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windowed wall and leaned back against it. “Please, everyone—sit.”
    We all did. But he stayed standing.
    “Officer Kimble,” he said. “I had you brought in here this morning to see if you were willing to work with us. This suspect we’re currently pursuing seems to have developed an interest in you, and I would like to take advantage of that. I know Mac has already gone over what it is we do in our hidden little corner of the force, but if hard work and a bit of danger doesn’t scare you off, I would like to have you deployed over here under my personal purview.”
    I liked the guy at once. He was direct and to the point, unlike his two helper monkeys. Alas, a significant obstacle remained. “I’m on leave, sir. I cannot work inside the department in any fashion. I am not even sure I’m allowed to be here now, discussing an open case.”
    He smiled at me. “Your suspension we can get around. But I want to make sure you understand the risks. I’m asking you to play bait for a very nasty fellow. If you say no, I will understand. But I also need to remind you that Jessup will be following you either way. If you agree to do things our way, you will be far safer than if you don’t.”
    “So, you’re telling me I have no choice.”
    “You always have a choice. Didn’t I say I would understand if you said no?”
    I sat back and crossed my legs. It was a girlie power move, but an effective one. “Phrase it however you like,” I said. “But I don’t think I had a choice the second Douglass shared your crackpot vampire theory with me. Because I now know what’s going around here, and can use it against you, despite the boilerplate waiver I just signed. I have the sinking feeling that means I’m stuck, and I have no choice in this matter whatsoever.” I paused and took a sip of my coffee. “Sorry, sir. But that’s just the way I see things.”
    “Told ya,” Racine said to Castellano. “You didn’t believe me. She’s got one hell of a mouth on her.”
    The big boss shot him a look, one that told him to keep his own trap shut. He then returned his attention to me. “You are not stuck, Officer. But, I can see why you would interpret it in such a way. Is there anything I can do to reassure you—to make certain this alliance comes to fruition? I know you have aspirations. This assignment could be an excellent stepping stone for you. You succeed on a big task force, even a crackpot one, and you will make detective only that much faster.”
    I became as still as I could, digging in. “Look,” I said. “I’m inclined to help out, but I’ve got no clue about what’s really going on here. I’ve heard there’s Fed involvement, and now I hear wild speculation about vampires running around the streets of LA, killing indiscriminately. Before I agree to anything, I needed to know a whole lot more.”
    Castellano gnawed on his lower lip, considering what I’d said. His counteroffer came swiftly. “I’ll have a quiet space set up for you. You’ll be given full access to our two latest cases, and the background on this one. Will that amount of information work for you?”
    I nodded. “Yeah, that’ll work fine.”

Need to Know
    Three case files were waiting for me in the bullpen conference room, collected in sienna brown folders, spread out side by side across the hard Formica table. I shuffled to my left and closed the blinds, which opened out into the bullpen proper, and took a seat behind my reading material. I started with the first folder, flipping it open and sliding the other two out of the way.
    The case number was BG-0001301. It pertained to one James Parsons, a local slaughterhouse owner, and an apparent not-so upstanding member of the walking undead. The Detail, as it was referred to in the typewritten report, caught wind of his odiousness through a surprise admission during a balls-out Robbery-Homicide interrogation.
    Detective Terrence Koi had been working a series of gangland disappearances,