Biting Bad (Chicagoland Vampires 8)

"Also, you'd mentioned your brother might have security videos he could share?"

Charla pointed at me and pulled a phone from an invisible pocket at her hip. "Thank you for the reminder. I'll send him a note right now." She paused for a moment, looking at the phone, which then beeped in acknowledgment.

"Got it," she said. "He promises to send them tonight." She put the phone away and smiled at us. "I love my brother, but he's not quite as . . . organized as I am, if you catch my drift."

"We do," Ethan said. "And we thank you again." He put a hand at my back. "We'll get out of your hair so you can get back to work. Thank you for your time."

"You're very welcome. Thank you for paying attention." She dropped her voice to a whisper. "I know I shouldn't say this, but we talk, you know. The distributors. Most of us are human, but we like to keep an eye out, and not just because you're clients. It's a tough time to be a vampire in Chicago, especially when thugs like McKetrick are about. And we know about the GP, about how you stepped forward when others didn't. Being the leader can be a thankless job," she said. "It often just makes you a bigger target. But we see. We notice."

Ethan took her hand in his and patted it collegially. "Thank you, Charla. I appreciate that very much."

We said our good-byes to Charla and the guard, and walked back across crunchy sidewalks to the car.

"A last-minute city inspection?" I wondered aloud.

"It could be related," Ethan said. "But don't get too excited. We don't have any evidence yet."

"Okay," I said. "But I will say this. If the city administration knew this place was a bottling facility for vampires, there's a good chance McKetrick did as well."

After my Robin Pope disappointment, I was hedging my bets. But smoke usually meant fire.

"Perhaps," Ethan agreed. "Perhaps we can tie him to these riots, and this will be the thing that brings him down. Your task, Sentinel? Find me some evidence."

-

Security was tight - and rather bored-looking - when we returned to the House. Luc generally considered bored security to be ineffective security, but I'd take bored over "overwhelmed by marauders" any day.

Ethan went to his office to get back to business. I didn't bother changing clothes but went directly to the Ops Room.

I found Jonah and Luc at the conference table, mulling over materials. The temps were at the computers, but the rest of the guards were gone, probably on patrol.

Luc and Jonah looked up when I entered.

"Sentinel," Luc said. "What's the good word? How's the family?"

"It varies by person," I said, taking a seat at the table. "The children are adorable. The adults grow more ornery with age. . . . It does not appear the rioters have shown up."

"Not even a hint of a drive-by or look-see," Jonah said. "But there are hours to go before sunrise."

"That's actually something that's been bothering me," Luc said.

"What's that?" Jonah asked.

"The riots have only been occurring at night, when we're awake. But why? If you want to damage vampires, hurt vampires, why not riot during the day when we're unconscious? Talk about maximizing damage . . ."

That point echoed many others I'd heard over the last few days. If the rioters really meant to get media attention and do damage, they'd done a pretty bad job of it.

"I've been thinking the same thing," I said. Counting on my fingers, I offered my concerns: "They don't hit the most obvious House. They don't hit us during the day. They don't hit us as hard as they probably could, and they don't even show up to protest afterward. All that buildup, and for what?"

"Maybe they just aren't very good rioters," Luc said.

"Maybe," I said. "But I can't help thinking there's something else afoot here, and we're only seeing the symptom, not the real illness."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," I said, deflated. "I miss having a suspect."

"Indeed," Luc said. "Robin Pope, we hardly knew ye. And while we did, we thought you were a crazy weirdo." He shook his head in faux grief. "What did you learn from Bryant Industries?"

"We talked to Charla. No new information about possible threats per se, but she did pass along a very interesting tidbit."

I waited for a moment before the big reveal, giving everyone a chance to lean forward in anticipation. But no one did.

"Seriously? What's a girl gotta do to build a little tension around here?"

"Firebombs," Luc and Jonah simultaneously said, then congratulated their single-mindedness with a fist bump.

"The Chicago Department of Public Health scheduled a last-minute inspection at the facility."

Still, no reaction.

"Really? Nothing?"

"Their facility was firebombed," Jonah said. "Probably they just want to look things over, make sure the product isn't tainted."

"The last-minute inspection was before the riot," I clarified.

Finally, there was a pique of interest in their eyes.

"Before the riot?" Jonah asked.

I nodded. "The city of Chicago has taken an oddly timed interest in a vampire-service facility. Maybe the riot occurred at Bryant because they didn't get something they wanted at the inspection."

"Like what?" Luc asked. "If they wanted blood, they could buy it."

He was right. Anti-vamp sentiment or not, humans were more than happy to stock Blood4You in their stores. I guess profit trumped conviction for the store owners who didn't really like vampires.

"Maybe it wasn't blood," I said.

"Then what?" Jonah asked. "What else do you want at a Blood4You facility?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "But consider this - if Robin Pope isn't the one organizing the riots, maybe someone else from the city administration is. Maybe McKetrick is."

"You've got evidence of that?"

"Why does everyone keep harping on 'evidence'?" I whined. "And no, I don't have any. But we've got a vamp hater in a new position of power, and a sudden interest in a facility that's been providing blood to vampires for decades. The rioters hit Bryant Industries first; they must have had a reason for it. Why else that place? Why else now?"

"I'm not saying you're wrong, Sentinel," Luc said. "But you don't have anything yet to confirm you're right."

"I'll find something."

Luc checked his watch. "You'd better find it quick. You've got a turn on patrol coming up, and that dress isn't going to cut it. Go upstairs and get dressed. I'll call Jeff and Catcher, see if your grandfather has any connections at the health department."