CHAPTER 7

Recon and Intelligence

Ms. Teo came through her basement door just in time to see Eliot carrying Gemma down the hall. Something in the set of his shoulders inspired her to trail along after him. She stood at the corner in the hallway and watched as he laid Gemma on the bed and pulled a light blanket over her. He paused to look at her for a moment and brushed a strand of hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. After another look, he stepped out into the hallway.

"Ms. Teo, did you need me for something?"

"No cher. Jus' thought I'd come check on tha' baby, but it seem she's in good hands." She patted his cheek and took his arm. With a tilt of her head to tell him which direction, they moved off to her living room.

"How you doin' cher?" She asked as she sank into her chair.

"I'm doin' fine. Why?" He ran a hand through his hair as he sat facing her from the couch.

"Oh, jus' an ol' woman's curiosity. 'ave ya had a chance ta think on what we was talkin about before?"

"Sure." He eyed her skeptically. "You knew that's why I was at the club last night. I was planning on catching one if I could so we could test your theory."

"Right." Ms. Teo yawned. "So now what be da plan?"

Eliot smiled and rubbed at a spot on his chest. "You'd have to ask Parker. I'm just the muscle, she's the mastermind." He let the pride he felt in their pack ripple through the bonds. His head tilted as he heard a quiet moan come from Gemma's room.

Ms. Teo noticed Eliot's instant response and smiled to herself. "Is it da Alpha in you wantin' to take care a Gemma or is it da man?"

He snorted a laugh. "Neither. I just figured she'd sleep better in her room than at your table."

This time it was Ms. Teo's turn to snort.

"Do you know where Quinn is?"

"In da basement wit' Tyrel." She scooted a little farther back in her chair. "Dey was hagglin' over da need fo' more salve."

"I'm surprised you got him to go back down there."

"He's a good boy. I can see why you was frien's."

Eliot raised an eyebrow but didn't argue. "Will he be ready to go out tonight?"

"You 'is Alpha. Ain't you da one dat would know?" She smiled a little as she tilted her head back in her chair.

"I suppose." Eliot tapped his chest. "He feels like he's ready but I don't want to push him too hard."

"He's like you." Ms. Teo let her eyes drift closed. "He won' wanna be lef' here when da excitement is elsewhere."

"Thinking of things that might happen; would it be at all helpful to take butterbur before a person gets chewed on by a vampire?"

Ms. Teo nodded with her eyes still closed. "Ifn ya know ya's likely ta be dealin' wit' vampires, eaten buttabur aheada time will help ya be more resistant to da venom and help ya recova quicker. But da best thing is ta kill da bastards befo dey eve' get dat close."

Eliot chuckled quietly at her advice and sat with Ms. Teo another moment until he was sure she was sleeping.

~~o0o~~

"Seriously Doc, I really don't need any more of that hellfire cream."

"Do you still have a headache?"

"No."

"Yes." Eliot contradicted as he came down the stairs.

Tyrel glanced at Eliot and looked back to Quinn. "Then you still need the salve. It's that or I can give you a piece of butterbur root to chew on."

Quinn looked at Eliot.

Eliot put his hands up and shook his head. "It's up to you. The salve burns but the root tastes like moldy dirt. Regardless, Tyrel's right you need to pick one."

"It's not like I'm gonna die of the venom at this point." Quinn scowled.

"No, but if you wanna go after Reese with me, I need you in better shape."

Quinn rolled his eyes. "You just wish you were in as good a shape as me."

Eliot looked over the fading bruises, bite marks, and the four stitched claw marks, and quirked an eyebrow. "At this point even, roadkill would probably feel sorry for you, but I guess I'll have to take what I can get."

"So, what's the plan to get Reese out?"

"Don't know." Eliot shrugged. "I figure as soon as Tyrel is done with you, we'll head upstairs and find out."

"So what's it gonna be?" Tyrel held up the tin of salve in one hand and an ugly little root in the other.

Quinn looked at Eliot. "Moldy dirt?"

"At best."

"Alright Doc, bring on the hellfire cream."

