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"What’s the deal with the money? The parents must have had a separate minor trust of some sort, in addition to the Hawthorn Trust You can’t turn over that kind of cash to kids"

"No, indeed, the parents were s his nose in, but they did what they could The trust takes care of each girl ‘til she’s eighteen; they get all of the incohteen, each inherits fifty percent straight out In Mirabelle’s case, that effectively puts all of her assets at Jabril’s disposal since, as I understand it, those vampires are controlled by whoever creates them" Cyn nodded and Hewitt continued "The parents put in a little twist, sorow up a bit before they startedtheir own decisions If either of theoes right to the family’s charitable foundation No other heir can be na sister"

"Which is probably the only reason Mirabelle is still alive"

"If you call it living The law does, so I guess that’s all that irl A plain crime"

"And Liz ran because Jabril intends to do the saht Oh, he’ll claim it was her choice, exactly like he did Mirabelle, but it won’t be If there’s one thing I know for certain it’s that Elizabeth Hawthorn wants nothing to do with Jabril Kari woet irl"

Cyn had to s what Heould think of the choices she’d made in her life "This is--" She broke off as the waiter appeared again to slide a platter of Asian tapas onto their table, along with smaller plates, napkins and silverware

"Another drink?" He nodded at Cyn’s nearly eain at Hewitt’s glass "Another Scotch? Or so else?"

"I’ve got to drive ho her head "I’ll stick with this one"

"Nothing ain, weaving his way through crowds grown even thicker while they’d been sitting there Popping what she hoped was an egg roll into her htfully, then said, "Okay, so what you’ve told me so far is pretty much what I expected But what I’d really like to know is if you have any idea how I can get Mirabelle away froet her on a plane and on her way out of Texas"

Hewitt looked even more shocked than Kelli had "This is not a creature to take lightly, Ms Leighton"

"Cynthia," Cyn suggested "Or Cyn"

"Cynthia," Hewitt aine Jabril can be quite ruthless Not a few of his competitors have suffered setbacks over the years He’s been in this area quite a while, and froe his habits somewhat, but I wouldn’t count on his civility, if I were you Those fancy manners are only skin deep"

"I believe you, but I have resources of et her out of Jabril’s territory, his options are limited And once we hit the Rockies, his hands are pretty much tied Vamps are viciously territorial, and the boss out west even more than most"

"I’m afraid I can’t help you there, but what about Elizabeth? If you leave Texas--"

"Liz is in California"

"California? But how--"

"A friend of hers Any chance Liz would stay in touch with Mirabelle?"

"I don’t kno You’ve seen what it’s like on that estate I’ve tried to see Mirabelle a couple of tiet ame she didn’t want to see anyone Not that I ever believed it, but once she was over eighteen, I had no jurisdiction"

The waiter dropped the check folio on their table with a murmured, "Whenever you’re ready" Cyn looked it over quickly and charged it to her roo else you can tell me?"

"Other than to be careful?" Hewitt shook her head and began gathering her things to leave "Those are good girls, both of the people They deserve better than what life gave the roll-looking things and stood There was an immediate shift in the hurab her table "I probably won’t talk to you again until I reach LA, but I’ll try to keep you up-to-date after that And if anything pops here, you’ll call me?"

"I will" Hewitt stood and offered her hand in a firm but friendly handshake "I wish you luck, Cynthia I’ll say a prayer for you and those girls"

Cyn watched Hewitt h the lobby toward the front doors, watched her pull a puffy, brointer coat on over her blue suit and take the ti out into the freezing wind She waited until the valet brought the car around and Heas on her way, and then she spun around and headed for the elevator She had an idea for extracting Mirabelle from Jabril’s clutches, but she’d need to be a lot sharper than she was right now She was tired and even the one drink was slowing her down A lot of coffee and a hot shower That ought to do the trick But she had to call a vampire first

Chapter Twelve

It would be a couple of hours before sunset would catch up to the West Coast Cyn spent the ti to think ahead to everything she ht need in the hours to come When it was finally time to make the call, her hands shook as she punched in the number But she needed answers and this was the only place she knew to get them She was relieved when an impersonal female voice answered