Free BodySnatchers by Myla Jackson

good men already and
possibly Madison. Think it’s an inside job?”
    “I didn’t want to take the chance,” Reggie said.
    “It’s just as well you didn’t send anyone down there
immediately,” Yuri finally spoke up, his voice turning Reggie’s knees to mush.
    “Why is that?” Tanner crossed his arms over his chest as if
daring Yuri to say anything he wanted to listen to.
    Yuri’s lips thinned. “If you retrieve the women now, you
will not deal with the main problem.”
    “Andrei Skirko,” Torsten filled in. “A.S. of A.S.
Enterprises.”
    “What exactly did you learn at the warehouse?” Tanner shot
the question at Reggie.
    “They plan to move the women tonight at midnight. They have
the truck in place and their boss is due to be there for the event.” She looked
from Torsten to Yuri. “I take it the boss is this guy Andrei?”
    “Yes. He’s a four-hundred-twenty-two-year-old vampire we’ve
been following off and on over the centuries, cleaning up after him.” Yuri
stepped closer, his presence raising her body temperature with each step.
    Reggie held her ground, refusing to let him know she
responded in any way to his presence, even though her heart was hammering in
her chest and perspiration popped out on her upper lip. “Why should we trust
you?”
    “We have the same interests at heart,” he said, his voice
soft and directed only at her.
    “I seriously doubt that,” she said, her voice a little less
convinced than her body. What was wrong with her? She shouldn’t be even mildly
attracted to Yuri Kovak. He was a vampire, she was human. It was just wrong.
    “Be that as it may.” He winked and then turned to face her
boss.
    A good thing too, because her skin was tingling all over and
her mind wasn’t focusing on anything past his lips.
    Yuri swept his arm out. “We of the vampire world are very
much like you.”
    Tanner snorted.
    Yuri nodded but didn’t comment on the derogatory sound.
“There are good vampires,” he nodded toward Torsten, “and very bad vampires.
When a bad vampire is out of control, Torsten and I are sent in to…fix things.”
    “So you’re some kind of vampire cops?” her boss asked.
    “More like special forces. We come in, assess, identify and
eliminate the problem. We work on our own or with local police forces and even
the federal government. Check with the CIA. They’ll vouch for us.”
    “Thanks, I will.” Tanner punched a button on his phone.
“Maury, call the CIA and ask if they’ve ever worked with a Yuri Kovak and
Torsten Lang. Get on that ASAP.”
    “Thus our reason for being here,” Yuri continued when Tanner
switched off the intercom. “Which I was getting to before Agent Gallagher
arrived.” He shot a glance back at Reggie.
    The glance lit a fire in her and she stepped forward. “I
don’t really care why you’re here. We need reinforcements to go into that
warehouse and retrieve those women.”
    “And if you do, you might save these women, but Andrei will
be free to do it all again.” Yuri stared hard at Reggie. “If not in Houston, in
some other city where women are equally vulnerable to him.”
    “What is he doing with them?” Tanner asked.
    Torsten stepped forward. “He’s selling them in foreign
countries as sheep to other vampires.”
    “Sheep?” Reggie asked.
    The muscle in Yuri’s jaw twitched. “It’s a crude term for
someone who feeds the needs of a vampire, whether it’s blood or lust.”
    “In other words, they’re trafficking women, forcing them to
be sex slaves and blood donors for the highest bidder?”
    “American women bring a higher price.” Yuri’s tone was hard.
    Reggie spun on her heels. “I’m getting Madison out of there,
and I’m gonna bust some serious heads while I’m at it.”
    Yuri laid a hand on her arm, dragging her to a halt before
she reached the door. “You can’t. Andrei will get away. Hopefully, they don’t
know you found them and they’ll continue with their planned shipment. We