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“Hello, Cynthia. What can I do for you?”

Samantha tilted her head, curiosity etched into her features. She snagged the pad and pencil she used to build her grocery lists from the counter nearby and shoved it toward him.

“Jeff, I don’t know why we didn’t think of calling you earlier, but I tried calling my husband a little while ago and he didn’t answer his phone. He may be having bad reception, but I got a little nervous. So I thought about calling you. ”

Jeff scribbled the woman’s name onto the pad. “Call me about what?”

Samantha raised her eyebrows after she read it was Cynthia Guerra on the phone.

“Pete Talbert came by this morning with a man named Ethan Logan. Do you know him?”

“Damn,” Jeff muttered. He added another notation.

Samantha tilted her head, her brow furrowed as she saw him underline the man’s name.

“Jeff?” Cynthia’s voice asked after he was silent for a little too long.

“Yeah, I know him. ” Jeff sighed, rubbing his chin.

“So he is a paranormal investigator,” Cynthia said with relief.

“No, he’s actually a supernatural bounty hunter. He tracks down monsters of all kinds for various employers for a ton of money,” Jeff answered.

“Oh, God, Jeff. ” Cynthia sounded suddenly terrified.

Beside him, Samantha’s eyes visibly widened.

“Ethan came to your house for what reason?”

“We should have called you!”

“Cynthia, talk to me. Why was he at your house?”

“He said he has the cure to vampirism. That he could turn Amaliya back to human, but that he needed the ashes of the vampire who made her. ”

Jeff scribbled down everything she was saying, the sick feeling in his stomach growing. “And he was with Pete Talbert. The guy Amaliya admitted to feeding off of and wiping his memory?”

“Pete remembered her again. He knows she’s a vampire. That’s why he was helping Ethan. Pete wants to help her become human again. Can Ethan do that? Or is he trying to track her down to kill her?”

“I can’t say for sure, but if he’s after The Summoner’s ashes this may have nothing to do with Amaliya at all. Or at least, not directly. I’m not sure. Dammit. Why didn’t Sergio or Innocente call me?” Jeff lifted his eyes to see Samantha biting her bottom lip. Fear and horror tangled in her gaze.

“I don’t know! We were all so excited about being able to save Amaliya we didn’t even think about it! Jeff, they went to the cemetery where The Summoner died! They left three hours ago and I can’t reach Sergio!” Cynthia sounded close to hysterics.

“Cynthia, we’ll deal with this. I swear it!” Jeff gripped Samantha’s hand tightly. “I just need to talk to my team and make a plan, okay?”

“Jeff, should I call the police?”

“No! It will make it even more

dangerous for all of them. Hopefully, Ethan will get what he wants and move on without causing an issue. We’ll deal with this, I promise. I will call you as soon as I know something. ”

The woman’s sobs from the other end of the call made Jeff’s chest hurt.

“Cynthia, I promise. We’ll take care of this. It’s what we do. ”

“Jackie kept telling me that Ethan was a liar. She said she could see it in his mind,” Cynthia wailed. “I should have called you sooner!”

“Jackie reads minds?” Jeff was flabbergasted.