“Good thing,” Candice said.
“Probable cause or no, you had no business going in there alone,” Mace said. “No unnecessary risks, remember? Everyone comes out of this alive.”
“I know. You’re right. It was a bad call on my part. I fired that shot …”
“No reports.”
Willy nodded, a look of relief on his face. Mace realized Willy hadn’t looked at Karol once since his arrival.
“Raphael and his boys were in there. I didn’t see them when they went in, and we never saw them come out.”
“You were awake the whole time?”
Willy frowned. “I told Karol to catch some Z’s, and I nodded off by accident. I’m sorry. But the front door’s still unlocked, and the alarm is off. There were five of them in there at one point, and there were five Class Ls.”
A police cruiser pulled over, and Mace saw Landry park behind it.
“I called Hector and Suzie,” Candice said.
The cruiser’s passenger window slid down, and a female PO looked out. “Everything okay here?”
Candice flashed her shield. “Everything’s fine.”
The woman nodded. “Have a good night.”
The cruiser drove off, and Landry joined the quartet. “What did I miss? I heard the APB.”
“Willy and Karol will fill you in. Candice, call Gabriel Domini and get him over here. Tell him there appears to have been a breakin and an altercation and the alarm is off. I want him to answer questions.”
“What about Raphael?”
“Tell Gabriel we think it would be prudent for him to come alone.”
An SUV pulled over, and Shelly and Norton got out.
“What happened?” Shelly said.
“Diega and Williams were just about to run the incident down for Landry,” Mace said. “I don’t want anyone going inside until Gabriel Domini arrives.”
“This way for the ten-cent tour,” Willy said, leading the group into the passageway.
Mace watched another SUV park down the block. Hector and Suzie, he thought.
Candice got off her cell phone. “Gabriel’s on his way.”
Hector and Suzie walked up the sidewalk.
“Yo, these task force hours are crazy,” Hector said. “We got a stiff?”
“Just some blood samples,” Mace said. “Maybe some fur too. If we’re lucky, fingerprints. You can start in the back courtyard, but don’t go inside until the owner gets here.”
“Got it. Let’s gear up, Suzie Q.”
The CSU detectives returned to their SUV.
“There’s nothing like conducting a secret investigation in public,” Candice said.
Ten minutes after Hector and Suzie disappeared down the passageway with their equipment, a yellow taxi arrived. Mace watched Gabriel Domini pay the driver and get out.
Gabriel wore a long camel hair coat. As he approached Mace and Candice, a look of recognition spread across his features, and he motioned with one gloved hand. “Captain Mace.”
He remembers me two years later. Mace gestured to Candice. “This is Detective Sergeant Smalls.”
“I called you, Mr. Domini,” Candice said. “The front door was left unlocked, and the alarm wasn’t set.”
“That’s impossible. My brother and I left here together earlier. I’m positive we locked up.”
“Yes, but your brother returned a short while later with some other men,” Mace said.
Gabriel raised his eyebrows. “How do you know that?”
“We have your business under surveillance.”
“Why? Am I suspect in some crime? Surely you don’t think me or my brother had something to do with Jason’s murder and Rhonda’s abduction?”
“Quite the opposite: we believe that whoever killed Jason and kidnapped Rhonda wanted to get at you.”
“But why? I’m of no importance.”
“Nevertheless, we believe the breakin here tonight and the attack on Synful Reading are connected.”
“Why did you ask me to come here alone?”
“Because when your brother returned, he left the door open. He practically invited someone to go into your establishment after hours. And our detectives never saw him and his friends leave.”
“Did the intruders go in through the front door?”
“No, they broke in through the courtyard door. Maybe they saw him leave the door open and sensed a trap.”
“Or maybe they didn’t see him leave the door open and believed the back door was the best way in.”
“Either way, the building’s still open, and your brother is long gone. There’s blood in the alley and inside.”
“You suspect my brother was harmed?”
Mace gave Gabriel a long look. How much could he reveal without revealing too much? “No. One of the intruders lost an arm in the melé.”
“My God.” Gabriel gestured at the door. “Can I see if anything’s been stolen?”
“Sure, but let’s go this way.” Mace gestured at the passageway.
“It’s dark,” Gabriel said.
He sees perfectly well in the dark, Mace thought. “We’ll use my flashlight. I never leave home without it. Candice, do you mind holding down the fort here?”
“I don’t mind, Captain.”
Mace took out his flashlight and entered the narrow passageway, followed by Gabriel. It stretched perhaps sixty feet, and their footsteps echoed in the darkness, the flash beam bouncing off the walls. They emerged into the courtyard, where Hector and Suzie scraped blood samples off the ground and wall. The CSU detectives wore bright yellow latex gloves. Willy, Landry, Shelly, and Norton stared at Gabriel, but Karol barely glanced at him.
“Familiar faces,” Gabriel said. “Hello.”
“Mr. Domini,” Landry said.
“How’s it going?” Willy said.
Mace gestured to Shelly and Norton. “This is Special Agent Shelly and Special Agent Norton.”
“Hello,” Norton said.
“Federal agents?” Gabriel said.
