A light ripple of laughter flittered through the room after Evan’s last comment, but the overall tone was somber.
“Looks like we’ll both be pretty busy,” I said to Andre with a sigh.
“Look on the bright side,” he said and squeezed my hand. “Not only are they not shutting us down, but you’re getting your way after all.”
He was right, but the fact that it took an act of government espionage, and the deaths of so many innocent lives to happen, was cold comfort indeed.
Chapter 35
“Evan has an absolutely sadistic sense of timing.”
“Can’t we just pretend we didn’t get the text?”
“Do you want to explain why we were late?”
“He’s your uncle, I figured you- hey no fair!”
I found myself being bounced nearly off the side of my bed as Andre sat up and reached for the phone on the bedside table. We had been trying to take advantage of a rare moment of synchronized free time, but less than ten minutes after dragging Andre back to my room, our phones began blaring out alerts.
“He wants us there in five minutes,” Andre said with a frustrated sigh.
“It’s going to take at least that long to find your pants,” I said with a wicked smirk. My sass earned me one very sexy, yet stern look. With feral grace, Andre pounced and gave me one last earth-shattering kiss before bouncing to his feet.
“Get dressed,” he chided with a wink, “and pray for a quick meeting because we’ve got unfinished business.”
“Oh hell yes we do!”
Evan, Miles, Holly, and Mike were waiting when we arrived. As soon as we walked in, Holly gave me a knowing look and Miles hid a smirk behind his hands.
“Am I missing the joke?” I asked as I took my seat.
“Not at all,” Holly said airily. “I was just admiring your uh, unique hairstyle.”
I ran my hands over my head and blushed furiously. My ponytail was hanging loose and tendrils of out-of-control curls were sticking out everywhere. I pulled out the elastic with a huff and tamed my hair back into some semblance of order. Miles appeared to be having some sort of fit and finally lost it.
“In a bit of a hurry, Andre?” he asked before exploding into a fit of laughter that was shared by Mike and Holly. I looked over to see what was so funny and would have laughed too, if I wasn’t already notably embarrassed. Andre, my notoriously impeccable boyfriend, had buttoned his shirt incorrectly and the collar on one side was sticking up comically higher than the other.
“Don’t we have more important matters than my attire to discuss?” he asked icily, but his face was just as red as I imagined mine was.
Evan just shook his head and sighed. “I’m getting too old for this. If we’re all quite through, I have a few matters that I’d like to discuss.”
“Yes sir,” I said, throwing a dirty look at the others, who cleared their throats and took deep breaths to calm themselves back into a serious mindset.
“Good, now if you don’t mind being put on the spot, Lucy, I’d like to ask your opinion on the information presented to us yesterday by Agent Cervantes.”
“It seemed a bit brief,” I said automatically. If Evan was asking my opinion, it meant that he caught some sort of discrepancy and wanted to make sure it was founded. “I mean, she didn’t say much, but she laid a few bombs on us and glossed over a few points, like about Dodd. I’ve been meaning to ask, what happened to him? I assume you didn’t just let him go after he took down the network.”
“Dodd was handed over as soon as the government became involved. Whether he’s still alive or not, I don’t know. Powell and Duncan were brought in for questioning as well. While I’ve been assured that their cooperation will grant them immunity, I don’t foresee the government allowing either of them to work with us in the foreseeable future. But you are correct, we received a rather abridged version of events and some information was deliberately withheld. You want to explain this, Mike?”
“Can do, boss,” Mike said with a smile and opened a folder on the desk in front of him. “What the NSA and DOD failed to take into consideration, was a legal loophole in the contracts required for use of the EJC network. You see, we keep a backup database of all communications over our network, whether for government use or our own. The government database is considered classified, meaning we maintain it, but we are not allowed to go snooping through it. However, it is clearly stated that in the event of a breach of security, leading to the endangerment of the network, it is well within our rights to open said database if we feel it may contain information pertinent to understanding, and thus averting, any future breach. Which is exactly what we did.”
“Which is how we found a few items Cervantes neglected to mention,” Evan added with a look around the room. “I can tell by your expressions that this comes as a shock to exactly no one.”
“You know I played their game once,” Miles said ominously. He rarely talked about his life in the military and it was widely assumed this was because he wasn’t allowed. Considering he was the deadliest of the four sniper assassins in Evan’s employ, this was one of the rare times when I was convinced the truth was likely more sensational than the rumors. “’Trust’ and ‘government’ are two words that can only be used in a sentence starting with ‘don’t.’”
“Well, as much as I’d like to put a cheerful spin on that sentiment, I’m inclined to agree,” Evan said with a frown. “What Cervantes failed to mention, was that all orders the Committee gave to the agency came from an outside source, whose identity is heavily protected. Emails were sent through a series of throwaway accounts on public networks so convoluted that Mike hasn’t been able to find the original source for any of them. The only piece of information we have to go by is the name they were signed with, L. Laurie.”
“And I’m assuming that’s a pseudonym?” Andre asked while writing the name on a notepad and ticking off the letters. “It could be a code.”
