Captive of the vampire girl

"It's just a little dinner"

"Uh-huh"

Standing, Uriel Cooper caught the telephone handset in the hollow between his shoulder and neck, holding it in place with his chin as he began to clear his desk in preparation for leaving the office.

Her sister's voice had taken on a persuasive tone, which was always a bad sign. Sighing inwardly, he shook his head as his sister continued to talk, telling him what she had planned for lunch and such, all in an effort to convince him to attend. He noticed she wasn't mentioning who was going to be at this little dinner, but he suspected she already knew. Uriel had no doubt it would be Ana, her husband John, and another single friend he was hoping to hit on with her still single older brother.

"So?"

Uriel paused and took the phone in his hand. Obviously, he had missed something.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"So, what time can you get here tomorrow?"

"I'm not coming"

Before she could complain, he quickly added.

"I can't. I'll be out of the country tomorrow!

"What?

There was a pause, then a suspicious look.

"Why? Where are you going?"

"Mexico. I'm going on vacation. That's why I called you in the first place. I'm flying first thing in the morning for Cancun"

Knowing he had left her by surprise, Uriel allowed a smile to play on his lips as he juggled the phone to put on the suit jacket that had been discarded earlier that day.

"Mexico?"

Ana said after a long pause.

"Vacation?"

Uriel couldn't decide if her bewilderment was amused or just a sad commentary on his life to date. This was the first vacation he had taken since he started his psychology practice eight years ago. Actually, he hadn't gone on vacation since he started college. He was a typical workaholic, driven by success and willing to put in the hours to achieve it. He didn't leave much time for a social life. This vacation was long overdue.

"Listen, I've got to go. I'll send you a postcard from Mexico. Bye"

Uriel hung up before she could say anything to stop him, then grabbed his briefcase and quickly escaped the office. He wasn't surprised to hear the phone start ringing as he closed the office door, Ana was the persistent type. Smiling slightly, she ignored it and pocketed her keys as she made her way down the hallway to the elevator.

Dr. Uriel Cooper was now officially on vacation, and the knowledge made him relax more with each step away from his office. In fact, he was whistling softly as he stepped onto the elevator and turned to press the button marked P3. However, the whistle went off and Uriel instinctively reached for the panel, his eyes searching for the hold button to hold the doors open when he noticed a woman hurrying toward the closing doors. She shouldn't have bothered; she was quick on her feet and managed to slip in just before the doors closed.

Uriel dropped his hand from the panel and politely moved out of the way so she could select the floor she wanted. He watched her curiously as she moved in front of him, idly wondering where the woman had come from. The hallway was empty when he walked through it, and he hadn't heard a door open or close, but then he was distracted by thoughts of his upcoming vacation. There were several offices on the floor besides his own, and it could be from any of them; but he was sure he had never seen her before.

Uriel had barely caught a glimpse of her face when he got on the elevator, and most of her features were a vague blur in his memory, but her eyes had been an attention-grabbing silvery blue. Unusual and beautiful, they were probably the result of colored contacts, he thought, and immediately lost all interest in her. Uriel could appreciate beautiful women and had no problem with them making the best of their appearance, but when they went to this level of artifice to try to get attention, he tended to shut down.

Shaking her from her thoughts, she relaxed against the elevator wall, her mind immediately drifting to her trip to the corner. Uriel had planned many outings; he had never been to a place like Mexico before and wanted to enjoy all there was to do. Along with the usual lounging on the beach and maybe going on one of those boat rides where you can feed the dolphins.

I was also hoping to fit in a visit to the Casa Maya Museum, an ecological park with a reproduction of how the Mayans lived centuries ago and trails where you could see the local animals. Then there was the nightlife. If he had the energy after his active days, Uriel could simply go to dance bars like Coco Bongo or Bulldog Café, where half-naked people gyrated to deafening music.

The cheerful sound of the elevator carried Uriel's thoughts of half-naked dancers to the panel above the doors. P3 was on; parking level three. His floor.

Nodding politely, he stepped out of the elevator and began to traverse the wide, nearly empty parking garage. With half-naked women still dancing in the periphery of his mind, it took a minute for Uriel to notice the sound of footsteps behind him. He almost looked over his shoulder to see who it was, then let the matter go. The sound was the hollow tapping of high heels on cement; sharp and fast and echoing noisily in the nearly empty space. The girl was obviously parked on this floor as well.

His gaze moved absently over the open space to where his car should be, but got caught on one of the support beams as he passed. The large black PI painted on the concrete beam slowed his confusion. Parking levels 1 and 2 were reserved for visitors to the various offices and businesses in the building. He was parked at P3 and had been sure the light on the elevator panel had read P3 when he looked...but it appeared he had been mistaken. Stopping, he started back the way he had come.

This is the right floor. There's the car up ahead.

"Yes, of course"

Uriel muttered, and moved on. He approached the lone vehicle.

It wasn't until he opened the trunk that the thought crossed his mind that the little red sports car wasn't his. He was driving a dark blue BMW. But as quickly as that thought, with its accompanying alarm, claimed him, it vanished like fog under the influence of a breeze.

Uriel, relaxing, stowed the briefcase inside the trunk, climbed in after him, settled into the small space and closed the trunk.

"Mmm. Your hair smells good"

"Mmm, gee, thanks"

Cara Reed looked around the dark parking lot they were crossing, relieved to see they were alone.

"But do you think you could take your hand off my ass?""

"Dean"

"What?"

She looked at his handsome face in confusion.

"My name is Dean"

He explained with a smile.

"Oh"

She sighed.

"Well, Dean, can you take your hand off my ass?"

"I thought you liked me"

His hand remained firmly planted on her left buttock, squeezing it in an overly friendly manner.

Resisting the urge to smack him upside the head and drag him into the bushes like the Neanderthal he was, she forced a smile.

"Yes, but let's wait until we get to your car to..."

"Oh. Yes. My car"

He interrupted.

"About that..."

Cara stopped walking to