Maxine and Lou were sitting in the hospital waiting room, where they'd been sitting for the past four hours. It was daylight now. Stormy's parents had been notified and finally taken into a private room to await word. None had come. None whatsoever. It was the crudest form of torture Lou could think of. The CIA ought to use it. Just refuse to tell some parent how their wounded child was doing until they gave up every secret in their possession. Hell, it would work every time.

"I've got to get hold of Jay. Jason Beck," Max said. "He would want to know."

Lou didn't like seeing his normally spunky Max this way. She was pale and shaken. Like someone had hit her smack between the eyes with a fucking two-by-four, and no wonder. He remembered the kid she referred to. He had been the third part of their inseparable trio all through high school and college. "Do you know where to find him?"

She shook her head slowly, stayed quiet for a long time. Then finally she spoke again. "It's probably just as well," she said. And it took Lou a moment to realize she was still talking about Jason Beck. He wondered vaguely how she'd managed to lose touch with someone she'd been so close to. But time passed. Shit happened.

"Why do you say that?"

"Come on, Lou. You know what this is about as well as I do. They found out that I'd told you what I knew about DPI."

He averted his eyes.

"It's the only thing that makes sense. They kill Stormy and frame you. It's a message to me. A lesson for me. It serves to make sure I won't ever tell anyone else. They destroy two people I lo-care about. Just like that Stiles guy told me he would. The question is, how does he know I told you?"

Lou licked his lips, lifted his gaze to hers slowly. "I made a call last night."

She went very still. Didn't say anything, just stared at him, begging him with her eyes not to tell her what she had to know he was going to tell her.

"To the friend of mine who works for the CIA. I asked him to find out what he could about DPI. Told him I suspected they'd been running some kind of covert op out of White Plains until the HQ burned five years ago. I didn't mention you or the man you saw."

"You didn't have to." She swallowed hard. "I asked you not to talk to anyone, Lou. How could you do this tome?"

"Hey, Max, come on. I had no reason to think it would result in anything like... like this."

"No reason? You had one reason. You had my word. I told you they threatened my friends and my mother, and you went right ahead and-" She stopped there. "Oh, God. Oh, God, my mother."

She was on her feet and heading for a pay phone before Lou could stop her. He leaned back in his vinyl seat, pushed a hand through his hair. She was right; she was dead right. If it had been another cop asking him to keep quiet about something like this, he would have taken them at their word and done it. But he'd underestimated Max. Mad Maxie the conspiracy theorist, always seeing trouble where there wasn't any.

Well, hell. Maybe for once she wasn't so far off base.

There was a dull ping, the elevator doors off to the left slid open, and Lydia came hurrying from them, eyes wide. "What happened? Lou, are you okay? Where's Max? God, is it Max?"

"No, no, she's fine. I'm fine." He was on his feet and met Lydia halfway, hugged her good and hard.

"I woke up this morning and no one was at Max's. So I called your place and got some cop who told me I could find you both at the hospital. Jesus, Lou, I was scared half out of my mind."

She looked it, he thought, stepping back a little. Her hair was a mess, no makeup. She looked her age for a change, which was kind of refreshing. But totally unlike her.

Then she lost interest in him completely when she saw Max coming back from the pay phone. Lydia walked up to the kid and hugged her as if they'd been friends for a long, long time instead of only a few days. "Honey, you look like hell."

"I feel it."

"How's your mother, Max?" Lou asked.

"Fine. Maybe she's safe down there. Maybe they don't know where she is. Or maybe they don't have the manpower to be down there and up here at the same time. Or maybe there's only the one man, the one I saw. Maybe it's just him, working alone." She pushed a hand through her hair. "God, I don't even know what we're dealing with here. I don't know who to be more afraid of. The vampires or the vampire hunters."

Lydia let her go and stepped back, staring at her.

Lou looked up and down the hall to be sure that remark hadn't been overheard. "Keep it down, will you? Someone will show up waving a one-way ticket to the mental ward with your name on it if you keep this up."

