Chapter 7
Despite my exhaustion, I slept fit-fully.
My mind chose to be my enemy, turning my thoughts and worries into dreams. Dreams that felt real.
So real that I woke in a panic and cold sweat more than once.
It didn’t help that sometime after midnight I was hit by an overwhelming wave of nausea that clung to my insides like pine tar.
Of course, what always worked at home didn’t work here. And I didn’t know what else to do. What medications I could or couldn’t take.
I should have looked that up on Botan’s phone too.
I brushed my teeth hoping the mint would help. When that didn’t work, I sat at the end of my bed, tucked my thumbs into my palms, and squeezed.
Facing the agents wasn’t an option. Not until I got a hold of myself.
So, I waited. And waited.
I tried to distract myself by listening in on the noise coming from their room. Muffled words. Conversation. One-sided as always. When Jack laughed, I felt the corner of my mouth pull upwards.
And slowly, slowly the nausea ebbed.
I sighed. It was going to be a long day.
Fortunately, the agents didn’t make a big deal when I reunited our rooms. They continued the conversation welcoming me as they spoke about the plans Fawzy and the team had for their day, which involved speaking with the local police department, tracking down leads, and doing their own on-the-ground assessment of the cemetery.
Since Todd and I already made first contact with the vamps, secured an invite to the event tonight, and comms were up and running, there wasn’t much for me to do other than to prepare for the gathering. Which didn’t start until 11pm.
There was plenty of time. Which meant plenty more waiting.
It was easy passing time with the agents.
Even if Jack was busy keeping the bureaucrats at bay.
Sometime after lunch, Jack’s phone became a buzz of activity.
Rochan’s office checked in about a report.
Someone else needed to clarify a bit of evidence.
Zhou called with an update and a question about vampires.
Something about someone came from a judge’s office.
Blah blah blah.
Listening to all the phone talk was tiring. I needed to get out, partly to clear my head.
Todd was re-reading the consent form for the hundred-and-seventeenth time when I approached. “I’m going for a walk. Want to come?”
He looked at Jack who was busy talking on his phone. “Absolutely.”
Jack waved, phone to his ear, acknowledging us as we left.
?
We walked in silence for some time, clearing our heads from all the chatter Jack had subjected us to.
I was not envious of Jack’s position. And from what I could tell, neither was Todd.
We were meant to be out in the field. Doing something.
Like we were now, even if Todd didn’t yet know the real reason for our stroll.
“How much did you hear?”
Todd looked down at me, tension pulled between his brows. When I pulled the note I’d found on the floor of my motel room from my pocket, recognition flashed over his features.
“Enough… I heard enough.” He kept his brows knit together. “I also noticed the bruised knuckles. Care to explain?”
I tucked the note away, and slipped the offending hand in my pocket. “Not particularly. Just a bad night.”
“Mmm.” Todd made the noise deep in his throat. “Do you often find yourself with bruises after a bad night?”
“That was… an anomaly.”
“Mmm,” he said again.
“Mmm,” I mimicked as we parted around a group of slack-jawed toddlers and their equally stunned daycare workers.
Sometimes I forgot how imposing Todd was, but being in public made for an easy reminder.
Passing more onlookers, we wound our way to the river front, walking along the water’s edge in comfortable silence.
But I had another question on my mind. Not one that made for an easy segue.
I had to be careful about the wording to avoid bringing attention to the fact that Jack and I had slept together.
“I have a question,” I started, glancing away from the lazy river. “One that might be… sensitive.”
Todd gave me all of his attention.
“I went to Jack’s place.”
“I’m aware.” He turned straight ahead, looking off toward the bridge in the distance.
“You know about his art? That he draws?” When Todd nodded, his focus unbroken, I continued, “You were in a few.”
That seemed to get his attention. He faced me again, curiosity flickering in his dark eyes.
“There was a hospital, and you were at his bedside.” I was wading into sensitive territory. “What happened?”
Todd pondered the weight of what I was asking. “Why not ask Jack?”
“I didn’t want to go snooping around.”
“But you are snooping now.”
“Apparently.”
Todd waited, perhaps thinking I might change my mind and take the question back. When I didn’t, he replied, “He was poisoned. Badly.”
“Oh.” For some reason, my first instinct was cancer. I swallowed down the subsequent asks of ‘what kind’ and ‘how’, letting Todd continue.
“He made waves. The most wanted list success put him on the radar. Of the good. And the bad.” Todd held out his hands in a motion which told me I could fill in the rest of the blanks on my own.
