Chapter 27
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For nearly two minutes, Cassidy banged on the club’s front door. Then she ran around to the back entrance, testing it to find it locked as well. After banging on it for more than a minute, she concluded that no one was inside. Her mind raced off into a quandary. Her plan was dependent upon the presence of Cristiãn and the other vampires to be here at the club. Their absence made her worried that she would not be able to find them.
Cassidy was doubtful that the seventeen vampires would choose to go to the residence of one of the vampires living in the city. She suspected that they all knew by now that she was free and armed with the knowledge of what and who they were. She thought it likely that they may have already started the process of shedding the identities they had created for themselves. She also worried that Cristiãn may have been killed by the other vampires. But neither of these events added to or subtracted from her belief in what had to be done. But those worries did bring her thoughts back to the idea of calling Cristiãn’s cellphone.
Cassidy’s attempt to call Cristiãn when she was at the 94th Precinct failed to get a pickup. She suspected that Cristiãn was ignoring her call, and she had no reason to believe he would answer a call from her now. But the thought of trying again reminded her that the vampires took her cellphone. That thought, in turn, produced an idea that sent her into motion. She ran to her own car around the corner from The Cavern where she parked it when she first arrived at the club earlier. She quickly got in behind the steering wheel, shut the door and then retrieved her tablet computer from the glove compartment.
Cassidy thought the vampires might still be in possession of her cellphone. She knew that if that was true, it would give her a means of locating them. She knew that she was grasping at straws now, but if her cellphone was still on, then she could use the find my cellphone app on her tablet to track it. She could not fathom why they would take her cellphone with them since destroying it seemed to her a far more likely action. But this reasoning did not stop her from hoping that she was wrong.
For more than a minute, Cassidy studied the tablet and fumbled with its operation. She was familiar with most of the apps on her tablet, but she had never used the find my cellphone app before. Losing things was something that Cassidy just did not normally do. She spent a considerable amount of time fumbling with the tablet trying to discern which of the many apps was the one she needed. After finding and initiating the app, she had to wait for the program to report back. She worried that the failure of a quick response was due to her cellphone not registering in the cellular network. But she was soon flooded with relief when a map popped up on the screen, and her cellphone was clearly marked in the center of it.
The sight of her cellphone on the map was the lesser of two surprises that she noticed at that moment. What startled her more was the sight of her cellphone on the map, moving up the I-95 toward Connecticut. She pondered what she was seeing for a moment, then her mind began to entertain the possibility that this was a false lead. She considered the idea that they had tossed her cellphone onto some truck that was headed out of state. But that theory was no match for the simplest answer: they took the phone with them. Cassidy concluded that acting on the simple scenario was the only option she had. Twenty-minutes later, she was racing her car up the New England Thruway and closing in on the Connecticut state line. She was nearly an hour out from Manhattan when her cellphone came to a stop in a remote area on the outskirts of Greenwich.
When the vehicle carrying Cassidy’s cellphone came to a stop, she estimated that it was between ten and fifteen minutes ahead of her. It was far closer than it was at the start. It was obvious to her that the person driving the vehicle she was pursuing was in no hurry. It took her another ten minutes to reach the turnoff the vehicle took from the I-95. She continued to use the map to navigate and repeatedly tightened the focus on her tablet.
The expanse of land along with the widely separated houses simplified Cassidy’s search for the location where her cellphone came to a stop. After rolling around the bend on the two-lane road she was following, Cassidy saw only one structure that was close enough to be a match to what she was seeing on her tablet. Her belief that this was the house she was looking for was supported by the presence of five cars in its driveway. She hesitated for a moment before speeding into the driveway then slamming on the brakes. Her car screeched to a stop in the middle of the driveway, straight out from the front door. She did not bother to turn off the engine. She shoved the gearshift into park, flung open the car and jumped out into the driveway with her tablet in one hand and the presentation file in the other.
Cassidy turned her attention toward the house the instant her body was standing erect. She quickly noticed the many faces that were looking back at her through the front windows of the house. After a moment of examination, she recognized all of the faces of to the vampires she was looking for. It took her several seconds to realize that Cristiãn was not among them. She took a deep breath, stepped around to the front of her car, shoved the presentation folder up over her head and held it there.
Lucian was first to walk out of the house immediately followed by Stefan. They both moved cautiously onto the small porch, down the steps to the walkway and three steps out toward the driveway. Cassidy noticed a brief odd expression from them both. She interpreted it as an irritating effect of direct sunlight on their faces. They appeared to reinforce themselves to the experience within a couple of seconds and began to scan their distant surroundings. They looked more concerned about what they could not see in the distance than they were with Cassidy.
