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"Yeah, but if we're just sleeping around, we should be ok, right?" Nikki asked.
Slowly, Dahlia licked her lips. "Yes, but that's not the problem. Something that big? The body count in one neighborhood doubling in a week? The Inquisitionwillnotice." She pulled in a breath as if bracing herself. "Nikki, we've been careless. There are how many of us now?"
"Fourteen."
She nodded. "And if we all take one a night, that's fourteen missing people every day for seven days. Do the math. That's huge. That's the kind of thing that makes the news, and not just the local stuff."
"Fuck," Nikki breathed, reaching for her drink. "Even at one a day, that's still one hell of a story. The kind that makes prime-time news."
"Mhm," Dahlia agreed, "and I can think of two."
"Cain," Nikki groaned, knowing Dahlia meant the people he'd killed. "Ok, yeah. So what - "
She didn't get the chance to finish her question because Dahlia lifted a finger, begging her to wait. From the look on her face, she was listening to something else. The problem was that they both had been completely distracted, and neither had touched their food. Evidently, their waitress noticed.
"Something wrong?" she asked, walking up from behind Nikki.
Dahlia just flicked a finger to whoever she'd been listening to. "What's going on? People are going missing?"
The waitress moved to the end of their table, then squatted down. "Look, Ma doesn't want us all freakin' out, but yeah. Like, seems a ton of people just went out and never came home. Cops are trying to say it's gang shit, but nah. Not around here. I mean, yeah, we got some gangs and all, but not the drive-by kind. Shit, this is Des Moines, not Detroit!"
Nikki leaned closer, also trying to keep her voice down. "So this isn't normal? I mean, when we got here, the company said crime was up, so we've been trying to stay in pairs."
"Nope. Now, don't get me wrong. Cops are always coming around here, but it's because they need to get their quotas, you know? Drugs, fights, and that sort of thing are pretty normal. Got some break-ins every so often. Lots of tagging, and maybe some vandalism. But like, they call it that if a girl catches her man cheating and smashes out the window of his car. It all just gets lumped into Black crime and shit, right? Well, or the Latinos. Like, this side of town is pretty mixed, but don't matter. We're brown, so we're where the cops start lookin' when they got a problem."
"Yeah," Nikki said, hoping to encourage her. "Typical, right?"
"But we don't have people just up and vanish like this," the waitress went on. "I know of at least seven, and that's just in the last four days!"
Nikki and Dahlia shared a look, but neither was willing to say anything. Nope, they were the new people here, and so far as this woman knew, they were just helpless little women. So Nikki tried her best to look more worried than as angry as she felt. It wasn't that hard, because Dahlia's words about the inquisitors kept spiraling around the back of her mind.
"Do we know where it's happening?" Dahlia asked.
"Any bodies?" Nikki added right after.
The waitress jerked her thumb back at the first group. "One of the regulars was found floating in the river. Cops called it suicide, but, like, his arm was gone. Said it happened when he jumped, but I dunno. Just seems weird. Another guy was found with his throat ripped out. Dog attack, the cops said. So yeah, a few, but most are just missing."
"Fuck," Dahlia breathed. "But it's men?"
"Not just men," the waitress admitted. "A pair of girls went to Cliche, that night club a few streets over. They vanished on their way home. Another's car was found over by the park, but she hasn't been seen since. Cops are trying to call that one a suicide too. All I know is that I don't want to be on the street after dark anymore. Not outside my house, not walking home from work, nothing. Soon as the sun goes down, I'm locking my doors and not opening them for nothin'. I suggest you two do the same."
"Good to know," Dahlia said. "Thank you."
She reached over to clasp the waitress’ arm, making it clear she meant that. The woman nodded in understanding, pushed back to her feet, then headed off to help another table. Still, seven people had vanished in four days? Possibly more? Yeah, that was definitely going to get noticed.
"I dunno about you," Nikki said, "but I'm thinking that I'm not that hungry right now."
"Same," Dahlia agreed. "We also need to talk to the rest. This is a problem, Nikki. A big one."
ChapterTwenty-Nine
DAHLIA
The sun was just going down, so Dahlia and Nikki decided it was a good time to head back. The waitress was more than willing to give them boxes for their meals - after all, Thane would probably eat it - and they chose not to look for anything "else" to devour. If people were talking that openly in a local diner, what would they be saying at home? How high were tensions in this community? Neither woman really wanted to tempt fate.
But Dahlia knew this wasn't the sort of thing they could ignore. As they walked, she sent a text to Cain, filling him in on what they knew. He agreed they needed to talk to the rest of the eidolon, and before anyone went out to feed. So, by the time they made it back to their apartment complex, people were already gathering.
This time, the group was called to Cain's apartment. It wasn't really big enough to hold all of them, but he had the most furniture, so it made sense. Just as the girls reached the parking lot, Dahlia saw Thane and Roarke walking together. Evidently Roarke saw them too, because the black dog lifted a hand in a wave.
