“And before that you had no hint that your sister was… gettin’ into some seriously weird stuff?”

“None at all. Last time I saw her, she was an All-American straight-A student. The next-she’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Except without the laugh track.”

“So what did you do?”

“What choice did I have? I came up here as soon as possible. But it was too late. She was gone. She hasn’t been seen since.”

“My daughter disappeared, too,” Daily said, clenching his fists. “Now she’s in the ICU unit of the hospital. If I’d only been smarter. Moved a little faster.”

“I kept saying the same thing. Blaming myself. But that didn’t help. So I dropped out of school and started spending all my time looking for Beatrice, learning about these vampire cults. I went from one vamp club to the next-gay vamp bars, straight vamp bars-places where they actually serve blood over the counter, like it was a cocktail. You wouldn’t believe how many of them there are. No one ever wanted to talk to me-so I had to get tough. That’s when I became a vampire hunter. Whether they’re real vampires or pretenders, the mythos of the vampire hunter-Van Helsing, Captain Kronos, Kolchak, whoever-terrifies them.”

“And that’s what brought you to Circle Thirteen tonight?”

“Took me forever to get a lead on that place. But I was told there were some vampires in there.”

“Some? It’s a regular Vampapalooza. But it’s all up here.” Loving tapped a temple. “I mean, they’re not really hell demons or ‘vampyrs’ or whatever the politically correct term would be. Undead Americans? They’re just basket cases trying to convince themselves they’re special by affecting this Bela Lugosi fetish.”

“You mean… they’re normals?”

“Well, I don’t think you’re gonna see any of them on the cover of Sanity Fair. But I’m pretty damn sure they’re not walking corpses.”

Shalimar’s chin sagged. “Then it’s a dead end.”

“Maybe not. Someone I talked to said women sometimes disappeared-said they were chosen by the minions of someone called the Sire for… the Inner Circle. She also mentioned a place called the Playground.” He paused. “Shalimar, I think we should team up. We’re all looking for the same girl. Maybe if we pool our knowledge-”

He was interrupted by the sound of Daily’s cell phone ringing. “Yes?”

Less than ten seconds later, Daily snapped it shut. “It’s Amber. She’s awake.”

Loving hurriedly tossed some money on the table, pulled a card out of his wallet, and slid it across the table to Shalimar. “Here’s my number. Call me tomorrow.”

“You’ll ask Amber if she knows anything about Beatrice?”

“Promise. I’ll tell you anything we learn.”

Daily was obviously anxious. “I’ve got to go.”

“I know. I’m coming with you.” Loving slid out of the booth. “Thanks for talking with us.” He gave her a wink. “Look forward to working with you, Buffy.”

Despite the fact that Loving was already halfway across the coffeehouse, Shalimar rose to her feet. “Don’t call me Buffy!”

Even though it broke protocol as well as one of his primary rules for courtroom decorum, Ben had to talk to his client. He leaned over and whispered into Glancy’s ear. “Is any of what she said true?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely not,” Glancy shot back. “I’ve told you before. The only time I left the conference room was when I went to the restroom. And I wasn’t gone more than ten minutes.”

“Just asking.” Ben rose. He wondered if Christina might not be a better choice to cross this witness. He would be forced to tread the line between being firm and appearing to beat up on a helpless young woman. But thanks to his prior objection, the witness was his now, whether he liked it or not.

“Point of clarification, Miss Craig. Did you ever see the faces of the two people who were allegedly in the hideaway?”

“I never saw their faces, no, but I think it’s obvious-”

“To be blunt, ma’am, I don’t care what you think. I want to hear what you know. Did you see their faces?”

Shandy grasped that the tone of the questioning had changed and resigned herself to answering questions succinctly. “No.”

“Were you able to positively identify either of them?”

“I’d never met Veronica Cooper. But I thought the male voice sounded a lot like Senator Glancy.”

“Whom you had just met that morning, right?”

“Well, yes.”

“And what does that mean exactly, when you say you ‘thought it sounded like him’?”

“Well, the voice was low and deep. Kinda slow talking.”

“That would be true for half the men over thirteen on this planet.”

“It’s not just that.” She began fidgeting with her well-shaped fingernails, which Ben could only take as a good sign. “I thought he had sort of an Oklahoma accent.”

Ben wasn’t giving any ground. “And what exactly would that be? Like how I talk?”

“Well… I don’t really hear it in your voice.”

“Why not? I’ve lived in Oklahoma almost my entire life.” Of course, he was educated at a private school in a big city, but for that matter so was Todd Glancy.

“No, it was more like the senator talks. Kinda slow and… you know. Drawn out. Lots of extra syllables.”

“Give me an example.”

Shandy glanced toward Padolino, obviously hoping he could bail her out, but there was nothing he could do. “Well… like when he said ‘forever.’ It was more like he was saying, ‘Fuhr-eve-uhhhh.’”

“And that’s supposed to be Oklahoma? It sounds more like Gone With the Wind.”

“Your honor,” Padolino said. “He’s badgering this poor girl.”

Herndon shook his head. “They don’t call it cross-examination because it’s supposed to be fun. You may continue, Mr. Kincaid.”

“It would be fair to assume that anyone engaged in an intimate encounter might speak slowly and dramatically, don’t you think?”

“Well…”

“And you said you could barely hear the voices. The fact is, you couldn’t positively identify either of the two people involved. Not then and not now.”

“But I’m sure it was Senator Glancy and that poor girl. Why do you think I followed him in the first place?”

“Good question. Why did you?”

“Because I knew Veronica Cooper was in the building.”

Now Ben was confused. “I thought you said-”

“I said Senator Glancy told me she hadn’t come in that day. But he was lying. I’d asked the front desk clerk about her when I entered the building and he told me she was there. Well, that’s no surprise-we all know she was there now. But why would Senator Glancy lie about it? Unless maybe he was planning to meet her in secret.”

“Move to strike,” Ben said. “Supposition without foundation.”

Herndon inhaled heavily, then said, “Sustained.” Which was surely his way of saying that although Ben was technically correct, he couldn’t see that it made much difference.

“You use the word lie in pretty cavalier fashion, ma’am. Is it possible that Senator Glancy didn’t know she was in the building? That she didn’t report in to his office?” That was what Glancy had told Ben.

“Then why would she come?” Shandy asked, exasperated. “She couldn’t work for him if he didn’t know she was there.” Her voice dropped a notch. “And she couldn’t blackmail him or have sex with him, either.”

“Your honor!” Ben protested, but the judge was already on it.

“Miss Craig, you know what is and is not permitted on the witness stand. You will confine your testimony to what you have seen and heard.”

“Yes, your honor.”

“I won’t tolerate any more such remarks, particularly not with testimony of this importance. Do that again and I’ll have you removed from the courtroom.”

“Yes, your honor. Sorry.”

Herndon leaned back, obviously still angry. But there wasn’t much he could do to such a contrite witness. “The jury will disregard the witness’s last statement. You may proceed, Mr. Kincaid.”

Ben tried to salvage what little he could. “You keep saying you ‘followed’ Senator Glancy. But that isn’t really accurate, is it?”