Page 17 of John’s Yearning

For a few moments there was only silence in the office, and all she could hear was the sound of her own heart.

“Is that true?”

She looked back at Alexi.

“That you hired an outside firm to help with the search for Buffy. Or did you just say that to get rid of Stricklund?”

“No, it’s true. I contacted Scanguards last night.”

“Scanguards?” Alexi’s forehead furrowed and he typed something on his keyboard, then pointed at the computer screen. “Thought I’d seen the name before. But aren’t they just some sort of security company? You know, security guards watching office buildings at night?”

“I guess that’s part of what they do. But they also do investigations.”

“You mean like PI work?”

“Yes. The police recommended them.”

“I guess then they must be good.”

From everything she’d seen so far in her encounter with John and from the research she’d done on the company, plus Detective Donnelly’s wholehearted recommendation, she was convinced that they were the best, if not the only, people who could help her find Buffy.

She met Alexi’s eyes. “I hope so.”

Alexi nodded. “They’ll find her. They have to. Or it’s going to get really boring here. Who else will annoy me with a million questions while I’m on a deadline if not Buffy, huh?” He smiled warmly.

“Yeah, she does that, doesn’t she?”

He winked at her. “She’s going to be as smart as her mother when she’s all grown up. You’ll see.”

Savannah forced a smile. “Thank you, Alexi. You’re the best.”

8

John hadn’t bothered going home at sunrise and had instead stayed at the office to continue working through the police reports on the abductions. Several hours before sunset, John showered in the gym in the basement and helped himself to blood from the tap at the V Lounge, Scanguards’ recreation area accessible only to vampires. It was like a hotel lounge with comfortable seating areas, a bar, and a fireplace. During the day it was deserted, but his ID card gave him access to the restricted area.

He’d gulped down two full glasses of O-Neg and now leaned his head back against the pillow of one of the deep sofas, closing his eyes for a moment. He was too wound up to be able to sleep, but it felt good to rest his eyes after reading hundreds of pages of reports, trying to find a common denominator that connected the abductions. Without success. No wonder the police was stumped.

At the sound of the door opening, he blinked and recognized Oliver, a vampire who’d been working for Scanguards for nearly three decades, first as a human assistant to the founder, and later, after his turning, as a bodyguard.

When Oliver spotted him, he waved and approached. “Have you seen Blake?”

“Nope.”

“You’re in early.”

John blew out a breath of air. “Make that late.”

“You sleep here?”

“Didn’t have much time to sleep.” He motioned to the empty glass in front of him. “I just came to refuel.”

“Heavy caseload?”

“You could say that.”

“Did you hear that Gabriel is suggesting we put the hybrids on regular patrol duty?”

John pulled up one side of his mouth in a half-chuckle. Apparently, Gabriel was taking his words to heart. “Ran into Amaury last night. Apparently, I’m babysitting the twins tonight.”