"George sent us a copy of your contract," she said to me. "The figures are blacked out, of course. But it gives us official permission to carry silver rounds in our weapons and stake any vampires we catch in the act of black magic."
"Sweet," Sloan said through his sandwich. It came out "Shhhwee."
"Rosen is our electronics guy. He took down the Crips mostly with electronic monitoring. He stole their books and put a stop to a lot of weapons and cocaine trafficking that had connections to a South American vamp clan. We're still hunting down three humans with the evidence he collected. If we need anything listened in on, he's our man."
"If it helps at all," I said, "I think a Rousseau is responsible for young rogues being raised all over the city and for the witch children kidnappings." I filled them in on what I knew and what I guessed. I pointed at the file cabinets. "The red folders helped."
Jodi gave me a knowing half smile. "Rick said you wanted copies of the woo-woo files sent to your house. They'll be messengered over by a marked unit ASAP."
Sloan drained his Coke can, set it on the table with an empty twang. To Jodi, he said, "We done? 'Cause I'm outta here. Dinner with the wife and kids."
"After eating all that?" Jodi said, swiveling so he could get his longer legs out.
Sloan stood beside her, wiping his mouth with a paper napkin. "Fast metabolism." He balled up all the empty papers and utensils. I shoved the last bite of bread and oyster in just in time, and salvaged a paper boat of fries and onion rings. Jodi cleaned the table with a disinfectant wipe she took from her pocket.
"I'll keep you up to date, Yellowrock," she said, "until we get the Trueblood kids back."
"And Bliss," I said. "She was taken by the same guy."
"Right. Bliss. You did know her real name is Ailis Rogan, didn't you?" When I shook my head no, she asked, "Do you know if she has any family? 'Cause Katie's bouncer has no record of any."
"No. Bliss wasn't very forthcoming about her past."
"Runaway?" Sloan asked. "I'll check old records and see if anything matches up."
"I'll e-mail you all our addys," Jodi said to me. Waving her arm to indicate room 666, she said, "Our official work area is here and next door. The brass's idea of a joke, I'm sure. I'll get some PCs, a landline phone or two, an empty file cabinet, a whiteboard, and a map.
"I'll be here and at my desk for paperwork till midnight thirty. Later."
She and Sloan Rosen walked out together. I didn't look at Rick as I got up and slid across from him to the warm seat just vacated.
Out of curiosity, I said, "What do you know about a guy named Derek Lee, former marine? Lives--"
"I know Derek Lee. Word on the streets is that he's put together his own little army and is going after gangs. We have a few unexplained bodies that might be notched into his bedpost, like the bloodbath in Crips territory Jodi came from today. How do you know Derek Lee?" That last was a cop question, asked in a toneless, staccato voice, with an underlying threat.
I shrugged. Cop threats don't impress me much. "I heard he's going after vamps and gangs with vamp connections. I'm thinking Derek works for Leo from time to time." When I said the words, several little things clicked in my mind. "Question: If the master of the city officially recognized that some of his species were practicing ritual black magic, and a purge became legal by the Vampira Carta, what would happen to the clans?"
"I don't have a degree in Mithran Law, They could be disbanded or reorganized by the master of the city. Why?"
An unconscious Holy crap sounded in my mind. At my adrenaline spike, Beast stirred and stared across the table. "Derek said something about the Crips once. If he's been fighting them, it might be with Leo's unofficial backing."
I had called Derek before I left the house. I was meeting the ex-marine and his crew soon, to raid a few warehouses in the district, looking for the lair of a vamp who kept her children chained for the safety of the public. Not something I wanted the cops to know. Not something I wanted Leo to know. Unless Leo had been pushing me in that direction all along. Had I been herded like prey? Beast snorted in affront.
"I don't know what the hell you're thinking, lady, but you're startin' to scare me again."
I looked at Rick. Who was looking at me just the way a woman wanted to be looked at. Not something I could put into words, but a look I recognized when I saw it. He reached out a hand and I placed mine into his, letting a smile soften my lips.
Knowing I was probably screwing up something that might be really good if I gave it half a chance, I said, "Did Leo tell you to seduce me?"