Chapter Twenty-Two

Kimberly scribbled frantically on ayellow legal pad, occasionally referring to the four huge law books open in front of her on the library table. Inspiration was really hitting now. The article was going to be great, even if she was more likely to give birth to a Chihuahua, or anything else, for that matter, than ever get it published from down here. Still, the distraction was helpful, allowing a side part of her brain to work the key card problem; Toni had sent word to Kimberly that her first attempt to steal a card had been a bust. And now Toni was laid up in bed from having Lorke go to serious fist-city on her.

That left Kimberly options like, well…

…drugging Sedge, although she only had access to OTC meds that might kill him in overdose.

…or doing some kind of outlandish miner-sixty-niner sexual position to render him stupefied, although that would be suspicious, considering that she hadn't slept with the jerk since Toni had been kidnapped.

…or outright begging, which would be completely transparent, not her style, and probably not worth it, anyway.

None of these options was, in truth. Fact was, she'd never actually seen a key card on her husband's person.

She wouldn't have put it past him to have decided to keep his own card locked up in a safe somewhere, far away from her. Large didn't equal stupid when it came to Sedge. She wasn't sure how she felt about him outsmarting her in this area. Either filled with a boatload of respect or a pathological need to kick his ass. Anyway ….

Back to business, working other options. She flipped a page in one of the law books and read intently. She had to hand it to good ol' Pollyanna, Hannah Banana had stocked the library extremely well with volumes that only Kimberly would use.

"I have to talk to you," a voice told Kimberly in an underbreath.

Kimberly popped her head up to find Beth's pretty face only inches from hers.

The clothing designer's blue eyes were alive with excitement. "I need to show you something."

"Oh, really?" Kimberly eased back in her chair, her eyebrows inching upward. "What would that be: your new fall line?"

"No." Beth said the one word succinctly, as if Kimberly were just learning English. "This has to do with what we discussed at the tea party."

A surprise, and then some. The five Dragons had been lying low for the seven days since their first meeting with Toni, all doing the "act casual" thing until someone could produce a key card. Beth was the last person, besides Hannah, that Kimberly would've expected to approach her.

Kimberly looked Beth up and down, not bothering to hide her suspiciousness. "I didn't think you'd found your Zen place about our plans."

"Well, I have." Beth's lips curled inward, her chin tightening slightly: a different look for her. "Thanks to my husband's utter lack of help with the matter."

Kimberly jerked forward, her heart stumbling out of rhythm. "Crap, Beth. You told Arc about what we're up to."

"I didn't give him specifics," Beth returned tartly. "But I figured … well, I thought that if we could get our men to approach Roth about our demands, then we could avoid a lot of hullabaloo."

Kimberly snorted. "They're not going to do that."

"No," Beth agreed quietly, her eyelashes floating downward. "Arc and the other men pretty much held the company line about them not having any power, just like you said they would." She pressed a slender hand to her brow. "I'm trying not to feel too disappointed with Arc over that. I understand that the Varcolac history has been very tragic, and that the people of this community have learned to band together around their leadership because of that, but …." Dropping her hand, she trailed into a sigh.

"Changes are a'comin'," Kimberly murmured.

Beth met Kimberly's gaze, a fierceness in her blue eyes that Kimberly never would've guessed the too-sweet-to-be-true woman could manage. "They just expect us to do all the work," Beth accused, her cheeks blooming. "We're expected to adapt to their ways, to learn their culture. We're forced to give up everything, and they don't give up a danged thing."

Wow, whatever level of asshole'ness Beth's normally devoted husband had sunk to, thank you, stars above. Kimberly now had a definite ally. She smiled at Beth. "Welcome to the light side of the Force, my padawan."

Beth drew a quick breath, a look of satisfaction flashing across her gaze. Planting her hands on the tabletop, she leaned forward, putting her face right into Kimberly's again. "So, do you want to do this thing, or what? Because if you do, then you need to get your butt over to my house right now so I can show you the email I received from Alex Parthen, a man claiming to be Toni's brother."