Most of the other vampires were content to watch her from the windows. Cristiãn was not one of them. He hurried out onto the front porch and stopped there. Razvan, Sorin and Augustus followed him. A swell of relief filled Cassidy at the sight of him. They fixed and held their sights on each other. Lucian took notice of their exchange before speaking.
“Detective Tremaine,” he called out with a smile. “You have a gift for showing up when and where you’re least expected.”
Cassidy ignored the greeting. She was in no humor to banter with Lucian. She was afraid, angry and doubtful that her only ally would not be able to protect her. Instead of giving a reply, Cassidy walked over to the nearest parked car and placed the presentation folder down on the hood. She then backed away from it and the car.
“What’s that?” Lucian queried.
“That’s you,” Cassidy called back. “Names, aliases, addresses, fingerprints, history, bloodwork, everything I need to expose all of you to the world.”
Lucian was surprised and confused by her declaration. Nothing she said or did made any sense to him. He hesitated and pondered the situation, but Stefan was far less in the dark about how he should respond.
Everything that Stefan saw and heard told him that Cassidy Tremaine was alone. His usual stern expression transitioned into a scowl. Immediately after hearing that she had Razvan’s dossier on them, he began to move forward with a visible intent to do her harm. Cristiãn jumped down to the walkway to intervene but was caught there by Augustus and Sorin. It was clear to them both that he intended to come to Cassidy’s defense. While they were all in motion, Cassidy began to speak.
“Careful, Stefan,” she called out as she held her tablet up in the air.
Stefan promptly came to a stop in response to Cassidy’s warning.
“All I have to do is press one button on this tablet and everything in that folder goes out to a couple of dozen well-chosen individuals.”
Her remark was followed by a moment of silence. Lucian speculated that Cassidy was there to save Cristiãn. That was the only scenario that came close to making sense to him. That thought gave him hope that he might be able to salvage the status quo.
“Are you here alone, Detective?” Lucian questioned her as he began to slowly move toward the presentation folder.
“Yes,” Cassidy replied as she moved to the far side of her car.
Lucian accepted her answer with a nod as he continued to move toward the folder. Then Razvan moved down the stairs and a few steps out into the yard. Everyone present watched Lucian as he moved to the folder, opened it and began to examine the contents. As Lucian read, Dumitra, Nadja and Petru walked out of the house and moved down the steps into the front yard. They were also fixated on Lucian and the folder he studied. He perused its contents for a little more than a minute before addressing Cassidy with a playful expression.
“I don’t suppose you’re willing to come inside and discuss this?”
“No,” Cassidy replied with a frown and shaking her head. “I think I’ll stay out here in the open air.”
With a hint of a smile on his face, Lucian nodded his head to express his understanding. He then considered his next words carefully.
“If I’m not mistaken, this is a NYPD case file.”
“That’s exactly what it is,” Cassidy responded without hesitation.
Lucian wondered about her reason for the criminal case file. In his mind, the creation of such a file seemed to conflict with her presence there. As he reflected on these points, the other vampires began to filter out of the house and into the front yard.
“It looks as if you’ve named Cristiãn as a suspect in an allegation of—fraud,” Lucian said haltingly and with a puzzled expression.
“That’s exactly what I did,” Cassidy reportedly decisively.
Once again Lucian paused to study the contents of the folder a little more. As he did, the last of the nineteen vampires moved out into the front yard to better hear what was being said. They were just as confused and curious about Cassidy’s presence as Lucian. It made no sense to them that she sought them out without any backup. That question is what drew them out of the house.
“What do you want, Detective Tremaine?” Lucian sternly asked.
Cassidy took a deep breath to prepare herself for what she was about to say. She gave Cristiãn an anxious look as she did, then she launched into her explanation.
“You and I have similar concerns,” Cassidy announced and then paused for effect. “You want to stay hidden, and I don’t want a thousand of you bloodsuckers crawling all over my city,” Cassidy declared with firmness before pausing for effect once again. “That case file is assigned to me. No one else has reason to open it. I suspended the investigation when I put it in the computer. Cold cases exist in the tens of thousands, and this crime is too small to warrant the attention of anyone else. Precinct captains don’t like to waste resources investigating minor cold case crimes.”
Cassidy paused to give everyone time to assimilate everything she had said so far.
