Chapter 30

Auxilium

Intro Song: Intrigue, Marianne Faithfull

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay - work & holiday got in the way! I hope to have a next chapter ready in a few days. In the meantime, it's time for you to learn more about Jamie Summers & what she's up to...

The Los Angeles sky was still indigo, rather than black, the sun barely visible over the horizon as it set. The last few rays of sunlight seeping through the parted blinds hit Jamie Sommer's laptop screen, making it impossible to read. Irritated, she rose from her position on the sofa and walked to the window, closing the blinds with a hard pull of the drawstring. "Why is it always sunny here?" she muttered to herself. What she wouldn't give right now for a rainy New Orleans day right now. It would match her mood.

The perennial sunshine wasn't the cause of her bad mood, however. It was the upcoming Auxilium call. This was to be her first comprehensive report and she was nervous. What did you learn in your masters' program about presentations? Clear and concise… She fleetingly thought of her first contact with the organization while she gulped her sweet tea and settled in to wait. Her disbelief in the reality of vampires despite the things she'd seen during Katrina that had no logical explanation, her incredulousness at the idea that there was an organization committed to partnering with vamps, her anxiety over making such a dramatic life change when she decided to join them. I'm still not sure I did the right thing...

One by one, the faces of the participants appeared and, without preamble, Remy Balenger, a fellow Louisiana native, began the meeting. With his mussed auburn hair, blue eyes and broad, freckled face, he resembled a live version of Archie from the old comic books. His features were deceptive, however – as far as Jamie could tell, he was completely devoid of warmth or humor. His no-nonsense approach was often brusque to the point of cutting, and she never felt like she measured up with him.

Damien Harris, introduced to her as the "security strategist" for the organization, appeared on Remy's left. Bald, dark and heavily-muscled, he rarely spoke on these calls but his stern presence made her feel wary and ill-at-ease.

The third virtual participant, Aleksa Andris, was handsome rather than beautiful, with strong Mediterranean features, olive skin and dark brown hair and eyes. With responsibility for new recruits to the organization, as well as intelligence operations, she was the person Jamie had interacted with the most since joining Auxilium.

Predictably, Remy dove right in without any chitchat. "Well, people, let's get down to business." Normally, Jamie would have chafed at this; she craved the opportunity to have some time to get to know her fellow Auxilium members a little better. The list of questions about the mission she was supporting was growing, rather than shrinking, over time. On this occasion, however, she welcomed his no-nonsense approach.

Taking a deep breath, Jamie reported on the events that had been taking place in the Los Angeles District Attorney's office as succinctly as she could. She started with her burgeoning relationship with Beth Turner and her encounter with Mick St. John, and ended with the file contents and what she knew of the meetings between St. John, Ben Talbot and Carl Davis, and the San Diego case they were focused on.

"So you've met Mick St. John and gotten to know Beth Turner – that's very good work, Jamie, especially for someone so new. Congratulations. That may make all of our jobs a little easier."

Jamie smiled to herself. Coming from Remy, that was high praise.

Balanger pressed her. "What were your impressions?"

"Of Mick St. John? He was polite, gentlemanly." Thinking back to Mick's confrontation with the workers who were making inappropriate comments about Beth, she added, "Not threatening exactly, but a very – commanding – presence. He and Beth Turner seem to be very close. Intimate. I'm still not 100% sure that she knows he is a vampire, although I would say we should assume that she does."

Harris started to make a comment, but the young woman interrupted him. "I'm sorry, Damien, but there are some additional things I think you should all know." She peered intently into the screen.

"Go ahead, Jamie." Aleksa's voice was almost gentle.

"I've also gotten to know Car– Lieutenant Davis, a detective working with the ADA. He's shared information with me that may be important. Based on that and what I've seen directly, I– " She hesitated.

"What is it, Jamie?" Remy prodded impatiently.

She sighed inwardly. Was this where she sounded like an uninformed idiot? Get over yourselfl, it won't be the first time… "I believe Crucis may have been in contact with Ben Talbot. He has a case file on St. John that he's keeping locked away in his office, which isn't normal protocol in the DA's offices. I saw the contents, including photographs that could be problematic for St. John. They show him walking away from an accident that would have caused significant injuries to most people. Now, I realize that Talbot could have zeroed in on St. John the same way we did, through the notoriety of the cases he's been involved with, but..."

