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You have a choice to make. Who goes where and does what? Actually, this part doesn't matter, since it ends up the same way anyway. Look, I'm tired and it's two in the morning and I have to meet my 'give the player some choices' quota. Go ahead and choose.

A) Search alone. B) You and Steve. C) You and Jillian. D) The three of you. E) Sit on your ass.

Are... are you kidding me? I asked myself. Jesus, is this actually real? I shook my head mentally. Well, if it doesn't matter what I choose, I might as well go with C. I choose C.

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I left Steve in the main area to sift through the remains of the vampires to look for anything that we could trace to the other vamps that I knew were really behind it all. Jillian and I made our way to the other end of the room, which was a bit bigger than the elevator we came down in. There was an office near the far corner and we crept by the wall near the office door and peered in through the window. It was a regular sized office, with a desk, a single chair, a filing cabinet, and a computer.

It was exactly the setup that Steve had expected to see inside the warehouse. No one was in there, thankfully. Or so we thought. I put a bit of power into the room to see if there were any vampires hiding in plain sight and there was nothing. I opened the door after checking for tripwires and traps, then we went inside.

The desk was neat and clean, and considering the enormous fire that must have raged not too far away on the other side of the door, the place was spotless and there wasn't a bit of soot or even smoke. I went over to the filing cabinet and started pulling drawers out at random. Nothing was in it.

“Check the desk.” I said and pulled the filing cabinet away from the wall as Jillian sat down in the chair behind the desk. She checked the drawers and they were empty. She tried to turn on the computer and nothing happened. She moved the base out and looked at the back of it to see that there were no cords or plugs.

“Computer's fake.” Jillian said.

I was thinking it was really strange to go through all this trouble to put something like that here with no purpose. “Check for hidden buttons or foot switches, or slots where things can be inserted.”

Jillian gave me a serious look, then shrugged and used her foot to tap all along the underside of the desk. She opened the drawers and ran her fingers on the underside of both the drawers and the places they slid into. After that, she did the place under where she sat and her eyes widened.

“I don't believe it.” Jillian said and I heard a click. A door opened in the wall panel behind her and I darted off to the side and peeked around the side of the opening.

“G-g-get Steve.” I said as my breath caught in my throat. I took several breaths and waited for Steve. He came running into the office and before he could ask me what was wrong, I pointed into the now open space behind the wall.

Steve quickly moved past me and stopped on the other side of the entrance and Jillian joined me on my side. Her hand found mine and held on as Steve stared inside. His head didn't move, and yet, I knew he was taking in everything that was in there. Slowly, he stepped into the den of something that had an unreal obsession... with me.

Pictures of me were everywhere. Articles from newspapers from all across the country were plastered over the walls, on the floor, and on the ceiling. A lone desk stood out from the collage, and on it were the details and plans for all the serial murders that Luke and his pals were looking for.

Oh, my God. I thought. What the hell does all of this have to do with me?

Steve didn't touch anything and both Jillian and I followed his example. It was bad enough that my pictures were all over this place, let alone for my fingerprints and shoe prints to be there as well. I did not need to be even more deeply connected to these cases than I already apparently was.

Steve moved over to the small camp bed and made a non-committal sound. I barely managed to walk over to him without touching anything, which was hard considering that stuff was literally everywhere, and he grabbed the side of the bed and lifted. It turns out that it was a Murphy bed. You know, the kind that folded up and disappeared into the wall. Well, underneath it was a trap door.

Steve looked at me and I nodded, not that he needed my permission or anything, he just wanted to confirm that I was going with him. Jillian nodded as well. Steve opened the trap door and started to go down the stairs that were revealed. I took a deep breath and followed close behind. Jillian still had my hand and she was right behind me.

I wasn't sure what was going to happen and then something unexpected did happen. The trap door closed behind us and we heard a clear 'thunk' from above, then another. That meant that the Murphy bed was now back to where it was before we came down here. That also meant that the passage from the office through the hidden panel was closed, too. Someone could have watched the whole thing play out and then gotten clean away, right under our noses.

I pointed this out to Steve and he nodded. “Dammit. Now what?”

“Now you know why I wanted to go this way, rather than going all the way back outside through the elevator and the warehouse.” Steve said and it was my turn to nod, because that made sense.

