Page 78

“She’s telling the truth, son. Answer Detective Brennan, please,” Captain finally speaks up in his authoritative tone.

“I’m telling you the truth!” he shouts, the side of his fist slamming against the table. “I have zero idea why I’m here and what you’re talking about. Are you sure you’ve got the right guy? I’ve never committed a crime in my life!” Derek shoots to his feet and I do the same. I see Captain Barnes’s hand slide down his thigh for his taser just in case things get hostile.

“Hey. Okay, calm down.” It’s best to deescalate the situation and somehow this guy seems to believe he’s innocent, so I choose to play along. “You didn’t break into an apartment a few weeks ago?” I don’t want to give him all the details in case he decides to tell the truth.

Derek slowly sits back down in his chair, but I stay standing.

“What? No!” Once again, I’m baffled by the conviction in his statement. This doesn’t appear to be some guy just trying to fuck with us. He seems truly distraught over the whole thing.

A subtle knock on the door catches my attention and I remember Zavier in the hallway who must be listening to everything.

“One moment please.” Avoiding the Captain’s knowing look, I peek my head out of the interrogation room. Sure enough, Zavier is standing there looking like he’s going to explode if he doesn’t tell me something.

I slip out and shut the door softly, so as not to be overheard.

“He’s telling the truth,” Zavier looks perplexed.

“What? How do you know?” Him confirming what I suspect leaves me very confused.

“His heartbeat. When humans lie their heart races and has this little jump that is a telltale sign. He’s nervous and his heart is racing but I can tell the difference at this point in my life. He doesn’t know anything.” Zavier scratches his head and pushes his glasses up his nose.

“That doesn’t make any sense, though.”

“It doesn’t make sense to me either, but even though it’s him he either doesn’t remember or...” Zavier trails off and a spark lights in his eyes. “...he’s been compelled to forget.” He stares at me with horror on his face.

“Compelled?” He’s speaking another language now and I play with the ends of my ponytail for comfort.

“Vampires of a certain age can compel humans very easily into doing what they want. They become a mindless puppet for them to play with.” Zavier stares at the ground but I can tell he’s working through things in his head.

“You think he did break into my apartment, but he was compelled to do it and forget? How come we couldn’t find him for forever?” I muse.

“It could’ve been part of the trance he was put in. They didn’t want him to be found until a certain point in time or he somehow broke the compulsion. Wait a minute.” Zavier pulls a small notebook and pen out from his pocket and dramatically draws a line under what looks to be a pre-existing list and writes a new one. “The constant rain, the break-in with this, and the fucking feral vampire outside of our apartment.” He taps at the new list and sticks his tongue out in an adorable thoughtful way while he pieces together a puzzle I’m not aware of. “Vampires and maybe even other supernaturals are gathering in Chicago for some reason.”

I blink at him. “Say again?”

“There’s something supernatural at play here. I don’t understand why or how yet, but this has vampire shit written all over it,” he concludes and shuts his notebook but not before scribbling something on a small piece he rips off and sticks in his pocket.

“Why would vampires be targeting me?”

“I don’t know.” Zavier pulls me in for a short but comforting hug. I allow myself to snuggle into his warmth for just a second. “I’m going to get to the bottom of it though. You might want to get back in there. I don’t think it’ll get you anywhere, though.” He nods toward the interrogation room and with a last pat to my butt opens the door for me.

I send a stink eye his way, but somehow, he’s disappeared. I don’t want to know what Zavier loose in the police station looks like, but it probably ends with him in a jail cell. Hopefully he can behave himself for however long I’m still occupied.

“Everything okay, Detective?” Captain Barnes asks when I sit back down.

The culprit seems to have settled down some, but still looks wildly confused at being here.

“All good,” I reassure the captain. “Back to you, my friend,” I address Derek. “You truly have no recollection of breaking into the apartment? Or hiding out from the police?” I already know what his answer will be but want to ask a final time, because I find the whole situation hard to believe.

“I swear on all that I love.” He holds a hand up like he’s taking an oath. “Captain Barnes showed me the footage on the CCTV, and it looks like my build and that’s my DNA. I know it’s irrefutable, but I don’t have any memory of doing this. I swear.” Derek works his jaw and sits back with a defeated sigh.

“I believe you,” I reply.

“You do?” Both Captain Barnes and Derek say at the same time.

“Detective, don’t make any rash conclusions. We have the proof it’s him. I can schedule a polygraph test, and we can hold him in a cell here.”

Captain looks like he’s having a hard time understanding and I get it.