"Mrs. Hewitt will see you.” She left unspoken her opinion on the matter and pointed to her left. “Down this hall, first left, second right, last office on the right.” She spoke quickly, then glared at Cyn, daring her to ask for clarification. Cyn murmured her thanks, but she had already ceased to exist for the busy young woman as the phone resumed its insistent trilling.

Ramona Hewitt looked up when Cyn tapped lightly on the open door. She was a fiftyish black woman, with smooth, perfect skin that would look exactly the same when she was eighty as it did today. Long, wiry hair had been gathered into a ruthless braid and wrapped tightly around her head to form a graying crown over a face that bore the lines of an easy smile. She wasn't smiling now. She gave Cyn the same once over as the receptionist and reached the same unflattering conclusion. “You can't be related, I know all her relations and there aren't many, none of ‘em worth a spit, leaving those little girls the way they did."

"Mrs. Hewitt,” Cynthia said in her most polite and professional voice. “My name is Cynthia Leighton. I'm a private investigator—"

"Investigator? You're about eight years too late, aren't you?"

Cyn stopped, confused. “I was hired by Jabril—"

"I've got nothing to say to you then.” Hewitt was already turning away, paging through a fat folder on her desk.

"Did you know Elizabeth ran away?” Cyn interrupted. Hewitt closed the folder and stared at her. Well, that caught her attention, Cyn thought.

The caseworker frowned. “I can't believe that. Lizzie would have called me."

"That's why I'm here. I was told if she talked to anyone it was you. And I want to find her."

Hewitt huffed in disgust. “Why, so you can give her back to that God damned vampire?” It wasn't a curse the way Hewitt said it; it was a literal truth.

"No. Whether you believe it or not, I want to help her. Her and her sister, Mirabelle.” Cyn pulled out a card from her backpack. It was the business card for Jessica's House, a teen shelter in L.A. run by Lucia Shinn, one of Cyn's few close friends. Cyn scribbled Luci's name and personal number, as well as her own cell number, on the back before handing it to the caseworker. “Before you decide I'm one of the bad guys, you might give this person a call. If, after talking to her, you decide that I might actually do some good, my cell's on the card and it's always on. I'll be in Houston until this case takes me somewhere else.” She turned to walk out, but Hewitt's voice stopped her.

"How is Mirabelle?"

Cyn paused, turning back. “Not good. But I'm going to get her out of there too.” She didn't wait for a response. She didn't need one. There was no doubt in her mind about what needed to be done. It would be easier with Hewitt's help, but she'd do it without her if she had to.

Chapter Nine

The Children's Museum of Houston was pretty easy to find. After all, how many buildings could there be with giant yellow pillars and a pagoda looking sign with huge pink letters spelling out “museum” across the front? Not to mention the roving gangs of screaming children who had clearly subdued their chaperones and were now planning a coup of some sort. Cyn leaned against an adjacent building, well back from the crowds, and used the vantage of her six foot height to scan the area for Kelli. She could see why the girl would want to meet here. There were so many people milling around, and so many of them were children, that a petite girl like Kelli could easily be mistaken for one of the older kids. Cyn caught sight of her around back of a fat pillar, her many earrings glinting in the sun as she peered out to search the courtyard for Cyn. Steeling herself against the onslaught, Cyn headed across the plaza, wading through the potential revolutionaries to reach Kelli's side.

"Hey!"

Kelli's face brightened, though her eyes scanned the area around them as if making sure Cyn was alone. “Hi,” she returned. “Let's go inside. We'll pretend you're my mom.” She gave Cyn that wicked grin again.

"Nice. What're you nineteen?"

"Twenty next month."

"Yeah, well I'm not old enough to be your mom. Why're we here?"

Kelli shrugged. “It's noisy and there's always lots of people. Plus Montrose is close by and a lot of the street kids hang around here, especially on Thursday nights. Families get in free and it's pretty easy to slip inside. Anyway, no one will look twice at a single mom and her kid."

Cyn bought tickets and nudged Kelli toward the door. “I don't want to be a single mom. Why can't I have a rich husband instead?"

"I don't know. You look like a single mom to me, like you're out there, you know? Looking for someone."

Great. “So how long've you worked for Jabril?” Cyn asked, changing the subject.

"Almost two years. Since I turned eighteen. A friend of my mom's got me the job. It's kind of creepy with all those dead guys sleeping all day, and the hours are weird, but it's okay."

