Page 59 of Bishop's Flight
“He was never in there for more than a few minutes,” Miguel said. “Hell, half the time the other guard would go in with him.”
“But not all the time?” Carwyn asked.
Miguel shrugged. “I guess not. I mean, the kid was already chafing at having two guards on him all the time. If we’d tried to look over his shoulder while he was getting his after-school snack around a bunch of kids he went to school with, he would have rioted.”
“So the Discord chats are likely nothin’,” Brigid said. “And we know where they probably met, but that tells us bugger all about where he’s being kept.” She looked at Miguel. “Have you heard from Lee? Has he found anythin’ about those cars missing from Preston’s?”
“He sent me a text,” Carwyn said. “Traffic cameras spotted two of the vehicles, and both sightings were in Henderson.”
“Henderson is southeast of the city,” Miguel said. “Not far. It’s kind of like a suburb these days.”
“So we focus the search in that area,” Brigid said. “Like Lee said, someone is going out to get supplies for the boy, get water and food, buy newspapers. Two traffic cameras picking up Preston’s cars in one city isn’t a coincidence. We have to narrow the focus.”
Normally it would be thin information to narrow a search, but Brigid was feeling desperate. They had a little over twenty-four hours and nearly nothing to go on.
Miguel looked at the table as his phone began to buzz and light up. “It’s Bernard.”
“He’s been distracted by all this nonsense with Rose ripping off heads,” Carwyn muttered. “Not a good situation. We need him focused on Lucas.”
“Let me call him back.” Miguel picked up the phone, and Brigid slid out of the booth.
“Where you going?” Carwyn frowned.
“I’m getting a maple-and-bacon donut,” she said. “I can’t stop thinkin’ about it. It’ll either be heaven in my mouth or utter disaster. Tell me what Bernard said when I get back.”
She finishedwith her maple-and-bacon donut as Bernard walked through the doors. He nodded politely at the host before he headed toward them.
The vampire lieutenant was wearing his typical uniform of a black three-piece suit, brown oxford shoes, and a demure silver tie with a ruby pin. His hair was set in immaculate waves, and Brigid would have had to be blind not to catch the café host’s admiring look as Bernard walked down the narrow aisle between booths.
He looked down his nose at Brigid. “Donut?”
“Heaven in my mouth.” She licked the maple glaze off her little finger. “What information do you have for me?”
He looked around the shop. “Where are Miguel and Carwyn?”
“It’s two in the morning and we have leads to follow. I told them I’d wait for you here while they visited the last questionable contact in Lucas’s chat history.”
“Who is?”
“Man by the name of Clarence Johnson. Forty-seven, former boat dealer, and deeply in debt because of online chess tournaments.”
Bernard slid into the booth, and it instantly felt fancier. “And they think waking a human up at two in the morning to ask questions is a good idea?”
She glanced at the clock. “Barely over twenty-four hours. We don’t have much of a choice. We’re focusing on Henderson because two of Preston’s cars were spotted there, so move your people in. Sniff things out. See what the vampire rumor mill is saying. There have to be whispers, but your people are the ones who would hear them. We’re new faces.”
“Understood and I agree. I’ll contact our informants.”
“What’s the mood like back at the Del Marco?”
Bernard shifted. “To the public? Business as usual.”
“And privately?”
He looked reluctant to speak.
“Bernard, I’m not asking to spread gossip,” Brigid said. “I need to know what kind of expectations I’m working with.”
“Rose and Agnes are arguing. Rose wants to hand the city over to Zasha and whoever their allies are. Just walk away with the children.”
