Part 26 (1/2)
d.a.m.n, I thought. So much for that lead.
”Okay,” I said, ”then why Cadogan? And why the Breckenridges? We've been pitted against each other, although I have no clue why they'd put us together on the fight card.”
”I'm aware of only one connection between us and them,” he said, his gaze on me, intensity in his green eyes.
I put a hand to my chest. ”Me? You think I'm the connection?”
”You're the only connection between our House and their family that I'm even aware of, Sentinel.” Ethan crossed his arms over his chest. ”And, unfortunately, I'm aware of only one enemy on your end.”
There was a moment of silence as the pieces clicked into place.
”Nick saidshe called the House,” I murmured, then lifted my gaze to Ethan. ”Celina? You're thinking Celina?”
Ethan shrugged. ”We have no evidence of that, of course, but would you consider it beyond her capabilities?”
”Creating chaos? Hardly. That's practically her calling card.”
”Much to our chagrin. And this particular chaos has the added benefit of putting you right in the middle.”
Ethan shook his head. ”That e-mail will have been sent by a Cadogan vampire. Someone who knows that I showed you the library-”
”More importantly,” I interjected, ”someone who knows what we said in the library, and someone who knows our social schedule. Someone who knows where we've been going, and who's set Nick up with bad information beforehand.”
He stood up slowly, hands on his hips, and looked back at me, eyes wide. ”What, precisely, are you suggesting?”
”There's only one group of vampires who know about the raves and Jamie's supposed story,” I said.
”Only one group who know about our excursions to visit the rich and famous.”
I paused, wis.h.i.+ng he'd reach the conclusion so I wouldn't have to say it aloud.
”Ethan, it had to be a guard.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
LOVE BITES.
That declaration got as warm a reception as you might have imagined. Ethan turned away and immediately flipped open his cell phone, unwilling to engage in a discussion about the possibility that our current havoc was being wreaked by one of his own bodyguards.
One of my colleagues.
Ethan called the House, updating Malik and Luc about the threat but offering no information about my group of suspects. As if nothing was amiss, the guards were put into full investigation mode, their a.s.signment to identify any and all information regarding the purported threat against Jamie.
I was also in full investigation mode, and I'll admit that my suspect list was pretty short. A woman hadmade the call to the Breckenridge house . . . and I'd seen Kelley arriving at Cadogan after spending the day somewhere else. Had she been the Cadogan vampire with a chip on her shoulder? The link to Celina?
Eager to solve the mystery, I borrowed the house phone and put in a call to the Ombud's office, updating my grandfather on the evening's revelations. I also talked to the man with the skills I needed.
”Jeff, I have a problem.”
”I'm glad you've finally realized I'm your answer, Merit.”
Okay, so the mood wasn't exactly light, but I couldn't help but smile at the comeback.
”Someone's using e-mail to make threats on behalf of Cadogan House,” I told him, flipping open my cell and pulling up my e-mail client. Ever efficient, Nick had already forwarded the e-mail message.
If it was us, we'd get a good solid aspen stake. But aspen's too good for you. Maybe quartering.The guts and appendages removed while you're still conscious so that you canfeel the pain. Understand what it's like. Drowning? Hanging? A slow death at the tip of a sword, a slice from stem to stern, so that blood and gore and meat are all that's left of you?
By the way, the youngest one gets it first.
I s.h.i.+vered as I read it, but appreciated that the author of this threat, unlike the last one I'd seen, hadn't tried to rhyme. I also wondered if Kelley was capable of that kind of violence. That kind of anger. Those questions unanswered, I asked Jeff for his e-mail address and sent the message on.
”Phew,” he said after a moment, apparently having reviewed it. ”That's a doozy.”
It was a doozy. It was, however, notably empty of details about why, exactly, Jamie had been chosen.
That he was a Breckenridge seemed to be the only knock against him.
”It is a doozy,” I told him. ”And we need to figure out who it came from. Can you work some of your mojo?”
”Easy breezy,” Jeff absently said, the sound of furiously clicking keys in the background. ”He's disguised the IP address- rudimentary stuff, but I'll have to do some backtracking. The e-mail addy is pretty generic, but being a representative of our fine city, I might be able to make a call.”
”Call away,” I told him, ”but there's one small catch. I need the details on this as soon as you can get them.” I checked the time on my cell-it was nearly midnight. ”How's your schedule looking for the next few hours?”
”Flexible,” he said. ”a.s.suming the price is right.”
I rolled my eyes. ”Name your price.”
Silence.
”Jeff?”
”Could I-can I get back to you on that? I'm kind of at a loss, and I want to make sure I take complete advantage of this situation. I mean, unless you're willing to give me two or three-”
”Jeff,” I said, interrupting what was destined to become a very lascivious list. ”Why don't you just give me a call when you've got something?”
”I'm your man. I mean, not literally or whatever, I know you and Morgan have kind of a thing going-although you're not officiallytogether -together, right?”
”Jeff.”
”Yo?”
”Get to work.”
With our contacts on the trail of information that might mollify the Brecks, Ethan and I slipped out of my father's office and headed back through the crowd to the front door. The house was packed, and it took us a few minutes of squeezing through bodies and handshaking to make it to the other side. I think I managed a polite smile in the direction of the people I pa.s.sed, but my mind was completely focused on a particular Breckenridge.
I didn't understand how he could think I was capable of the accusations he'd leveled against us. How could a childhood romance, a decades-long friends.h.i.+p, turn into something so ugly?