“Among other things. I didn’t get many details; the names of his clients are completely hush-hush. He’s very discreet. But there’s no dispute he reps criminals.”
I’d say that kept him out of the “ally” category, regardless of his request. I’d definitely be careful the next time we interacted. “Anything about him that definitively relates to this?”
“Not that I could find.” Alexei looked at me, apology in his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“No apology necessary. If you had more time, I’m sure you could find something. But the clock is very much against us.”
“So what’s the plan?” Lulu asked.
“She’s playing vampire lawyer,” Connor said, sipping his drink.
“Still mulling it over,” I said. “But I think I’m going to need a place to meet them again. Even if I’m right about my legal theory, I’m going to have to address it in person.” And since my father had already offered it up as a meeting spot to Nicole, Cadogan House seemed like the logical possibility. “Lulu said something about using Levi as a lure. I think we can make that happen, or at least try for it.” But I checked the time. “We need to talk to the Ombuds, to Gwen, but it’s too close to dawn for me to drive.”
“Not a problem,” Connor said and gestured to the artscreen. “You can chat with them that way.”
* * *
* * *
I contacted the OMB, and we let Connor futz with the electronics.
My screen buzzed. I pulled it out, thinking it was confirmation from Theo or a reminder to feed the starter again, but found something else entirely.
You lied to me. You will regret it.
—Your enemy
“I’m sorry to report Levi and I aren’t friends anymore,” I said and showed everyone the note. And realized, with great relief, that he’d made a very big mistake.
“He didn’t anonymize the message,” I said and grinned up at Connor. “He got sloppy and forgot to encrypt it, or whatever tech-scrambly thing they do. There’s a legitimate US number attached. That means I can respond. And we can lure him out.”
* * *
* * *
I sent the message to Theo for analysis. The group call took a little more time to coordinate, but with a scant half hour until dawn, everyone was available via screen.
Gwen in a very dull-looking CPD conference room. Roger, Theo, Petra at the OMB office. My parents at Cadogan House. Me, Alexei, Lulu, and Connor at the town house.
“Gorgeous room,” my mother said, getting the ball rolling. “Your home is beautiful, Connor.”
“Thank you,” he said and looked to me.
“Thanks to everyone for joining in,” I said, ignoring him and looking at their boxed images on-screen. “This is a weird, supernatural Brady Bunch view, but it’s appreciated. Long story short, Levi remains on the loose, and Nicole Heart is coming to Chicago to deal with Clive and question me. So we’ve got a stalker and a bureaucrat.” And hopefully no Testing.
“You look like you’ve got an idea,” Gwen said approvingly and crossed her arms. “Let’s hear it.”
“I have a sandwich of an idea,” I said, “made up of the information and ideas that everyone else has contributed. So thank you for that.”
“Leave it to your daughter to use a food metaphor,” my father said to my mother.
Theo smiled. “And taking responsibility for your problems doesn’t mean you have to solve them alone.”
“It’s appreciated. Let’s start with you—I assume Levi hasn’t been located?”
Theo got Roger’s nod, reported. “No. He wasn’t at the hotel, and it appears some of his personal effects are missing. Some clothes, some shoes.”
“He’s on the run,” Connor said.
“Most likely,” Roger said. “We’ve also identified the two AAM vampires who assisted him—Klaus and Sonder. They’re gone, too.”
“What did Clive have to say about that?” I wondered.
“Still in denial,” Theo said. “Gwen and I talked to him, and he’s still talking about false accusations and perfidy by Chicago’s vampires.” He rolled his eyes.
Gwen took the reins. “We searched the hotel, including the Bureau’s suites. We found nothing that links Levi’s stalking activities to the Bureau. But we did find a set of bloody clothes in the closet in Levi’s room.”
“Blake?” I asked.
She nodded. “Housekeeping had cleaned the space, but we found traces of his blood in the sink, shower. That’s still being tested.”
“It will be Blake’s,” I said. “It would have been very messy work.”
“Another reason to use the Pedway,” Petra said. “So you don’t attract attention while you’re literally covered in blood.”
“We didn’t find a sword,” Gwen continued, “probably because he’s taken that with