“We’re hoping it’s a code,” Evan said with a nod. As I watched Andre write out a series of numbers and rearrange the letters, a thought struck me.
“Evan has Lona talked to you about her theory?”
“No, what theory is that?”
“The more I think about it the more it makes sense,” I said half to myself. “Sorry, I’m just trying to think this through. Anyway, yesterday when I told her how we suspected that Benson wasn’t making the decisions anymore, she tossed out the idea that the ES might be behind this. At first, I thought it sounded crazy, but she had some good points. Specifically, she thought they might be trying to eliminate the genetic engineers who were tainting the purity of their bloodline, so that they could stake their claim here again.”
“I don’t know,” Andre frowned. “They took a big hit to their population. I’d think the last thing they’d want is to take those numbers down further. Considering what we found in Paris,” he added grimly.
“But we know they aren’t opposed to killing anyone and everyone, vampire or human, who get in their way. And we know they’re petty and clannish,” I countered.
“Not to mention the fact that they were here last year, trying to do exactly that,” Miles added. “They’re not exactly known for tucking their tail between their legs and conceding defeat.”
“Can I throw an even more outlandish idea at you?” Holly asked.
“Go right ahead,” Evan replied, clearly considering all of the avenues we were suggesting as feasible.
“The Daughters,” Holly said and held up her hands. “I know, I know. Everything we know about them seems to indicate that they’re nothing more than loony extremists, but look at why they took off here in the first place. Female vampires aren’t treated well and the Daughters, despite the pseudo-spiritualism, all share one common goal, more power for female vampires. From what I understand, the Daughters in Europe are a little more respected and well organized, plus they maintain the pure bloodline of The Eyes. If they wanted to gain a respected presence here in
the states, I would suspect the first adversary they would want to eliminate would be the laboratories that breed genetic subservience into females.”
“That’s not a bad theory,” Mike said with a shrug.
“Actually, that’s not a bad theory at all!” I said with sudden clarity. “L. Laurie, LaLaurie, that makes sense. The Daughters got their name from a cheesy movie about Countess Bathory, a historical figure known because of rumors that she bathed in the blood of virgins. Delphine LaLaurie supposedly did horrific torture experiments, not unlike what the so-called scientists in the ES lab were doing, on her slaves right here in New Orleans. For a code name, that’s a pretty weak one.”
“It’s a start,” Evan said after a moment of consideration. “Officially we have not been asked to assist in this investigation, and since the government is the only thing keeping the EPA off my ass at the moment, I don’t want to do anything that might get us shut down for good.”
“Wait, why is the EPA on your ass?” Miles asked.
“The toxic nightmare unleashed when Blackthorn imploded compromised acres of protected wetlands. When the National Guard responded, they found my employees running around and my vehicles parked in our research property. It could have been a PR nightmare if the Department of Defense hadn’t stepped in. I’m still on the hook for half the cleanup,” Evan said with clear disgust. Not that I could blame him. “But as I was about to say, even though we’ve officially been told to butt out, we still have a job to do, and I’m not sending my people out uninformed. Let’s start looking into the possibility of both the ES and Daughters making inroads here again. It’s nothing we haven’t done before, but this time we have the advantage of knowing what to expect.”
He sat back and stretched out his leg, the one that was still in a cast, with a sigh. “I’m stuck in this thing for another week and Abe seems to think I’m going to need another month of therapy. I’m giving that a week as well. Also, I’m not sending anyone out until we have our secure network back up, so Andre, Mike; I’ll need you two to make that your priority. Holly, since you seem to know what we’re looking for, I want you and Ingrid to sift through that database for any leads that validate what we’re assuming. If you’ve got something that stumps you, run it past Lucy. I’ve come to trust her ability to see things we might ordinarily miss. As for you, Lucy and Miles, we’ve got roughly two weeks to get a team of career hunters to learn when to show some restraint. I want the two of you to come up with a lesson plan that I can run by them in our first meeting. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have about eight hundred phone calls to make and I’m not going to enjoy any of them.”
“So much for a quick meeting,” I grumbled to Andre as we left Evans office.
“I’ll make it up to you,” he whispered with a wink and gave me a light kiss.
“Come on Casanova,” Mike teased and yanked Andre’s arm lightly.
“That’s right, I’m going to need Lucy’s head in the game, if you don’t mind,” Miles added.
“You guys are horrible,” I pouted and turned back to Andre. “I’m holding you to that promise.”
“Lucy you gotta help me, I've been kicked out of my own kitchen!”
It had only taken Miles and me a few hours to come up with a schedule, so I decided to distract myself from the fact that Andre was still busy by going to the kitchen for some much-needed coffee. I was greeted by Ida, who had been forced to take a break, and sat with a glass of lemonade, her feet up, and the most comical scowl I'd ever seen.
“Stop being so dramatic, mamma,” Isaac said from behind the counter, where he was showing Cynda and Anil the proper way to chop vegetables. “These two need to learn that dinner does not begin with pizza and end with ice cream.”