Eliot tilted his head at Tyrel and Tyrel tossed him the root.

~~o0o~~

"We need to do a little more recon before I'll have a solid plan." Parker didn't look up from Hardison's computer when Eliot and Quinn sat down at the dining room table.

"What do you need?" Eliot leaned back in his chair.

"The street view from the digital maps are old. We need current pictures, access points, vulnerabilities we can exploit, security measures they have in place, and all the rest of the regular recon." Hardison glanced over the top of his screen. "You also need to get my van back. There's some tech in there that might be useful."

"I'll take Quinn with me." Eliot got up but stopped at the door. "Let us know if there's anything else you need. But Hardison," Eliot waited until he had Hardison's full attention. "no deliveries. Don't order food or anything else to be delivered here. I'll get whatever you want, but absolutely no deliveries."

Hardison looked a little confused but nodded.

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Quinn had waited until they were out of the house and headed toward the French restaurant up the street from Ms. Teo's to ask "Why didn't you give Hardison an order?"

"Because he's smart enough not to need it."

Quinn quirked an eyebrow. "I'm not saying he's not smart. But…"

"We were a team before they ever knew we were a pack. I trust Parker to have the plan and know the best way to handle the overall situation. And I trust Hardison to do his thing even though I really don't understand everything he does. But I know he'll have the intel or the back-stopped ID or whatever gizmo we need. They trust me to keep them safe and identify threats."

"But if you had made it an order you would know for sure that he would obey."

"It works better if someone is doing something because they want to than if they are forced to do it." Eliot could see Quinn thinking things through. "I have to admit that my first inclination when it comes to a stubborn mark is to beat the information out of them, but I've seen my team get so much more information, really good information, out of that mark with a long con."

"Willingness is better than obedience." Quinn's tone was thoughtful.

They waited on the corner near the restaurant until the car Eliot had ordered arrived. Eliot gave the driver the address for where he'd left the van and they settled in for the relatively short ride. Eliot noticed Quinn start to lean back into the seat and wince before he leaned forward again with his elbows propped on his knees.

When their ride pulled into the parking lot on the corner of N Rampart and St Louis, Eliot got part way out of the car and paused. He didn't smell vampires and with a quick look at the rooflines he didn't see anything either. He closed the car door and handed the driver a tip through the window.

He and Quinn headed for the van while keeping an eye out for any sort of threats. "I can tell you're still on edge, but it's daylight. Shouldn't the vampires be dead or sleeping or whatever it is they do during the day?"

"Maybe but I'd have minions if I was a vampire. Someone to keep an eye out, run errands, do things you can't do at night." Eliot shrugged.

"True. Can we swing by my hotel?" Quinn pulled at the t-shirt he was wearing. "I'm grateful for the clothes but I'd like to get my own stuff."

~~o0o~~

Eliot stood in the lobby of a very fancy hotel on Canal Street, waiting for Quinn. The marble floors and fresh flower arrangements were something he knew Sophie would appreciate. Eliot checked the time and started to worry about what was taking so long. About the time that he decided he was going to go up and check on Quinn the elevator dinged, and Quinn stepped into the lobby. Eliot eyed the large suitcase, small suitcase, and duffle bag that Quinn brought with him.

"Not exactly traveling light, are you?"

"Hey, not all of us buy our clothes at the hardware store." Quinn shrugged the strap of his bag into a more comfortable position, while giving Eliot's clothes a once over.

Eliot rolled his eyes. "I hope you aren't too attached to that suit. We got things ta do that will definitely get it dirty."

~~o0o~~

Before long they were parked across the street from the suspected vampire sanguinary. Eliot looked at the three little houses he'd parked next to and cringed a little. Someone had taken the time to really fix them up, but he couldn't imagine that would last with vampires living across the street.

He pulled a camera out of a bag in the back and settled back in the driver seat. The old apartment building was big and starting to look pretty run down but didn't exactly scream vampire lair. He took several overall pictures and zoomed in on individual windows and doorways. He could see the east and south sides of the building, but he would need pictures of the rest of it as well. Setting the camera to the side he drove a little farther down the street so that he could see the other side of the building.

