45. Nailed It
Chapter 45
Nailed It
Rancho Bautista del Murciélago—A few hours later
O nce the sun had set, Cerissa handed off Karen’s care to Rolf with his promise that he’d call the doctor if his fiancée’s nausea didn’t settle.
Emotionally exhausted, she drove home and parked in the garage. Henry greeted her on the rustic-tiled porch with an enormous hug. “How did Karen’s treatment go?”
“Not great.” Cerissa melted into his arms, unable to resist the comfort he offered. Bear sniffed at her legs—probably catching all the strange scents from the infusion center. “Karen had a terrible reaction to the first infusion. I’ll talk with the oncologist tomorrow to determine what the options are. All she can do is rest and recover until the next treatment in three weeks.”
Cerissa wanted to tell Henry about her conversation with Agathe and all the issues that came with it, but she needed to consider how to frame the situation. She’d be entirely honest with him, but she didn’t want to make him panic or incite him to confront Agathe. She knew Henry wouldn’t just start a war. He’d negotiate first, just like he had with the vampire communities over the North American Treaty. But she didn’t want him negotiating blindly with the Lux. She was going to try to barter for more information first.
Henry rubbed her back. “Are you up to meeting with Tig? She offered to come here.”
“Oh, dammit. I forgot all about the V-DNA results.” Tig had phoned her while she was still in San Francisco, but Cerissa didn’t have the energy to multitask. Once they arrived home, Jayden delivered the five DNA swabs from Anna and the other Hill vampires, along with blood evidence on a piece of paper, and Cerissa had eked out some time before Karen’s infusion appointment to test them. She sighed deeply and leaned down to stroke Bear’s fur. “Let me eat dinner, and then Tig is welcome.”
“I’ve already started salmon in the broiler.” He guided her inside, Bear leading the way to the kitchen, and then shut the front door. “I better check on the fish.”
“Thank you, Henry. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’ll never have to learn. I’m yours forever.”
She wrapped an arm around his waist again and squeezed him tightly. Yes, he was hers forever, and she’d make sure of it. The oven timer dinged . “Let’s rescue the salmon before it burns.”
After she finished dinner and started the dishwasher, it wasn’t long until Tig and Jayden arrived. Henry brought them into the kitchen. Bear greeted them—Jayden got on his knees to pet the dog and accept a lick or two. Tig patted the dog’s head, then stepped away.
Jayden seemed content to continue petting Bear all evening, which made Cerissa smile even as she called the dog over to her and gestured for everyone to take a seat. “Can we get you any refreshment, Jayden?”
Jayden pulled out a chair across from her. “I’m good—thanks anyway.”
“All right.” Tig’s voice was all business as she sat. “We won’t stay long. Your message said the latest V-DNA results were ready.”
“They are.” Cerissa placed her hands on the table to rise, but fatigue trapped her in her chair. She wanted to get up, to go to the basement and retrieve the reports, but she couldn’t muster the will to move.
Henry squeezed her shoulder. “Do you want me to get the lab work for you?”
“It’s easier if I go. I know where they are. Just give me a moment.”
Tig raised an eyebrow. “Cerissa, are you ill?”
Cerissa shook her head. “A rough day with Karen. First infusion.”
“I’m sorry. If this weren’t important, I’d delay until tomorrow night.”
“Wait.” Jayden tapped something on his phone and then looked up. “I’m free in the morning. I can come back and pick up the reports. Then it’s only a few hours’ delay, and you can get some sleep.”
Cerissa shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m watching Karen all day tomorrow.”
“Then upload the reports when you catch a breath,” he said.
“I would, but there are aspects we need to discuss.” Flattening her hands on the table once again, she pushed to rise. “Be right back.”
She disappeared through the door leading to the basement staircase and descended to her small home lab to retrieve the V-DNA printouts. When she returned, she handed them to Tig, holding back one page she wanted to discuss, and slid a suitcase across the table to Jayden. “This contains the portable DNA machine. It’s the one I’ve been using on vacation. It’s yours now. Instructions on how to use the device are inside the case. When I can grab a spare moment, I’ll stop by and walk you through them.”
“Thanks, Cerissa. This is great.”
She rubbed her temples. “As for the test results, the first four aren’t surprising—the Hill residents who Petar phoned the night of the wedding. They don’t match the hair in the bed and they don’t appear related to Petar or the person who left it behind. But Anna’s results were quite interesting.”
Tig’s eyebrows rose in unison. “Anna?”
“Yes. If I’m interpreting the markers correctly, she’s once removed from Inanna.”
“Wait. You already told me Inanna has familial markers connecting her to the owner of the hair we found at the crime scene. But now you’re saying Anna has them, too? That means the curly hair must belong to Callistus.”
“Unless Anna lied about him being her maker or he has an identical twin—”
Tig snorted. “Not likely.”
Cerissa slumped back in her chair. “I’m sorry I didn’t think to run everyone in my V-DNA database against the hair for familial markers. I only ran it for matches. Chalk it up to honeymoon brain.”
Henry cleared his throat. “We were also dealing with other unexpected events, cari?a . Do not be so hard on yourself.”
Tig reached across the table and clasped Cerissa’s hand. “We should be the ones apologizing for interrupting your honeymoon and making demands on your time while you’re dealing with Karen’s illness.”
What could Cerissa say? The requests were poorly timed, but unavoidable. She rubbed at her temples again. This was all too much to think about.
In the brief silence, Tig asked, “How is Karen doing?”
