The Birch House

Chapter Twenty - Eight

There was no sign of Chase's dad or the bikers. In fact, it was very quiet in Mystic, despite my fears. Sylvan Howard and Charlie Garnier dropped by early the next morning to deliver the no-news-is-good-news party line to Alyssa and the house in general; they were polite and kind, and generally seemed like okay guys for cops, but they made me feel scared and paranoid. I supposed all cops were like that, when they were on Official Business. It didnt seem to bother Alyssa at all; she was up, bleary-eyed and yawning, fresh out of the shower and still wrapped in a Hello Kitty bathrobe, free of the Goth mask. Chase was, predictably, asleep, and who knew where Alex was.

Watching, I thought. Always watching. I supposed that should have been creepy, except that in Alex's case, it was just... comforting.

"Hey, guys," Alyssa said after wandering down the stairs into the living room. She plopped on the couch, bounced, and yawned again. "Coffee. Need coffee."

"I made some," I said, and went into the kitchen to get it. Sylvan Howard followed me silently and carried the cups back out. He and his partner drank it black; I could barely stand it even with more milk and sugar than actual coffee. Alyssa was cream only, no sugar, and she sucked it down like Gatorade after a hard work-out, then collapsed against the couch cushions and sighed happily.

"Morning, Officers," she said, and closed her eyes. "It's too early for this."

"Heard you got a job on campus," Garnier said. "Congratulations, Lyss."

"Yea, me." She made a lazy woo-hoo gesture. "You come all this way to say that?"

"Not a long way in Mystic." Garnier shrugged. "But no. Like I told Evie, there's no sign of your intruders. So I think you're in the clear on that. Hope that makes your day better."

Alyssa shot me a fast, tentative look. "Sure," she said. "Um... about..  the other thing?"

"You want to talk in private?" I asked, and stood up with my coffee cup in hand. "Cause I can go on to school..."

"Sit," Garnier said. "You're not going anywhere yet. And you're not going anywhere by yourself."

"I'm... what?"

"We're giving you girls a ride to school," Howard said, and sipped his coffee. "And a ride home when you're done. Consider us your Thin Blue Line Taxi Service."

"No!" I blurted, appalled. "I mean, you can't... you shouldn't... why?"

"Lyss knows why," Garnier said. "Don't you, Lyss?"

Alyssa put her coffee cup on the side table and crossed her arms against her chest. She looked very young in pink and white, and very scared. "Blake."

"Yeah, Blake." Garnier cleared his throat, glanced at me, and continued. "We found Mercia Boston late last night. Well, actually, some of our more night-inclined colleagues found her. Dumped in a vacant lot about six blocks from here behind some piled-up lumber."

In a flash, I remembered walking past the empty lot on my way to my unintended visit with Sophia. I'd even smelled decay. I put my coffee cup down and put both hands over my mouth, fighting an impulse to gag.

"You think..." Alyssa looked tense and pale. She licked her lips, swallowed, and continued. "You think Blake was involved."

"Yeah," Garnier said softly. "We think. No proof, though. No witnesses, no forensic evidence, but she was definitely not killed by a vampire. Look, Blake's been spotted in the area, so I don't want you out there by yourself for now, okay? Either one of you."

"He's my brother!" Alyssa sounded angry now, voice shaking. "How could he do this? What kind of-"

"It's not your fault," Howard said. "You tried to get him help. He just got sicker."