Biting Bad (Chicagoland Vampires 8)

I was smart enough not to touch evidence with my bare hands. I walked back to the kitchen and searched through drawers until I found a box of zip-top plastic bags. I took one, apologizing for my thievery, and walked back to the living room.

The bag opened with a snap, and I turned it inside out, using it like a glove to pick up the syringe - and give it a closer inspection. Unfortunately, the plunger had been fully depressed, the chamber empty. Not even a drop of liquid remained inside. I wasn't sure it could tell us anything about Brooklyn's problem, but it was still the best clue we had at the moment.

I flipped the bag around so it enclosed the syringe, then sealed it shut. I locked up the apartment again and hightailed it to my car again as if monsters were on my heels.

When I made it to the car again, I pulled out my phone.

Jonah answered quickly.

"It's Merit. I found something. A syringe."

"A syringe? Of what?"

"I don't know. It's empty. It was lying on the living room floor. And it's the old-fashioned kind - glass, not plastic. Maybe that's the medicine she mentioned?"

"It could be, but I don't know. What was she doing with a syringe? She's a vampire."

"Could it be something, let's say, recreational?" A few months ago, a vampire drug called "V" had made its way around the city, but we'd shut down the supply.

"God, I don't know. She doesn't really seem the type. She's into clean eating and fitness. What was she doing with a syringe?" He asked me, but it was clear from his absent tone he was musing over the question himself.

"I don't know. Maybe we can ask Detective Jacobs to take a look at it. Catcher said my grandfather's doing him some favors, so maybe we can get a little quid pro quo."

"Yeah, maybe. Do you think someone broke in? And used the syringe on her?"

"I don't know. The apartment didn't look disturbed, and it didn't look like there was a break-in. Maybe she let them in?"

"Did you find anything else?"

"Not a thing. Everything else in the apartment looked completely normal. There wasn't much food. She hadn't had blood, as far as I could tell. There were untouched bottles in the fridge, and no empties in the trash. Wilted flowers in the living room, and the bed was unmade. I'm not sure if she's been gone, or stayed in bed."

"Thank you for checking."

"You're welcome. Have you heard from the doctor?"

"Only that she's checked in and he's running tests. He doesn't expect to know anything for a little while."

"Let me know what you find out. Are you okay otherwise?"

"Yeah, we're all tucked into Grey House 2.0. Security's set."

"Glad to hear it. Give me a call if you need me. And I'll let you know if we find anything with the syringe."

"Thanks, Merit."

The line went dead, but I still had calls to make. I needed to check in at the House and make arrangements to get the syringe to someone who could take a look at it.

"Ops Room," said Lindsey.

"It's Merit."

"Speakerphone?"

"Yes, please."

"And you're live," Lindsey said. "Luc and I are in the room with the temps. Say hello, temps."

"Hello, temps," they ridiculously muttered in tandem.

"The Grey House vamps are tucked in," I said. "Everything okay on your end?"

"Fine," Luc said. "The transition was smooth. Jonah's very good at his job."

"Yes, he is," I said. "But we've got a new wrinkle. A vampire wandered up to the new Grey House digs. She was nearly unconscious, and completely emaciated. Turns out, she's a friend of Jonah's. They were supposed to meet earlier this week, but she didn't show up. The Grey House doc rushed her to the ER."

"Does he know what was wrong?"

"Not a thing. She kept mentioning 'medicine.'" I cleared my throat, preparing for my confession. "So, I might have used her keys to get into her apartment. And I might have wandered around a little bit and found a syringe, the old-fashioned glass kind."

"I am surprised and pleased, Sentinel. You're getting some balls on you after all. No offense."

"None taken."

"I presume you grabbed the syringe?"

"I did, and in a plastic bag to keep my contaminates off, since I'm a forensic expert after hours of crime scene shows in Lindsey's room." We tended toward pizza and television for girls' nights.

"I'm going to see if my grandfather can get it to the CPD and figure out what might have been in it."

"Good girl. Random, though, isn't it?"

"It is. And that's what's bothering me. Even if she'd injected herself, or been injected by someone else, what was the point? She's a vampire. She'd have healed from any illness. As far as I could tell, she was in her apartment for days, then crawled out to find Jonah."

"Weird," Luc said. "That's an odd set of circumstances, not that we're low on those right now. Anyway, I'll tell Ethan."

"Please do. I'm going to call my grandfather and take the syringe over there."

"Got it," Luc said. "Stay in touch. Things are calm here for now, all things considered. But that could change at any minute."

I took that as a hint to get to work. Two calls down, I prepared to dial up the third. Catcher answered immediately.

"Catcher."

"Hey, it's Merit. Are you guys around? I've actually got something I'd like you to take a look at."

"What's that?"

"A syringe. We think it has something to do with a sick vampire that's also a friend of Jonah's."

"How does a vampire get sick?" he asked.

"Presumably from whatever was in the syringe. I checked out her apartment. It was on the floor. I grabbed it, was hoping you could get it to Detective Jacobs."

"You've escalated to breaking and entering?" Catcher mused. "I'll not mention that to your grandfather."

"Please don't."

"I'm out," Catcher said. "Jeff and I both left early. It is Valentine's Day, you know."

"I'm aware," I said dryly.

"Your grandfather was talking to Jacobs about their little forensic mystery, but he's home now. He'll be happy to see you. I'll check in when I'm done here."

"Roger that," I said, and ended the call, then sent Ethan a message: TAKING EVIDENCE TO GRANDFATHER. LUC HAS DETAILS. HOME AFTERWARD.

I tapped the screen for a moment, thinking about the surprise I'd planned and debating whether to tell him. But if I couldn't actually give him a decent Valentine's Day, the least I could do was tell him I'd tried.