“Enjoy it while you can,” I teased Ida lightly, “because we're about to get busy. Are you ready to play teacher?”
Ida made a noise halfway between a grunt and a snort. “I am not looking forward to trying to drive some sense into certain skulls, especially those that are harder than others.”
“Don't worry; I'm looking forward to butting heads with Hugh as soon as he's well enough. I'll save the softies for you.”
“Hugh?” Anil asked with a laugh. “You haven't been down to visit him lately have you?” He snuck an amused look at Cynda who smirked.
“Looks like the rumor mill has a junior division,” I told Ida wryly. “Well, are you going to spill your secrets or keep us old folks in the dark?”
“I don't think there's much of a secret,” Isaac explained with a chuckle. “Ingrid's been spending her free time checking in on the big lug. Personally, I think they'd be good for each other. You never met Hugh's ex-wife.” Isaac's expression indicated they probably parted on bad terms. “Ingrid is a definite improvement.” I admit I was a bit shocked, Hugh's strict religious beliefs meant he could be pretty narrow-minded at times. If spending time with Ingrid meant he was relaxing those rigid views, then all the better.
“Well she's about the only woman tall enough for Hugh,” I half joked. Ingrid was pretty tall.
“It's turning into a soap opera around here,” Ida muttered under her breath.
“Right, like ninety percent of the rumors don't originate right here in the kitchen,” I teased.
“Somebody's gotten sassy since becoming family.”
“When haven’t I been sassy?” I asked with a pathetic attempt at a sassy finger snap. “I plan to get a lot sassier. I’ve got a real good feeling about the new direction the organization’s taking and I hope everyone takes it as seriously as I do.”
“You can count on me,” Anil said and saluted me with the celery stalk he was chopping. “Seriously, mom was ready to pack us up and move to Nebraska to keep me from becoming a hunter. She’s cool with rehabilitation technician.”
“Rehabilitation technician? Is that what we’re calling ourselves now?”
“Sure,” Anil shrugged. “What did you call yourself?”
“A rogue social worker,” I joked. “To be honest, I never thought about it. Do we have titles, Ida?”
She closed her eyes and thought about it for a moment. “I never did put no stock in fancy titles. I’m a cook, not a chef, not a food technician.” She made a face at Anil.
“I like humanitarian,” Isaac suggested. “Because in the end, that’s what it all boils down to; salvaging the humanity of those who may not have known that they still had any.”
“I told you my boy was smart,” Ida said with a watery-eyed smile.
“Sounds like he learned from the best,” I told her with a misty smile of my own. “It’s perfect.”
Chapter 36
The day of Carlos’ funeral was beautiful and sunny, without too much humidity. It was fitting, I felt, because it was the kind of day that reflected the personality of the man we were memorializing. It had rained at my mother’s funeral. Something that even into adulthood, I felt was unfair to the memory of a woman who was always full of sunshine. I remember telling this to my grandmother, who explained that the rain was needed in California, and therefore symbolic of my mother’s generous nature. It had been a beautiful gesture on my grandmother’s part, but I still wished my mother had gotten a sunny day for her final send off.
Carlos was laid to rest in a small cemetery near Metairie. Meeting and offering my condolences to the family had been one of the hardest things I had ever done. As I hugged and shook the hands of his parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, I could not suppress the overwhelming feeling of guilt. I knew of course, that there was nothing I could have done to prevent his death, but I would always live with the feeling, warranted or not, that it was my fault that Carlos was put into the situation that led to his death.
As I watched my friends, family, and colleagues pay their respects, I was overcome by how many lives were affected in a single month. The senseless deaths of Agents Powell and Jorgenson, the women and children we were unable to save from Blackthorn Plantation, and of course Carlos, weighed heavily on me. No
lives saved, tallied in a notebook, were going to make up for the loss of any of them. Knowing this did nothing to ease the pain, but it did add perspective that I didn’t have when I foolishly thought I could absolve myself of the deaths I was responsible for by saving the lives of others. One will never make up for the other, but that in no way made the job I had to do any less important.
But despite all of the feelings of sadness, unease, and uncertainty, there were silver linings. Dara had already reunited two of the abducted girls with their families. Jocelyn and Liza had both been seventeen when they were taken together, from a shopping mall in Hammond three years earlier. According to Dara, the change in both of them after realizing that their parents still loved them, and never blamed them for their abduction, was instantaneous. She was still going to monitor their progress personally and offered counseling for both families, any time they wished.
Jade was going home soon as well, and taking her one surviving child with her. Having been a New Orleans resident, and the daughter of a single mother, she didn’t seem to think the presence of Gavin, her son, would carry the same societal taboo that it would have had she come from a small town. She too, would keep in contact with Dara, and planned to get the high school diploma she had been robbed of twelve years prior.
Only Zora, the last of the women we had rescued, had no family to return to, and no desire to leave the protection of headquarters. She had been a prisoner in Bluebeard’s compound for nearly thirty years and had no remaining children at the time of her rescue. Zora was by far the most traumatized, but between Dara and Ida, she was slowly learning to cope with what had happened.
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