“I’ll have a scar on my upper thigh and my stomach is still healing. But at least I had a professional medic this time.”

Anna sighed. “I suppose it’s not too bad for one of your outings. Are you satisfied?”

I opened my mouth to tell her yes and stopped. The cause for my unease became clear.

“Kate?”

“No, I’m not satisfied.” I told her about Olathe and her pre-Shift vampires. “Too many loose ends,” I said. “One, I’m still not sure who killed Greg. I’d thought it could be one of her vamps, but that doesn’t explain the animal power prints on the m-scanner and I saw no animals during the fight.”

“There is no way to check now?”

“No. The building is kaput. Two, where are the missing women and why were they kidnapped?”

“As food for the vampires?” Anna ventured.

“Four women wouldn’t have sustained her stable for more than a day. Why didn’t she grab more?”

“I don’t know.”

I sipped my water. “Neither do I. And the enemy in your vision was male. There is more, but I can’t remember right now. I have this awful feeling that I’ve overlooked something. Something ridiculously obvious.”

I fell silent. Anna waited on the line.

“Anyhow,” I said finally. “I’ll have to wait until my brain sorts this out.”

“Ah,” Anna said. “Is there something more pressing?”

“A handsome plastic surgeon expects me at Fernando’s at six.”

“Aha. Did you happen to mention that you abhor Fernando’s?”

“No,” I said. “But I expected him to figure it out. Formal dining isn’t me, Anna.”

“Understatement of the year,” Anna murmured. “Is he fun?”

“Who?”

“The plastic surgeon. Is he fun? Does he make you laugh?”

“He tries,” I said.

“Doesn’t sound like he’s successful.”

“I think I may have tried to force this thing too hard,” I said.

“Which part? Intimacy or sex?”

“I suppose both.” For me casual sex was an oxymoron. Sex placed me in a position of vulnerability and there was nothing casual about that. I never slept with a man I didn’t trust and admire. I didn’t know enough about Crest to either admire or trust him, yet I had wanted to get him into the sack. I had paraded naked in front of him, for God’s sake. “It bothers me. I think it has something to do with Greg’s death.”

There was silence on the line. Finally Anna’s voice murmured, “Lo and behold, a chip in your armor.”

“I intend to repair it tonight.”

“You’re a maximalist, Kate. All or nothing. Perhaps he deserves a chance.”

“I didn’t mean that I would break it off. I’ll just reassess the situation. I’ll try to see if he is fun.”

Anna sighed. “Will you wear the dress we bought that time?”

“Yes.”