62. Hiding in Plain Sight
Chapter 62
Hiding in Plain Sight
Town council chambers—Moments later
T ig stood in the back of the council chambers wearing her formal uniform, watching it all and wondering when Inanna would appear.
Xavier started with the straightforward stuff to build the story. He called the guard who’d staffed the Hill’s gate the night of Karen’s death. The guard testified that Rolf and Henry returned through the gates an hour before sunrise, along with Father Matt. Vishon was the last through, arriving fifteen minutes after them. Marcus waived cross-examination.
Tig had checked the logs herself for accuracy against the gate’s security video and shared the results with Marcus, so she wasn’t surprised when he asked no questions.
When the prosecutor called Tig to the stand, she wasn’t happy, but she was prepared for it. She tucked her chief’s cap under her arm and moved to the podium. After getting the formalities out of the way, Xavier asked, “Do unaffiliated vampires have to register with you when they pass through Mordida?”
She gave a half shrug. “They’re supposed to.”
“As are treaty vampires?”
“Yes.”
“And if a treaty vampire came to Mordida and didn’t register, is there any way for you to know it?”
“No.”
“No surveillance system, nothing of that sort?”
“No.” What an idiot. She glared at him, wondering why he’d ask such a question. “We don’t have a way to watch the borders of Mordida.”
“So any vampire could enter Mordida, and you would have no knowledge of it?”
Tig gave a brisk nod. “Correct.”
“Good. Speaking of surveillance, could a Sierra Escondida vampire leave the Hill without the guards knowing about it?”
The corners of her lips pulled down. She didn’t like where he was going. “They aren’t supposed to.”
“But they could? They could change into bats and fly over the wall, couldn’t they?”
“Yes. But we have surveillance cameras—”
“That detect persons, not bats, correct?”
Tig tugged on the hem of her dress jacket to straighten it, irritated she couldn’t stop this. The community didn’t need to know how easy it was to elude the few security measures they had in place. “They are less effective for detecting bats.”
“So it’s possible that someone from the Hill could go over the wall and come back, and the guards would not know?”
“It’s possible.”
“And Rolf and Henry could have easily done that—flown over the wall and come back without detection?”
She clenched her jaw so hard her teeth hurt. “Henry could have, but I don’t know if Rolf can. I’ve never seen him become a bat.”
“So, to your knowledge, Henry could have flown over the wall and evaded detection?”
“If there was enough time.”
“And Rolf, being mayor, would know where the cameras are installed on the Hill, and could have shared that information with Henry, told him where the gaps are?”
Marcus was on his feet instantly. “Objection. Calls for speculation.”
Tig locked eyes with Liza. She wanted this line of questioning to end—Xavier had revealed enough of their security weaknesses already, and only more would come. The vice mayor better not sacrifice the Hill’s safety on the altar of appearing fair.
Liza pursed her lips. “Marcus is right. You’re off base, Bench. Next question.”
Xavier shuffled through his notes. “That’s all I have for the moment. The witness is yours, Marcus.”
Marcus faced off with Tig. “What other residents were off the Hill that night?”
“Zeke Cannon.”
“And Mr. Cannon is a good friend of Karen’s?”
Xavier jumped to his feet. “Objection. Lack of foundation. How is the chief supposed to know who Karen’s friends are?”
Marcus held up his hand. “I’ll rephrase the question. Zeke had opportunity to turn her, since he wasn’t on the Hill that night?”
“I suppose so. And they are good friends.”
The laugh Marcus choked back sent a titter through the audience. “But Zeke doesn’t stand accused, does he, even though he had opportunity and, if we prove they are friends, motive?”
“No one has accused him.”
“And anyone from the Hill could have flown over the fence, gone to Karen’s room at the hospice, and turned her?”
“Yes.”
“Objection.”
Tig grinned. Xavier wasn’t fast enough.
“No further questions at this time,” Marcus said, and sat down.
H enry let out a relieved breath. Marcus had done an excellent job stating their case, fielding questions, and cross-examining Tig. But where was Cerissa? The center doors behind the audience remained closed. If Inanna didn’t show up soon, what would they do?
Xavier submitted into evidence a log sheet from the hospice. Marcus handed the sheet over to Henry, and he skimmed the list. The log showed which guests signed in and out after hours, and only Henry, Rolf, and Father Matt’s signatures appeared. No other known vampires signed in. Cerissa’s name was missing, too. She had arrived before visiting hours ended and left through the back entrance with the mortuary crew.
