Page 9 of Tooth and Nail

When Eoghan stopped at the door and spun to look at him, the amusement dancing in his eyes almost made him laugh. “From what I understand, their mother isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.”

“I guess,” Ari said, chuckling.

“Honestly, I didn’t think that was going to be as funny as it was but then again, I should know better. The Tools never fail to entertain.”

“They must bereallygood mechanics.”

“They’re the best. I honestly don’t know how they do it. Our vehicles require some pretty sophisticated tech which they keep running like clockwork. They’re the best mechanics we have.”

“Huh.To look at them, you’d never know they had the brain capacity to be able to install anything like that,” Ari said.

“Our tech department handles that. Everything is on chips. All the Tools have to do is install them and trust me, that doesn’t take a rocket scientist. But, when we need to be able to chase down a vampire running faster than the blink of an eye or to have weapons installed and at the ready when needed, you can’t beat a car outfitted by Rick and Dick.” He nodded to the door as he pulled out his key card and waved it over a small, black pad near the doorknob. “This is our jail complex.” The door beeped and the sound of mechanical locks disengaging echoed in the vast garage. A very loud buzzer sounded and then he reached out and pulled open the heavy, metal door. “Welcome to the tombs.”

They stepped into the corridor beyond and Eoghan made sure to listen for the automatic locks engaging before turningback to Ari. The corridor they stood in wasn’t terribly long and at the end, another metal door stood between them and the jail. In the ceiling and just in front of the door were black, glass bubbles covering cameras which were monitored 24/7 from the control center one floor above them. In fact, cameras were installed throughout their entire office but down here in the tombs, they were much more prevalent. In front of the door sat a man and when he spotted them coming toward him, he rose from his chair and dropped the magazine he’d been reading. He smiled widely as they approached.

“Hey, Sapphire. How are you?” He held out a hand, and Eoghan shook it.

“I’m good, Charlie. How’s it going in the tombs today?”

“Oh, you know, a veritable barrel of laughs, like always. Who’s your friend?”

“Charlie Turner, I’d like you to meet Aristotle Brown, my new partner,” Eoghan said, turning and looking at Ari who smiled at the guard.

“Nice to meet you, Brown,” Charlie said. “New to the I.S.R. or a transfer?”

“I’m new. Transferring from the Lexington, Kentucky office,” Ari said as he shook Charlie’s hand.

Eoghan watched Charlie’s eyebrows rise as he stared at him. He suddenly grinned. “A civilian,huh? Well, welcome to crazy town.”

Ari chuckled. “As I’m learning.”

“I assume Sapphire brought you down here to meet our current residents?”

“I’m giving him the nickel tour and you know I can’t resist the jail, Charlie,” Eoghan said, using his most charming tone.

“Nice to hear.” Charlie gave Ari an up and down look. “Well, your education is about to get real, my friend,” he said with an amused chuckle. He pulled out his own key card andwaved it over the pad. The same sound of locks disengaging were followed by another buzzer before Charlie opened the door. He stepped through first, waiting for the locks to engage before looking at them both. “We only have two residents at the moment. Our long-term visitor and the vamp you caught last night.”

“A vampire?” Ari asked.

Charlie nodded. “Yeah. Your partner didn’t tell you? He caught a fugitive last night and brought him in. Authorities from his clan should be here just after dark to pick him up. They’re driving all the way from Flagstaff.”

“He’s quite a distance from home then but the drive doesn’t take a whole day. It’s like ten hours, right?” Eoghan asked.

“About eight without traffic but remember, they only drive at night,” Charlie replied. “He’s asleep at the moment but Carmine’s awake. You can talk to him and if he’s feeling generous, he might even hiss back to you.”

“Carmine?” Ari asked, craning his neck to look down the row of cells. From their vantage point next to the front door, no one could see into the cells but Ari was sure curious. Eoghan couldn’t blame him. He might not be so curious once he met their most notorious prisoner, though.

“That’s not his real name,” Charlie said. “I can’t pronounce the one he gave us when you guys caught him. I happened to be watching the Sopranos at the time he was brought in.” He laughed as though it was the funniest thing anyone had ever thought of. Eoghan couldn’t help but smile. Ari did also, though, he was pretty sure his expression was as much confusion as it was humor. “Come meet him. Stay away from the glass and try not to piss him off.”

“O…kay,” Ari said, sounding a little less enthusiastic than he had a few minutes before.

Charlie headed down the row of cells, all on the left side of the corridor. The other side was a solid wall of rock from which the space was hewn. There were twelve cells in all, separated on all sides by solid rock except the wall of six-inch-thick shatterproof ballistic glass. Within the glass, several half inch holes had been drilled to allow air to flow into the cell. No one was getting out of there. They walked right past the sleeping vampire’s cell to the end where Carmine’s was. When they stopped and looked in, the alien wasn’t immediately visible.

“I don’t—” Ari’s words suddenly cut off as Carmine’s silvery body blinked into focus as he turned. “Oh, shit.” He craned his neck and looked up…all the way up to the top of the twelve-foot-tall cell. The creature’s size—at over nine feet—was intimidating, but it was the way his iridescent scales of silvery-black looked as he straightened his snake like body, uncoiling and hissing. The barb at the tip of his tail rattled as he opened his mouth and bared his fangs right before lunging at the glass. Eoghan and Charlie were startled but they’d both been prepared for the attack. Ari, however, jumped a good foot backward, automatically reaching for a weapon which he’d most likely carried in a holster until today when he’d come into their facility unarmed. It was for just this reason that he’d been instructed to leave his guns at home.

“It’s okay; he can’t get out,” Eoghan reassured him.

“I was…I was just startled. I didn’t expect to—what the heck is that?”

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