tl:dr Jillian is scary and Abe sings like a canary!
Abraham groaned as he came to. Jillian said, “There’s a gun rigged with a dead man’s switch right behind your skull. If you try to put either of us to sleep like you did Ivan and Foster, your brains will be on the floor. Understand?” Abe nodded his head. “I can’t hear you.”
“I understand,” Abe said.
“Good. Let’s begin.”
Sadie said, “No hard feelings, sugar.”
Abe said, “Who do you work for? Perhaps we could—”
“I ask the questions,” Jillian said. “Why Foster?” When Abraham didn’t answer Jillian smiled. “Why not Ivan?” Abraham remained silent. “Why did your little goon kill Micah? That kid wasn’t involved in anything and we both know it.”
“Wait… what? Zo killed the boy? I didn’t know… I thought…” Abe stammered. “I never meant for him to be hurt. You have to believe me.”
“I don’t.” Jillian studied Abraham’s facial expressions with great care. He seemed shaken to the point of tears, which was a good sign.
“None of this was supposed to happen. You don’t understand.”
“This is getting boring, Jilly-bean. And my hand’s tired.”
“Enlighten me,” Jillian said. When Abe still hesitated she said, “I already shot the blond punk. There’s you and then finally the mechanic. Give me a reason not to put you and your pal in matching body bags.”
“I am a member of Trifecta,” Abraham said, his body trembling. “We police… it’s… I don’t know how to explain it without you thinking I’m lying. Or crazy.”
Jillian said, “Ivan is a vampire. Foster is a fairy from another dimension. Does that help?”
“So you do know.” Abe’s shoulders dropped. “I always wondered if Micah was aware of what he harbored in his apartment. I just wanted to keep an eye on him.” A tear slid down Abraham’s cheek. “This is my fault. I should have said something. I should have realized Zo was unstable. He’s one of the best trackers I’ve ever trained. I thought he’d see reason. I should have taken him out of the field.”
“Explain Trifecta to me.”
“In the year 925AD a monastery in Cordoba, Spain was decimated by vampires. Only three survived. They hunted the vampires responsible for the death of their brethren. They would always bet on who could kill the most monsters in any given city. They grew into an official order within the church. After the Reformation there was a schism within the Order of the Three Brothers. Those who left the church formed Trifecta. We’ve been a private organization ever since but while the church remained in the vampire slaying business Trifecta morphed into a policing entity. We’re tasked with keeping order. If a vampire gets out of hand or if a werewolf can’t safely transform at full moon, we step in. If dimensional portals are opened, we investigate.”
“Foster,” Jillian said. “Was he considered a threat?”
“Considering intelligence gathered on his civil war, yes. We didn’t want it spilling into our world.”
“And Ivan?”
“We keep tabs on the locals. If they’re not hurting anyone we leave them alone. Last year the murder rate in the area around campus began to rise. We weren’t able to track any new vampire activity and Ivan’s territorial range remained consistent. Because no other vampires were visible Ivan became our primary suspect. I began a formal investigation.”
“Why not just stake him and be done with it?”
“I know when a vampire is using magic to fool people. Ivan would appear to be one of those rare vampires that doesn’t hunt. He obtains his blood from a contact at a hospital. Not legal, but not murderous, either. I did what I could to convince the head office to hold back but we were never able to find anyone else and they were anxious to see the case closed. The only way I could spare him was to put him into a deep sleep. I thought we could use the time to find the real culprit but we failed. I’d hoped to recruit Ivan, in fact, to find the real culprit. That was what set Zo off, it seems.”
“What’s Trifecta’s chain of command?”
“Head Office operates out of Wittenberg, Germany. It’s run much like a corporation. Every country has a national office and then there are regional offices and finally, local branches.”
“And the Order of the Three Brothers? Are they in town too?”
“They operate out of the Vatican. There is no corporate structure. Supposedly a new priest arrived at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church last week. I sent a man to look into it but haven’t heard back yet.”
“Why are you telling me everything?”
“I’m not exactly sworn to secrecy,” Abraham said. “And you have a gun to my head. May I ask you a question?” Jillian nodded that he could as one. “Are you with the government?” She didn’t answer him. Abe said, “Trifecta has high level contacts with the NSA, CIA, and FBI. There’s no reason we can’t cooperate.”
“You were only following orders,” Jillian said. “But I still have a dead kid on my watch. Where can I find Zo?”
“He works as a bartender at the Wolfsbane, a bar on Vine Street. He keeps an apartment nearby but I don’t know where. He moves a lot.” Jillian noticed that Sadie’s eyes widened.
“Does he keep a safe house?”
“Not that I know of,” Abe said. “But perhaps I can help you…”
“Shame about the kid,” Sadie said after they dosed Abe with another tranquilizer. “You know him well?”
“He’s not dead,” Jillian said with a wink.
“You are so devious.” Sadie let out a sigh. “Does this mean we gotta carry him back to the library?”
“I was thinking of dropping him off at the Wolfsbane.”
“Jillian?” Sadie bit her lip. Jillian knew it was serious when her friend used her real name. “You can’t just waltz in there and dump a shaman on their doorstep. It’s a pack hangout.”
“Pack?” Jillian leaned forward. “Sadie, is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Sister, we need to talk.”
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