“That’s bad news. You think he knows you saw him with the pistol? That could change his timetable for retaliation.”

  “I doubt it. He doesn’t know I can see in the dark, and into shadows during daytime. And he’s much more likely to set me, or you, up cold, out on some isolated stretch of road where there are no witnesses to the hit.”

  “Anyplace but at home, right? Like after you drop me off? Be careful, Lee. Making yourself a target, even with your capabilities, is still a very dangerous strategy.”

  “I’m equally worried about you, Diane.”

  “As much as the thought makes me want to barf, I think Glover would want to get close, put his hands on me first—before killing me. He’s a sadist.”

  “And apparently a good strategist. He’s seen now that we’re not pushovers, so he’s going to try and come up with a plan, not just straightforward and direct. He may try to use one of us to get to the other,” he said.

  “I can’t see in the dark, or jump onto roofs, or tip over cars like you, but if the bastard gets close to me again, I’ll blow his head off or poke out his eyes. He’s a human, not a …”

  They didn’t even like to use the word “vampire,” knowing how easily bugs could be planted in cars, and how electronics could pick up conversations hundreds of yards away. They were passing the ranger station in Tijeras now, and Howard’s was just a quarter mile away.

  “Keep in mind that anyone we talk to around here could be an informant for Glover—Mike and Earl included,” Lee said. “I wish you could carry a second, backup pistol.”

  “If I did, it would pretty much give away the fact that I’m in law enforcement. The little three-eighty and the pocketknife will have to do until I lose this hottie disguise.”

  “Let’s find you a denim jacket with inside pockets.”

  “Great for up at the house and at nights, but in the store, all I have to hide behind is the apron.” She paused, then added, “I can get a pair of those parachute pants with all kinds of actual pockets. Why didn’t I think of that before?”

  “I remember the days when there were army-navy stores all over the place. Give me the size and details. I’ll get our contacts in the city to find a pair and send them to the house, next-day delivery, or maybe drive them up to the store, if they can get them there before you leave.”

  “Thanks.”

  Lee drove up into the parking lot. There were four cars in the close slots, so he turned to find another space.

  “Just let me out here. Anna has her hands full, it looks like. I’ll see you this evening, earlier if necessary.”

  Lee gave her hand a squeeze. “Be careful.”

  “You, too, Lee. ’Bye.” She climbed out of the SUV, having to use the narrow excuse for a running board. Diane was short, barely five-five, though her punkish hairstyle added another four inches, perhaps.

  She waved, then walked quickly to the entrance. Lee waited a second until she was inside, then turned around and drove back onto the highway again. He’d already blown off the idea of pretending to be a silversmith, at least for now. There was real business to attend to. He put the headset on his cell phone so he’d have both arms free, and reached down and felt the 9 mm Beretta in his jacket pocket. Beside it was a small plastic bottle of sunblock, equally important to him on a bright afternoon.

  Glover’s loaner Jeep wasn’t parked at his place on Quail Run, and it appeared he wasn’t at home. Lee checked their own video surveillance system, noted that nobody had been inside while he was gone, then reset it. Then his cell phone rang. It was Captain Terry.

  “Leo, we’ve been getting excellent cooperation from local departments and the feds, and plainclothes officers have been sent to all of Brian Sully’s properties. At your suggestion, they’re using the cover of a fugitive search. But nobody has admitted seeing Sully today. We have a Code Five out on him—locate and place him under surveillance, but do not approach or apprehend. The only address we haven’t sent a team to is that residential cabin in the East Manzanos up by Fourth of July Canyon. The watch commander for the sheriff’s department has a couple of deputies on the way right now, but we haven’t heard in from them yet.”

  “They using the same cover story?”

  “Not quite. They’re really looking for the missing Klein boy, but are being asked to check a list of other homes in the area, as well. They don’t know Sully is the specific target, or that we may have a reason to put him on the suspect list. But they’re under orders to report which residences are vacant when they stop by—per visit—and Sully’s first on their list. It he’s at home, I’ll get a call via the sheriff’s dispatcher, and I’ll relay the word to you.”

