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"Are you sure you want to go in there alone?" Phil asked as he parked down the street from Petrovsky&039;s house

"I won&039;t be alone for long" Shanna checked her purse It was stuffed with lengths of rope for tying up prisoners She pulled out the cell phone she&039;d borrowed from Howard Barr and punched in the newly memorized phone number for Roman&039;s house

"Barr," the head of Roman&039;s daytime security answered

"We&039;re in place I&039; in"

"Good Keep the line open," Hoarned her in his nasal voice "Here Roman wants to talk to you"

"Be careful," Roman warned her

"I&039;ll be fine Phil&039;s here if I need hi the phone in my purse now See you soon" She propped the open phone on top of everything in her purse

Phil gave her an encouraging nod She climbed from the car and walked toward Petrovsky&039;s house

At Roiven Roman another dose of the formula before they teleported to his house There, with Howard Barr&039;s advice, they&039;d made their plan for Laszlo&039;s rescue She&039;d been opposed to Roman&039;s theory that he could siht accidentally arrive in a rooht So, with Howard&039;s support, she&039;d talked Ro her participate

She stopped in front of Petrovsky&039;s duplex and glanced back Phil was still in the black sedan, watching Another vehicle caught her eye, a black SUV parked across the street It looked just like the one that had followed her before But they all looked alike The city was full of theed her purse to her chest The phone was close by, with Ro in She cli the bell

The door opened A heavy-set lared at her "What do you want?"

"I&039; for rabbed her arm and pulled her in the house "You roith a thick accent as he shut the door

She backed away There was tooin from aabove the door She saw an open doorway to the side and slipped inside a small parlor The carpet was threadbare, the furniture old and sagging Light filtered in through dusty, yellowed blinds

The Russian followed her into the rooe You either have a death wish or this is some kind of trick" He opened his jacket to reveal a shoulder holster

She moved toward the"No trick I&039;"

The man removed his pistol "You know Petrovksy will kill you"

"I was hoping to make a deal with him" She inched closer to the"You see, I&039;ve been in Draganesti&039;s house, and I know a lot about his security"

The Russian narrowed his eyes "You wish to trade your life for information"

"That&039;s the plan" Shanna eased back the curtains

"Give me your purse I must check it"

She set it down in a nearby chair While the Russian moved forward, she quickly closed the blinds "There," she announced in a loud voice "It&039;s nice and dark in here now"

The Russian peered inside her purse and pulled out her cell phone "What is this?" He closed the phone, breaking the connection

But Ro in the rooun from the Russian&039;s hand and punched the man in the jaw The Russian crumpled to the floor

Shanna removed the rope from her purse and handed it to Roman Quickly he tied the Russian&039;s hands and feet

"So far, so good," she whispered "How are you feeling?"

"I&039;un "Use this if you have to"

She nodded

"I&039;ll be back as soon as I can" Roman sped away in a blur

Shanna knew if there were anyHe&039;d knock them flat, tie them up, then continue his search until he found Laszlo

She picked up the phone and once again dialed Roman&039;s house "Howard? Are you still there?"

"Yes How&039;s it going?"

"Fine We should be co back soon" She set the phone down next to her purse

Suddenly the front door burst open With a gasp, Shanna raised the Russian&039;s pistol Footsteps raced across the foyer, then stopped in the doorway to the parlor Two men in black suits faced her, their pistols drawn

Shanna&039;s mouth fell open She blinked "Dad?"

Sean Dero when she&039;d last seen hiold hair, but his blue eyes were as sharp as ever He lowered his pistol "Shanna, are you all right?" He entered the parlor, looking about the room He frowned at the unconscious man on the floor

"Dad!" Shanna dropped her borrowed gun next to her purse She ran to him and threw her arun to the side while he hugged her with his free ar into this house What the hell are you doing here?"

She pulled back "I could ask the saht you were in Lithuania"

"I&039;ve been back awhile" He touched her face "Thank God you&039;re all right I&039;ve been so worried about you"

"I&039;ht I&039;d never see you again How is Moet out of here" He nodded toward her purse "Get your stuff"

The secondavy, dark hair "The foyer&039;s clear" He inched toward a doorway across the roolanced at her purse The phone was still sitting beside it on the chair cushion How could she leave without Ro here? She was thrilled to see hiain, but she had to wonder why he was here "You sawPetrovsky&039;s house for weeks Draganesti&039;s place, too" He tilted his head toward his coreeted the other man, then turned back to her father with a sudden realization "You were in the black SUV I saw across the street"

"Yes" Sean oons in this house We can&039;t stay and chat"

"I¡ªI&039;m not here alone"

Sean narrowed his blue eyes "You were alone when you came into this house But you did have a driver¡ª"

"Drop it!" Phil juun at Sean and Garrett

They swung around, aiasped "Don&039;t shoot"

Phil held his gun steady while he glared at the ht, Shanna? You can come with me now"

Sean stepped in front of her "She&039;s not going anywhere with you Who the hell are you?"

