Chapter 19

“Ihave a better idea.” Dane helped Jacqueline up off the patio floor and handed her the water pitcher. “You’re watering your plant, and I come at you with a sword to your heart. React like you normally would and Michael will catch you when I pretend to cut you and set you gently down on the patio.”

“Okay got it.” She began watering the plant, and Dane pretended to thrust his sword at her. She threw her arms up in defense, the water splashing on her shirt and pants, getting them wet, and then she fell. Michael caught her and laid her out on the patio.

Tobias poured some blood on her chest, letting it spread naturally across her shirt and it mixed with some of the water on the fabric. She’d dropped the water pitcher nearby and the contents were spilling out, puddling next to her shoulder.

“How about some blood under her head, like she cracked her skull when she fell?” Zeke asked.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea, or that one of the other hunters hit her in the back of the head at the same time the other came at her from the front. That would make it seem more doable for them to take her out without having a fight on their hands,” Michael said. “And a reason for her not having time to disappear and arm herself.”

Then Dane lifted her head and Tobias spilled some blood on her head and underneath it.

“How does that look?” Dane asked, stepping back from the scene. He hated having to stage this because to him it looked too damn real, though he could hear her heart beating, which grounded him in the moment.

“It looks good to me,” Tobias said.

Danai agreed.

“I think we’re ready for pictures before everything dries,” Michael said.

Zeke pulled out his phone and took several photos from different angles. Then he showed them to the hunters while Jacqueline waited for them to decide if everything looked realistic enough.

“That looks good to me,” Dane said, though he waited for everyone to agree before he helped Jacqueline up. He knew she had to be uncomfortable while lying on the hard, cement patio.

“Yeah,” Tobias said. “This should be perfect.”

Everyone thought it looked real.

“Which photo do you want me to send to X?” Zeke asked.

Dane pointed to the one that showed the spilled water can and all the other details. “This one.”

Then Zeke sent the message, and everyone waited. It seemed like forever before X responded.

X texted: Take out Dane…now. The money for the hit on Jacqueline Anderson is being wired to your account.

Zeke texted: On it. Then he checked his bank account. “The money is in the account. What should I do about it?”

“It’s your money. Share it with your hunter partners,” Tobias said.

“What if Dane went to her place and finds her like this and we killed him? Well, for pretend,” Zeke said.

“It’s not a bad plan,” Tobias said, “but it might look a little suspicious. I say we wait on the second hit to stage it and do it at Dane’s home.”

“Can I get up now?” Jacqueline asked, sounding like she didn’t want to mess up the scene if they needed her to stay there.

Dane helped Jacqueline up and she said, “I’m going to wash up and get changed.”

“We’ll get this cleaned up for you,” Zeke said.

“Thanks.” Then she vanished.

Dane got her a bloody cocktail from the kitchen and took it to her bedroom in a flash. “Just in case you had the need after being soaked in blood.”

“How did you know?” She drank the cocktail, then handed it back to him, removed her clothes in the bathroom, and turned the shower on.

“I was feeling like that. I’ll go back and get one for myself.”

“Thanks. I’ll be down soon.” She stepped into the shower and closed the door.

Then he returned to the kitchen to fix himself a glass and drank it before anyone returned to the house. He still didn’t like having to drink it in front of hunters or humans if he didn’t need to.

He went out to the back patio to see if he could help with the cleanup, but nobody had done anything yet.

“So I was going to have Michael and Danai take the men to the hunter compound to protect them until X and the others are captured, but I guess we need you for a while longer to stage another killing,” Tobias said.

“Do you think X and his friends will come here to see if Jacqueline’s dead on the patio?” Zeke asked.

“Hell, I hope not,” Jacqueline said, coming out to the back patio, her hair freshly washed and wet.

“We need to move our cars, unless,” Tobias said, “we learned that she was dead.”

“Okay, that works. How about a scenario where I went to see her,” Dane said. “I can get into her house freely.”

“I can too, though I always knock first. Maybe I was worried when she didn’t answer because we were supposed to be getting together. We have keys to each other’s homes, Mom and Dad, mine, Jacqueline’s,” Robert said.

“The way we’ll handle this is Robert came to see his sister for a prearranged get together and Robert called Dane and me to tell us that Jacqueline had been murdered,” Tobias said. “Then Dane and I arrived at her home.”

“What about killing Dane?” Zeke asked.

“You can tell X that you can try to locate Dane at his home later tonight because he wasn’t at his home when you last checked,” Tobias said. “Speaking of which, if you have any idea that they are tracking your vehicle, you might want to drop by Dane’s house first before you call him.”

“Wait. We killed Jacqueline on her back porch. How will we be able to explain how we reached the backyard if X asks?” Zeke asked.

