Chapter 24
24
W hile Cole had gone into his home office to fetch his computer and data discs, Vanessa had remained in the living room and made a phone call to Thomas to apprise him of their arrival. Since they couldn’t let Cole come to the executive floor, which was accessible only to vampires and their mates—though this rule had been broken more than once—, Thomas and Eddie would meet them in the computer lab in the basement. Even though Cole knew of the existence of vampires, it was imperative that he not find out that Vanessa and most of Scanguards were vampires too. Thomas promised to inform the staff accordingly.
At the gate to the Scanguards underground garage, Vanessa swiped her access card at the card reader and pressed her thumb on the scanner, and the gate lifted to let Cole drive into the garage. She directed him to a vacant parking spot designated for visitors.
“Looks like a pretty big building,” Cole commented when they got out of the Land Rover and walked to the elevators.
“It’s half a city block long and half a block wide.” Vanessa pressed the call button next to the elevator.
“I didn’t realize a security company needed that much office space.”
The elevator doors opened, and Vanessa ushered him inside, swiping her access card again, before selecting the level for the computer lab.
“It’s not just offices. We also train bodyguards here, so there are several rooms for hand-to-hand combat, an underground shooting range, a medical facility, rooms for research and supplies, and of course the servers and the computer lab. Some of our work deals with cyber security, so we’re pretty well-equipped in that respect too.”
That there was also a lab where two witches, Charles and Wesley, concocted magic potions and worked on spells, she left out, just like she left out the fact that there was also a bottling facility. There, Scanguards bottled human blood it purchased from blood banks around the country, posing as a medical supply company. There was also a weapons vault with all kinds of weapons that worked on vampires and other preternatural creatures. Not to forget the V lounge, where vampires rested in between shifts and where human blood on tap—arranged by blood type—was served at no cost to the employees. It was meant as an encouragement not to feed off unsuspecting humans.
“Whom are we meeting?”
“Thomas and Eddie. They run the IT department. They are geniuses.”
Cole took her hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing her knuckles. “And they all know about vampires? The entire company?”
She nodded, feeling guilt rise up from her gut, turning her stomach into knots. How long could she keep from him that he was walking right into a vampire nest?
“How did you and your family find out about them? I meant to ask you earlier—”
“Uhm—” The elevator door opening interrupted him. To Vanessa’s relief, Thomas, dressed in a casual white shirt and black leather pants stood waiting in front of the elevator, saving her from answering Cole’s question.
“Hey, Nessie.” Thomas nodded and extended his hand. “I’m Thomas. You must be Cole.”
Stepping out of the elevator, Cole shook Thomas’s proffered hand. “Nice to meet you, Thomas.”
“Let’s go to the computer lab, and we’ll see what you’ve got for us.”
“Thanks for making time for me,” Cole replied.
Thomas flashed him a smile. “We welcome any help finding those rogues.” He pushed a door open and entered ahead of them.
The large room had at least two dozen work stations with multiple computers. Along one wall was a glass-enclosed office.
Thomas pointed to it and looked over his shoulder to address Cole, “Eddie is already waiting for us. He’s got a brilliant mind.”
Vanessa had to chuckle. “And so do you.”
Thomas winked at her and entered the office where Eddie, dressed in leather pants and a white T-shirt, sat in front of a bank of computers. He jumped up when they entered, and approached them.
“So, you’re Cole, hmm?” Eddie said, running his eyes over Cole.
She caught sight of Thomas shaking his head and rolling his eyes at his mate checking out Cole. “Hands off, babe,” Thomas said, even though they all knew that Eddie would never touch a man other than Thomas.
Eddie locked eyes with Thomas for a fraction of a second, exchanging a loving glance with him, before extending his hand to Cole. “Nice to meet you, Cole. I’m Eddie.”
Cole shook his hand. “Hi, Eddie. Am I making you guys work late?”
Eddie shook his head. “Security is a twenty-four-hour business. So, what have you got for us?”
Thomas gestured to a large table with several chairs around it. He cleared it off, moving the files to the top of a filing cabinet.
Cole placed his computer and data discs on the table, and sat down, while the others joined him.
“Hit us with it,” Thomas demanded.
“You probably know that online advertising platforms use algorithms to figure out which customers to advertise which product to. Let’s say you’re selling golf clubs, the algorithm will try to find the ideal customer for you who’s not only willing but also able to buy your product at the price you’re advertising.”
Eddie shrugged. “That’s nothing new.”