She glared at him.

"Will someone please tell me what's happened?"

"It's my friend Stormy. My partner in the business. She was found at Lou's place with a bullet in her head. They left her for dead, but she wasn't quite. They trashed Lou's place, and they used his gun. Tried to set it up to look like he'd done it."

"My God." Her gaze shot to Lou's, but then she turned it inward. "Wait a minute. Stormy? There was a message on your machine from someone named Stormy this morning when I got up. I saw the light, thought it might have been something from you, letting me know where you were, so I played it."

"I never looked at the machine when we got in last night." Max gripped Lydia's hands. "What did she say?"

Glancing around her, Lydia lowered her voice. "She said she had an odd call from Lou asking her to come to his place. That she wanted to let you know, in case he was in trouble. She said he sounded funny." She gave her head a shake. "I think that was all, but it's still on the tape in your machine."

"That machine records the time the call came in. Do you remember what it was?"

"Around nine p.m.," Lydia said.

She nodded. "It wasn't Lou. Lou was with me, seeing a movie, and then sitting outside watching my place. Someone called her. Lured her over there and met her at the door with a twenty-two."

"Thank God it was a twenty-two," Lou put in. "Anything bigger would have killed her."

"But why? Why would anyone want to do that?" Lydia was baffled.

"It has to do with-" Max broke off as a doctor finally emerged from the room where Stormy was being treated. At the same moment a nurse came from the private waiting room with Storm's parents behind her. Everyone crowded together in the center of the waiting area.

"She's alive," the doctor said. "But she's in a coma."

Storm's father, a blond man whose normally healthy tan seemed to have turned to gray, lifted his head, met the doctor's eyes. "Is she brain dead, Doctor? Just tell us the truth."

"No. She has brain wave activity. It's minimal, but it's there."

"How long will she be in the coma?" Max asked, stepping forward, clasping Mrs. Jones's hand. "I mean, a day? A week?"

"We have no way of knowing when or... or even if she'll come out of the coma," the doctor said. "But as long as she has brain wave activity, there's hope." They all waited for him to say more. Lou knew what they wanted to hear. Exactly how much hope? Exactly what were her chances, and when would they know anything more for certain? He could see by the doctor's weary face that he didn't have any answers to give them.

Sighing, the doctor led them all to chairs, urged them to sit, sat opposite them. "Look, there have been cases where a coma has lasted months, even years. Sometimes they wake up, sometimes they don't. The longer she stays comatose, the lower her chances of recovering will be. But there have been cases where people woke up after extended comas to make nearly full recoveries. There's just no way to know."

"And what about when she does wake up?" Mrs. Jones asked. "Will there be brain damage?"

"We can't even begin to tell until she does wake up, ma'am. Again, though, the sooner she regains consciousness, the better."

"She'll wake up," Max said. She said it to the doctor, and then she said it again to Storm's parents. "She will wake up, and she'll be fine. They say comatose people can hear you talking to them. Is that true, Doctor?"

He nodded. "In some cases. I've seen reactions in the EEG readouts when loved ones speak to comatose patients."

"Then that's what we should do," Max said, in typical Maxine-Take-Charge-Stuart fashion. "I think someone should be in there with her all the time, talking to her. And if no one can be there, we can have tapes of our voices playing, or music. I know all her favorite music. Nothing slow, though. I mean, we want something hardcore and powerful, like God-smack, banging in there. We won't let her slip away. We just won't let her."

"Some of those might be very good ideas," the doctor said. "Keep in mind you'll have to give her a chance to rest in between."

"If she wants to rest, she can damn well wake up." Maxine's eyes were brimming with tears.

Mrs. Jones cupped a hand to Max's face. "You're a good girl, Maxine. A good friend." Then the woman looked past her at Lou and lowered her eyes.

"You need to know, Mrs. Jones, that Lou was at my place last night. I wasn't lying when I told you that. You know how much I love Stormy. I wouldn't lie to you about this. Someone set him up."

Mrs. Jones nodded.

