“Detective, if I tell you, you have to promise to stay out of it. To keep your people out of it.”
“I can’t promise that,” she said, shaking her head, clearly offended. “I’ve got murder victims, I’ve got higher-ups breathing down my neck. What am I supposed to tell them? The werewolves are just getting a little feisty?”
“This isn’t like anything you’ve ever dealt with before. You have to believe me.” What could I tell her that would convince her to back off? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. That was what made her a good cop.
I didn’t want the cops involved. This whole thing would turn into us against them against them. I didn’t want another front to worry about. I didn’t want Arturo to decide that Hardin was a rival as well. I didn’t want him to put her in danger.
“Kitty, I want to understand this. I need your help if I’m going to understand it.”
Then again, maybe she would be on my side. Maybe she could help me find out what had happened to Rick. Maybe she had the solution: throw them all in jail.
I wanted to run. I had this sudden, overriding instinct to just run.
“There’s a war on,” I said.
A beat. “You’re kidding.”
“No, I’m not. It’s over territory, over who gets to call themselves the Master vampire of the city.”
“Denver has a Master vampire,” she said flatly, disbelieving. Why didn’t anyone think Denver was important enough for a Master vampire? Inferiority complex?
“Yeah. But it could all be over now.” They were all dead. We were all dead . . . I grouped the photos: Rick’s seven, Carl’s two, and Jenny, off by herself. “These . . . they were working for the challenger’s faction. These two are local. Jenny shouldn’t have been there at all. I can’t explain it.”
“The lycanthropes work for the vampires?”
“Sometimes, yeah.”
“Which faction do you belong to?”
I shook my head in vehement denial. “I’m staying out of it. I tried to stay out of it.” I’d only sided with Jenny.
“They were strangers in town,” Hardin said. “So this challenger brought them in to confront the local Master and local wolves, who fought back.”
“That’s right.” Hardin was sharp.
“Then all I have to do is go to this Master vampire and charge him with instigating a dozen murders.”
I almost laughed, but my voice turned rough. “Do you really think it’d be that easy? Look what he did to them.” What he’d do to me, if he found me . . . And Ben. Had they found Ben? I had to call Ben. We had to get out of here. “You don’t know what they’re like, what I’ve seen them do—”
“Kitty, let me ask you a couple of questions. Just yes or no. Don’t try to explain it to me. Okay?”
“Uh . . . yes?”
“Master vampires—if I understand the concept correctly, they claim certain cities as their territories. They have or create flunkies, other vampires, sometimes human servants, to do their bidding. Is that right?”
“Yes.”
“And if another vampire—with his own flunkies—moves into the city and wants to become Master of it, they fight. This war you’re talking about.”
I nodded.
“Right. You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to treat this like any other gang operating in my jurisdiction. This is gang-related violence. And if there’s a gang war going on on my turf, I’m going to crack down. And you can pass that along to any vampires you happen to chat with, okay?”
I nodded. I loved Detective Hardin, really I did. She was an awesome, kick-ass woman cop. Didn’t take any crap, didn’t put up with any nonsense. I didn’t want to end up on her bad side.
“Great. I’m glad we’ve had this little chat. You have my number in case you have any other bits of enlightenment for me?”
“Yes.”