PART ONE:
Chapter Ten
"You look well-rested."
Leah scoffed at her grinning partner's comment as she carefully climbed into the car while balancing two cups of freshly brewed coffee. "With only three hours of sleep?" She handed one to a grateful Jacob before placing hers inside the cup holder closest to her. "Thanks, by the way. You didn't have to do this."
"It's no big deal." Jacob gulped down some of the hot drink, emitting a low moan of appreciation. "And thanks to you, too." He placed the Styrofoam cup in the other cup holder. "The one I had earlier tasted like wet dirt."
"You should thank my mom," Leah said, buckling her seat belt. "She felt bad about you coming all the way here," then teasing, "Don't tell me that's the only reason why you've decided to offer me a ride."
Jacob's grin widened. "People have done more for less," he said, adding a wink. He slightly leaned forward to get a better look at Sue, who was standing at the front door. They shared a quick wave. "So, I take it that everything worked out?"
For the first time in months, Leah could honestly say "yes."
She relaxed into her seat and took a deep breath. "It was nice, not gonna lie," she said. "It was very much needed." She briefly looked to Jacob, who nodded before pulling away from the curb. "The downside," she continued, "is that now I gotta have dinner with her and Seth tonight and have a heart-to-heart about my marriage. Or what is left of it. Although Leah was not looking forward to the conversation by any stretch of the imagination, she recognized it was needed. "So, we're going to have to be done today at a decent time, or she'll have your balls."
Jacob's laugh was music to Leah's ears.
"Wouldn't want that."
The detectives fell into a comfortable silence as they crossed the Evanston border and into the northside of Chicago. Sometime later, as they passed the Loyola University campus, Leah spoke up, "Got a question for you, if you don't mind?"
"Yeah, shoot."
"Two, actually."
Jacob stole a glance.
"Should I be concerned?"
"It's nothing like that that," Leah insisted. She retrieved a granola bar from her coat pocket and took a large bite. She was starving. "Do you happen to have any updates on the missing bodies?"
Jacob shook his head. "None. Some of our people plan on interviewing the guards again, but yeah … none," he finished with a frown.
"Theory on the perps?"
"I don't know if the Denali killers did it. If they wanted to get rid of the bodies, they would've done so right after committing the deed. Not leave them for us to find out," Jacob said. "I mean, I don't know. It's only a theory, but I think Tanya may have something to do with it."
Leah raised an eyebrow. "The murders?"
"Nah, the body-snatching."
"They're family, aren't they? What not wait to claim the body until after the autopsy's completed?" Leah asked, finishing the rest of her snack. She crumbled the wrapper into her hand, shoved it into her coat pocket, and leaned back against the passenger seat. "It's not like anyone's gonna stop her."
"Probably for the same reason why Bella's late-night visitor didn't want Jessica's autopsy to be completed," Jacob suggested with a half-shrug. "Okay, second question?"
Leah thought about not asking anything, given that the topic was personal in nature. She ultimately decided to go forward with it. "So, about your wolf…" She let out a dry cough as she noticed Jacob twisting his face; personal, indeed. "You were born that way?"
Jacob took a deep breath. "Yeah, it kinda runs in the family," he said. "It's a long story."
"Huh."
"What's that for?"
"I've always assumed that you, werewolves – "
"Shapeshifters."
"Shapeshifters," Leah amended; she wondered if there was truly a difference between the two, but she wasn't going to question the terminology. Shapeshifters, it was. "I've always thought that shapeshifters are made, not born."
"It can both."
"Like vampires?
"No, vampires can only be made," but then Jacob added, "Well, I guess vampires can be born, but there are rules forbidding that kind of thing."
"Interesting."
"It's complicated."
Oh, Leah could only imagine.
"Right." Leah rubbed her hands together and glanced outside her window; they were now passing the Lincoln Park Zoo. "How does it work for your kind?" Seconds passed. "How does one turn another? Would a bite to the neck do the trick?"
Jacob picked up his coffee with his free hand.
"Something like that."
"Can any shapeshifter turn someone?" Leah asked. "Like vampires?"
"No, not like vampires," Jacob stressed between tastes. He lightly gripped the steering wheel before returning the coffee to its holder. "Only an alpha's bite can turn someone."
