Page 79 of Tooth and Nail

Ari turned to Eoghan who sat back in his chair and told her the entire sordid story from first meeting them to how they came upon Oberon and Titania’s dead offspring in the Sequoia Forest. When they explained how the tiny rival fairies had formed a semi-solid replica of the offsprings’ parents, she visibly paled.

“That’s disturbing,” she said. “You said when you met with Oberon and Titania in the truck stop that they seemed almost mechanical or stiff. Do you think their bodies were also made up of thousands of tiny fairies which is why they appeared that way?”

Ari’s eyes widened as he looked over at Eoghan. The look on his face was equally bewildered. When he shrugged his shoulders before turning back to her, his voice wasn’t quite as steady as it normally was.

“We actually thought about it. As disturbing as it is to think about, maybe so, ma’am.” Eoghan turned to him. “It’s possible, don’t you think?”

Ari nodded, staring at Eoghan long and hard before turning back to look at the chief. “Yeah, I think it’s more than possible.”

“Well then, I’ll need to inform the Agency right away.” She pulled a piece of paper from the drawer in her desk and slid it toward them before meeting their eyes and holding a finger over her lips for silence. Ari nodded, as did Eoghan before he looked down at the paper. It read, Meet me in the SCIF now. They both looked up and nodded. “I guess that’s all,” she said. “Make sure you don’t leave the office until you have written up your reports.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Eoghan said. “May I ask, did we hear anything more from the vampire who escaped?”

She shook her head as her eyes widened. “In the SCIF,” she mouthed. “Not a thing,” she said out loud. “I’m very unhappy about that little screw up, Sapphire. I know you were dealing with a rookie partner but there’s no excuse for losing a valuable prisoner. We look like idiots to the Flagstaff vampire clan who came to pick him up and they’ve lodged a formal complaint with the Agency. I got my ass reamed so I guess you can imagine it’s a sore subject with me. Now, get out of my office and write up those reports.” She shooed them away.

“Yes, ma’am,” Eoghan said.

“Sorry about that, ma’am. I thought I had the right restraints.” Ari stood up. He watched her mouth SCIF again and they both nodded before walking silently out of her office.

Neither of them said a word as Ari followed Eoghan to the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility on the administrative level. Every Federal office across the nation was equipped with a SCIF from the FBI to the CIA, and U.S.Marshals Service offices around the country. The most famous SCIF of all was located in Washington D.C. and it was called the Situation Room. As soon as they’d stowed their weapons in lockers meant for them, and Eoghan used his key card to enter the SCIF, he turned back to Ari.

“What the fuck was that all about? Is her office bugged?” Ari asked.

“I can’t think of any other reason for her to want to talk to us in here. There are definitely no cameras or listening devices,” Eoghan said.

“But there are cameras in the corridors. If someone’s monitoring what’s going on, won’t they see the three of us coming in here?”

“There are no cameras in the corridors leading to the SCIF for internal security reasons, so no, no one can monitor who’s using this room.”

Ari nodded as he heard the door opening. Sure enough, the chief stepped inside a few seconds later, closing and locking the door behind her.

“Thank you for meeting me in here,” she said. “I have no idea if my suspicions are right or wrong, but I do know this. I found a bug under the desk in my office this morning.”

“Who would bug your office?” Eoghan asked. “That seems like a pretty ballsy thing to do.”

“I don’t know, but I do know this. It wasn’t there yesterday which means someone planted it last night. I left it in place so that whoever is listening in can continue thinking I know nothing about it. Bottom line…we have a mole in the office,” she said, frowning. “No one has access to this facility other than someone with a key card.”

“Why? Why would anyone spy on you?” Eoghan asked.

“Remember when we talked about how someone at the Agency had to be helping Tillis Bradshaw take over as the new Flagstaff vampire king?” she asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Eoghan said. “That’s why we concocted the ruse about him escaping because of Ari using the wrong restraints.”

“Yes. But what you don’t know is that the same day I reported his escape, my apartment was broken into,” she said. “And I only know that because my downstairs neighbor is a nosy sloth shifter who knows everything that goes on in the building. She heard the noise of a break-in, but as you can guess, the old lady moves at—”

“A sloth’s pace, ma’am?” Ari asked.

Both Eoghan and the chief turned to glare at him.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “Please go on, boss.”

“Anyway, my apartment is in one of those old buildings in North Hollywood which has apartments built in a square with terraces that overlook the pool in the center courtyard. So, by the time she got up the stairs and down the terrace to my apartment, it was too late to catch anyone in the act of breaking in. She did see someone running down the stairs on the opposite end of the terrace, but she couldn’t give me a description. When I got home, though, I couldn’t find anything missing, I did check for bugs and the place was loaded with them. I found one in my kitchen beside my landline, one in my living room, secreted in my TV remote, and another one in my bedroom by my phone.”

“That’s amazing, ma’am,” Ari said, sounding shocked even to his own ears.

Both Eoghan and the chief turned to him. “You mean that someone would dare bug my home?”

“No, ma’am, that you still have a landline,” Ari said.

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