"There you go. So give Dead End Dating a call and ask for Evie. She practically runs the place." At least while I was this close to Death Row. "She'll be glad to help you."

"Thanks." She gave me a grateful smile. "I owe you."

"No, I owe you." Or I would if Rachel's surveillance panned out and I caught up with Jack.

Chapter Six.

Dead bodies don't normally creep me out. I mean, I am si fearless, bloodsucking vampire.

All right, already. So I don't really do death and destruction all that well and I haven't been to a funeral in... well, I've never actually been to one (add immortal to the fearless, bloodsucking definition above), so I might have been a little creeped out.

I stared into the square window cut into the ma.s.sive metal door and my hand stalled. Large metal drawers lined the walls from Previous Top Nextfloor to ceiling. A row of stretchers sported large, black zippered bags. The smell of disinfectant burned my nostrils.

"Are you sure she's in there?" I asked the orderly who'd led me down the hallway.

"Saw her check in for her shift myself." He peered over my shoulder. "There she is." He signaled to the only upright human in the entire room. She was a small redhead wearing a white lab coat and an ID badge that read MANDY DUPREE, M.C., RESIDENT/FORENSIC PATHOLOGY.

"Maybe you could tap on the gla.s.s and get her to come out here?"

"She just clocked in. She doesn't get a break yet and she can't leave the room unattended."

I took in a deep breath and immediately regretted it. Not only did the dead bodies creep me out, but the dead smell wasn't helping the situation.

I expelled the breath, made a no more breathing promise to myself, and punched the red buzzer next to the door. Dr. Mandy glanced up and I waved. A puzzled expression creased her face as she crossed the room and punched a b.u.t.ton. The door swung open.

"Sorry to bother you. You're the Mandy who's dating Jack Marchette, right?" I asked the question, but I didn't really need to bother. The moment her bright green gaze collided with mine, I knew the answer. She wasn't just dating Jack. She was desperately in love with him and she felt certain he returned those feelings. He'd surprised her with a puppy for her birthday two weeks ago and last night he'd surprised her by licking her- Whoops. I so didn't need to know that. I blinked and focused my attention on the fine arch of her left eyebrow. Hmmm... nice wax job.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm looking for Jack. You do know him, right?"

She eyed me a moment longer before she finally nodded. "Jack's in the lounge getting me some coffee."

"Jack's getting you coffee? Jack? Jack Marchette?" See, here's the thing. My brother loves women, and he's obviously really good at it because he usually has one at his beck and call twenty-four/seven. Not the other way around.

"Who are you?" she asked me.

"I'm his..." I thought about giving her the cousin spiel, but Jack wasn't likely to play along since he didn't yet know the trouble I was in. "I'm his sister."

A smile erupted on her face. "You're Lil?" At my nod, she grasped my hand and gave it a warm squeeze. "I've heard so much about you. It's so good to finally meet you in person."

"You've heard about me?"

It was her turn to nod. "Of course, silly. You and your brothers. Jack's really crazy about all of you."

"He is?"

"You guys are all he talks about."

"We are?""Of course. He's such a family man."

"He is?" Okay, so like I knew I was asking dumb questions, but this was one of those life-changing moments. My entire family unit as I knew it, complete with a pain-in-the-a.s.s brother who couldn't stand me, was disintegrating right before my eyes.

"His strong sense of family is one of the things that attracted me to him. He's so loyal and protective and-there he is!"

I turned just as Mandy pressed the b.u.t.ton and the door swung open. Jack stood there, a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and a long-stemmed red rose in the other.

Forget life-changing. This was a Twilight Zone moment.

"Hey, baby." He handed Mandy the coffee and the rose and gave her a lingering kiss.

I cleared my throat and the kiss ended. Jack turned. His expression went from dreamy to puzzled. "Lil? What are you doing here?"

"I'm being hunted by the cops for chopping some guy into little pieces."

He grinned. "Funny, sis."

"No, I'm serious."

"Lil can't stand the sight of blood." As soon as Jack said it, he and Mandy both burst out laughing.

"But she's a vampire." The statement seemed to make them laugh that much harder.

"Hey, I'm serious." I frowned and tapped Jack on the shoulder. "h.e.l.lo?"

"No, really." Jack wiped at his eyes. "Why are you here?"

"That's why I'm here. I'm being hunted and I need your help."

Jack shook his head, but Mandy sobered up. "I think she's serious, Jack."

"Murder? That's the craziest thing I've ever heard."

"You and me both," I told him. "Regardless, it's true. I'm on the lam. A fugitive. A murder suspect." My vision clouded and I blinked frantically. h.e.l.lo? I was not crying now. Here. In front of Jack. The last time I'd let loose the waterworks, he'd laughed at me. Then again, I'd been five and he'd been seven and he'd shattered the head of my favorite porcelain doll.

The thought made my vision blur all the more. I sniffled. "So can you help me?"

"What do you need?"

No laughing. Definitely a good sign. I swallowed. "I need cash. Lots of it."

While Jack headed off to the ATM, I chatted with Mandy while she undressed and prepped a body for temporary storage until the scheduled autopsy.