Leah slowly nodded. Alpha. She heard of that, mostly from folklore. She had an idea of what role they played. Leaders, she supposed, like captains. Of what? These are werewolves, so perhaps the "alpha" was the leader of the pack?
She shook the thought of her head.
"And what are you?"
Jacob glanced to this right, making eye contact with Leah for a split second before returning his attention to the road. A smirk formed on his lips. "An alpha."
Later that morning, the detectives stopped by the Office of the Medical Examiner at Bella's fervent request. Some things we need to clear up, she had texted Jacob. No rush. Since this was Bella, her message could mean anything, which, in Jacob's mind, meant that the world was ending.
Leah hoped it was nothing too drastic; the detectives had enough on their plates. '
"You don't know how happy I am to see your faces," Bella declared when the detectives entered the lab. She sounded animated enough to give Leah all the suspicions she needed. Bella had indeed come across something "dramatic." Not ideal. "No idea," the coroner added as she walked across the room, stopping at a row of file cabinets. She stopped in front of the middle one, pulled out the top drawer, and began sifting through the files. "You have no idea…" She looked over her shoulder. "I know about them," she said, "by the way."
Leah and Jacob briefly turned to each other before Jacob asked, "Who?"
"Vampires," Bella said. She paused again as she pulled out a thin folder. She turned and handed it over to Jacob. "About them. I know about them." She lightly swallowed. "About how they… exist. The supernatural. I can't believe it; I thought Eric was spouting nonsense when he spoke about them being real, but…" She shook her head. "I guess he was right all along."
Jacob cursed under his breath.
Leah eyed the medical examiner. "You're taking the news exceptionally well."
Bella let out a nervous laugh. "I needed a couple of days to fully digest everything," she admitted. "Sam told me when he stopped by. He also told me about the ultra-violets." She went to the lab table set against the wall, picked up a plastic bag, and returned. She held up the bag, containing a discharged UV; it was emitting faint blue light. "One bullet to the head for all three victims: Demetri, Sasha, and Vasili."
So, this was bad.
"Is Demetri's death considered suspicious?" Leah asked; she couldn't recall hearing much about it outside what Aisha had told her during Paul's Happy Hour. She didn't even know who was assigned to that case.
"It's up in the air," Bella said, "but all signs are pointing to a suicide." She paused. "It's up in the air."
So, Demetri's death should be treated as suspicious.
"And no one claimed his body?"
"No one's claimed anyone's bodies," Bella said, pointing to the rows of freezer drawers at the other side of the lab. "Well, I guess someone did technically claim Sasha and Vasili, though without permission."
Jacob crossed his arms. "Any updates on the missing bodies?"
"Bodies?" Bella dropped her head to the side and blinked, feigning ignorance. "What missing bodies? Did I say anything about missing bodies? You must've misheard me. We aren't aware of any missing bodies. Where did you hear such a thing?"
Jacob played along with the medical examiner's game. "I must've been thinking of something else."
Bella sent the detective a grateful look before carrying on, "So, a couple of things: yesterday, we discovered some UV light residue on Jessica's hands. At first, we didn't think much of it as she was an avid tanner, but then I remembered something. It was the same type of residue we detected on Sasha's and Vasili's bodies. So, Eric and I thought: Hey, maybe it's just a coincidence…"
Leah quickly glanced at Jacob, who looked extremely concerned. "You found out that it wasn't."
"We sent over the bullet found in Demetri's skull to the lab. To check it out," Bella said. "The substances inside the casing matched the light residue found on the other bodies. So, question: Are these bullets available on the open market now?"
"Not supposed to be," Jacob said, looking down at the report in his hands. "So, traces of light were found in everyone's wounds except for Jessica's," he paraphrased. "But traces were detected on Jessica's hands…"
"Palms and fingertips," Bella said. "Nowhere else," and then, "Are you sure there were no traces of anything related to guns and bullets inside the hotel room? Bullet holes? Anything?"
Jacob shook his head.
"She could've just been handling them," Leah surmised; she turned to Jacob when a theory popped into her head. "Maybe it wasn't a date, after all?" she said. "You remember what what's-his-name said about 'going on runs?' Maybe that was what she was doing… with him? Dealing."
Jacob raised an eyebrow. "UVs?"
