Suffocate In Spirit - Shadows of the Night 4

Chapter 60

Hi!

Okay, so Anna's trying to get her hands on information about the beginning of Alexander and Brown's cooperation. What do you think? Should she use a more direct approach and confront them directly? Any new theories on the files? Let me know! :-)

Lara

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Chapter 60

"I couldn't find anything about when the head vamp showed up at headquarters the first time exactly," Blaze said. "But I talked to someone from security apparatus, and he said it had to be the first or second week in June last year. So I looked at cases that happened in May up to the beginning of June. A lot of minor crimes, but there were two big cases the Circle and Brown were involved in. It's all in there."

He slapped a binder of paper on the table. The edges were dog-eared and there was what suspiciously looked like a grease stain somewhere, but apparently the shape shifter had done his homework when it came to researching.

"I don't really know where this is going, but the Circle was definitely busy that time," he said.

I licked my lips. Nervous. Anticipatory. I couldn't wait to get my hands on that file. "About the two big ones – what kind of crimes are we talking about? Any cases that involved vamps?"

"Nope. The first one was a teen kidnapping case. Teens, mostly half-witches, disappeared in the streets. Turned out that it was a rogue witch that used to work for the Circle. You know, before he went into rogue-land."

"Ransom?"

He shrugged. "The dude was simply a psycho. From what I saw the Circle tried to sweep it under the carpet. And I don't blame them."

I nodded. "Okay. What about the other one?"

"The case was about illegal dueling," Blaze said. "The Circle smashed a dueling ring in the East side. Folks met underground for the duels. According to the Circle databank there was also illegal gambling involved. They sent someone in and infiltrated, so basically standard undercover work."

I frowned. "Any rogues involved?"

"No. Half-witches, shape shifters, and a handful of full-blooded witches, some of them even Circle members. Was quite a commotion when the Force members went in. Somehow word got out. It was all up in the papers. Some people in the magical community blamed the Circle, said Brown should have gone for a crackdown New York hadn't seen yet to prevent that kind of shit from happening in the first place."

"Anything else?"

Blaze shook his head. "Not that I could see. The two I told you about stood out the most. Apart from them mostly small stuff, petty crimes." He pointed at the file. "It's all in there."

"Thanks, Blaze."

He looked at me for a long moment. "I don't know what you're up against, but be careful."

I nodded slowly. I didn't say what I was really thinking.

I'm afraid it's too late for being careful.

* * *

I had a theory that was less and more than it seemed. It was more like a dark premonition, a gut feeling I couldn't neglect, no matter how much I wished I could.

If the Raven and Chris Hayes were not lying, the transactions were something that could compromise the Circle or Alexander. Or both.

I might not know what exactly I was looking for, but if there was a connection, I knew where to begin looking. All I had to do was start with the dates. I needed to know what Brown and the Circle did when Alexander started cooperating with them. Then, maybe, I'd see if there was a link to the transactions and the information on the drive.