by Skye Knizley
Raven stepped forward and looked Rayne in the eyes. To her surprise the woman was human; not lycan, not vampire, but human.
"Ms. DeGrey, what is a nice French woman like you doing with vampires like these?" she asked.
"There is no such thing as a vampire," Rayne replied with as much dignity as she could muster.
"I'm glad we've got that sorted out," Raven replied. "Let me be clear, we didn't need a warrant. There was more than enough evidence of a crime in progress outside to call in SWAT, you're lucky it was just us. Ms. DeGrey, you are under arrest for the manufacture, storage and sale of the narcotic known as Thirst, the attempted murder of a young girl who was dying on your doorstep and for messing up my hair. You have the right to remain silent. I suggest you exercise that right when it comes to any questions about blood-suckers. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. If you say anything about your missing staff I will make sure you rot in a prison for the criminally insane instead of cushy Club Fed…"
Raven continued reading Rayne her rights as she and Levac escorted the woman back to the waiting Shelby…
* * *
Two hours later Raven and Levac sat on Raven's desk sipping coffee and flipping through Zhu's reports. DeGrey had been taken to processing and Aspen's team was collecting evidence from the meat-packing plant. She had already confirmed that the vials were identical in size and shape to the ones found at the Shevlin residence. More tests would be needed for an exact match, but it was close enough for Raven to use against DeGrey in interrogation.
The autopsies confirmed what they already knew. Shevlin was tortured and killed by decapitation, Christina died of heart failure due to unknown causes. The report on Christina also indicated she'd been pregnant when she'd died.
Raven was just finishing her coffee when Frost came out of his office. She tossed her coffee cup into the nearby can and elbowed Levac who looked up from the file folder to see Frost approaching.
"He looks unhappy," Levac said.
"Yeah… it's the way his eyes crinkle at the edges and his face turns red," Raven replied calmly. "It’s a dead giveaway."
Frost ignored Levac and looked straight down at Raven.
"One arrest? One arrest? Are you saying that one woman was running a six thousand square foot Thirst operation?" he asked.
"Hi, Chris," Raven said. "Yeah, we were just going through the reports. There isn't any obvious connection between the two deaths at the Shevlin place, but I've a hunch they are related. We will keep digging until we find the link. We're going to interrogate Rayne DeGrey in about ten minutes and see if she can shed any light on the subject, if you want to observe."
"I asked you a question, Detective," Frost said, ignoring Raven's words. "Where are all the other workers? Why aren't my holding cells full of Thirst peddlers?"
Raven raised her head and looked at Frost, her eyes darkening. "We found a half dozen or so homeless people the bitch had kidnapped and was making work for her. We let them go. It wasn't their fault they were working there, they had no choice. If you want to arrest them they are at Sisters of Mercy next to St. Jude's. Good luck with the Deacon there. I hear Patrick Moore doesn't care much for people messing with his flock."
"No one else?" Frost asked. "No one at all?"
"No, no one," Levac replied. "Is there something else, sir? We have an interview to do."
Frost looked at Levac and opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the telephone. Raven lifted the receiver and held it to her ear. She hung up a second later.
"We’re up, partner," she said. "That is unless the Lieutenant wants to keep asking questions about my report."
Frost stood aside and Raven slid off the desk, followed by Levac, who dropped his coffee in the wastebasket.
In the elevator he turned to Raven.
"I don't like lying to Chris," he said. "The lieutenant is a good man, he was your dad's partner for years."
"It isn't high on my list either, Rupe," Raven replied, staring straight ahead. "If you want to tell him we dusted twelve vampires, go right ahead. You want to ask for reassignment I…won't stop you. These are the cases I get, Rupert. This is the shit I deal with day in, day out. I already told you."
Levac looked hurt and turned away.
"That wasn't what I meant, Ray," he said. "You said you thought he knew."