"We've known Officer Malone a long time," her husband said. "It would take a lot more than what we've been told so far to make us believe him capable of anything like this."

"I appreciate that," Lou told the man. "And I swear to you, I'm gonna do everything I can to find the SOB who did this to your daughter and put him away for a long, long time."

"Yeah. And so am I." Maxie sent Lou a look when she said that. And he knew what it meant. They were going to do this her way from now on. With his help or without it, Maxie was going to track down that screenwriter and pump her for information about-God, he could hardly think it without smirking-vampires.

And when he glanced at Lydia, Lou knew she was going to be attached to Max at the hip until they got the answers she wanted. This was not even close to what he had hoped to accomplish by bringing the two women together. Not by a long shot. In fact, his entire goal had been derailed by all this nonsense. He had fully expected Max to reassure Lydia that there were no such things as vampires and end that part of the entire arrangement. After that, they were supposed to get to know each other as friends and maybe later make a few discoveries on their own. The same discoveries he'd made himself, entirely by accident.

It was all blown to hell now. Christ.

"She may need another blood transfusion, Mrs. Jones," the doctor said, and as soon as she started to get to her feet, he held up a hand. "No, ma'am. You can't donate any more today. We have supplies, don't worry."

"I'd prefer to know the source," the woman said. "I know, I know, the blood supply is safer than ever, but still... "

"I'm A-positive," Maxie said.

"Me, too," Lydia put in.

The doc shook his head. "Not what we need for her, though you're welcome to donate anyway. Anyone for A-neg?"

Lou raised his hand like a schoolkid.

"You're elected." The doctor sent Lou off with a nurse, and he thought it pretty ironic that he was entertaining the notion that vampires might be real even as he let some pretty young thing drain a pint from his veins.

"Can we see her?" Stormy's mother asked.

The doctor nodded. "Absolutely." He led the two parents away, and Max noticed with a wrenching ache in her belly the way Mr. Jones held his wife close to his side, all but holding her up, like he was loaning some of his strength to her.

She sighed and turned to Lydia. "We need to talk."

"You poor thing." Lydia hugged her again. "I know what you're going through. When Kimbra died, I just... "

"She was more to you than a best friend, though, wasn't she?"

Lydia looked at her for a moment, smiled gently, sadly. "Am I that obvious?"

"I saw the photo you have in your wallet when you opened it the other day. The two of you, arm in arm. The way you were looking at her."

"I loved her," Lydia said softly. "She was my whole life. And even though it's not the same, I can see you love Stormy. I can see the hurt in your eyes. God, it's like looking into a mirror a few weeks ago."

Max swiped at her eyes. "We don't have time for a pity party here. We need to get our stories straight about last night. And then we need to get rid of that tape in the answering machine."

Lydia frowned at her. "Get our stories straight?"

"Lou sat in his car outside my place all night long," Max told her.

Lydia nodded in agreement. "Right I remember when you spotted him out there. I thought it was real sweet of him."

"Exactly. So that's two of us who can swear that Lou never left our sight."

"Except that he did," Lydia said softly. "Remember? After he dropped you, he took off for a while? He was back in no time, but-"

"Yeah, and the damn fool told them so." Max licked her lips. "I had to think fast, so I said that when Lou left, I followed him. Made up some line about suspecting he was seeing some other woman and being jealous. I confirmed what he told them, that he'd gone to the station and then come straight back to my place."

Lydia nodded slowly. "I didn't know you and Lou were-"

"We aren't."

"So you lied to the police."

"I know he didn't do this. You know it, too."

Lydia turned away, drew a deep breath, finally blew it out with a sigh. "Of course I know it." She turned to face Max again. "I was there, after all, when you left to go follow him. I tried to tell you Lou was a one-woman man, but you just had to make sure."

Max bit her lip. "You could have been sleeping upstairs. You could have no knowledge one way or the other."

"Two witnesses are better than one. Especially if they think that one is the suspect's lover, Maxine."

Max nodded. "Thank you."

