Justine Ch. 14

As soon as they were alone Quinn pulled Justine into his lap and hugged her.

"I want you to listen to me." Quinn said, "I am with you in this just like I am in everything else. I don't know how I know this but your mom is alright and we're going to find her."

Justine dried her eyes and kissed Quinn on the cheek, "Just think I used to consider you a pain in my ass." she said with a weak smile.

"And now?"

"I'm glad that you stuck around, I couldn't do this without you and before you disagree with me, let me amend that statement. I could do it but I need you to help me, you keep me sane."

"What do you need from me?" Quinn asked.

"Just that you keep doing what you're doing." Justine replied.

"Jussie, what happened to the aunt that raised you?" Quinn asked.

"She died just after I graduated from college."

"I'm sorry baby." Quinn said hugging her again.

"Me too, she was a lot like you... she kept me grounded. Where is your family?" Justine asked as she settled in his lap.

"My father was a used care salesman and mom was a florist. We weren't rich by any stretch of the imagination but we lived in a nice house with nice neighbors. I had a brother Neal who was killed overseas while working for his company and well... let's just say that the sun and the moon rose and set with him."

"He was older?"

"Yeah by a couple of years and he was supposed to be an only child and then surprise! Quinn Sean O'Dell makes his appearance and shot the family plans all to hell."

"They didn't want you." Justine commented.

"They loved me I guess at least they said they did but I didn't really see it until Neal left but by then I think it was too late. It didn't feel real or sincere; do you know what I mean?"

"It felt temporary, and if Neal had come home, the love would have been taken back."

"Something like that." Quinn replied.

"Is that why you started drinking and doing drugs?"

"That didn't start until after we found out that Neal died. Mom and dad were so wrapped up in their grief that they forgot that they still had a kid. They didn't notice or didn't care when I started to miss meals or that I wasn't coming home at night after being gone all day. One day, I never went back home. I hadn't planned to leave at least not like that but anyway I bounced around from place to place, met Lana's mom and really tried to straighten my life out. By the time I realized that I had lost them, it was too late."

"What about your parents?"

"Once I was sober and clean I went to see them. I don't know what I was expecting but the reception was cool at best. They were polite like they would have been to a stranger and I guess in a way I was but I wasn't going to leave until they understood why I felt that I had to leave. They listened and thanked me for coming by. It was as if I was someone who came to their door selling magazines instead of their son.

I stopped by a few times after that trying to apologize for any pain that I had caused them in addition to losing Neal but... anyway; I stopped trying. Mom died a couple of years back and dad soon after. I went to both services, paid my respects and that was that."

"Didn't they have a will or something? What happened to the house?"

"That's the funny thing, they left it all to me and I couldn't and still don't understand why but I didn't want it. I sold the house and put all of the money in a college trust fund for Lana. By the time she's ready for college she'll be able to go to any college that she wants."

"Did they know about Lana?" Justine asked.

"I told them and even showed them a picture of her. They looked at it, remarked on how pretty she was and asked where she lived. I had hoped that they would have wanted to meet her but they didn't offer although I hinted. I did find out later that they sent her gifts for her birthday and Christmas."

Justine toyed with Quinn's hair a gesture that he found calming.

"What do you want to do about Lana?" she asked after a few minutes.

"What are my options?" Quinn asked. "After a while I won't be able to see her because I'll always look the same and then I'll have to deal with her mortality and all that comes with it including the weddings, graduations... all of it."

"First of all it's we and not just you." Justine reminded him and I'm sure that we can come up with a way that you can be involved in Lana's life without having to tell her what you are. As far as the mortality issue it's something that we'll just have to deal with when it comes but like you told me, I have a feeling that it's going to work out."

She went to move from his lap and he stopped her, "Justine, I love you always remember that."

"I love you too." she replied as she kissed him.

It was time to get back to the business of finding her mother.

**********************************

Eppi froze. He didn't have to turn around to know that it was another vampire in the room with him or to know that he was caught. That knowledge did nothing to stop him from trying to escape but before he could formulate the thought, the vampire had his arms around him taking away his chance for escape.