Leah shrugged. "Why else would there be traces of UV, the same kind found on the other victims, on her hands?" She turned to a very puzzled Bella. "We have reasons to believe that Jessica Stanley was associated with some nefarious people."
Bella gasped. "You think her death was gang-related?"
"We don't know," Jacob gravely said. "Does Sam know about this? About the UVs and the Denali? I assume that's what killed Sasha and Vasili. Besides the stakes."
"Funny you asked that." Bella leaned against the file cabinet. "Listen, I'm not supposed to tell y'all this, but I've been compelled by certain forces higher than my pay grade to rule the Denali murders as inconclusive. Once they return to my custody, that is."
"Inconclusive?" Leah shook her head. This sounded like an old-fashioned cover-up. She checked with Jacob, but he didn't seem too surprised. "That was clearly murder. They had stakes driven into them."
"For one, the stakes didn't kill them. The bullets did. Not from the force or anything, but… it was the light. The light from the UV bullet must've induced a fatal reaction. The stakes were applied post-mortem. I'm thinking as a part of some kind of ritual?"
Jacob ran a hand down his face. "Of course," he mumbled under his breath. "Of course."
"So, is there a conspiracy going around that I should know about? Because I'm pretty sure that at this rate, someone from an alphabet agency is going to come here and start asking some questions, which I'm not looking forward to answering, thank you very much."
"The feds won't come after you," Jacob assured the medical examiner.
"Oh, thanks," Bella mumbled, standing up straight; she shoved her hands into her lab coat pockets. "But this isn't about me, really. This is about the investigation, the most likely upcoming federal investigation, and what can happen during the trial. How can any of these autopsies be submitted as evidence? I mean, what am I supposed to do with all of this? I haven't come across any protocol for handling corpses of vampires."
"No, because vampires don't technically exist," Leah pointed out. "Under the law, that is."
Bella let out a groan. "That doesn't help me." She ran a hand over the back of her ponytail. She cursed under her breath and rushed to the sink to wash her hands. "I need a plan and soon."
"Have you spoken to your supervisor about this?" Jacob asked.
"Of course."
Leah crossed her arms. "And?"
"Like I said: Banner said to rule everyone's death, excluding Jessica Stanley's, as inconclusive. Oh, and Demetri as suicide," Bella said, "but what if I have to testify? I'm not particularly interested in being charged with perjury."
"If both sides are smart, we won't have to worry about any trials," Jacob said. "Trials are public, and I'm sure bringing up evidence of the supernatural's existence is the last thing anyone wants."
"So, what happens now?" Bella asked. "I know the Denali case isn't yours, but I'm guessing there's a connection to the Dahlia case?"
Jacob glanced at his partner. "I'll talk to Jenks, and see what he says," he told Bella, returning the file. "Off the record, of course."
"Thank you," Bella muttered, placing the report on the nearest table. She then began to pace around the lab, pulling at the arm of her white coat. "Um… there's also something else I must tell you." She faced the detectives. "He visited me. Again."
Leah raised a sharp eyebrow.
Jacob took a step forward. "Who?"
"Edward," Bella said as if it was nothing. "The same as before."
Leah reclined her head, pinching her nose as she cursed under her breath.
Jacob was beside himself. "Excuse me?"
At least, Bella had the sense to look guilty. "I didn't think it was a big deal," she said. "At the time. I gave the same spiel as before. He accepted it and left without incident. Just like last time."
Incredulous, Leah could only hope she misheard the words coming from the other woman's mouth. Maybe she was hallucinating? After all, she was rather hungry and was yet again plagued by a lack of proper sleep.
"You didn't think it was big – " Jacob tossed his hands in the air. "Bella, are you trying to get whacked?"
"Whacked?" Bella placed her hands on her hips. "This isn't The Sopranos, Jacob. No one's getting whacked around here."
Leah couldn't believe what she was hearing. Bella was many things, but she wasn't dumb. After all, she was a licensed doctor. But despite her intelligence, she apparently suffered from a lack of awareness. "Your friend, Edward Masen, is a member of the Cullen family," she informed the medical examiner as she straightened her stance, trying to keep her voice steady when she wanted to do was scream. "Did he tell you that?"
Jacob looked to Bella for a response.
The medical examiner brought a hand to her mouth. "What?" Eyes wide, she looked from one detective to the other. "Wait, what do you mean?"