"No need. I like Lou. We've been friends a long time."

"He doesn't know I made it up. He would never let me do it."

"Understood," Lydia said. "You mentioned the answering machine?"

"Yeah, we need to erase the message." Then she shook her head. "But there might be a clue in it. I should find a way to keep a copy."

"We could just put in a new tape," Lydia suggested.

"It's not on tape. It stores the messages electronically."

"Buy a new machine," Lydia said. "Take the old one and stash it somewhere safe."

Max nodded slowly. "It's a good plan. Later I can transfer the message to tape and destroy the machine, just for good measure. But for now, that's the fastest solution. And we have to get it done before they decide to search my place."

"I'll take care of it. Stay here, see your friend."

Max nodded. "Use cash. And buy it someplace busy, like Wal-Mart, where they won't remember you. And don't make your appearance too memorable."

Biting her lip, Lydia frowned hard at her. "Just what are we dealing with here, hon?"

"The government. A part of the CIA, I think. A secret part that may not even exist anymore, but the man who shot Stormy was a part of it."

Lydia nodded slowly. "You called them... vampire hunters."

"That's exactly what they were. Maybe still are." She sighed. "Look, I'll tell you everything I know. But you can't mention it to a soul. That's what got Stormy shot."

"Okay. Understood. But not now. This isn't the time or the place. I'll go take care of that machine of yours, and we'll talk later."

"May as well meet up at the police station," Max said. "They're going to want sworn statements from all of us."

"Noon?" Lydia said.

"Noon's good."

"See you then."

After Lydia left, Max waited around until Lou finally returned from donating blood with a bandage on his arm. He looked at her as if checking her over, like he was searching for signs as to how she was holding up, and while her independent-woman side thought it was hopelessly old-fashioned of him, the rest of her loved it that he worried.

"I'm okay," she told him before he bothered to ask.

"No, you're not, but I don't see how you could be." He looked around. "Where's Lydia?"

"Had some things to do. She's gonna meet us at the station at noon, so we can give them our statements."

"And then what?"

She shrugged. "I'm gonna go home, make some tapes of my voice for Stormy's mom to play for her, gather up a few CDs and my programmable player, and get it all set up in her room. Then I'm gonna pack."

"Pack?"

"I hate to leave Stormy, Lou. But according to what I've been able to find out online, that screenwriter lives in Maine. And we really do need to talk to her. She's the only lead we have right now, besides Stiles, and we can't find him."

"If he knows about the films, we're as likely to find him in Maine as anywhere else."

She blinked twice, then stared at him. "We? Does that mean you're going with me?"

"Yep."

"Will they let you, before this case is solved?"

"Nope. I'll just have to be sneaky. Good thing I've got an expert to help me on that." He gave her a smile, lopsided and sad, but real.

She thought about hugging the big lug, but Storm's parents came walking up to her then, her crying softly, him holding her. "Go on in, Maxine," Mr. Jones said. "We cleared it with the doctor, and we both think hearing your voice will do her a world of good." He pointed her down the hall. "Two-oh-seven."

"Okay. You two ought to get something to eat, and maybe rest a bit. I know you want to be here, but you're gonna need time off, too. If you go getting sick, you won't be much help to Stormy, after all."

"We'll be fine. Go on, go see her now."

She glanced at Lou. "Go ahead, Maxie. Take your time. I'll be here waiting."

Sending him a grateful nod, she went down the hall, searched for the door marked 207, and found it. There was a moment, though, when she almost couldn't go in. She stood with her hand on the door, not pushing it open, and she wondered if some deluded part of her mind thought this wouldn't be real until she saw it with her own eyes. Or if she was just afraid Stormy would die while she was in there.

Didn't matter. Stormy mattered. That was all. She swallowed her fear, pushed the door open, peered inside.

It did not look like Stormy lying in that bed, and for the barest instant Max thought she had the wrong room. But then logic made her look more closely. Yes, she was more still and pale than she had ever been, and her eyebrow ring had been removed. Her short, bleached hair had vanished. It might be swathed by the skullcap of bandages she wore, or it might have been shaved. Max didn't know.