"Has Talbot taken any action?" Harris leaned toward the screen as he questioned her, intent on her response.

"I- I'm not sure I can give you an accurate answer yet," Jamie answered truthfully. "What Ican tell you is that I met with Detective Davis yesterday and he told me that Talbot suspects that something is up with St. John. He wants him to try to get close to Mick and see what he can find out about him. That's not good because Carl is an excellent detective."

"Carl, eh? Just how close have you gotten to him, Jamie?" Remy's voice was amused, but the humor didn't carry to his eyes.

The young woman wasn't sure how to respond. Was Balanger teasing her? She couldn't tell so she decided to plunge ahead and ignore the question. "It appears that part of the reason Talbot asked Davis and St. John to go to San Diego, to look into the killings there, was to throw them together so Davis could do some digging. It's not just about Josh Lindsey's murder. "

"Do you think it's a trap?" Aleksa asked, chewing on her lower lip thoughtfully.

"I'm not sure, but if Talbot thinks he's setting a trap for St. John, I'm afraid he's going to be disappointed. Lieutenant Davis told me he's going along to protect Mick St. John. He characterized Talbot's interest in him as a 'witch hunt'. The only reason Davis is staying involved is because he thinks Talbot would just recruit someone else who might not be objective. He also told me more about the case." She hesitated for a split second before continuing. "He said that the crime scenes were strange. Some of the victims had been beheaded. The bodies were burned, and he said something about a lot of... ash."

"Ash? Did you just say ash?!" Alexa's voice held a note of urgency that hadn't been there before.

Jamie's face betrayed her confusion. "Yes... he said there were fair amounts of ash at the scenes. They were speculating that the victims were burned in an extremely hot fire for that to happen and they aren't sure what caused it. What does that- ?"

"Vampire remains," Balenger stated bluntly.

Seeing the questioning expression on Jamie's face, he continued. "You wouldn't have a reason to know this yet, but vampires, when burned, turn to ash. The human body can as well, but human cremation requires hours in a controlled environment. I'm sure that's why they were struggling to come up with an explanation for how that could have happened out in the field like that. Vamps can be completely incinerated far more easily than humans with a sufficient steady heat source."

"Only a flamethrower or similar weapon could do that, though," Darren interjected from his corner of the screen, his expression concerned. "And what the hell would vampires be doing in the desert, anyway, unless they had a death wish?"

"Damn sure wouldn't be of their free will, I can tell you that," Remy retorted. "A desert is not a friendly environment for vampires. This all smacks of Crucis."

Jamie shook her head. She'd suspected it, of course, but hearing someone with Balanger's experience agree? That made it very real. Based on what little she knew about Crucis, Beth and Mick's lives were about to get a lot more complicated…and dangerous. She added, "To make matters worse, it looks like they are killing illegal immigrants to cover up what's really going on - even including some children."

"Considering who is running that group," Remy snarled angrily, "I'm not surprised that there are human casualties. It's all just collateral damage to them."

There was a long silence, as the Auxilium members digested the information and the implications for their plans, before Jamie hesitantly spoke up again. "There's something else that Talbot has - something odd. A list of names. Mick St. John and Josef Kostan are both on it, along with several other vampire names I recognized from my orientation for this case. What's really odd about it are all the strange names..."

Remy's head jerked up from his note-taking. "What do you mean, strange?" he snapped.

The young woman pulled a copy of the list out of the pile of papers in front of her. "I've got a copy right here - I'll scan it in and send it. There are a lot of historical names mixed in with what appear to be actual, contemporary names. Genghis Khan, Gaius Julius Caesar, Vlad Tepis... It really makes no sense at all."

She looked up in time to see Alexis massage her temples as if she had a sudden headache. The two men on the call said nothing, but Jamie could see the concerned look in their eyes. Bewildered, she looked at the stricken faces on the monitor. "What?! What is it? What is this?!" She rattled the papers in her hand at the screen. When there was no response, she appealed to the woman. "Aleksa! Tell me!"

