7. Chapter 7
Chapter seven
LUCA
“We fucked up.”
I pushed a drink in front of Sage and arched an eyebrow at the man. He and Ollie were keeping an eye on things from the bar and we were so busy I’d barely had time to say two words to them.
It was the first time since I became a vampire that I’d worked in a crowd this big and being surrounded by body heat and pumping blood made my teeth ache and my mouth water. The reaction to being around people still disgusted me, but I’d had my fill of blood before coming in so at least it was manageable.
“This is a much bigger crowd than I expected,” Sage explained, eyeing the line out the door.
Our entire staff was working and we’d still had to call in some of the wolves to help out. The place was packed and the voter registration table had been occupied the whole time.
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“It’s a good thing,” he agreed. “But it’s also going to draw the attention of the cops that are always sitting out there. The hunters are going to know something’s up.”
Ollie shrugged. “It’s not like we’re doing anything wrong. They don’t really have any ground to stand on.”
“When has that ever stopped them?” Sage muttered. His eyes darted up to me and he winced. “Sorry, I obviously didn’t mean you.”
I shook my head. “You don’t need to tell me, but Ollie’s right. All we did was set up a table of tablets where people can register themselves and ran some specials. Levi’s pictures of Connor’s food drew a ton of people in, what could they possibly do about that?”
The words had barely left my mouth before my former coworkers were forcing their way in the door. They weren’t exactly gentle shoving through the line, and Tex jumped up to try to help the waiting customers out of the way.
Since the wolves were helping out instead of drinking and relaxing, and humans had been in and out as much as non-humans, everyone was on their best behavior. There hadn’t been so much as a scuffle to draw the police over, and yet there they were storming inside like this was a drug bust.
Royce had moved to the kitchen when I arrived to back up Nikko, so they didn’t find who they were looking for, and inevitably their eyes landed on me. My spine stiffened at the mocking expression on Officer Newman’s face. He was the senior officer and a complete asshole. Of all my coworkers at the time, he was the only one I actively avoided.
The other three pushing their way in were men I’d once gotten along with fine, but now they looked at me like I was something disgusting on the bottom of their shoe. If only they knew.
When it came down to my departure from the department, not one of the men I’d worked with supported me. Now that I knew what had been happening right under my nose, it made more sense, but there'd been a time I’d trusted those men to have my back. To find out so suddenly not one of them did was salt in the wound after what happened with Mark that day.
In the end, I didn't even try to keep my job. The union would have fought for me if I’d asked, but I wasn’t in a position to keep working anyway and I accepted being pushed out as long as they included in my records that I committed no wrongdoings. Technically, I’d disobeyed orders, but I had reason to believe someone was in danger and I did my job the way I was supposed to.
As long as I agreed to leave, the department accepted my conditions. But that didn’t mean the men I once worked with hadn’t come to understand that I stood against them. Especially when my new job was at the very place they’d been determined to take down.
“Marquez,” Newman sneered. “Geez, look at you. Bet you’re regretting all your life decisions now, aren’t you?”
It stung because he was right. Not that I wouldn’t have disobeyed orders if I had to do it again, but in the end, I hadn’t even helped Nikko at all. All of it was a complete waste.
“Is there something you need, Officer?”
The other officers started gathering the tablets, ripping them right out of people’s hands.
“You have no permit for this event. It’s illegal to hold registration events that direct voters to a specific party. You’ll be lucky if this place isn’t shut down for this.” His smirk told me that was exactly the plan.
Sage sighed like this was exactly what he’d been worried about when the crowd grew so large. “There's nothing here swaying voters in any direction. Not one piece of campaign material is anywhere in view and everyone is welcome. There’s nothing but a table of tablets where our customers are free to register themselves as they wish. Further, this is simply a tavern that ran some food specials that have drawn a lot of attention, a permit is certainly not needed for that. You have no reason to come in and shut anything down.”
“We know what kind of people frequent this establishment, this event is clearly to support Mr. Fryst’s campaign. You’re not fooling anyone.”
