Now that I was out of the House, I also decided it was safe to call Jonah to get an update on the latest in GP-affiliated House news. Since Ethan was the only Cadogan vampire who knew about my RG affiliation, and our training hadn't exactly been private, I'd kept our in-House discussions to a minimum.
I put my shiny new phone - a replacement for the beepers we'd once carried - on speakerphone and dialed him up.
He answered on the first ring, the buzz of noise behind him. "Jonah."
"It's Merit. What's new?"
"Since I last saw you an hour ago? Nothing. You're bored and driving, aren't you?"
"Not bored. Just interested in your thoughts and wisdom. And a training room full of vampires wasn't exactly conducive to conversation."
"I do have a life, you know."
"Do you?" I teased. "I find that surprising."
"Actually, I have a date tonight."
I blinked. The news, admittedly, hit me a little weird. I was very much in love with Ethan, but as partners, Jonah and I had a separate, unique relationship, one that required a different kind of trust and intimacy. I just found odd the possibility that another woman was going to figure into it.
But I could suck it up. "Who's the lucky girl?"
"A Rogue," he said. "Noah introduced us. I'm not sure if it will go anywhere, but I like her style. And her figure."
"And I'd like it if you kept the details to yourself."
"Merit," he teased, "are you jealous?"
I wasn't, not really. Just a bit weirded out. But I wasn't going to admit that aloud. "Not in the slightest. I just don't need the gory details. Be careful out there."
"I intend to. And I'd say the same to you."
"Nothing weird should happen, but in case it does . . ."
"You want me to come save you so Ethan doesn't drop a sizable 'I told you so' into your lap?"
"I don't need saving. But yes, please."
He chuckled. "Maybe we'll get lucky, and you'll see McKetrick breaking into a car or something. It wouldn't be the most satisfying tag, but at least we could put him away."
I could hardly agree more. McKetrick had been playing the desk-bound bureaucrat, but in reality, he had a nasty hatred of vampires and the willingness to act on it. Four murders later, we still had no evidence to pin on him, and no idea what he might do next.
"We've found nothing," I said. "Maybe Michael Donovan was lying about McKetrick hiring him." Michael Donovan was the vampire assassin who'd been hired by McKetrick.
"That we haven't caught him doesn't mean he isn't doing anything," Jonah noted. "If he's smart, he's lying low right now."
"Lying low, or planning?" I wondered aloud.
"We won't know until we know," Jonah said, clearing his throat as if preparing for something. "If you want to speed things up, we could bug his house."
That had been a common refrain by Luc and Jonah. They were convinced they could get in, bug McKetrick's Lincoln Park house, and get out. Considering the regularity of McKetrick's schedule - he was a city employee, after all - there was merit to the idea. But the risk? Considerable, which was why Ethan and Noah, the head of the Red Guard, rejected the idea.
"We aren't the CIA," I reminded him. "And if we got caught, the city would turn against us Watergate style. There's too much risk."
"So we wait," Jonah said. "Which is awesome, because you're such a patient person."
I wasn't, and he really knew me too well. "He won't stay silent forever. He has too much ego for that."
The cars in front of me had slowed to a virtual standstill, and I knew better than to chat about supernatural drama while navigating gridlock. "Jonah, traffic's picking up. I'm gonna run. I'll keep you posted on any excitement with Mallory."