I ground my teeth. Madigan’s staff lived on-site, so no one could glean information from their comings and goings. Or kidnap one of them after they left, which had been my other plan to get more details.

I hated the bureaucratic bastard, but if I’d been designing security for the place, I would have done the same thing.

My breath blew out in a sigh of resignation.

“Then we have to wait eleven more days until the next scheduled labs pickup. Someone will have to come out of that compound to give the briefcase to Barbara.”

Fabian nodded. “Elisabeth and I won’t leave until we discover the entrance. She remains there now in case someone emerges while I’m gone.”

I gave him a watery smile. “Thanks, and thank your girlfriend for us, please.”

Resolve flashed over his face. “You owe me no thanks. You gave me a home when no one wanted me, and Elisabeth wouldn’t be my ladylove now if you hadn’t helped her in her time of need, too.”

He was, as always, too kind. For the thousandth time, I wished I could hug Fabian, but instead, I did the only thing I could do: held up my hand and smiled as his transparent fingers curled next to—and through—my own.

“Now all you need is to make a V with your hand and say in a death rattle that you have been, and always shall be, his friend,” Ian noted with heavy irony.

“Why would I . . .” I began. Then understanding dawned.

“Holy crap, you’re a closet Trekkie!”

I would have delved deeper into this surprising revelation about Ian, but my cell phone rang. I glanced at the number before snatching it up with impatient relief. After leaving multiple voice mails for three straight days, Vlad had finally called back.

“Where have you been?” I answered in lieu of a hello.

“Busy,” was his clipped reply, his cultured accent more pronounced.

“Aren’t we all? Listen, I need your particular brand of help, which is why I called—”

“Count me out this time, Cat.”

I was too upset by his reply to make a quip about the real Dracula using the word “count.”

“It’s serious,” I said, in case he thought I was looking for a teammate for competitive nail filing.

“Whatever it is, I can’t help. Furthermore, you need to be in Romania tonight.”

I was well versed in Vlad’s arrogance, yet this was going too far. “You refuse to help me with a life-and-death scenario, but you want me to hop a plane and leave immediately for your house?”

“He’s lost his wits,” Bones muttered from the next room.

Vlad replied with four words that briefly cleared my mind of all thought. I asked him to repeat them to be sure I hadn’t misheard, and when he did, I began to grin.

“Then I guess I’ll see you tonight,” I said, and hung up.

Bones came into the room, his chiseled features marred by an expression of disbelief.