No Man's Land by Debra Dunbar Page B

least of your worries.”
    Kelly bristled. “I swear I’ll send you everything I know, but I’m not exactly high up in our family, especially since my disgrace. It won’t be my fault if they move on the Kincaid lands and I’m not aware of it.”
    “Don’t care. You all are supposed to be sneaky and smart. Maybe this will give you incentive to actually dig for information instead of sitting on your butt and letting us fend for ourselves.”
    Sneaky had always been one of Kelly’s great skills. She resented that she’d need to work for the werewolves for an indefinite period of time, but if that’s what she needed to do to get back into her family, then she’d do it.
    “I said ‘deal’. Now it’s your turn — tell me what you know about the scouts and spies coming into West Virginia.”
    “Okay, okay, keep your britches on.” Jaq took a long drink of coffee. “Used to be scouts would come through either the northern or southern borders, moving quickly. Sometimes we’d catch them, but plenty of times they’d be gone and out of range. From what we could tell, it was about fifty–fifty from your clan and the southern folks. Last six months, the vampire presence has increased ten–fold. Southern vampires tend to cross from Winchester and Leesburg. They primarily come through here and up near Martinsburg then exit out anywhere along the Maryland border, although quite a few exit near Hagerstown where interstate human traffic covers their tracks. Rarely are they in vehicles. They tend to travel on foot, which makes me think they’re not just passing through, but are checking along the way.”
    That made sense. Traveling on foot was often just as quick as using a vehicle, given vampire speed and the ability to cut a straight line. Foot travel also afforded a vampire the chance to check key areas, sneak in and out to talk to informants, and smell for any enemy that might be in the border lands.
    “How long are they out before they come back through — the one’s you don’t kill, I mean.”
    “A few days, not much. I really don’t understand why they don’t cross at other points. It’s always the same three or four spots, and it’s becoming rather easy to catch vampire scouts.”
    “The DC area crossings are heavily guarded,” Kelly explained. “Besides the ferry or the few bridges, the Potomac River is an issue. Vampires don’t swim, so large bodies of water make for a great barrier on territories.”
    The other woman tilted her head, intrigued. “Don’t swim? Seriously? Can’t you just walk along the bottom then? I mean, you don’t need to breathe, do you?”
    Stupid stereotypes. “Do you see me breathing?” Kelly snapped, instantly regretting her tone. “Sorry. The younger vampires all still need to breathe. We can walk in daylight. We still need solid food. The Ancients are a different story, but they’re not likely to be on the front lines of any battles.”
    Actually it was kind of amusing to imagine the Master wading through the depths of the Potomac River. Would his illusion appear sodden when he came out the other side? Or would it disappear altogether, leaving a grayish monster crawling from the water’s edge?
    “That’s good to know,” Jaq mused. “Not all the scouts we’ve caught are low–level spies though. Two traveling together managed to kill one of our wolves, even with the element of surprise on our side. We got their scent and captured one alive next time he came through.”
    “What did you learn?” This could be the very info her family needed. Kelly sat on the edge of the sofa, leaning toward Jaq.
    “The information I told you about the business take–overs — two large medical centers, a power company, and the racetrack and casino near here in Charles Town. Other vampires were doing the due diligence from the business end; these guys were checking out suitable areas for setting up a long–term vampire population. Stuff like availability of humans to feed from