"Security," Phil answered "I&039;o"

"I&039; with ave theust "You&039;re CIA The Stake-Out teaed a worried look with Shanna&039;s father "How do they know?"

CIA ? Shanna glanced fro on Her dad had always said he worked for the State Depart like a diplomat And as the Stake-Out teaanesti&039;s daytiuards" Sean&039;s voice was heavy with disapproval "You&039;re a traitor to hu to protect vaasped Her father knew about vampires?

"Drop it," a new voice warned Another lanced back and un onto the floor

"Good work, Austin," Sean said He strode toward Phil and retrieved his gun "You&039;re a huo Go back to that hts, are nu the va they can do about it"

Phil gave Shanna a worried look

"I&039;ll be all right Go on" She watched him run from the house Dear God, what a mess Her father and these men were vampire slayers?

As if to confirm her conclusion, Garrett pulled a wooden stake from his jacket "Since we&039;re here, why don&039;t we take care of a few va?"

"They&039;ll be heavily guarded" The y, blond hair He noted the Russian on the floor "There are usually ten to twelve ar the day I never saw them leave So where are they?"

Sean nodded "The place is too quiet" He looked at Shanna "You said you weren&039;t here alone?"

She sed hard That was before she knew her father was a va about the house, killing vaht kill Laszlo or even Ro I think we&039;d better leave" She leaned over the chair to pick up her purse The phone was still open, so she raised her voice, hoping Howard Barr would hear "I&039;rabbed the phone, examined the number, then raised the phone to his cheek "Who is this?" He frowned at his daughter "They hung up" He closed the phone and dropped it in his pocket "What&039;s going on, Shanna?"

"Nothing" She swung her purse onto her shoulder in a nonchalant gesture "I&039;o" It didn&039;t matter if her dad had the phone Roman could use any phone in the house to teleport hoot home, Howard Barr and Phil would be able to explain what had happened to her Right now, she needed to get these vampire slayers out of the house and away from Roman

"Shall we?" She moved toward the foyer

"Wait" Sean reached out to stop her "You didn&039;t seem very surprised about vampires" He studied her carefully "You spent a lot of tianesti&039;s house You knohat kind of evil creature he is, don&039;t you?"

"I think we&039;d better leave before the uys find us"

Sean shoved her hair back and examined each side of her neck "Did that monster bite you?"

"He&039;s not ahim and Petrovsky, you should know they&039;re coood ust "Draganesti is a hideous creature from hell"

"He is not! He risked his life to protect me"

"Stockholm syndrome," Garrett muttered

Sean nodded, his eyes narrowed "Did you let him in, Shanna?"

In her mind? Yes, and in her body and in her heart But there was no way she could admit that to her father He already wanted to kill Roman If he knew the truth, he&039;d move Roman to the top of his list She needed to warn Roht already know about the Stake-Out tea I did was ofher "We shall see"

A blur of motion shot into the roo over his shoulder "I heard voices What&039;s going on here?"

Sean, Garrett, and Austin gaped at hiave Shanna a questioning look "You know these men?"

She "

Sean blinked "This can&039;t be A va the day?"

"And so fast," Austin whispered "I never saw hi"

Roman frowned at Shanna&039;s father "You&039;re Sean Whelan"

Sean nodded "And you&039;re Draganesti, the disgusting creature who&039;s been holding hter prisoner"

Roman&039;s mouth thinned "She has a different opinion Don&039;t you, Shanna?"

She saw Garrett behind Ro slowly toward him with a wooden stake "I think you need to leave"

"I&039; without you"

"You bastard" Sean removed a wooden stake from his jacket "I don&039;t knohat you&039;ve done to hter, but you&039;ll pay for it"

Shanna ran to her father, hoping her e at Ro at her, et "Go!"

"You see?" Sean wrapped an ar withto become one of my team"