"Even though it may not be related?"

"The cause of death may not be known, but everything else is the same." He shrugged. "I guess they're not taking chances."

I grunted and opened the screen door. Kade rapped his knuckles on the sturdy-looking front door. The sound echoed inside, suggesting the house was empty. He knocked a second time, then dug out his electronic lock pick. The door clicked open, and the air that rushed out was filled with the stench of death and decay.

I wrinkled my nose and tried breathing through my mouth. "I'm guessing that not only isn't the housemate staying here, but she didn't find her straight away?"

"No. She'd just come back from a two month holiday. Initial reports suggest Crowley died at least a month ago."

"Well before Renatta Bailey, then."

I followed Kade inside, but didn't shut the door behind us. The house desperately needed some fresh air. We made our way down through the living room and small kitchen area to the back of the house, following the smell. It led us into a small hall at the rear of the house, past a large bedroom and bathroom, before dumping us into second, smaller bedroom.

Janette Crowley's taste in furnishings was the polar opposite to Renatta Bailey's. Her bed was a single, and the rumpled sheets and blankets looked threadbare and worn. The dresser and side tables were teak but both had seen better days, as had the small writing desk that sat underneath the half-window. The smell of decay had permeated the room, and I very much doubted there'd be much in the way of emotions lingering, let alone a soul.

I stopped near the doorway, desperately trying to ignore the smell as I watched Kade move through the room, his large form dominating the space.

"Nothing," he said after a moment. He glanced over his shoulder. "You?"

I shook my head. "It's been a month. Most souls tend to lose energy after a few days, so even if she was here, I might not be able to sense her."

He frowned and turned around, his gaze sweeping the room. "Jack would have known that, so why bother sending you in the first place?"

"Because I keep doing the unexpected, and he's hoping for an easy way to solve the puzzle." I shrugged - a movement he wouldn't have seen because he was walking towards a mirror on the wall.

"It's opposite the bed, just like the one at Renatta Bailey's," I commented.

"That was my thinking." He lifted the mirror and looked behind it. "I can't sense anything, but as you said, it's been a month."

My gaze swept the room, spotting a purse on the dresser. Wrinkling my nose against the overwhelming stench of death, I walked across and picked it up. Surprise, surprise, more vampire club business cards inside.

"We have a connection," I said, holding up the cards. "You know, it seems a little odd that blood whores have now come up as a connection in two apparently separate cases."

Kade dropped the mirror and walked over. He plucked the cards from my fingers and examined them critically. "The beheadings just happened near a whore club. And none of these women appear to have gone near Dante's."

"Just because they haven't got a card doesn't mean they haven't visited. And at least two of the beheading victims serviced 'clients' at Dante's." Given the propensity of cases to intertwine in the past, I wasn't about to ignore a possible link now. Not if it meant a quick end to one or both of the cases.

Of course, to discover if either of the women had gone to Dante's, I'd have to go question the man himself - and that wasn't something I wanted to do. The man was sexual dynamite, and I really didn't want to take my chances with him any more than necessary.

"I can't sense any sort of magical or emotional tag on the cards, so I don't think they're connected." Kade handed them back to me, then shoved his hands in his pocket, his expression one of frustration. "There has to be more of a connection between these women than just the clubs."

My gaze went to the bed, and I frowned. "Maybe there is. Let's presume Crowley died the exact same way as Bailey. So if she'd been found early enough, there would have been a feeling of ecstasy in the room, would there not?"

"Yes."

"Well, emo vampires feed off that sort of emotion, don't they?"

He frowned. "Yeah, but emo vampires can't travel through mirrors. "

"That we know of." I met the warm chocolate of his gaze. "Even if they can't, they're still vampires and still territorial. The first murder was on Vinny's turf. She'd surely be aware of someone encroaching."

I'd discovered Vinny's existence a while back, and she was currently under observation, thanks to the fact her wealth was growing extraordinarily fast and because she had several underage, unidentified newly-turned under her care. The Directorate - and the council, apparently - didn't like having unknowns in their midst.

"Then we'd best go talk to her."

I grinned. "And wouldn't Vinny just love you? Which is why we'd better split up. I'll talk to Vinny. You go investigate these clubs." I waved the business cards at him.

He raised his eyebrows. "You don't trust my control?"

"No, I don't trust Vinny. Her aura is so powerful she had me kissing her, and I'm definitely not attracted to women. You'd be putty in her hands."

His lips twisted cheekily. "I'm never putty when I'm in someone's hands. As you should know."

My grin widened. "I do remember that fact quite fondly."

He stepped forward, wrapping a hand around my waist and dragged me against his long, strong body. "Care for a refresher?"

The stallion was already half rampant. I sighed wistfully then shook my head. "I'm afraid I have enough men on my plate at the moment."

"Such a shame," he murmured, and bent to give me a quick kiss on the lips. It was a friend's kiss, not one shared by lovers. He was teasing, not actively trying to seduce.

Still, it wouldn't have taken much to flare into something more serious, so I pulled free of his grip and stepped back. "I'll meet you back at the Directorate, then."

"One of these days, I'm going to break down those barriers and enjoy that luscious body of yours once more."

"In your dreams, my friend."

"Oh, you don't want to know about my dreams, trust me on that." Kade walked past me and headed for the front door.

I trailed along behind, enjoying the view. I might not be able to touch, but that didn't mean I couldn't look. And he always did wear jeans extremely well.

Once in my car, I zoomed into the main road traffic, then clicked the comlink in my ear and said, "Hello, hello, anyone there ?"

"Unlike some who shall not be named, I do not slack off." Benson's deep tones were dry. He'd obviously been taking lessons from Sal. "What can I do for you, Riley?"