Andris dropped her hands and stared out at Jamie from the screen, her dark eyes glittering like black marbles. "Jamie, that list... it's an Auxilium list. It's a list of known or suspected vampires in Los Angeles that would need our help if Crucis targeted this community. We have them for every major cluster of vampires around the country. New York, Chicago, New Orleans..."

Jamie tried to process what she was hearing. "But, that doesn't make any sense. What about these weird names? And why would Talbot be given an Auxilium list?"

Remy finally broke his silence. "That list has been compiled over several years in anticipation of some type of radical action on the part of Crucis. We've been worried about an active threat for a while – their recruitment and resources have been dramatically increasing. Those individuals that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt to be vampires - people like Josef Kostan and Mick St. John - are listed by their names. Those that we suspect of being vampires, but have not yet confirmed through actual sightings, have been assigned code names on the outside chance that they would prove not to be what we suspect."

"We would not want to be the cause of any innocent individual being caught up in all this and we can't afford to provide support and protection to those who don't need it." Alexa chimed in. "So, we only list those that have actually been observed in vampire mode by Auxilium personnel. Only Remy and I know the identities of the individuals represented by the code names."

"Then, why?"

"Why what, Jamie? Why the list?" Damien's tone was impatient.

"No!" she almost shouted. "Why does Talbot have it?!"

"That I can't tell you. What I can tell you is that it didn't come from Auxilium - at least, not as a sanctioned action." Remy's voice reflected his concern. "We vetted Talbot early on, along with a number of other district attorneys – and eliminated him as an option for contact. He's too ambitious, too egocentric. His decisions are very self-serving and goal-based, at times influenced by... ulterior motives, shall we say. Not traits that align with our values or mission. A person like that is not going to inconvenience himself to help someone else - let alone make any kind of self-sacrifice, especially given the nature of the..." Remy hesitated, searching for the right word. "... beings we're trying to protect unless there is something in it for him."

"Why didn't you tell me that before I took on this assignment then?!" Jamie thought about all her past agonizing over whether she should recommend Talbot as a point of contact.

Damien responded to that. "Sorry, Jamie, it was nothing personal. We treat everyone on a 'need-to-know' basis as far as information dissemination. Your assignment was to get close to Beth Turner and Mick St. John. Talbot wasn't part of the equation except as a means to that end."

A sudden, horrifying thought struck Jamie. "Do you think Talbot might be working with Crucis?!"

Alexis spread her hands in frustration. "Who knows. I don't have any information to suggest that, but it's hard to know for sure. His actions are certainly suspect though, aren't they?" Silence greated that statement.

Balengar looked intently at the three faces on his screen. "We can try to investigate that from our end, Jamie. But in the meantime, the most important thing for our immediate future is to figure out who got Talbot that list – I'm afraid we could have a traitor in our midst. We have to make it a priority to ferret that person out. That might also tell us what we need to know about Talbot and who he's in bed with." He traded grim looks with the other members of his team before he continued.

"We also have to find a way to make contact with the vampire community to prepare them for what's at their doorstep - quickly, before more lives are lost." Remy's voice deepened with renewed urgency. "Jamie, you have to find a way to meet with St. John and tell him he needs to talk to us. If we could get to Josef Kostan, that would be even better."

"We know that Kostan disappeared from sight for several days after Victoria Silver visited Los Angeles," Darren chimed in. "Doesn't it seem logical that Kostan and she are connected? Maybe we could contact her first."

Aleksa shook her head. "I think that's making too many assumptions, Darren." She added, "It's my fault that we don't have more information. Silver's trip was impromptu; we just couldn't scramble quickly enough to get a tail on her. It was a fluke that one of our people even saw her go through the L.A. airport that night. Jackson was on his way out of town for a business trip and just happened to catch sight of her. With all that's been happening here, I just don't have the agents necessary to keep tabs on all vampire movements, especially those we can't foresee."

