Marcus ducked his head to hide a swift grin.
“Believe me,” she continued, “if I’m right about who did this, there isn’t anything you could have done.”
“What do you mean? Do you know who did it?”
Ari glanced at the area where the young vampires had been. Two of them were still watching and listening. “Not out here. Ask Andreas later. Let’s worry about the club first.”
Marcus frowned, shrugged, and took off toward a group of staff members. Ari went in search of Andreas. She wasn’t sure how much they could do tonight, except start the planning, but she was willing to do her share.
She found him in the main dining room, staring at the charred walls and soaked floors of the entry. Pieces of shattered glass littered the floor; the once beautiful cherry wood sat blistered and buckled; torn drapes, laden with water hung forlornly, and soot covered everything in sight. The pungent stench stung her nose.
She picked her way to Andreas’s side, the floor squishing where she walked, and slipped her hand in his.
“Your Lt. Foster called,” he said. “He is working on another case but will be here in the morning. He wants to talk with the fire investigators first. The cleanup has to wait until everyone else is finished.”
“And after that?”
He looked at the entry again, his jaw line hardening. “We rebuild, reopen, and find the devil’s spawn that did this.”
* * *
When Ari arrived home from the club, it was near dawn. It had taken hours to obtain all the names, double check that patrons and staff were safe, and secure the premises from possible vandals. She collected the morning paper from in front of her door and dropped it on the kitchen counter. Her nose was stuffy, smarting from the heavy smoke. Bed would have to wait a few more minutes. She stripped and stepped into the shower. Even her insides must be covered in smoke and soot. After ten minutes of soaping and scrubbing, she gave up. She could still smell the acrid residue of the fire.
Cuddling in a large bath towel, she searched for and found clean sleep clothes and was climbing into bed when her phone started its insistent clamor. She glanced at the bedside clock. 5:37 a.m. Another day ruined before she even got to bed.
“Get your paper,” Ryan’s voice demanded. “I’ll wait.”
“Just tell me. Is this about the fire?” she asked, rubbing her gritty eyes with a free hand. She was in no mood to listen to Ryan bitch.
“‘Killer Stalks Vamps!’” he sputtered. “I particularly liked this line: ‘A bystander described the recent attacks as a cowardly series of hate crimes.’ What’s The Clarion trying to do? Start a riot?”
When he mentioned The Clarion, she realized he must be reading from the morning news. “Why don’t you call them and ask? Instead of keeping me from my bed?” Ari padded across the room, tripped over a discarded shoe, and grabbed the paper from the kitchen counter.
“It’s the headline! Don’t you get it?”
She opened the paper, and the horrifying words jumped out at her. “Oh yeah, I get it,” she said, her heart sinking. “This is harsh. But how is bitching at me going to help?”
“Maybe it won’t, but I could strangle that sonofabitch Eddie West.” Ryan was furious. “He's been a pain from the beginning of this case, but this is the last straw. It’s bad enough we have some asshole demon running around killing people and starting fires. Now the press. This is deliberately inflammatory!”
“Okay, calm down. I’ll call Eddie and see what’s going on. Maybe I can at least prevent more articles like this. He doesn’t understand how bad things are. I learned last night that many of the younger vamps have demanded that Prince Daron approve a hunt for the killer.”
“A hunt? Dammit. Why didn’t you call me? You thought I didn’t need to know?” He uttered a few more choice words, and Ari let him vent. She had to agree that the case was going to hell in a hurry, and The Clarion article only made things worse.
“I would have told you right away, but it was late, and then there was the fire. Besides, Prince Daron has them under control, at least for now.” She was annoyed she had to defend herself. “Give me a break, Ryan. I haven’t been to bed yet. But since I’m still up, I’ll call Eddie now.”
“I want to know what he says, so call me afterwards. I’m at the fire scene now. You’re not the only one who’s short on sleep.”
She hung up before the conversation deteriorated further and rummaged in the fridge for a diet cola. She downed it in one long swig. The throat burn actually felt good. At least it got her going again. She had Eddie’s private number on speed dial and figured he deserved to be up. When he answered on the first ring, she realized someone had gotten to him first. She was sorry to have been deprived of the pleasure.
“Did you really write this story?” she demanded. She had read every word of the article—twice. It was bad. Eddie’s by-line stared her in the face.
