When Darkness Hungers: A Shadow Keepers Novel (Shadow Keepers 5) (9 page)

“Musta been an oversight,” Edgar said, already moving away from the desk and pulling out his phone.
Shit, shit, shit
. He tapped out a text just before he stepped onto the elevator and lost the signal.
We may have one. Stand by
.

When the elevator opened on the third floor, Edgar was stewing. He didn’t even notice the heads that turned in his direction, then immediately turned away, uninterested. These men weren’t his friends, his buddies. They weren’t watching his back. When he’d first transferred over, that fact had rubbed him raw. He’d been newly married. A flatfoot suddenly hooked up with a Beverly Hills beauty, and a sitcom star to boot. Nobody had understood what she’d seen in a schlub like him, but Gilli had shared his beliefs—his certainty that there was
something else out there. The press had called her eccentric. His fellow cops had called him a crackpot.

After the wreck, they’d shut up. Not because they thought he was any less of a freak, but because it seemed untoward to rib a man after his wife drove her convertible over a cliff. By then, Edgar didn’t give a fuck what they called him. Make fun of him, don’t make fun of him. None of it would bring Gilli back.

Today, six-plus years after her death, he still didn’t give a shit. He knew the score—knew what was really going on. More than that, he had a job to do and a new partner to help.

And he wasn’t keen on Sanders mucking up the works.

The door to Lieutenant Sanders’s office was shut tight, and the cheap vinyl blinds that allowed the detective privacy from his squad were down and closed. That usually meant that the lieutenant was in a ripe fury, and when the LT was pissed, it was best to stay out of his way. Not happening. Not today.

Edgar strode right up to his door, ignoring the stares of the other men. Especially ignoring the under-the-breath comments that were just a little too loud.
“Guess he thinks that tinfoil hat can protect him from Sanders, too.” “Maybe he’s made a deal and Sanders is going to bite it at the next full moon.”

Shit
.

Yeah, he was trying to ignore it. But it pissed him off. Couldn’t help it. And when he burst through Sanders’s door, it was Edgar who was in the ripe fury. Sanders was simply kicked back, feet up, barking orders into the phone.

Two long strides, and Edgar was at his desk. One firm motion, and he’d disconnected his call.

“What the fuck?” Sanders yelled. “Goddammit, Garvey, you just hung up on the mayor.”

“Am I, or am I not, the liaison between this office and the FBI’s task force?” He said it calmly, without raising his voice. Inside, though, he was cursing a blue streak.

“You burst into my office and then have the gall to ask me if I remember your fucking job? How can I forget it with you waving the fed card every time it suits you?”

Edgar ignored the dig. The rivalry between the feds and the local cops was legendary. And that meant that Edgar was now a traitor to his kind. Considering his kind hadn’t ever really wanted him, Edgar was okay with that. “A dead female in Franklin Canyon. Fatal wound to the neck. I talked to Gus on the way up, Sanders, and he knew enough to know that’s got task force written all over it. So why the hell didn’t you call me?”

He knew he was getting worked up, but this was important. For years he’d been labeled a crackpot, but now he finally knew that he’d been right all along. There really were monsters out there in the world, and tinfoil hats weren’t going to keep them away. Ignorant detectives like Sanders weren’t going to, either. “Well?” he demanded. “Or did a federal task force simply slip your memory?”

In front of him, Sanders’s face was cycling through a series of expressions, the changes so fast and furious it was almost comic.

“I have never,” he sputtered, “
never
kept you or the FBI away from a case. But Penny Martinez has nothing to do with the task force investigation,” he said, referring to the victim by name.

“That isn’t a call you’re authorized to make.”

“And I didn’t. The feds did. Maybe you need to stay in better touch with your team, Garvey.”

“You’re saying the FBI said that the Penny Martinez case has no relevancy to the task force investigation?” Edgar pressed. “That’s insane.”

“Not the FBI,” he said. “Homeland Security.”

