Blood Law

by Jeannie Holmes

  “Alex,” Varik whispered.

  ———

  Having spent the better part of an hour trying to weasel information out of the Enforcers processing the scene at Crimson Swan and meeting with no success, Alex had decided to try the direct approach. She knew Tubby Jordan and Martin Evans were being sequestered in the holding area used by prisoners who were transferred from the jail for court appearances. Evans was unlikely to be willing to talk to her after she’d bitten him, but she was hoping Tubby would be more cooperative.

  She mounted the steps leading into the Municipal Center lobby. She could feel the weight of Varik’s mind pressing against hers and knew he was checking on her. In response, she clamped her mental shield tighter and was rewarded by feeling the pressure ease.

  Tasha appeared from around the side of the building and stopped when she saw Alex. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d been replaced.”

  “Only temporarily,” Alex replied but made no attempt to explain her presence.

  The women stared at each other for a moment. Tasha’s gaze dropped to the ground, and she moved toward the lobby. “I have to go.”

  “Tasha, wait.”

  She paused but didn’t look up.

  “I wanted to thank you for helping me with the murder investigation. I had no way of knowing what Damian would do once—”

  “Bullshit!” Tasha’s head snapped up, and the venom behind her words took Alex aback. “You feds are all the same. You use us locals to do your damn dirty work and then toss us aside whenever it suits you. You treat us like second-rate rent-a-cops and take all the glory for yourselves, but not this time. This time it’s going to be different.”

  “I have never treated you like that, or any other cop in Jefferson, for that matter.”

  “Really? What about Harvey? You’ve complained about him at every opportunity.”

  “Harvey’s a fucking asshole and is trying to set me up to look like a Midnight user!”

  “Here we go again. The mean humans are picking on the poor defenseless vampire!”

  “Are you insane?”

  “Maybe I am, but isn’t it funny how you never questioned my abilities, or loyalty, when it was just the two of us working this case. Now, suddenly, when there’s a whole crew of Enforcers in town, I’m not good enough.”

  “What the hell is wrong with you? I never said you weren’t good enough!”

  “You didn’t have to say it. You implied it.”

  Alex felt a tugging on the blood-bond. Varik had surely felt her rising irritation and anger. “Bloody hell,” she muttered, trying to block his mind from hers. “I don’t have time for this right now.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to have disturbed you,” Tasha said icily. “If you’ll excuse me, Enforcer Sabian, I have things to do.”

  “Tasha, wait!”

  The lieutenant stormed away, flashing a rude hand gesture over her shoulder as she entered the building.

  “Damn it!” Dropping her mental barriers, she reached out to Varik and felt the warmth of his mind brush hers. She shuddered as the bond equalized between them. We have a problem.

  What’s wrong?

  Alex shivered as his words forced themselves into her consciousness. I think Tasha’s going to do something to screw up the investigation.

  She felt the magnitude of her words sinking into his mind. Why would she do that? he asked.

  Because I may have inadvertently insulted her.

  Varik mentally groaned. What did you do?

  Alex allowed the memory of her conversation with Tasha to drift to the surface.

  Shit and damn it to hell. The force of Varik’s anger rocked her and made her head pound. I have to tell Damian about this, and I want you to go back to the hotel with Emily, which is where you’re supposed to be anyway.

  I need to find Stephen, Varik.

  You’re off the case, Alex.

  Thank you very much for reminding me.

  Varik’s irritation at having sensed her thoughts about conducting her own investigation grew. You said you trusted me.

  The memory of standing in the women’s restroom at the morgue welled up and twisted Alex’s conscience.

  Did you mean it?

  She closed her eyes. Yes.

  Then trust me to find Stephen. If anything happened to you … The bond warmed with the glow of his emotions.

  Alex sent a mental nod of acquiescence and felt a rush of relief from Varik before he closed the bond. Once again alone inside her mind, she took a shuddering breath, knowing her window of opportunity to find Stephen on her own had narrowed but hadn’t slammed shut entirely.

  “I’m sorry, Varik,” she whispered, “but Stephen can’t wait.”

