It was now or never.

Checking her gear one last time, Sid turned off her cell phone and shoved it as deep into her pocket as it would go. She drew a long breath, closed her eyes, and whispered a prayer to whatever universal forces might be listening, then rose into a bent-over crouch and made a dash for it.

She nearly made it. A few minutes sooner, and she’d have disappeared into the shadows with no one the wiser.

But those gods she’d whispered to obviously had a twisted sense of humor, because just as she made her dash for safety, the third guard came around the corner from the back and caught her movement. He gave a wordless shout, alerting the other two guards, and suddenly she had three armed thugs coming after her.

She ran for it anyway, but the guard nearest to her position, the talkative one who’d asked all the questions, hopped directly over the porch railing and landed only a few feet away from her. Sid was fast, but he had the advantage of height and caught her in three strides. He grabbed the back of her hoodie and twisted, nearly yanking her off her feet.

“What you doin’, fucker?” he growled and hauled her back against his thick chest. Her hood fell back, revealing her braided hair, and the guard grunted. “Well, fuck me, we got us a real live girl,” he crowed and dragged her kicking and fighting back to where his buddies waited at the foot of the stairs.

“Fuck.” Sid recognized the other guard’s voice, the one who’d been the voice of reason. “This ain’t good. Where’d she come from?”

“Side of the house there. She didn’t see nothin’.” Her captor shook her, his big hand gripping her hoodie so that it dug into her throat. “You didn’t see nothin’, did you, bitch?”

“I gotta tell the boss—” the reasonable one started to say.

“Fuck that. She’s ours.”

“Let go of me, you asshole,” Sid hissed and kicked backwards, hitting him in the shin hard enough that he howled. Unfortunately, the howl was mostly anger. He shifted his grip to her hair, grabbing her braid like a rope and yanking her back against his chest.

“You’re gonna be sorry for that, bitch.”

“What’s this?”

The thug holding on to her turned sharply toward the porch, jerking Sid with him. What she saw there didn’t make her feel any better. A man stood in the open doorway. He was average height, slender, with dark hair and . . . eyes that flashed red when he stepped out into the faint light of the porch. He was a vampire, and his gaze scanned the three guards before moving to her and staying there.

“Who’s this?”

“Caught her sneaking around the back, sir,” the more reasonable thug said. “We’ll take care of—”

His words ended in an unmanly squeak of surprise as the vampire was suddenly standing right in front of them, his hand reaching for Sid. He lifted her chin to the meager light and studied her face.

“Let go of her,” he ordered quietly.

“Aw, she ain’t nothin’ but—”

Sid fell to her knees, her captor’s grip suddenly going lax as the vamp wrapped long fingers around the man’s throat and lifted him off his feet.

“That wasn’t a request, human,” the vampire said. He threw the gasping thug several feet to land choking and coughing on the hard ground.

She looked up as a hand appeared in front of her face. “Come,” he said, and mindful of his reaction to the thug’s insolence, she chose the path of least resistance and took his hand.

He pulled her effortlessly to her feet. “Jordan will pay you,” he told the others, then hustled her over to the driveway where a late model Audi sedan was parked.

Once in the car, he backed onto the street with a squeal of tires and then immediately got on his cell phone and punched a number.

“I have something that belongs to your master,” he told whoever answered, then laughed cynically. “It’s red, and he had it with him at the party the other night.” He nodded. “Ten minutes.”

“Look,” Sid started, “I don’t know who you just called, but—”

“Save it,” the vamp said tersely. “Just sit there and shut up. And be grateful about it.”

“Grateful?” Sid gave him a disbelieving look, for all the good it did, which was none, because he didn’t even glance at her, much less acknowledge her.

Sid sat in silence for a few blocks, then slanted a sideways glance at her vampire companion. Now that he had her, he seemed to be ignoring her. Taking a chance, she slipped her fingers into her pocket and withdrew her cell phone. She wasn’t sure exactly whom she’d call, but—

“Whatever you doing,” the vamp said, almost wearily, “don’t bother. It won’t—” He glanced over and amended whatever he’d been about to say. “A cell phone? Please. Who’re you going to call? Buffy?”