“The gate isn’t locked. I have a yard service so I never lock the gate,” Jacqueline said. “But how did you get in through the security gate at the entrance to the development?”

“X gave us the code.”

“Then he might know someone in the development. What if he has the friend or associate, most likely a hunter, watching my place?” Jacqueline asked.

This was getting more complicated by the minute, Dane was thinking.

Everyone was quiet.

“That could be a problem.” Tobias rubbed his chin in thought.

Michael said, “Zeke, you and your friends go to Dane’s house, pretend to gain entry into his home, then leave and go to the compound. But before you do, leave your phones off somewhere.”

“At home. We’ll go there after we drop by Dane’s house as a ruse first, then go home to pack the stuff we’ll need and leave our phones, then go to your place. Oh, and we’ll make sure we don’t have any tracking devices on the car,” Zeke said.

Michael said, “Other hunters in the group can shop for you if you need anything else that you might forget to get once you are settled in at the compound.” He gave them the address.

“Okay, thanks,” Zeke said.

“I’ll join you all at the compound later. I need to meet personally with the members of the council about all this,” Tobias said.

Then Michael and the others left the house, and they heard them drive off. Dane sure hoped all of this worked out like they had planned, as much as they kept having to improvise.

“What about the police? Wouldn’t you and or Tobias call the police when you found me dead?” Jacqueline asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Tobias said.

“I have a police detective friend who often handles these cases. I can call him, and we can see if he will keep our secret,” Dane said.

“Hopefully that will work,” Tobias said. “After we speak to the detective, if the two of you think you’ll be all right until these scumbags are picked up, I’ll leave. But if you believe you would be better off at the compound, you’re welcome to join us.”

Dane and Jacqueline shared glances. “I’m good here or with Dane,” Jacqueline said, “if he feels the same way.”

“Yeah, we’ll stick together,” Dane said, assuring her he was going to be there for her. “We can call Adonis, who can be here in a flash.”

“And Stacey and Anne,” she said.

“Zachary, Pasha, Michael, and Danai too. They’ve been on standby all this time. If you change your mind about joining us, just let us know and we’ll have a house set up to accommodate you. We don’t want to lose any of you. And we don’t want you to get yourself into trouble because they come after you and you have to terminate them,” Tobias said.

“Right, but if they do, we will. It will be self-defense,” Jacqueline said.

“I totally understand. But we would prefer it if hunters who haven’t been turned take them down should they come after you, just to keep you safe,” Tobias said.

“But they’re going on a list, right?” Dane asked, frowning.

“Yes, with a warning to apprehend them at all costs to begin with. We want them for questioning. If they fight any of our hunters?—”

“Who haven’t been turned?” Jacqueline asked, irritated. She understood why Tobias and the council would want to handle it this way, but she was used to being a huntress who could terminate a hunter who went rogue.

“Yes. But if we go to arrest them and they fight us, we eliminate them. That way the two of you, and any other hunters who have been turned, will be in the clear,” Tobias said.

Dane agreed. “All right. Thanks, Tobias. If we get into trouble here, we can always use our vampire skills to vanish and leave and not fight them.”

Jacqueline pushed her hair behind her ear and scoffed. That wasn’t the way of a hunter, but to keep themselves from getting put on a rogue’s list… Then she frowned. “The ruling needs to be changed. I mean, the one where vampires can’t eliminate rogue hunters. It should be that hunters turned vampire can still kill a rogue hunter, if a rogue puts him or her on his list for no reason.”

“It’s something we’re discussing,” Tobias said, surprising her. “It has been in the works since Adonis, Danai, and Zachary were turned against their will and Gregory tried to kill Adonis. Also because Michael, Pasha, and Rachael chose to become vampires to be with their mates. There was a lot of resistance to the idea at first, but the council members are slowly coming around. When they see all the good you are doing, all of you, and that you’re not suddenly becoming rogues, the hunters on the council will come around given time, though we hope it will be sooner than later.”

“Well, at least that’s something,” she said.

“Yeah, I agree,” Dane said, rubbing Jacqueline’s back and she instantly felt a little calmer, a little more relaxed.

“Those of us who want the ruling changed continue to work on getting it amended. The thing of it is, if the holdouts had kin who were turned, I’m sure they would feel differently and it would be approved right away,” Tobias said.

“We could do it,” Jacqueline said, just kidding because she knew that if they did something like that, they would automatically be branded rogues.

Tobias and Dane both smiled at her, and she was glad they got her dark humor.

“I’m going to call the police detective,” Dane said.

