Connie sat at her desk staring at the words on her screen while shock and surprise washed across her face. She pushed the print key and printed four copies. The data was there, she read and re-read the screen in disbelief but computers do not lie. Connie took the four copies, filed three where they belonged and carried the fourth over to Slade. She silently handed the fourth copy to Slade, watched as he read it and waited for his reaction. Slade put the report down, shook his head in disbelief and looked up at Connie. She sat down slouching as if her body lost all its bones and muscle. "What do we do with this?" Connie asked. "We keep this information quiet until it can be verified. We do not need to point the finger at anyone without proof. What we have is a piece of information that confirmed another piece. That is all." Slade intimated.

Slade thought, this was something that Leona knew all along but did not tell us. Of course, we never asked her about it though. Now, he had something to use to pry more information from Leona tonight. It was going to be a fun night for them, when Slade asked about TMA Ltd. Slade sat at his desk, looking at the facts in hand, formulating an approach to talk to Leona, without tipping the police's hand. Maybe Connie and Slade needed a meeting with Gustaf again. They had a lot more questions now and Gustaf or Leona had all the answers right or wrong. Tonight would be the start of a radical change in the relationship between vampires and humans in the city. Slade felt he had to stop now. Over analyzing, the situation only caused more problems rather than solve the ones at hand.

Slade got up from his desk, walked over to Connie, touched her arm and motioned for her to follow him. He led her to the small interrogation room down the hall from the squad room.

"What's going on Slade?" Connie quizzed.

"I think it is time we put some pressure on Gustaf and Leona about TMA Ltd. It is the key to the murders, but we cannot get anywhere right now with what we have. I think both of us need to sit down with Leona or Gustaf and get them to open up about TMA Ltd. I have a meeting with Leona tonight and I will lay the groundwork for a future meeting to explain TMA Ltd to us." Slade expounded.

Connie sat listening to Slade, thinking she might tell him about her meeting later tonight, but decided to keep quiet. She shook her head in agreement and said, "When do you think would be a good time to sit with them?"

Slade looked at her and speculated, "I think we need to take some time gathering more information about TMA Ltd from public sources. We need to get enough to help us get a warrant to search the real estate they own looking for the red pickup truck and the three human gang members."

"Okay, I will continue searching through public record databases for property of any kind owned by them. We will build a full file about them and confront them when we are ready." Connie told Slade.

Slade went out of the room, stopped at the end of the hall and looked out at the beautiful crimson sunset in a cloudless sky. He thought, 'Wow, this will be the first time to visit with Leona, when it was not foggy, misty or raining.' He hoped that it would stay dry and cloudless for the night. When it rained or was, misty the evil in the world tended to rise to a higher level and police work piled up on his desk.

Slade went back to his desk, picked up the six murder victim files, carried them to the conference room and spread them on the large table. He took the pictures of the bodies and laid them side by side looking for anything unusual or similar with the victims. He looked very closely at each photograph examining them for something, anything. Suddenly, it hit him, there was something similar in each photograph. He got up, left the conference room locking it and went to Connie's desk. He signaled to her to come and join him. Before she got up from her desk, she closed down her screen and locked it. She got up, walked to Slade and followed him into the conference room.

Slade turned to her, "what do you see here in these pictures?"

Connie shrugged her shoulders and looked closely again. She examined the pictures again and shook her head. "What am I supposed to see? There are six dead young women here. That is all I see."

"You missed it too, just like I did until a few minutes ago. Take a look at what each young woman is/was wearing." Slade prompted.

"Oh my word, how did we miss that? Wait a minute, some of the victims were nude when we saw them but there was always an outfit next to them. They are all wearing the same outfits down to the underwear and shoes. That is totally weird. What are the odds to have so many victims all wearing the same clothes? That is a big discovery. Great catch, now we have one more thing to use." Connie happily intoned.

"I wonder if the outfits came from the same store. Can you go look at the labels of all the clothes and make a note of the manufacturer's brands? After you gather that, try to find which store carries them and if someone purchased the same clothes in the last month. This might lead us to someone else involved with the gang and the vampires." Slade instructed Connie. She shook her head and left the conference room. Slade felt the best about this case he ever had now.

Connie went to her desk, picked up a list of the case numbers and a pad of paper and went to the evidence locker to gather all the information. She felt the search was OK, but the clothes were common and literally available anywhere. She did like the new clue, however, it was a big one. She smiled, walked briskly to the evidence locker and checked in with the custodian. She waited in the examination area for the custodian to bring her all the evidence boxes. As she waited, she thought of her meeting later that night with Gustaf. She wondered if she should ask about these new developments or let Gustaf talk about the new vampires. She thought about it all and got surprised, when the custodian returned with the six boxes. She opened the first box, noted each of the labels and sizes and discovered each piece of clothing came from the same manufacturers. She grew excited, as she entered the same data for each body. The investigation was now on a roll.

