him as I said it, and saw the slight hesitation. Meaning there was a connection all right, but he wasn't revealing it. Which made me wonder if the vampire council was somehow involved. Jack might answer to his sister, but she answered to the council. She was on it.
"We're still checking into that possibility," he said eventually. Meaning he was still getting clearance to discuss it with the plebs.
"The sooner we know the better."
If only because, if we knew the connection, we had a chance of stopping the next murder. But Jack knew all that - he'd been at this game a lot longer than me.
Jack grunted. "Did you get anything useful from the witness?"
I restrained the urge to point out that it was in my report, and said, "Well, she wasn't really a witness, more a relayer of information. And the man who paid her to call was apparently disguised, so that's not much help."
"Did you check the security recordings?" Kade asked. "They might show something."
"Starke said he didn't use electronic security."
"Then the bastard is lying," Jack said. "Clubs like that must have full scale security by law. Requisition the tapes."
"Requisitioning them might not be wise," Kade said. "If he wanted the Directorate to see them, he would have mentioned them. Asking for them through official channels merely gives him time to dispose of them."
I gave Kade a somewhat filthy look, which only made him raise his eyebrows and look amused. I suppose he wasn't to know that confronting Starke - or rather, confronting his overt sexuality - was not something I wanted right now. Not after barely escaping his presence the first time with my dignity intact.
"That's certainly possible. Go view those tapes, Riley," Jack ordered. "And if Starke tries to deny their existence, tell him I'm ready and willing to conduct a little interview with him."
"That makes it sound like there's a whole lot of history between you and Starke, boss."
"Let's just say we've had a few run-ins over the years, and leave it at that." He pushed away from the desk he'd been leaning against, and added, "But before you talk to Starke, I want you and Kade to head over to Keilor. A woman named Renatta Bailey was found dead in her home a couple of days ago, and the police have called us in."
"So they suspect non-human involvement?" Kade asked, suddenly looking far more interested in the proceedings. Maybe it was the office work that was getting him down - something I totally understood, and the reason I tended to avoid it where ever possible.
"They have no idea what to suspect," Jack said. "They fast-tracked the autopsy and found no external or internal causes. She just died."
"People don't usually just up and die," I said. "There has to be a reason, even if it's as simple as old age."
"She was twenty and in good health, so old age and organ failure are out, as are drugs or other substances. As I said, there was no obvious reason for her death."
"So why has it been fast-tracked to us?" I asked. "And why has it suddenly got priority over the beheadings? If the autopsy couldn't find a cause of death, and the police couldn't find anything suspicious, why do they think we can solve the case?"
"It's been fast-tracked to us because the woman who died is the niece of the governor, and he wants us on it."
"Political clout is a wonderful thing when it's abused," Kade muttered, echoing my sentiments exactly.
"Abuse or not, we'll look into it. And you, dear Riley, are on the case because you're the only one who can see souls. If she's hanging about and feeling talkative, it might be a quick way to solve this one and get back to the important crimes."
As if things were ever that simple. I glanced at Kade as Jack walked out of the room. "You got time to head over there now?"
"Hell yeah," he said, standing and stretching. "Some fresh air would be good."
My gaze traveled up the long length of him, pausing briefly on the washboard abs his hiked-up shirt revealed before moving on past his broad shoulders and muscular arms. Arms that could hold a girl just right, although they hadn't held me for quite a while now. Jack's no fraternizing rule and my own commitment to my relationship with Quinn had seen to that.
"What case has Jack got you working on right now?" I pulled my gaze away from his magnificent form