BloodWise

BloodWise, Chapter 9

His body was so beaten that it took him nearly a half hour to get back to his car. By the time he sank into the driver's seat, his collar and neckline were soaked in blood sweat. he would have to feed soon, but there was no time to deal with it now. Instead, he drove to an all night liquor store that he knew and parked beside the phone booth in the parking lot. He pulled his jacket closed to cover the blood on his shirt, grabbed a handful of quarters and called Fitzgerald.

"Baltimore House of Steak," Reyna's voice said.

"I'd like to place an order for a midnight special."

Reyna took a sharp breath. "Are you alright Winston? What happened with the Longknifes?"

"I need to speak to Fitzgerald. Please."

There was a moment of silence. A click. "I just got a call from Noah" Fitzgerald said. "He's informed me that Marlo Longknife is dead. Apparently he was a tough, old coot, but a spear through the head did the trick."

"It wasn't the Longknifes, Lord Fitgerald."

"Don't be ridiculous, Winston. What about the letter."

"It was a forgery, I think. The Prestons were behind the attack. I found proof."

After Winston explained what he'd discovered, Fitzgerald was silent for a time. "Are you sure, Winston? I mean that flower necklace sounds convincing, but what possible reason would the Preston's have to frame Marlo Longknife?"

"The Pine Knoll Fairground sits adjacent to Queen Lucy's Corner," Winston said.

"And so?"

"Queen Lucy's Corner was a long time Preston claim, only they never really hunted there."

Fitzgerald gasped. "I'd forgotten! They never hunt for blood there because it's too far from their home base. They have to cross through too many other claimed zones to reach it."

"And one of those zones is Pine Knoll," Winston said. "Therefore, the Preston's bomb us, frame the Longknifes, and then get us to drive the Longknifes out of town."

"With a net result in their favor?"

"Yes my Lord."

"But how could they have been sure that we would follow through?"

"It was Noah, my lord. He's known for his temper."

"If you're right, then we've been duped."

"I am right," Winston said. "I'm very good at reading faces, and I can promise you that Marlo was completely surprised by that letter. He couldn't make heads or tails of the fact that it was clearly his handwriting on a letter he didn't remember writing. And as I said before, the Marlo's are weak, and it wouldn't be to their benefit to challenge us."

Fitzgerald thought about it for another moment and Winston fed another coin into the phone. He leaned back against the glass and kept one eye out for approaching vehicles. "Listen Winston, I think we need to strike against the Preston's soon then, before they lay a claim on the Pine Knolls. Boyle is dead, but Noah and the rest of the men are ready for action. You recently visited the Preston Estate, correct?"

"Yes, I have a general sense of the landscape."

"Good. I want to get out there and wait. How long will it take you to get there?"

"Less than half an hour."

"Do some scouting then, but play it safe. Don't do anything stupid. I'll have Noah there within the hour. Then we take our fight to the Prestons."

Winston was about to object. The whole thing sounded to hasty, but then he remembered what the Prestons were, and he thought it wouldn't be a bad thing to take the fight to the Prestons."