Leona stood in the warehouse watching Gustaf walk to the car with Sam, his bodyguard driver. They left her behind to fume some more and make her appeals to Slade. She flipped open her phone, dialed Slade and waited for him to pickup. The phone on his desk rang and went to voicemail. She hung up not leaving a message. She tried his other number, which was his cell phone. He answered on the first ring, gave his typical greeting and had a smile in his voice when he heard Leona.

"Can you come to the warehouse and get me? Gustaf left me behind." Leona begged him.

"Sure, I can be there in 45 minutes. I am at the hospital with Connie. She is awake now, but still trying to get back to reality." Slade revealed to her.

"That is wonderful news. Tell her hello from me." Leona said happily.

"OK, I will be with you soon. Good bye." He told her.

Leona sat in a large leather couch thinking about how to get Gustaf to give her the chance to see the two vampires and their three human friends. She felt so angry, but also hurt that she lost out in dispensing the punishment for their crimes. Maybe with Slade there, Gustaf would be more lenient with the information. Before going to the club, she wanted a good cup of tea and time alone with her man.

Slade pulled into the warehouse, opened his door, got out and went to Leona. She sat very still on the big leather couch, as if she were an alabaster statue. He never saw anyone sit so still, but she was a vampire and could be or do just about anything. When he approached, her eyes flew open, as if she saw him moving, but in reality, she felt the movement of the air displaced, as he walked toward her. A big smile crossed her face, she extended her arms to him and he pulled her up to kiss her. They separated, but her mind was not with him yet. She still occupied herself with how to get back at Gustaf for snubbing her.

"Can we get some tea tonight? I want to spend time with you now." She asked.

"Sure, we can go right now. I need coffee anyway." Slade replied.

He walked her to the car opened her door, she slid in to the middle of the front seat, he walked over to his side and sat in to drive away. She slid closer, put her arm behind his head and rested her head on him. He drove out into the evening traffic and headed to Café Rendezvous.

Leona whispered in his ear, "Can we stay away from the club tonight?"

"Sure, we can spend time together. We can walk downtown through the crowds as lovers if you like. It is not important to go to your work, if you do not want." Slade said soothing her.

They sat next to each other at Café Rendezvous holding hands. Leona sipped her tea slowly deep in thought, as she looked lovingly at Slade. Slade told her about Connie and the progress made in her recovery.

"Connie will be in the hospital for at least another two weeks, while her bones knit and they conduct tests on her for any memory loss or loss of mental function." Slade told her smiling. He looked at her and saw that she was distant from him tonight. There was something on her mind troubling her. "What is on your mind Leona? I see a problem troubling you."

She hesitantly replied, "I have a confession to make to you and I hope it does not hurt us. Remember the other day, you asked about wanting to know who the 'Enforcer' was for the Vampire Justice System. I am the 'Enforcer' and have been since we came to this country. When Gustaf took over Master of the City here, it became permanent."

Slade put down his coffee, sat deathly, quietly still and looked incredulously at her in disbelief. He stared at her for a long moment, completely at a loss for words. He sat back away from her, looked down at his hands and started to say something, but stopped. His face turned hard, as he thought about what she said. She sat there quiet and still, a pink tear appeared and rolled down her cheek slowly, as she started to sob. Slade's face turned soft, he put his arm around her and pulled her against him. She buried her head into his shoulder and cried loudly, as he held her. No words he knew could soothe her now. He held her and spoke to her in soft soothing tones trying to comfort her and stop her crying.

Her crying ended, turning to sobs and shudders. Slade let her sit back away from him and held her hands in his. Small pink rivulets of tears marred her face and she got up and went to the 'la salle de bain' to fix her face. When she returned, she was a new woman, poised and confident. She sat next to Slade, leaned into him, kissed him and whispered, "Thank you."

"I did nothing, but be here to comfort you. I am surprised, but that does not change how I feel about you." Slade replied with a slight edge to his voice. "What do we do now? We need to know, what happened to the vampires and anyone else who was with them."

Leona shook her head and replied, "I tried to get Gustaf to tell me about it, but he assured me that it was over and done. I suspect they got off lightly and enjoy his protection now."

"How can we find out anything?" Slade asked.

"I can take you where they live, but it may hurt your investigation into the murders. I know they were involved, but cannot prove it. Would that help?" Leona volunteered.

"I don't know. The only thing we have is a red pickup truck with a registration to TMA Ltd. They also hold the license for The Main Artery and own a few more warehouses around the city. We cannot place any of the humans or vampires with any of the women. Therefore, we are stuck. Showing me where they live will help, but I cannot use it as part of my investigation, unless…" Slade hypothesized to her.

"I am so confused and need to see these vampires. When we are done here can we drive to where they live?" Leona asked.