Raven nodded. "I do. That doesn't mean it can go in the official report, Rupert, and that is what will happen if you confirm what Chris thinks," she said. "Those reports get seen by the records clerk, the chief and God knows how many other people. Adding that we killed twelve vampires suspected of peddling Thirst to the official record would get us thrown off the force and possibly locked in the funny farm. I don't think you want that and I sure don't. So yeah, I do the dirty work, clean up the weird-ass cases and lie on my reports to keep the general populace from having any clue about what is right in front of their noses."
"I'm sorry," Levac said after a moment. "I know you. That must be hard on you."
"It's my job," Raven replied with a forced smile.
The elevator stopped and Raven walked down the hall to the interrogation room, trailed by Levac who seemed lost in thought. Raven handed her Automag to the patrolman on duty and turned to her partner.
"Are you in or out?" she asked.
Levac looked back at Raven. "In. You're my partner."
Raven smiled as Levac handed both of his weapons to the officer. The two detectives then entered the room, which was painted white, and had a green tile floor. It contained nothing, but a table and a few chairs. Rayne DeGrey was sitting at the table with her hands cuffed in front of her. She had doffed the grey suit coat she was wearing, revealing the sleeveless crimson blouse beneath. In spite of appearing in her fifties, the woman's arms were quite muscular. Golden circlets wrapped her arms just below the bicep and were welded in place; the only reason she hadn't been relieved of them. She otherwise still wore the rest of her suit and smart heels. Prison blues wouldn't be handed out until she had been arraigned in the morning.
Levac pulled a chair out and sat down across from DeGrey while Raven leaned up against the observation glass.
"Ms. DeGrey, it's good to see you again," Levac said. "I'm sorry this has to be under such unpleasant circumstances. I understand your attorney will be here shortly?"
The woman nodded once, curtly, and kept her eyes straight ahead.
"Is there anything you would like to tell us in the absence of counsel?" Levac asked.
DeGrey's face darkened and she frowned. "Do I look stupid, Detective?"
Levac shook his head and pulled his notepad out. He smoothed a clean page and said, "Not at all, Ms. DeGrey, not at all. I was just hoping you could help us out. We're investigating a murder. Thirst was found at the scene and it seems to have come from your business. Could you help explain that for us?"
DeGrey's handcuffs rattled and she laughed. "Your dumb detective act is very good Mr. Levac. You are a true student of the late Peter Falk. But I still have nothing to say to you."
There was a knock at the door before Levac could say anything else. The door opened a beat later and a tall brunette woman dressed in a black pantsuit, cream blouse and the kind of heels that made Raven want to punch her in the face. They were six inches if they were anything.
"Attorney Riscassi?" Raven asked.
"Yes. You're Detective Storm," the woman said, not offering her hand. "I have heard of you. That scruffy looking little man must be your partner, Detective Levac. Charming. Why are you holding Ms. DeGrey?"
"We…" Levac began but Raven cut him off.
"You know perfectly well why we are holding your client or you wouldn't be here yourself. You would have sent a lackey. Ms. DeGrey is under arrest for the manufacture, distribution and sale of narcotics, specifically the one known as Thirst," she said.
Riscassi moved behind her client and squeezed the seated woman's shoulder. "I wasn't aware you were still in narcotics, Detec
tive Storm. I was under the impression you were disciplined and moved to homicide after beating a suspect to death."
Raven stiffened, but did not rise to the bait. "I'm glad you are so familiar with my illustrious career. You are Ms. Maria Riscassi, of Riscassi and Levine, daughter of Rocco "Rocky" Riscassi. I don't have to tell you what he was known for, do I?"
Riscassi smiled, but it never reached her cold brown eyes. "It's nice we are all so well acquainted. So tell me, Detective, what do you have on my client?"
Levac cleared his throat and flipped backwards through his notepad. "Well, Ms. Riscassi, it would appear we have enough to put your client away oh… for quite some time. I'd say fifteen to twenty for all this, if the judge goes easy on her."
"We have this, Riscassi," Raven said, slamming a vial of Thirst on the table. "Thirst. Highly addictive, deadly, and since you know me so well, the reason I beat a drug dealer to death with my bare hands. Vials just like this are connected to the deaths of two people, found at the scene, but not used. I want to know how your junk got in my crime scene!"
