Thirst No. 3 Read Online Free PDF

those eyes. There’s no doubt she’s under a lot of stress.
    I smile. “I suppose that depends on what you want me for.”
    The woman returns my smile. “Are you Alisa Perne?”
    Damn, I think. They know my old alias. They must know a lot about me to have come across that name. Yet neither of them smells like the person who knocked over my pot. Hmm.
    “Yes,” I say. “May I ask where you got that name?”
    Lisa answers. “An old boyfriend of mine was doing some research on the firm I currently work for. He came across your name.”
    “What’s the name of your firm?”
    “IIC. Infinite Investment Corporation. They’re based inMalibu, California. Their primary business is investing in the stock market.”
    “They cater to private investors?” I ask.
    “They pretend to,” Lisa says bitterly. “But they mostly cater to themselves.”
    I’m curious. I open my door wider. “Please come in and tell me all about it.” Yet I stop Jeff as he comes through the door. “I’d rather you left your gun in the car.”
    He’s impressed. “How did you know I’m carrying?”
    “’Cause you look like a cop.”
    “Really?”
    “It’s a compliment.”
    Minutes later they are sitting in my living room. I offer them fresh coffee, which they gladly accept. For a vampire, I’m unusual—I drink more coffee than blood.
    Unless I’m mistaken, they are both “nice people,” and I’m not afraid they intend to harm me, at least not directly. A superficial scan of their minds has told me that much. But the fact they know my old alias is not good. They could damage me by talking about me with the wrong people. A few years ago I had a serious run-in with the FBI—and the U.S. Army, for that matter—and I doubt they’ve quit searching for me.
    Once we’re comfortable, I cut to the point.
    “I assume when you say your old boyfriend was researching the firm you work for, you mean he was hacking into their computer files,” I say to Lisa.
    My insight surprises her. “How did you guess?”
    “What better way to get dirt on a company?”
    “Why do you assume they’re dirty?” Jeff asks.
    “Your tone when you speak about them. You sound angry.” I turn to Lisa. “What’s the name of your old boyfriend?”
    Lisa is uncomfortable. “Why is that important?”
    “He’s snooping around files that contain information about me. I deserve to know his name.”
    Lisa replies, “Randy Clifford. I only asked him to look into IIC because I noticed highly irregular patterns in their investments.”
    “Why isn’t Randy with you today?” I ask.
    “He disappeared not long after we asked him to hack into IIC’s system,” Jeff explains.
    “When was the last time you spoke to him?” I ask.
    “A month ago,” Lisa says sadly.
    “But you say this is an investment company. They hardly sound like the type that would have people whacked. I assume it’s staffed with stockbrokers and lawyers and accountants?”
    Lisa nods. “Yes. And one mathematician. Me.”
    “What sort of work do you do for them?”
    She spreads her hands helplessly. “For the first six months I wasn’t sure what I was doing. They’d hand me reams of papers filled with numbers and order me to search for patterns. It took me a while to realize they were records of their investments. For some reason, in the last two years they’ve begun to makeonly ten percent a year on their money, rather than their usual twenty-five percent.”
    I almost choke on my coffee. “There’s no investment firm in the world that gets that kind of return on their money.”
    “IIC does. Or at least they did,” Lisa said.
    “Did you figure out why their returns have dropped?”
    Lisa hesitates. “No.”
    She’s lying, or at least she knows more than she’s willing to say.
    “This is all very interesting, but what brings you here?”
    “We told you, your name came up when Randy hacked into their system,” Jeff says. “IIC even had this address. That’s how we were able