Chapter 42
Blue and red lights flashed from the cop cars lining the street. Despite the hour, tourists lined up behind the police tape watching the action from a distance. I’d be surprised if we didn’t make tomorrow’s headlines, but I’d leave it to the FBI to worry about keeping up appearances.
My only unease revolved around the Seal. But even if they caught sight of me, we’d be long gone before they’d be able to do anything about it, and right now there was only one person I was concerned with.
Dry and wearing ill-fitting sweats, I’d made Todd sit in the passenger seat of his car, sporting the darkest pair of sunglasses I could manage. I wasn’t going to let anything else happen to him. And I certainly wasn’t going to risk the police lights setting off another seizure.
Not letting him out of my sight, we answered questions, provided statements, and checked all of the procedural boxes asked of us.
Every now and then, I’d catch a glimpse of Jack in the distance.
He was not pleased. I didn’t expect him to be.
I knew a stern talking-to lay in wait, but that would happen later, off-duty.
Once everything was squared away, I’d be confronted with all of the risks I took, and how badly everything could have ended up.
I understood the threats. I’d made choices that were mine to choose, and I wasn’t done yet. There were still things I had to do. To make right.
Jack might not see it right away, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to like it. But he’d see reason. Eventually.
I hoped.
?
It took time, but slowly, enough evidence came to light to arrest all five of the apothecary staff on suspicion of manslaughter, murder, intent to cause bodily harm, assault of a federal agent, kidnapping, breaking and entering, and grand theft.
Flashing FBI badges seemed to provide enough assurance that the man and woman, Hank and Maeve, stopped crying, and loosened their lips.
How the vamps were villains, and they were the heroes.
How Maeve was an ex-familiar who’d nearly died of anaphylactic shock after getting bit by her vamp five years ago.
How she’d seen divine light, after Hank injected her with epinephrine, and swore to protect other familiars from a similar fate.
How she recruited other ex-familiars to support the work, each new employee required to prove their belief either by tracking potential familiar recruits, which typically took the form of a mugging, or injecting themselves with adrenaline—an option which no one selected. Shocking.
How when saving the familiars didn’t work, they got creative stationing their deaths to ensure the transformations didn’t take place.
But perhaps even more surprising, was how they hoped that the FBI would catch onto what was happening with the vamps, and shut them down once and for all.
Hank and Maeve thought that with the bodies laid out across state lines, the FBI would see the familiars’ deaths at the hands of the vamps and get involved.
But when the FBI did decide to get involved, instead of looking at the vamps, the FBI started closing in on the apothecary. The heroes. The saviors. So, Hank and Maeve had only one course of action left—make someone else take the fall in order to continue their life saving work.
They spoke about how Abigaile Johns—now Selena Belle—the elfish woman, frequented the apothecary with a love for all things vamp.
How she’d been a regular there. How they’d known where she lived, because they’d made sure to keep an eye on her after she received a prominent bite-shaped mark on her neck after an evening with the vamps.
And how they eventually convinced her to take the fall.
Not only to save her life and prevent her from becoming a vamp, but to draw the FBI’s attention away from the apothecary.
They used what they knew of Lenore’s operation to convince Selena that taking the fall was an initiation.
That the police, including her step-brother, were in on it.
She only had to hold out long enough to prove her worth.
Which is why the strange police officer, Officer Ellis, confronted me in the parking lot.
Officer Ellis wasn’t allowed to work the vamp case due to a conflict of interest. Because Selena Belle was his step-sister.
He’d waited to get me alone so he could seed the concept of the muggings and help redirect us.
Ideally, without breaking the chain of command, or drawing attention to himself in the process.
If the Huntington police force was anything like the FBI, Officer Ellis risked his career by involving himself in his step-sister’s case. It also explained why he was so flighty when I pressed him on the issue.
Which made him around eighty percent less creepy.
Lenore also didn’t come out of the situation unscathed.
The apothecary staff made sure to bring her down with them.
How she’d paid cash to them under the table to conduct anti-vamp activity.
Thousands and thousands of dollars that never made it to her books.
As far as they were concerned, Lenore was paying them to do whatever they thought necessary to keep the vamps in check.
To make the experience, and the stakes, real.