“Not good, but the details should come from her. It’s her…medical privacy. She should decide what to share. Maybe Jayden could stop by tomorrow and visit. She’d welcome the company.”
Jayden gave a nod. “Count on it. I’ll find the time to swing by.”
Bear laid his head on her lap and whined.
“It’s okay, boy.” Cerissa stood and grabbed a few doggie treats. “Sit.” Bear sat. “Good boy.” She fed him a few treats, feeling guilty for being away from him so much. She petted his thick coat, then gave the lie down and stay commands.
With a sigh, Cerissa returned to her seat at the table.
“What about the blood evidence on the paper I gave you?” Jayden asked.
Cerissa opened a file folder and removed one more page. “Oh, sorry. I almost forgot. It’s the most important one of all.”
T ig stared at the report Cerissa slid across the mahogany table—the results from the spot of blood found on the fake list of casino patrons. Just like she’d suspected, the V-DNA of the blood on the list matched the curly white-blond hair from the crime scene, and Callistus Tedder was the only vampire who had handled the fake list and had curly white-blond hair. “Is there any reason you didn’t lead with this?”
“Easy.” Jayden landed his hand on Tig’s arm.
Cerissa flinched. “You didn’t tell me anything about where you found it or whose blood it is…and my brain isn’t working.”
Jayden side-eyed Tig. “Thank you, Cerissa. This should be enough for an arrest warrant and a warrant for a sample of Callistus’s DNA.”
“Uh, yes, thank you.” Tig rubbed her chin, a shiver of embarrassment running through her. The poor scientist wasn’t at her best tonight, and Tig needed to be more patient. She sighed. “Jayden may be a bit overly optimistic. The treaty communities still aren’t accustomed to the idea of identifying a perp based on V-DNA, but I’m sure Marcus will persuade at least two community leaders to sign off on both warrants.”
“Point them to the article I wrote for Living from Dusk to Dawn .” Cerissa opened her phone and tapped something, and Tig’s phone dinged . “There’s the link. That should give them all the science they need to understand the process.”
Tig had forgotten about the magazine article. “Excellent. I’ll ask Marcus to attach a copy to the warrants.”
Cerissa stood. “I don’t mean to be rude, but if that’s everything, I’m about to fall over. I need sleep.”
Tig rose to her feet. “Uh, I’m sorry, but there is one last thing.” She opened the Gazette ’s next article on her phone. When she’d read the exposé earlier, her jaw had dropped to the floor. “Have you seen this since you’ve returned?”
Cerissa accepted the device and scanned the text, with Henry looking over her shoulder. “Oh my Goddess. Is this legit?”
“Yup.”
Cerissa heaved out a tired sigh. “Well, I’m certainly awake now. Fill me in.”
“Apparently, an unknown person provided a sample of vampire blood to the reporter—blood reportedly taken from someone on the Hill—and the Gazette paid to have the sample analyzed by a high-tech private lab.”
The lab report was available as a link to the online article, but the quoted part had thoroughly shocked Tig: the blood contained three DNA strands, and the results had been labeled alien DNA , since they didn’t match any creature native to earth.
“Oh, fuck,” Cerissa said. “Agathe’s going to have a fit.”
Henry harrumphed . “No one’s ever been stupid enough to hand an entire vial of vampire blood over to mortals for testing.”
Tig agreed one hundred percent. But the lion was on the hunt. “We also didn’t think anyone could analyze our DNA, not until you came along. When we’re dealing with crime scenes, if we find V-DNA, the forensics labs have programmed their DNA machines to label the evidence as a contaminated sample. We didn’t even guess the private labs could do what you did and map the vampire genome.”
“Mortal tech is advancing fast.” Cerissa frowned, her eyes lowered. “The sophisticated machines are a very recent development. Only a few of the high-tech labs can afford them and run the same genetic tests as the Lux.”
Tig knew she was pushing her luck. Cerissa looked too fatigued for this conversation. But she didn’t know when she’d get another chance. “Could the perp have suggested which lab to use?”
Cerissa grimaced. “They’d have to be dialed into the science to know the difference. Who would do such a thing? Why would someone who lived here offer their blood for testing? It makes no sense—”
“The blood sample can’t be from an insider.” Tig gave a sharp shake of her head, clenching her jaw. “The donor isn’t someone who lives on the Hill. If we have to leave to avoid discovery, they’d lose their home, too. I’ve racked my brain for an answer, but the whole dossier thing isn’t making any sense.”
“Dossier?” Henry repeated, glancing from Tig back to Cerissa.
“I knew about the inspection of my blood delivery service,” Cerissa said. “But what dossier are you talking about?”
Tig huffed out a breath, then explained in full. With everything going on, it was no surprise the Lux scientist hadn’t read the previous newspaper articles.
Cerissa’s eyes flashed. “Could someone want the Hill community gone so they could buy out the land? The Hill is prime real estate.”
“True. But who would know about us and be able to swoop in and take over?”
“I don’t know. Another community, maybe?”
“And they’d have to face the same problem we do—”
“Not quite the same. They’d have at least fifty years, and mortals may forget by then.”
Tig pursed her lips. The scientist had a point. Could that be a motive?
Cerissa rubbed her eyes. “I need to get some rest. Before you leave, do we know which lab they used?”
“Yeah.” Tig took the phone back and sent Cerissa the link to the full report.
“Have Ari break in and grab a sample. I’ll test the blood as soon as I can. If they’re in my V-DNA database, it’ll be a start.”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Tig rose to her feet. “Brilliant idea. Thank you, Cerissa. For everything.”