"The Cullens operate a criminal organization," Leah said, frustration evident in her voice. "You know what that means, right? They're a group of people involved in illicit dealings including, but not limited to, extortion, illegal arms trafficking, and murder." She rolled her eyes. "You cannot be that naïve to think this isn't a big deal."
Bella clutched her chest, affronted. "Are you calling me – "
"No one's calling anyone anything," Jacob quickly interjected before the two women could go at it. He turned to Bella. "But perhaps, you should've told us earlier," and then, "I'm going to request someone to look after you."
Bella wasn't having it. "I don't need a bodyguard."
Leah placed a hand on her forehead; the medical examiner was giving her a headache. "A member of a crime family came to you, after hours without an appointment, requesting a stop on the Dahlia's autopsy. More than once," she sharply pointed out. "You're gonna need protection until we figure out what the hell's going on around here."
Before the detectives could figure out what the hell was going on with Edward Anthony Masen and his suspicious late-night visits to Dr. Swan, Paul demanded their presence back at the station. "I'd thought you both would want to speak to Riley Biers before I let him go," the captain told them. "Unless you decide to change your minds about how you wanna deal with him, I won't have a legal justification to hold him for another day."
Riley Biers had been residing inside one of the two Unit Five's holding cells since being dropped off by the detectives.
"Deal with him?" Jacob asked. "I thought you got him to talk?"
"Oh, I did," Paul said confidently. Leah could only imagine how that interrogation went. "But unless you want him to be charged for aggravated assault, which means the Deal has to be invoked since we can't keep a vampire inside Cook County Jail for more than twelve hours…"
Leah didn't want Riley to get charged, at least not before they talked to him. Not before a deal was made. "We get it," she said. "We'll talk to him if you don't mind."
"That's why I called you both in." Paul motioned the detectives to follow him to the interview rooms. "Now, if we wanna keep him without mentioning the assault or attempted murder, we have to find a connection to him and your case. That'll keep the Chief and Jenks at bay for a while since the Dahlia case's still a hot one."
"Understood," Jacob said. "Have he been fed?"
Paul snorted. "Who do you think I am? An amateur? Of course, I fed him. The last thing I need is an incident because I didn't give him some blood," then immediately added, "Synthetic blood, of course."
Leah looked at her partner and then at the captain. "What is this, True Blood?"
Both men snickered.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Biers," Paul sang as he entered the interview room with the detectives. He stopped to adjust the lighting to fit the vampire's needs. After, he faced the perp with a smirk that would have infuriated Leah if she were on the other side of the law; he cocked his head in the direction of the detectives. "You have guests."
Riley was sitting behind the metal table with his wrists and ankles loosely chained to the arms and legs of the chair. He didn't say anything as he scowled at the cops.
He looked a lot younger than Leah had expected, had remembered; surely, he was a vampire, and thus could be twenty or two hundred, but… it was as if the detectives were facing a twenty-year-old kid.
Leah and Jacob sat across from Riley while Paul remained near the entrance. He didn't intend to stay for the entire interrogation.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Biers," Leah greeted, getting her notepad and pen ready while Jacob engaged with Riley in an intense glaring contest. The events from the previous week remained fresh in everyone's mind. "It's been a while, yes?"
"Yes," Riley bit out, transferring his glare to Leah. He was still sour about her putting a bullet in his knee. If he were anyone else, Leah would have still felt a bit bad, but he had been the one who thought it was a good idea to attack them; he had shot Jacob first. She couldn't feel too sorry for him.
"Talk," Paul ordered. When Riley pointed his chin into the air and declared that he had nothing else to say, the captain grumbled, "You were singing last time," he admonished. "What changed?"
Riley's glare now shifted to the captain. "I'm not afraid of you," he declared. "Any of you. I did my talking."
"You did your talking for me," Paul pointed out, "but not for them. Ain't that right, Detectives?"
"Exactly right," Jacob said, smirking at the vampire's increasing irritation. "So, he's the deal: either you cooperate or spend the rest of your immortal life in Alcatraz. You see, attacking a couple of cops with a violent weapon will get you some serious time."
Leah made a concerted effort to conceal her confusion.
Alcatraz? As in the infamous prison sitting on an island off the coast of San Francisco? Wasn't that prison shut down years ago?
Riley rolled his eyes. "You mean Arizona."