Edgar took an involuntary step back, startled. “Homeland?”

“They’re all feds to me,” Sanders was saying, unaware of the effect of his words. “Different injury. Different details.” His brow furrowed, as if he was trying to remember something. Edgar’s heart pounded against his rib cage. He wondered if Sanders could hear it.

After a second, Sanders shook his head. “Anyway, they were very clear. All my officers were sent packing. And a high-ranking agent spoke to me personally. Apparently, this is a matter of national security. What the fuck is wrong with you?” His diatribe ended with narrowed eyes and intense scrutiny. Edgar felt his face heat. He tugged at his collar, trying to catch his breath.

“Indigestion.”
Suck it up, Garvey. This isn’t new; it’s just confirmation
. He squared his shoulders, trying to gather himself, then pointed a finger at Sanders. “If I find out you’re screwing with me—”

“Yeah, take your best shot,” his lieutenant said. “Shit, Garvey. You’re out of here in six months. Can’t you just try not to ruffle any feathers until then?”

Oh, hell, he wished he could just sit back, especially now that the truth was squeezing the air out of his lungs. Gilli had always believed that they’d worked their way into the government. The dark things. The evil ones. That they’d climbed all the way up to the White House.
That they were well positioned for a coup. Edgar hadn’t gone that far. It was too hard to believe. Too terrifying.

But he believed it now, even though he hoped to hell he was mistaken.

He didn’t think he was, though. And he feared that his beautiful, supposedly eccentric bride had been right on the money.

Vampires existed. They’d eased their way into the human world. They were poised for an attack.

And if what Sanders said was true, they were neck-deep in Homeland Security.

Edgar slid the car to a stop, shifted to park, and kept his hands tight on the steering wheel.

“Say it if you have to,” Alexis said. She knew what he was going to say. That she shouldn’t have come. Hell, if she was in his position, she’d probably say the same thing.

“You shouldn’t have come. What? Why are you smiling?”

“No reason.” She grabbed the handle and pushed open her door. “Come on. Near the duck pond, right?”

He gave a miserable nod, then cut the engine, killing the headlights. After a moment he got out of the car and met her by the hood, his footsteps making a squelching sound as he moved over the soaked grass.

“There,” she said, pointing to an area about five hundred yards away that glowed with eerie illumination. “Homeland’s forensics team must’ve set up lights.”

“You should let me handle this on my own.”

“Not a chance,” she said. “You said the time of first assault was estimated to be sometime early this morning, right? Well, that would have been not long after that vamp I wounded got away. And you know as well as I do that he was looking for a meal. I’m thinking he found one in Penny Martinez.” She kept her voice detached and professional, but inside she was twisted in knots. “And if what you heard from the responding officer is true, he found her, fed off her, and kept her alive
for hours. Time of death was just a few hours ago, just around nightfall, right?” She shuddered. The vamp must’ve had a tarp or something to keep him out of the sun during the long hours of torture. Somehow the fact that he tormented the poor girl in broad daylight made the heinous act even more vile.

“He might not be the killer. And even if he is, it’s not your fault.”

Like hell
. She shrugged off his words. “My fault or not, I’m working the scene.” She picked up her pace.

He was breathing hard when he caught up to her. “What if someone at the scene knows you?”

“I was FBI, not Homeland. And you said yourself it’s not a task force matter. Who would I know?”

He didn’t answer, but he looked so unhappy that she stopped walking.

“Come on, Edgar, no one will know who I am.” He made a snorting noise. “Fine. If someone figures it out, then we’ll say that
you
didn’t know the truth, either. As far as you know, I’m FBI all the way, and I’ve just pulled a huge scam on you.”

“Sometimes I wish that was true. I’m just not sure I’m—”

“What?”

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with the whole thing. You pretending to be something you’re not.”