There were plenty of other statements from vamps and familiars alike to counteract the more heinous claims, but it was looking like Lenore was going to be under investigation for tax evasion at the very least. A fate she accepted with grace and dignity.
Unlike the apothecary staff who were turning their frustrations towards one another.
The two men I’d locked in the closet appeared to be yelling at one another in the back of a police car. They had to be cut out using bolt cutters because no one could find the key to the fuzzy handcuffs and the key-hole happened to be non-standard.
Which would have been funny, if I wasn’t so ready for the evening to be over. I’d spent a significant, and unplanned, portion of the evening in heavy, cold, wet clothes lugging around a man whose weight convinced me he was made of marble.
We just had to hold out a little longer, and we’d be able to make our getaway.
“I must admit, this was the most entertaining evening of my life,” Carmen sauntered towards Todd and me, wearing similarly ill-fitting sweats, appearing a little more human. “But I’ll not be looking to revisit this anytime soon.”
Apparently, Carmen had made note of the woman from the apothecary, Maeve, who had been trailing me for a better part of the evening. And when she saw Maeve and Hank saunter off minutes before the fang ceremony, she trusted her gut, and followed.
And for that, I was grateful.
Carmen was the only reason I ended up not getting jabbed in the throat with epinephrine, and I owed her my thanks.
“You saved the day.”
“Oh dear, no don’t thank me. That’s unnecessary. I threw a rock and sat on someone.” She shook her head, the corner of her mouth kicking up. “I came to apologize.”
I knit my brows. “Apologize?”
“To you,” she turned to Todd, who looked just as confused as I felt, “I tried to bait you into jealousy to stoke my own ego.”
“I wasn’t—”
“But clearly there is something more here. And I’m sorry if I got in the way, or brought any hardship on this.” She circled the space between Todd and I like there was some invisible rope tying us together.
“Oh, we’re not—"
“If we don’t meet again, thank you for an unforgettable evening, and,” she looked at Todd, “best of luck in parenthood.”
With a sultry smirk, and swish of her hair, Carmen was gone.
?
Once the FBI and the police had what they needed to close out the case for the evening, Jezebel and I said our farewells in a very Leslie’s Pies fashion, with a hug, and promise to see each other soon.
With nothing new or exciting to catch the crowd’s attention, the spectators lost interest, and slowly but surely dispersed.
The parking lot emptied, besides a vehicle or two, it was time to clear out and, for better or worse, reap what we sowed.
“We’ll meet at my place.” Jack leaned over the open window to Todd’s sedan, continuing before either Todd or I could intervene, “It’s a non-negotiable. I’ve got enough beds for the three of us, and we don’t know if either of your apartments are safe.”
“Mads—”
“Mads may not have given your apartment to the rest of the Seal, but for all we know there could be someone on his team he shared the details with. And we can’t afford to be taking any chances. Not with—” Jack dropped his gaze to my belly.
Todd rubbed his temples.
“I’m not fragile, Jack. I’m not going to break.”
“I know you aren’t. But you have more to think about now. More to risk.”
I was too tired to fight. I needed to save my energy for where it was needed, and right now, I was in the driver’s seat. Literally.
With some convincing, I ended up behind the wheel of Todd’s car, with a tired Todd reclined in the passenger seat fighting to keep his eyes open.
Jack wanted the three of us to drive together, but I persuaded him to drive back with Fawzy.
I needed time to reflect on the evening before atoning for my actions.
Besides, it’s not like I was going to do anything reckless with Todd in the car.
That’s what I sold him on, anyway.
“Look, we’re all tired, we’ll talk about this more at my place. Okay? It can be your home for as long as you need. Until we find you somewhere you’ll be safe, and comfortable. Whatever you want.”
I dropped my head against the headrest. “What I want is to go to home, my home, and sleep in my bed, but I’m not being given the option.”
“I’m not doing this to punish you, Delilah. This is an offer. For us to figure out everything. Together. Because whether you like it or not, right now, your—”
“Passenger.”
“—passenger has two very overprotective fathers. And you, Delilah, have the two of us. And even though Todd is asleep right now—”
“I’m awake.”
“—I know he didn’t tell Rochan he was the father on a whim—”
“I didn’t.”
“—which means for better or worse, you’re stuck with us.”