Now, Leah did know about Arizona. She knew about the correction facility that technically didn't exist. It was a standard prison for those not considered humans, located in the middle of the desert and about one mile deep into the earth. Ninety-nine percent of taxpayers were unaware of its existence, and it would be best to keep it that way.
Paul took a step forward. "No, he meant Alcatraz, where you won't get fed the good stuff. Where they'll force you into the light; force you to eat real food. Human food. Meat drained with not a speck of red in sight. You'll starve, and you'd only have yourself to blame."
From the way Paul made it sound, Alcatraz was torturous for vampires. Was this even legal? Surely, it had to be a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which spoke against cruel and unusual treatment – Maybe, it was all a bluff?
But then again, Paul wasn't known for bluffing.
"The choice is yours, Riley," Jacob said with a nonchalant shrug. "Only yours."
"Fuck you," the vampire spat.
The room fell into a tense silence, which ended moments later thanks to Paul. "If you know what's best for you, Mr. Biers, you'll cooperate," he sharply said. "We're not like the others – "
"I know that," Riley grumbled, crossing his arms as much as he could, given the shackles and chains. He wrinkled his nose as he slumped down his seat. He reminded Leah of a spoiled child in the midst of a tantrum.
Paul nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Good." He turned to the detectives. "I'll be back in a few. You're good with him?"
Jacob's smirk didn't falter, which didn't escape Leah's notice. He knew something. He had something on Riley, and only he (and possibly Paul) knew about it. She nodded at the captain, and as soon as the captain left the room, she turned to Riley. "So, how about it?"
"You shot me," Riley snapped.
She had.
"And you shot me," Jacob retorted. "First, if I remember correctly."
He did.
"I was only doing my job."
"So were we," Leah told the vampire, giving him a pointed look. "Consider yourself very lucky that backup wasn't called in, or else you'd be finding yourself in a completely different situation, Mr. Biers."
Riley grunted.
"But we're not here to talk about that night," Leah carried on. "Heck, for the time being, let's imagine that night never happened. After all, Detective Black's all healed up, and you're still…" She gestured towards Riley. "You're in good shape. So, why don't we use this opportunity to turn a new leaf and see how we can help each other out?"
Riley rolled his eyes again. "I'm not an idiot," he said with a sarcastic scoff. "I know what game you're playing."
"Which is why you're still here and not in the pits of Cook County, getting prepared for your shipment out west," Jacob cooly replied, "because we know you're smart enough to know that Alcatraz can be a very possible place of residence in the very near future, depending on your cooperation."
That seemed to set Riley straight. He rolled his shoulders a couple of times before relaxing his chair. "What do you want?"
"Information on the Chicago Dahlia case."
Riley drew his eyebrows together. "Who?"
"I know you've heard about the Dahlia murder," Jacob said. "Everyone's heard about it."
Leah decided to refresh Riley's memory by pulling out a photo of Jessica's mutilated body. She slid it across the table, stopping a couple of inches from the young man. "Her," she said. "Jessica Stanley. A human. Murdered at LaPush back in January."
"I got nothing to do with that." Riley diverted his gaze from the explicit photo. "Nothing."
"We're not accusing you of being the killer," Leah said. "We only want to know if you have any information that can help us find the killer."
"I don't know anything."
Jacob let a dramatic sigh. "That's not what we want to hear, Riley."
"Look, I already told you. I didn't do it. I wasn't there. Fuck, do you think I wanted her to die?" Riley said, gripping both arms of his chair. "She was a human, damn it. Killing her would violate the terms of the Deal."
"And shooting a cop wouldn't?" Leah argued.
Riley raised his chained right hand to point at Jacob. "Pig or not, he's not a human," he said. "Therefore, fair game."
Leah gave the vampire a flat look, but Jacob didn't appear too bothered by the comment. "Whatever you say," was his only reply. He knocked on the table a few times. "What do you know about the Dahlia's murder?"
"Nothing much. I wasn't there." Riley glanced at the picture with a grimace. "Didn't even know the lady."
"The last time we had met," Leah said, "you mentioned that you and your people patrol that particular warehouse, right?"
Riley swallowed. "Right."
