The Guilty Innocent (4 page)

“Hello, and welcome to
Devine’s
where you're treated like royalty. How may I help you today?” she asked in a cheery voice. Her blonde hair flowed down her back, her blue eyes sparkled.

“Well, I'm looking for a friend of mine, I want to know if you've seen her. Her name is Annette Balfour?” I asked in a hopeful tone as I showed her Annette's picture.

The lady seemed to be searching her memory, trying to put the name with a face. To my disappointment, she began to shake her head.

“No ma'am, I'm new here, So I'm not quite familiar with the regular clientele yet. But you can ask Clair, she may know something,” the hostess said, then pointed to a tall woman with red hair dressed in a red skirt and low-cut black top. “Is there anything else I could do for you?” she asked in the same cheery voice.

I shook my head. “No, thanks for your help.” I walked over to Clair.

She turned and looked at me. “Hello, Can I help you?” She asked in the same cheery voice as the hostess.

“I sure hope so.” I gave her the photo of Annette. I waited a few seconds for her to notice who was in the photograph. “Have you seen her around here in the past forty-eight hours?”

She shook her head before answering. Her eyes looked up at me. “I'm afraid not. She hasn't been here in about three weeks. Is there anything else I can help you with?” she asked as she returned the photograph.

“No. Thank you.” I glanced at Warren, he had stepped away, walking a little further into the spa, trying to catch Annette's scent. “Warren?” I asked, he turned around and started walking towards me.

“Nothing?” he asked, I shook my head, we left.

The next place we went to was a restaurant. Annette had taken me to this restaurant about six months ago, she loved the food they served. I must agree, the food was delicious, just a little too costly for my wallet. We walked into the restaurant and were immediately greeted by another hostess.

“Welcome to
Sandy's,
will it be a table for two? Smoking or nonsmoking?” she asked, while holding two menus.

I took the picture of Annette out of my purse and handed it to the hostess, who looked at it.

“Have you seen this woman?” I asked as she further examined the photo.

I watched her eyebrows crease, then to my despair, she began to shake her head. She handed me the photo, then asked if we wanted to sit down. I shook my head and watched as Warren sniffed out the restaurant. Once again, he did not catch a fresh scent of Annette's presence. We left the restaurant and drove on, visiting several more places where some of the employees had not seen Annette for some time, while others did not recognize her at all. After a few hours of searching, Warren was beginning to get hungry, even though he had eaten breakfast earlier. I was also starting to feel the pangs of hunger as well. So we stopped at my favorite fast food restaurant,
Pirates of the Caribbean.
I ordered a cheeseburger and fries with a diet pop, and Warren special ordered three triple-gyro-cheeseburgers, each the size of a saucer, two large fries, one large-size onion rings and an extra large strawberry milkshake. I looked at the spread of food, I could not believe my eyes, could he really eat all that? I decided to ask him.

“Are you going to eat
all that,
Warren?” I asked as I gawked at the triple-gyro-cheeseburger he shoved into his mouth, taking a large bite. He smiled at me as he nodded his head, his lips greasy from the burger. He wiped his mouth with a napkin then took a few swallows from his milkshake.

“Shape-shifters have a high metabolism,” he began after he swallowed. “We burn fat and carbs faster than you can imagine. Our bodies are like engines, we constantly need refueling. So...” He held up his burger, saluting me, before shoving it into his mouth a second time.

By looking at the burger, I reckoned he would be done with it in three more bites. I shook my head in disbelief before finishing off my own meal. Warren finished his meal three minutes later, a pretty amazing record if you ask me. We left to continue our search until the sun had set completely then we decided to go to
Desires Unleashed.
Warren wanted to sniff around and I wanted to ask more questions.

When we arrived at the club, as always, there was a line of party-seekers waiting to get in. We walked past them to the entrance. The bouncer let us in, but not before giving Warren a disdainful glance. Warren tensed just a bit and I decided to inform the bouncer that Warren was a friend. I did not know if the bouncer thought that Warren was my date or not, but I did not want any complications, he looked at me then nodded as he stepped to the side allowing us to walk past him. I looked around the club. To my surprise, the dance area was packed, it was not yet eight o'clock in the evening and the club was packed.
Darian must be making a killing in profits!
We walked through the energetic dancers to the bar. I called to the bartender, he was tall and his muscular chest tapered down to his narrow waist, which was more than complimented by his tight black leather vest and pants ensemble, his long blonde hair was tied in a ponytail. His features were very masculine but also extremely pretty at the same time. He looked at me with deep ocean blue eyes and his full, sensuously shaped lips parted in a smile and revealed sparkling white teeth. He was remarkably beautiful.

“What can I get for you?” he asked in a soft but masculine voice.

“Have you seen Annette Balfour, she's the assistant day manager. Has she come in recently?” I asked, watching his face carefully, looking for the slightest change in expression. His lips pursed, then he shook his head.

“You know, Annette hasn't been here in two days,” his expression grew serious. “I suppose we can rule out her quitting if you're here looking for her.”

He looked at me, my despair must have shown on my face, because he offered to call Xavier or Darian. I thanked him and waited for one or the other to come. Warren searched the club, just as he did with the other places we had visited. I turned around on the barstool and saw Xavier approaching me. He was wearing a black ribbed turtleneck and grey slacks, his shoulder length brown hair was in a single french braid. His grey eyes seemed to come to life as he came closer.

“Hello darling,” he said as he took my hand into his, kissing me lightly on the left cheek.