Riscassi glanced at the vial and back to Raven. "I assume you are prepared to offer some deal in exchange for this information?"
"Well, Ms. Riscassi, the DA is prepared to guarantee Ms. DeGrey gets the lightest possible sentence in a minimum security facility if Ms. DeGrey enters a plea and provides the information we've requested," Levac said. "I can have the paperwork brought in if you would like."
"No thank you," DeGrey said without looking up.
This took even Riscassi by surprise. She sat next to her client. "Rayne, if even half of what they have sticks, you could go to prison for a very long time. If we play our cards right I can bargain it down to five years in minimum security, parole in three."
Fat chance, Raven thought.
"I understand, Ms. Riscassi," DeGrey said. "The answer is still no. I can't help these officers."
"Are you certain?" Riscassi asked.
DeGrey nodded, her face blank. "I am."
Riscassi stood and spread her arms. "I'm sorry, Detectives, my client and I must decline your offer. I suggest you provide copies of your reports and evidence findings to my office. I will be in touch with the district attorney."
* * *
"Damnit," Raven growled as she and Levac walked back to the elevator. "That was a sweet deal you laid on her and she shoots it down? That's crazy."
"I agree," Levac said. "And without her we're at a stand-still. Again. What did your famous instincts tell you?"
"We're not at a stand-still," Raven said. "Aspen identified the fluids on his pants to indeed be the makings of a martini. And that kid is good. The martinis were made with vodka infused with snake blood, served locally at our not-so-favorite nightclub. As far as my instincts…that was at least partially an act. Riscassi was lying and her surprise at DeGrey's declination of the deal was feigned, even if it was insane. She knew DeGrey wasn't going to take the deal. DeGrey on the other hand was as cold as a cucumber and just as unfeeling. It makes no sense at all."
Levac frowned and rang for the lift. "So what was the deal with you and Riscassi?"
Raven shrugged. "She's a mob daughter. Her father was a high-up enforcer my dad took down. Rocco's men were considered suspects in dad's murder, but no one could ever prove the case, though Gibbs and Frost tried. I even tried when I got the chance, but there simply wasn't enough evidence to put any of them at the scene."
"That explains why you wanted to pull her head off."
Raven smiled at Levac, but there was little humor in it. "And go bowling."
The two stepped into the elevator and began the slow ride up from interrogation.
Levac flicked out his pocket watch and frowned at the time. "It's three fourteen in the morning, Ray. I think we should head home and pick this back up at around the crack of noon."
Raven hadn't realized it was so late, but then she was half vampire… and she was starting to really need a drink after all the blood and energy she'd spent during the day.
"You get some rest, Rupe," she said. "When you get in, see what you can dig up on DeGrey and Riscassi. Associates they have in common outside our normal mob scumbags, anything."
"A hunch?" Levac asked.
"One of those feelings," Raven said somewhat distantly.
Levac rolled his eyes and stepped out of the elevator. Raven followed and the two walked toward their respective vehicles.
"And I suppose you're going to Club Purgatory without me…again," Levac said.
"Rupe, don't start," Raven replied. "You know about the suckheads now. That place is crawling with them. Let me handle the preternatural stuff while you be a real detective and do what you do best."
And not get your head pulled off for asking 'Just one more thing', she added mentally.
Raven could see in his face he didn't like it, but Levac nodded his assent and headed toward his battered Met. She waited till he had driven away before getting into her own car and heading back to Old Town.
* * *
Not much had changed since they'd left a few hours previously, though police lights still sparkled in the distance where Aspen and her team were busily gathering enough evidence to bury DeGrey in the MCC for a long, long time.
Raven found a safe place to park near Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe and headed across the central courtyard toward Club Purgatory. Though the sun would rise in just three hours' time, there was a line of Goth and Emo kids outside longer than a bunch of groupies at a movie premier. The bouncer had changed since Raven and Levac had walked by previously and Raven didn’t recognize the large African-American vampire leaning against the railing. He had a black bandana holding waist-length dreads in place and was clad head to toe in leather from the finest Fetish catalog.