"She was there." Leah pulled out another photo of Jessica standing in the middle of the warehouse with several men and large crates with light suspiciously peering between the wooden crevices. "Some time back. Since this warehouse belongs to your boss, I can assume that someone in your crew knew about this meet-up and thus, knew about her."
Riley wanted to contest everything; Leah could see the defiance in his eyes, but then he wisely relented. Sitting up in his chair, he leaned over, cursed under his breath, and then pointed at the photo, his finger tapping on the shape of a shadowy figure. "Him," he said. "She came with him."
Due to the grainy quality, the man's features were not easily defined, but he was white, appeared tall, was short with dark hair, and had a lean build.
"Got a name?" Jacob asked.
"You should know him," Riley said. "He recently offed himself." He rolled his eyes. "Or so they say."
"Name?" Leah pressed.
Riley huffed. "Demetri." He wrinkled his nose as if he had smelled something foul. "Demetri Karlov."
Jacob leaned back in his seat as Leah tried to catch her breath.
Demetri.
Could it be him? From what Leah could recall, Demetri was Russian. He was tall, attractive enough with short brown hair. It could be the same guy. The one Lauren had talked about Jessica meeting on that fateful night. The same guy Lipman had seen several times at his restaurant. Demetri. But he wasn't linked to the Olympic. He hated them. And Jessica worked for the Cullens, so why would he –
Oh, shit.
"You said: allegedly," Leah said, trying to maintain a steady voice while her mind raced a mile a minute. "You don't believe Demetri's death – demise – was self-inflicted?"
Riley let out a loud cackle. "Ha! That fucker?" He shook his head. "He's the most narcissistic person I've ever met, and I work for Victoria. He'd never off himself. That ego of his would've never let that happen. I'm sure all he'd want in the world was to remain on this planet and make everyone else's lives Hell." He shook his head again. "Someone got to him."
"Any idea who?"
Riley lifted both shoulders. "It has to be a rival, right?" His demeanor compared to the one from earlier was a complete 180. Leah wondered what had compelled the man to change his tune and open up to the cops. Did the prospect of being sent to Alcatraz scare him that much? In the end, the reason didn't really matter.
The detectives waited for Riley to carry on, and carry on he did, "Maria." He initially sounded sure of that fact, but then, "Maybe it was Maria. She hated his fucking guts for centuries." He shrugged again. He did that a lot, Leah noticed. "Maria Velasquez, the head of the Velasquez Cartel."
"The Mexican Coven," Jacob said, nodding as if everything was coming into place. Which place? Leah had no idea. "It's been a while since I've heard from her."
Riley seemed impressed that Jacob knew of Maria. "The Mexican Coven, the Velasquez Cartel. Same difference." He shrugged again. "And then there's the Olympic; they hate the Volturi with a passion. But… " He drew his eyebrows together. "Actually, scratch that. My money's on Tanya."
"Denali?"
"The one and only."
Leah called for an aside.
"Retaliation," Leah said to Jacob as they stood outside the interview room, which was thankfully protected by sound-proof walls. "Tanya must've believed that Demetri had something to do with Sasha's and Vasili's murder. I wouldn't put it past her to put a hit on someone. An eye for an eye."
Tanya was known for being a bit volatile, especially when her family was concerned.
Jacob glanced at the door to the interview room. "And I wouldn't put it past Demetri to do something like that." He frowned. "Sam should be here. We're practically solving his case for him. I think he owes us both lunch."
Leah thought the same thing. Sasha and Vasili weren't the detectives' priority, Jessica (and by extension, Demetri), was. But the detectives were slowly starting to realize that all these murders were connected; one couldn't get solved with the other.
"Yeah, well…" Leah rubbed her hands together. "Demetri's our problem now."
Jacob ran a hand across his head. "But why would Demetri, and by association, the Volturi want Sasha and Vasili dead in the first place? It doesn't – " He stopped, eyes wide. "Vasili."
"I'm not following…"
Jacob's frown was replaced with a knowing grin.
"Let's go back inside."
"What can you tell us about Vasili Denali?"
Leah still had no idea where Jacob was going with his questioning, but she trusted the man had a plan; she could see the determination on his face and his increased enthusiasm in that one question.
A question that Riley surely hadn't expected. He looked from Jacob to Leah and then back, letting his mouth slack before closing it shut. He blinked a couple of times, perhaps wondering if he had heard correctly. "Vasili?"