“I must object,” Marcus said. “We need time to summon witnesses from the hospice staff to testify that there are ways to enter the building without signing in. And one name on that list may be a pseudonym for the vampire who turned Karen.”
“You’re wasting your breath if you think this council will let ya bring in uninitiated mortals to testify, Marcus,” Liza replied.
“Then rule that the list is inadmissible.”
“Fat chance. Save it for closing argument.”
Henry fisted his hands in anger. In the past, Liza had always been fair. She had sustained Marcus’s last objection. So what was this? Give us one, then give them one? It was one thing for her to bend over backward to prove she was being impartial, but this was going too far.
“You got anything else, Mr. Bench?”
The prosecutor submitted into the record the time-stamped form purportedly completed by hospice staff when Karen checked out, the one Ari faked. Marcus accepted a copy and held it so Henry could see. The time shown was after he and Rolf returned to the Hill. Good.
“Is that it?” Liza said.
“No.”
“Then call your next witness, Mr. Bench.”
“I call Haley Spears.”
“Objection.” Marcus was out of his chair so fast it almost fell over. “She wasn’t on the witness list.”
During the day, they’d exchanged witness lists with Vishon, who had apparently been working for Xavier. Henry had holed up at Rolf’s house, along with Karen and Marcus, hiding from the sun and prepping for trial. Cerissa, Ari, and Nicholas spent most of the day there, too, doing everything necessary to prepare for the night’s hearing until the vampires passed out when the moon set.
Xavier sniffed in Marcus’s direction. “I didn’t want you or your clients to intimidate her. I listed her as Jane Doe, just like you did for Karen’s maker.”
Liza banged the gavel. “Direct your comments to me, not to each other. I agree it’s unfair to call her if she wasn’t on the list—she’s part of our community and you should’ve mentioned her by name. What’s she gonna testify about?”
“Once Karen was admitted to hospice, Haley surveilled who arrived at the hospice center after dusk, to see which vampires were there,” Xavier replied, as Haley walked to the podium from the audience. “Vishon suspected moving Karen to hospice was part of a scheme to turn Karen without the council’s permission.”
“What the hell?” Karen whispered to Marcus loud enough for Henry to hear. “She spied on me while I lay dying?”
He handed her a pouch of blood. “Relax. Drink. Marcus will handle it.”
She pushed away the pouch and spun out of her chair faster than he could react. “I thought you were my friend.” Her voice was no longer pitched in a whisper. The entire room would hear her. “What kind of traitor does that?”
“I—I’m sorry,” Haley stammered.
Karen whooshed into the aisle to face her. “When you asked, I signed your petition to appoint Luis to the council. I even got Rolf to sign. How stupid was I to trust you and Vishon?”
Henry clenched his jaw, betrayal constricting his throat, anger churning low in his gut. Haley served on the Subcommittee on Mortal Rights. As chair of that subcommittee, he’d praised her for prompting the town to appoint Luis as their first mortal council member. Through his work on the subcommittee, Henry had also learned how badly Haley wanted to be turned vampire, how hard she’d fought to keep them from giving away the open slots to outsiders.
Now Luis was beholden to her for his position on the council, and she had his ear. Some of the behind-the-scenes pieces fell into place. No wonder Luis had swung so heavily to Vishon’s side. Haley had likely convinced him that Karen was on borrowed time anyway, and execution was no different from the fate she would have suffered if she’d died from cancer. Then the wheels in Henry’s mind turned again. Haley and Vishon had probably convinced Luis it was stolen time. Viewing Karen’s actions as thievery would better explain his anger.
Panic filled Haley’s blue eyes as she looked to her mate for guidance, then slid her gaze in Karen’s direction. “Uh, Vishon insisted. And he was right. They turned you.”
Karen took a step closer. “No, they didn’t.”
“I don’t believe you,” Haley replied.
Liza hadn’t banged the gavel. The vice mayor seemed mesmerized by the reality show drama, and from Henry’s perspective, this had gone on long enough. He whooshed to his feet and stepped between the two women as Rolf also sprang into action, gripping Karen’s arm and returning her to the defense table. “ Liebling , this isn’t helping.”
“What isn’t helping is thinking I had real friends here,” Karen exclaimed. She plopped into her chair and turned her back on Haley.
Xavier grunted in Liza’s direction. “If her outburst is over, I’ll continue.”
“I warned you,” Marcus said. “She is only a few days old. Too young as a vampire to go through this farce.”
Henry absolutely agreed. He opened a blood pouch for Karen and whispered, “Drink it.”
“Fine.” She wrapped her lips around the straw and sucked it down.
