Lacy snatched his glasses off his face. "Do I? I'm about to find out."
"No!" He made a grab for the glasses but Lacy stepped back and held them out of reach. "I can't see. You know that." He tried to pry my hands off his shoulders, then kicked, connecting with my shin.
"Damn it!" I'd had enough. I stared into his eyes. In seconds, he was still, unable to resist the whammy. And I could read his mind. So could Lacy. I could see from her stricken expression.
"Say your thoughts out loud, Ryan," I ordered. I knew this was harder for Lacy to hear than it was for me, but we'd deal with it together. I was fighting for my life and the lives of my friends against Westwood. We could lick our wounds later.
"Lick our wounds?" Lacy hissed and looked at me with narrowed eyes.
"Sorry." I really could use some sensitivity training. My wounds were nothing compared to Lacy's. I'd liked Ryan, she'd actually thought she was in love with him.
Ryan chose that opportune moment to blurt out his thoughts. "Oh, God! Oh, God! Got to get out of here before the blood sucker takes me out. Not worth it for a little nookie. Lacy's got to be a freak too, hanging around with vampires."
"A freak?" Lacy wiped at her eyes. "I'll show you freak. I've had better sex with—"
"Too much information, Lacy." I held up my hand. "What about the glasses?" Lacy made a face and looked through them. "Why don't I rip them apart?"
"Hold it! Let me see those." I took them and held them up to my eyes. Clear if a little distorted. Like everything wasn't quite right. It was a miracle Ryan could walk around in them. I examined the ear pieces. There'd been a show just last week on the Discovery Channel about surveillance equipment. And I was holding one clever piece of it.
"Sorry, Lacy. As Valdez would say, this guy's a Grade A asshole."
" What is it, Blondie?" Valdez got up and nudged my hip.
"His glasses must be the same kind Westwood uses. To protect him from the vamp whammy. But the worst part…" I aimed the glasses at Lacy. "There's camera equipment in the earpieces. Video and audio, I'm sure. The signal's being sent to another location." I put my hand on Lacy's shoulder. "Smile, you're on Candid Camera." Lacy gasped and looked at them in horror. Then at Ryan. Horror became hate. "You bastard! You've been recording every moment we've been together. Sometimes you even kept them on in bed."
Ryan just stared into space, but his brain was busy and, per my orders, he was still saying his thoughts out loud. "Got my glasses. Now I'm toast. I shoulda brought my stake with me, but it made a bulge in my new suit. All Dad's fault. He never should have ordered suits from a country he couldn't spell. Velcro instead of zippers. No guy's going to wear a suit with a Velcro fly. Ten million bucks down the crapper and Westwood holds the paper. Had to do this to wipe out the debt so we can start over. Promised me. At least I get to keep the sex videos. Planted a camera with a view of her bed. I'm a love machine and Lacy's skinny butt can sure move—"
Lacy hauled off and slapped Ryan. His head snapped back, but he didn't try to get away. I had too strong a hold on his mind for that. But he was thinking…
"Help. Help. Help. Help. Glory's gonna bite me and suck me dry. Westwood's creepy. Obsessed with vampires. Now I'm screwed."
"Is someone watching the tape right now, Ryan? Will someone try to come save you?" I glanced at the back door, securely locked but an army with a battering ram could take it down, no problem. Valdez jumped up, suddenly on high alert.
"No. I'm a dead man." Ryan closed his eyes.
I put my hand under his chin. "Look at me, Ryan. You won't die if you tell me about spying for Westwood." His eyes popped open. "Spying. Right. Tapes. Video feed goes to my setup in the trunk of my car. Go through the tapes later, keep what I want and then e-mail Westwood anything to do with vampires. Wants to take out more vampires. Like… you. We checked you out with the vamp detector. Lacy's okay, Derek's not." He closed his eyes again and tears leaked out. "Don't kill me. Please don't kill me."
I'd almost feel sorry for him if he hadn't used Lacy like he had. He was right that I could bite him and suck him dry. Tempting. I'd squeezed his chin until you could see my fingerprints on his skin. To hell with it. I let him go and stepped back. It would be way too easy to just rip him apart. I could smell his blood pumping through his veins. He was young, healthy, but damned ordinary, O positive. I took another step back.
"Isn't Ryan just a friggin' techno genius?" Lacy turned her back on him. "I can't believe I was so gullible. I practically forced you to hire him, Glory. But he seemed perfect."