"Denali."
Riley cleared his throat as he sat up in the metal chair. "Not a damn thing," he said; it was debatable if he was lying. "Except he was Sasha's kid. A baby."
Leah brought her eyebrows together. "Adopted?" she asked. "Did she have Vasili before she… turned?"
"No."
Well, that was new.
Sure, Jacob had mentioned the existence of these "babies" once before, but… she thought he was joking.
"Vampires can make babies?" Leah asked, not bothering to mask her bewilderment. Vampire babies, how would that even be possible? Logistically? Weren't vampires technically dead? Or, she supposed, the undead? Was Vasili some kind of… zombie baby? She shook her head. "How would that work exactly?"
Jacob looked as if he was wondering the same thing.
Riley grimaced. "I'm not too sure myself."
"Is it a common occurrence?"
"I didn't know it was a thing," Riley admitted, "until I heard about it from the boss."
"Speaking of your boss," Jacob said, "did she have a problem with Vasili's existence? Any issue with vampires making immortal babies?"
Immortal babies.
My goodness.
Riley snorted. "No."
"Did the Volturi?"
"I don't know. Maybe?" Riley swallowed; his amber eyes bounced around the room as he fidgeted in his seat. The mention of the Volturi was making him anxious. "Look, all I know is that the Volturi has a set of rules. Like a code for all of us, and they take that shit seriously."
Leah wrote down a reminder to forward this information to Sam. They might not be talking to each other as husband and wife, but they both had a professional obligation to share information.
Jacob slapped the table and grinned, seemingly satisfied with the vampire's answer. "Well, since that's settled, let's return to the main reason why we wanted to speak to you: Jessica Stanley, the warehouse, and Demetri." He dropped the grin. "How did you become aware of this meeting?"
"I was there."
"For the meeting?"
"Listen, I'm only a guard," Riley vehemently insisted. "Never a participant. Just there to make sure everything goes smoothly, and then I go on my way."
"Did everything go smoothly?"
Riley shrugged. "I'm still here, ain't I?"
Jacob gave a small smile. "Yes, you are." He jotted down some notes before asking, "And you can confirm that you saw both Jessica and Demetri? Together?"
"From start to finish."
"Can you explain how they behaved around each other?" Leah asked.
Using his shackled hand, Riley dragged the picture of Jessica closer to him. He stared at it for a moment, expression rather… expressionless. He made a noise in his throat before pushing the photo back to the middle of the table.
"They were obviously fucking."
Leah let out a dry cough and then glanced at Jacob; he appeared surprised, but also not. Riley's words certainly added credence to Captain Lahote's suspicions about Jessica working on behalf of two adversarial teams. Who despised each other.
"You're sure about that?" Jacob asked.
"You can practically smell the lust rolling off of them."
"What else can you tell us about them?"
Riley's nose flared. "Demetri was an asshole." Nothing too profound; most people couldn't stand Demetri Karlov. "And she was new to the game."
"The game?"
"Yeah, the game," Riley confirmed with a snort. He wasn't mocking Jessica, Leah realized, just the entire situation. "Demetri was explaining every little thing to her. About the codenames for certain products and actions, and how to carry out deals. It was like a goddamn training session."
Leah leaned forward. "And Demetri was helping her?"
Riley nodded.
Demetri was reportedly assisting someone, who had a mark placed on her, right on her inner wrist, declaring her association with the Olympic Coven. Demetri's supposed rival.
What the hell's going on?
"As I said: they were fucking so I guess she got something out of it," Riley said with a shrug. "She was clearly in over her head. She didn't know what she was doing, or who she was doing. She was just a human – " His eyes fell onto Leah. He cleared his throat. "No offense."
"None taken."
Leah gestured for Riley to continue.
"I was confused at first," Riley said, sounding like he still was. "She worked for the Olympic. She had the mark. What the fuck was she doing working with someone from the Volturi, especially someone like him?" It appeared Riley had read the detectives' minds. "It doesn't make sense."
"Do you think Demetri knew of Jessica's connection to the Olympic?" Jacob asked. "Whether he noticed Jessica's mark or not?"
"They were messing around. I'm sure he – I just don't understand. We, the Olympic, the Volturi... we would never hire humans to conduct deals. It's too goddamn messy. We got the Deal; we have a good thing going on. So, why get someone like her, a human, involved in our business?"
