Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Lucas watched the entrance to the San Francisco annex of the Renaud Library before returning to his scan of the parking lot. He reached for Ginger’s hand.
“I think it’s best if you stay in the car while I go in.”
“Should I keep the motor running for a quick getaway like they do for bank robberies?” she teased.
Her eyes were enormous and darted about in her own search for the vampires who’d attacked them in the parking lot a couple of weeks earlier. Her knee bounced, a ball of pent-up energy just waiting to be directed someplace.
“I think you can keep the engine off, but you should be in the driver’s seat.” He didn’t want to scare her, but she was already aware of the stakes. The vampires that had attacked them could have been Lorenzo’s. If they were, they might still be there. Lorenzo had been quiet since the raid on his island and the rescue of his long-term prisoner—a powerful dreamwalker who’d been kidnapped and held in a cell for a century.
“Do you think the same custodian is still in there? Maybe today’s his day off.”
He grinned. She still had so much to learn. “Custodians don’t have days off. Not in the same way as humans.”
“Sounds like they need a union.”
“You’re still thinking like a human. You know vampires can go long periods without sleep or rest, and custodians have a passion for their work. But they’re given time once a year for a sabbatical, which can last up to three months.”
“Wow. Let’s hope he didn’t leave on one of those. Or, based on your previous meeting with the curator, wasn’t forced on one.”
“Now that matches my concern.”
“On the other hand, if you speak with a different custodian who isn’t aware of your meeting with the curator, maybe they’ll be more willing to give you the information you’re looking for.”
He lifted her hand to his mouth and gave it a gentle kiss, his thumb caressing its tender skin. “A wonderful suggestion.”
But he required more from her before he tested either possibility. He pulled her toward him until he could kiss her properly. A hot, urgent kiss. A kiss a soldier gives his lover before going into battle. It might seem overkill for a trip to the library, but these were no longer normal days. And while Lorenzo and the Council might not know it, House Trelane was already at war.
“I won’t be long.”
“You better not be. Don’t make me come in there, daggers blazing.”
He laughed. “I think the visual of that alone is enough to see me through.”
He strode with his head down, occasionally lifting it to track anyone who might be lurking about. The visitor parking had several cars so he wouldn’t be alone, and whatever might be going on within House Renaud in regard to the De f?rste dage , they wouldn’t tolerate a vampire attack within the library where other guests could be disturbed or inventory damaged.
The receptionist at the front desk greeted him with their usual spiel, and he quickly moved through the first floor and down the main staircase to the third. He spent ten minutes walking the stacks in search of the custodian but came up empty. One custodian stepped around a corner for an instant, but she wasn’t the one he needed. Ginger’s suggestion of speaking with a different custodian was an excellent plan B, but he wasn’t there yet.
He jogged up the stairs to the second floor, which held more books. He had checked every aisle, circling the floor twice before seeing a custodian enter the floor from one of the many doorways. Odds were with him that this might be the vampire he sought, and he hurried toward them.
“Excuse me,” Lucas called.
The custodian turned, and Lucas released a sigh of relief.
“Can I help you, sir?” When the custodian drew near, his eyes widened in recognition. He glanced behind him, then stepped into one of the stacks, crooking a finger for Lucas to follow.
When they were halfway down the aisle, the custodian turned on him. “Do you know how dangerous it is for you to be here?”
“I have a good idea.”
“There is no more I can tell you of the book.”
“That’s not why I’m here. Ms. Renaud made that plainly obvious.” Lucas glanced down the aisle and through the bookshelves to ensure they were alone. “You didn’t get into trouble, did you?”
The custodian sighed. “No. Our new curator doesn’t pay much attention to us, and we pay her little heed. Now, what can I do for you? It’s best you don’t stay long.”
“I’m searching for a young female custodian who worked here in 1925. She would have been a good friend to the curator at the time.”
The custodian’s eyes went wide, and then they squinted into two dark stones. “You play a dangerous game.”
“And these are dangerous times, though I would bet the majority of vampire society isn’t aware of how dangerous.”
“Come with me.” The custodian scurried down the aisle, away from the door he’d originally entered. When he reached another door, he used his card key for entrance. They rushed down a flight of stairs to a landing and a door that should lead to the third-floor stacks. The custodian kept going until they reached the next level, the walls made of stone rather than finished drywall. He moved quickly down two other hallways before coming to a door labeled Storage Room 422. Using his card key again, the diminutive vampire led Lucas in. Overhead lights came on automatically, everything sensor controlled.
The room was the size of a small apartment filled with filing cabinets and racks of artifacts. A lone computer sat on a counter at the far end of the room. The custodian typed in a password and immediately brought up a long list of names.