  She walked into the Municipal Center and headed for the restricted area.

  An Enforcer met her as she passed through a set of doors and entered the corridor leading to the prisoner holding area. He shook his head when she flashed her badge. “Sorry, ma’am, but I can’t let you pass.”

  Alex’s eyes flickered to the photo ID he wore on a chain around his neck. The green stripe along the right edge of his photo marked him as a recent graduate of the FBPI training center located on a portion of the more than one-hundred-thousand-acre base of Fort Knox, south of Louisville.

  She smiled sweetly. “I just wanted to see a friend. Can’t you give me a few minutes?”

  “My orders are from Chief Enforcer Alberez himself.”

  She pouted and sidled closer, inhaling deeply, taking in his natural scent of cedar and allspice. Her own scent of jasmine and vanilla filled the space between them as she swept her hair over one shoulder.

  The Enforcer inhaled, and his gray eyes began to shift to a pale bronze.

  Her fingertips traced the line of his biceps bulging underneath his white button-down shirt. “He doesn’t have to know,” she murmured. “It could be our little secret.”

  He swallowed loudly and gently removed her hand. “I don’t think so. Orders are orders, ma’am.”

  Alex sighed and moved away. “I understand. You’re just doing your job, like I’m doing mine.”

  “Yes, ma—oof!”

  Her foot slammed into his solar plexus and sent him flying into the corridor’s opposite wall. She followed him, delivered a right hook to his face, and swept his legs with her own. He hit the tile floor with a loud smack. Her final kick landed in his groin. His face paled, then turned bright red as he curled into a tight ball with his hands between his legs.

  Alex brushed her hair from her face, breathing heavily. “I only need a few minutes, but you had to do it the hard way.”

  He groaned in pain.

  “Sorry, buddy, but I did try asking nicely,” she said, and sprinted down the hallway.

  Attacking a fellow Enforcer compounded the trouble she’d face when all this was over, but she was beyond caring. Her career meant nothing if she couldn’t bring Stephen home. She’d seen the fear and desperation in her mother’s eyes. If Stephen died, it would devastate Emily. Alex couldn’t live with knowing she might have been able to prevent that if only she’d tried harder.

  She turned a corner and reached the first of the holding cells. Steel-reinforced doors with thick shatterproof windows lined both sides of the hall. Most of the cells were empty, but a few held prisoners in bright orange-and-white jumpsuits waiting for late-afternoon court appearances. At the end of the corridor beside an emergency fire exit, she found the cell she wanted.

  Tubby Jordan sat on a low concrete bench, his face buried in his hands.

  Alex pressed the red button on the intercom next to the door. “Where’s my brother?”

  He didn’t move.

  “Talk to me, damn it!”

  “Why should I?” His question was muffled by his hands.

  “You’re a minister. You’re supposed to help people.”

  Seconds ticked away. His shoulders began to shake. Sounds like muted sobs filtered through the intercom. Then Tubby lifted his head and roa
red with laughter.

  Alex stared at him as if he’d lost his mind.

  He rose from his seat with a fluidity and grace she’d never seen in him prior. His pudgy face was fixed in a mask of savage cruelty as he examined her through the window with hate-filled eyes. His normally mellow voice deepened and held a hardness at odds with his soft appearance. “Tell me again, Enforcer Sabian, why I should help you. I haven’t laughed that much in years.”

  Her eyes widened as the scent of his omnipresent cologne seeped through the door. It had lost the chemical sting of a manufactured fragrance, leaving the pure, natural earthiness of licorice and orange peels. “You’ve been masking your scent with cologne.”

  “Vile stuff.” A malicious grin split his face. “But effective, wouldn’t you say?”

  Her gaze dropped to his perfect human teeth.

  “Modern dentistry is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?”

  “You’re a vampire.”

  “Ding, ding, ding! And she wins the booby prize. By the way, how’s your arm?” He mimicked shooting a gun with his fingers.

  Disbelief gave way to anger. “You killed all those people at Maggie’s Place.”

  “Oh, you’re a smart one.”

  “Why?”

