"Not exactly. Sweet little Sarah hasn't been quite forthcoming with us. Her real name is Susan Siemanski. That name familiar to you at all?"
Raj frowned. Sarah wasn't really Sarah? What the f**k? “No,” he said. “Should it be?"
"Not unless you spend way too much time on the Internet."
"I pay people to do that for me,” he said impatiently. “What the f**k's going on, Em?"
"Susan Siemanski pops up on several web sites, every one of them dedicated to the weird and unknown. Paranormal shit. Our guys cruise those sites looking for supposed vampire activity. It's sometimes a cover for the real thing and we—"
"I know this, Em. Get to the point."
"Sorry. Susan, aka Sarah Stratton, was fifteen when she claimed to be—I guess the word is channeling kidnapped women in her dreams. There were two cases made public, a few months apart. In each case a woman was found dead after the police ignored Siemanski's warnings. She drops off the radar after that, which explains why Sarah didn't exist until ten years ago. She must have changed her—"
"Right,” Raj cut her off, feeling his own anger grow. She'd been lying to him the whole time, had let him think she'd run away to escape a bad home situation, had let him conjure all sorts of possibilities. And none of it was true. She was a f**king psychic. Was that her connection to this case? Was she getting hints of the missing women in her dreams or whatever the f**k she did? Goddamn it, she'd played him for a complete fool.
"Raj, you there?"
"Yeah. So what's Blackwood want?"
"Tell me your dreams kind of bullshit, but it was obvious he wanted her working exclusively for him, no one else, and especially not us disgusting blood drinkers. I believe that's how he put it."
"Imagine that,” Raj said absently, pulling a shirt out of the closet and working his way into it without putting the phone down. “And he seemed like such a nice man, too."
"Yeah, well, fortunately one of his fans stopped by and Sarah made a clean getaway. She went back to her house and stayed there. Unfortunately, the slick a**hole had a camera crew waiting out front to film his triumphant rediscovery of the long lost teenage psychic, or barring that, to follow through on his threat of exposing her. Which, apparently, he's decided to do."
He stopped what he was doing. “What's happening?"
"We have a situation."
Raj heard Emelie talking to someone else, a one-sided conversation, like she was on a second cell phone. He heard her swear and then shout orders to someone in the warehouse. “That was Yossi,” she said, coming back to him. Sarah's house is swarming with reporters wanting to know why a psychic has been called in to help find William Cowens's daughter. The police are there too, with that Scavetti guy. He wants to take her into custody—"
"No!” Raj all but roared. He heard Em talking on the other cell again.
"Angel thinks she can persuade Sarah to let her inside. Do you want her to—"
"Yes. I want someone inside that house. I don't want Sarah disappearing into police custody. I need to know whatever she knows about this case. Tell Angel now, Em. I'll wait."
Em spoke briefly and came back. “Okay, Yossi and Cervantes are staying outside, but Angel's hitting the door now. What next?"
Raj was already pulling on his jacket, the phone snugged between his shoulder and his ear. He could hear a lot of noise from Em's end, SUV engines revving to go.
"Em!” he shouted, wanting to be certain she heard. “We need a getaway car, something anonymous."
"Will do, boss,” her words were jumping as she ran to join the guys in the SUVs.
Raj punched the exit code for his vault and waited impatiently as the door swung open. “I'll meet you at Sarah's,” he said and hung up, racing for the garage.
"What the f**k?” Raj took one look at the street in front of Sarah's duplex and circled around the block, remembering an alley of some sort and assuming she had a back door. He'd been a bit distracted the two times he'd been in her kitchen. The east end of the alley was blocked by a chain link fence. He swore viciously and circled around again, turning down the west end of the alley and speed dialing Em as he drove up to and parked behind Sarah's car.
"Where are you?” he asked, before she could say anything.
"We're in three vehicles, two SUVs and the rental sedan. The two SUVs are holding at either end of the block. It's a mess out there, boss."
"Yeah, I saw that. I'm in the alley behind Sarah's. There're a few reporters hanging around back here, but nothing I can't handle. Too dark for the rest of them, I guess. I want both SUVs to come in the front. Tell them to make an impression. You bring the sedan around back; you and I will go in this way. Is Angel in the house?"
"Yes, my lord, along with Detective Scavetti who is not a happy camper, according to Angel. Sarah has dug in her heels and refuses to do anything until you get there. Scavetti's about to blow, but Angel doesn't sound too worried about it."
"I've met Scavetti. I'll put my money on Angel any day. Give her a call, tell her what's about to happen and tell her to brief Scavetti. I don't want a gun in my face when I come through the back door."