"Your phone's ready." Carlos strolled into her bedroom.
She jumped. Good grief, he was too good at sneaking up on people. She dropped the cell phone into her suitcase, next to her box of daily contacts.
Carlos wandered over to inspect her clothes closet. "Hmm, this is too frumpy. Oh my God, I love this black leather vest. What a shame it's too small for me." He took the vest out to admire it.
Toni smiled as she emptied her underwear drawer in the suitcase. She had missed Carlos.
"By the way, I did a quick check on Dr. Proctor's financial records. He's in debt up to his greedy little eyeballs. Been living way beyond his means."
Toni's mouth fell open. "You were gone twenty minutes, and you learned all that?"
Carlos shrugged and hung her vest back in the closet. Then he gasped. "Girlfriend, hasn't anyone ever told you never ever wear horizontal stripes?" He pulled out the offending T-shirt. "This should be burned."
"Thanks. I was looking for that." Toni whipped the T-shirt out of his hand and tossed it in her suitcase.
"Humph." Carlos proceeded to her dresser to check out the rest of her clothes. "Now this is nice. You should take this." He pulled out a skimpy red satin teddy.
"It's December. I'm taking some flannel pajamas."
"But menina, don't you want to look sexy for him?"
Toni slammed her suitcase shut. "You have definitely gotten the wrong idea about him."
Carlos's amber eyes twinkled. "Are you sure? I only need to mention him, and your cheeks bloom like a red rose."
"That's irritation, not attraction." Toni pulled her suitcase off the bed and rolled it from the room. "I've got to go, Carlos. Take care of Vanderkitty."
"Will do. And I'll see what else I can find out about Sabrina's uncle."
"Thank you." Toni stopped to give him a hug. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
He grinned. "Now hurry on back to him."
"Stuff it, Carlos." She left the apartment to the sound of his chuckling. Hopefully, Ian would be busy all night pursuing Vamp women. If she was really lucky, she'd make it back to the townhouse and her bedroom without having to see him at all.
CHAPTER 6
Ian approached the bed where Toni was sleeping. Her heartbeat was steady, her face calm and peaceful. He hoped she was having sweet dreams. Connor had described the attack on her. She'd be lucky if it wasn't giving her nightmares.
He thought back to the last time he'd had a dream. It was the eve of the Battle of Solway Moss in 1542. He'd slept fitfully the night before his first battle, and he'd dreamed of shallow mountain streams turning red with blood. He fell into the stream, and it suddenly became bottomless, sucking him under, drowning him in blood. The very next night, he'd joined the ranks of the Undead when Angus had found him dying on the battlefield.
Ian snorted. At least in the last four hundred and sixty years, he'd greatly improved his fighting skills. He'd never been seriously injured since that first fateful night. And he was no longer plagued with nightmares before battle. He no longer dreamed at all.
He'd begun his investigation at Romatech by having Connor tell him about the attack Monday night. Connor had overheard the Malcontents' mental voices as they controlled Toni, and he'd used those voices as a beacon to teleport straight to the scene of the crime.
When Ian examined her personnel file, he'd been surprised to learn that she had an apartment in Greenwich Village. He'd also been surprised by the bachelor's degree in general business and a near complete master's in sociology. Why would someone that smart take a dead-end job, guarding the Undead? Was she conducting a study?
Connor didn't believe she was using them for research. After all, she couldn't have known about their existence before the Malcontents had attacked her. He had run a background check, and her only offense was a traffic ticket for speeding. Like Dougal, Connor had asked Ian not to chase her away. Until Phil returned from Texas, they were in desperate need of a day guard.
What Ian hadn't said was that he was in more danger of pulling her close than pushing her away.
"Doona pester her," Connor had ordered. "The lass needs time to recover."
So Ian had gone to the Horny Devils for his two dates. The women had been pleasant enough, but his mind kept returning to Toni, and the inconsistencies between her personnel file and what she'd told him.
He glanced at the digital clock next to her bed. Six-thirty. Thursday morning. Shouldn't she be waking soon? He paced about the room. His gaze continued to wander back to her, all snug and cozy in her bed. With his superior vision, he could still see her well in the dark room. She was lovely, the way her golden hair spilled across the pillow, the way her delicate hands curled close to her face.