  “Good. Wherever he turns up, I want to hear about it ASAP,” Lee said.

  “Planning on putting him under surveillance?”

  “Yes, and maybe more.” Lee smiled to himself as soon as he spoke. He now had plans for Officer Andrea Moore.

  Fifteen minutes later, after getting a call, Lee was on the road heading south, essentially paralleling the mountain range to his right. The popular hiking and camping area called Fourth of July Canyon—probably because of the brilliant fall colors from aspens and scrub oaks, as well as pine—was about halfway down the Manzano range.

  There were dirt and graveled roads leading off, usually pretty straight and perpendicular to the highway where it was flat enough to construct such a route. Invariably these roads led to one or more private residences for people with the resources and personalities needed to live in an area only now beginning any serious development. The older homes were the modern equivalent of homesteaders, though they more often were retirees or employees at large or small businesses than serious farmers or ranchers. There was livestock out here, of course, but more often it consisted of chickens, goats or sheep, or maybe a horse or two.

  The street signs were usually there, but sometimes hand lettered on graying wood instead of enamel on metal. Lee spotted the dusty road that led to Sully’s house from a distance. Monarch Lane began in an area resembling a prairie—nothing but short grass and gentle slopes—but farther to the west the foothills popped up quickly, and the first junipers and piñons were visible from the highway. Beyond that the forest began.

  He turned in, slowly, looking at the tire tracks. The last two vehicles out had gone north—the deputies—so Sully was probably still at home. About fifty feet down the road was a wide spot with a single mailbox and a newspaper tube, and as Lee passed it by, he could see where the postal carrier always turned his vehicle around. He stopped, looking far ahead, trying to see if any vehicles were coming his way from Sully’s cabin, located a few miles west, if his information was correct.

  He’d passed the two sheriff’s department units coming north just three minutes ago and, after that, he’d watched oncoming traffic. Sully was driving a white Toyota Camry, but the only vehicles Lee had encountered were a forest service pickup in the opposite lane, and a big UNM SUV headed south, full of what appeared to be college kids. It figured, since there was an observatory on Capilla Peak, southwest of his location.

  According to State Police Captain Kelly, the deputies had found Sully at the cabin, chopping wood, but there was no sign of any child there. They’d called it in as ordered, then proceeded to their next stop.

  Lee drove closer, ever aware of the need to make sure he didn’t expose his vehicle to Sully if the man drove by. Lee found a gully that would hide the SUV from the road, then topped off his sunblock and left the vehicle on foot.

  The forest here was thin, in transition from grasses to taller plants, and the trees were naturally smaller and farther apart. Ahead, as the elevation increased, Lee could see that they were closer and taller. Moving from the shade of one tree quickly to the shadow of another, Lee stopped when he heard a thump. When he heard another, he recognized the sound of an axe striking wood. If Sully was guilty of taking the boy, he’d kept his cool and continued his work.

  The forest was all around him now as Lee got close enough to see, so he decided to wait in a deeply shaded spot. When the entire area became enveloped in deep shadows, close to sunset, then it would be time for his next move.

  Lee met Diane at the highway beside Sully’s mailbox at 7:30. The sun was west and behind the mountains, and everything was shaded now. He’d lived in the eastern foothills of a mountain range a lifetime ago. He’d been married to his Annie back then and had trusted her with his secret. He could remember every detail of those special late afternoons they’d spent outside together, sharing nature at a time when she could see clearly and move around freely with him.

  “Hey, Lee. Tell me about this plan of yours,” Diane said, bringing him back to the present as she pulled up beside him and spoke from her open window.

  “While I’m doing that, let’s get your truck out of sight in case Sully decides to leave home before his visitor shows up.” He walked around and climbed into the passenger side. “Just go up the road, slowly, and I’ll show you where to turn off.”