"I guess we can. I will have to log the visit as a tip from an anonymous informant." Slade told her.

She smiled at him, grabbed his hand, put it to her mouth and kissed it. She rested her head on his shoulder and purred with satisfaction. They drank their tea and coffee, sharing little tidbits about their lives and history. They left the teahouse, got into the evening traffic and drove to the warehouse of the new vampires and human gang members. Before they got there, Leona asked to stop where her sleep chamber was. She needed to get her bag of torture paraphernalia to be on the safe side. She was not sure she would need it, but Slade did not care about it at all. She got her bag and they drove to the other warehouse. Leona got out of the car, went inside and opened the big roll-up door for Slade. He drove in and parked.

The warehouse was quiet, the doors of the rooms were open and the furniture was in disarray. Something occurred here that was not good. The large screen TV was twisted and smashed on the floor. There was food strewn over one corner of the area. Tables overturned with smashed tops and legs littered the whole area. The big leather couch had tears all over exposing the stuffing and springs. Everything was either broken or destroyed beyond repair. Slade thought the rage of the person responsible was not under control. The most surprising thing that Slade noticed was the total absence of blood. He stood in the middle of the place and scratched his head looking at the scene.

Leona stood next to Slade, looked at the scene and knew right away the handiwork of the head of the Vampire Justice System. This destruction was the work of one vampire, who suffered from uncontrollable rage when provoked. She concluded that the destruction occurred when the vampires and human gang members were not present. She knew that when they caught the vampires and human gang, there would be no mercy shown. She smiled at what she saw. Gustaf was here and left behind a good example of his rage and a strong message.

"Do you know what happened here?" Slade asked Leona.

"I have a suspicion, but can't tell you for certain. The rage here is something I saw before. The destruction is the result of the rage. The lack of blood or bodies meant that no one was here." Leona replied. "If the vampires and gang members returned there would be bloodshed and a high body count both human and vampire."

"Do you know who did this?" Slade asked.

"I am not sure, so I do not want to point a finger at an innocent man." Leona said.

"One man did all this damage?" Slade inquired.

"Yes, one very powerful, strong vampire who has, when provoked, uncontrollable rage." Leona volunteered.

Slade stopped asking questions. It was obvious that Leona was not going to tell him anything tonight. The vampires and gang members left their home and went into hiding or did they? Slade thought if he contacted the gang task force, he could find out where the gang used to hang out. They may be there now.

Suddenly, the warehouse went completely pitch black dark as if covered under a black cloud. Slade felt Leona tense up beside him. She grabbed Slade's arm, turned him around and pulled him running to the nearest open room. When inside, she stood in front of him facing the doorway, his arms pulled tightly around her waist. Slade felt more than sensed the fear that welled up inside her. Leona shook with a cold fear deep in her heart, as if something deadly and fearful approached the warehouse.

"What is wrong, my love?" He asked in a whisper.

"Shh, something is coming." She replied whispering back.

Slade held her tightly, but did not like feeling her fear. She was a vampire with great strength and fearless. The fact she feared the darkness made Slade fear for their safety. The warehouse was deathly still, only the wind howling outside made the building shake and rattle. A shudder ran through Leona, as she remembered, the last time she saw this happen. That time happened, just after Gustaf and she became vampires. Their maker Andrei destroyed the gypsy camp where they lived, because the gypsies sought to kill Gustaf and Leona. He brought down complete darkness on the camp, turned every wagon to matchsticks and vaporized every human left in the camp. She knew hiding in the room would not protect them, but it was too late to run. She had to make a stand against Andrei to protect Slade and herself.

Suddenly, the door to the warehouse exploded with a load roar. The debris from the explosion decimated the interior. The walls of the room protected Leona and Slade from the initial onslaught. When the door shattered, several pieces flew and lodged in the exterior walls of the room, but never penetrated them. The roar subsided, followed by the sound of wind rushing through the building and the movement of the furniture and other things echoed loudly. Just as suddenly as the turmoil began, it stopped. The heavy sound of footsteps bounced off the walls of the room, causing Leona to shake violently. She knew who made those sounds. Andrei was in the warehouse searching for any vampires or humans.

A loud voice thundered with a heavy Romanian accent, "You better expose yourselves, because if I have to search, the consequences will be swift and deadly."

Leona pushed Slade away and whispered, "Let me go meet him and explain who you are. He is not completely evil but as close as one can come."

Slade nodded whispering, "Please be careful."

Leona hesitantly stepped to the doorway of the room, looked back at Slade smiling weakly and stepped into the large warehouse proper. Not a sound emanated from within as Leona cautiously walked further into the warehouse area. The floor and walls contained remnants of the shattered door. Lights burned brightly, bathing the warehouse in an artificial sunlight.

Suddenly, a shout came calling her by name, "Leona, it is good to see you, my dear young gypsy woman."