She let his words slide off her. She’d made peace with her decision to leave the FBI. She had a mission, after all, and pretending to believe that a cult was bleeding victims dry wasn’t helping that purpose. It was a waste of time, and she didn’t miss it. The only downside was the fact that an FBI badge did open certain doors. But the interesting thing was that you really only needed the
badge and the attitude. She already had the ’tude. And fortunately, she’d had plenty of money to acquire a new badge once her official one had been turned over to headquarters.

“Are you ‘comfortable’ with what’s going on, then?” she asked. “With what killed Penny Martinez? People are dying, Edgar, and there aren’t enough of us fighting. We need whatever advantage we can snag. This isn’t a random crime we’re talking about. It’s evil. Pure and simple.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

“I think you’re scared,” she said.

“Damn right I am.” He hunched his shoulders and trudged on. She followed, silent. What could she say to that?

After a moment, he slowed his pace, then waited for her to step in beside him. “So. Did you kill him?”

Alexis recognized the words as a peace offering. He was asking her if Leena had gotten her mojo on again and looked at her magical mystery map. The one that could pinpoint Tori’s killer.

“She tried. Spent the whole day sleeping then came over with all her stuff right before you called me. But she was too spent. She couldn’t see a thing.” Alexis tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice, but it was hard. She’d found satisfaction in hunting vampires, whether they had anything to do with Tori or not. They were vile, destructive, murderous creatures, and the more she could take out the better. But that didn’t change her soul-deep obsession with finding her sister’s killer. She wanted him dead. And then she wanted to dance in his dust and spit on his memory.

“It’s still amazing,” Edgar said, gently touching her
sleeve. “She actually managed to come up with a spell that lets you see if the son-of-a-bitch is still kicking.”

“I know,” Alexis agreed. “Believe me, I don’t mean to sound disappointed or ungrateful. I just wish—”

“That she could control it at will? That kind of stuff’s gotta be exhausting. It’s amazing to me that she can do it at all.”

“Definitely mind-blowing.”

“And even if she’d been all primed and energized, there was no guarantee that she’d see the spark, right? Doesn’t it only fire up if Tori’s killer is actually on the hunt?”

Alexis nodded. “Ironic, huh? I can see that he’s out there, but unless I manage to move fast, he’ll kill some other victim before I can avenge Tori.”

It had taken Leena months to figure out how to create the map, and even now it wasn’t perfect. As Edgar had said, it only displayed the killer’s location when he was actually on the hunt. To Alexis’s mind, that was a major downside, as evidenced by what happened last night. Two vampires, and no idea which one was her bad guy. Not that she was complaining—she was patient as hell. More than that, she was willing to do whatever was necessary to find Tori’s killer. She’d proven that much when Leena had told her she’d need her help to make the map functional.

“My help?” Alexis had asked. “You mean you need my blood again?”

“I need more than that. I need a promise.”

“A promise?”

“All magic has a price, especially magic that’s tied to vengeance. You want to find a killer, so the price is death.”

Alexis’s heart had skipped a beat. “I don’t understand.”

“You have to promise to kill the vampire if you find him.”

“Well, yeah. That’s the point.”

“And if you don’t, then you have to promise to die in his place.”

“Like suicide?”

“You make a blood promise,” Leena had explained. “You break the promise, the magic takes your life. Are you willing to do that?”

“I already told you.” She hadn’t hesitated, even for a second. “I find him, and that vampire is dust.” She held out her arm. “Do whatever you need.”

Leena had taken the blood she’d needed from Alexis’s wrist, and now she absently rubbed the small, diamond-shaped scar.

“You
will
catch him,” Edgar said. He didn’t know how the map worked, or what Alexis had done to fuel it. “What you’re doing—devoting your life to hunting these things—it’s amazing. And it’s not like you’re going to be openly rewarded. No one’s going to throw you a parade. You’ll be lucky if they don’t call you crazy. Trust me, I know about the crazy part. But I also know that you’re fighting the good fight.”