“Were they—”
“They were caught.”
I took a moment with my thoughts. Someone poisoned Jack.
It was severe enough to land him in the hospital.
For Todd to be at his bedside. I tucked that bit of information away for later, for when I could search poisons and see if they were connected to Jack’s perceived infertility.
But something in my gut told me they were one and the same.
“Thanks for sharing this with me.” The subject felt heavy, and thick, like molasses. So, I teased, “Though I thought you might have been more tightlipped with Jack’s secrets.”
“It’s not a secret. If it was, I wouldn’t have told you.”
“I thought you were telling me, best friend to best friend.”
“Best friend to best friend, why are you asking?”
Well, that shut me right up.
I had not been prepared for the direct question behind my interest. And I hadn’t expected Todd to reciprocate the best friend comment. Even if it was true.
“I was curious.” I shrugged, focusing my gaze off in the distance.
We were close enough to the bridge that I could make out the green paint on its iron beams. “You and me. People see our scars. They stare. They know we’ve been through things, even if they don’t know what they are.
They expect us to be hard, and I think I’m just trying to understand what Jack—you know what, it doesn’t matter. ”
Our walk led us inside a large outdoor amphitheater. Layers of grass knolled ledges faced the river. We had reached our destination. I was about to sit down on one of the ridges, but soon found Todd’s hand warm and heavy on my shoulder.
“It does matter. What you think. What you feel. It’s important.
Very.” His words poured over my frayed edges like a tonic.
“Jack… is very good at what he does. He is a great agent. A great ally. A great friend… But Jack also likes shiny things.” Todd used my choice of words from the night before.
“Challenges.” Then with a directness that buried itself beneath my skin, he added, “People.”
His look prompted a question. “You think I’m shiny?”
“The shiniest.”
I opened my mouth to unpack Todd’s comment when I spotted a large grey blur hurtling towards me. Any words that came to mind flew out the window as I braced myself for impact.
Legs steady, muscles tensed, I was rocked backwards. Nails burrowed into my shoulders. I grabbed fistfuls of fur. There was a mouth at my face, something hot and wet streaked over my cheek.
But I remained upright. There was no pain—so at the very least I wasn’t being mauled.
When I opened my eyes, I found a full-grown wolfhound lapping contentedly at my face. Todd, whose fists clenched in fight-mode, quickly schooled his features and his temper as I giggled at the sopping wet kisses.
“Dog!” Jezebel called. “Hey, get down.”
Dog listened, releasing my shoulders.
“Sorry,” Jezebel clipped the leash back on Dog’s collar. “He must have really missed you, D.”
I wiped the slobber from my face with the hem of my shirt. “Only because I was heavy-handed with the treats.”
Todd swung his gaze from me to Jezebel and back again, before folding his arms across his chest.
I had some explaining to do. But he’d get the picture soon enough.
“Glad my hints made sense.” Jezebel, in plain clothes, sporting a rather large garment bag, was about as friendly as people came.
Her curls bouncing freely, an infallible smile on her face, she gave me a single armed squeeze.
“For the record, D, really hard to get ‘Coliseum’ into a sentence without drawing attention from the woman upstairs.”
“Only you could make that work,” I assured her. “Though it took me longer than it should’ve to figure out you wanted to meet at this amphitheater. Almost took us to Ritter Park.”
In addition to coding the location where we should meet, Jezebel had also indicated the time, tapping the number two when she handed me the business card. So, our run-in was not a chance encounter by any stretch of the imagination.
Todd cleared his throat to grab my attention. “Everything yesterday was an act?”
Well, the good news was I had less explaining to do. He caught on quickly. But that was a gift as much as it was a curse.
I smiled innocently at Todd, giving him the biggest toothy grin I could manage, as I stepped out of the way to make warmer introductions. “Jezebel, you’ve already met Agent Galt. Todd— Jezebel.”
They shook hands, and I ignored the glower Todd threw my way.
“Sorry for the version of me you met yesterday.” The three of us took a seat on one of the grassy ledges away from other prying eyes and ears as Jezebel spoke, “I don’t normally objectify people, but in there it’s part of my job description.” Literally.
Todd grumbled under his breath, a sound I now welcomed, as I translated on his behalf, “All good.”
“Sorry, I just...” Jez blinked considering her words. She patted Dog for support. “I guess I’m not sure how he’ll communicate at the gathering?”
“I’m very good at disappearing in a crowd.”
