You won’t regret it.”

  Dakota smiled to herself and quipped. “I never do.” She thought vaguely that the only cases she ever regretted were the ones she didn’t take.

  Arianna took a stuttering breath. “I never got around to actually asking you to take the case.”

  Dakota smiled brightly. “Why else would you have come to see me and told me all about your father’s situation?”

  Arianna relaxed a bit, running her hands down her pants legs. “What do you need from me to make this work?”

  Dakota replied sincerely. “I will need all the things you won’t want to give. I need to see his room, his study, his computer, his office at work, his financial records, cell phone records, his bed, his sheets, everything private. Do you understand?”

  Arianna swallow hard. “Of course, whatever it takes. Don’t worry, I will make it happen.”

  Dakota stated in a firm voice. “Also, I need one more thing. I need your undivided attention. I’m willing to take time off for this hunt but you need to as well. I need someone who knows him personally to assist me in determining what is routine in his life from what is not. Do you
understand?”

  Arianna nodded her head. “I have no intention of returning to class until my father is safely back at home where he belongs.”

  “Then we have an agreement,” Dakota held out her hand.

  The woman’s eyes darted up to look Dakota in the face as she shook her hand. “Don’t we have to negotiate payment or something?”

  Dakota glanced at her son before clarifying. “You weren’t the one to retain my services so you don’t need to concern yourself with such things.”

  Dakota turned her attention to Jared. “Everything I just told Arianna goes double for you, young man. I don’t know what your interest in this case is but you aren’t going to get me involved elbow deep and skip out.”

  “Don’t worry; I am in until the end. I will not fail you or Mr. Shardon.” The look of sincerity on his face was all she needed so see.

  Dakota e-mailed the dean and she dropped by the front desk to alert them that she was taking a leave of absence as they left campus. The dean would not be all that surprised. They had a longstanding understanding. She left if and when she was needed. She was the most prominent hunter in the country and when she solved an impossibly difficult case, it was the equivalent of her peers having papers published. It verified her credentials and gained status for the academy. They had back up instructors in place to teach her classes.

  Her fame and expertise were what filled the justice department with students every fall, bright young minds eager to learn from the best. The cases she worked were analyzed by her students to learn the trade. She would always be able to come and go as she pleased and the academy would always be delighted to have her back. That was business as usual in her world.

  Chapter 3

  Learning the Trade

  ~ Jared ~

  Dakota and Jared headed to the target’s last known location, a local park in the city center. Arianna went home to her younger sister in an effort to keep as much of the younger girl’s regular routine in place as possible. His mother had apparently decided to take him under her wing and teach him the trade he’d longed to learn. Jared wasn’t sure what to make his mother quite yet. She’d dumped him an orphanage as a newborn and came looking for him years later, looking to make amends. That’s not some shit you just forgive in a few days or years, especially not after all the abuse he’d suffered. Abuse he didn’t yet feel comfortable discussing with her.

  Teaching him basic hunting techniques seemed to be an olive branch of sorts. Who wouldn’t want to apprentice under one of the most famous hunters every to worn the leathers? Most would consider it honor. Jared thought giving him a good professional start was the least he was owed by the aloof women he barely knew. She had so many hidden secrets, he sometimes wondered if she was even aware of her biggest one.

  Thinking back to that day almost a year ago when she’d showed up at the latest in a long string of orphanages he’d called home. She publically claimed him as her own, insisted that her parents had forced her to give him up, and asked him for reconciliation. Dumbfounded by the strange turn of events, he had not known exactly what to expect.

  To her credit, she kept up the scheduled visitation twice a week and jumped at any additional time he offered her. She linked him with a part time job at the local precinct and did all within her power to help him transition out of the Advent Home For Children. What she didn’t know was, Jared would leave only when the administrators forced him. It was the one and only orphanage that had felt like home.

  Her hardened voice pulled him from his own musings. “I’m pleased that you agreed to hunt with me today.”

  Jared asked quietly, trying to keep the anxiety from his voice. “How do you go about finding a missing person? Mr. Shardon has been gone nine days. Does that mean we are unlikely to find him alive?”

  “Please refer to whatever you are hunting as the ‘target’ instead of their name. It is a way of ensuring professional distance. Yes, nine days is a bit of time but a target’s chance of survival is more directly related to the reason for their disappearance than any other single factor, so we start there.”

  Jared forced his face to remain clear of emotion, even though there was a virtual storm churning inside. Calling the man he’d come to love a target was all kinds of wrong. Since his mother wasn’t aware of his attachment to missing man, he kept his opinion of that to himself.

