Page 36 of Ophelia's Vampire

Her amber eyes sparkle with interest. The sight of it brings back a whole host of memories, mainly of how damn fearlessshe’s always been in going after the truth. We were both staff reporters on the campus paper before she became Editor in Chief our senior year, and there was no story she ever shied away from, no matter how much it might have pissed off administration or upset the status quo.

“Even if it means going up against Haverstad?”

“Especiallyif it means going after Haverstad.”

She chuckles. “Well, then, we might be able to help each other.”

“Off the record?”

Her brow furrows. “That depends.”

“On?”

“On what the Bureau hopes to get out of it, and how much they’re going to meddle with the stories I publish.”

“No meddling. Nothing expected. Cleo just wants the truth out there.”

“And you?”

“And I’m in it to help Cleo. To help the whole Bureau. I’ve got skills they can put to good use, and they pay pretty well.”

She chuckles again at the honesty. “I heard you went into private investigation after you left Boston.”

I shrug. “Got bored. And it’s good work, if you can get it.”

We both take another bite of our food, silently sitting with the proposed partnership between us.

I hope she agrees.

It’s been five days since Cas and I got our asses kicked out of the Raven, and though he’s also been working his contacts in the city, he’s coming up against just as many dead ends as I am.

“Alright,” Audra says finally. “I can tell you what I know so far.”

She gives me a rundown of what she’s been able to learn about the attacks—when they happened and when they abruptlystopped, the oddity of all the stories being so similar, down to the last detail.

“And that’s not everything,” she says. “I’ve been trying to find out more about who exactly these victims are, and I don’t think any of this was random.”

“What do you mean?”

“The first two are still a mystery, the police never released their names, but I’ve gotten some information on the last one. Some kid named Devin, twenty or so, a university student. And get this, he’s related to the boyfriend of Billy Derham’s daughter. Haverstad’s campaign manager.”

My ears perk up at that, though I hedge my next words. “It’s a bit of a stretch…”

“Is it?” Audra challenges. “If they faked these attacks, they’d want to know they could control the narrative. They wouldn’t have just recruited randos off the street to go to the police and make reports.”

Audra finishes with a darkened expression as we both sit and think about what it could all mean.

A hoax. Some idiotic attempt to stir up the public and paint Haverstad as the candidate the voters can trust—known, consistent, dedicated to law and order. I chew on the information for a moment, thinking back to Cleo’s similar suspicions.

“You really think Haverstad would be that stupid?”

She levels me a flat look. “He’s a rich old bastard who’s never done anything with the power and privilege he holds other than line his own pockets and see to his cronies’ interests, and now he’s facing losing all of it in the next election. Of course he’s that stupid.”

I can’t quite swallow my bark of laughter, and draw startled looks from the couple at the table next to us.

“Alright. Fair enough.” I lower my voice. “So how do we prove it?”

“I think I can get to Devin.”

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