Shadow Wranglers: Slade Part 1

Sarah McCarty.

Shadow Wranglers.

Slade.

For all of you who convinced me.

that cowboys would make good vampires . . .

Thanks!.

1.

SHE wasn't alone.

The inner prompting nudged at Jane again. She turned around and looked over her shoulder for the third time. Arrays of test tubes and carafes, a stainless steel refrigerator, and open-s.p.a.ce units greeted her gaze. Every one of her five senses told her it was just her haunting the lab at the midnight hour, but the sixth sense, the one whose existence she could never justify through a.n.a.lytical methods, was clamoring for attention. Strong enough that if it wasn't for the fact she was living it, she'd think this was a scene from a slasher movie and the bad guy was about to rise up, knife in hand, and strike the blow that would set the tone for the rest of the movie.

She shuddered, too easily imagining the spray of fake blood. It might be time for her to cut back on her movie watching, because for sure, her imagination was going into overdrive. Actually, it had been revving up since she'd gone home tonight and found someone had very carefully gone through her apartment. Ever since, she finally admitted to herself, last year when Trancor had started responding to her, suddenly requiring monthly reports with discreet yet thorough questioning. Now, it was either do or die with the research on which she'd worked so hard.

A bling from her personal laptop snapped her head around. A little fanged smiley face sat on the screen. She frowned more at the leap of excitement than at the interruption. She was entirely too attached to the amorphous man known only to her as Vamp Man.

She didn't need her mind anywhere but where it was right now, and Vamp Man was definitely a distraction. Had been since the day he'd circ.u.mvented the security system on her laptop. A mind capable of that was naturally fascinating. The fact that he had a very dry sense of humor had kept her from cutting him off completely. She had a fondness for hackers. The way their minds worked just naturally meshed with hers. Her job involved hacking parts of the human gene code, so she could appreciate the skill it took to crack computer code.

Vamp Man was a particularly charming hacker. There was something addictive about their interaction, a certain verve to which she looked forward every day. She shook her head as the trickle of unease increased. There was just no shaking the feeling that someone was watching. She checked the lab again. Still nothing untoward, but the hairs on the back of her neck didn't stop crawling.

The bling came again.

You there, sweetness?

After another glance over her shoulder, she typed an answer.

I'm here.

Where's here?

Perhaps she was feeling a false sense of connection, but chatting helped with her nervousness as she waited for the wipe program to load.

The lab.

It took longer than it should for him to answer, and with each pulse of the curser, her inner sense of panic grew.

You alone?

She typed what she feared. I'm not sure.

There was no delay on this response. Get out of there.

The abrupt order fed into her terror. Did he know what she could only sense? How?

The tap of the keys seemed to echo louder as she rapped out the short retort. I can't.

Now.

Why?

The question generated another of those pauses. You're not safe. She glanced around again. How could you know that?

I do. Now move!

The bar at the bottom of the desktop screen reached the end of the box. The wipe program was loaded.

Thank you.

While Jane appreciated Vamp Man's concern, there was no way she could leave. The bits and pieces of information on this lab computer were too sensitive, and the risk that anyone who found the research could put the pieces together and use her work as a deadly weapon wasn't one she was willing to take. She wasn't about killing people, but sometimes discoveries were a double-edged sword.

The laptop beeped for her attention. d.a.m.n it, you're still there, aren't you?

She ignored the question. The wipe process would have been so much easier if she could have had the program installed and waiting, but the company's periodic sweep of the lab computers had made that impossible. She hit the run b.u.t.ton. The whole procedure would take about two hours. She needed at least the first pa.s.s completed before she left. She had to be sure her research was gone. She'd started out hoping to find a way to ease world hunger by maximizing the body's ability to obtain nutrition from not so traditional sources, but along the way she'd discovered the combination of amino acids, proteins and DNA that optimized the nutrition of any food for any specific group of people. But applied in reverse? Those amino acids and proteins attached to specific invasive DNA could easily be a biological weapon that could cause nations to waste away. Specific nations. Specific races Specific families. She shuddered. Trancor's interested had peaked right about the time she'd realized what she was looking at. The laptop blinged two times in rapid succession.

Jane!

Answer me!

Vamp Man was getting antsy. So was she, and there still wasn't any discernible reason for it. Reaching under the desk to the keyboard tray, she turned off the safety on her revolver.

She picked up her soda and then reconsidered. Maybe her problem was that she was drinking too much caffeine. The can settled back on the utilitarian desk with a soft click.

Another bling from her personal laptop. She looked up. Vamp Man had signed off. She felt strangely abandoned. Of all the men she'd known-and there had been quite a few during that punish-herself phase she'd gone through before realizing that as an adult, she was in control-for some reason she'd expected him to have more staying power.

"Just goes to show there's no telling with men."

The sound of her voice blending with the hum of the climate control system only added to the spooky atmosphere. The lab might be her home away from home, but at midnight it did not provide a stay-with-me hug of security, which was utterly ridiculous considering the state-of-the-art security system and the heavily armed guards who roamed the halls. She should feel completely safe.

"There's no telling with women, either."

She spun her chair around at the sound of the low drawl, tinged with a hint of the West. Stopping its rapid spin with her foot, she fumbled behind her for the gun, unable to take her eyes off the man in front of her. One second she'd been alone and now, well now she was staring at the epitome of every woman's dream. The man had the requisite broad shoulders and lean hips of an athlete, but he packed something more compelling than a great physique. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on, but it stole the breath from her lungs and raised the hairs on her forearms in an agony of awareness. Maybe it was the uncompromising masculinity of his harshly squared features. Maybe it was the utter sensuality of the mouth set in that rawly handsome face. Or maybe it was just the way he stared at her with those hazel eyes that wavered between bright green and calm. d.a.m.n, he had strange eyes. Beautiful, but different. She c.o.c.ked her head to the side as the scientist inside her took over. They almost seemed to glow, and within them was an expectation she couldn't quite make out, but maybe if she just looked a little longer ...

