Page 58 of The Vampire and the Case of the Perilous Poltergeist

I grabbed Eben, whose fast heart rate told me he’d come around though he was playing possum for all he was worth. As I hauled him to his feet, he whimpered again and opened his eyes. ‘Walk, asshole,’ I snarled. Marks seized his other arm and we frogmarched him back to the crowd.

The recruits were scattered around the front entrance, still talking and eating. Marks took up a position near the reception window and raised his hands to get everyone’s attention. Once he had it, he said, ‘A kidnapping ring has been discovered here at the academy. If you see Brandon Steele or Dominic Olsen, you are hereby obliged to arrest them.’

Murmuring and head-turning ensued, but although the recruits looked around curiously they seemed confused rather than convinced. Sergeant Marks looked at me and shrugged. I guessed we’d have to arrest the men ourselves. That was fine; I didn’t mind getting my hands dirty.

As I looked around, I spotted Steele and Olsen. They saw me coming and ran.

But not fast enough.

Chapter 41

Running was enough to convince the other recruits of their guilt and the men didn’t take more than a dozen steps before they were piled on and cuffed.

‘Great takedowns,’ Marks praised with an easy grin. He put the two men against a wall – under guard – then sent more recruits to the basement to fetch the other conspirators. Soon all of them were sitting against the wall and Sergeant Marks was making the call for the Sitka police to come and get them. He collected the syringes from the men who’d been coming for Danny, Harry and George. Connor had kept the syringe he’d found near Margi so we could have it analysed when we got back home, but we handed over the ones that had been used on Danny and Sidnee.

Tension gradually eased from my shoulders, and I almost cried with relief when Sidnee and Margi walked down the corridor. I hugged them both then hugged Sidnee again. Igrinned as I noticed Margi making a beeline for George. He looked relieved to see her and swept her into his arms.

Sidnee was almost jumping up and down with excitement. ‘We stopped the bad guys!’ she crowed.

‘Yeah, we did. But not all of them – now we have to stop the rest,’ I said firmly.

She stopped bouncing and the happiness drained out of her as if a switch had been flipped. She nodded grimly. ‘Damn right we do.’ She had a huge stake in bringing them down; because of her ex, Chris, this was personal. She moved closer. ‘I got a text from Thomas. He said that Engell is good people, but he isn’tex-MIB.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘He still works there in internal affairs.’ She lowered her voice even further. ‘But Thomas says we can trust him. He was probably working to bring down this whole thing from the inside. We could have been working together the whole time.’

I frowned. ‘Fischer definitely told Marks that Engell wasformerMIB.’

‘That’s what Fischer had been told. It looks like Thorsen and Eben weren’t the only ones undercover. Now we know about Fischer, I reckon him telling Marks was an asshole move designed to make Marks feel uncomfortable with a bogeyman living in the same building.’

I grimaced. ‘Quite possibly. Fischer issuchan asshole.’ I blew out a breath. ‘Where is Engell? Do you think we should talk to him?’

‘I tried to find him but no one has seen him.’

‘You think he’s okay?’

Sidnee shrugged. ‘I think he’s like Batman and his services are no longer required here.’

She was right. Sirens were getting closer and soon the police arrived. Sergeant Marks spoke to them and then the interviews began. During mine I focused mostly on Miller and Thorsen’sactions, but I did mention their cocaine habit and floated the idea that money might have been a factor in the kidnap plot. Wide-eyed, I casually mentioned that my family in England were super-rich. It was enough to plant some seeds.

Having three victims to hand as well as the raft of evidence we’d already collected – and witnesses who were in law enforcement and knew how to make a concise statement – meant that things moved quickly.

The police wanted those who had been drugged to be tested at the hospital, but we all refused. There was no need for any of us to have our supernat blood analysed outside of our own labs, and the police already had enough to go on. They soon hauled Fischer and his men away, although annoyingly none of that lot seemed overly concerned. They probably thought they’d be free by the end of the day. I hoped that Engell was out there somewhere making sure they weren’t.

Exhaustion hit me like a tonne of bricks, but I had to find Fluffy and my damned cat who had definitelynotbeen in the basement when Sidnee and Margi left. I wasn’t really worried about Shadow; if this experience had taught me anything, it was that my freakish lynx could absolutely look after himself. And me.

I ran outside and called for Fluffy. I knew he’d been tied up somewhere nearby until I could collect him. He barked instantly and I pinpointed his location; the poor boy was tied to a tree and the grooves in the ground left by his pacing showed that he’d been trying to get away. There had been too many observers around for him to shift.

I ruffled his ears and patted him. ‘Are you okay?’ He gave a low whine but wagged his tail. ‘I hear you. What a mess. I’m sorry – but if it is any consolation, they got us too.’

I unclipped his lead and removed it from the tree. Fluffy yipped and leaned against me gratefully as I sank down and gavehim a full body cuddle, something I needed as much as he did. I buried my face into his fur and clung to him for a long minute. Eventually I gave him one last squeeze and stood up. ‘Do you mind helping me find Shadow? He’s had a big night and I’m afraid he’s disappeared. Again.’

Fluffy whined again and looked concerned; in truth, most of the time Shadow was more his pet than mine. He took off like a shot and ran straight to Connor’s truck. The first thing I noticed was the open back window that had led to trouble in the first place. ‘He escaped from there and the basement, Fluffy. I don’t know where he went.’

When I turned away, he barked again. ‘Fine,’ I huffed. I opened the door – and lying on the passenger seat where we’d left him earlier was Shadow, curled up asleep. Another layer of stress disappeared.

‘You little beast.’ I reached in and stroked him softly. He didn’t move; he must have been completely worn out after his escapades. I leaned over to shut the back window then closed the door. No more adventures for him tonight.

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