Page 26 of Tooth and Nail

“You’re aware we have a prisoner whom Sapphire captured last night?”

“Yes.” Night darted a glance at Eoghan before looking back at the chief.

“Okay, I need you to look into the Flagstaff vampire reservation and I need it done as quickly as possible,” she said as Night sat back down behind her keyboard and began typing. “I need to see anything you can find me about the clan.”

“Sure. Anything in particular?” Night’s fingers flew over the keyboard, her glasses reflecting various searches as sheflicked through page after page, turning her head to look from one monitor to the other and back again.

“I want you to go back four months and show me images of the royal family as well as a roster of them from the king and all his progeny. Make sure to include his consorts…husband or wife, etcetera. Give me anything you can find on them.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The chief went to stand over Night’s shoulder while Eoghan and Ari stood in front of her desk, waiting for the techie to find anything useful to corroborate John’s story. Eoghan watched Night’s expression closely. She had hair void of any color and skin so pale she looked almost albino. Her eyes were definitely a neon blue, though, and the color still looked startling behind the glasses. Fingers clicking over her keyboard, Night sported long, painted red nails that matched her full, red lips. She let out a gentle huff of exasperation and looked up at the chief as she stopped typing.

“What is it?” Priest asked.

“The royal family’s IP address and official website was wiped about three months ago.” Night pointed to the screen. “This is their current site but there’s nothing here. Everything on this site is about the reservation’s trading post. Just goods for sale and how cheaply you can buy cigarettes, other nicotine vaping products, cigars, baskets, blankets, clay jars, and handmade trinkets. There’s absolutely nothing about the clan’s hierarchy or anything of any royal house. It’s been made—mirrored—to look like a human tribal trading post and nothing more. I’m so sorry. There’re no photos of anything but this stuff.”

“Can you go back farther?” the chief asked.

Night nodded slowly, frowning as if she was thinking. “Do we know the name of any of the clan members or the royal family name?”

“Search for John Townsend,” she said.

“Also look for Townsend’s mate,” Ari said. He glanced over at Eoghan. “Rudy.”

Eoghan nodded and looked back at Night. “Yes, search for John Townsend, his mate Rudy, and also a vampire by the name of Tillis Bradshaw.”

“And any mention of Townsend’s Pretorian guards,” Ari added.

“Good.” Priest smiled at Ari, and Eoghan felt a rush of pleasure ripple through him. He couldn’t explain the warmth he felt at the chief’s recognition of his new partner’s participation in the discussion.

Night nodded sharply and went back to work, typing frantically. After several minutes of muttering under her breath, she let out a little whoop and pointed at the computer, looking up at the chief with a big grin. “I found it.”

“What?” Eoghan asked, grabbing Ari’s arm and dragging him around the desk where they crowded in next to the chief to look at the trio of monitors.

“I went back through the Agency’s archives and found listings of the Flagstaff’s clan royalty at the time the reservation was created almost a hundred years ago. Then I searched for records of matings among the regals and any progeny they listed. A man by the name of John Townsend was the progeny of Isabella Townsend who was listed as queen in 1906 when the reservation was formed. The earliest recorded history of John Townsend is 1932 when he’s listed as Isabella’s progeny. He took over as king upon her true death in that year.”

Eoghan let out a huff of breath. “So, he was telling the truth.”

The chief nodded. “Is there a picture of him, Night?”

She looked back at the screens, typing for another ten seconds. “There’s this one. It lists the members of the royal family in 1942. They were at a rally for WWII war bonds.” She pointed to the list of names beneath the picture—all Townsends—John, Rudy, Carolyn, and Nicholas. The picture had been taken at night and all four possessed eyes which reflected the familiar and signature red glow of someone who’d been made vampire. The family of four adults were seated on some sort of raised dais under a canopy of lights. The John Townsend in the photograph resembled a much more muscled and healthier version of the person in their lockup downstairs. “Is this the man you’re looking for?”

“That’s him!” Ari exclaimed, sounding amazed.

Eoghan shot him a smile only to stop and stare at the surprise in his eyes. When Ari nodded, Eoghan looked back at the screens.

“I found this one of a Flagstaff resident named Tillis Bradshaw,” Night said, pointing to another screen which showed a mugshot of a man with a long, scraggly, black beard. The red glow was absent from his eyes. “This one is dated two years ago.”

“He was in jail?” the chief asked.

“According to the prison roster, he was incarcerated at Coconino Detention Facility in Flagstaff, Arizona for only five days in 2021. It says he was released on bond but…um, hang on—” She typed some more. “Oh, I see. He skipped bail and never turned up again.” She looked up at the chief. “Is he supposed to be a vampire?”

“The new vampire king of the Flagstaff, Arizona clan,” Eoghan said.

Night stared at him. “Oh, I see. Well, according to this, he was human when he went in, so someone must have made him vampire when he was released on bail.”

“Right,” the chief said. “I should call my counterpart in the human U.S. Marshals and see if there’s a fugitive warrant out on him from when he was human. If that’s the case, I’d be willing to bet, he jumped bail, was made vamp, and then somehow usurped John Townsend, the rightful king.”

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