"It's pointless to struggle." Bruno said gruffly, "you will only hurt yourself."

Eppi stopped struggling and began to bargain.

"I have plenty of money, I'll split it with you... five-hundred thousand each!"

Bruno let him talk allowing him to believe that he was interested in his offer. When Eppi stopped talking, Bruno spoke.

"I have no interest in your money, I don't want or need it but what I do want is information on how to break the wards holding Josephine Sheffield."

"I don't know! Freddie made them!" Eppi exclaimed.

"Then I am sorry for you." Bruno replied as he vanished with Eppi in his arms.

*****************************

David paced restlessly feeling helpless. He was going to call Delgado back when his cell phone rang.

"Maurice? Please tell me that you found this Abercrombe person."

"I did as a matter of fact but David... he's dead. We've checked everyone else as well and none of them are familiar with the vampires that have Josephine. It had to have been Abercrombe that helped them with the wards, one of the vampires worked for him... the one called Freddie whose real name is Josh Archer, the one called Eppi is his cousin Frank."

David felt his heart drop. He looked around him trying to figure out his next move. His last hope was on the vampire that he sent after Eppi.

******************************

Josephine

"Would you like to know what I think?" Josephine asked Freddie and then didn't give him a chance to reply. "I think that your cousin Frank is already on his way out of town with all of the money that you had saved for a rainy day."

"Shut up!" Freddie hissed, he had already thought about that possibility but hearing it verbalized somehow made it seem more likely that Eppi was probably gone.

"David is close...."

"I said to shut up!" Freddie said as he raised a hand to her prepared to slap her.

Instead of flinching, Josephine held her hand out with the palm facing forward and quietly said "no."

Freddie yelled as he found himself flying across the room knocking over the television as he sailed by it. Josephine looked at her hand and then at Freddie who was picking himself up from the floor with a dazed expression on his face. The expression went from shock to anger and then to fear as he realized what had just happened.

Justine looked at him with eyes blazing. Deep purple flames angrily danced around them. She was tired and wanted to go home to David so that they could work on their issues and find out what happened to her family, Freddie was keeping her from that.

"Let. Me. Go." she said softly but she might as well had screamed it judging by the way that Freddie cringed.

To his credit, he controlled his fear knowing that the slightest scent would set her off. To his shock and horror, Josephine began to approach him and he had a choice to make. The money no longer mattered and he wasn't penniless, he had money hidden that he hadn't told Eppi about. Before Josephine realized what was happening, Freddie was gone leaving her trapped alone in the basement of the warehouse.

*******************************

Eppi looked into the face of a very angry David and tried to back away. Bruno stood behind him holding on to his arms restricting his movements and prohibiting his escape.

"Where is my mate?" David asked.

"I don't know." Eppi replied.

"Where is my mate?" David asked again as he took a step toward Eppi. "Tell me and your death will be painful but quick."

Eppi frantically looked around for an escape route and seeing none, he conceded defeat.

"She's in the warehouse at the end of the block."

"Where is your partner?" David asked.

"He was with her the last time I saw him." Eppi replied.

"Did you touch her?" David demanded.

"No, not like that... I swear it!"

"How do I break the wards?"

"I don't know! It's like I told the one that caught me; Freddie built it. He said that someone that he used to work for taught him how and he never showed me how to do it."

"You didn't lie." David said as he looked at Eppi and I will keep my word. He stretched out his open hand toward Eppi's chest and then slowly closed it. Eppi's eyes widened and then watered as David symbolically closed his fist around his heart and crushed it. He was turning to dust even as he hit the ground.

******************************

Freddie vanished from the warehouse to the loft that he kept rented for emergencies. He pulled a briefcase from beneath the single bed, looked around and vanished without giving Eppi or Josephine another thought. When things cooled down, he planned to find another partner and to start over again. He and Eppi had money stashed in various places around the city other than where they lived and if he was careful, he could live comfortably until he found another partner. Even though his gut was telling him to take what money he had and go, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He had worked hard for it and it was his.