“Xavier, I'm worried about Annette, she hasn't come home, nor has she called! I've called hospitals and done everything I can possibly think of to see if anyone has seen her! I don't know what else to do!” I said, bypassing the pleasantries. I began to cry. I could feel myself coming apart at the seams. Xavier took me into this arms, holding me closely to his chest, his hands stroked my hair, trying to calm me down.

“Shhh, Natasha, we'll find her. Come on, let's go someplace private,” Xavier said.

“I've searched this area, I have her scent but that does not really account for anything since she works here...hi Xavier.” Warren said as he approached us. He had sniffed out the entire dance area. To my dismay, what he said made sense, her scent was a part of the nightclub.

“Hello Warren,” Xavier returned the greeting. “Look, I suggest that we go to Darian's office and discuss this further.” We agreed.

The three of us went upstairs to Darian's office, taking the employees-only pathway. Darian was sitting at his desk when we walked into his office. He was dressed in a smoke grey dress shirt and matching slacks. I could see the form of his impressive physique beneath the fabric. Had I not been under so much stress, I would have enjoyed the view more thoroughly. He was speaking Japanese to someone on the telephone. I had an idea that he could speak other languages, I just never asked him which ones he spoke. I bet Xavier knew other languages as well. Darian ended his conversation and rose, he walked around the desk towards me. He nodded once at Warren, then took me in his warm embrace. He had fed earlier, vampires are as warm as humans after they have fed. Xavier told me once that living blood reanimates a vampire's body, even granting them the ability to have erections!

“Natasha, I've spoken with my other employees and no one remembers seeing Annette leave with anyone.” Darian said, as he gazed into my teary eyes.

“Oh Darian, this is making me sick to my stomach...where is she!” I exclaimed. I was frustrated, my mind was tormented by the worst kind of images one could imagine.
Where was Annette!?
My chest felt tight and my head hurt. Darian said nothing as he consoled me. The silence was interrupted when Warren's pager went off. All eyes locked onto him as he looked at his pager, he frowned, then pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. We continued to watch him, not giving him a moments privacy.

“Hey Matt, you paged me, what's up?” Warren asked his partner. So now we all knew who paged him. “What!?” Warren exclaimed. “You've got to be fucking kidding me!? Now, right now? I can't fucking believe this! Okay, okay, thanks.” Warren hung up the phone, he looked at Darian. As he began to speak, he was interrupted when Darian's phone beeped and a female voice came over the intercom speaker.

“Master, S.U.I.T. officers are downstairs.” The secretary announced then fell silent. Darian walked over to his desk, and picked up the handset.

“Tell me,” he said.

I could see him frown slightly. Okay, no one was getting any good news tonight.

“I see...well...let them come.” Darian said then he hung up the telephone.

“I heard everything, what in the hell is going on?” Xavier asked, walking closer to Darian.

“What's going on?” I asked, I was completely confused. I looked to Warren, as I was walking towards him, the door flew open and a team of S.U.I.T. officers rushed into the office. They were all dressed in black fatigues, their ultraviolet guns pointed at Darian and Xavier, as he was standing next to Darian.

“Alright, just stay right where you are, don't fucking move! You move, we shoot, got that?” said one of the uniformed officers as he slowly approached Darian, aiming the tiny red laser of his gun at Darian's forehead.

“What is the meaning of this?” Darian asked calmly. He stood beside Xavier, his back straight, shoulders broad.

“We have found a body of a woman in the trunk of your car, Darian Alexander. She was reported missing and someone called in a clue where she could be found. You are under arrest for the suspicion of murder,” said the officer. All the other officers on the team stood silently around the office, keeping their weapons locked on the two vampires.

“We could do this two ways, the nice way...the more entertaining way...” he said as he motioned for two officers to flank Darian. “You can resist allowing us to take you out where you stand, or number two, you can come quietly with us, and await your trial, it's up to you. What's it gonna be!?” he asked. I could see his finger squeeze the trigger of his gun slightly. One of the officers that stood between Warren and me, whispered to Warren, he wanted to know why Warren was present.

“I'm helping out a friend.” Warren said, pointing to me. I looked back at Darian.

“There's no need for violence, gentlemen. I'll go quietly.” Darian said. “Can I at least see the body that was planted in my automobile?” he asked calmly, as he made his way towards the arresting officers.

“Are you fucking kidding?” asked the leader of the team sarcastically. “You can see the pictures when we're done, I'll even get you the wallet size, now let's go!” the cocky officer said as he cleared a way for Darian. The other officers flanked Darian as they headed out of the office. Xavier looked to be as confused as Warren and I.

Who was in Darian s trunk?

I looked at Warren, I wanted to know. “Warren, what's going on?” I asked sternly. Warren looked down at me, his expression was pained.

“Annette is dead, Natasha. It was her body found in Darian's car.” I stared at him in shocked silence, not wanting to believe what I'd just heard. “I'm so sorry,” he said as he took my trembling body into his arms. No longer could I hold back the tears, my fears were realized.

“NOOOO!” I screamed as my knees buckled. I felt Xavier wrap his arms around me from behind. Both he and Warren supported me, but I was barely aware of their presence. I stood there, crying my heart out. I could hardly breathe, I was blinded by the tears as they flowed uncontrollably from my eyes. Xavier lifted me in his arms and placed me gently on the black sofa, he kneeled down before me, though he remained silent. I was overwhelmed with emotion and questions. Who would do such a thing? I knew in my heart that it could not have been Darian, He would never do such a thing to Annette. He must have been set up...but who would set him up?