  “To sow discord, my dear. You can’t build a fire without killing a few trees.”

  “You torched Crimson Swan and set up the Human Separatist Movement to take the fall.”

  “Humans are stupid. Always looking for the easy way out. Promise them a fucking Utopia and they’ll blithely follow anyone. It’s pathetic. However, I must admit, while it was my idea to set up the Human Separatists as patsies and to snag that brother of yours, incinerating the bar wasn’t.”

  “Why Crimson Swan? Why Stephen?”

  Tubby bobbed his head and rolled his eyes. “I don’t think I want to answer those questions.”

  Alex smacked her palm against the window. “Answer me!”

  He laughed. “No. I won’t tell you why, but I will tell you who suggested it.”

  “Who?”

  “Someone you know all too well, Enforcer. Someone who has a major bone to pick with you. Like I said, humans are stupid. All I had to do was give him the name of a vampire who was rumored to have been involved with his wife’s murder. Just a rumor, and poof!” He mimicked an explosion with his hands.

  “Claire,” she whispered. “Darryl Black. But why—”

  He laughed. “I can tell from the confusion on your face that you’re not sure whether to believe me or not. Well, maybe this will help.” He leaned forward conspiratorially. “The name I gave Black was Trent Thibodaux. Ring any bells?”

  “He was one of the Midnight dealers I arrested,” she said slowly. “He rolled on his suppliers, but—”

  “But he never gave up the big boss, even after turning into a snitch,” Tubby finished. “However, I’d heard through the grapevine that he was reconsidering his position, was thinking of turning in his old boss.”

  “It was you,” Alex whispered. “You were the one we were trying to get.”

  “Guilty.” He spread his arms wide and then let them fall to his sides. “So, now you see why I couldn’t let Trent turn me in. If he had, all my carefully laid plans would’ve backfired. I told Trent’s name to Black and then sat back to watch the puppet dance. He didn’t disappoint, because as it turns out, he also took care of a couple of Trent’s buddies. Saved me the trouble.”

  The horrible realization that four vampires were dead, that Crimson Swan and Stephen had been targeted because she’d failed in her job, crushed her.

  Tubby grinned at her. “I told you humans are stupid.”

  Alex heard voices echoing down the corridor. The Enforcer she’d beaten up must have recovered and was now raising the alarm. Her time was up. “Tell me where Stephen is.”

  “Say please.”

  “When Hell freezes over.”

  “Tsk, tsk.” His breath fogged the glass between them. “Wrong answer.”

  The smell of bitter almonds was faint but detectable and unmistakable as Tubby doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach. Alex shook the locked door and growled in frustration, watching as the poison Tubby had somehow ingested worked through his system.

  Inside the cell, Tubby collapsed on the floor beside the concrete bench. His breathing was ragged and labored. Bright red spots covered his skin and were spreading rapidly. “No use,” he said weakly. “Cyanide and strychnine. Suicide pill. I’m as good as dead.”

  “Why?” Alex demanded over the intercom. “Why do this?”

  “To hurt you.”

  “Where’s Stephen?” She pounded on the door with her fists. “Where is he?”

  Tubby began shaking uncontrollably.

  “No!” She watched helplessly as a gray mist rose to hover over the convulsing vampire.

  He stilled, and the mist coalesced, taking on the ghostly visage of Tubby Jordan. It moved away from the lifeless shell and faded into the wall.

  “There she is!” a voice cried from behind her.

  Alex saw three Enforcers barreling down the corridor toward her. She hit the release bar on the emergency exit and crashed through the door as fire alarms blared overhead.

  Legs churning, she didn’t pause to see if the Enforcers were chasing her. They would be. Her heart pumped madly and seemed to be in a race with her feet. She jumped a low wall only to discover the sheer drop on the other side too late to correct her course.

  She landed on her feet with a loud grunt. Her ankles protested the impact and the return to motion as she sprinted up the service ramp and around the side of the building toward the parking lot. The sound of heavy boots hitting pavement let her know she wasn’t alone, and it gave her renewed speed.