Dane called Patrick, put it on speakerphone, and said, “Jacqueline and I have a situation that needs a delicate touch. Human hunters came here to warn us that they were hired by hunters to kill Jacqueline.”

“Hell,” Patrick said. “You didn’t kill the human hunters, did you?”

“No, they’re good guys and going to the Bremerton compound to stay safe. But we staged a scene where Jacqueline appeared dead, and they sent the photo to the hunter in charge. Now he has hired them to kill me.”

“Why?” Patrick asked.

“They hate hunters who have been turned. Tobias has put them on an arrest-on-sight order. But hunters will have to take them in.”

“Do you know who they are?”

“Yeah, we do.”

“So what do you need me to do to help you out?” Patrick asked.

“We need you to come here like you are handling a dead body. We take care of our own when they’re our guys normally, but when it’s murder, you all get involved. At least as far as coming to the crime scene,” Dane said. “Well, even when it’s a case of us taking down a rogue vampire.”

“Okay, I’ll be there with a select group of officers who can keep a secret.”

“Thanks,” Dane said. “Also, the human hunters were given the key code to come into the development. It’s possible that the hunters are friends of someone here and they might be watching the whole thing.”

“We’ll make this look good,” Patrick said.

“Thanks. We’ll see you soon.” Dane knew they would come through for them.

“I’ll stay here with the two of you until after the police take the ‘body.’ And then I’ll leave,” Tobias said.

* * *

Police cars arrivedand they were surprised to see that five cars had been dispatched. “Oh, man, I hope all these guys can keep a secret,” Jacqueline said, worried that the more people that knew, the harder it would be to keep the truth from coming out until they could capture the hunters.

Patrick came to the door with two other men. “The county coroner is on his way. He knows the situation. We thought of just having a fake coroner come, but he said he knows you and he’s thankful for the job that you both do.”

“Great,” Jacqueline said, surprised to get such a great response from everyone who was dedicated to helping them stay alive.

Then the coroner and a couple of EMTs arrived. Patrick and other officers went inside the house.

“The back patio is where I ‘died.’ We were going to clean it up, but you might need to see the ‘crime scene’ before we do.” She sure hoped the blood wouldn’t stain her patio. She’d wanted to clean it up right away until they worried someone could be watching the house.

They all headed through the house and outside onto the patio where the police officers and the coroner saw the blood on the cement.

“This is one case of a ‘dead person’ that I don’t mind ‘seeing,’” the coroner said.

The police officers smiled.

“Okay, we’ll hang around for a bit. We have a mannequin we’ll bring in and place in the body bag,” the coroner said.

“Can one of you bring the mannequin in as a vampire?” Tobias asked.

“I will,” Dane said.

Then he vanished and reappeared in the ambulance. He grabbed the mannequin, then vanished and appeared inside the house. The EMTs brought the gurney in, and they put the mannequin in a body bag, then finally removed it from the house. The coroner left, but the police officers all had cups of coffee while they waited it out and talked about what was going on.

“So you’re going to handle the hunters hiring hitmen?” Patrick asked.

“Yeah,” Tobias said. “The hunters will have to take them down.”

“Okay. But you know if you have any trouble with this further, call on me,” Patrick said.

“We sure will,” Dane said. “And thanks so much for helping us to keep Jacqueline safe.”

“You too. What are you going to do about yourself?” Patrick asked. “Are you going to stage another murder?”

“We’re thinking of it, but if we can put these hunters away, that would work even better. So we hope that we can do that first and not have to stage any more murders,” Tobias said.

Once the officers felt they had been at the house long enough to pretend they were doing a thorough investigation, the police finally started to leave the house, all shaking their hands, telling them good luck.

Patrick said one last time, “Call me if you need my help in any situation.”

“Yes, thanks,” Dane said.

Then Patrick left with the others.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?” Tobias asked Jacqueline and Dane.

“No, we’ll stay here, or at Dane’s house, I guess,” Jacqueline said.

“We need to pack up your clothes, the cat and her things, and move to my place.”

“Right, because I can’t be coming and going from my house,” she said. “This is such a hassle. I want to just get this over and…I mean, we’re just going through all this turmoil already, so I hate that hunters are really messing with us.”

“Do you think I should take Princess instead?” Robert asked.

“No. She has really bonded with Dane. Unless you’re worried that the hunters will hit Dane’s house and Princess will be safer at your house,” she said.

“I was just thinking if anyone wondered why Dane took the cat instead of me,” Robert said, “it might look suspicious.”

“If anyone has been watching us, they’ve seen us take Princess over to Dane’s house already. So I don’t think any questions will be raised about it,” she said.

“Okay,” Robert said.

“Well, if that’s all we needed to discuss, I’m going to leave here and go meet with the council members. This is just why we need a change in our rules.” Then Tobias said goodbye and Jacqueline locked the door.