"Don't blame yourself, Lacy." I put a hand on her back. "Obviously the whole deal was a set up. Ryan was clever. Believable. And he is a good salesman."
" What happens now, Blondie? You want me to take him out? Or do you want to do the honors?" Valdez looked like he really wanted to sharpen his teeth on this well-dressed loser.
"No one's taking anyone out." I glanced at Lacy. She was nodding, like, sure, Valdez, tear him limb from limb.
"Ryan, where are the videos of you and Lacy in bed?" I grabbed his chin again and he opened his eyes.
"My place. Downloaded into my computer. Gonna start a web site. Lovemachine dot com.""Please drain him dry." Lacy looked ready to explode. She picked up a chair. "Or let me pound him to a pulp."
"No." I grabbed the chair after a little struggle. "Think of the fallout."
"Like me on the Internet doing the wild thing with this dickhead?" She wiped her eyes. "Hey, asshole, you got backup copies of those videos anywhere?" Lacy was nothing if not quick on the uptake, though she obviously was disappointed not to be able to do more violence.
"Laptop too. In case desktop crashes. Don't want to lose them. I was pretty spectacular. Made you scream—" Ryan got another right to the jaw and slumped over this time.
"I bet that felt good." I put my arm around Lacy. "You got a key to his place?"
"It's in his pocket." Lacy shoved her hand into his pants pocket and pulled out a key ring. "I'll go through his car and take everything in the trunk. Then I'll leave the keys in the ignition. It'd be a shame if someone stole that beater."
"Right. Just take his apartment key off the ring."
"Will do." Now that Lacy was a woman with a mission, she'd lost her defeated look and had fire in her eyes. Immortals are resilient. We have to be. 'Cause you know there will be a tomorrow. Might as well make the best of it. "You'll take care of his computers? Both of them?"
"Sure. I know a nice spot on Lake Travis where I can send everything Ryan treasures to hell." She smirked and I had the feeling more than computers were going to a watery grave.
"Good. I'm going to wipe this night from his mind and plant the suggestion that he can't work for Westwood anymore. That he lost his special glasses and there's no such thing as vampires anyway. Plus he has to drop out of school and go home to Houston tonight."
" You're letting him off easy, Blondie." Valdez grabbed the sleeve of Ryan's Brooks Brothers coat and tugged. The rip made Lacy and me smile.
"He's going to be very sad about that." I rubbed the dog's ears. "Get the pants too."
" My pleasure." Valdez shredded the knees of those elegant trousers, then sat back to admire his work. " I'd lift my leg on him, but I don't want to mess up your shop."
"It would almost be worth it." I sat on the table. Damn but I hate being a sucker. Why hadn't I questioned the fact that the perfect clerk had appeared the day I needed him?
"I'm leaving now. You're going to keep Ryan here until I call with the all clear, aren't you?" Lacy's hands were still fisted.
"Maybe I should hit him again."
"And maybe you shouldn't. It might make you feel better, but I want him to go home to Houston sooner rather than later. He can't do that if he ends up in the emergency room." I patted her shoulder. "Head out, Lacy. He'll stay here until I take the whammy off."
"What about the glasses? Do you think they're still recording?" Lacy picked them up and looked at them. "I could toss them in the lake too."
"No, leave them. I think Blade will be interested in the lenses if nothing else. They kept us from controlling Ryan and reading his mind and apparently Westwood and all of his men wear them. You're going to destroy the receiver." I looked them over. "And I bet if I close the ear pieces, the video and audio shut off."
Lacy sighed and looked at Ryan. He was still handsome, even though he looked like he'd lost a fight. He'd have a black eye tomorrow and his beloved suit… it would make a good dust rag.
"I can't believe I was so taken in by him. I should have known…"
"What? You're a beautiful woman, Lacy. Smart. Accomplished. Naturally men are going to come on to you."
"Not beautiful. Not smart. And the only thing I'm accomplished at is turning into a cat that"—she glanced at Valdez—"isn't exactly king of the jungle."
"You sound like you need cheering up. Tomorrow night. Halloween. You and I are going to Damian's party. And we're both going to look so sexy, the men will trip over their tongues pursuing us."
Lacy smiled sadly. "Why not? But what about the store? Now we don't even have Ryan to help out. And I'm sure Derek will be going to the party."
"We'll close the store. One night only. Tuesdays aren't that busy anyway. And we need to hire more help. I'll go next door and see if Diana can recommend anyone."
"Good. Now I'm off to collect and destroy evidence." Lacy had traded sad for mad.