Kimberly shot to her feet so fast she nearly stumbled out of her shoes.

They made it to theCostache residence in under five minutes, Beth locking the front door behind them. "Arc's working and the kids are at preschool. Over here…" She led Kimberly to a desk situated in a cubby off the living room. "Apparently, this Alex Parthen is some sort of computer genius. He hacked into our system to get to me, if you can believe it."

"I can't," Kimberly said as she sat in the desk chair. Cleeve kept the community on a constantly changing network of cables that was – supposedly – impossible to breach. "Maybe someone inside the community sent this email to test how serious we are about raising Cain, you know, to see how we'll respond to it."

Beth surprised Kimberly with a harshly exhaled Ha! "Look me in the eye, Kimberly, and tell me that for one minute your husband has taken your ability to cause trouble seriously. I know Arc hasn't."

Kimberly twisted her lips. "You make a good point."

Beth reached over Kimberly's shoulder and grasped the computer mouse. "Alex told me a person sending him emails in Toni's name was using the same small, private IP address as mine."

Huh. So Cleeve had failed to keep up his ruse as Toni, had he? Funny, he'd kept Kimberly's family bamboozled for three years by claiming that she'd gone back into the Peace Corps, working in Comoros, Africa, a country that wasn't even as big as Rhode Island. So, gee, I can't email too often, guys, being in the middle of nowhere and all, but I'm doing such amazing work for these poor unfortunates ….

Beth brought up the email from Toni's brother. "He wants to know if I have any information about his missing sister. He sounds really worried about her."

"I can imagine." Kimberly read the email, but Beth had already summarized the main points.

"So what do you think?" Beth asked breathlessly.

Kimberly swiveled in the chair to look up at Beth. Something about the polite, but urgent tone of the email smacked as very real. "Genius may be understating matters for this Alex guy."

Beth giggled, her expression bright and eager again.

Kimberly bounced the desk chair back on its sturdy springs. "And I'm thinking if Toni's brother can hack Cleeve's computer system, then I bet he can help us circumvent the key code boxes." She waggled her eyebrows. "We need to tell him about –"

"Wait a minute," Beth stopped her. "We can't divulge the community's security system."

Kimberly stopped bouncing. "What did you plan on doing with this email? Just tell this Alex fella, ‘Hey, pal, don't worry, Toni's okay, she's just locked away in an underground bunker for vampires, but she'll be home for a visit as soon as she squeezes out a puppy, so chill your nuts."

Beth's forehead pleated.

Kimberly exhaled a laugh. "I'm kidding – about the vampire part, at least." Who would believe her anyway?

"You know the Varcolac history of discovery. Being found out would be hugely problematic for the people around here, including my own children."

"No one's going to find out where we are," Kimberly assured Beth. "Even if it turns out Alex can tell us how to crack the code box, he couldn't use the information to breach an entrance himself to get to us. He doesn't know where our entrances are, any more than we do."

Beth mulled that over for a moment. "I suppose you're right," she said, chewing her bottom lip. "One of us needs to stay down here, though."

Kimberly straightened the chair, planting her feet on the floor. "Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how much backlash there's going to be?"

Beth spread her hands. "We promised the other Dragons that none of the husbands would get hurt," she reasoned. "You won't get them to escape topside unless a go-between stays behind to email a message if one of the husbands' blood-need gets too severe."

"Shit." Kimberly clasped her brow between the stretch of her thumb and forefinger. Beth was probably right; if they assured the husbands' wellbeing from the get-go that would help shut down possible complaints. "Okay," she sighed. "I'll stay." So much for the happy reunion she'd planned to have with her parents.

"No. You're the fantastic bluffer, remember? You'll be needed topside to negotiate with Roth." Beth drew in a breath that swelled her breasts. "I'll be the one to do it."

Kimberly dipped her chin, eyeing Beth askance. "Are you sure?" Beth seemed more like the type of woman to get out of the kitchen when things got too hot.

Beth's throat worked around a swallow, but her nod was firm. "Yes. This is something I need to do."