The doorbell rang just as Gillian strapped on her gun, and her blood ran cold when Elissa answered the door. It could only be Colt at this time of the afternoon, and without bothering to check herself in the mirror, she grabbed her coat and shrugged it on as she made her way to the door toward the door, having to remind herself to act normal as she stepped into the next room.

Elissa blocked the doorway, and Colt eyed her with that familiar hooded glance, a sure sign she hadn't made up her mind about Elissa.

"You have a guest, Gillian," Elissa announced coolly, calming Gillian's momentary fear that she would slip up and call her Guillane.

Elissa realized who Colt was yet chose to give her a hard time, and Gillian almost smirked. Vampires were very territorial in their relationships with their families.

"Yes, I see. Detective Colt, this is my sister Elissa. Elissa, this is my partner. Now let her in, please. I'm running late," she introduced them.

Elissa got out of the way, but a slight mocking smile was still in her eyes. Colt noticed it with a frown, and Gillian had to hide her grin.

Her sister seemed determined to make Colt uncomfortable, and her partner had resolved not to be rude to her sister. There were questions in her eyes, displeasure, and something bordering on hurt. She had never spoken of her family, and being confronted with Elissa made it clear to Colt that there were secrets between them, walls she didn't know existed, and she couldn't blame the detective for her reaction. They were friends, and friends didn't do things like that.

"You never told me you had a sister," Colt voiced her displeasure, seating herself on her favorite chair and putting down the two steaming cups of coffee.

"I bet Gillian didn't tell you she had a brother, a father, a grandfather, and two stepmothers either," Elissa needled.

The odd catch in her voice did nothing to lighten the mockery in her eyes, and Gillian's mind added, 'and a missing mother who abandoned her family and her child.'

"My family didn't approve of my life choices, and we weren't on speaking terms, but I went to see them this weekend," her clipped and closed-off tone made Colt glance at her, but the detective asked no more questions.

Elissa turned away after a longer, more unreadable glance and fiddled with the kettle.

"They found McKenzie Hail this morning; we have to hurry," Colt got up, handed Gillian the coffee, and turned toward the door. Gillian and Elissa glanced at each other, and their eyes met. Her sister nodded toward the door, and Gillian followed Colt out.

***

It was quiet in the car all the way to the crime scene, and finally, Gillian sighed.

"I should have told you about my family, but it was just something I didn't want to think or talk about. They cut me out of their lives, and I cut them out of my life. I never thought I'd see any of them ever again," Gillian admitted, and Colt looked at her long and hard as if she tried to peer through the dark glasses hiding her eyes,

"So, what made you go back?" Colt asked, point blank, and she stilled. The lies were already starting to crowd her head, but this was the one that would hurt her the most, the truth she could never tell.

"I had to show them that I can make my own choices and, contrary to their expectations, being successful at it," she said, sounding stilted to her own ears.

Colt only stared at her for a moment before nodding and getting out of the car. She immediately recognized the prestigious Hail museum, the largest privately owned museum in the world.

"How the hell did he get in here?" she did not have to explain—Hail had their own security force, and the museum was a fortress created to keep the priceless art and exhibits safe.

"I'm betting the guys inside couldn't tell you that either," Colt murmured, and it took them nearly twenty minutes to get their credentials checked out for them to enter their crime scene, to her boss' extreme irritation.

***

They were barely inside when Elissa stepped through the door with Holland and Bright in tow. She nodded at them, and White walked her over.

"This is Elissa Le Roux Drake. She is one of our specialists in security, munitions, and infiltration. She will help us out and will be on loan to you for as long as you need her. It was cleared with all the right people. Direct me to detective Boss, please. There is a matter we need to discuss," Bright ended, and Colt pointed out the right way.

Bright moved off without giving them a chance to answer.

"You were aware of this?" Colt asked her without looking at her as they watched Bright corner Boss.

"No, and yes. I knew Elissa had a job to do here, didn't know what," the lie burned into Gillian's heart.

"I knew, but I figured you'd kick me out of your apartment for trespassing in your territory, so I kept quiet. I'll find a hotel tonight," Elissa lied brazenly, and Gillian was tempted to kick her out; it would serve her right.

"I'm not that small-minded," Gillian gritted out between clenched teeth and stepped up to Elissa; their eyes were on a level.

"Don't ever lie to me again." The warning was real, and Elissa nodded—she got the message loud and clear.

"We have bigger problems," Colt reminded.

***

They followed the detective to the taped-off entrance to the hall of ancients.

"Doc's been waiting for you for hours," White warned.

"Good of you ladies to actually show up."

She glanced at them over her horn-rimmed spectacles like an old-fashioned schoolmistress.

"McKenzie Hail, if it was him, is in the mummification exhibit, wrapped in Egyptian linen, and ready for the last stage of mummification," Sally stepped closer to Gillian and Colt before briefly nodding at Elissa, whom she only then noticed.

"As far as I can tell, without disturbing anything, his organs are in jars. The killer drained his blood, and his brain rests in a cedar chest, but the rest is all textbook mummification. Mouth filled with sand, though, and sewn shut—the punishment, I think, to keep the soul from rising if I remember correctly." She motioned toward the back with a frown creasing her brow.

"His eyes reside in a small ornamental box with four identical silver ankle bracelets engraved with Friends Forever," Sally started walking, and they followed.

The museum's curator joined them, escorting them to the room as if they would get lost or steal something.

"He has to be smart to pull this off inside here. Breaking into Fort Knox would be easier, and creating enough time—hours to be exact—to do this? Without setting off anything? Catching this guy will be almost impossible," Elissa murmured low enough that no human ear would catch her words.

"We have no choice; he's not doing all of this out of some sense of philanthropy, and I don't buy it. He's setting the stage for his final act, and we can't afford to allow him to get there," she whispered, and Elissa nodded.

"I'll go see what I can find in the control room," Elissa agreed.