"So why no deliveries?" Quinn glanced at Eliot

"What?"

"Before we left you told Hardison 'no deliveries.'"

"Minions. I don't think the vampires know where we are but if they have some minion under their thrall that is looking for us it could be a problem. If someone invites a thrall into the house, then the vampires can use that as an invitation and they can come in the house."

"They can't come in if they aren't invited?" Quinn frowned. "That's real? It really works?"

"From what Ms. Teo and Tyrel have said." Eliot shrugged one shoulder as he parked the van. He pulled out the camera and started taking pictures of the north side of the building.

"What about Gemma? Or me?" Quinn's heartrate picked up as he started to think it through.

"I'm pretty sure Gemma's not a thrall. She doesn't smell like vampire and there was no activity last night." Eliot clicked a few pictures.

"You think that I might be a thrall?"

Eliot shrugged again. "You haven't smelled like vampire since I brought you into the pack. I do wonder about the memory gaps concerning your escape. But I would have thought the vampires would have made a move that first night you were there."

"Do you really need me to remember?"

Eliot could smell Quinn's apprehension and feel his underlying fear. "We might. You are the only one that can give us intel on the building's interior." Setting the camera to the side again he circled the block so that he could get pictures of the back of the building.

Just as Eliot finished taking pictures of the back of the building, he heard the click from his earbud that told him Hardison had turned it on.

"El, there's a bag in the back of the van that's got a bunch of tech in it. Look for a mini drone."

"The bag has a smiley face sticker." Parker shouted helpfully but fortunately not into Hardison's ear and therefore not directly into the earbud.

"The drone is the one with four propellers?"

Quinn groaned and rolled his eyes. "Now you're making me wonder how Hardison does it." He moved to the back and found the bag with the smiley face sticker.

"Age of the geek baby."

"You better not be calling me baby." Quinn handed the drone to Eliot. "There wasn't the joystick thing in the bag that you control it with."

"Joystick? Really?" Hardison groaned. "Eliot just hold it out the window on the palm of your hand."

Eliot did as directed and within a few seconds the four tiny propellers started to spin. It took off and whizzed toward the building.

"Alright, you two can come back now." Hardison's voice was followed by a click as he shut off Eliot's earbud.

Quinn smirked. "I don't know how you do it."

. ͽϿ Ѻ Ͼͼ .

Gemma woke in the late afternoon to the smell of shrimp and tomatoes. Her stomach was happy to inform her that it had been a while since breakfast. She went to the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat yet.

"How are you feeling?" Eliot's tone was a little gruff and he didn't turn around.

"Uhm, better. Kinda." She started to reach for her shoulder but stopped before she scratched at it. "Ms. Theriot said I'd probably feel like I was coming down with something, but it meant the poison was leaving my system. So, since I feel like I'm getting the flu I guess I'm on track."

"Mind giving this a taste?" He held a spoon out for her.

"Jambalaya?"

He nodded. "Is it too spicey?"

"Mmmm." She fanned at her face for a moment. "No. It's perfect!"

Eliot gave her a small smile.

"Do you need help with anything?" Gemma offered

"Can ya handle a bread knife?" With a hand on her back, he guided her to a chair at Ms. Teo's kitchen table. She gave him a raised eyebrow but didn't comment. He thought her raised eyebrow really featured her black eye which was unfortunate. Taking the knife, he cut a thick slice of bread. "About like that for every slice. There's three loaves." He gestured to the food on the table.

Gemma worked carefully through the first loaf and was onto the second before she asked, "Are you really going after the vampires tonight?"

"Not tonight, I don't think. Maybe in the morning though." Eliot stirred the jambalaya. "Reese, the guy we're after. They want something from him, so they aren't likely to kill him. At least not on purpose. So that gives us a little time." Eliot collected the first loaf of sliced bread and took it to the counter near the stove.

"You're waiting for daylight before you take the sanguinary on?" She finished cutting the second loaf but paused to look at him. His back was to her so she couldn't see his expression, but she thought he looked relaxed standing in front of the stove. She couldn't help noticing how good his backside looked in those pants and she blushed as she turned back to the bread and cleared her throat. "I'm not sure daylight will make you much safer in there."