  Reaching the parking lot, she managed to fish the keys to her mother’s rental car out of her pocket without dropping them. She never slowed and vaulted over the car’s hood.

  The three Enforcers chasing her weren’t far behind.

  Alex scrambled into the car and jammed the key in the ignition. She threw the transmission into drive and stomped the gas, and tires squealed as one of the Enforcers launched himself onto the trunk.

  The blood-bond pulsed and beat within her head like a drum line. She could feel Varik calling to her. The car careened around a light pole, throwing the hitchhiking Enforcer into the side of an SUV.

  A black Corvette screeched to a halt in front of the exit, blocking it. Varik climbed out and waved at her to stop.

  She gunned the car’s engine and swerved around him. She fought to maintain control of the fishtailing vehicle. It jumped a curb and narrowly missed a low retaining wall before spinning to a stop in the street.

  “Alex!”

  Her eyes met Varik’s across the distance. Guilt stabbed her heart and she opened the blood-bond for the briefest of moments. I’m sorry.

  “Alex!” he shouted, and ran toward her.

  The warmth of Varik’s mind pressing against hers disappeared as she sealed the bond. She could feel him trying to find another way into her mind, and she reinforced the wall she’d erected between them.

  The car shot forward, leaving Varik behind. She was throwing away her career, and possibly her life, by going rogue. She refused to drag him down with her.

  Tubby was dead. He hadn’t told her Stephen’s location, but he’d given her a name.

  And that was all she needed.

  sixteen

  “OUR PRIMARY OBJECTIVE IS TWOFOLD,” DAMIAN WAS saying, as Tasha scanned the faces of Enforcers gathered on the steps of the Nassau County Municipal Center in a hastily called planning session. “Retrieve the rogue Enforcer, Alexandra Sabian, and bring Darryl Black in for questioning.”

  Tasha couldn’t help but feel partly responsible for Alex’s sudden change. It hadn’t taken long for Varik and Damian to mobilize their men into a task force, but Alex had a head start.

  The Jefferson PD wasn’t a part of the team being sent after Alex, since the Bureau had
severed their ties. She wasn’t there to join the hunt. She was there to relieve her own guilt. While she didn’t expect Varik or any of the Enforcers to understand why she’d given evidence to Harvey, she felt she had to confess. Her conscience wouldn’t let her rest otherwise.

  She found Varik in the crowd and watched as he silently stood next to Damian, who continued to lay out the group’s plans. Worry hunched his shoulders, and his dark eyes seemed haunted, their depths veiled in shadows. The memory of handing over evidence to Harvey hovered before her mind’s eye, and she looked down at the pavement.

  When she looked up again, the group was disbanding, checking weapons and body armor as they headed for their Ford Expeditions. Clearing her throat, she approached Varik, who was adjusting the straps of his body armor.

  He glanced at her as she approached.

  “I need to tell you something,” she said in a rush. She felt as though she were drowning in her guilt, and she folded her arms in front of her, hugging herself.

  Varik straightened his shoulders and faced her squarely.

  “I—I …” She paused, took a steadying breath and released it slowly. “I broke the chain of evidence. I gave a Taser report to Harvey, knowing it implicated someone in his department—most likely Darryl—as an accomplice to Stephen’s kidnapping.”

  He closed his eyes. A muscle jumped along his jaw. Tension pulled his spine into a rigid line. When he looked at her again, his eyes were the color of molten gold.

  She waited for him to scream at her, to punch her, to do something, but he simply stared at her. “Varik, I know what I did was out of line, but I can—”

  He held up his hand to stop her. “I don’t care why you did it, Lieutenant. All I care about is stopping Alex before she causes more damage.” He stepped closer, violating her personal space, and his voice dropped to a deadly whisper. “However, if anything happens to her as a result of your actions, there will be nowhere on this earth you can hide from me.”

  Tasha stood in his shadow, trembling and unable to respond.

  “Let’s go, people,” Damian’s booming voice echoed over the parking lot. “Move out!”

  She watched as Varik climbed into the backseat of the lead Expedition. The heat of his threat, of his promise, continued to burn into her brain long after the Enforcers had disappeared.