“I’m sorry, Officer Newman, are you admitting you’re shutting down this event to prevent ‘the kind of people who frequent this establishment’ from voting?” he held his phone in Newman’s direction. “Do you care to comment further on that? Please tell me what the police department’s aim is here.”
Newman sneered. “Do you think we don’t know who you are?”
Sage’s eyebrows rose. “Sage Blackwood, I’ve already introduced myself to your chief, so I’m quite certain you do. What are you implying?”
Newman’s eyes went to Sage’s phone before shooting my way again. “Not surprised you ended up here. Nothing more than a criminal, just like the rest of them.”
“Officer Newman!” Sage snapped, the professional edge to his voice replaced with something much more threatening. “Mr. Marquez doesn’t have a mark on his record, he was an upstanding officer for the entirety of his career and followed his duty to protect the citizens of Eastbend to the end. Unlike you, not one of us ever witnessed anything from him that even came close to whatever it is you’re trying to pull here. In fact, we’d like an explanation. On what grounds are you confiscating property?”
“We don’t answer to you. If you want a statement, submit a request to the department.”
“Actually, I’d be interested in that answer as well,” A new female voice chimed in as the pretty human Sage had been eating with when I first arrived stepped into the opening the crowd formed around the bar. “Samantha Blaine, with The Morning Daily. Do you care to comment on what’s happening here?”
Newman froze at the introduction. The Daily was a local news outlet, but it had a much bigger reach than Sage’s independent agency. Pretty much everyone in the surrounding area were at least aware of The Morning Daily’s reports. Every diner I’d set foot in since moving to Eastbend had The Daily’s reports playing every morning, and while I didn’t recognize the woman asking for a statement, Sage didn’t seem the least bit surprised. Had he invited her here for this very reason?
Newman cleared his throat. “We got some complaints that the staff here is only allowing folks to register with the specific party for the candidate they’re aligned with. Obviously that’s an issue so we’re here to make sure it’s not happening. You’ll have to follow up with the station for anything else. It hasn’t been determined if charges will be filed just yet.”
“You’re suggesting that they’re monitoring how every person here is registering, is that right? But as you saw when you came in, no one is manning the table they set up and furthermore, there’s a young man at a table right over there who’s been playing games on one of the tablets for almost an hour and no one even seems to have even noticed. At a glance, what you’re suggesting doesn’t appear to be the case. How did you determine your witness to be credible?”
The kid in question noticed the eyes on him and he slowly slid the tablet face down onto the table where Officer Kipp snatched it up and found an online trivia game on the screen. I actually had noticed the stray device, and I was pretty sure Tex and Maddox did too, but we were far too busy to worry about something like that. We’d set out ten tablets and from what I saw they’d taken seven including the one that kid had, which meant there were still three more floating around somewhere.
“It was an anonymous tip, but we have a duty to protect the rights of the people.”
Catching on quick, Samantha raised an eyebrow. “Which people?”
“Ms. Blaine, you’re not from Eastbend, so you’re clearly not informed. This tavern has a history of skirting the law. Any complaints we receive must be carefully considered.”
“Really? What laws?”
She wasn’t standing up for the tavern, she seemed genuinely interested in this fight between the police and the tavern and while she obviously picked up that something wasn’t right with Newman’s behavior, it was obvious she’d take us down too if we were in the wrong.
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Royce cut in as he stepped out from the back with cases of beer stacked in his arms.
I took the cases and started stocking the nearly empty coolers while there was a break in orders.
“We’ve had multiple complaints,” Newman once again claimed.
“Complaints about what?” Samantha once again pressed. “Are we talking health code violations?”
“Among other things,” Newman agreed.
Levi gasped from the kitchen where he was hiding behind Connor. “How dare they!” he hissed.
“This kitchen has never once had a health code violation,” Connor argued from the window. “Ms. Blaine, please feel free to come back and inspect the kitchen yourself. I’m happy to give you a tour.”
“Alright,” she agreed, circling the bar to meet Connor at the door where he was waiting with a hairnet and gloves for her.
Of course, the big, gentle bear immediately won her over with his contagious love of food as he took her through his immaculate kitchen. His sharp eyes and nose would never allow for anything amiss in his precious workspace and not one of us worried that the reporter would find anything wrong there.
