“What color is it?”

“I’m not sure. It should look like a box with handles.”

I grasped the alien by his arm and led him to the container where I’d seen the object. I opened the lid-the yellow glow spilled out-and pulled out the box with handles.

The imposter’s aura lit up with swirls of delight. He reached for the device.

I pulled it away. “This is the reason you wanted me to get into the trailer?”

He didn’t have to say anything. The way his aura blazed was enough to signal a yes.

“Why didn’t you get it yourself?”

“Felix, this is the blackest of the top-secret programs. The Roswell crash happened when the humans’ atomic bomb program was in full swing. It didn’t occur to us until years later that the United States would hide the surveillance vessel under the security umbrella of its nuclear weapons program.” The imposter panned his hands over the containers in the vault. “How could I ask to inspect something that supposedly didn’t exist?”

“And once the UFO was buried deep in Carlsbad Caverns…”

The alien finished my sentence. “I’d never get to it.”

“And you hired me to do your dirty work.”

“Isn’t that what private detectives are for?”

He had me there, the intergalactic weasel.

I held the device by both handles and raised it toward Gilbert’s imposter. He shirked back.

“What does this Psychotronic Device do? Why was the Roswell UFO carrying it?”

“To test”-the alien cleared his throat sheepishly, as if embarrassed-“the existence of psychic energy. According to the theory, every living creature emits an aura of psychic energy.”

The imposter stood within his sheath of a yellow glowing aura. Psychic energy was no theory, it was as real as electricity.

“You have living creatures where you’re from. Why come to Earth to test this?”

“Actually, the test involved a little more than proving the existence of psychic energy,” he replied.

We vampires used our knowledge of psychic auras to manipulate humans. His use of the words “a little more” implied a sinister motive. The device was no toy.

“How much more?”

“I don’t know. My job was to safeguard the surveillance vessel and recover the Psychotronic Device.”

“Now that you’ve found this, what are you going to do?”

“Report to my superiors in the Union.”

My grip tightened angrily on the handles. Earth’s vampires didn’t need competition from extraterrestrials. No one else would pluck our pigeons.

“Then here.” I pressed the handles together and crushed the box. The glass panes inside shattered and sprayed out the opposite end toward him.

The alien covered his face and crouched. His aura flared in despair. “What are you doing?”

I smashed the device against the container until I held a piece of battered junk. I offered it to him. “Here. Proof that you found it. Happy?”

The imposter took the device. A glass shard tinkled to the floor. He stared at the misshapen, broken mass and slumped his shoulders as if his luck had the weight of concrete. “Not really.”

“It’s been more than fifty years since the crash,” I said. “Why haven’t you made another one?”

“The inventor was on the vessel. His secrets died with him.”

The alien’s aura dimmed to the color of a rotten yolk. He bore the expression of a man who had let diamonds flush down the toilet. The alien tossed the device back into the container and closed the lid.

I could kill him out of spite but the alien imposter was only doing his job, like any other schmuck. Right now I felt sorry for him.

His aura lightened and swirled with renewed curiosity. “You are an amazing creature, Felix Gomez.” His gaze moved to my talons and then right into my eyes.

Vampire hypnosis should’ve flattened him by now but there was still nothing.

“You have such powers. Such strength.” He squinted. “Those fangs. Those claws. You…are a vampire? Humans are so superstitious. Interesting, I didn’t think you actually existed.”

“Same goes for you.”

A searchlight illuminated the trailer’s doors.

“The security force is almost here, Felix. You better leave.”

“Not yet. Before we kiss and say goodbye, there’s one more thing.”

“What?”

“You owe me thirty thousand dollars. I didn’t do this as a hobby. You wanted confirmation of what was in the trailer and here it is.” I stepped on the broken glass and made it crunch.

The alien tightened his lips in frustration. Carefully, he unzipped his parka and from an inside pocket produced a large manila envelope folded over into a thick packet. “I’d hoped you’d take this money and scram before asking too many questions. When I hired you, I got more than I bargained for.”

“That’s a common complaint from my clients.”

The alien handed me the packet. “In cash, to keep bookkeeping simple. I’ll keep your secrets if you keep mine.”

I opened the envelope and ran my thumb across a stack of hundred-dollar bills. “That’s a promise. What about Merriweather, the plant manager?”

“He’s made his navy rank by believing two plus two equals five if that’s what his superiors tell him. He’s no different from any other civil servant.”

“And the damage?” I asked. “The wrecked vehicles? The injured?”

“This administration is used to hiding expensive catastrophes. Let the White House worry about it.”

“And the agent that I killed? The assassin?”

“A rogue. According to the federal government, the man died doing freelance covert work in Ecuador.”

I waved my hand at the containers. “Now you know. What happens next?”

“I have a Q-clearance. That means I forget whatever DOE tells me to forget. Now beat it before the security force gets here. If I need you again, I hope you’ll be available.”

“If?” I asked.

The alien winked at me. “Make that when.”

The glare of dozens of searchlights focused on the rear of the trailer. Excited radio traffic blared from the imposter’s receiver.

“Hawk Vanguard, we’ve got the trailer surrounded. What’s your situation? Over.”

“Felix, you’re trapped.” The imposter pulled the microphone loose. “Eagle Team, this is Hawk Vanguard. Negative on the intruder.”

“Roger,” the radio answered. “We’re securing the area to make sure the intruder doesn’t slip away.”

The imposter rubbed his face. His aura became a low burn of worry. “It’s too late. You won’t escape.”

I pulled my wallet, cell phone, and everything else from my pockets, and dumped it all into the manila envelope. I shoved the envelope into the imposter’s hands.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Escaping,” I answered and stepped back into the vault. I pointed to the blaster on the floor. “Don’t try anything. So far tonight you’re batting zero against me.”

I undid my shirt and trousers, crouched on the steel floor, and summoned the wolf transformation.

My body tensed to accept the shock of pain. My heartbeat accelerated. Every inch of my skin burned where animal fur poked from flesh. I couldn’t withstand the agony and dropped to my side. My limbs twitched as my bones twisted from vampire to wolf shape. A long muzzle extended from my face.

I lay on the cold floor, panting, gathering my strength. My ears perked up to take in the delicate sounds from outside. I sniffed the air and deciphered the many smells. Sage. Mineral lubricants. Buffalo grass. The reek of cabbage from the imposter. Anxious, sweaty men crept around the trailer.

I sat up and shook loose the man garments draped around my neck. Standing on all four paws and wagging my tail, I stepped free of the pile of man things and advanced on the alien imposter.

His aura blazed around him with awe and terror. With my jaws I snatched the envelope from his hands and bounded for the door.

Two men in black appeared at the end of the trailer. They pointed weapons.

I lunged forward, knocked them aside, and landed in the snow.