"Maybe she was special?" Leah offered.
"Her? Special?" Riley found the suggestion hilarious and extremely unlikely. "If she were so special, she would've been turned ages ago. She was never going to get turned, not by one of us. Not by the Olympic, and definitely not by the Volturi. We have standards."
"Nice to know that you do," Jacob remarked in a flat voice. "So, in your opinion, why would a mere human be allowed to get involved in dealing? Why would a boss be down with that?"
Riley shrugged.
"Think," Leah implored. "If you were the boss, why involve a human in your affairs? Knowing how 'messy' it can get?"
"If I was a boss..." Riley sat up in his seat. "Hey, she was hot."
Leah did a double-take. "Are you telling me that you would employ a human - something your kind is vehemently against - because she's hot?"
Riley shrugged again.
"People have done more for less," Jacob said. "I could see why. It's kinda like how the ladies can get into clubs for free. It's all an incentive for the guys to spend more money."
"Yeah, what he said."
"Spend money on what?" Leah asked; she wasn't talking about the patrons at nightclubs. "What were they trying to sell?"
"There's a new bullet on the market – UVs."
Leah's hand froze. "UVs?"
Riley confirmed with a nod.
"Interesting."
As she jotted down more notes, Leah recalled the previous conversation with Dr. Swan regarding the UV residue found on Jessica's hands. So, Jessica might have been handling the bullets (Without gloves? Rookie mistake) on the night of her murder. If, she must've been preparing for or was on the receiving end of a deal. Maybe a deal from that night? Perhaps, but Leah didn't recall any traces of UV being detected inside Room 2916.
She and Jacob needed to go back to that hotel suite.
"Anything else you can tell us about Jessica?" Jacob asked.
"I heard she was a scortina." Riley wrinkled his nose. "I don't know how true that is. Now, for who? I don't know. My business is with Victoria. No one else's," then he added, "Gotta be someone up there though, high enough to let her skirt around the rules."
"I see," Leah said, just as she and Jacob had expected. It was nice to know that the detectives hadn't entirely been off base. "Got another question: why would anyone do something so horrible to another?" She pointed at the photo. "Why mutilate her? Why leave her out in the open?"
"How the Hell should I know?" Riley threw up his hands as much as he could, given the shackles. "I can't read minds. I wasn't there."
"Give us your opinion."
Riley let out a sigh. "Something like that, cutting someone in half and shit?" He shook his head. "It couldn't be just about her." As most suspected. "If Demetri or whoever wanted her dead, they would've done it ages ago, and in a less bloody way." He shrugged. "Unless she really pissed somebody off."
Leah called for another aside.
"Let's not put him away," Leah proposed; she was amazed at how well the interview was progressing. Riley was practically starring in a one-man opera. It was almost too good to be true, but Leah didn't want to miss an opportunity to finally get the ball rolling in the investigation. "At least, not for aggravated assault. At least, not for now."
Jacob gawked at the idea.
"Listen, I know I don't possess heightened senses and whatnot, but I do know how to read body language. I can read between the lines. That man in there? He's not committed to Victoria's cause. He's spilling in a way I've never seen before, and I've dealt with people looking at life without parole. Maybe we can use him?"
"For what?"
"Well, we don't have much on the Dahlia case. We don't even have a suspect besides Demetri, who's obviously out of commission, so we need more information. Bringing any of the others in is pretty much out of the question because of – "
"The Deal."
"Correct. So, why not have Riley be our person on the inside? We need a CI, and we need one bad. I'm sure with the right incentive, he'll be open to doing some two-timing. He may be useful for the other cases. Once he gets a lawyer. Paul and Morris won't mind, and I'm positive Jenks will sign off on this, too."
After all, the Dahlia case was still being considered as a high-profile one, and the brass was still breathing down everyone's neck. (Apparently, they all had expected the investigation's conclusion a month ago. It had only been a little over two months. How unrealistic.)
Leah could sense Jacob wasn't entirely convinced, but he wasn't rejecting her idea. "Fuck it," he ultimately decided. "Let's do it."
It was 5:00 in the evening when Leah received the notification that Riley, with his public defender by his side, accepted the terms of the deal.
She grinned at the text message in triumph.
They got themselves an informant.
