Fire Within - By Ally Shields Page 0,84
jumped out at her. “Oh yeah, I get it,” she said, her heart sinking. “This is harsh. But how is bitching at me going to help?”
“Maybe it won’t, but I could strangle that sonofabitch Eddie West.” Ryan was furious. “He's been a pain from the beginning of this case, but this is the last straw. It’s bad enough we have some asshole demon running around killing people and starting fires. Now the press. This is deliberately inflammatory!”
“Okay, calm down. I’ll call Eddie and see what’s going on. Maybe I can at least prevent more articles like this. He doesn’t understand how bad things are. I learned last night that many of the younger vamps have demanded that Prince Daron approve a hunt for the killer.”
“A hunt? Dammit. Why didn’t you call me? You thought I didn’t need to know?” He uttered a few more choice words, and Ari let him vent. She had to agree that the case was going to hell in a hurry, and The Clarion article only made things worse.
“I would have told you right away, but it was late, and then there was the fire. Besides, Prince Daron has them under control, at least for now.” She was annoyed she had to defend herself. “Give me a break, Ryan. I haven’t been to bed yet. But since I’m still up, I’ll call Eddie now.”
“I want to know what he says, so call me afterwards. I’m at the fire scene now. You’re not the only one who’s short on sleep.”
She hung up before the conversation deteriorated further and rummaged in the fridge for a diet cola. She downed it in one long swig. The throat burn actually felt good. At least it got her going again. She had Eddie’s private number on speed dial and figured he deserved to be up. When he answered on the first ring, she realized someone had gotten to him first. She was sorry to have been deprived of the pleasure.
“Did you really write this story?” she demanded. She had read every word of the article—twice. It was bad. Eddie’s by-line stared her in the face.
“Most of it, but I didn’t choose the headline. Honest. It was less dramatic when I last saw it, but you can’t expect us not to print the facts.”
“The facts, yes, but this is misleading. It seems geared toward arousing a public outcry.”
“In what way? I reported that three vamps have been killed, and two of the murders were similar. That’s true. It doesn’t take such a big leap of logic to assume the third killing is connected. And there’s the shots fired at Andreas, another vampire, and the firebombing last night at a vampire club. Even the spray painting. House of Monsters. While vampires aren’t the only monsters, I think the meaning is clear. Somebody hates the vampires.”
“And this helps? Some of the younger vampires are already threatening to find the killer themselves. This just fires up everybody. Are you sure you didn’t write this to get even for your time in jail?”
He didn’t answer for a long, heavy moment. “I hope that was a bad joke,” he finally said. “I have professional ethics. This isn’t a vendetta. How can you even ask that, after I suppressed the story the last time you asked?”
It was true. Nearly a year ago Ari had asked him not to print a story that revealed too much about the vampires, and he hadn’t. But that was before the cops arrested him. That could have changed his perspective. Or maybe he just didn’t want to be scooped again.
“This will make trouble,” she predicted. “The article is irresponsible.”
“Sorry you feel that way,” he said, anger making his voice rough. “I have a job to do, and the public has a right to know what’s happening. Do the vamps know someone wants to kill them? Or were you keeping that little secret to yourself?”
“What’s gotten into you? Did you hear me say they want to form a hunt? Of course, they know. Warnings went out through the community. But your article implies someone is indiscriminately killing vampires. That’s not how I see it. You’ll have every vamp in town jumping at shadows, and they could start hunting humans in spite of Prince Daron’s disapproval.”
“I don’t want to get anybody killed,” Eddie muttered. “What do you expect me to do, when all I get from official sources is the run-around? Maybe you need to tell me the story. Explain how I’m wrong.”
“After this? No