THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

to where Delano and Ainsley stood, just outside the stairwell.
    “Delano, Ainsley, this is Bruce Shalvis and Bob Hayes,” Eli said. “Do me a favor and keep ’em with you at all times. The fire department’s just arriving, but don’t go outside until I deploy the rest of the troops, okay?”
    “You’re the boss when it comes to this stuff.”
    “Oh, and take one of these radios.” Eli handed Delano what looked like a walkie-talkie. “Channel’s open. You’ll hear me on it periodically. If you want to be heard, depress the button and talk.”
    Delano regarded the radio. “That’s it?”
    “That’s it.”
    A man in his element, Eli turned away, barking orders at the remaining security guards. In pairs, they peeled away and headed outside to take up whatever position they’d been assigned. When only one guard remained, a particularly tough-looking customer, he gave the okay for Delano and Ainsley to move out.
    Delano squeezed Ainsley’s hand. “You okay to put one foot in front of the other?”
    She pushed away from the wall, as though testing whether her vertigo had disappeared. “I’m good.”
    Despite her assurance, she stumbled a few times on the way across the lobby, but once outside, she seemed to regain her equilibrium. Immediately, someone from the fire department seized Delano’s arm. In French, Delano identified himself as the building’s owner. The fireman proceeded to give him instructions and accompanied by lots of hand gestures.
    Delano clapped the other man on the back. “Oui, oui. Merci.”
    “What’d he say?”
    He took Ainsley’s arm and directed her across the street. The two security guards fell in behind, at a discreet distance. “He said we should be so kind as to get out of their way and stay back behind the perimeter they’ve set up until the fire is under control.” He gestured to the east. “Down there, where everyone is gathering. That’s where he told us to go.”
    “Didn’t he also say something about a hotel?”
    “You understand French?”
    “Not much, but even I can puzzle out l’hôtel.”
    He urged her into motion again. “You heard right. He suggested we find a hotel for the night, since it will take them a while to clear the scene. Until they do that, they won’t let anyone back in.”
    “And you agreed?”
    “I told him I was the owner of the building and I preferred to hang around to see how long it’s going to take.”
    “Don’t we need to get back in there? I mean, before sunup?”
    Irritation raked across nerve endings left raw by this unexpected development. Did she think he was completely helpless outside of his bedroom? Or lair, as she no doubt thought of it. “I can make do very nicely in a hotel room, as long as the black-out drapes are drawn and no one intrudes during the daylight hours to yank them open.”
    “But surely this place is easier to defend in the event—”
    “Un moment, Monsieur Bowen!”
    Delano glanced around to find a fireman approaching at a brisk pace. Maybe he had a situation report already. He signaled for the guards to fall back a few feet. The firefighter pulled abreast of them.
    “You have a report for me?”
    “More of a catch-up.” The fireman removed his helmet and tucked it under an arm. “How’ve you been, Dad?”
     
     

 
    Chapter 12
     
    DELANO MADE a hissing sound, exactly like the noise Ainsley’s attacker had made in that alley back in St. Cloud when Delano had saved her life. She recoiled, intuitively recognizing this to be a vampire-on-vampire confrontation, but Delano’s grip on her hand held her fast.
    “You’re no relation of mine, Janecek.”
    Janecek!
    Ainsley’s already racing heart took another bounding leap. She cast a glance over her shoulder to see their bodyguards moving in. Thank God! They’d heard.
    “I’d call them off if I were you, Bowen. Unless you’d like the world to see an extremely bloody shootout play out on network television.”
    The bodyguards froze. Ainsley whipped her head around to see that Delano had thrown his palm up in an unmistakable stop sign for Shalvis and Hayes. Then she saw the gun in Janecek’s hand. Ainsley knew nothing about guns, other than what bullets did to flesh and bone, but this looked nothing like the compact pistol Delano had brandished in his lab. It looked quite capable of discharging enough automatic rounds to kill everyone. A glance back toward the high-rise confirmed that the local media had, indeed, arrived.
    “Come