“Fraud cases have a six-year statute of limitations. So, if no new piece of evidence pops up, it will time out of the system. But before that happens, I will put a new one in the system. And before that one times out, I’ll put another one in the system—and so on, and so on. Are you seeing how this works?”
Cassidy paused for comments; there were none.
“Now, if something untoward were to happen to David Burrell—if he turned up murdered or if someone reported him missing—then the investigating officer would have to put his name in the system and that will bring up this case file.”
Cassidy hesitated for effect and pointed to the file in Lucian’s hands. All eyes and ears were on her. A new hope began to well up in Nadja in reaction to every word that Cassidy spoke.
“By the same token, if something were to happen to me, then all of my case files will be assigned out to other detectives. And as a matter of course, they will go through each of them—one at a time.”
Cassidy paused again and scanned the many faces looking back at her. She then settled her eyes back on Lucian and continued.
“Now you might think that deleting a case file from the NYPD’s database is an easy thing for a vampire to do; but it isn’t. The system is setup to process case files out. No one has the authority to delete a case file. If anyone tried to delete a case file, the attempt would draw attention to it. And even if you succeeded, the NYPD criminal database is periodically backed up. The file would simply be restored.”
“Are you toying with us, Detective?” Lucian growled at Cassidy.
“I’m getting your attention,” Cassidy returned with defiance.
“Well, you’ve got it, Detective,” Lucian grumbled. “What do you want?”
“I want two things,” Cassidy groused with a flash of anger. “I don’t want to hear about anymore vampire murders. Not here. Not anywhere. If I do, that dossier goes out to a couple dozen high level government officials.”
Cassidy stopped to scowl at the assembly of faces in front of her. It was important to her that they knew she was serious. She waited and watched to see if there were any questions or reactions to what she had just said. After a short pause, Lucian ventured a question.
“And the second thing?”
Cassidy turned her eyes back to Lucian with a grim expression. She took another deep breath then began to reply to her second point.
“I want justice for Angela Lindstrom, Zachary Bowman, Linda Vaughn, Eric Hayward, Jacqueline Kim, Heather Kaplan, Amy Reyes, Diane Ressler, Luis Moreno and my partner; Detective Alan Mercer.”
There was a sudden silence in response to Cassidy’s demand. All of the vampires were in shock. They looked around at each other as though seeking instructions on how to react. After a moment of silent reaction, all eyes came to rest on Razvan and Dumitra.
“She’s insane!” Razvan exclaimed with an amazed expression. “If anything happens to us, that dossier goes public.”
Lucian held Razvan’s gaze for a long moment, then he turned his attention back to Cassidy.
“We can’t do that,” Lucian insisted impassively. “And neither can you if you’re serious about not wanting a thousand vampires living in your city.”
“He’s bluffing,” Cassidy disputed with defiance.
“You can’t listen to her,” Dumitra yelled with anger. “She’s just trying to protect Cristiãn.”
Lucian had just started to ponder both sides of this argument when Cassidy began her counter response.
“Think about it, there’s no way they would give that information to a non-vampire. If they did, they run the risk of that mortal telling others and exposing themselves along with you. And if they turned a mortal into a vampire and gave that file to him or her, then that vampire would have no reason to go public with the information. They’re bluffing!”
Lucian began to ponder Cassidy’s argument. Razvan noticed his concentration and quickly reacted with a retort.
“You can’t listen to her,” Razvan shouted. “She’s guessing.”
Lucian considered Razvan’s words for a moment, and then turned to address Cassidy.
“It’s a gamble that we can’t take.”
“Well, you’re just going to have to gamble that one of us is bluffing,” Cassidy insisted while raising her tablet back over her head. “And you need to do it now.”
Lucian was instantly taken aback by her demand. He stared at Cassidy for several seconds with a look of disbelief on his face. He then turned his attention around and scanned the faces behind him.
“You can’t be considering this,” Razvan blurted out with a look of incredulity.
Lucian took a moment to consider Razvan’s response as he stared at him with a bewildered expression.
“Lucian,” Nadja called out with alarm in her voice. “You know what Razvan and Dumitra’s plans are. This is a chance to stop that from happening.”
“This is no chance,” Dumitra screamed at Nadja before turning her attention back to Lucian. “If you kill us, you kill yourselves.”
Lucian ignored Dumitra’s outburst. He had already considered the possibility of what she suggested. It was the possibility that Cassidy was right that dominated his thoughts right now. He had no reason to consider taking this risk before. Now that he was facing an either-or decision, his mind frantically searched for some clue that Cassidy was right. Shortly he decided that there was no way to know for sure. He then turned to his mate and called for her vote.