“Most of it, but I didn’t choose the headline. Honest. It was less dramatic when I last saw it, but you can’t expect us not to print the facts.”
“The facts, yes, but this is misleading. It seems geared toward arousing a public outcry.”
“In what way? I reported that three vamps have been killed, and two of the murders were similar. That’s true. It doesn’t take such a big leap of logic to assume the third killing is connected. And there’s the shots fired at Andreas, another vampire, and the firebombing last night at a vampire club. Even the spray painting. House of Monsters. While vampires aren’t the only monsters, I think the meaning is clear. Somebody hates the vampires.”
“And this helps? Some of the younger vampires are already threatening to find the killer themselves. This just fires up everybody. Are you sure you didn’t write this to get even for your time in jail?”
He didn’t answer for a long, heavy moment. “I hope that was a bad joke,” he finally said. “I have professional ethics. This isn’t a vendetta. How can you even ask that, after I suppressed the story the last time you asked?”
It was true. Nearly a year ago Ari had asked him not to print a story that revealed too much about the vampires, and he hadn’t. But that was before the cops arrested him. That could have changed his perspective. Or maybe he just didn’t want to be scooped again.
“This will make trouble,” she predicted. “The article is irresponsible.”
“Sorry you feel that way,” he said, anger making his voice rough. “I have a job to do, and the public has a right to know what’s happening. Do the vamps know someone wants to kill them? Or were you keeping that little secret to yourself?”
“What’s gotten into you? Did you hear me say they want to form a hunt? Of course, they know. Warnings went out through the community. But your article implies someone is indiscriminately killing vampires. That’s not how I see it. You’ll have every vamp in town jumping at shadows, and they could start hunting humans in spite of Prince Daron’s disapproval.”
“I don’t want to get anybody killed,” Eddie muttered. “What do you expect me to do, when all I get from official sources is the run-around? Maybe you need to tell me the story. Explain how I’m wrong.”
“After this? No way.” Ari sighed, reined in her temper, and backtracked. “At least not until it’s safe to release the story. Talk with your bosses, tone down the inflammatory stuff. Maybe even get the story off the front page.” She forced herself to be reasonable, conciliatory. Eddie wasn’t the enemy, and she didn’t want to make him one. “Your paper’s being manipulated by a clever killer. Please don’t feed into the public panic it seems to crave.” She’d said all she could and maybe more than she should. But Eddie would think it over, and she hoped it would influence his discussions with the newspaper management.
“You know who’s doing this, don’t you? Can’t you give me a hint?” Emotion simmered in his voice. “No, I suppose not. I’ll do what I can, but the story sells papers. Maybe I can find a positive angle, but no promises. Hey, what did you mean by it?”
Ari faked a hesitation, as if she were reluctant and hadn’t deliberately dropped the hint. “Off the record?”
Eddie groaned. “That good, huh?”
“Off the record,” she repeated to make sure he understood. “Suspects from the drive-by were apprehended. It was an attempted hit, and the money man isn’t human.”
“By not human, do you mean a werewolf or vampire?” When she didn’t answer, he asked, “Was that the standoff yesterday afternoon where one of the suspects died?” Renewed interest sparked in his voice.
“I’ve told you all I can, but I think you see the problem. Your article incorrectly fed the community belief that the killer is human. You can’t tell them that’s wrong. Just back off on the hate crime rhetoric.”
“What about the fire? Is that part of this? Or something personal?”
“We’re working on it. Give us a chance.” Impatience seeped into her voice.
“A vendetta?” he persisted. “Maybe Sebastian again?”
Ari hit the disconnect. She didn’t have the answers and was tired of saying so. Eddie wasn’t going to quit digging, but maybe he’d spend time on the personal angle. It could minimize the stalker talk. At least he couldn’t print anything about a demon or even a mysterious creature. Not unless he broke faith with Ari, and she didn’t think he’d go that far. She couldn’t imagine how bad it would be if the public suspected there was a demon in Riverdale.
She was getting sleepy again, but before she crawled into bed for a few hours, she called Ryan back, then spoke with Russell and Lilith. Although the club staff would be busy with the fire marshals and cleanup, she wanted them to show Andreas the article as soon as he woke. With forewarning, maybe the vampire court could head off disaster before it started.
