Page 15 of Tell Me Why
He grunted, then set out new stacks of papers, nudging away the invoices and documents to make way for his own work.
Tina picked up the first stack and thumbed through it, just getting a feel for what he was interested in.
Buildings, rental cars, used cars, event halls, shipping companies.
“You’ve been busy,” Tina murmured, picking up the second stack.
All the same things, but in another state.
And another.
And another.
“Are we being overrun by rogue vampires building empires?” she asked, and he shook his head.
“I made some assumptions,” he said. “About the size city and infrastructure that Isabella would be looking for, the things that would bring herhererather than staying in Europe or going to Asia or Australia. Somewhere that she can feed herself without access to Keon’s resources. Seasonality. She’s going to choose shorter days rather than longer ones, if she can.”
“You think she’sdoingsomething, not just running away from home,” Tina said.
“I think that Keon even knows what it is,” Tell said. “Or else he wouldn’t have known where she’d one.”
“Are you sure she isn’therehere?” she asked.
“Ginger would find her in the first hour, if she were within a hundred miles of here,” Tell said. “Eliminated some of my best options, actually, this far into the fall.”
“So… Montana?” Tina asked.
“No infrastructure,” Tell said.
“I don’t see Oregon and Washington,” Tina said. “I’ve always wondered why you aren’t on the west coast, actually.”
“Because I’ve been here since before the west coast was worth being on,” Tell answered evenly. “But there are a few vampires out there, too, who are too dangerous for her to run into.”
“These are weird states,” Tina said. “Arkansas? Kansas? Iowa?”
He nodded.
“Big enough cities to support an active supply of fountains and related services, a place to stay that’s going to live up to her expectations, hireable staff…”
“Staff?” Tina asked, and he nodded, not breaking stride.
“… adequate sun-hour shelter, entertainment. She won’t need to go out at night to be entertained, like many of us, but she will expect to be able to bring considerable numbers of peopletoher. She’s very social, if she is what she was, back then.”
“And some states have that and some don’t?” Tina asked.
“Somecities,” Tell said, shaking his head. “But I’m left with too many targets to go after. I need you to eliminate some of them for me so that I can go digging into financial records for the specific locations I think are most likely, see what names are on rental agreements or shipping documents. See if she left me a clue. I’ll have you go looking through pictures posted online of parties, and see if we can find someone who inadvertently documented her.”
“I know you’re good at the records, but how am I supposed to look at random pictures online to find a woman I’ve never seen before?” Tina asked. “You need to do that part.”
“I need to stick to the financial records,” Tell said. “I’m already working it, and these are places with actual decent security, these days. I don’t think it will cause a problem if we get caught, but it could make tracking her more difficult. They’ll patch the holes I’m working through relatively quickly if they notice them.”
“Still doesn’t explain how I’m supposed to find a woman I’ve never seen before,” Tina said.
“You’ve got about as good a chance of picking her out as I do,” Tell said. “I haven’t seen her in almost two hundred years. Among clothing, hair, and makeup, she couldbealmost anyone. If she’s not coloring her hair, it’s very dark, like yours, and she has Mediterranean skin, dark eyes. She’s taller than you, not as tall as me, unless she’s taken to wearing heels, at which point, she could be three or four inches taller than I am. But you’ll know her when you see her. She’s like the Ginger version of you.”
“The Ginger version of me,” Tina said. “That feels backhanded.”
“It isn’t intended that way, though I can see how it would be,” Tell said. “Where would she go?”
