The Hunter's Aria

It set my teeth on edge every time old Maggie touched up her lipstick at her desk.

I sat back in my chair and took a few breaths, silently counting the silver weapons on me and reminding myself this was not the time or place. Silver was the quickest and most reliable way to kill a vampire and the most aggravating one to ever exist was somewhere in my station.

I still wasn’t sure how Maggie knew, but she always knew when Dorian DeGaste was sneaking in. I’d been told back when she was a pretty young meter maid with ambitions he had gotten his hooks in her. She was one of those slipping him information he shouldn’t have.

That private investigator had been the bane of my existence for as long as I could remember. The worst part was that he was infuriatingly good at pretending to be nice and exceptionally careful to stick to the law where it mattered. When he did bend the rules it was usually for a good reason and I know I would have done the same in that situation.

The vampire had no idea how many times there was a silver bullet aimed at his head but as much as I loathed the man’s very existence, I couldn’t kill someone for no reason. There were lines I wouldn’t cross and that was the most important one.

There were a lot of other lines I would and did cross every day, though. I’d done my best to avoid drawing DeGaste’s attention. That particular man getting curious about me would be a big fucking problem. I had more secrets than anyone in the station and I’d be locked up for life if anyone found out about almost any of them.

I was praised for my dedication to the job and I had worked my way up the ranks quickly through a combination of hard work, careful planning, and carefully chosen ‘friends’. Acquaintances. There was no one I would consider a real friend. No one I would trust with my life.

Not anymore.

The one person I should have been able to trust…

I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths, letting the painful past fall away in favor of the more annoying present.

It didn’t take long to slip out and follow the trail of nervous glances to the current target’s office. Lieutenant Thompson was his potential informant this time. DeGaste had a reputation as a manipulative flirt long before I arrived and most of the women in the station enjoyed the attention when it landed on them. Most were not swayed to risk their jobs by giving too much unauthorized help. But there was always at least one…

I stood just out of sight to listen in.

“...Now, I know you’re not here to chat about our kids. So what do you want?”

“Nothing big. Just need a name to check into before I go making drastic accusations that’ll get us all in trouble.”

“Ahh. It would be nice not to have you in here getting lectured again.”

That was no shit. He’d pissed off some powerful people in the past. What kind of accusation was he planning this time? With a sigh, I leaned into the cubicle to catch the woman’s attention.

“Lieutenant.” Watching DeGaste tense up was almost satisfying but not seeing him at all would be better. I pretended to ignore him, focusing on the woman attempting to hide her anxiety. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, Captain Blake.” The Lieutenant was wise to be nervous - it was no secret this man wasn’t a welcome guest and helping him without authorization was cause for a write up. “Sorry, Mr. DeGaste just stopped by to-”

“Chat about our kids.” The idiot interrupted with a blatant lie.

“I wasn’t asking you.” I made an effort to keep as much loathing out of my voice as possible. This was a test of her loyalty and honesty.

“He just needed a bit of information,” the Lieutenant assured me with a polite smile.

“Who are you going after this time?” I demanded, half expecting it to be some bullshit story about a cheating country club member who happens to donate a sizable chunk to the police every year. Again. His private life was shameful at best, immoral without a doubt, but not technically illegal. Cleaning up that mess had been a headache and DeGaste had looked pleased by the end of it in spite of everything so there might have been more going on. He'd never explained himself and I hadn't been able to dig up further detail.

“Whoever’s in that car.” DeGaste supplied unhelpfully, indicating a slip of wrinkled paper in front of the Lieutenant. “A kid went missing, and that’s likely who took him. I’m on a time crunch here. The quicker I can get that information, the faster I find the kid or rule them out and keep looking.”

“I’m always blown away by your arrogance, thinking your cases are somehow more pressing than ours.” I loathed the fact that this was one of the exceptions. Missing children were not a high enough priority when the station was constantly bombarded with more violent crimes. Someone needed to prioritize them and I couldn’t justify making a child suffer just because I hate the man looking for them.

“Yeah, well, sometimes they are,” DeGaste said casually, not quite hiding a smug look. The son of a bitch.

I stepped fully into the room and picked up the wrinkled bit of paper that had only a license plate number written on it. Damn it, there was nothing to gain by throwing the bastard out on his ass. An innocent might suffer longer. When I managed to speak, it was through clenched teeth as I dropped the scrap. “Run the plates.”

Without another word, I returned to my office, wrote the plate number I'd memorized, and noted the time. I’d check later and get the results of the search. After work I would do my own digging and see about beating that asshole to saving the kid. DeGaste would be walking out with a name but I had access to a lot more information. This should be a piece of cake.