After a short walk, we came to what looked like a round door. When we were close enough, it turned out to be an old sewer access hatch. Steve used a stethoscope and listened to it for a minute. He must have decided that there was nothing on the other side worth worrying about, because he opened it without even trying to check if there were any traps or anything.

Steve was right and there was nothing on the other side except a small dock, a water slip where a small power boat could have been, and then the open river.

“You might as well call the police.” Steve said and actually sighed.

I gave him raised eyebrows to show my surprise and he chuckled.

“Shut up.” Steve said. “Come on. There should be a ladder or something down the spillway.”

We made our way down a short distance and then went back up to ground level. We were still within the warehouse compound, which was a huge bonus and we didn't have to try and come back in. We found the van untouched, which was a bit weird, considering we were deep in another vampire's perceived territory and we proved that we were a threat.

We quickly unloaded our gear, or at least the gear the police shouldn't know that we had, namely all of the things Steve brought with him and loaned us. I took out my cell phone from my pocket and made the call to Sanchez. For the first time in his life, he was not happy to hear from me, especially after I told him what we had discovered.

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I ended the call and looked at Steve. “You should get out of here.” I said, like he didn't already know that.

“Leave before the fuzz gets here? Ha!” Steve clapped me on the back. “I'll just hide the van and be right back.”

I wasn't sure he'd have the time to do that, then shrugged. “Go ahead.”

To my surprise, he was back in plenty of time before the arrival of the police. I didn't ask what he did with the van. He wouldn't tell me, anyway. Now, we just had to decide how much we were going to tell the police. I wasn't sure killing a few dozen vampires in self defense was going to stand with the district attorney, not with how many times both Steve and I had used the self defense story. I mentioned it to Steve and he laughed.

“A bit of pruning is in order.” Steve said and Jillian and I agreed.

Sanchez was the first on the scene again and I became the main spokesperson for the group as I told him the slightly altered version of events. He looked at Steve and me crossly.

“You know we had warrants almost drawn up for this place, right?” Sanchez asked, angrily.

I looked at him with shock on my face. “What?”

“We got the security video analyzed and ran the plate from the car. It was a rental agency. We traced the rental back to this address. How the hell did you know it was here?”

Steve piped in to answer that one, just like we planned. “He didn't. That was my fault. I got an anonymous tip that someone I've been tracking was seen going into this building. I needed a bit of help, and knowing David was was back on his feet again, I asked him to come along.”

Sanchez looked from me to Steve, then back again, and shook his head. “Okay, I'll put it down in the report.” He said and then pointed his finger at me. “But we both know that's a load of bull.”

Sanchez turned and stalked away towards the waiting SWAT teams and detectives waiting to storm the place. They didn't find anything more than we did, and since I had received my letter saying my services were no longer required as a consultant... and that practically all the evidence led directly to me being involved... I couldn't get myself officially into the crime scene or help on the case.

Doesn't that just suck?

We walked out of the compound and noticed that the guard was nowhere to be found, nor was he in the police cars. The three of us walked for a few minutes, then Steve told us to wait for him. He was back a few minutes later with the van that was full of illegal goods, and drove us away from the scene.

Steve dropped Jillian and myself off at my place. “Don't go looking for these assholes on your own, David.” He said. “I mean it.”

I opened my mouth to say that I wasn't that stupid, then I grinned at him.

Steve shook his head. “Just call if you find out anything.” He said and drove off.

“I know it's getting late... or really early.” I said to Jillian as I looked at my watch, then at her. “Do you want to cash in that lunch date?”

Jillian gave me a disbelieving look for a second, then she smiled. “I could eat.”

We went inside the house while the sun started to peek over the horizon. No lights were on in the house, which could mean that Mikki wasn't at home or that she was in bed already. I turned on the light in the kitchen and had Jillian sit at the table. The light on the answering machine wasn't blinking, so I got the coffee pot ready and rummaged through the refrigerator.

“There's a note here.” Jillian said and pulled it off of the sugar dish to hold out to me.

I brought over a couple of salads and pieces of chicken breast, then poured out two cups of coffee for us. I sat down and took the note. “David, I've passed the picture around to everyone I knew. No one has come forward with any info. I've gone back to work and will be there until later today, if not tonight as well. Mikki.”

I flipped the note over in my hand and nothing else was written on it. She didn't even write down the time when she was here. It could have meant yesterday or it could mean today. My anger rose and my power spiked, because I felt like she was punishing me.