Then Liza waved the gavel at the town clerk. “Swear her in.”
The town clerk stood and administered the oath.
Once completed, Xavier returned to the attorneys’ podium. “Ms. Spears, on the night Mrs. Müller was turned, where were you?”
Haley leaned against the podium. “Outside the hospice with Vishon. We pointed cameras at all the entrances.”
“You watched every single one?”
Fear clouded Haley’s eyes. “Yes, but not all the time. I would arrive in the early afternoon ahead of Vishon, and I stayed until the sun rose after he left.”
“Traitor,” Karen grumbled loudly.
She was right. The sense of betrayal settled deeper into Henry’s bones. Two people he’d invited to his wedding, who he’d supported politically in the past, and who’d even socialized with Rolf and Karen, had conspired against them. In the past, Cerissa had accused Vishon of being selfish and hateful, and she’d nailed the truth.
Xavier studied his notes, pen in hand, placing tick marks along the side of the page. “And why were you there that night?”
Haley blushed and shifted on her feet. “Like you said, after Rolf moved Karen to hospice, every night she was there, I watched who came and went.”
“Directing your attention to what happened the night Karen was turned, did you see any vampires enter or leave the hospice?”
“Only Rolf, Henry, and Father Matt.”
“And you monitored the cameras directed at all doors at the hospice?”
“Yes.”
“Your witness, Mr. Collings.”
Henry scribbled out a note and passed it to Marcus. Hopefully, their attorney could poke some holes in Haley’s story.
“I’m already on it.” Rising, Marcus pushed his chair back and turned to the vice mayor. “We ask for a recess to view the videos.”
Liza scanned the tribunal. “That seems reasonable.”
Haley cleared her throat. “Uh, the videos didn’t record to the cloud, like they were supposed to. I watched them from the van I rented. Multiple screens.”
?Hijo de puta! Henry strongly doubted it was a problem with the cloud. Without the video, they couldn’t dispute Haley’s testimony.
Marcus tugged at his mustache and shook his head, his expression one of disgust. “Vice mayor, this is becoming a joke. A rushed hearing in which a life hangs in the balance. Evidence missing. Witnesses we cannot cross-examine. A tribunal judge involved in the collection of evidence and evaluating the veracity of his mate. A defendant in no shape to help with her defense. The improprieties and conflicts of interest are just…just unfathomable. I implore you to postpone this hearing.”
Liza scanned the tribunal members. Henry didn’t need to be a mind reader to know she didn’t have the votes to do anything about this.
“For the moment, we’ll continue with the witnesses we have,” Liza replied. “After hearing from Haley, if the council believes additional time is necessary, we’ll do another vote.”
“But at the very least, Vishon should recuse himself.”
“I asked him to, and got bupkis,” Liza spat out. “As you guys told me, there’s nothing in our town code that can force him to step down. Y’all can bring him up on charges and fine him for the conflict of interest, but even a unanimous vote of the other council members”—she glanced sideways at Nellie—“assuming we could get a unanimous vote, won’t do nuthin’. As you lectured me in the past, the founders feared giving us the ability to kick one of our own members off the council would be worse. They believed that such power could suppress a minority viewpoint and hijack the will of the voters.”
“Then why isn’t Rolf up there too,” Karen interrupted, “instead of Nellie?”
“Because he did the right thing,” Marcus replied loud enough for everyone to hear, but motioning for her to be quiet. “My office will file charges against Vishon after this hearing is over.” He then turned to Haley. “Did you take any breaks that night?”
“Yes. Two very short ones. I used the bathroom inside the hospice.”
“So you were not watching the videos the entire time?”
“Well—Vishon was there when I wasn’t.”
“And no one came in or left while I was watching,” Vishon yelled from the dais.
Liza banged the gavel. “Enough.” She pointed the hammer at him. “You agreed I’d chair this. You’re being fined. Five thousand dollars. Do you want to try for ten?”
Vishon kept his lips sealed.
“Good decision. From now on, wait until I call on you to give testimony.”
“Again,” Marcus said, “I must object. A tribunal member cannot be a witness. It goes against every conflict-of-interest law known. Plus, we have the right to cross-examine him.”
Liza banged the gavel and leveled a glare at Marcus. “We will hear from Haley for now. Finish your cross-examination of her.”
Marcus shook his head, the disgust on his face clear for the audience to see. “You said you saw no vampires go in or out beside the three in question. How did you know no other vampires arrived or left, Ms. Spears?”
“Vishon didn’t smell any.”