“What were those other things?” Royce asked. “And what are you accusing us of now?”
“They’re confiscating the tablets because they said they received a complaint that we were only allowing people to register for a specific party,” I explained, earning another disgusted look from Newman.
“Which is obviously false,” Royce pointed out. “Since all we did was throw a bunch of tablets on a table with instructions. You can see that for yourself, so why take the tablets?”
“Because they don’t want the type of people who come into the tavern voting,” Nikko chimed in with an arched eyebrow.
“We have the right to confiscate property we have reason to believe is involved in a violation of the law. You can file a complaint with the station if you don’t like it,” Newman sneered before storming out with the others right behind him.
“Wow,” Samantha commented from the kitchen window. “What’d you guys do to tick him off?”
“We wish we knew,” Connor said with a smile. “We’ve tried repeatedly to find out why they have it out for us, but they claim there’s no official investigation of the tavern at this time.”
“Interesting.”
The woman left the kitchen to take the stool that had cleared out next to Sage. “Is this why you invited me here, Mr. Blackwood?”
Sage flashed innocent blue eyes her way. “Of course not. I simply got word that a fellow journalist would be in the area and thought I’d offer to treat you to dinner.”
“And that’s another thing, how did you even find out that I’d be in the area?”
“Just heard it in passing. How could I have known what they would do?”
He knew exactly what he was doing. He knew that the hunters wouldn’t sit back and allow crowds of non-humans this large to register to vote, and he likely knew they’d finally make their move during our busiest time. I was starting to realize that Sage was always scheming, planning for possibilities two steps ahead. There was something incredibly sexy about his cunning intelligence, but it was easy to miss at first glance with that nerdy boy-next-door look he used to disarm people.
Apparently Samantha picked up on the same thing because her narrowed eyes quickly went from suspicious to interested and my shoulders tightened even though I had no right to be territorial.
“Well since you so generously treated me to dinner, why don’t I buy you a drink?”
Sage’s eyes shot to me and widened. No doubt I was glowering in their direction because Samantha followed his gaze and covered a chuckle behind a cough.
“Ah, you’re taken. A strictly professional drink, then?”
“Oh, we’re… not really…” he stammered.
“Your boyfriend’s face says otherwise. It’s my bad, I should have picked up on it sooner.”
Connor came up from the back with three plates in hand. “How about dessert on the house?” he offered, settling the plates in front of Samantha, Sage and Ollie.
“Is this a bribe or are you trying to diffuse the situation?” she teased.
Connor flashed his disarming smile. “Just showing off my skills.”
“You guys are good, I’ll give you that.”
Samantha accepted the offering and took a bite of the creamy layered dessert. Her eyes closed for a moment as she savored it, and I was once again jealous. Food just wasn’t the same for me anymore.
When I was human, I’d loved food. Trying new things and seeking out the local favorites. It was no coincidence I’d found my way into the tavern to sample Connor’s cooking and kept coming back when I realized what a hidden gem it was. I missed the simple pleasure of tasting something new and exciting, or even the comfort of an old favorite, but while everything technically smelled the same, it just didn’t have the same appeal.
“Wow. Don’t suppose you’re single?” Samantha joked.
“Happily married,” Connor laughed.
“Eh, a girl’s gotta try, right?”
“I’ll take it as a compliment.”
She laughed. “You should, I rarely offer myself up to a man just for his cooking skills.”
“‘Rarely’ implies I wasn’t the first,” Connor teased.
She waved a hand dismissively. “Who hasn’t had the occasional college fling that started over a perfectly cooked grilled cheese?”
Sage snorted. “Actually I’m with you on that one. After a few weeks of living on nothing but packaged noodles, anyone with a sandwich maker starts looking pretty good.”
“You get it,” she laughed.
My mood worsened the longer they chatted, but in the end, Samantha headed back for the city with the promise that she’d be interested in any future stories Sage wrote regarding the Eastbend police. And just like that Sage had made himself a friend that had the power to extend his reach and amplify his voice — and by extension, the voices of all non-humans in Eastbend. Sometimes I was truly in awe of him.