Alex cleaned up the dishes and griped about not having a dishwasher, Eli and I stayed at the table, going over the day's intel. "There might be a correlation we haven't considered, between the Blood-Call businesses and the cities where de Allyon has taken over," Eli said, passing a printout to me.
"I'm listening."
"De Allyon was making vamps sick. What better way than to have them drink from sick humans at Blood-Call?"
I remembered thinking at one time, in the last hectic days, that vamps were being made sick by drinking diseased blood, but that had seemed impossible unless a normal, natural plague had entered the human population. There had been no reports of horrific human illness in the media, and no way could that have been kept quiet.
There were also so many cities where Blood-Call was operating, cities that had no sign of sickness. The lack of plague and the specificity of attack had made me put the idea on the back burner. But then, there were the sick humans in Seattle who had claimed they were getting better. They weren't Blood-Call employees, they were blood-servants who lived and worked at the Seattle Clan Home. Without explaining, I pulled my cell and dialed the Seattle Clan Home. When a woman answered, I said, "This is Jane Yellowrock. I was there a few days ago, and took some blood from some blood-servants who were left on the premises after the revolt staged by the Mercy Blade failed. Are they still alive? Did they get well?"
The woman said stiffly, "Yes and yes. And then our new master removed them. Don't call again." There was a click and the call ended.
I stared at the cell and smiled. "Of course he did." I looked up at the brothers and said, "Alex, how certain are you about the money trail of the corporations that own Blood-Call?"
He was standing at the sink, drying his hands; he pushed a tiny laptop to the center of the table and opened it. It must have been sleeping because it opened to a company Web page instantly. Blood-Call's graphics were red and black with two beautiful, scantily clad couples on the front. One partner of each couple was a vamp, and the other was being a meal. It was clear that sex was on the menu as well as blood. Eli scooted his chair closer to me and we both leaned in, studying the screen, arms almost touching.
"I've traced it back through several shell corporations to an offshore account," Alex said. "The mailing address is a PO box on the main island. The shipping address is here." He pointed to the screen. "I have a World of Warcraft buddy on the island and he's doing some footwork to see what's at the address. I'm betting it's a cafe or an empty lot. The finances trace back through four shells to a numbered account. There's no way to find out anything further. No way to see if it ties to Lucas Vazquez de Allyon."
"Why not?" I asked. "Someone has to come in from time to time and deal with the accounts."
"Not offshore accounts. Not if they have the numbers and the passwords. Back in the day, someone had to show up in person and open an account. Now it can be done electronically and no one at the bank ever sees the client. I tried tracking the money back, but I couldn't get through."
He looked at his brother with a sly grin. "Offshore banks have better security than the Pentagon." Eli raised his eyes without lifting his head, and Alex laughed at whatever he saw on his brother's face. He looked back and forth between us, his expression changing to speculation. He grinned at his brother and went back to the dishes.
That speculative look suddenly made me aware that I was sitting close enough to feel Eli's body heat, close enough to feel the fine hairs on his arm graze mine when he moved. My limbs went heavy. A slow warmth settled deep inside me. I felt Beast start to purr.
I kept my eyes on the screen as Eli sat back. When I could trust myself to speak casually, I stood and said, "I'm beat. I'm heading for bed." Beast hacked deep inside and Alex looked over his shoulder again at his brother, then at me, and he grinned. Crap. I turned and went to my room without another word. And I slept in boy shorts and a tank instead of naked.