Eliot smelled the change in Gemma's emotions and couldn't miss her sudden interest in him. He knew his eyes flashed yellow and he felt his k-9s start to lengthen. He'd told Ms. Teo that he wasn't interested in Gemma, but he knew that wasn't true and he was beginning to be worried that if he didn't get himself under control, it would be obvious to everyone just how interested he was. He fought his wolf down and buttered another slice of bread while he tried to remember what Gemma had just said. After buttering a second slice he remembered where they'd left off.

"Because they'll have minions guarding the place?" Eliot continued using a brush to spread a garlic butter mixture over both sides of each slice of bread. "Parker is planning on minions as much as she can without having clear intel on the numbers."

"Their called acolytes and factotums."

"The minions?" Eliot slid the finished loaf in its tinfoil to the side. He could smell her uncertainty, but he didn't think she was uncertain about what she was telling him. He was pretty sure she was uncertain about how he would take it. He crouched next to her so that he would have to look up at her. It was a way he could surrender dominance without upsetting his wolf. He placed a hand over hers. "Whatever you tell me about the vampires I'll believe. Can you tell me more about the acolytes and factotums?"

She gave him a half smile and patted his hand with her free hand. "I won't break, Eliot. You don't need to be so careful." With a little toss of her head to settle her hair behind her shoulders she pulled her hand out from under his and picked up the bread knife. "Vampires like the number three. So, most vampires will have three acolytes and at least three factotums. The vampires or the sanguinariums that can afford it will have three factotums for each acolyte."

"What's the difference between acolytes and factotums?" Hardison asked as he stepped into the kitchen.

He reached for a slice of bread and Gemma tapped the back of his hand with the flat of the bread knife. "Wait for supper."

"You heard her. Keep your hands offa my food." Eliot said with a little growl. He didn't turn to look, he just kept buttering slices of bread at the stove.

"Alright, alright." He pulled a chair out and sat down at the table. "So, what was the difference between acolytes and factotums?"

"An acolyte is someone that's nearly a vampire. They've been fed from for a long time and are given a little of the vampire's blood in return each time and eventually they start to become a vampire. But they are still active in the daytime, they don't like to go out into the sunlight, but they can if they have to. They are a little stronger than normal people but not anywhere near as strong as a vampire." She finished slicing the third loaf of bread.

"And factotums?"

"Factotums, factos for short, are people under the vampire's thrall. They are fed on and used to do errands and whatever the vampires and acolytes don't want to do or can't do in the daylight."

"If the acolytes and factos are both fed on what's the difference?" Eliot collected the third loaf of bread.

"Factos are considered disposable. Some of the vampires like to kill when they feed and some just lose control. It's better to kill a facto than an acolyte because it takes longer to make an acolyte and they've got the best chance of becoming a vampire. It takes a long time to make most vampires."

"Any idea how many vampires might be in the sanguinary?" Hardison leaned back in the chair.

"I would guess thirteen." She shrugged.

"Why?" Eliot had his suspicions but wasn't sure.

"The sanguinary here has always been a large one." Gemma shrugged. "If the rumors that I've heard are true then my sister has set herself up as the Mistress of the sanguinary. It means that she feeds from the other twelve vampires instead of an acolyte or a facto. It makes her more powerful, and it puts the other vampires under her control."

"So, we're looking at thirteen vampires, thirty-six jr. vamps, and thirty-six to a hundred-and-eight minions." Parker leaned against the doorway.

"Probably closer to fifty factos." Gemma watched as Parker strolled past Eliot and filched a slice of bread. She was sure that Eliot would have seen, but he didn't do anything to stop her.

"Parker stop stealin' my food." Eliot's growly words came after Parker had already seated herself at the table.

"So we're still looking at taking on a small army." Quinn leaned against a cupboard on the other side of the kitchen.

"Don' worry chil' day's not over jus' yet." Ms. Teo came into the kitchen and dumped an armload of small wooden stakes onto the counter.