I don't need her to make me feel worse about what happened to Natalie! I thought and made a fist to crush the note.

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You have a choice to make. Will you let your emotions rule your actions, or will you be rational and do what you can to deal with the situation?

A) Be angry. B) Be sad. C) Be cool. D) Be ambivalent. E) Kill someone. F) Kill them all.

Oh, for fuck's sake. I thought and let what I actually felt be what I chose. I choose... B.

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“It... it's tearing me up inside.” I said and took a deep breath.

“David...” Jillian touched my fist and I saw concern in her eyes.

“I need someone to hold me, to comfort me and... I thought that Mikki would need that, too.” I said and tried to explain. “She misses Natalie just as much... no, more than I do.” I opened my fist and let the note drop to the table and Jillian held my hand. “That's not what she's doing. She's making me feel like it's all my fault. It is and I know it is. I've even told her that.”

“Oh, David.” Jillian whispered, because after seeing that room with all the pictures of me, she knew it was true, too.

“I don't know what to do to fix things, Jillian.” I said with a pleading tone in my voice.

Jillian didn't say anything, gave my hand a squeeze and let it go, then we finished drinking our coffee and eating our morning lunch. “I need to get out of these clothes.”

I nodded, because I needed to get out of mine as well. I doubted we were going to get another chance anytime soon to follow up with another raid like that. I led her out of the kitchen and she picked up her gym bag. I pointed to the spare room and went to my bedroom.

“I only have to wait until tonight and then I'll see Natalie again.” I said with a long and drawn out sigh, at what I was going to do to my beautiful little kitten, and started to undress. I left all the weapons right there on the floor, not even thinking about putting them all away. I turned around to go to the dresser and literally gasped when I saw a similar pile of weapons and clothes on the floor behind me. Standing above them was a very well-toned and completely naked Jillian.

Jillian stepped forward and her tight body worked like a well-oiled machine. Her firm and perky breasts had very hard nipples and they almost pointed out to the sides. My eyes dropped to the space between her legs and she was completely clean. I looked back up at her to ask her what she thought she was doing, when she put a hand over my mouth.

“You want someone to just hold you and to let you wallow in your guilt.” Jillian whispered. “I need you to... to think of me as your guilt and wallow inside me.” She said. “All right?”

_______________

Ooo, you lucky bastard. I wish it was me. I really do. (cough). Right. I'm supposed to give you choices here. Let's see now... hey, you know what? Fuck it. Who would pass up something like this? A saint would, right? Yeah, you're no saint, buddy. Guess what? You're doing her. Ha ha!

A) Have meaningless sex. B) Make love to her. C) Fuck her brains out. D) Pretend she's a porn star.

What the actual fuck? I thought, then a timer popped up with ten seconds on it.

Warning: She's not going to like the default option. At all. It's D by the way.

Oh, shit! B! I choose B, you asshole! I thought. Fucking B!

_______________

I nodded my head and she moved her hand out of the way, then I put my arms around her and held her tenderly. Jillian had a surprised look on her face when I gave her a tender kiss. She had definitely expected me to wallow in her, probably the hard way, and I was not going to treat her like that. She was offering herself to me to help me with my sorrow, and with God as my witness, I wouldn't degrade her for doing it.

My hands gently caressed her back and I made out with her for several minutes. When I broke the kiss, her face was bright red. I could also hear her heart beating a mile a minute and I smiled at her. I slowly bent over and picked her up in a princess carry, with my arm under her knees and my other arm under her back, and she put her arms around my neck.

“David.” Jillian whispered.

“You are not going to regret this.” I whispered back and kissed her again, then took her to bed.

Jillian didn't regret it in the least. I know, because she kept telling me, over and over, as we made love. I used every trick I knew and I even bit her neck and marked her. That absolutely drove her wild with both passion and desire, and she mewled and purred the entire time.

It was absolutely wonderful.

I held her to my chest and she was fast asleep. I stared at her face and admired her. She worked hard and she did her job well, and I was worried that after the bit of flirting we did, I would regret it if we crossed that line from friendship into something more. I didn't. At all. The thing was, for some reason, I knew that Natalie would have been okay with it, too.

I fell asleep soon after that. If I had any dreams at all, I didn't remember them.