  “I’m not the visitor?” Diane drove slowly west up the dirt road, keeping an eye out for potholes. This was a private road and it hadn’t been graded since the last thunderstorm or two, obviously.

  “No. Turns out Officer Moore—Andrea’s her first name—busted Sully on that solicitation charge, and she remembers that case well enough to want to check this guy out further concerning the missing boy.

  “Turn here. The ground is solid enough. Just follow my tracks,” Lee continued and pointed as they arrived at the spot where she’d be leaving the road.

  “Better take over. It’s too dark for me to see that well, and I don’t want to turn on the headlights.”

  “Wanna climb over me?” Lee slid closer, then scrunched back in the seat.

  “Yeah, but I’ll go around instead,” she said, then chuckled as she climbed out the driver’s side. Lee moved over to take the wheel, and Diane climbed in where he’d been sitting before.

  “One can hope,” Lee mumbled. “Ready?”

  She nodded, so he drove down into the arroyo in low gear, moving about fifty feet, then climbed out into a grove of pines and parked beside the SUV.

  “Nice hidey-hole. Can’t see the road, and can’t see this alleged cabin. Where is it from here?” Diane asked.

  Lee pointed. “That direction, about a quarter mile. I don’t think he could have heard the pickup. The wind is blowing from the west, down slope. I could hear him chopping wood all the way from here earlier today.”

  “Lee, you could hear a piñon jay on the western slopes.”

  “Not quite. But he is listening to a radio talk show right now.”

  “Idiot. I can’t hear a thing.”

  They both climbed quietly out of the truck, then Diane followed him through the forest, uphill, for nearly five minutes. He stopped, motioned to the grassy slope, then sat down. She joined him, breathing heavily. She hadn’t gone climbing at this altitude for a long time, apparently, though she was in good physical shape.

  “Hear it now?” he whispered, gesturing with his thumb to the left.

  She sat there a moment, tuning out the chirps, rustles, and hops of birds fluttering around in the branches above them, and the sound of rustling leaves. Then she heard a voice, faintly. Diane nodded.

  “We’ll move up close enough to see the cabin and his white Toyota, then hide out and watch for Officer Moore. If she manages to get him agitated or nervous, he may make a move to check on the boy—if he actually has him—when she leaves. She’s a hard-ass cop. If anyone can rattle him, she can.”

  “Got to meet her. Sounds like my aunt Linda.”

  “She’s not a cop, is she?”

  “Worse than that. She’s my godmother.”

  “I’m not sure I want to meet Aunt Linda.”

  “Smart cop. You still planning on checking out the place even if he doesn’t take Officer Moore’s bait?”

  “Got to. We need to know if the Klein boy is hidden somewhere around here. My worst fear is that Timothy might already be dead and buried. If Sully takes off, it may just mean that he’s decided to run for his life.”

  “We’ll stick to the plan then, unless he does something unexpected,” she said with a nod. “Is Officer Moore going to be safe going in there alone?”

  “I checked up on her. She’s a capable officer and her experience with youth gangs has placed her in tough company. Andy knows not to turn her back on anyone, and she’s going in with full uniform and vest.”

  “Andy? And you two only had one date.”

  “Lunch. Business. Professional. Nearly as tough as you. Maybe it’s the uniform and the short ’do she has. I think she respects what she’s heard about me—and you—in the news.”

  “Because we’ve been kicking vampire and shapeshifter ass?”

  He smiled, shaking his head. Nobody was more fun to be around than Diane Lopez. “Shall we?”

  Lee stood and held out his hand. She reached over and grabbed it and let him pull her up. Diane held his hand with a tight grip as he led her through the twilight toward Sully’s place.

  They finally settled in behind a fallen tree, with a clear view of Brian Sully’s cabin. It was actually a metal, pitched-roof cottage with blue-stained wooden siding and an enclosed front porch occupying one end of the rectangular structure. The house was built into the hillside on a stone foundation, and was off the ground enough on the porch end to require six wooden steps. No storage building was visible, but there was a small pump house where a well provided water. Lee had heard it start up earlier a few times. Though a stone fireplace was built in at the end opposite the porch, a propane tank provided reliable gas for a stove.