Sid glared back at him, refusing to admit she hadn’t had a plan to call anyone. But she’d no sooner had the thought than the vamp was pulling up in front of a familiar building. She leaned forward to scowl through the windshield as the car came to a sliding stop, but before she could voice a protest, she was swinging around as someone pulled her door open.

“Babe,” Trav said, grinning as he took her arm and half pulled, half lifted her out of the car. “You’ve been a very bad girl.”

Sid tried to slap his hand away. “Let go of me.”

He held onto her as he leaned down to talk to the other vampire. “Thanks for this, Elias. Anything else?”

Elias shook his head. “I’ve gotta get back. Tell Lord Aden I should know more after tonight.”

“Will do. You be careful,” Trav said, then straightened up and slammed the car door. He watched the Audi drive away, then gave Sid a reproachful look.

“Sid, Sid,” he chided. “What did you think you were doing out there tonight?” He was careful not to hurt her, but he didn’t let go, either.

“What I was doing long before I met you,” she retorted. “Besides,” she admitted grudgingly, “I meant to be gone before it got dark, but I got stuck, and suddenly it was too late.”

“Good planning.” He started toward the front doors, taking her with him, but she dug in her heels. Trav had the strength to force her, but not without making a scene, and she counted on him not wanting to draw that kind of attention.

“I don’t want to go in there,” she insisted.

“Babe, you stuck your nose where it doesn’t belong, and now—”

“What do you mean where it doesn’t belong? I’ve spent months doing exactly what I was doing tonight. This is my investigation, not yours. And—Wait a minute. You already knew about the slaves, didn’t you?”

It hit her then how stupid she’d been. Why had she thought Aden would be any different than Klemens? Why had she assumed he’d be willing to let go of Klemens’s very profitable businesses, regardless of whether they were moral? Or even legal?

“Let go of me, or I’ll scream,” she said quietly.

Travis let go of her arm, but not before giving her a truly offended look. “Jesus, Sid. You really think we’d have anything to do with that crap tonight? That I would?”

“I don’t know. I don’t really know any of you, do I? But tell me, Trav, why else did that vamp know who I was, and why’d he bring me here? And why does Aden shut me down every time I try to talk about it?”

“Maybe because it’s none of your damn business,” Trav snarled, then glanced around. “We’re not discussing this here. If you want to talk, you come upstairs.”

Sid frowned at him unhappily. She didn’t want to go upstairs, but she did want answers.

“Fine. But only long enough—”

Trav didn’t wait for her to finish, just hooked her arm again and started walking, not saying anything until they were in the elevator alone. He let go of her arm and said, “You’re a pain in the ass, Sid, but Aden insisted—”

“Wait, Aden’s upstairs? Let me out of here.” She started punching all of the floor buttons. Trav caught her hand.

“Stop that. Fuck! What’s wrong with you?” He grabbed her again, wrapping his arms around her and trapping her back against his chest.

Sid fumed, but stopped struggling, feeling a little stupid when she saw the row of lighted floor buttons. Fortunately, it wasn’t a very tall building. The elevator stopped at the next floor, and the one after that, the doors opening and closing without anyone getting on or off. Trav made a disgusted noise, but Sid fought back a grin.

When they transferred past the guards to the private elevator on the fifth floor, she stopped grinning. She reached up automatically to check her hair and discovered her braid was beginning to unravel. With a guilty glance at Travis, she tugged the coated elastic off the end and forked her fingers into the mess, trying to restore some semblance of . . . well, attractiveness was out of the question, but sanity would be nice.

Travis chuckled. “Don’t worry. You look fine.”

Sid bit back a retort, knowing whatever she said would only add to his amusement. Flattening her lips, she remembered she didn’t have an ounce of makeup on. She’d been trying to look ordinary. Unfortunately, she’d succeeded. Digging around in the small backpack which she’d removed from underneath her hoodie, she found a sample tube of pale pink lip gloss. It wasn’t her best color, but it was better than nothing. Not even trying to conceal her actions from Trav, she unscrewed the cap from the rollerball end and smoothed it on her dry lips. Trav made a rude noise anyway, but she ignored him, too busy slicking her tongue over her teeth and remembering how many hours it had been since she’d brushed. Note to self: add an emergency kit to backpack with all of the basic necessities. Basic necessities being defined as those things necessary to look good after a couple of hours spent lurking in the bushes and spying on criminals.