He took a step forward. Panic flared as he leaned down, but she couldn't move, couldn't do anything but stare into those fascinating eyes. Metal sc.r.a.ped across metal, and then the heavy weight of the gun pressed into her hand. "Next time, grab the gun before you turn around."

She blinked as he straightened. The logic of his statement sank through the haze clouding her mind, like a rock hitting the still waters of a pond. The ripples of alarm spread outward as she looked down and saw the gun was in her hand. When she looked back up, he was leaning against the opposite table, arms folded across his broad chest, muscles straining the white, heavy cotton of his s.h.i.+rt. The lock of thick brown hair that fell over his forehead just completed the image of total bad boy. She hefted the gun and pointed it toward him. "Thank you."

He didn't even blink as the muzzle centered on his torso. "Why didn't you leave when I told you to?"

It took her a second to process that. "You're Vamp Man?"

He arched his brow at her. "Who else would I be?"

Even in her wildest fantasies about him, she hadn't imagined him looking like this. "Any one of the other billions of people who inhabit the planet."

"But you couldn't logically expect any decent percentage of them to know where you were. I would even go so far as to say not any of them know what you're doing right now."

"You would?"

He motioned to the desktop screen behind her. "Wiping out the corporate hard drive isn't something that's generally smiled upon. Even for the eminently talented and courted researcher Jane Frederickson."

She followed his gaze. The progress was just beginning to register. She pushed the chair until her body blocked his view. A pointless gesture, but it still made her feel better. "And you'd know about this because ..."

"I'm an intelligent being who knows that your work has progressed far beyond what you've let on."

"So?"

"So now it can have a whole different purpose than what was intended."

For a split second the worry she'd been battling for the last year suffocated her in a flood of panic. Had he gotten past her firewalls and false trails? Did he have the information? Quickly behind that came the next thought. What in h.e.l.l will I do if he has? Her finger tightened on the trigger as everything inside her rebelled at the thought of taking a life.

"I also know the possible mutations of your work put you in danger."

"And you've come to save me." As if white knights existed outside fairy tales.

Again that eyebrow winged up. For a simple gesture he seemed to be able to imbue it with several meanings. This time, patient amus.e.m.e.nt. "You're in over your head."

"In an hour I'm not going to be."

"You're not going to get that hour you're counting on."

"Confirming my worst fears is not endearing you to me."

"I'll work on it."

She motioned with the gun. "While you're working on that, why don't you tell me how you got in here without sounding the alarms?"

"I'm a scientist."

"Not an explanation."

His head canted to the side. "I'm good with electronics."

"No one's that good."

"The fact that I'm standing here would argue otherwise."

Yes, it would, which just gnawed the edges of her temper more. She'd insisted on tweaks to some of the security elements herself. Elements she thought plugged the only holes. Yet proof that they hadn't was standing right in front of her. "You're not as interesting in person as you are online."

He actually smiled, revealing even, white teeth. "You're just irked that I got past the security system."

"Not entirely." She was also irked that he was so good-looking. Good-looking men were a faithless lot, and she would have far more preferred he'd had the stereotypical geek look she'd imagined. Someone to whom her own geeky looks might be of interest.

His head lifted and a sudden stillness wrapped around him, as if he were a predator scenting danger. When he glanced down, the green in his eyes was more p.r.o.nounced and the illusion of light in his eyes was stronger. "Pack up your laptop and let's go."

"Let's go? Since when did I give the impression that I'm going anywhere with you?"

"Since Sanctuary just showed up."

She slapped his hand as he reached for her laptop. "Who the h.e.l.l is Sanctuary?"

He kept leaning in. "Men whose acquaintance you do not want to make."

"The guards will stop them."

"Humans are no match for Sanctuary."

He said "human" as if he were speaking of another species. "Humans? You're not delusional are you?"

It would be a shame if he were delusional.

"Not anymore."

Now there was a comfort. "Then I think we can leave security to handle whatever you're worried about."

This close, she couldn't ignore his scent. Crisp, like nightfall tinged with a subtle male musk that wrapped around her senses in a comforting hug. She could breathe in his scent forever. She should push him away. She knew that, but the scent just tempted her so. As did the sense of strength and protection Vamp Man produced. She'd never been protected. Never known the illusion of being safe since her mother had remarried when she was eight. It was as seductive as she'd always dreamed it would be. Vamp Man's hand brushed her hair as her laptop clicked softly closed. "We've got to go, sweetness."

The intimacy lingered after he straightened. "That nickname is more annoying spoken than when typed."

His fingers brushed down her arm with the lightness of amus.e.m.e.nt in his voice. Unplugging the cord from the socket, he said, "I'll keep that in mind."

Only to annoy her more, she was sure. "I'm not leaving."

His arm came around her waist as he straightened. "Yes, you are."

He lifted. She twisted, straining to see the screen on the desktop. The program wasn't fully implemented. Kicking back she grunted, "I need more time."

"For what?"

What did she have to lose with honesty at this point? "For the wipe program to finish. I can't risk them stopping it."

He looked at the computer with the barely there completion bar and let her go, his eyes narrowed and energy focused toward the screen with such intensity she swore she could almost see it.

"What's your sub pa.s.sword?" he asked.

"What makes you think I have a sub pa.s.sword?"