“Okay,” said a sleepy voice from the other seat. Jaime opened one eye. “I get the whole ‘eternal love’ thing and, as weird as it sounds, I think you’re right that my spook is this Natasha chick, but that leaves one big question. Why the hell would she want to help us catch her man?”
“Does she?” Lucas said. “I’m not certain that would be a correct interpretation of her actions to date. The only clue she’s given us is the vampire lead, which was undoubtedly meant not to tell us that our killer is a vampire, but that she is.”
I nodded. “Maybe figuring that if Jaime knew she was a vampire, she’d know the right way to make contact.”
“So what does she want?” Jaime asked.
We all looked at Cassandra.
“I don’t know her well enough to answer that,” Cassandra said. “The only thing I can say, with some certainty, is that she wasn’t a passive or unwilling partner in anything Edward did.”
“In other words,” I said, “she’s not suffering a sudden attack of conscience and wants to help us stop Edward before more kids die.”
“Definitely not,” Cassandra said. “She may be seeking the same thing they sought before her death: protection from a rival Cabal, offering to help you find Edward on the condition that the Cortezes protect him from the Nasts. Or she may be hoping to feed you false information and lead you away from him.”
“Doesn’t matter either way,” Jaime said. “Unless she learns how to carve words in my flesh, she’s not telling us anything. Wherever she is, it’s out of necro calling range. She’s trying her damnedest to change that, but it’s not working.”
“And where exactly is she?” I said. “Stuck in limbo? Or a demon dimension? Or some separate vampire afterlife? Maybe if we knew…”
“We can look into that,” Lucas said. “But we may never find the answer. The important question right now is not where is she, but where is he?”
We knew Edward was almost certainly in Miami. Why go elsewhere when all the Cabals were right here? But where to find him? At this point, we might as well grab a map of Miami, start tossing darts into it, and conduct our search that way.
Benicio left shortly after that to start working the Edward angle with the Cabals—or the Cabals that weren’t already working it. Presumably, the moment the Nasts heard the words “vampire suspect” they’d known exactly who was killing their kids and had started searching for him. Of course, it would have been nice if they’d shared that information, but that would also mean sharing the glory when he was caught—and accepting full blame for letting him slide from their grasp in the first place.
“The only way you’re going to catch him is when he goes for his next victim,” Cassandra said as she settled onto our hotel sofa. “And the best way to do that is to set a trap.”
“Not a bad idea,” Jaime said. “One possible target—or two of them—are your nephews, Lucas. I’m sure your dad won’t want us using them for bait, but he’s got the firepower to make sure they’re safe. If you’re there, it wouldn’t be too bad for the kids. They know you—”
Lucas shook his head. “They don’t know me.”
“Well, maybe not very well, but you’re their uncle. They see you at Christmas, family picnics, whatever. They—”
“I mean, quite literally, they don’t know me. We’ve never met, and it’s unlikely they know I exist. Not only do my nephews not know me from a stranger, they barely know my father—that’s Hector’s way of punishing him for his succession choice.”
“Okay,” Jaime said. “But, still, this guy’s going to go after those kids sooner or later. Hector knows that. I’m sure he’d help if it meant his kids would be out of danger for good.”
“Not if that help also meant helping me, or an investigation he considers mine.”
Jaime shook her head. “Man, and I thought my family was looped. Well, maybe we can use someone else. What about the older Nast boy? The one who came here?”
“Sean?” I said.
“Right. Sure, he’s a bit older than the rest, but I bet he’d be willing to do it. And Ed sure as hell wouldn’t turn down the chance to knock off another Nast.”
“Perhaps,” Lucas said. “But I wouldn’t know where to find Sean. Thomas removed him and Bryce from Miami the day Stephen was killed. Every Cabal family member under thirty has been