“It’s not unusual in kidnapping cases,” Shelly said.
Karol pointed at the open door. “You can see where they broke the door, probably with a crowbar. The blood is self-evident. It leads over the wall to where Willy saw their SUV.”
Mace turned to Willy. “Why don’t you walk us through what happened?”
“You got it,” Willy said.
“Stay off our blood,” Hector said without looking up.
Willy motioned to the open door. “I climbed over the wall and found the door ajar. It was obvious someone had forced it open, so I entered the premises.” He stepped inside the corridor, illuminated by fluorescent lights.
Mace gestured for Gabriel to follow Willy, then followed him. He heard Landry, Norton and Shelly, and Williams behind him. The group followed Willy down the corridor, stepping around the blood spatters on the floor.
“I made my way down the hall and turned here …”
The blood continued, smeared with footprints. Switching on lights, Willy led them through the crematorium, down another hall, and into the funeral parlor, where great pools of blood had soaked into the carpet, which had also been torn by what appeared to be long claw marks. The party of seven stared at the blood.
“The lights were off when I came in here,” Willy said. “I only had my flashlight to see. There was a struggle going on, and I counted eight figures involved.”
“What did they look like?” Gabriel said.
“That’s classified at the moment,” Mace said. “I notice you don’t have any cameras back here.”
“Only on the front doors. We’ve never had any need for additional security before.”
“I’d like to see the footage for tonight,” Mace said.
“Of course. Whatever you say, Captain.”
Mace faced his team. “Willy, Karol, Ken—go home. Norton, Shelly—hang tight until I’m finished with Mr. Domini. Ken, tell Candice I want her to stick around until Hector and Suzie finish.�
�
Circumventing the blood, Gabriel turned on the wall sconces for the long corridor ahead. “This way.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Sabriel switched on the office lights and admitted Mace, who glanced at three desks. A monitor and digital recording desk rested upon a filing cabinet. The monitor showed the front foyer.
“The recorder is off,” Mace said.
Gabriel glanced at the recorder, his body stiffening. “That’s odd.”
Gabriel switched on the machine and pressed a button. The monitor turned black, then sped through images in reverse: four men left the building, and two entered it. Gabriel pressed another button, and the footage played at regular speed in proper sequence: Gabriel and Raphael exited the building, locked up, and parted company. “See? There we go.”
The screen turned black, and Gabriel adjusted the controls. “It must be malfunctioning.”
“Detective Diega and Detective Williams saw your brother return right after you left. He didn’t turn the alarm back on. He must have shut off the recorder, but first he erased the footage of him and his crew coming back.”
Gabriel faced Mace. “For what possible reason?”
“Because he set a trap for the Brotherhood of Torquemada.”
Was there a flicker of recognition in Gabriel’s eyes?
“The Brotherhood of what?”
“Let’s not play games. You know exactly what I’m talking about, and I know you’re the leader of the pack. Why don’t we go someplace quiet to talk, where we won’t be distracted by all this police procedure?”
Gabriel’s face showed little emotion. “I don’t think it’s in my best interest to go anywhere with you.”
“Why not? I’m sure you have people watching you. There’s a diner a few blocks away. We can go there.”
“Shouldn’t I have a lawyer with me or something?”
“A werewolf with a vampire?”
“This conversation is beginning to make me uncomfortable.”
“Not so uncomfortable that you’ll do anything drastic, I hope. I only want to help you.”
Gabriel’s nostrils flared. “All right. Let’s go. How many chances will I get to eat dinner with a police captain?”
How many chances will I have to eat dinner with a werewolf? Mace thought.
Mace and Gabriel exited through the front of the funeral home, where Candice stood waiting on the sidewalk.
Using his remote control, Mace unlocked the doors to his SUV. “Hop in,” he said to Gabriel. “I’ll be right with you.”
Gabriel circled the SUV and climbed into the passenger side.
Mace joined Candice and spoke in a low voice. “Have Patrol conduct visible surveillance here the rest of the night. Shelly and Norton can go home.”
“Aye, aye.”
Mace slid behind the wheel of his SUV, keyed the ignition, and pulled into the street. “How’s Angela?”
“My sister’s in Canada.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Gabriel turned to him. “Is your interest personal?”
“In a manner of speaking: she saved my life. I guess I saved hers too. And then I killed Janus Farel.”
Gabriel was silent.
“Angela told me where to find him. She said she wanted a human to kill him. She told me all about your people. I broke into Janus’s brownstone—the one he owned under his real name, Julian Fortier—and he almost tore me to pieces. That’s when Angela showed up. After I drove the broken Blade of Salvation into his heart, she fixed me up. I was with her when she called you and told you to come get the carcass. Then she took me to the ER, and I took her to the car rental agency. I knew she was going to Canada before you did.”
“I don’t know what my sister told you—”
“I saw Janus in Wolf Form when he killed John Stalk and when he tried to kill me. Angela was a Wolf when she came to my rescue. She turned into a human before my very eyes. I know this city is crawling with werewolves and you’re their leader.”
Gabriel stared hard at Mace. “Who else shares your beliefs?”