  There didn’t appear to be any electrical lines leading to the home, so, although the lights could be gas-powered, any electricity inside was probably coming from a generator, perhaps in a basement.

  “Cozy,” Diane whispered.

  Lee felt the vibration of his cell phone and opened up the receiver. He read the text message: “set2go.”

  He entered “k,” sent the message, and waited. A similar response came back: “k.”

  “Officer Moore is coming up the road,” Lee confirmed.

  Diane nodded, then reached into her jacket and brought out a pair of binoculars. “For the night-vision impaired.”

  Five minutes passed, then a small, imported SUV came into view, pulling up beside Sully’s Toyota. As Lee and Diane watched from cover, they saw Sully looking outside from beside a curtain in the front room. There was a low murmur, then a bright floodlight came on, illuminating the grounds and the two vehicles.

  “Bingo. The generator,” Diane said softly.

  Officer Moore, in her dark blue Albuquerque Police Department uniform, kept the engine running for a moment and examined the grounds and edge of the house with a floodlight beside her side mirror, then turned off the light and vehicle engine.

  She stepped out of the vehicle just as Brian Sully crossed his screened-in porch and walked halfway down the front steps.

  “What’s going on, Officer?”

  “You Brian K. Sully?”

  “That depends. Who are you, and what are you doing here?”

  “I’m Officer Moore of the Albuquerque Police Department. Remember me, Sully?” She took off her cap.

  “Should I?”

  “I used to work vice. Tight jeans, halter top, short hair, figure like a boy. You offered to pay me for a blow job one night.”

  “Oh. That Officer Moore. That unfortunate incident was my first and only experience with the seedy side of life. I showed up in court and paid my fine. Check my records. What are you doing here, anyway? Isn’t this one mountain range beyond your jurisdiction, Officer?”

  “I’m doing some off-duty checks for other agencies, Mr. Sully. There’s a ten-year-old child missing somewhere in the East Mountain area. Timothy Klein. He may have been kidnapped.”

  “I heard. Of course, maybe he just got lost out there somewhere while hiking. Either way, I have a business in the canyon, and me and my employees have been keeping our eyes open.”

  “What do you believe happened?”

  “Who knows? The parents are divorced, aren’t they, and the papers said they’re in the middle of a court battle over control of their business. Maybe one of them is hiding the kid from the other. Revenge—leverage. Couples get pretty ugly when they break up.”

  “Maybe, but that’s not my concern. My job is to rule out the perverts who abuse children. So I’m following up on anyone I’ve arrested in the past who showed an unhealthy interest in young boys and girls.”

  “Hey, I knew you were a woman. Old enough, too. You just happened to catch my eye. Don’t blame me. It was entrapment. I remember you looked hot that night.”

  “Yeah, right. I looked thirteen, that’s what got your attention. The other cops said I looked like a boy in drag.”

  “Now you’re trying to make me say things that just aren’t true. If you don’t leave, I’m going to file harassment charges. Wait until my lawyer hears about this. You have a tape recorder on? You’re on private property without a warrant, you know, and you have no authority here.”

  “Would I call you a perverted asshole in a fruity beach boy shirt if I was recording, Sully? You’re just pissing in your pants, afraid of getting caught. I bet that little boy is locked up in your basement right now. God, I wish I had a search warrant. I’d have your ass in jail by nine P.M.”

  “Screw the warrant. Go ahead, search everything, top to bottom. Dig up the forest, too. Then get the hell off my property and go do some real police work instead of harassing innocent citizens minding their own business.”

  “Now you’ve pushed your luck, Sully. I’m calling your bluff. I’m going to search this dump from top to bottom right now. Here’s a frigging release. Sign it if you’ve got any balls left dangling.”