"Did Jack pass on a request for an information search on a Luke Johnson?"

"Yes, and I've done it. He's human."

"He's also a possible source of information. I need his details."

"Patching them through now. Anything else?"

The onboard beeped as the information came through. I glanced at it briefly, then said, "Did you get any hits on the other man?"

"Nothing yet. We're currently going through license information."

"Thanks, Benson."

"My pleasure," he said, and signed off.

I transferred Johnson's address to the nav computer and drove across town to his place.

Luke Johnson, it turned out, was a dead end in more ways than one. He opened the door naked, and his scrawny body stank of booze, cigarettes and sex. His neck was littered with the scars of old vampire bites and there was an unhealthy, sallow look to his skin - suggesting he was indulging in his drug of choice a little too often.

"Yeah," he said, squinting blue eyes and leaning forward slightly, as if he was having trouble seeing me.

"Luke Johnson?" I flashed my badge. "Did you visit Dante's club two nights ago?"

He frowned and gripped the doorframe a little tighter, though it didn't seem to help stop his swaying. "I think so. Why?"

"Do you remember talking to this woman?"

I took out a photo of Mandy and held it up. He leaned forward, squinting harder. "Yeah. She's not a vamp."

"No, she isn't. What did you talk to her about?"

"Thought she was a vamp, didn't I?" He teetered backwards, his vice like grip on the door and the frame the only things holding him upright. "She wasn't."

"Did you talk to her about anything else."

"No. Found me a vamp, didn't I?"

Which left me with Kye, and he'd already denied talking to the woman about the vampire found dead outside the club.

So why would he lie? Because he obviously was. I'd seen the cash in Mandy Jones' wallet and had found no lie - or psychic interference - in her thoughts or memories.

"Thanks for your help, Mr. Johnson."

He nodded and closed the door. His footsteps meandered away, going back to whoever was sharing his bed. I could only feel sorry for them.

I went back to my car and headed over to Vinny's.

She still lived in one of those high-rise brick and glass buildings that the government had insisted on building some fifty years ago. The intention had been to relieve the low-income housing crisis, but the resulting buildings were neither pretty nor truly functional. Add tenants who hadn't really given a damn about the place, and you were basically left with a large hovel. One with many smashed windows and doors, and decorated by multi-colored graffiti.

Vinny's building had been vacated by both the government and the real tenants years ago, and according to recent Directorate records, she'd bought the building outright. It was interesting to note that the broken glass and graffiti that had once decorated this place were now gone.

I walked up to the front door. As before, the stink of vampire grew stronger with every step, until the cloying, unhealthy smell all but surrounded me.

Obviously, she still hadn't got the water running properly in the downstairs area.

I opened the glass front doors and stepped inside. Footsteps whispered through the shadows - the sounds so soft regular hearing wouldn't have caught it.

"Riley Jenson from the Directorate," I said, raising my voice just a little. "I'm here to see Vinny."

A young woman in her late teens emerged from the shadows to the right. Her plump face was smeared with dirt, but otherwise she was extremely pretty - and very healthy-looking. Which was a vast change from the scrawny, half starved figures I'd seen on these lower levels when I first visited. Vinny was obviously feeding well if the lower levels were looking this good.

"She is expecting you," the vamp said, her voice a low hum of excitement.

Which was worrying. Rising excitement amongst a nest of emo vampires might not be good for my health. Just as well I was still carrying a laser. And that I could fly, and they couldn't.

"You can use the elevators," the girl continued. "They're working now."

"Thanks, but I prefer to walk." If only because I didn't trust Vinny not to trap me inside one of the damn things. She and I had something of a volatile relationship - although calling it a relationship was also something of a misnomer. It was little more than a wary connection - one formed when I'd uncovered her lair while working a case.

She was useful and so far had seemed reasonably happy to help the Directorate when asked, but I had no doubt she would double-cross us if it suited her purpose. The only thing Vinny worried about was Vinny.

I grabbed the hand rail and began climbing. The unwashed scent of vampire faded the further I went up, so that by the time I reached the eighth floor, it had all but disappeared. In its place was the rich freshness of springtime - a scent provided by the series of red candles that sat in the stylized, rose-shaped sconces that lined the hall.

Down at the far end, a woman waited. Like most of the vampires on the floors below, she was young and gangly. But unlike them, her blonde hair had been recently washed and shone like pale gold in the flickering candle light.

She wasn't a stranger. She'd been the door guard on several of the occasions I'd had to come here for the Directorate. She didn't talk much, but I'd gleaned a name - Rose.

She was one of the ones we couldn't identify.

"Morning, Rose," I said, as I strolled towards her.

She nodded, her dark gaze sweeping the length of me. "You armed?"

"Yes, and this time I will remain so."

She opened her mouth but didn't get a chance to protest as I added, "Vinny, if I wanted to fucking shoot you, I could do so quite easily from here."

Something flickered through the girl's eyes, and a moment later she opened the door. Unlike the squalor in which the majority of her nest lived, Vinny enjoyed her comforts. The room beyond could only be described as lush. The walls covered by thick velvet drapes that were a dark, dramatic red and the carpet was the color of rich sand, thick enough to lose your toes in. Two big chandeliers hung from the ceiling, sending rainbow-colored sprays of light though the shadows.

I stepped inside and looked beyond the thickly-stuffed black leather chairs and sensuous-looking chaise sofas to the small circle of people at the far end of the room.

Half a dozen toga-clad boys and girls - I always refused to think of them as anything else, because not one of them looked to be older than seventeen - stood around a mahogany and leather chaise lounge. In it sat Vinny.

Power and sensuality oozed from her and, as ever, the force of it caused me to hesitate, however briefly.