Police Station
Mike Celluci sat across from hoodie man. Last night's memories were vivid. Regardless there was nothing he could have done to prevent the shooting, the guilt was setting in. He wanted answers but was limited to mundane questions.
"Mr. Schuyler, what is your interest in Henry Fitzroy?"
Leo Schuyler sat stone-faced next to his attorney. He said very little since his arrest at the apartment. His fingerprint records tied him to three similar crimes. Montreal, Vancouver and Ontario. The MO connected him to others. On the surface, it suggested a gun-for-hire.
"Are you aware that two women were staying with him?"
That generated a small, nonverbal reaction. It wouldn't hold up in court, but it answered the question.
"Did you cause Vicki Nelson's injuries on December 10th? Or break-in and vandalize her office or apartment?"
Mike wondered what Schuyler's body language meant. He reacted to the injuries but not the break-ins. Although subtle, Mike suspected Schuyler was afraid of something. That didn't fit with a professional killer. An extremist of some kind made more sense.
"Do you know why Ms. Nelson was found unconscious in Curtis Park?" Mike saw he was getting somewhere and continued. "Was she your intended target at Fitzroy's apartment?"
Schuyler looked increasingly afraid.
"Photographs of Ms. Nelson were found at a crime scene. Were you stalking her?"
His attorney finally reacted to his distress. "I need a few minutes to confer with my client."
Mike left the interrogation room wondering what the best approach was. He needed information on not only the mundane crimes but the complicated ones as well. Unless Schuyler decided to talk, comparing the other crimes might give some insight. But it required Coreen's research skills. Mike doubted she was up for it.
Crowley approached in the hallway. "Why is Vicki at Lakeshore Asylum Cemetery?"
"I don't know." Mike suspected she was pursuing the cult connection. Are you having her followed? The department denied the hospital's request for protective custody.
"Call her. She needs to go back to one of her apartments. Or a hotel. And stay there."
She wouldn't agree to that until she had no choice but to lay down or it was time for Henry to sleep.
The door opens and the defense attorney stepped out. "My client would like to make a statement." She sounded nervous. "In exchange for immediate protective custody outside of Toronto."
Crowley asked the obvious before Mike could. "Who is he afraid of?"
"Vicki Nelson."

Fast-Food Restaurant
With increasing symptoms, Vicki Nelson reluctantly accepted Henry's help into the restaurant. Under other circumstances, she would have argued with anyone insisting she sit while they ordered. But something changed after arriving at the cemetery. It scared her. And Coreen. She sat, looking away. Vicki suspected it was her aura.
Before she worked up the nerve to ask, her cell phone rang. She didn't like how shaky her hands were as she found it. "Mike." She accepted the call. "Evening."
"Where are you?" There was something in his voice.
"Ask the undercover officers following me." Vicki made a point of looking at them as she spoke.
"There's been a development in the doorman shooting."
What now? "And."
"You need to go to an easier-to-secure location."
Vicki kept her first comment. "Why?"
Faint voices sounded in the background of the call.
"The gunman was after Coreen. He believes she's under the influence of a demon. After she was drugged that day." The euphemism for demon possession.
She looked at Henry as he approach with a tray. "Another Mendoza?" The psychotic priest felt justified torturing vampires and stealing their blood to extend his life through dark magic. "Is he connected to the cult?"
"Indirectly."
Henry set the tray on the table. Not for the first time she was glad he was with her.
"What's the rest of it?" Vicki had known Mike too long to miss the signs he was holding something back.
The connection changed as if he switched the phone to speaker. "He believes the father of your baby is a priest possessed by a demon."
How does he know about the baby? "Why?" From the dreams, and what Henry found near the Creek, Vicki suspected someone wanted her to sacrifice the baby to empower Astaroth. If the gunman was telling the truth as he saw it, he wasn't directly involved in any of it.
Henry obviously overheard the comment. "I will get a bag for this."
"The symbols on your wrists."
"Has he received a psyche exam?"
Mike hesitated. "Crowley wants you questioned about the Sophie Lewis case. Your interest in unconventional cases…"
I'm a suspect? "The hospital did a pregnancy because of certain symptoms. Negative result. My phone records will show I was in contact with Colin Harris. As I said. I already made a statement about Olivia."
"Vicki…"
"The department has not officially made a statement saying my injuries weren't faked and I didn't stage the break-ins. No explanation has been given about my missing medical records. I still have reporters calling and asking." Including contacts she made while still uniform. "Someone is obviously targeting me." Pause. "If the department wants to question me about tabloid accusations…"
Crowley injected angrily, "A man suspected in a murder-for-hire wants protective custody from you. He's suspected in at least three homicides," she emphasized. "Why is he afraid of you?"
Worried, Henry moved around the table and set his hands lightly on Vicki's shoulders while she replied.
"I have been hospitalized twice in less than a week. I am sitting in a wheelchair with a friend waiting on me because I have trouble walking. The men you have following me can tell you that." She took a moment to calm herself. "I couldn't possibly be a threat." She ended the call. It was demoralizing that her alibi involved being helpless.
Henry kissed the top of her head. "Security has been upgraded at my building." He added quietly next to her ear, "The police won't get in without a warrant."
Vicki set her hand on her abdomen thankful the undercovers couldn't see it. She could sense the baby and it wasn't happy. Keeping the police away from her was safest for everyone.