Chapter 12

SIX HOURS LATER, I was showered, rested, and sitting around the giant tabletop LCD display that served as a conference table in the war room just off our den. William had the place looking habitable, and even had coffee going for Sabrina. She sat on one end of the table, while Greg and I took up opposite sides. William stood behind Abby at the other end, and I turned to Sabrina to start the meeting.

“What did you guys come up with at the crime scene after we left with the body?” I asked.

“There was no clear forensic evidence at the scene. It’s a popular destination through most of the day and night, so our killer chose his dump site well.”

“Dump site? You don’t think she was killed there?” Abby asked.

“Our investigation had her disappearing somewhere between her job at Landmark and her home in the Sheffield neighborhood, less than two miles away,” Greg said.

“That’s not really close to South End,” Abby replied.

“That’s why we’re pretty sure it was a dump site. Plus, the lack of blood at the scene,” Sabrina said, pulling a folder out of her bag and tossing it onto the table. “That’s a copy for you. I would have brought a thumb drive, but . . .

“But you know I’ve already gotten anything I want from the department’s servers,” Greg said with a nod. Sabrina gave him an exasperated look, but he just shrugged. Back when we were less official, I cared a lot more about Greg hacking into the police computer network, but since we were in pretty good with Sabrina’s boss, I figured it was fine.

“There was no blood at the scene?” I asked.

Sabrina looked up from the folder at me. “None. Why? I thought you knew she was completely drained. I thought that was the only way . . .

I held up a hand to cut off her questions. “It is. She was. But even when a victim is completely drained, that’s a lot of blood to consume in a very short time. It’s hard to drain someone of ten pints of blood without stopping, and it’s hard to stop arterial blood flow without at least a little bit of spray. So, you’re right. She was killed someplace else.”

“But where? And more importantly, by whom?” Sabrina asked, frustration seeping into her voice.

“I have no actionable idea,” I admitted. “I smelled vampire at the scene, but it was no one I recognized. It didn’t even smell like a particular part of town . . .” I paused as something hit me. I closed my eyes and let the scene come back to me, immersing myself in the memory to try and jog loose whatever was rolling around in my head.

There was Julia, already in a body bag when I arrived. I opened the bag, and the whiff of dead human rushed out. All the fear, and bile, and sweat, and other things that get secreted when a human dies, those were all there. But under that, underneath the strong plastic smell of new body bag and the powdered scent of the latex gloves Bobby wore when handling corpses, there was something else. What was it? It was faint, but present. . . .

“Dammit!” I said, slamming my fists down on the table, pulling back just at the last second so I didn’t shatter the screen. “How could I miss this? What an idiot!”

“What?” Abby asked.

“That stink!” I said, whirling to Greg. “There was dried sewer funk. That’s the smell I remembered underneath everything else. Whoever had her, she was kept in an abandoned sewer tunnel, just like—”

“Just like Morlocktown,” Greg said. “Do you really think Rabbit did this?”

“No. I don’t think Rabbit had anything to do with it, or even knew anything about it. He seemed genuinely upset when we saw him, and besides, the smell was different. It was sewer, but it wasn’t Morlock. Does that make any sense?”

“Not to me, but I can’t smell in the spectrum you guys can. So for the humans in the crowd, what’s the next step?” Sabrina asked.

“I think you work the case with Deputy Dingleberry just like you normally would. Talk to the folks in the neighborhood. See if there’s any connection between the employees at Landmark and anyone that works at any of the Mills shops where the body was found,” I said.

“But it’s just busywork. You don’t think I’m going to find anything, do you?” Sabrina didn’t look at all thrilled about working a bunch of dead-end leads.

“No, but it’s all we can do while you’re saddled with Sean. I can’t exactly haul the two of you down into the sewers on a vampire hunt, can I?” I felt her frustration, but there was exactly nothing I could do about it. Not even pleading with her Lieutenant had gotten Fitzpatrick moved to another partner. Even as new to town as he was, he had some kind of connection to the higher-ups in the department, and his wagon was hitched firmly to Sabrina’s star, at least for now.

“No, you can’t, but I don’t have to like it,” she said, getting up from the table. She walked around and gave me a quick kiss. “I’m going to the station. Sean will already be there, I’m sure.”

I watched her walk to the stairs, reflecting on the fact that while I hated to see her go, I really did love to watch her leave. Then I turned back to the table, ignoring the smirks from my friends.

“Feel better?” Abby asked. “Wanna go chase her down and make out on the porch?”

“I do, but I’ll pass on that kind of incendiary passion,” I said. “Still a little too much daylight for my tastes.”

“Okay, so what’s my part in your little vamp hunt? Unlike some people, I’m both gorgeous and perfectly capable of going into the sewers to kick some ass.” Abby gave me a cockeyed grin. She wasn’t kidding, either. Physically, she was one of the strongest vampires I knew, despite her youth. She was also turning into a shrewd businesswoman and a second-in-command who struck fear into the hearts of bad guys all over Charlotte. Her presence out and about in Charlotte was what I needed right then more than another heavy by my side in the sewers.

“You’re on the sidelines, too, sorry to say.” I held up a hand to cut off the protest I knew was coming. “I need you up here with William to keep an eye on things. Some of the children are starting to push their boundaries, and you might have to step on a few necks to keep them in line.”

Abby relaxed when she realized that I wasn’t benching her, and asked, “Anyone in particular?”

“Terry from the Panthers is skimming, but you knew that. He should be around tonight or tomorrow with enough cash to make up the difference, but if he no-shows, you’ll have to go break his leg or something.”

“I like ‘or something,’ gives me creative freedom.”

“Freedom away,” I said. “I’m also hearing rumors of somebody slinging meth out of a roving goth party somewhere around NoDa. Baby vamps like to hang out with the goth kiddies, so find out if the dealer is one of our people and teach them the error of their ways.”

“Educator,” Abby said with a smile. “That’s a new job description for me.”

“Then you and William can look into reports of this Dark Lady that have been coming in from all over the place.”

Abby’s eyes widened just the slightest, and I felt like this wasn’t the first time she’d heard of the Dark Lady. She recovered in a blink, and asked, “Who’s the Dark Lady?”

“I don’t even know if it’s really a who, or a what, or just a new urban legend. But there have been rumors about Lilith coming back and hunting down criminals.”

“That doesn’t sound like Lilith’s MO,” Greg said.

“Yeah, no kidding,” I agreed. “The only time Lilith ever hunted down a murderer or rapist was when she was on a recruiting drive.”

“Or if the murderer had an unpaid bar tab,” Abby agreed. “But we’ll poke around. If there’s anything in these Dark Lady rumors, me and Slick Willie will find it, right, Willie?”

William looked pained, but he forced a smile. “Absolutely, ma’am.” He turned to me. “You’re sure you will not require my services while underground?”

“Nah,” I said. “We got this. Me and Greg’ll go downstairs, see what Rabbit knows about a new nest of vampires under my city, hunt down this bad vamp, rip his head off, crap down his throat, and be back for breakfast.”

I gotta learn to stop making stupid pronouncements like that.