“You’re right. But as we know, these algorithms take time to learn, until they find the ideal customer, which can cost you quite a bit in advertising dollars until you’re hitting the right targets.” Cole made eye contact with all of them, clearly to test that everybody was still following.
Everybody nodded.
“Good,” Cole continued. “I’ve developed an algorithm that works differently. It takes the customer—let’s say the entire adult population of the US, about 258 million—and finds out everything about every person: what they want, need, can afford, dream of, hate, and so on, so it can pair them with the perfect product. So, before you spent even a penny on advertising, you already know who your ideal customer is. There’s no learning phase, no wasting money on customers who’ll never buy from you.”
“But how is that gonna help us?” Vanessa felt compelled to ask.
Eddie and Thomas exchanged a look, and it appeared that they were silently communicating via their telepathic bond as blood-bonded mates.
“I think I know how,” Thomas said, nodding at Cole. “The customers are the rogue vampires.”
“And the product is the vampire who turns them,” Eddie finished his mate’s sentence.
“Exactly,” Cole said excitedly. “And the algorithm works from either side, if you know the product or the customer. And we already have that information, right? Vanessa said you were able to identify the rogue that attacked me.”
Thomas nodded. “Yes. We’ve got all his info in the system.”
“Good. All we need to do is to enter this guy’s information into my program, and it will find other people who would act the same way, want the same thing, hate the same thing. Was the guy local?”
“Yes,” Eddie said, “he lived in San Francisco, went to school here too.”
Cole opened the lid of his laptop. “Okay. So, let’s assume all the other rogues are also local. We can find them by taking the guy we know as well as the product, and the algo will create a model of the ideal customer: what makes this guy vulnerable or likely to being turned. With that model, we can identify who else is at risk of being turned, or was already turned.”
“It’s brilliant,” Thomas praised. “What do you need to get started?”
“I need to know a little more about the process of turning a human. I’m assuming the vampire attacks them, and then turns them somehow.”
Thomas shook his head. “Not necessarily. It’s more likely that they agree to being turned.”
Deep lines appeared on Cole’s forehead as disbelief spread on his face. “What would they gain by becoming vampires?”
“Immortality,” Vanessa started, “physical power, enhanced senses.”
“But they kill people because they drink their blood,” Cole protested.
Vanessa put her hand on his forearm. “Yes, the rogues do that. But in general, the vampire population in San Francisco doesn’t hurt humans. A vampire feeding on a human doesn’t kill the human, nor does it hurt, not when it’s done right.”
“Vanessa is right,” Thomas interjected. “Most vampires keep to themselves. And as long as they don’t hurt anyone, we leave them alone. But somebody is turning humans without teaching them the rules. Whoever it is, is most likely offering them something they don’t have now.”
“My money is on power,” Eddie said with a nod.
“I feel like I’ve landed in Men in Black .” Cole pressed his lips together in a grim gesture. “Oddly enough, if they are really doing this voluntarily because they are promised something valuable in return—power, immortality—it makes it easier for the algorithm to find who’s susceptible to such an offer.”
Cole logged into his computer and looked at Eddie. “Can you give me the dead rogue’s info? Name, date of birth, address. You probably don’t have his social.”
“We do,” Eddie said and walked over to his computer, and tapped on a few keys. “I’m ready when you are.”
“Great! That makes it easier. I’ll set it all up in my cloud, and then I’ll send you the access code so you can watch from your computer.”
“How long until we get results?” Thomas asked.
“A few hours, since we’re only covering San Francisco. If we don’t get enough data from that, I’ll expand it to the East Bay and the Peninsula.”
“That works,” Thomas said.
As Eddie dictated the rogue’s information, and Cole entered the data into his computer, Vanessa ran her eyes over him. She would have never pegged Cole for a computer genius, but it was clear that he was in his element. The way he carried himself, the way his entire body was all muscle, no fat, he didn’t strike her as the kind of guy who spent hours sitting hunched over his computer, writing code. But there was no doubt that what he’d told them had impressed Thomas and Eddie, and was clearly giving them hope that he could deliver on his promise to find other humans vulnerable to be turned into a vampire.
A sense of pride filled her. Her intended mate wasn’t just a pretty face and a hot body. He had a brilliant mind on top of it. The more time she spent with him, the more layers she unpeeled, the more facets of his character he revealed.
Vanessa slid her hand onto his thigh, wanting to feel physically connected to him. Cole cast her a loving smile, their eyes locking for a brief moment, before he turned his gaze back to the computer screen.
To make her happiness complete, there was only one more thing for which she needed to find the courage: to confess that she was a vampire hybrid lusting for his blood.