Remy cleared his throat. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Aleksa. As you said, we are making do with the resources we have - not the resources we want or need. You did have a tail on Sinclair, which is what allowed us to discover that St. John was in New York, after all."

"But, if I'd had St. John followed, instead of Sinclair, we would know more. We might even have observed the attack on Silver first hand..."

"Enough!" Belanger interrupted forcefully. "This is a complicated situation and we're hampered by not enough personnel, money - or time. You can't second guess yourself on every decision, or you'll become ineffective. We can only do the best we can with what we have." The Auxilium leader continued, "Look, it's possible that St. John could be the key to getting to both Kostan and Silver. We have to get his confidence. Jamie, he's your core mission, and you've made contact with him. Based on all this, what would you recommend as your next step?"

Jamie had been watching the exchange between the Auxilium leaders intently; it took her a moment to realize that the question was directed at her.

"Well, I'm certainly not close yet, but I have something in play that should get me a sit-down with him this week, thanks to Beth Turner. However, if I could make a suggestion, Remy..." Jamie added hesitantly. Frankly, the intense Auxilium cell leader frightened her more than a little. "I've mentioned Carl Davis. He seems very supportive of St. John and I've gained his confidence. I think we could use him to help us…"

"That's risky, Jamie. He hasn't been vetted. It could be dangerous for St. John – and for you. I think we need more time–"

Aleksa interrupted. "Remy, I'm not sure we can wait. We've all heard what's going on in New York. Time, I fear, is a luxury we no longer have." She turned to the younger woman. "Jamie, what does your instinct tell you?"

"Car– Detective Davis seems to be an honest and fair person who doesn't tolerate abuse of power or people being persecuted. It's because of him that I have been made aware of the case in San Diego. He didn't have to share that information but he did because he was bothered by what was happening. Those qualities would all suggest that he would be someone I could work with. I do have to say, though…" She hesitated and then plunged ahead, "As I said, I'm not sure about Beth Turner, but I'm certain Davis doesn't know that Mick St. John is a vampire so..."

"So you can't be certainof how he would react if he found out." Balanger finished for her. There was silence again while he looked down at his notes, frowning, his pen tapping unconsciously against the pad as he mulled over the situation. Finally, he looked up, seeming to come to a decision. "All right."

"All right?" Jamie echoed.

"I will have to trust you to make your own assessment of the risks associated with approaching Detective Davis. As Aleksa so accurately pointed out, we are running out of time. But that should be a last resort – and make sure that, if you do, the decision is without any personal biases, Jamie." His keen blue eyes peered at her intently.

Damn, is it that obvious? "I will, Remy."

"The sooner you can get to St. John, the better. I don't mind admitting my concern, given what's happened in New York. The attacks on vampires in the general public... the situation at the border... Crucis is testing their enemy for weaknesses. And, despite all that activity, we have come up empty on critical intel. My years in the military have taught me one thing... these kinds of strikes... coupled with silence..."

"Something is coming. Something big," Jamie murmured, more to herself than to her audience.

"Since New York is the largest vampire community in North America, we're trying to prepare as best we can," Aleksa added. "But, my fear is that the attempted assassination of Victoria Silver has virtually destroyed any chance Auxilium had to make a meaningful connection with the New York vampire community. They don't trust humans – and I can't say I blame them. To make matters worse, my sources indicate that most of the vampires there are skeptical about there being any organized effort to kill them. Most of them don't even know about Crucis and those that do, choose to think they aren't involved. Ostriches…" She shook her head. "That said, if there is a major strike on them, at some point, they are bound to retaliate."

"What happens then?" Jamie asked, dreading the response.

Aleksa sighed, her expression somber. "If they retaliate, it's open warfare. It would make it much more difficult to help them, if and when they would even need that help. It's possible it could even expose their existence and that would mean the end of our objectives. We are running out of time."

And what would that mean for Mick and Beth? Jamie knew she wasn't supposed to personalize this, but she couldn't help it. She cared about Beth and knew the two of them were in love. And then there's Carl… With a heavy heart, she signed off the call and sat staring at the blank computer screen. An already complicated situation was about to get much more so – and she was caught smack dab in the middle.

End Song: Secrets, One Republic