Etobicoke Valley Park
Detective Mike Celluci parked on Horner Avenue behind the patrol cars and followed the bike trail toward the Creek. He received the case despite his probationary status and his partner's anger. Other detectives were busy. Although his situation wasn't strictly policy, Crowley was pissed. She wanted him gone. It didn't help he recently uncovered she contaminated evidence in a case years earlier and then helped stage the evidence eventually leading to three murders.

He followed the police lights and the sound of movement. Securing an outdoor scene nevertheless next to water took effort. It was hard to determine how much of the area needed to be sectioned off. The frozen ground prevented or concealed possible evidence. Complicated by the snow. Between the water and the weather, retrieving the body couldn't wait. But the cold suggested the immediate area was where she fell or was dumped.

"What do we know?" Mike ducked under the crime scene tape.

A uniformed officer wearing winter gloves walked over. "She wasn't dressed for the weather. No coat. Thin clothes. We've recovered one slipper."
It sounded like she escaped from something. "Are we canvasing both sides of the river?"

The officer nodded. Then motioned toward Horner as he spoke. "Members of Alderwood church saw a woman matching her description two hours ago and called 999.

It's how we found her."

Mike nodded. "Thank you."

Caroline Wilson waved to get his attention from the other side of the crime scene tape. Mike walked over to her. They met in the Academy what felt like another lifetime ago. Cari opted for a different career path that should have had her warm and comfortable at a station coordinating shifts. She held up the tape as he approached.

"What's wrong?"

She kept her voice low. "Did you know Vicki was in the hospital?"

"Yeah," he replied quietly. "I have to stay away from the case."

"She called 999 to report a break-in at her office half-an-hour ago. The responding officers were advised that she probably staged it. I called an officer at the hospital and he said that she left in a wheelchair. Based on the time frame, she couldn't have gotten there in time to damage it before calling the police."

Mike wondered if Crowley was involved.

"I pulled call records and found earlier calls reporting the noise and the broken door."

"Was it flagged for internal review?"

Cari nodded. "An hour before the anonymous call yesterday, someone claimed Vicki was impersonating a detective. When she got to the hospital, her Medicare file was inaccessible. The department had to send a copy of her medical records before she was admitted."

Once he would have considered the entire scenario impossible. Now he wondered who benefited from it. "Is her private investigator's license affected?"

"I don't know."

Henry's Apartment
There was a long list of reasons having a house guest for more than a few hours was a bad idea. Henry Fitzroy opened the door and helped Vicki inside. Sitting on the floor outside her office hadn't help her injuries. She needed pain medication she wasn't willing to take. He shut the door with his foot.

She stumbled. He picked her up against her protests and carried her to the bedroom. After what happened with Coreen, he replaced the bed and bedding, telling himself he needed it until he moved. Setting Vicki on it to recuperate wasn't what he had in mind.

"I can't stay here."

"Until morning." Henry had no idea how to deal with the situation at that point. While he had no doubt he could trust her, the idea of having someone in his home while he was vulnerable made him uneasy.

"Thank you."

Henry sat on the edge of the bed and the many times he thought about get her there. Under different circumstances. His hunger unfortunately took that moment to remind him he needed to feed. That meant leaving her undefended. But he couldn't ignore it for long.

"What?"

A simple question with a dangerous answer. Henry wanted more than sex. Nothing he did was good enough. Even when Mike questioned her judgment. As much as they needed to talk about it, it had to wait until she was feeling better.

"I need to go out." Another complicated subject. Even if he was willing to feed from her, she couldn't sustain him. That required socializing. She could accept he was a vampire but not what he had to do to survive.

Vicki reached for his hand. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

House near Alderwood Church
Mike Celluci parked his unmarked police car behind the Emergency Task Force. After several witness statements, uniforms identified a suspect. Two waitresses identified the victim and connected her to the suspect. CCTV confirmed it. The bartender found a credit card slip. It all led to an unassuming house less than a block from where the witnesses reported seeing the victim.

The ETF entered the front door using a small, hand-held ram to break the lock. Minutes later, "oh God" came over the radio. Cornell hesitated uncharacteristically. Then he used police codes to request crime scene teams.

That painted an ugly picture. Mike waited for permission to enter. Then walked up the sidewalk and across the front lawn. Nothing stood out as he entered. Minimal furniture. More electronics then anything. A guy lived there. Maybe two.

After the ETF exited the basement through a door off the kitchen, Cornell motioned toward it. "You need to see it for yourself."

Unlike the first floor, Mike had an eerie feeling walking downstairs. The hairs stood up on his arms. After everything he had seen lately, particularly Coreen's demon possession, the possibilities flashing through his mind were from horror movies. What he saw fit.

Half the basement looked like a altar room. A large, stone slab the size of a grave was covered in chiseled symbols and what looked like dried blood. Melted candles surrounded it. It smelled like blood, wax, fire and incense.

An open doorway on the opposite side of the room drew Mike's attention. Although disturbing, it wasn't what caused the EFT leader's reaction. He walked around the candles. Then hesitated outside the room. From what he could see, it looked like a basic office.

Mike entered the room. It looked normal until he looked at the wall to the right. The floor to ceiling was covered with pictures of Vicki. Some were downloaded from social media or taken from newspaper articles. A few from the department site.

It immediately made him think of what Wilson said and didn't like the timing. While coincidences happened, he doubted it.

An unsettling thought came to mind and he walked back to the kitchen to make the call. The dead woman in Etobicoke Creek looked vaguely like Vicki when she was younger. Did you let her escape?