Connie turned the evidence boxes back in to the custodian and left the area. As she walked upstairs to the squad room, she contemplated what her meeting with Gustaf would be like later. She still had a few hours in her shift, but all the stores closed already, so she just had to stow the information in her desk and on her computer for use tomorrow at the start of her shift. She felt great about the progress made today in the investigation. Slade and she gathered enough now to go question the vampire community about the new vampires, who they were and where they slept during the day. As much as they wanted to catch these murderers, Connie knew they did not have enough to arrest anyone yet. Patience was the only thing that worked in these cases, eventually the killers slipped up, the detectives pounced and arrested them all. Her shift over, Connie put all the gathered information from the day in a folder, added it to the rest of the information and locked it in her desk. She went looking for Slade, but he left earlier.

Slade left the squad room without telling Connie, got to his car and drove out into the midnight traffic of other people going out. At a traffic light, Slade looked up through the sunroof of his car at the big golden moon in the cloudless sky. The moon was full and the brighter stars twinkled down on Slade, as he thought it was about time to have a clear night with Leona. Traffic was heavy for this time of night, but moved along at the limit. Soon, he was alone on the road to the area where The Main Artery was located.

As he pulled up to the entrance to the alley, Leona stepped from the darkness, floated to his car, waited until he opened the door and she slid in next to him. She was dressed provocatively in a semi-transparent tight-fitting dress, which left little to the imagination. Earlier in the evening, Leona took a short trip to one of the other warehouses and spent an hour feeding on two willing servants, who gave their blood to satisfy the hunger of vampires. Tonight, she wanted everything to work perfectly in the seduction of detective Slade. Instead of being stone cold, she was human warm thanks to the earlier feeding. Her dress was to entice him into desiring her and to help her draw information from him. Slade saw her right away and knew he was in trouble. When she slid next to him, he felt the warmth radiating from her and her hand was warm on his thigh, as she greeted him. Slade cautiously pulled the collar of his jacket up, covering his neck. He knew vampires liked to bite humans in the neck, but was not sure where Leona would go first.

As Slade drove away, Leona rested her head on his shoulder, purred in his ear and whispered, "Just drive around for a while. I want to feel your presence with me tonight."

Slade looked over at her and saw something that he never saw before. Leona was a soft loving woman, not the cold heartless vampire from their last liaison. He drove on, mystified by the change, wondering what would happen later at the warehouse. He quickly decided that his tactics tonight had to change or he might spill everything they knew about TMA Ltd and maybe the new vampires. Slade drove through the center of the city looking at all the entertainment centers, people waiting to enter and others that scattered on their way home. He wished in his heart that Leona and he could spend time together at one of those places. She was a beautiful woman and he would be the envy of every man who saw them together. Maybe sometime they could go here. He stopped at a long traffic light as people paraded across the street in front of his car.

He turned to Leona and asked almost pleading, "Can we go to one of these clubs sometime?"

Leona looked up at him from his shoulder, moved her head closer to him and said, "I would love to do that. It has been a very long time, since any man has taken me out for a real evening of pleasure. You know I don't have to eat, so a dinner is not necessary, but I like ballet, plays and opera as well as dance clubs."

Leona turned her head away from Slade, as she said those words, tears rolled down her cheeks for the first time in almost a century. She felt closer to Slade, than she had for any other man. Being the enforcer for Gustaf never allowed her to feel like a woman and now Slade was a human, who desired her as a woman, not a vampire. She looped her arm through his, as it was holding the wheel, grabbing him lightly. Her other hand rested high up on his right thigh, feeling his warmth and expressing her desire for him. She knew, tonight was going to be a night, better than any other, she had with a human man. She forgot all about the case of the six murders and thought of Slade as a man not a police detective. She looked back at him, moved her head closer to his neck and kissed him there.

Slade glanced over, as Leona looked away and saw the shine of tears on her cheek. He thought, no woman has ever had tears for him. He drove on, wanting to stop for some coffee, before going to the warehouse to spend the night. "Can we stop for a cup of coffee or tea for you? I don't want to be accused of not being a good host." Slade asked Leona.

"Sure, I would love a cup of tea. I do enjoy tea a lot. It was my one vice, before I became a vampire." Leona gushed as she smiled at Slade.

