Dead Girls' Dance

Maybe once she had. Wow.

Sam nodded to Michael, equal to equal, and he left, closing the door behind him.

“Hey,’” Eve said. “Did he have an invitation? To get into the house?’”

“He didn’t need one,’” Michael said. “The house adjusted itself once I—changed. Now humans need an invitation. Except for you, since you live here.’”

“Okay, that’s stupid.’”

“It’s Protection,’” Michael said. “You know how it works.’”

Claire didn’t, but she was fascinated. Not the time, though. “Um, he said the town was sending help…?’”

“Richard Morrell,’” Michael said. “Monica’s cop brother. And he’s bringing Hess and Lowe with him.’”

“That’s it?’” Claire squeaked. Because there were a lot of bikers. Like, a lot. Not to mention Shane’s dad, who frankly scared her worse than most of the vampires just because he didn’t seem to have any rules.

Fu

“I’m going to want you both to stay here,’” Michael said.

“No,’” Eve said flatly. Claire echoed it.

“Seriously, you need to stay. This is going to get dangerous.’”

“Dangerous? Dude, they killed kids. On campus!’” Eve shot back. “We were there! Don’t you get it? We’re not safe here, and maybe we can help you. At the very least, we can grab Monica and hustle her skanky ass back to her dad while all you brave, strong menfolk hold off the bad guys. Right?’”

“Not Claire, then.’”

“Claire,’” Claire said, “decides for herself. In case you forgot.’”

“Claire doesn’t decide when it’s something like this, because Claire is sixteen and Michael doesn’t want to be explaining her tragic accidental death to her parents. So, no.’”

“What’re you going to do?’” Eve asked, and cocked her head to one side. “Lock her in her room?’”

He looked from one of them to the other, his frown deepening. “Oh, crap. What is this, Girl Solidarity?’”

“Bet your ass,’” Eve said. “Somebody’s got to keep you in line.’” Her smile faded, because that was true now, not just a fu

“Did you hear that?’”

“What?’”

“A car. Brakes. Outside.’”

“Great,’” Eve said. “Vampire hearing, too. I’m never going to be able to keep a secret around here. Bad enough when you were a ghost…’” She was doing a good job of looking like she wasn’t freaked-out, but Claire thought she was. So did Michael, apparently, because he reached out and touched her cheek—just one small gesture, but it said a lot.

“Stay here,’” he said.

He should have known they wouldn’t—not completely, anyway. Claire and Eve followed him partway down the hall, enough to watch him unlock the front door and swing it open.

Richard Morrell stood on the doorstep in his police uniform. Next to him were Detectives Hess and Lowe, both looking even more exhausted than normal.

“Michael,’” Richard said, and nodded to him.

He tried to move across the threshold, and was stopped cold. Hess and Lowe exchanged a curious look and tried to come across, as well. Nothing.

“Come in,’” Michael said, and stepped back. This time, all three men could enter.

Richard was looking at Michael closely. “You’re kidding,’” he said. “You’ve got to be kidding. All this time, and she picks you?’”

Hess and Lowe exchanged looks, a second behind the curve, and both appeared startled.

“Yeah,’” Michael said. “What about it?’”

Richard smiled, all teeth. “Nothing, man. Congratulations, and all that. You’re going to be the talk of the town. Get used to it.’”

Michael shut the door behind them. “Whatever. How much time do we have to get to Shane?’”

“Not much,’” Hess said. “And the thing is, we don’t have anyplace to start. No leads.’”

“Well, we’ve got one. We know the van went through the Underground,’” Richard said. “We’ve got an eyewitness. Right?’” He looked straight at Claire, who nodded. “We pulled all the surveillance tapes, and we tracked the van in and out of the Underground half a dozen times, but it finally disappeared. Problem is, one white van looks a lot like other white vans, especially on Night Sight surveillance cameras.’”

“We know that Shane’s dad had maps of Morganville. Shane provided them. You’re sure he didn’t say anything about where his father might be making his base of operations?’” Hess asked. “Any of you?’”

“He never said anything,’” Claire said. “Not to me. Michael?’” Michael shook his head. “God, I can’t believe nobody knows where these guys are! They have to be somewhere!’”

“Actually, two people probably know exactly where they are,’” Richard said. “Shane, and the biker, Des. One of them, maybe both, has to know the places Frank was using.’”

“And nobody’s asked them?’” Eve questioned, and then her expression turned blank with horror. “Oh God. Somebody has.’”

“It’s not so bad as that,’” Lowe offered. “I was there observing. They’re all right.’”

“That doesn’t mean they’ll stay that way,’” Michael said. “Especially now. Or was that the plan, Richard? Get the two neutral cops here with you so your guys could beat the information out of Shane?’”

Richard smiled slowly. “You know, that’s not a bad idea, but no. I honestly thought you guys would have a place for us to start looking. We can go with that plan B if you come up empty, though. I never liked that kid anyway.’”

Michael’s eyes were narrowing, and Claire felt the whole barely reasonable alliance starting to come apart. “Wait!’” she said. “Um, I think I have something. Maybe.’”

“Maybe?’” Richard turned to her. “Better be good. It’s your boyfriend on the line, and if anything happens to my sister, I swear I’ll torch him myself.’”

Claire looked at Michael, then Eve. “I saw him,’” she said. “Shane’s dad. He was in Common Grounds.’”

“He was what?’”

“In Common Grounds. It was the same day I met Sam for the first time. I wondered what he was doing there, but—’”

Richard interrupted her, grabbing the neck of her T-shirt and hauling her forward. “Who was he talking to? Who?’” He shook her.

“Hey!’” She smacked at his hand, and to her surprise, he let go. “He was talking to Oliver.’”

Silence. They all stared at her, and then Hess put a hand to his forehead. Lowe said, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on a second. Why would the Fearless Vampire Killer be talking to Oliver? He knows, right? Who Oliver is? What Oliver is?’”

Claire nodded. “Shane must have told him. He knows.’”

“And Oliver knows who Frank Collins is,’” Hess said. “He’d know him on sight. So we’ve got two mortal enemies sitting down together, and we don’t know why. When was it, Claire?’”

“Right before Brandon was killed.’”

Another silence, and this one was deep. Lowe and Hess were staring at each other. Richard was frowning. After a long moment, Lowe said slowly, “Anybody want to take a bet?’”

“Spit it out, Detective,’” Richard said. “If you know something, say so.’”

“I’m not saying I know. I’m saying I’ve got a hundred dollars that says Oliver knew all about Frank Collins rolling back into town, and he used Frank to get rid of a troublemaking child-molesting bastard who’d outlived his usefulness.’”

Claire asked, “Why didn’t he just kill him, if he wanted him dead?’”

“Vampires do not kill each other. They just don’t. So this way, he and Frank both get what they want. Oliver gets Morganville in chaos, Amelie losing control—and I heard about the attack on her downtown. Maybe Oliver was hoping they’d take her out, leave him in charge. Brandon was probably a small price to pay.’” He paused for thought. “I’m guessing here, but I’ll bet Oliver made Frank a whole lot of promises he never intended to keep. Brandon was a sign of good faith, to get Frank to commit. And holding on to Shane was insurance. No way would Oliver have let Frank keep on killing, though. Chaos is one thing. A bloodbath is another.’”

“How does this help?’” Michael asked. “We still don’t know where they are.’”