Page 55 of Death is Familiar

“You are correct.”

We were onto something.

And because we were onto something, I’d been so wrapped up in my train-of-thought, I almost forgot to slip Zhou’s phone alongside Thruppy’s FBI badge into Jack’s pocket, replacing his wallet.

Almost.

“So, as far as we know, the murders started with the two familiars in Lexington nearly a year ago, then escalated to the five murders that occurred here in the last few days.” Thruppy studied his annotated map. “Why Lexington? Why Cincinnati? And why not Huntington?”

“Lenore’s territory is mostly in the Northeast, and some of the Midwest.” Yes, my knowledge of Lenore’s domain surprised even me. “And the vamp events move. Most weekends there’s a gathering held in Huntington. There’s usually at least one more happening the same weekend in another city. But fang ceremonies are a big spectacle. They happen maybe once or twice each year, it’s word of mouth only, and the locations aren’t announced until a few days before.”

Okay, perhaps I’d retained more of my vamp knowledge from the Daemonica case than I’d first thought.

“With the bite marks on the victim’s necks, almost a year between the murders, and no suspicious deaths occurring in Huntington, my bet is the deaths occurred in Lexington and Cincinnati because they were the locations of the most recent fang ceremonies. We need to get the list of locations and dates⁠—”

“Already on it.” Zhou leaned back, kicking her feet onto the coffee table, pulling a laptop out from a backpack beside the couch. “I’ve been looking at the attendance records for the last year’s worth of gatherings and ceremonies, flagging names and people who attended when the victims did. And you’re right. Lexington and Cincinnati were where the two most recent fang ceremonies were held.”

Reveling in the fact that Zhou had just admitted I was right, Jack closed the file and directed his next question to me. “Do you think a member of Lenore’s club is responsible for this?”

From what Todd and I had gathered from our night in the vamp warehouse it didn’t seem likely. It didn’t mean it wasn’t possible. Just not probable. There were other pieces, however, that drew my attention. A recurring narrative from last night that stood out, from both Lenore and Carmen, even if that hadn’t been their intent.

“Lenore and the other vamps didn’t seem to think so. Though there seems to be a lot of outside pressure on the vamps. A lot of people who don’t like the vamp way of life.”

Zhou looked like she drank a shot glass’ worth of lime juice. “Can you blame them?”

No. No, I couldn’t. Not when an outsider would see the vamps and their familiars as dangerous deviants, and not the inclusion and belonging that was as tied to vamp culture as sex and fangs. Which gave me a thought⁠—

“Do we know which events had garlic shipments or crosses?”

Both Zhou and Thruppy responded with, “Not yet.”

“You think someone opposed to the vampires killed the familiars?”

“I think,” I ran a hand over my neck, over the bruise left by Carmen, “people get so hung up on differences they start to fear the unknown. And that fear has many different outlets. Some of which are violent.”

“But why go for the familiars? Why not kill the vamps?”

Familiars were being killed after fang ceremonies. They went missing for a day before being placed in the cemeteries where they were found… Which meant they were being kept somewhere. And I’d put my money—and Jack’s since I was now in possession of his wallet—on adrenaline being part of the picture.

Fuck.

I had an idea. More of a hunch, really. But for that… I’d need to go to the cemetery.

Before sunrise.

“All this vampire talk is giving me a headache.” Fawzy rubbed her temples. “If I’m going to be of use, I’m going to need food.”

“We’re all going to need food,” Jack traded the police reports for the menu on the table. “Everyone good with this?”

“Sure, I’ll call it in.” Zhou took her feet off the coffee table and palmed the tabletop in search of her phone, but came up empty.

My cue to leave.

Careful not to move fast enough to draw attention, I crossed the room towards the exit.

“Wait—where’s my phone?” Zhou searched the couch cushions. “It was literally right here.”

“Here, I’ll give it a call.” Thruppy offered, lifting his phone to his ear, Fawzy’s watch glistened beautifully on his wrist.