Leona with a faltering voice said, "Andrei, welcome to America. It has been a very long time since we have seen each other. What brings you here tonight?"

"Is that any way to greet your maker? Come to me and greet me properly." Andrei commanded.

Leona cautiously approached her maker, bowed her head and fell to her knees, hugging his legs. He put his hand on her head as if in parental approval of her coming to him. She looked up, smiled sweetly and started to rise. Andrei extended a hand to help her rise. As she rose, a smile appeared on Andrei's face. He opened his arms, pulled Leona against him and hugged her tightly in a true parental greeting.

"There is someone else here in the building. I can smell the blood and hear the heart of a human. Where is this human and why is it here?" Andrei asked sternly.

"He is in the room where I was. He is my human lover and very close friend. Shall I go get him?" Leona asked. Andrei nodded and she moved toward the room calling, "Slade, you can come out now. It is safe." She continued back into the room, took Slade by the hand and led him out to the warehouse proper to meet Andrei. Slade held back from her but she pulled hard on his arm and he kept up.

"Welcome, I am Andrei the maker of Gustaf and Leona, and you are?" Andrei cheerfully inquired.

"Detective Slade of the City Police Department, I am dating Leona. We are working with her closely." Slade answered.

"Do you know what Leona does?" Andrei requested.

"I know she works with her brother Gustaf and is the 'Enforcer' for the Vampire Justice System. Why do you ask?" Slade replied.

"Just curious, how much she told you. That is all." Andrei volunteered. "Sorry about the dramatic entrance. I was searching for four rogue vampires and three human friends. I can see they are not here. Do you have any thoughts where they might be now?"

"We thought they had been captured and dealt with by the new 'Enforcer.' It looks like they escaped justice yet again. They are the prime suspects in a series of six murders of young women here." Slade volunteered.

"Maybe we can join forces to find them and bring them to justice?" Andrei asked.

"It might work, considering that vampires are involved. I would like that, thank you." Slade said.

Andrei bowed slightly, turned to Leona, took her hand and kissed it. He strode out of the warehouse and disappeared in a rising gust of wind. Slade looked at Leona, smiled and walked to her. He took her hand and pulled her to the car. The damage to the car was not bad from the flying debris, but it had several dents in the sheet metal. The glass was unharmed because it was bulletproof. Before they got into the car to leave, Slade looked at her again and saw a different Leona.

When Andrei left, Leona relaxed, as calm descended over her that she had not experienced since she left Romania. Her whole visage changed and she was able to be her normal self again. Slade saw the change, but said nothing. She turned to him, grabbed his lapels and kissed him holding him close. She let go after a long while, but stayed close by him smiling.

"Would you like to visit with Connie tonight?" Slade asked.

"That will be a wonderful thing. I want to share your life with you. She is a friend and I want to get to meet and know your friends. I want to help solve these murders with you too." Leona added with a bubbly voice.

"Should we call Gustaf to tell him about the damage done here tonight?" Slade asked.

"No, Andrei will tell him. There is nothing left here to steal. It is safe for now." Leona replied.

Slade walked her to her side of the car, opened the door and watched her slide in gracefully. He went to the driver's door, got in and started the engine. He drove slowly through the debris out into the evening traffic toward the hospital. Leona rested her head on his shoulder and listened to his heartbeat. Traffic was light and the trip took no time at all.

They entered the hospital holding hands, got on the elevator and rode to Connie's floor. It was after visiting hours but no one stopped Slade. They knew Connie was his partner and that made him like family. He stopped at the nurse's station to ask how Connie spent the day and early evening. He heard that she did well and the tests had all been positive for a return to full brain function. She recovered well but there were some empty periods in her memory. The nurse assured him that it was normal and the lapses returned eventually. Slade felt much better now that he knew she was on the road to full recovery and would return to be his partner again.

Slade thanked the nurse, turned away and with Leona in tow walked to Connie's room. The lights in the corridor burned softly, because the night setting turned them down. As they turned the corner, Slade stopped, pushed Leona behind him, as he drew his gun. The guard on duty outside Connie's door was not at his post, but his hat was across the hall from his chair. This was not normal. Slade slowly moved down the hall scanning right and left making sure it was safe. Leona stayed glued to his back afraid to move without him. When they got to the guard's chair, scuffmarks appeared on the floor. There were signs of a struggle and the guard bled from a wound somewhere. Slade entered Connie's room, surveyed the area looking for anything out of place and saw Connie sleeping quietly in her bed. The room contained several very large bouquets of flowers and smelled sweet from it all. Slade switched on the lights, looked around again and saw the feet of the officer poking out from behind the flowers. Slade rang for the nurse and went to the officer's aid.

Leona gasped and Slade turned to see a fleeing shadow leaving the room.