“Driving,” Vincent repeated, thinking about this latest development. “Any positive IDs?”
“Two females, that’s all we know for sure. For the record, however, I’ve got another source who claims that one of the vampires at the showdown in Acuña was Raphael’s sister.”
Vincent’s eyes widened in surprise. “The sister no one’s seen in months? What’s her name . . . Alexandra? Everyone thought she was dead.”
“That was my understanding, too. But what if she’s not? And if she was in Acuña, simple odds say that she was probably one of the females who made a beeline for Mexico City and Enrique right after.”
Vincent swore softly. “What is that bastard up to?” he muttered.
Michael nodded. “I’m trying to verify the sister’s ID, or at least find someone who knows if she’s alive or dead. But you know Raphael’s people. They’re loyal to a fault, and damn if his network security isn’t impossible to break through. I can’t get word one from anyone who’d know about the sister’s status. The guy who claims she was in Acuña is a cop whose wife overheard a conversation outside the hotel where the European vamps were staying. She also claims the vamp calling herself Alexandra was with the Europeans.”
“Alexandra arrived with the Europeans? How’d that come about?”
“Don’t know, but I do know that she didn’t cross into Mexico with Raphael. And she didn’t return to the U.S. with him either. I have video from the border crossing in both directions. There were only five people traveling with Raphael, and the only woman was his mate.”
Vincent thought about what that might mean and realized he didn’t have a fucking clue. “Are the two females who raced to Mexico City still there?”
Michael shook his head. “Doubtful. A private plane departed Benito Juarez airport with a flight plan for Paris. There was one passenger, a female who arrived via limo from Enrique’s HQ. My guess is that passenger was one of our travelers.”
“What about the other one?”
“Unknown.”
“Shit. I don’t want to go to Mexico City.”
“Have you ever seen the sister? Does anyone know what she looks like?”
“I saw her across the room at a party once after a council meeting in Malibu.”
“Is the sister like a female version of Raphael?”
“That would make her one very big woman, Mikey.” Vincent snorted. “No, Alexandra’s a tiny thing, especially by today’s standards. No more than five feet tall without shoes. She’s got black hair, like he does, but that’s all I could make out. I don’t think I’d recognize her on the street, but I might be able to pick her out from a photo. I’m guessing you have a shot of the female vamp who caught that flight?”
Michael thumbed through his cell phone and held it out. “It’s grainy because of the distance.”
Vincent took the phone and frowned down at the image. It had obviously taxed someone’s zoom lens to the max, but . . . “That’s not the sister,” he said. “Hair color can be changed, but the body isn’t right. This woman’s too big. And the look’s all wrong. It’s not Alexandra.”
“So Raphael’s sister is either dead or in Mexico City. What the fuck, jefe?”
“I wish I knew.” Vincent pinched his nose between his thumb and forefinger, wondering if he should call Enrique and ask what was going on. On one hand, if there was a plot afoot that involved Raphael’s sister, Enrique should be told. On the other, if Enrique was part of the plot . . . well, fuck. There was nothing in the lieutenant’s manual that said Vincent had to follow his lord as far as suicide.
“Is there someone in the South we can tap for information?” he asked Michael. “If Raphael was in Texas, Anthony or one of his people must have known about it.”
Vincent’s working relationships with vampires in the South were far better and more extensive than those in Raphael’s territory in the far west. This was because the southern territory shared a huge border with Mexico, with a lot of traffic back and forth, both legal and not-so-legal. Vampires didn’t involve themselves in human affairs, but that didn’t mean they were immune to the violence and social disruption that sometimes occurred. The U.S./Mexico border had been very uneasy of late; uneasy enough that Vincent and his counterparts in the South had consulted with each other often.
“I’ll reach out,” Michael said. “In the meantime—” He broke off when a scream sounded on the far side of the compound, from the direction of the public nightclub, which was also a blood house. Almost on top of the scream, all three phones started ringing—Vincent’s cell, Michael’s cell, and the office phone. Vincent was still holding Michael’s phone, so he hit Answer.
“We got trouble, Mike,” a male voice said. “We need Vincent—”
“You got him,” Vincent snapped as he and Michael headed out of the office at a run. “Be there in two.”
The nightclub was down the block from Vincent’s office, and it was designed to be the very opposite of subtle. Music pounded from inside, so loud that not even the best soundproofing could contain it. The heavy bass sounded like the heartbeat of some slumbering leviathan lying within the building. Four nights a week—Thursday through Sunday—a long line of humans showed up ready and eager to be blood donors, and sexual partners. The two went together. It was evolution’s way of making sure vampires got what they needed to survive. They were the perfect predator.
The line started at the bouncer’s station at the front door and trailed well past the twenty feet of velvet rope to wind around the side of the building to the parking lot. If the vampires had wanted, they probably could have generated the same crowds every night of the week, but those living in the compound needed a break from the teeming humanity in the city all around them. Or, at least, Vincent did. He liked humans well enough. They sustained him in more ways than one. But they were noisy and always seemed to want something from him, which was odd when you considered that he was the one feeding from them.
He’d made it clear when he took over the Hermosillo compound that the club would be closed three nights a week, and no one had objected. At least not within his hearing.
When he and Michael raced up to the entrance, he noticed that the club was crowded as usual. What wasn’t usual were the screams emanating from inside and the humans trying to shove their way out through the single open door. Or for that matter, the roars of angry vampires coming from inside.