He appeared in another loft in the trendier part of London never dreaming in a thousand years that someone would be waiting for him. As soon as he was in the loft, a pair of arms went around him and before he knew it, he was back in the warehouse district.

"I know where my mate is, your cohort told me before I killed him." David said. "He also told me that you were the one to build the wards. I will give you one opportunity to release them of your own volition."

"We had a deal your mate and me." Freddie said smugly.

"I made no deal with you." David replied.

"But she did. She said that if we let her go you would give us seventy-two hours to get away before you looked for us."

"Have you released her?" David asked.

"No but I will." Freddie replied.

"The terms of your agreement are null and void." David said. "You have not released her and if you had not been caught you would be long gone by now. The only deal I will offer you is this, release her now and your death will be painful but quick just as your cohort's was."

"Eppi is dead?" Freddie asked as if hearing the news for the first time.

"He is." David confirmed. "If you don't tell me voluntarily, I will find out and you will still die but more slowly."

"Kill me then because I'm not telling you anything." Freddie replied.

"As you wish." David replied. "Bruno, bring him to the warehouse." David said and walked away.

******************************

Josephine

Josephine walked around the large room trying to remain calm. There had to be a way out, there had to be! In a moment of silliness and because she would have otherwise cried, she began to say things like "open sesame!" and "abracadabra!" when none of those worked, she looked in the fridge to see if there was any blood left.

In their haste to leave, the cousins had left behind four units of blood in the fridge and two more in the freezer. If she was careful, she could make it last for several days. She made another tour of the room touching the walls and extending her senses to feel for weaknesses in the wards.

"Let me out of here!" she demanded softly as she touched a wall and was startled when she felt a slight shift in the wards. "It can't be this easy can it?" she asked herself. "Let me out of here!" she demanded again but in a louder voice. Once again, the wards shifted.

*******************************

Freddie felt the wards shift and knew that his time was ending. It was as David told him; he was going to die no matter what he did. The point was how painfully he wanted to die. The third time the wards shifted, every vampire there felt it. David looked at Freddie and gave him a cold smile.

"It appears that I don't need you after all." he said.

"Wait! She's not out yet! I can help!" Freddie screamed as David reached for him.

David stopped; he would wait until Josephine was free before he killed the vampire. For all he knew, she might want to punish the vampire herself although he doubted it. Her base personality was that of a caregiver and she wouldn't voluntarily hurt someone

"Remove the wards." David said.

Freddie closed his eyes and moved his lips. Within seconds, David could feel Josephine's presence.

"Hold on to him!" he shouted at Bruno as he ran into the warehouse. "Josephine!" he called out and waited for a response.

"David?"

"I'm here!" he called back.

"Me too." she said from behind him.

David turned toward the sound of her voice and then just stared at her not knowing what to say. Josephine took step toward him and held out her hands. It was all the invitation that he needed. He ran to her and gathered her into his arms kissing her face and finally her lips.

"I am so sorry that I didn't tell you the truth!" he said repeatedly as he crushed her to him and kissed her. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine but please get me out of here." Josephine said as she wrapped her arms around David's waist and hugged him.

David picked Josephine up and carried her out of the warehouse. When she saw Freddie she asked to be put down, she wanted to see him face to face.

"All you had to do was to let me go." she said softly her eyes glittering. "I told you that he would find me and that you would die but you laughed at me."

"Please... Don't kill me." Freddie begged.

"David, he and his cousin killed an innocent for her blood even though I begged them not to. I listened as she begged for her life." Josephine said without taking her eyes from Freddie's face. "How many have you killed?" she asked.

"I... I don't know."

"It doesn't matter, one was too many. How many mates have you and Eppi kidnapped?" she asked.

"Ten? Twelve? I really don't know for sure." Freddie replied.

"Josephine," David said softly, "what do you want done with him?"

"Is there a place where he can be sent and never released?" she asked.

"There is but I want him dead." David replied.