Elisabeta was the first to vote in Cassidy’s favor. One-by-one, Lucian looked to the others for their vote on which argument they favored. In the end, Stefan, Helga, Eugen, Laurentius and Roxana were the only ones that voted against Cassidy and her demand. Razvan, Dumitra and Cristiãn had no say in the vote. Lucian casted no ballot because the outcome was already decided with the last vote that came to him. Elisabeta, Augustus, Iona, Radu, Flavia, Adrianna, Sorin, Petru and Nadja had already cast their votes unfalteringly in Cassidy’s favor. At the end, Razvan and Dumitra gazed at the other vampires in disbelief.
“Stefan,” Lucian called after a moment of silence.
Stefan looked to Lucian and saw in his expression what he was being called on to do. He hesitated to move; the vote did not play out the way he would have preferred. But then he turned back to the house and setoff in haste.
“No!” Razvan protested as he searched for an escape.
An instant after voicing his objection, Razvan and Dumitra were tackled to the ground. Augustus, Eugen and Petru held Razvan while Iona, Adrianna and Nadja held Dumitra down. Razvan and Dumitra were not able to break free from three of their own kind. They raged, growl and made demands to be let go, and then defiance turned into pleas for mercy when Stefan returned with the sword.
Cassidy watched this go forward without any sign of pity or remorse, but it was a façade. She did not want to show weakness or a lack of resolve. It was not the death of Razvan and Dumitra that she wanted. She would have preferred to see them arrested and tried for their crimes. Sending someone to their death as a matter of choice was not something she was comfortable with. It was too much of a conflict with her sworn duty as a police officer, but she believed it was something that had to be done for two reasons. The first reason she felt they had to die was because the secret of their existence could not be contained if they were arrested. The second reason was because she wanted to see the other vampires do what she told them to do.
Minutes after the vote, the deed was done. A reluctant Stefan brought the sword down across Razvan’s neck first. His head fell away after one clean stroke. Dumitra followed the same fate. The other vampires watched in silence. When they both were dead, the remaining vampires seemed to move a step back in a display of reverence. Cassidy watched all of this in an almost statuesque silence. She held her position until Lucian turned around to face her.
“Okay, Detective Tremaine, the die is cast,” Lucian announced solemnly.
Cassidy returned Lucian’s stare for a couple of seconds before responding to his remark.
“Stay away from me, and stay away from my family,” Cassidy insisted with a huff.
“Well, I think we should have a line of communication to avoid any confusion and to answer any questions you might have of us,” Lucian returned graciously.
Cassidy shifted her gaze to Cristiãn as a reaction to his statement.
“Excellent,” Lucian responded with a smile.
Cassidy turned her eyes back to Lucian and noticed that he had interpreted her look toward Cristiãn as the connection. She chose not to dispute his assumption even though it was not a conscious intent that turned her eyes on Cristiãn. Cassidy took a moment to mentally accept the decision before deciding to leave.
“I want my gun and my cellphone,” Cassidy demanded.
Lucian and the other vampires were confused by her request. Cristiãn quickly remembered that he had those items in his car.
“Oh,” Cristiãn exclaimed suddenly. “I have them.”
Cristiãn walked down to his car, parked last in the line of cars. He reached in on the passenger side and retrieved Cassidy’s cellphone and handgun from the glove compartment and then carried them to her. He stopped a foot away, extending them out to her.
At first, Cassidy was reluctant to return Cristiãn’s gaze. She focused her eyes on the gun and cellphone in his hands. When Cristiãn stopped, she took a deep breath then retrieved her handgun and holstered it without ever looking up. She then picked took her cellphone with her eyes still directed down at Cristiãn hands. She examined it and saw that four calls had come in since she last saw it. After noting the calls, she inserted the phone in the inside pocket of her blazer. She hesitated a moment, and then she looked up at Cristiãn. They looked into each other’s eyes for several seconds with rueful expressions.
“Are you going to be okay?” Cassidy asked with concern.
“Are you worried about me, Detective Tremaine?” Cristiãn returned with a sly smile.
Cassidy paused for several seconds to consider the question and the person who asked it. For an instant, she considered giving an honest answered, but her pride soon overruled that idea.
Cassidy promptly turned about and climbed into her car. She paused briefly to consider Cristiãn’s face one last time. Then she put her car in gear and drove away.
