“They’re not particularly Spanish, Italian, British, or anything else I’d recognize.” I looked up at him. “If Neil can’t give you any leads, will Jackson send these to other experts?”
Saber took the papers I passed back. “Yes, but I also e-mailed these to Jo-Jo on the chance he might recognize the weapon itself.”
“You mean recognize it as belonging to Atlanta Marco?”
“Makes sense to ask. If Jo-Jo can verify it’s Marco’s, then we can tie the murder weapon to him.”
“But if Marco is out of Atlanta, shouldn’t his tracker readouts show that?”
“Yep, which is why I’ve also talked with Candy again.”
I blinked. “You have been busy. Exactly how long have you been up?”
“A while. You want to hear what Candy said?”
“I do. Is Marco in Atlanta or not?”
“He is. Maybe. Candy and Crusher are putting a task force together. That may take a day or two, but they’ll go back to Vlad’s and demand a little habeas corpus action.”
I read and watch enough mysteries to know what that means. “They’re going to get Vlad to turn Marco over to them?”
“They’re going to find out if Marco is really there at all. His tracker still indicates he is, but he’s been stationary for ten days. We’re thinking he’s removed the tracker.”
“And just left it at Vlad’s place? I thought there was a body mass sensor or some kind of fail-safe in the trackers.”
“There is, but Marco could’ve gotten around that by implanting it in someone else.”
That thought made the Starbloods sour in my stomach.
“Candy can’t raid Vlad’s nest any sooner?”
“She can’t do that and ensure the team’s safety, much less meet their objective. They need to go in full out this time.”
“What about Laurel’s tracker records? Is the GPS working?”
“She’s completely off the radar as of last night. The tracker has been removed. The past records show that the flatline signal started six weeks ago, while she was in Atlanta. So, besides making Ike’s payoffs to Vlad, she was up to something else. What, we don’t know.”
“So, she knows immune-to-silver Marco, too, and she knew Jo-Jo was in town almost before we did, though I don’t understand how she pulled that off.”
“It was Jo-Jo, indirectly.”
“What?”
“I’m pretty sure his computer and cell phone were bugged. I told him to check out my theory first chance he gets. I also suspect that Vlad has had someone hack into the VPA site.”
“Did you tell Candy? The VPA should get security upgrades, like, fast.”
He nodded. “I told her we need to upgrade the trackers, too, but let’s go back to what we know. Assume for a minute that Laurel wants to take over Ike’s nest. Especially after Ike hooks up with Donita. Laurel causes problems but doesn’t swing the rest of the vamps to her side, so she gets Vlad to send backup.”
“Enter Marco the muscle.” I paused and frowned. “But if he killed Ike, why snatch Laurel?”
“He needs her for some reason.”
I nodded. “Saber, are we sure the other vamps weren’t involved in Ike’s murder? Or even Donita?”
“You have doubts about Donita?”
“Not really, but I want to talk to her.”
“We’ll hit her place early, then go to Ike’s residence so we’ll be there when the gang wakes up.”
“Fine, but you need to rest before we go.”
Saber grimaced. “Actually, what I need is a shower and shave. Can you tape a plastic bag over my arm?”
“As long as you put the sling back on afterward.”
Fifteen minutes later, Saber had shaved, and I had his cast wrapped tight in a white kitchen trash bag. Then, of course, he couldn’t reach his back, or wash his hair, so I got in the shower stall with him. My little voice kept nattering about something, but I tuned it out when our slippery bodies rubbed each other in all the oh, there places. We barely toweled off before we kissed each other to bed.
Ten minutes after Saber drifted to sleep, I heard what my little voice had been telling me in the shower. The scrapes and bruises that had been on Saber’s back and arms last night weren’t there now. They had healed. Overnight. That just wasn’t possible. Not for a human.
A bone-deep hum started in my solar plexus and spread to my chest, as if every cell vibrated with . . . what? Not fear. Anger?
Betrayal? Hurt?
I lay stiff beside Saber, not wanting to disturb him yet dying to lift the sheet from his arm to see if I was right. To see if the nicks and dings in his bronze skin had truly healed. The blackout drapes were still drawn against the Western sun, but I could see with vamp vision. If I had the courage to look.