Slade knew a place down the street from where they were. It was a small teahouse named 'Café Rendezvous', where they served coffee and tea. His sister went here to get her custom blended tea and special coffee for the holidays. They served pastries there, baked on site, which were the lightest and most flavorful in the city. Slade pulled in and drove around behind the place, a habit he retained from DD's. Never park out front in case the lieutenant drove by checking on his squad. He got out of the car, went around to Leona's side and offered his hand as she alighted. They walked to the main entrance holding hands like young lovers. Leona held Slade's hand but also had her other hand on his arm. She was so happy and contented. It was a very good night for her right now.

They entered the Café, walked to a small table for two in a softly lit corner and sat next to each other still holding hands. The hostess came to them and welcomed Slade again and asked who the young woman was. Slade introduced Leona and asked for his usual Sumatra coffee blend. Leona asked for some white tea infused with lemon. The hostess went to get the drinks and bring back some light cookies. The tea and coffee came in small carafes and dainty china settings. The cup looked so out of place in Slade's large hands. Leona looked at ease and relaxed enjoying being here with him. They sat drinking their tea and coffee, exchanged small talk about the types of tea and coffee they liked and fed each other a cookie. The hostess watched the two, as they were the only patrons in the place. Leona finished her tea as Slade finished his coffee. They got up and Slade put down some money on the table, said goodbye to the hostess and escorted Leona out to the car. They left the parking lot and drove to the warehouse, where they first spent the night.

Slade pulled into the interior, waited for the door to close and got out to join Leona in one of the bedrooms. As he walked to the room, he glanced around the area, where he parked and saw a red pickup, hidden behind some packing crates. He thought, he would check it out later, when Leona went to sleep as she left the room for the daytime hours.. This would be a really big break if it were the same truck.

Slade entered the bedroom, took off his jacket and sat in the big recliner chair, which was there. Leona changed into a filmy negligee, hung her dress in a small closet and came up to Slade. As she walked to Slade, he watched her not as a lustful man, but as an admirer of beauty and grace. The body, that came to him, was curvy and a pleasure to behold. Her face appeared well sculpted, as an alabaster statue. Her hair was like corn silk, as it cascaded down her head and framed her beautiful face. The body, beneath her silky, black, transparent negligee moved with a fluid motion, which accentuated her curves. Her breasts were firm and not tiny, but also not large. Her nipples were dark and perfect circles, placed high on her breasts. Her small waist pulled in from the breasts above and flared again to create perfectly balanced hips that undulated, when she walked. The legs that supported this vision of pulchritude were long and slender. They moved slowly one foot placed in front of the other, the same way a model walked the runway. Her skin was white almost glowing, but solid and firm as if she spent hours in the gym and the spa. Slade's breath caught in his throat, when she stood in front of him.

Slade remembered, the last time she was cold and hard, but tonight she seemed to be totally opposite. She slipped softly into his lap, putting her arms around his neck and kissing him softly on his lips. She was soft, warm and sensuous. Slade wrapped his arms around her, held her tightly, picked her up, carried her to the bed and put her gently down. She reached around him from behind, removed his shirt and undid his pants. Slade stood and removed his shoes and pants. He sat back down on the edge of the bed as Leona came to him and kissed his neck. She was so tempted to bite him then, but held back in anticipation of biting him in a less obvious place later. Right now, all she wanted was to make out with this gorgeous man who treated her so well.

Slade loved the attention and forgot all about why he was there. He was with a beautiful woman and that was enough for now. He turned and started kissing her lips softly and tenderly. As they kissed, they moved onto the bed, slid down to a laying position and hugged each other tightly. Leona moved over Slade and sat on him looking down. She kissed along his stomach and his rock hard abs, moved his hands and arms up over his head and used his handcuffs to lock him against the headboard of the bed. Slade made a mocking protest, but loved her dominating him. Leona kissed him hard on his lips and kissed down his body to his legs and inner thigh. He moaned as her kisses traveled around his strong quivering body.

Just as Slade expected more, Leona bent down and bit him on his thigh with a loud smacking noise. She slowly and carefully started to feed on his blood in a warm sensuous way from his thigh. Slade started to protest, but it felt so right, he stopped and lay there, giving her free reign to continue. There was a feeling there, he never felt before, almost sexual as if he was with her having intercourse. The initial bite hurt, but became warm and sensual, as Leona took his blood. A warm satisfied feeling rolled over Slade, as if he had the most wonderful sexual experience of his life. She continued on his thigh a bit longer but stopped when she felt warmer and ready for more romance. She rolled off him, sat next to him, looked at him smiling and got off the bed. She walked to a cabinet built into the wall and opened it. Slade looked over at it and saw a large collection of instruments of torture. He felt, he was in trouble, but it did not matter now. Leona turned, looked at Slade trussed up in the handcuffs and let loose a very long loud menacing laugh.