“Now what?” she asked Dane.

“I’ll go home and get my truck to pack up your things. If anyone is watching, they’ll see me taking your cat because he needs to be taken care of after you had been murdered. But rather than ride back with me, you’ll need to just transport over there, Jacqueline,” Dane said.

“Can I help with anything?” Robert asked. “I’m so sorry all of this has happened to you.”

“You can tell Mom and Dad what is up, just in case they hear on the news that a hunter—me—has been murdered. Oh, I wonder if this case will be reported in the news.”

“Probably so to make it more official sounding and hopefully prove to the hunters that you are really dead, if they aren’t having the house watched,” Dane said. “Though Patrick might have to get the police chief’s approval.”

“Okay, well, while you get your car, I’ll pack up my things and Robert, can you clean up the patio? If you’re up to it.”

“I am.” Then Robert got a bucket, soap, and a mop and carried them out to the back patio.

Jacqueline kissed and hugged Dane. “I never expected anything like this to happen.”

“I know. It’s unreal. I sure didn’t either.” He gave her a heartfelt hug back and kissed her thoroughly. “Are you going to be all right if the hunters send someone else here to investigate your place in the meantime?”

“Yes. Robert’s here with me and you’re only a telepathic call away. Besides, I can just leave and join you also. I’m off to pack then.”

“I’ll return soon.” Then Dane and Jacqueline shared another kiss and he vanished.

She was so glad she had met him. She loved the way he wanted to take care of her. Since leaving home, she had never felt that way. Certainly not with Van. She realized how truly self-absorbed he was.

She finished packing some bags and Robert came up to her bedroom to help her take them downstairs.

“For whatever difference it will make, I got a call from a friend of Van’s who said he was no longer dating anyone,” Robert told her as he carried two of her heaviest suitcases downstairs.

She beat him downstairs by reappearing there with her laptop and a couple of smaller bags in hand.

Robert smiled. “I will never get used to you doing that.”

“Yeah. It’s a pretty neat ability. So Van’s not dating…for sure?”

“That’s what he said. He said Van feels he can’t be with another huntress for a while.”

“Maybe later?”

“Who knows? I haven’t had anything to do with him since he ditched you.”

Jacqueline was surprised to hear it. Robert had been friends with Van, and they’d been like brothers really.

Robert gave her a hug. “Yeah, really, I’m sorry for being such a jerk.”

“Thanks for admitting that to me.” She gave him a warm hug back. She loved her brother, but once she had been turned, it was like her whole family had abandoned her. “Oh, I have to see if you cleaned up the patio enough.”

He snorted.

She laughed. “Hey, I know you.”

“I’ve gotten better about it.”

But she wasn’t taking his word for it. She went out and he followed her. When she found how clean it was, she was surprised. “Wow, you did a great job.”

“Thanks. Coming from you, that’s a big deal.”

She laughed. “Well, maybe you’ve changed.”

“I know how much you like to keep things clean, so I worked extra hard on it. Particularly so you wouldn’t have to be reminded what the blood was there for.”

“Well, I appreciate it.”

Then Dane was in the living room, calling out, “I’m here.”

Jacqueline and her brother joined him there.

“She was inspecting my clean up,” Robert said.

“Did all the blood come off? I was worried we’d left it too long,” Dane said.

“Yeah. It didn’t look like anything had spilled out there at all,” Jacqueline said. “Okay, we need to move your car into the garage so that no one can see you loading up stuff like my suitcases. Moving the cat and her belongings wouldn’t be a problem. We just don’t want anyone to witness Dane carrying my suitcases out to his pickup truck. What would be up with that?”

“I agree,” Dane said, and headed back outside.

Robert opened the garage door.

Jacqueline stayed in the house while the guys packed up her bags and Princess and her things. Then Dane and Robert returned to the house.

“Okay, you call me if you need my help, just any time day or night,” Robert said, giving Jacqueline another hug. Dane smiled as he watched her and her brother coming together in friendship. Then Robert shook Dane’s hand. “You take care of her.”

“I’m taking care of him too,” she said.

“That’s a given,” Robert said.

Then she said to Dane, “I’ll meet you at your house.”

“I’ll lock things up here after you leave, Dane,” Robert said.

“Okay, we’ll talk later.”

Then Jacqueline vanished and arrived at Dane’s home. This wasn’t her home, and yet she felt good about being here. Maybe not one hundred percent because she didn’t have anything of her own here, but when Dane arrived with Princess and her clothes and personal items, she would feel more like she belonged here.

And then she remembered he had wanted to make this a permanent situation. She couldn’t have been more thrilled.