As usual Raven walked past the line of hopeful vamp wannabes, hopped the velvet rope and stopped next to the bouncer, whose bulk was blocking the door.
"Fürstin Ravenel," he said with a bow of his head.
"I don't know you, what's your name and what house do you represent?" Raven asked.
"I am Malik Zoba of the House of Xion."
Raven nodded, recognizing the name. They were usually quiet at court, if they even bothered to show up.
"It is a pleasure to meet one of the blood pact," she replied, returning the head bow. "I would like access to the club, please."
"I apologize, Ravenel," he said. "But rules say you wait your turn. Especially you."
"Especially me?" Raven asked. "Cornelius really made that a rule?"
"Yes, Ravenel," Malik replied, again omitting Raven's title. "I must ask you to go the end of the line and wait."
Raven sighed and brought the fire to her eyes, knowing this time is was really going to drain her.
"Malik, I mean no disrespect to you or your house, though the continual omission of my title indicates you mean insult to me and the Mistress of the City. I will give you a chance. We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way. The easy way is you step aside and let me pass in the name of Fürstin and as a Chicago officer on police business."
"And the hard way?" Malik asked, cracking his knuckles and straightening to his impressive seven foot five inch height.
Raven rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Seriously? The hard way? Can't any of you mouth-breathers ever take the easy way and just let me in the fucking door?"
There was a crowded thirty seconds where Raven exchanged blows with the larger man…who eventually threw her over the railing. She landed gracefully on her feet and snarled up at the older vampire, letting her fangs show, to the amusement of the crowd who thought it was all some kind of act for their benefit.
"Not bad, Dreads," she said, somewhat surprised.
Malik was breathing hard from the exchange, but he nodded. "Likewise, half-breed."
Raven smiled and leapt back over the railing, one high-heeled boot catching the vampire in the face and ripping open his jaw. As he howled in pain she back-fisted him across the other side
of his jaw and followed up with a reverse spin-kick that ripped his throat out and dropped him gurgling to the walkway. Raven knelt on one knee beside him and pulled him half way off the cement.
"There is a reason I am Fürstin, Malik," she said in a quiet voice. "And you're not. The blood of a Sanguinarch flows in my veins."
Malik tried to reply, but his ruined face was having trouble putting itself back together.
"It was a pleasure meeting someone from House Xion," Raven said. "Next time, just open the damn door. And it's Fürstin Ravenel to you, Embraced. If I have to remind you again, they will be sweeping your ashes into the bushes. Have I made myself clear?"
The vampire nodded once and Raven dropped him to the ground. She then smiled at the crowd and passed through the door, leaving it open behind her. Beyond the front door were the restrooms and a coat closet that led to a foyer that had recently been decorated with a variety of paintings depicting the denizens of purgatory all in overly sexual positions. Beyond them was a curtain that led through to the weapons check and massive dance floor. Raven ignored the new check-in girl who offered to take her weapons and passed through the plastic curtain and into the club proper. What passed for 'dance music' assaulted her ears and she winced at the heavy bass beat that threatened to shake her fangs out of her head. She pushed through the crowd to the bar where a friendly face was already pouring her a cranberry club soda. Raven smiled at the Nubian princess behind the bar and sipped the soda gratefully.
"Hello, Pashta," she said, licking her lips. "It's good to see you, love. Thank you for the soda, but I'm going to need something a little stronger this time."
Pashta reached for the Jack Daniels bottle, but Raven stopped her.
"Not booze, Pash" she said, barely above the din of the club. "Claret in a wine glass if you don't mind?"
Pashta raised her eyebrows in surprise, but reached beneath the counter to the bottle warmer. She pulled out an unmarked wine bottle and poured Raven a full glass of deep red blood. Raven choked back her distaste and swallowed the whole glass as quickly as she could.