  His mother continued. “My process is very uniform on each case. First, I go to the place of the disappearance and look for clues as soon after the event as possible. The closer we go to the time of the disappearance, the more likely we are to find meaningful clues. I know the police have already been there and it has been days, so I don’t expect to find much but one never knows. My philosophy is to be as thorough as possible and leave no stone unturned.”

  Nodding his understanding, Jared agreed. “We’ll just have to look in every nook and cranny. Perhaps the police overlooked something that was sheltered from the elements…something that will give us a start on figuring out what happened.”

  Dakota’s head turned sharply in his direction and he quickly added. “I got that from reading your blog. I keep up with several hunting data streams, including yours.”

  She smiled and murmured. “I can tell you are going to be a quick study. I usually have to ask my students to read current journals and blogs.”

  “I find reading all the details of a hunter’s case fascinating.”

  Returning her attention to the road, she continued. “I then go to the target’s home, search for clues and get a feel for the kind of person they are. This will assist me in determining likely causes for their disappearance. Together, we’ll search every square inch of his home and the surrounding grounds. We are looking for missing items, things that don’t fit, or inconsistencies.”

  Jaren quickly interjected, “According to your blog, not all of the inconsistencies we discover will be related to his disappearance.”

  She nodded, shooting him an approving look. “That’s the piece that often complicates matters. The big challenge is to sift through all the irregularities of his life and pull out what is genuinely meaningful information from what is just random happenstance. We will need to talk to every single family member, friend, employee, and neighbor. Gathering up any electronic devices and hacking them might yield valuable clues the people in his life were not privy to. Then focus on his closest associates, foremost that accountant Arianna mentioned.”

  Jared frowned. “It’s an extremely invasive process. We will know every detail of Mr. Shardon’s personal life as well as his business dealings.”

  “One of the fundamental tenets of hunting is confidentiality. Any and all information you discover about a target is confidential. A court of law cannot even compel you to give testimony …it’s very similar to the relationship a client has with their attorney or doctor.”

  Jared nodded, pulled out his tablet, and began taking notes. “Go on, I’m ready.”

  Clearing her throat, his mother sounded more like a professor than a world renowned hunter when she spoke. “The second tenet is something called fiduciary obligation. Unlike an attorney, once you accept a case, you have a fiduciary obligation to the target, not the person who hired you. All else must come secondary to what is in the best interest of finding that person as quickly as possible because that increases his or her chances of being recovered alive. Sometimes that requires you to finesse the person who hired you or you might not be paid. Naturally, being paid is a secondary consideration to finding the person. That is a hard concept for most beginners to understand because it was the primary reason they think hunters accept cases. Fiduciary obligation is Ethics 101 for hunters and keeps us from being thought of as thugs for hire. We are better than that and don’t you ever forget it.”

  Jared was typing furiously, trying to get all the information down. “I never had the slightest inkling about the ethical obligation this job entails.” When he finally stopped typing, he glanced up at her with a wide smile
on his face. Everything about hunting thrilled him.

  “Under interrogation techniques: Be careful never to give information when you are asking for information. Don’t give any hint to indicate what response you are expecting because most witnesses will give you what they think you want to hear just to be cooperative and not even realize it.”

  Jared smiled and interjected, “I have seen people do that, particularly those who seem prone to be followers. They seem to be people pleasers.”

  Dakota nodded and uttered a word of caution. “Also, ask open ended questions that require elaboration. When interviewing a witness, don’t be afraid to push them out of their comfort zones because that is often when you get the truth. It may seem ruthless but you can get more information pushing a witness hard in five minutes than a leisurely interview could reveal in hours. Remember, time is of the essence.”

  Jared replied blandly. “No one involved in a hunt could possibly forget that. I can feel the pressure hanging thick as fog around us.”

  Dakota’s mouth quirked up at his colorful, but very accurate description of the pressure hunters felt to work long, exhausting hours. “The hard truth in these types of disappearances is there’s a short list of probable explanations: The first is kidnapping for ransom if the person is wealthy. The second most probable explanation is a result of a romantic entanglement of some sort or family conflict. The third most likely explanation is some sort of work related problem leading to his disappearance. The forth most likely is accidental death or serious injury that precludes him returning home. The fifth is self-harm. We just need to cycle through the information generated from the investigation and determine the most probable explanation and focus our investigation on that probability.”

  Jared asked curiously. “Can we not just begin where the police left off? That is a lot of leg work and will take even more of that time we never have enough of during an investigation.”