“But it’s your testimony we’re hearing now, not his. Did anyone go in or out?”
“Yes. Hospice staff and visitors for other patients. A reporter and camera crew left shortly before Rolf and Henry arrived. Karen’s mortal family didn’t visit. I spoke to one of the nurses, who told me they left the previous day and didn’t return. I assumed she sent her family away so they wouldn’t see what Rolf and Henry had planned.”
“Do you have any evidence that’s why the family left?”
Haley’s eyes slewed to where Vishon sat. “No, I don’t.”
“So what you said about Karen’s family being sent away is just speculation, isn’t it?”
“Well—”
“Yes or no?”
“Yes, it’s speculation.”
“Now, the hospice staff and visitors. Did you get out of the van and examine each one up close to see whether there were any telltale signs of them being a vampire?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“So you didn’t look in their eyes?”
“No.”
“And you didn’t examine their fingernails?”
“No.”
“And you didn’t check the pallor of their skin under strong lights?”
“No.”
“So Karen’s maker could have entered wearing street clothes or dressed as hospice staff, and you’d have no way of knowing?”
“Well, I saw no vampires from the Hill. I would have recognized them.”
“But if Karen’s maker is not from the Hill, then you’d have no way of recognizing them, correct?”
“I guess not. But Cerissa left with Karen’s body in a hearse around fifteen minutes before dawn.”
“Wait. You didn’t see Karen leave?” Marcus fanned the hospice report Xavier had submitted. “According to hospice, she walked out under her own power.”
“Henry or Rolf must have mesmerized the staff to forget. Or they turned her the following night, after she checked out.”
“Objection, speculation, again.”
Liza tapped the gavel. “Fer cryin’ out loud. The tribunal is ordered to ignore that.” Liza huffed. “Ms. Spears, you can only testify to what you saw or heard—not what you invented in your mind to explain things.”
Henry relaxed an iota. Finally, Liza had nailed the issue with Haley’s testimony.
“Now,” Marcus said, “you didn’t see Karen leave. So your surveillance was flawed, correct?”
“Wrong. I saw Cerissa leave out the back door with a body bag. She placed Karen’s body in the hearse.”
“We’ll get back to who was in the bag in a moment. For now, who else did you see when Cerissa left?”
“I didn’t see anyone with her, aside from the hearse driver, and I couldn’t see him or her.”
“You didn’t see the driver?”
“No.”
Henry furrowed his brow. Had Ari worn a daylight bracelet to make himself invisible? Or had he never faced the direction of Haley’s camera?
Marcus turned a page in his notes. “So the driver could have been vampire or mortal?”
“I… Well, it was so close to dawn…”
Marcus stared at her. “Please answer the question.”
“Yes, I guess they could have been either, as I didn’t see them at all.”
“Now, let us return to the bag. Did you see a body placed in the bag?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know Karen’s body was in the bag?”
“Well, the body was completely covered, but the size was right for Karen.”
“Or any person of Karen’s size or shape?”
“I guess.”
“You must do better than guess. Karen’s life is on the line. You must know with certainty, or your testimony is worthless.”
“Fine. Anyone of Karen’s size or shape was in the bag. But if it wasn’t Karen, who was it?”
“That’s for the prosecutor to prove. And you were monitoring a hospice center. Mortals die there every day—and night. And for all you know, the bag could have been stuffed with pillows.”
“But I know it was Karen because she didn’t leave through another door.”
“Didn’t you testify you left your monitoring van shortly after dawn?”
“Yeah, but Cerissa would never abandon her there once she checked out.”
“Could they have made other arrangements to take Karen home after sunrise?”
“I guess.”
“Because you don’t know—all you’ve done is make up story after story. So, assuming for the sake of argument your supposition is correct, was it enough time to drive Mrs. Müller back to the Hill to be turned?”
“Uh, I guess not. But the moon didn’t set until midmorning, so they would have been awake—”
Marcus harrumphed . “Please stop speculating. Everyone here knows you can’t turn a mortal after the sun rises. It doesn’t work.”
Haley averted her eyes and blushed bright red. “Oh.”
“Did you see Henry or Rolf return to the hospice after the two gentlemen left?”
Henry held his breath. That was a perilous question for Marcus to ask. What if Haley lied?
“Um—”
“Look at me, Ms. Spears, not your mate. Did you see Henry or Rolf return after they left that night?”
She sighed out her answer, her eyes focused on the microphone. “No.”
Marcus snorted his disgust and returned to his chair. “No further questions.”
