Page 75 of Fortune's Ashes
Several of the vamps started to protest. ‘He killed a vampire too! He murdered Adele!’ one of them yelled.
I hoped we wouldn’t descend into total anarchy. The werewolves and the vampires had worked together at the hospital to keep Fred and Owen safe in a way that had genuinely warmed my heart. Although I had no doubt that their intentions were pure, here it was a different story. It was time for what little remained of Supe Squad to take control, suspended from duty or otherwise.
I held up my hands and the shouting from both sides subsided. Start with a compliment, Emma. Keep them on side. ‘You have no idea how much your support means to me,’ I called out. ‘I know that for many years Supernatural Squad was a thorn in your side, but I can see that has changed and I, for one, am very glad that it has. It gives me genuine optimism for our future.’
One of the werewolves let out a brief howl. Another yelled, ‘Damn right!’
That was the carrot. Now for the stick. ‘There is a suspect inside that building who needs to be questioned. Not threatened or bullied, but interviewed properly. He is human, and that means none of you can be involved.’
‘You’ve been suspended,’ Lady Sullivan murmured. ‘That means you can’t be involved either.’
I was glad she’d kept her voice low because she was right; I shouldn’t be here any more than anyone else. No matter what happened with the Cobain investigation, I deserved to lose my warrant card for good.
‘Either you all respect Supe Squad and what we do for the supernatural community or you don’t,’ I said. ‘Either you trust that I have your best interests at heart or you don’t. If you don’t, then the police will take over from this point. Let’s face it,’ I waved a hand at both belligerent groups, ‘they’re probably already on their way, thanks to all of this. Let me deal with this as it should have been dealt with thirteen years ago and we can achieve the justice that you deserve. Anything else will only cause more problems.’
Lord McGuigan turned to Lady Carr. ‘To be fair,’ he said, ‘she did kill that other human last week, so we can probably trust her brand of justice.’
For fuck’s sake. ‘I didn’t kill him,’ I snapped. ‘And I’m not going to kill anyone in this building, either.’
Several of the wolves turned their heads as the wail of distant sirens filled the air. The police – the real police who weren’t suspended from duty like me – were heading towards us. My stomach sank. Time was running out.
A lone voice piped up: Buffy. As if things couldn’t get any worse. ‘We can’t trust the police,’ she said. ‘We’ve never been able to trust the police.’
Goddamnit.
‘But,’ she continued, raising her finger to point at me, ‘we can trust Supe Squad. We can trusther.’
My mouth dropped open. Lady Sullivan gave Buffy a hard look and something unspoken passed between them.
‘Eight vampires,’ Lukas said, ‘and eight werewolves. Two for each clan. We remain here to make sure that Emma’s suspect doesn’t flee. Everyone else leaves now.’ He looked over my head to the clan alphas. ‘Buffy is right. We can trust Emma – and we can trust each other.’
I half-expected more discussion but, to my surprise, all four clan alphas bowed their heads in agreement. ‘Do not let us down,’ Lady Carr muttered.
Lady Sullivan met my eyes. ‘She won’t.’ Vampires and werewolves melted away, and within seconds only sixteen supes remained.
The sirens were getting louder. ‘You deal with Stubman,’ Lukas said. ‘Talk to him and find out if he’s really our man. We’ll keep the police out of your way unless he needs to be arrested.’
I breathed out. Okay.
I glanced at Buffy, wondering if I should repay the favour and invite her to join me. It didn’t feel like a good idea, but perhaps she could help. ‘No,’ she said, reading my mind. ‘You can’t trust me, not with that wanker. Do it alone.’
I swallowed, then turned and jogged towards the front door of Stubman’s building.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
Someone, no doubt an enterprising werewolf or vampire, had made sure the lift was shut down so there was no chance that Stubman would slip past me this time. The only way up or down was the staircase.
Despite the late hour, I reckoned he was well aware of what was happening outside. He was used to working nights and was probably still awake, and he couldn’t be oblivious to a near riot on his doorstep. He had to know I was coming. Whether this would end up with Stubman pulling a gun and fulfilling my earlier prophecy remained to be seen.
I touched my belly. ‘Let’s hope not, Jellybean,’ I whispered. Let’s hope not.
I took the stairs two at a time until I reached Stubman’s floor. There were chinks of light from underneath the doors of some of the flats; other people had clearly been disturbed by the commotion outside. I trusted they’d be sensible enough to remain inside their homes.
I jogged down the silent corridor until I reached the right door, raised my fist and knocked loudly. Would Stubman answer this time? To my surprise, he did.
He was dressed casually; it was strange seeing him out of his usual uniform and in grey jogging bottoms and a T-shirt instead of top hat and tails. I looked him up and down carefully, trying to decide if he had a gun concealed on his body. Unless it was tucked down the back of his trousers, it didn’t look possible. All the same, I remained wary.
‘Hi there,’ I said softly. ‘Remember me?’