“Well aware,” I replied to Todd before turning to Jezebel. “And we’ve got that handled. Now, the truth, if you please, Jez.”
She exhaled with a burst. “I know them. All five of them.”
The hair on the back on my neck prickled. Todd straightened his posture.
Jezebel shook her head. “But no one would know they are missing. Not yet. I didn’t even know they were missing until you showed me the photos. And I have access to more than most.”
“Explain. Please.”
Jezebel didn’t need any translation for that one, she simply continued, “There was a fang ceremony a week ago. It was the last time we saw them. Each of their vamps got their fangs that night. So, we wouldn’t expect to see them for another week.”
“A fang ceremony? For their vamps, so they were what? Familiars?”
“Fang ceremonies are our highest honors. After fully fledged vamps get their new teeth, the ceremony acts as a venue for their first bite. And the first bite is always with the vamp’s familiar.
It’s followed by a two-week period where the familiar goes radio silent. Like they are undergoing a change.”
“Names. Ask for the names… Please.”
“Can you confirm the names of the victims for us?”
“One step ahead of you.” Jez pulled a neatly folded list from her pocket, and handed it over.
Todd and I recognized the five names from the debrief.
We had confirmation. But beside each of the names was a dash with another name.
“Pulled it from the registration data. They didn’t use those names with us though.
Once you have familiar or vamp status, you choose a more… vampy name.”
“Like Jezebel?”
“Like Jezebel.” She smiled. “Anyway, I wrote them out for you. But only use their vamp names at the gathering, or no one will know who you are talking about.”
Mercy. Dorian. Celeste. Kian. Zayd. But there were two more names added at the bottom of the page.
“This is extremely helpful, Jez.” I shot a look at Todd, who concurred. “But why are there seven names here?”
“Could you check out…” Jez leaned in, lowering her voice to a whisper. “I think something similar happened in Lexington. Two familiars went missing a year ago. They were two of our looser cannons. When their vamps got fangs, they never came back. We learned they died, but never got the details.”
Todd pulled out his phone, and started tapping his keys, taking notes. He gave me a nod.
“We’ll look into it.”
Jez took a deep breath then visibly shuttered with relief. “Thank you. I mean it. Truly.”
The sun was still high, but our time was running out. Jez couldn’t be seen with us, and she had to prep for the gathering, I needed to ask my next question and quick. “Anything else you can give us to help us with Lenore?”
“Ha!” Jezebel coughed, trying to cover her outburst. “Sorry. I know. Not a laughing matter. It’s just…
Lenore will do everything in her power to make sure her brand doesn’t get ruined.
It won’t matter to her that the FBI is asking questions.
If she thinks her bottom line will be impacted, and not in a good way, she won’t give you the time of day.
Consider that when you approach her. Use it to your advantage. That’s all I’ve got.”
“This has been extremely helpful, Jez. Thank you for your time.” I stood, wiping the grass off my legs. Todd followed suit. “I look forward to seeing your alternate personality this evening.”
“Wait. Wait.” Jezebel shot to her feet, her garment bag in tow. “I meant what I said about the clothes. You’ll need to wear something vampy.”
“I’ll find something.”
Jezebel laughed. “Oh, no, dear god, D. I brought you something.” She handed me the garment bag she brought. It was a lot heavier than it looked. “Wear that and you’ll have no trouble. Shoes included.”
“How do you—”
“Wear it. Trust me, it’ll fit. The shoes might be a bit tight, but you’ll survive.”
Now it was my turn to glare. Clearly, Jezebel thought I was incapable of dressing myself. I shifted the garment bag over my shoulder. “Fine, what about him?”
Jezebel flashed her hand in Todd’s direction. “He just needs to lose the top two buttons and he’s good to go.”
Todd raised his brows. Smug.
I clenched my jaw. Only I had to get in costume for this event. I forced my attention back to Jezebel. “If this dress has cleavage, I’ll kill you.”
Jezebel pretended to check her wrist for a watch that wasn’t there. “Oh wow, look at the time, I really must be going.” With a wave, she took off in the opposite direction with Dog. “I’ll see you tonight!”
Without opening the bag, I knew the clothes would put a lot more of me on display than I’d like. The question was how much.
Todd maintained his silent, yet self-satisfied, grin.
“Ugh. Vampires,” I sighed, adjusting the garment bag over my shoulder. “Next case, I call dibs on the Elvis Resurrectionists. Then you’ll be the one in costume.”