Josephine looked at Freddie who was now begging her with his eyes. His fate was in her hands.

******************************

Mikhail called another friend who was reputed to be the best internet researcher in the vampire world. Auggie usually charged what Mikhail considered an outrageous fee but for him, it would cost nothing. Auggie owed Mikhail a lifetime of favors and gratitude because Mikhail was supposed to kill him but didn't.

Auggie Simpson had been a young and foolish vampire back then. He was still young in that he would forever be nineteen and that alone was what saved his life. He had been hacking into the finances of several wealthy vampires for years one of whom was Lucian Coombs. What Auggie didn't know because it was the one time that he didn't do his homework was that Lucian was the head of what was considered the vampire mafia. When he saw the financials on Lucian, he got greedy and took more than he usually did but it wouldn't have mattered how little he took. Lucian was a very paranoid and suspicious vampire. He had every security system know to man and vampire alike and a few that weren't so when Auggie took the ten million from various accounts, Lucian knew about it.

Instead of having one of his own find Auggie, he hired Mikhail who found Auggie in less than three days.

"Are you crazy?" Mikhail shouted at him when he saw how young Auggie was. "Do you know who you've stolen from?"

Mikhail could see from Auggie's expression that he hadn't a clue.

"You stole from Lucian Coombs. He happens to be one of the most dangerous vampires around." Mikhail told the frightened boy/vampire. "He sent me here to kill you."

"Look Mr. I'll give the money back just don't kill me ok?"

"How long have you been doing this?" Mikhail asked already seeing the potential in the boy.

"A couple of years and I promise not to do it again!"

Mikhail looked at the frightened boy and couldn't kill him. "Can you put the money back?" he asked.

"Yessir."

"Do it... and it wouldn't hurt to add a little extra." Mikhail said.

Auggie rushed to his computer, booted it up and transferred fifteen million back into Lucian's accounts.

"It's done." Auggie said. "Are you still going to kill me?"

Mikhail took out his phone and dialed Lucian's number.

"Check your accounts... I'll wait."

While he waited, Mikhail looked over at Auggie who was literally shaking. He wasn't going to tell him that he wasn't going to kill him; he wanted him to be scared and to realize how lucky he was that Lucian had sent him instead of someone else.

"It's there? Good so there's no reason to continue this... I expect to see my payment within the hour... I did what you asked, I found him, I didn't kill him but you got your money back plus interest... if anything happens to him, I will kill you."

Mikhail snapped the phone shut, pulled a chair over to where Auggie sat still trembling.

"I just vouched for you." Mikhail said.

"Thank you!"

"This is what I require in return for the favor I just did, whenever I call you and need something you will do it without question. If it is illegal, there will always be a good reason for it and you will be protected. You will also stop hacking into the accounts of others and earn your money legally. Start a research company or something but you will not take money from others again unless it is for services rendered is that clear?"

"Yessir... you aren't going to kill me?"

"Not this time but if I find out that you've gone back to stealing I will. There are no second chances."

That conversation had taken place in 2002 and Auggie true to his word had never stolen again and had taken Mikhail's advice about starting a company. He currently had three others working with him and was doing very well with the company and his new mate who was one of the vampires working with him.

"Mikhail! How are you?" Auggie asked when he answered the phone. "It's been too long!"

"Yes it has." Mikhail agreed. "I now have a mate."

"Cool! Congrats! What's her name?"

"Zoe but I have a job for you." Mikhail said changing the subject,

"Whatever you need." Auggie replied.

"I want you do find out everything that you can about the disappearance of Josephine Graves. She disappeared several years ago from her job. I also want you to tap into every website that we have and alert everyone that we are looking for this woman. I'll email you a picture within the hour and one more thing, set up another email address for the responses and make sure that I have the address so that I can access it."

"You got it." Auggie replied. "Give me about an hour and it'll be done."

"Thank you Auggie." Mikhail said once again glad that he had spared the young vampire's life.

The next phone call he made was to another vampire who was disabled and was always looking for ways to help him no matter what it was.