"It's illegal!"
Frank shrugged. "Maybe. But who cares?"
"Frank, it's run byvampires . They're getting rich off your son's blood!" Michael said. Frank raised his eyebrows.
"You think that's a news flash? That's how it's been from the beginning, Glass. Humans get boned; vampires get rich. It's their whole lifestyle."
Claire shook her head. "Maybe, but I guarantee you that Ameliedoesn't know about this particular little project, and she's going to care big-time. Anything that puts Morganville on the radar is a bad thing, right?"
"Eh," Frank said. "They're playing it for the cheap seats, all opera capes and bad Transylvanian accents. Nobody out there's going to take it seriously. They're watching it for the fighting. They don't believe for a second there are actual vampires involved. Not much of a risk."
"Maybe not, but what happens when somebody takes it seriously and sends somebody to check it out? It would make a hell of a60 Minutes story," Michael said. "One guy already tried to extort them for money. He's dead."
"Wait," Claire said as Frank opened his mouth to reply. Not that he needed to have a mouth to talk; it was just theater. His voice was coming out of her phone. He waited while she thought for a second. "Michael.Bishop killed Stinky Doug. That's what Jason told me."
"And--Oh." Eve's eyes grew very wide. "Wait. You saw Jason? Where?"
Dammit,again she was saying things she shouldn't have been. Too late to call that back, anyway. "He's been arrested," Claire said. "Again. Sorry."
"And you were going to tell me that my brother was in jailwhen , exactly?"
"When they said I could. I'm sorry, Eve, but that's not the point. Jason accused Bishop."
"Wait,the Bishop? Evil old man who is supposed to bedead --that Bishop?"
This was a house of cards, and it was all crashing down around her. Claire decided she couldn't care about that, not now. Better to try to get it all out in the open. "Bishop broke out," she said. "And the next thing anybody knew, he grabbed Jason and had him take him to Stinky Doug. Then he killed him. Jason didn't know why."
"But we do now," Michael said. "Doug was trying to blackmail Immortal Battles. He lifted vampire blood and was probably planning to go to a reporter with it, along with his story and the Web site evidence. Proof."
"Proof nobody could afford, not even Bishop," Claire said. "So no more Doug. But the thing is, Bishop had to already know about the fighting. He was in on it. Or behind it. Amelie's got a full-scale search going for Bishop, and she's going to find out about this, probably soon."
Michael leaned against a lab table and crossed his arms. "That means Shane will be just as guilty as everybody else, for aiding and abetting," he said. "You know how she's going to feel about that. And if we knew and didn't tell her, we'll be there right alongside him."
"I know howI'm going to feel," Eve said. "I'm going to feel sorry, because I don't look good in prison clothes. Or I'll be dead, in which case I won't feel much. Claire, sweetie, I hate to say this, but I don't think we have a choice. We have to tell somebody. Wehave to."
"But Shane--"
"Shane needs to understand that this little sideshow is over, like it or not," Frank said. "And that he's falling with it if he stays. He'd better decide to end up on Amelie's side, not Bishop's, because Claire is right: Bishop in the mix changes it from illegal fun to a serious threat."
"Shane doesn't know about Bishop's involvement. I'm sure. He'd never have anything to do with it if he had any clue," Claire said. "We just have to tell him, that's all. He'll break it off."
"That'sall ," Michael said. "You were there, right? The last time we tried to talk to him?"
Claire took a deep breath. "No offense, Michael, but I think--I think it was you who really caused the problem. Not what you said. What youare. Somehow he's gotten conditioned to be angry whenever it involves vampires. You saw how he treated Eve, and helikes Eve. I think I have to talk to him alone."
"No!" Eve blurted that out, but she didn't back down when Claire turned to her. "No, seriously, just...no, honey. You can't, Claire. You saw how he was. If you go alone he might...he might hurt you. I know you don't think he will, but I saw him. I know he could. I hate it, and I wish it wasn't true, but...you can't take that risk."
"Youtake that risk all the time with Michael," Claire said, and stepped forward to touch Eve's choker, beneath which lay bite marks. "You trust he'll know how far to go. Right? I trust Shane. I have to trust him."
"Well...they'll never let you in," Eve said, but she sounded doubtful now rather than definite. "You'd never make it past the bouncer."
Claire locked eyes with her and held the stare, trying to put all her grief and passion into it. "I have to," she said. "Please understand.Please. "
Eve didn't want to, but she finally, unwillingly nodded. When Michael tried to interject, she shook her head firmly. "She's right, Mike. She's not a little kid; we can't always be there. And she's also right about how Shane feels about vampires. If either one of us shows up, it kicks it up to a whole new level. If she's alone, it's more personal. And no matter how wack Shane may be right now, I can't believe he would hurt her, not on purpose."
Michael clearly had his doubts, but he held up both hands to signal surrender. "First we wait to see if he comes home tomorrow," he said. "If he doesn't, then we'll drive you to the gym and wait for you--and Frank monitors your signal. Any sign of trouble, he pushes the alarm button, and all bets are off. Oh, and we tell Amelie. Immediately, regardless of how that conversation goes with Shane."
Claire didn't like it particularly, but she could see the wisdom of it, too. It hadn't occurred to her, but since she knew Frank could use the camera, too, she could be wearing her cell phone around her neck with the camera activated, and he could see and hear everything. He'd wanted eyes and ears inside the gym; this was the best she could do.
"I'll go there tomorrow," she said. "If he doesn't come home tonight."
"Hang on," Frank said. "What about this Web site?"
"Can you block access?"
"Only for people inside of town."
"How about, you know, launching some kind of attack? Like a virus or a denial of service?"
Frank blinked. "No idea what you're talking about. Look, I was never the Internet guy. And it's pretty freaking strange to be--this. I got no idea how to do that denial of whatever. And I don't have any viruses."
"What if I give you one?"
"Try it, and you won't need to be afraid of what my son does."
"Okay, right. Never mind," Claire said. "It was just an idea. Obviously not a very good one."
"Bad enough I'm stuck like this, without you getting any ideas about making me sick like the last occupant." Meaning Ada, Myrnin's old assistant. And girlfriend. Claire was suddenly glad she hadn't suggested the whole virus thing while Myrnin was around, because he would surely have beenvery unhappy with her.
And as if she'd conjured him up, thanks to even thinking his name, Frank suddenly turned to face the side of the lab where the portal door was located. "He's coming back," he said. "Nobody tells him nothing." And just like that, Frank vanished, leaving behind nothing but a trailing hiss of static in Claire's cell phone speaker, just as a pool of darkness formed inside an open doorway, then rippled into what looked like a dimly lit library.
Myrnin stepped through, and the portal collapsed behind him into darkness. He shut the wooden door and padlocked it, rolled the bookcase back in front of it as additional cover, and, without turning around, said, "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company, uninvited guests?" He didn't sound happy. Or even, as was more typical for Myrnin, wacky. Bad sign.
"I...needed to check on something," Claire said. "Sorry. We were just leaving."
"Were you?" He turned, clasping his hands behind him. He looked very old-school Myrnin, formally dressed, even down to shiny boots. Well, the shirt and vestmight have clashed, but apart from that, he'd obviously been somewhere that didn't accept his usual wardrobe choices. Like, say, Amelie's office. "There are a number of odd things happening in this town, Claire. Most notably, the behavior of you and your friends. Including that boy most strangely absent from your little group. I don't often see him separated from you."