"But it may help solve the case."
"It may. Which is why I'll ring Hunter myself and ask." It wasn't something I really wanted to do, as I was rather enjoying the brief respite from her overbearing presence in my life.
I dragged out my vid-phone, said, "Hunter," and watched the psychedelic patterns swirl across the screen as the phone made the connection.
"Risa," she drawled. "What a lovely surprise."
"Considering you've got Cazadors following me around reporting every little twitch, I seriously doubt that it's either a surprise or lovely."
Amusement gleamed in her cold green eyes. "They do not report every little twitch—although Markel is more circumspect than some."
Which wasn't something I wanted to hear. With some trepidation, I asked, "Just how detailed do the others get?"
She gave me that smile—the one that reminded me of a shark about to consume its prey. My stomach sank. Obviously, they followed where Markel did not—and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it, which was infuriating.
"Then you already know why I'm ringing now."
"Yes." She paused. "You were wise not to mention your knowledge of the clubs. Rhoan is an asset the Directorate would not like to lose."
I bet she was an asset the Directorate wouldn't like to lose, either, but I sure as hell hoped that one day, it would. In fact, the sooner the better.
"Is there a club called the Crimson Dive?"
"It's Dove, not Dive." She paused. "I've rung the manager, and both Vonda and Dani Belmore are members. As were the other victims."
And the bitch had known about the connection well before I'd gotten involved—she was just more intent on protecting the secrecy of the fucking club than in protecting its patrons.
"Have any of them killed while they were feeding?" If they had, it might explain our killer's insistence that they needed to be destroyed. It was a view I could almost agree with—although his time and attention would have been better spent chasing down those responsible for the clubs' existence than attacking the addicted who attended them—whether by choice or not.