Stormrage (6 page)

The bouncer shrugged
and folded his arms across his chest. "No one made her take a hit. She wasn't my problem. She's just another junkie, like all of these miserable little shits."

Raven nodded and looked away for a moment.
When she looked back her eyes were the angry feral slits of a Master vampire.

"That girl
just became your problem!" she growled.

She kicked the man in the knee, shattering the joint
, slammed him hard enough into the wall for his face to leave a dent in the ancient oak and then pinned him in place with one arm twisted painfully behind his back.

"How many of your
bosses are inside?" she asked, her voice still cold and emotionless.

The man struggled against Raven's grip and groaned
, "I'm the boss!"

"I doubt that, sir,"
Levac said, leaning against the railing. "The boss doesn't usually stand outside in the cold with a police detective trying to push his head through the wall of a building. I suggest you answer my partner's question while you still have a face. Do you think you could help us out, sir?"

The man struggled a bit more in Raven's grip and she pulled harder on his arm, not stopping until a
sickening wet pop was heard. The bouncer whimpered softly and nodded. "Okay, okay, just let me down!"

Raven let
go and watched him fall, her eyes still glowing with fury.

"She's inside,"
he moaned. "The boss is inside with her guards."

"
Those Black Widows we've heard of?" Levac asked.

The bouncer nodded and cradled his ruined arm.
"They're all inside."

"Who makes the stuff?
Your boss and her crew or do you have people inside?" Raven inquired.

"Staff… staff of six homeless
people they took from the streets," the bouncer replied, his eyes sagging.

Raven grabbed him by t
he throat and lifted him to eye level. "Don't you even think about passing out yet, scumbag! You're using homeless people to make Thirst? Tell me why I don't tear your throat out and watch you bleed to death at my feet!"

"Because you're a goo
d cop, Ray," Levac said in a gentle voice.

Raven blinked and looked over her shoulder at Levac.
He smiled and held out his cuffs with one finger. "Cuff this bastard and let’s go get some answers."

Raven took a breath and slowly let the bouncer down.
She cuffed his unbroken arm to the railing and then opened the door to the plant.

Inside was quiet.
The making of Thirst didn't require much in the way of machinery, just people to mix, package and distribute. Electric safety lights glowed in bright rows along the ceiling, stainless steel counters covered in various equipment stretched into the distance beneath them and a handful of scruffy, unhappy-looking people moved back and forth mixing powders and carrying the result to the glass furnace where portions were sealed in glass tubes.

None of the workers looked up as Raven and Levac entered, one just pointed
toward a door at the far end of the room.

"
We're not here for Thirst," Raven said. "I'm Detective Storm and this is Detective Levac of the Chicago police. We're shutting this place down and you're free to go."

The small group of workers looked up at that, their faces dejected and frightened.
One of them, the apparent leader, gestured toward a surveillance camera high in the far wall.

"They'll
see and kill us if we try to escape," he said.

"Not if they are behind bars,"
Levac said. "Come on, you people get out of here or I will have to arrest you for the manufacturing of narcotics. Either way, you're leaving. I suggest you make your way to the Sisters of Mercy outside Old Town."

Seeing that Levac wasn't kidding
, the small group of workers hurriedly left. Within seconds there was only the hush of the small torch they used to seal the Thirst vials and the tink-tink of cooling metal.

Once the room was clear, Raven closed the door and locked it
behind her. She picked up a vial of Thirst and turned it in her fingers; as far as she could tell it was identical to the ones they'd collected at Shevlin's home. She pocketed one of the vials and then turned to the camera and blew a kiss toward the lens, hoping it annoyed whoever was watching.

Levac moved ahead and checked the door into the next room.
He nodded at Raven and drew the Automag she'd given him while she covered the door. When they were both ready, Levac opened the door and Raven stepped through, automatically checking corners and behind the door for any hint of hidden danger.

The detectives found themselves in a well-appointed office area two stories high.
Black leather sofas surrounded a white steel fireplace, the glass side-tables covered in issues of Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Handgun magazine. Beyond the sitting area was a caged in security office, the door hanging ajar as if someone had just left. Next to this was a metal staircase leading up to the second floor. There was no sign of anyone.

Raven nodded
toward the stairs and Levac nodded back. The tall redhead went first, scanning the corners of the room. She reached the bottom of the stairs and checked the top. She could still see no one, though a catwalk led deeper into the plant and branched off into a room with tinted windows. Raven was about to head up the stairs when a leather-clad woman dropped from the rafters and landed on Levac, dragging him to the floor in a heap of leather and tan trench coat.

"Chicago police!"
Raven yelled. "Let him go or I will use deadly force!"

The woman looked up at Raven and snarled
, showing white fangs. Raven didn't hesitate; Her Automag barked twice, both rounds punching through the vampire's face in quick succession. The vampire exploded in a cloud of flame that left Levac covered in fine grey ash and scraps of charred leather. He coughed from within the cloud and Raven helped him to his feet.

"What was that?"
he asked, gasping for breath.

"I promise I will tell you later,"
Raven replied. "Just remember, use the Automag and aim for the heart or head."

Levac nodded and followed Raven up the stairs.
They were halfway to the catwalk when another vampire appeared from the scaffolding above.

"Freeze!"
Levac ordered. "Chicago Police!"