Talk about creepy, and slow. The second hand on the clock seemed to drag as Mandy arranged and zipped and my muscles started to ache. While I couldn't see outside because we were in a secure, windowless room, I could feel the sun creeping toward the horizon. My strength drained away and my eyelids drooped and I silently begged for Jack to hurry the h.e.l.l up."You look like s.h.i.t," he told me when he finally walked back into the room just a precious fifteen minutes before sunrise.

Okay, I knew I wasn't about to win any Miss Vamp America contest, but I didn't look that bad. "Geez, thanks a lot. I love you, too." I opened the thick envelope he handed me.

"I drained the cash from four different machines. I hope it's enough."

"It's plenty." My eyes met his. "I owe you."

"Forget it." His gaze narrowed as he eyed me. "You really should lie down."

"I will just as soon as I find someplace safe." I glanced at the wall clock. Thirteen minutes and counting. Yikes! I stuffed the envelope into my pocket. "I've got to get out of here."

"You'll never make it," Mandy said as she slid one of the drawers closed with a loud clunk.

"I saw a small hotel just a few blocks over."

"Mandy and I went there," Jack added, "to, well, you know, and we spent fifteen minutes at the registration desk alone."

Can you say too much information? "I'll make it," I told him. When he shook his head and shrugged, I added, "I have to make it."

"Not necessarily." He and Mandy exchanged glances and the meaning hit me like a punch to the stomach.

"I know what you're thinking and don't," I told him, but he said the words anyway.

"You could crash here."

Ewwwww.

At my horrified expression, he smiled. "Man, but you're squeamish."

"d.a.m.n straight I'm squeamish. We're in a room full of dead people. No offense," I told Mandy.

"Sis, you're a vampire." He walked over to one of the drawers and tugged the handle. It slid free, exposing an empty drawer that consisted of a body-length stainless steel table. "Get over it."

"I'm a born vampire. Meaning I've never kicked the bucket."

"You're still dead by society's standards."

"That is totally beside the point."

"Being?"

"They're dead."

"And you will be too if you don't find a place to crash for tonight. Don't be such a wuss. I've done it." He gazed adoringly at Mandy, who'd turned to retrieve some clean sheets from a large utility shelf on the far side of the room.

I know, right? My brother. Gazing.

"You're totally freaking me out," I told him."There's nothing freaky about it. It's just a sliding coffin. Our kind have slept in them for years. h.e.l.l, Dad still does."

"Dad's eccentric, and I'm not talking about the drawer. I'm talking about you and Mandy." I lowered my voice and glanced at Mandy. She didn't skip a beat as she retrieved the linens and carefully refolded one that had come loose from the top of the stack. "Think about it, Jack. You've gone from crashing on fab Egyptian cotton sheets and a pillow-top mattress to crawling into a morgue drawer. For a woman." A human woman, I added silently.

He smiled. "Mandy's a resident."

"And?"

"And she puts in a lot of hours, which doesn't really facilitate a relationship. So we work around it. If I crash here during her shift, that means she gets to kiss me good night and good morning, and I don't have to waste time going home."

"You live ten minutes away."

"Ten minutes away from Mandy is ten minutes too long."

Okay, so now he was really freaking me out.

I checked his forehead. Cool as usual. Not that vampires could actually get sick, but I had to make sure. Because if it wasn't some bizarre virus affecting only macho, condescending, womanizing male vampires, then it could only mean...

I felt my smile spread from ear to ear. "You're in love."

My expression was infectious and he beamed. "You bet."

"Do Mom and Dad know? I mean, I know they know about Mandy, but did you say that you-"

"No," he cut in. "Not yet. I told them about her and I've set up a meeting to introduce them to her parents. We figured we would tell them then."

"At tea?" At his questioning glance, I added, "I overheard them when I was hiding out in the pool house."

"They were talking about meeting us for tea?" An anxious light fired his eyes. "What were they saying? Are they coming? They have to come. I mean, I know they don't have to, but they have to. They're my parents, right? They should want to meet the woman that I want to spend eternity with-"

"Relax," I cut in. "They're coming, but they're not exactly happy about it."

Relief swept his features. "They don't have to be happy. They just need to show up."

"What about me? Can I come, too?" If I wasn't dead or playing b.i.t.c.h to a cell mate named Big Mama.

I forced aside the last thought and clung to my newfound hope. Money. Safe place. After life was good.

"Why would you want to come? You hate tea," Jack told me.

"True, but I love seeing Mom freaked when it isn't my fault."

He grinned and eyed the stainless-steel tray. "Are you going to get on or not?"

"Not." Even as the word slipped from my lips, I knew I had no other choice. The sun was just coming up. I couldn't risk walking out of the building right now. I had to crash here. I could look for an empty room, or maybe a broom closet, but both would be too accessible while I was at my weakest.

They didn't call it the sleep of the dead for nothing. Once I zonked out, I would be completely vulnerable, and if I did manage to wake up at the first sign of danger, I would be too weak to defend myself.

I needed someplace that was dark and quiet and, most of all, secure until sunset. And I needed it right now.