“Let’s save some conversation for dinner.”
Willy pulled over to the Fifth Precinct parking lot and stared straight ahead.
“Do you plan to never speak to me again?” Karol said. “That’s how boys act in elementary school.”
“I don’t know if I should talk or howl.”
“You’re a dog. Maybe you should bark.”
He turned to her, mouth open to speak, only to see her smile. He felt his anger dissipating and did his best to summon it back. “Don’t do that. This is serious shit.”
“You’re right; it’s my life.”
“You’re Gabriel’s plant—”
“Gabriel didn’t enlist me for this assignment. Mace did.”
“And if I don’t tell Tony, I’m an accomplice.”
“Maybe I should just leave the task force? Or resign altogether?”
“That would make things a hell of a lot easier.”
“I can’t do that. You may hold my life in your hands, but this isn’t just about my life. It’s about the lives of my people. Innocent people, like Jason Lourdes and Rhonda Wilson and their parents. I have to do everything I can to stop these murders.”
Willy took a deep breath. “Wolves, not people.”
“Good night,” she said in an icy tone.
Willy watched her get out of the SUV and enter the lot. Bowing his head, he sighed. Then he drove away.
Mace and Gabriel sat opposite each other in a booth located at the back of the diner, which was only one quarter full, sipping watery coffee. Framed photos of movie stars covered the walls.
“You have kids, right?” Mace said.
“Two sons.” Taking out his wallet, Gabriel removed photos of two boys and laid them side by side on the table for Mace to see. “Gareth and Damien.”
“Good-looking boys. Twins?”
Gabriel put the photos back in his wallet. “Yes. How about you?”
Mace took out his wallet and set a photo on the table. “One daughter, Patty, named after the policewoman Janus Farel murdered.”
Gabriel studied the photo. “She’s beautiful. How old?”
“Almost two. Yours?”
“Six. I remember when they were two. It was a fun age.”
“I ordered increased patrols around your apartment and your brother’s, but as far as we can tell, neither one of you has been home since this started. Neither have your wife and children.”
Holding Mace’s gaze, Gabriel offered a slight smile. “You haven’t convinced me that I should confide in you. How do I know that you’re not recording this conversation?”
Mace reached inside his jacket and took out an envelope from which he removed a stapled document that he offered to Gabriel, who skimmed it.
“That’s a copy of a nondisclosure agreement I signed. It was prepared by the higherups who authorized the task force I’m running—the task force charged with stopping the Brotherhood of Torquemada. It forbids me from divulging any facts related to this case to anyone not in the task force or to whom the task force answers. If I’m wearing a wire, I’ve already hanged myself for treason.”
Gabriel handed the document back. “Why would you take such a risk for me?”
“Like I said, Angela saved my life. Even though I did the same for her, I feel like I still owe her. Also, I took an oath to serve and protect. I know the NYPD didn’t have your kind in mind when they drew up that oath, but I see you as human. I believe what Angela told me, that you’re a peaceful people who only want to be left alone, that Janus was a rogue. You deserve protection as much as the rest of us do. The Brotherhood of Torquemada is a terrorist organization, plain and simple, and they’ve killed three cops. The department wants them stopped, and the feds want your existence kept a secret. Their interests—my interests— intersect with yours.”
Gabriel drummed his fingers on the table. “My sister told you too much. We h
ave rules against that, punishable by death.”
“She helped me stop Janus … your Berserker. I couldn’t have killed him without her. Surely she deserves special consideration?”
“Angela’s always been a rebel. She’s broken rules before.”
“Like mating with a human?”
“I’m used to making allowances for her.”
“If you’re already an endangered species, maybe you need to lessen the severity of your laws.”
Gabriel showed Mace the palms of his hands, his fingers spread out. “Despite our similarities, our species really are different. In my society, we vote on important developments, but we don’t legislate.” He closed his hands into fists. “Our laws are instinctive. After centuries of hiding from your kind, our sense of self-preservation is inbred. Angela has always operated against those instincts.”
“And Raphael? It seems to me he’s playing his own game, one that poses as great a threat to your survival as Janus’s did. One of my men saw your Wolves in action. Two of them almost killed him. I want to keep your people safe, but I need to keep mine alive.”
“The burden of leadership. My brother has always been loyal to me, but this is a stressful time. You mentioned feds. How bad is it?”
“I can’t say for sure. At the start of this, those two FBI agents and a high-ranking police official asked me to head up this task force. I was led to believe that individuals within the bureau suspect the packs exist. I don’t know how many. The agents are part of my team, but if I had to guess, I’d say they pushed NYPD into this arrangement. All the evidence gathered so far has been sent to Quantico. As we speak, those carcasses are being dissected and DNA is being analyzed and compared. Whatever methods you’ve employed to cover up your existence in the past won’t fly in Virginia. We may be able to stop the Brotherhood, but what happens when the government gets involved?”
“One thing at a time. How many people are in your task force?”
“There are nine of us.”
“How much do they know?”
“Everything to varying degrees.”
“If you arrest the Torquemadans, there will be a trial. Our existence could still be made public.”
The Frenzy War Page 21