But the elfin face and fine-boned features were Stormy's. There were leads going from her head to a monitor, from her chest to another, from her nostrils to an oxygen pump, from her wrist to an IV bag, and from somewhere under the sheets to a bag at the foot of the bed, which she did not want to think about.

The nurse smiled at Max. "Well, Tempest, you have a visitor. Isn't that nice?"

"Call her Stormy," Max said firmly. "Make sure you tell the other nurses, too. She wouldn't answer to Tempest even if she was fully awake."

The nurse nodded, turning with her hands on her hips. "And here I was thinking what a gorgeous name you had. I love Tempest!" Then she shrugged. "I suppose Stormy is nice, too, though." She was leaning in, adjusting the covers and talking to Stormy as if she were wide awake and hearing every word.

Max liked the nurse. She liked her attitude. She liked the caring in her eyes. "I'm Maxine," she told the nurse, as she came closer.

"And do you have a preferred nickname, too?"

"Mad Max, but don't spread it around."

The nurse laughed, patting Stormy's shoulder. "Did you hear that? Mad Max. Girl, I like your friends. Well, have a seat Mad Max, and I'll give you two some private time."

Max sat down, and the nurse left. The constant beeps of the monitors were dragging. Steady and almost hypnotic. "Man, we're gonna have to get them to turn off the sound on these contraptions, Stormy. You think?" She leaned closer, clasped Storm's hand. "It's Max, honey. I'm here, and I know what happened, okay? I know it wasn't Lou. I don't want you to worry about that."

No response. She lay there completely silent and still.

"I know you're in there, Storm. I know you can hear me." She spoke louder, more firmly. "Everything is fine. Your parents are fine, I'm fine. And the man who did this is going down. Understand?"

Still nothing. Just the monotonous beeps.

"You have to focus, hon. Focus every ounce of your energy on waking up. You hear me? That's all I want you thinking about. And you might as well know you aren't going to get a moment's peace until you do. I'm getting your favorite CDs, and someone's gonna be in here talking your damn multiply pierced ears off until you wake up. No one's gonna leave you alone. You got that?"

The beeping patterns changed. Picked up speed a little.

Max glanced around her at the machines, as if she would know a damn thing by looking at them. But something had agitated Stormy. What had she just said? No one's gonna leave you alone. She licked her lips. "Being alone worries you, does it?"

Again the pace picked up.

"No one will leave you alone. I'm gonna have someone guarding your door, and someone else in here with you, twenty-four-seven. I promise you, you're safe here. Okay?"

She couldn't tell if she had eased Stormy's mind or not. But the beeps slowly resumed their former pattern.

"Keep trying to wake up, hon."

The nurse came back in, told Max it was time to go. Max nodded. "I gotta leave for a bit, babe, but I promise you're not gonna be left alone. I promise." She turned to the nurse. "Can you stay with her until her mom gets back?"

"Of course I'm staying. It's almost time for my program!" She reached for the remote, flicked on the room's television, and pulled up a chair. "I hope you like Passions, girl, 'cause I never miss it," she told Stormy.

"She loves it," Max said. "I'll see you later, Storm. Don't be scared, hon. I've got your back, okay?"

The nurse nodded in approval, and Max left the room. Back in the waiting room, she went to Lou, leaned against his chest and hoped he wouldn't complain. He didn't. He hugged her instead. "We need to get guards on her room, Lou. If he finds out she's alive, he might come back."

"He would have no reason to."

"What if she saw him?"

"Hon, you saw him. You already know what he looks like, as well as his name. Being ID'd is not on his list of worries for some reason."

"Still... "

Sighing, he nodded. "I'll get right on it."

She closed her eyes. "We have time to get some breakfast?"

"Yeah. I phoned in, told them we'd be coming in at noon to talk to IAD and give our statements. We have a couple of hours yet." He took her arm, and they walked to the elevators together.