Xavier stood and directed his comment to the tribunal. “As much as it pains me, I think Mr. Collings has a point. My preparation for the case has been rushed. I don’t want this hearing overturned on appeal. Perhaps a postponement is in order.”
Liza’s shoulders rose and fell. She scanned the tribunal. “You heard the earlier vote. We don’t have enough votes to postpone. I’ve. Already. Tried. Don’t ask again.”
She paused, and no one on the tribunal broke the silence.
“Very well.” Xavier turned back to the audience. “For my next witness, I call Karen Müller.”
Rolf followed her to the podium, and Henry took his place on her other side. They’d debated the matter in advance—Henry was concerned his presence next to Karen made him look like her maker. But Rolf standing alone next to her would make him look guilty. And they couldn’t let her testify without their support. Too many mortals were in the audience. The distracting smell of their blood might cause her to attack, which was the last thing they wanted in front of a hostile council.
The special prosecutor glared at the men. “Return to your seats, Mr. Müller and Mr. Patel-Bautista.”
“I will stand by my wife, Mr. Bench,” Rolf said. “There is nothing in the Covenant or the council’s protocol that says I cannot be here next to her.”
“As long as you don’t coach her.”
“Just so we understand each other, you will do nothing to upset her. She is still in a delicate state. There are too many mortals in this room, and this hearing is completely out of line. We are here only because we want this over with and we are willing to cooperate. But at the first sign this is causing her distress, we will leave.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, you are not in charge here right now,” Xavier replied.
“Neither are you.”
The two vampires stared each other down.
Henry stepped closer. If Rolf and the prosecutor came to blows, the council would blame Rolf—jail him, even. Karen would go ballistic and the council might use that as an excuse to put her down as unstable. “Rolf—this isn’t helping.”
Liza disrupted the stare-off with a tap of the gavel. “Christ on a cracker. Get on with the questioning.”
Rolf took a step back.
“Very well, Madam Vice Mayor.” Xavier pivoted to face Karen. “Mrs. Müller, who turned you?”
“Well, it wasn’t Rolf or Henry.”
“And you expect this tribunal to believe you?”
“I was dying. I didn’t want either Rolf or Henry to be my maker. Too much baggage.” That brought a snicker from the audience, and the vice mayor banged the gavel again.
“So you were on your deathbed, and you just happened to have the phone number of a vampire who dropped everything they were doing to rush to the hospice to turn you?”
“Yes,” Karen replied.
“And how did you meet this vampire?”
“I knew her. She was on my cruise to Hawaii. She asked me not to reveal her identity.”
Henry pressed his lips together to keep from smiling. With all the back-and-forth about their standing next to her, the council had forgotten to swear in Karen. If the truth got slightly stretched, well, it wasn’t perjury.
“You had met her before she turned you?” Xavier asked.
“Yes.”
“And why would this vampire turn you?”
“She felt sorry for me. My story touched her when I told her the life I wanted with Rolf was being cut short.”
“You do realize how hard this is to swallow. And how convenient that this mystery vampire is not here to corroborate your story.”
Marcus bolted to his feet. “Objection, your honor. Badgering the witness. No one has ever said that the vampire who turned Mrs. Müller isn’t willing to testify. But they left the area and now have to travel back. We all know how inconvenient traveling is for our kind.”
A very loud murmur ran through the room.
Liza banged the gavel yet again. “Enough. This is turning into a moose hump. Mr. Bench, do you have anything further for this witness?”
“Yes, I do. So, Mrs. Müller, when did your husband and Mr. Bautista arrive that evening?”
“Shortly after dusk.”
“And when did they leave?”
“About an hour before dawn.”
“Did either of them return to you that morning?”
“No.”
“And if we are to believe you, an unaffiliated vampire came by to see you while you were dying?”
“Yes.”
“So Henry and Rolf were there when she visited?”
“No. She didn’t appear until after they left.”
Henry bit the insides of his cheeks. That was cutting the truth with a razor-honed blade.
“Mrs. Müller, you have sworn to tell the truth.”
Henry didn’t crack a smile. He wouldn’t give away the fact she hadn’t.
“But I am telling the truth,” Karen said. “The vampire who turned me was not in my room until after the guys left. I was afraid they’d try to stop her.”
“I checked with the hospice staff and no one else saw this vampire.”
“Objection.” Marcus was out of his seat. “The prosecutor is testifying to hearsay. I ask you to strike his remark from the record and direct the tribunal to disregard the prosecutor’s unfounded assertion.”
Karen shrugged. “Sometimes it’s possible to hide in plain sight.”