Part 11 (1/2)

”Listen, Convoy, where the f.u.c.k are you? And tell me in English, Kris Kristofferson,” Nina growled, her voice full of anger and a hint of anxious.

”I don't know!” Phoebe yelped. ”But you two better highball it or we're gonna be in the pokey with a smoky!”

”Gigantor? This is Big Mouth. Find her before I rip her fancy salon hair out strand by f.u.c.king strand. Ten-four, good buddy?”

”Listen to me, Phoe, er, Little Mouth. Are you still in the east wing?”

”I don't know and I'm too afraid to look outside this lab.”

”Lab? What lab, honey? There are no labs on the east side of the building,” Sam said with insistence.

Honey? Had he just called her honey? Phoebe fought a full-on preen and tried to focus on anything but what was in the corner of the room. It would be lovely if she were afforded the time to bask in the glow that was Sam's endearment.

But, no-she had this to deal with. In fact, this-this was almost exactly like the time on When the World Turns when Pedro Montoya Federico Salinas had been found in a lab just like this one in an underground bunker in Old San Juan after his maniacal brother-in-law, Shawn Patrick O'Hara, put him in a coma.

She scrunched her eyes shut. ”This is definitely a lab, good buddy. There are all sorts of vials of stuff, beakers, and a microscope and needles. So many needles!”

She could almost see Sam shake his handsome head in disbelief. ”Okay. Stay calm. Is there a door to the lab? Can you see out of it?”

Phoebe slid along the wall in a crablike sweep, keeping her eyes on the door and not the thing in the corner. Pressing the b.u.t.ton on the walkie-talkie, she nodded. ”Yes. There's a window and a big bear right outside it!”

”What the f.u.c.k is a big bear, moron?”

”A security guard!” she hissed, her teeth chattering.

”How did you get into the lab, Little Mouth?” Sam prodded, his voice coaxing.

Oh. That. ”I saw a security guard just as I came up the east side staircase. I must've freaked out and all I could think was I'm going to die in jail while some woman-beast with the t.i.tle The Punisher or b.i.t.c.h Maker beat me into doing her dirty jailhouse deeds. Not to mention, I hear the sheets in the pokey are really harsh on your skin. Then I began to think about my skin and how awful it would be if I couldn't have my coconut oil. I rub that all over my body to keep my skin smooth and glowing. Every single night. Anyway, it just felt worse than death to me-which is shallow and vain, I know, but I couldn't help it. And that put me here. The word death. I think. Anyway, it put me here. In this lab. With-with ...” Oh, Jesus and a dead body, she just couldn't say it.

”With what?” Sam prompted with what sounded like strained impatience.

Phoebe jammed a finger in her mouth to keep from screaming. She would not scream. Nina'd howl with laughter and that just wasn't acceptable. ”With something heinous!”

”Heinous,” Nina said in dry tones from her end. ”What is heinous to Fluffy Barbie? Oh, noes. I bet she just found out her favorite hair gel is used to kill off tsetse flies. Aw, Barbie haz a sad now?”

Phoebe's last nerve disconnected from her sanity, and after much abuse, while she huddled in a corner, she blew her wad all over her walkie-talkie. ”You know what, Big Mouth? That's enough, you mean, ornery, cranky, insulting, angry, b.i.t.c.h of the highest order-you can blow me! Do you hear me? Bloooow. Me. Hard! I'm sick to death of you and your put-upon bulls.h.i.+t. You did this to me. If it weren't for you, I'd have left your offices and probably never looked back, because you're a mean one, viper. I'm here because of you. You-you-you! So get the f.u.c.k off my back, you venomous b.i.t.c.h, and come find me, or I swear to the heavens above, I'm going to beat your a.s.s with a sack of garlic and shower your stank with some holy water! Got that, Ghetto Barbie?” With a huff, she let go of the ”talk” b.u.t.ton and stuck her tongue out at the walkie-talkie, shaking.

There was silence from both parties concerned for a moment, giving Phoebe a moment to peek out the window of the lab and watch wide-eyed as Sam took out the looming security guard with a move she'd only seen in Jackie Chan movies.

Her mouth fell open. Wow. Entomologists were all sorts of kick-a.s.s hot, huh?