"She knows that, Rupert,"
Raven said, watching the vampire scamper from beam to beam. The vampire was dressed in a leather catsuit tight enough to show a pimple, a leather collar with a ring on the front and boots so high they made Raven's feet ache in sympathy yet still she moved with catlike grace, a panther about to pounce.

Raven waited for Levac to pull the trigger, hoping he wouldn't make her do it for him.
Her hesitation was a mistake. Another vampire grabbed her from behind and threw her over the railing. She caught the rail with one hand and dangled thirty feet in the air. Above her the vampire had grabbed Levac and was rearing back to tear into his throat with fangs that glistened like fine china.

Levac
hesitated no longer. The plant was filled with a deafening boom as he fired the Automag, dusting the vampire in the rafters. He then drove the back of his head in the face of the vampire behind him, cracking the woman's nose and forcing her to let go.

Inwardly proud of her partner, Raven raised her own pistol and fired, watching with satisfaction as the third vampire disintegrated into ash.

"You okay?" Levac asked, helping her back over the railing.

"I'm fine, thanks,
" Raven replied. "That was a good shot, Rupert."

"But what did I shoot, Raven
?" he asked. "What the hell are these things?"

Raven started past him, deeper into the warehouse, but Levac caught her arm.
"They're vampires, aren’t they, Raven? Honest to God vampires!"

Raven looked at the ash and charred clothing on the floor and nodded.
"Yeah. Yeah, they're vampires, Rupert. Full on, blood-sucking monsters," she said. "The sort of crap I've been dealing with since my first day on the force."

"Who else knows about this?
Frost? Zhu? Gibbs? Anyone?" Levac asked.

"If Frost doesn't suspect
, he is a lot dumber than I think he is, but otherwise just me and Zhu. And now you," Raven said, still staring at the floor.

"Why?
For God's sake this should be on the news!" Levac exclaimed.

Raven shook her head and raised her eyes to meet Levac's.
"No! Come on, Rupert! You know people are panicky and stupid. If they knew Old Town was full of vampires, lycans and all manner of other monsters there would be widespread panic, the world would be in even more shit than usual. The Army would be mobilized, force would be used and trust me, the monsters would win."

"You don't know that, Ray,"
Levac said.

"Yeah… I do,"
Raven said. "And I need your promise, Rupert. Not a word about this. To anyone. Lives depend on the public not knowing about any of this."

"Ray…"
Levac started.

"Rupert,
trust me, please," Raven interrupted.

"
All right, Raven," Levac said. "For now."

"I'll take it,"
she replied. "Come on, we still have nine suckheads and whoever holds their leash in here somewhere."

Levac made an 'after you' gesture and Raven stepped past, leading the way into the back of the plant.
Both detectives continually checked overhead for vamps lurking in the rafters while Levac occasionally glanced behind. When they reached the intersection Levac indicated he would continue into the back while Raven checked out the tinted room. She nodded in response and watched her partner move into the gloom before turning and making her way toward the glass room that overlooked the office below. The door opened at her push to reveal a chamber carpeted floor, ceiling and three walls in plush black. Twelve coffins were placed neatly around the room and a desk sat in front of the observation windows. A coffee pot half-full of warm claret sat on the desk next to an assortment of magazines, a laptop dock and a notebook.

Raven ignored the desk and moved
toward the coffins. A quick check confirmed that all were empty, but Raven sprinkled a mixture of garlic powder and silver nitrate from her purse into each just in case. Any vamp closing herself in one of the coffins would quickly find themselves spontaneously combusting.

Satisfied the coffins were safe, Raven donned a pair of gloves and flipped through the notebook.
Each page was dated starting about three weeks before and was full of names and numbers. Some names were listed every few days and the numbers got larger. Raven guessed this was a ledger of people purchasing Thirst and how many vials they purchased each time. By the looks of things, a lot of people were about to start suffering withdrawal, but that was better than a lot of people about to suffer death or a permanent stay alone in a nightmare.

Raven flipped to a few days before
, but found no entry for Shevlin or his sister. She couldn't say she was surprised, the preliminary tests indicated that there was no Thirst in their systems. But still, someone had left the Thirst at the scene.

She put the notebook in an evidence bag and slipped it into her purse.
When she left the room she could hear the sounds of Levac and the repeated boom his new Automag and she ran in that direction. She passed several piles of clothing and ash before she reached the end of the catwalk. A staircase led down to another office area and a back door that stood open to the cold night air. Levac was backing toward the door with a redheaded woman handcuffed to his left wrist and two vampires moving toward him. He was holding them at bay with the barrel of his Automag, and even at this distance Raven could tell the slide was locked back. The only thing keeping him from being a midnight snack was that the vampires didn't realize the pistol was empty.

He's brave…,
Raven thought.
Braver than anyone ever gives him credit for.

She drew her own pistol and ejected the magazine.
She replaced it with a fresh one and whistled as loudly as she could. The two vampires spun and looked up at her. Behind them, Levac almost sagged with relief.

"Hi there!"
Raven said in a cheerful voice. "I don't suppose telling you to surrender, you're under arrest for selling drugs, murder, attempted murder and atrocious fashion-sense would do any good?"

The vampires hissed and sprang into the air
, going directly for Raven's throat.

"Yeah, I thought not."
Her pistol flamed four times and she covered her head for protection from the flying ash and burning leather. When the cloud cleared she trotted down the stairs and over to Levac who had holstered his Automag and replaced it with his police-issued Beretta.

"W
ho's your friend, partner?" Raven asked.