“I wasn’t here in 1925. I came a few years after Philipe Renaud moved to the Los Angeles library, but I heard nothing but wonderful things about him. The mission of the library was his only motivation.”
“You don’t happen to know where he is now?”
The vampire shot him a quick glance. “No. I’m not sure anyone does.”
“He’s still alive, isn’t he?” Lucas’s heartbeat picked up. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer.
“As far as I know, yes. The rumors suggest he suffered a psychic break and is recuperating at one of the asylums, possibly in the homeland. Others say he walked out of his office and never returned, only giving notice that he was on permanent sabbatical.”
“Do you know when this happened?”
“It’s been decades now. Let me think. The current curator in Los Angeles has been there since just before World War II, or perhaps a bit earlier. I don’t usually follow human affairs but sometimes it’s easier when tracking time.”
He continued with running computer searches while Lucas considered the information. That wasn’t long after Guildford’s meeting with Philipe. The timing was suspect, but without any other information, he tucked it away for further consideration.
“Here we go. 1925. Are you sure about the year?”
“Yes.”
“There were two female custodians at the time. I know this first one. She works at the St. Louis branch now. The second one I don’t recognize. Fiona Blackwood.” He tapped a few more keys. “Oh yes, she was quite young when she worked here, barely a hundred years old.”
“Does it say where she’s working now?”
“It appears she’s no longer a custodian, but her last location was at the Los Angeles library.”
Lucas had expected as much, and any hope of a lead died.
The custodian opened a drawer and took out a pen and a slip of paper. He wrote a couple of lines, shut off the computer, and slipped the note to Lucas. “This is her last known address. This is all I can do for you.”
Lucas nodded and tucked the paper into a pocket. “Will they be able to trace your actions?”
He shook his head. “I used a different ID and password. I might be old, but I have what the humans call tech savvy.”
He was still grinning as he led Lucas back to the second floor. Before he turned away, he grabbed Lucas’s hand. “The winds of change can be turbulent. But the truth shall set us free.” Then he disappeared through the door where Lucas had first spotted him.
Lucas strode out of the library, once again keeping his head down. There hadn’t been any suspicious-looking vampires on the first floor, nor did anyone seem to be waiting for him outside. He also didn’t see the rental they’d come in until it pulled up in front of the steps.
He grinned. A bank robber’s getaway. When he shut the door behind him, Ginger immediately drove away, maintaining a normal speed out of the parking lot and through the front gate.
They were a block away when her patience gave out.
“So. Are you going to keep it from me until I beg?”
Lucas chuckled. “She’s not a custodian anymore, but I have her name and last known address.”
The coffee shop in the Embarcadero was loud and crowded with tourists. The perfect spot to relax without looking over one’s shoulder. Lucas was lucky to find two stuffed chairs in a back corner, and Ginger had sprawled over one with her white mocha latte.
“Lyra was right.” She dropped her head back with a silly grin on her face.
He couldn’t hold back his own smile. Regardless of the seriousness of a mission, she always found something lighthearted to share. It released the tension in his muscles and took his mind off the problem—at least for a little while. “Right about what?”
“That the custodian and Philipe had something going on.”
He snorted out a laugh. “Did you ever consider he might have requested her assistance at the new Los Angeles branch because of her experience and skill?”
She giggled and gave him a wink. “I think her skill is exactly why she moved to L.A.”
His smile drew glances from a couple of women. Or maybe it was the light blush that warmed his cheeks. He’d never known a woman who could make him blush—except her. “Don’t give me ideas. We have a plane to catch.”
“Aren’t we going to L.A. to see if she’s still there?”
“Sergi is running a background check and should have preliminary information by the time we get to Boston.”
“Why don’t we wait here? We’ll be clear across the country and have to come back.”
“We have to come home eventually.”
She kept an eye on him while she took a long sip of her mocha. Then her eyes lit up. “You don’t think she’s there anymore.”
“I agree there was a relationship between them. Whether Philipe left at a request from his family, or he simply ran, he would have taken her with him. Maybe Sergi can find a trail through her. While we wait to see how that plays out, we might as well check a couple of the other libraries. We’ll be close to New York where there’s not only a library but one of the contacts I have for Philipe. I’ll try to arrange a visit.”
She shot up, a bit of mocha spilling over the side. “We’re going to New York?”
“I was going to go over the itinerary when we were on the plane.”
“I didn’t pack for New York.”
He snorted. “My apologies. I should have considered that.”
“It’s not funny. I didn’t bring the right dresses.”
He held back his smile, though it was difficult. Her expression was somewhere between a pout and annoyance, and for some reason, it stirred his cock. “I think we can manage a short shopping trip. Either city, your choice.”
She leaned over, and he met her halfway for a kiss. “You’re way too good to me.”
“You deserve it. Now, finish your drink. It’s time to catch a cab.”