Just as Sam pushed his way into the lab, Nina crackled on the walkie-talkie. ”Barbie? That was a d.a.m.n fine rant. One that f.u.c.king would have brought a tear to my eye if not for the fact that I can't cry, but I love to make people cry. Which is exactly what I'm gonna do to you when I get my hands around your scrawny, mouthy neck-”

”Big Mouth!” Sam shouted into the walkie-talkie. ”Shut it and get here now.” He gave Nina directions, pulling Phoebe to his side in a manner so protective it made her want to smile-and cling for dear life.

But she couldn't. Not with that over there in the corner.

Sam was the first to move, striding over to the corner, his hands on his hips. ”What the h.e.l.l is going on?”

Phoebe went to his side, clutching his arm but staying partially behind his broad back. ”How did you find me?”

He rooted in his jean pocket and pulled out a silver clip she'd had to keep her hair up under her mask. It s.h.i.+ned in the eerie light of the lab. ”It must have fallen out when you were teleporting. It was by a door that led to an elevator I've never encountered before. So I took the elevator and pressed the only b.u.t.ton it had. That brought me here.”

Nina burst through the door to come up short behind them, skidding to a halt. ”Who flattened the security guard?” she asked.

”Sam did,” Phoebe couldn't help but gush. ”It was like something out of a movie. He went all Bruce Lee on the guy. How did you learn to do that?”

He flapped a dismissive hand. ”Took some karate lessons a long time ago. Plus, I am a vampire, right? All big and strong. It wasn't hard. We have other things to worry about right now.”

”Holy f.u.c.k,” Nina muttered. ”Leave it to you to find something like this, princess.”

Sam was the first to lean against the gurney.

The gurney with the dead body on it.

Covered in a sheet with nothing but the toes sticking out at the end of the bed, the outline it made was small, and probably female, if the red-painted toenails were any indication.

”Again, I ask, what the h.e.l.l is going on? We make pest control, for Christ's sake.” He peered under the bed and Phoebe followed his eyes as he scanned the countertops.

”What are we looking for?”

Sam shrugged. ”Something-anything. Paperwork, maybe? I don't know. There's no computer anywhere-so clearly, they've just stowed the body here. Seems to me if they're really performing tests on human subjects, they'd have lab results, right? We need to see them. Maybe I can decipher what they're giving them.”

As the horror of what she was seeing began to seep in, Phoebe found she had to will herself not to crumble.

Nina nudged her hard. ”Hang tight, gra.s.shopper. The last thing we need is for you to pa.s.s out.”

Phoebe instantly straightened. As though on autopilot, she moved from behind Sam and went to the side of the gurney to begin searching the few cabinets on the wall as Nina began to sift through the paperwork on the various work surfaces.

Sam was the first to say what Phoebe was dreading. ”We need to know who this is.”

Each of the women stopped cold in their tracks when Sam's fingers went to the sheet that covered the body. Phoebe closed her eyes, then forced them open. She would not hide from this. No. This was a head-on kind of thing. No matter what, she was going to be conscious when and if they found out what had made them different than all the other vampires. If the answer lay in a dead body and O-Tech shenanigans, then so be it.

Sam's long fingers, pale and strong, pulled the sheet back, folding it to the body's waist. Nina leaned in, sniffing her for the scent of what they most feared. She nodded soberly with a curt bow of her head. ”Yep. She's vampire. d.a.m.n it,” she spat. Straightening, she stepped away from the gurney, pinching the bridge of her nose.

And that left Phoebe not so sure she was as all about the brave like she had been just seconds ago. She stumbled backward, knocking over a silver tray of gadgets, yet she couldn't tear her eyes away.

Sam was instantly at her side, gripping her at the waist. ”Phoebe? What's wrong?”

Oh, G.o.d.

OhmyG.o.d.

Nina grabbed her hand and squeezed it, giving her a good shake. ”Phoebe, what the h.e.l.l?”

Fear held her tongue. Terror rose and fell in waves of p.r.i.c.kly heat along her spine.

Sam stood in front of her, blocking her view of the body. He cupped her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his. ”Phoebe, talk to me, sweetheart.”