Part 17 (2/2)

Fuming, the Commissioner stood up from his desk and came around to the front, so close to Caxton that she had to move her knees to let him pa.s.s. ”I'll use that story when I speak at the combined funeral next week. The families will be comforted, I'm sure. It will help them understand why their children had to be cremated before they were even allowed to say goodbye. It will help them understand why you felt it necessary to throw their babies to the wolves.”

Arkeley rose as if he would leave.

”We'll finish this right now, right here,” the Commissioner told him.

Arkeley was taller. It let him look down his nose when he said, ”You have no authority over me whatsoever.” He actually turned to go.

”Stop, Marshal,” the Commissioner said. Arkeley did as he was told, though he didn't turn to face the other man. The line of his back moved gently as he breathed. He didn't look like a man with fused vertebrae. He looked like somebody who ought to be holding a broadsword in one hand and a flag in the other. In the hot, close s.p.a.ce of the office his body seemed enormous and powerful. He looked like a man who could fight vampires. Caxton wondered if she, herself, would ever come close to that kind of presence and confidence.

”I have authority over her,” the Commissioner said. It made Arkeley turn back around. ”I'm taking trooper Caxton off this case right now. You want to try to fight me? I'll suspend her for using unauthorized ammunition in her weapon. Ha. I think I got you right there.”

Arkeley stood in total silence looking down at the other man. Caxton just did not understand what was happening. She was a nothing, a n.o.body, somebody barely fit to make phone calls for the Fed. The two men were acting though as if she were a bargaining chip. What did the Commissioner know, or at least, what did he suspect about Arkeley's motivations that was still such a mystery to her?

”You want her pretty bad, don't you? I saw it the last time you and I met, when you s.n.a.t.c.hed her right up. I offered you ex-marines and special investigations boys but you wanted one little slip of a girl from highway patrol.” The Commissioner's smile was a gouge in the middle of his bright red face. ”She's special. She's special for some reason and you need her.”

Arkeley waited for him to finish. Then he cleared his throat, glanced at Caxton (the look was inscrutable), and sat back down. ”What are you asking me for, really?” he said, finally. ”Please, just spit it out. I'm a busy man.”

”I want to protect my troopers,” the Commissioner said. His att.i.tude changed immeasurably-he had won, and he knew it. He sat down on the corner of his desk. He and Arkeley might have been two old friends working out who was going to pay for lunch. ”That's all. I want you to let me do my job. There will be certain safeguards for anyone involved in this investigation, alright? There are two more vampire kills to be completed, but we are not going to lose any more personnel. This will be done by the book, by our best practices. My best practices. I will not let you use my boys as live bait anymore.”

Caxton's mouth fell open.

”The survivors told me all about you, Arkeley. I've already called your supervisors over in Was.h.i.+ngton. They were very interested in hearing about how you just let my boys die, one after the other, biding your time, hiding in the shadows. My troopers had no idea what they were up against and you didn't seem to care. In twenty-some years of law enforcement work I have never heard of such-”

”Done,” Arkeley said.

”I-you-wait. What do you mean?” the Commissioner stumbled.

”I mean that I agree to your conditions. The rest of it, all this nonsense about using state troopers as bait, the threat of calling my superiors, is immaterial. I

really don't care what you think happened the last two nights. I was there and you weren't. However, if you're going to hold trooper Caxton hostage then I am acceding to your demands.”

Caxton's brain reeled in the heat of the office. ”This is about me?” she asked.

Apparently it was.

Arkeley rose again, and this time he was going to leave. Caxton could just feel it. ”Any questions?” he asked. The Commissioner nodded. ”Oh yeah. I want to know what you're doing every step of the way. I've got so many questions you're going to feel like directory a.s.sistance from now on.”

Arkeley smiled, his most gruesome, face-folding smile. The one he used when he wanted someone to feel small. ”Well, sir, I intend to raid a vampire lair tomorrow morning at dawn. That's my next step. I'll need some support on the ground and your troopers are my best resource for that. Take whatever safety measure you think are appropriate-gas masks, kevlar vests, whatever, but have them ready and mustered at the station nearest Kennett Square by four thirty tomorrow morning. Trooper Caxton need not be among them.” He turned to look at her and gave her a new kind of smile. This one looked a little melancholy. ”You, young lady, can sleep in. You've been enough help locating Reyes' hiding place.”

She had the presence of mind to nod and shake his hand. He left without saying goodbye or anything else-well, she had expected that. But there was still one thing she needed from him, something she had to know.

The Commissioner gave her the rest of the day off. She started by racing down to the motor pool to catch Arkeley before he could leave. She needed to know the answer to a question she couldn't have asked in the over-heated office. In the parking lot Arkeley was signing for an unmarked patrol car of his own so he wouldn't have to rely on her vehicle. He looked mildly peeved to see her but at least he didn't drive off while she just stood there.

”I have a right to know,” she told him. ”In the Commissioner's office you just gave up as soon as he tried to take me off the case. You're a tough guy but you caved over me.” She tried to push a little self-esteem into what she said next, but it still came out sounding as if she doubted her own worth as a human being. ”What is it about me that's so important? Why can't you afford to lose me?”

Originally she'd been convinced by his story, that because she had actually read his report she was the best prepared to fight vampires. Later she'd thought maybe he was grooming her as a replacement. When he took her to the Polders she'd honestly believed he wanted to keep her alive, that he was actually worried about her safety-but then after her failure at the hunting camp he'd been willing to write her off. She didn't understand any of it, she didn't understand why he valued her or why he disregarded her so easily. Why he tried to physically protect her or why he didn't seem to care if she got hurt emotionally.

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