"I don't think they're actually dead,” Cyn commented. “So what do you do out there?” She started to lift her sunglasses as they went inside, but dropped them back down when she saw the hot colors splashed across every surface in sight.

"Cleaning, you know. Dusting, vacuuming, polishing the silver,” her eyes rolled in disgust. “Pays well, though."

"You work in the big house too, or only the servants’ quarters?"

"Sometimes the big house. During the day. No one's allowed there after dark. Don't want to gross out the big bad vamps by forcing them to look at lowly humans. Not unless you're one of the bimbos, anyway."

"Bimbos?"

"That's what we call the blood slaves Jabril keeps in his basement lair. Not a whole brain cell between them, although what they lack in brain cells, they make up in silicone. Those boobs can't all be real."

Cyn choked back a laugh. That was pretty much what she would have expected from Jabril and his ilk. “So, is there somewhere we can at least sit down? I'm feeling like a giant among the Lilliputians here."

"There's a cafe. It's mostly kid food, but they do have Starbuck's coffee."

"There is a god! Lead the way, child."

Cyn managed to snag one of the few adult-sized tables in the café and made Kelli hold onto it while she went in search of coffee. It wasn't a real Starbuck's, but it would do.

"So.” She slid onto the bench seat across the table and passed Kelli an icky sweet chocolate chip frappuccino. “What do you know?"

Kelli licked whipped cream from her upper lip before saying, “Like I said, Liz used to get out during the day. Her tutor was clueless and besides, she only came twice a week. There's this one guard who always looks the other way, and a couple of others who were so-so.” She rotated her hand, palm down. “They kinda felt sorry for Liz, being a kid with all those old guys. And, ya’ know, vampires and all."

"They didn't worry she wouldn't come back? I mean Jabril doesn't strike me as an understanding employer."

"Huh, you got that right. But they knew Liz would come back because her sister was there. Plus...” She shrugged. “Liz wouldn't do that to the guys, get them in trouble like that."

"So what'd she do when she was out?"

"Came down here, mostly."

"This museum?” Cyn looked around. If Liz was in the habit of hanging around here, she might be here now.

"Nah, not here here. Just, you know, here. The museum district and Montrose, with the other kids. Well, and Jamie."

"Ah, yes, Jamie. What can you tell me about him?"

"What's to tell? His mom's a druggie, his dad's gone, or dead, who knows? Who cares? Jamie bailed a couple of years ago when he turned sixteen, been on the streets ever since. He spends a night here, a night there. Different shelters, hang outs. You know, like the other kids do. Liz used to give him money for food, sometimes a motel. They were pretty tight."

"So you said. You think Liz is with Jamie?"

"Maybe,” she said, evading Cyn's gaze.

Cyn sighed. “Look, Kelli, someone needs to find her before Jabril does. It would be good if that person was me because I want to help her."

"He's got someone else looking, you know."

Cyn looked at her curiously. “You mean Jabril?"

"Yeah. Some guy who came around asking questions the day before you did. Old guy, buzz cut, smelled like cigars.” She made a face. “You pissed off?"

"Honestly? I figured as much. Jabril's got old business with someone I did some work for awhile back. I think he's trying to fuck with that guy's head a little bit. It won't work, but Jabril doesn't know that. He also doesn't know that when I find Liz—and I will—I'm not going to be hauling her ass back to Lord fucking Jabril. We're going to hunker down somewhere safe, maybe with a nice view and a gorgeous spa, and celebrate her eighteenth birthday in style. And then I'm going to make damn sure she has a say in her future."

"That'd be nice,” Kelli whispered. “But he'll take it out on her sister, you know. Mirabelle."

Cyn gave a very unladylike snort. “Kid, you don't know your momma very well.” She chugged the last of her coffee, swung her long legs around and stood. “So, where can I find Jamie?"

Kelli stood up. “She's not with Jamie."

Cyn gave Kelli a hard look. “Where is she?"

The girl bit her lip, then gave Cyn a lopsided smile. “She's in L.A."

Chapter Ten

"Damn.” Cyn sat back down, shaking her head.

"Yeah, pretty weird, huh?"

"Not the word that comes to mind, no. How?"

"She's been planning it for a while. You know, getting money together and shit. She's got a fake ID that puts her over eighteen so she can get on an airplane alone. Couple of weeks she won't even need that anymore."