Slade and Connie finished with the body and scene, headed back to the car and sat inside reviewing what they had. Laid out in the car was not much stuff. There was not much room in the car with all the computers and firepower.

"Let’s go back to DD's. We can spread everything out there and review it." Connie said. Her car was still there and she needed it to get home.

Slade agreed, "OK, we need more coffee to stay awake tonight."

Slade started the car and drove under the tape held by one of the patrol car officers. He waved as a sign of thanks and drove off quickly. He wanted to get away before any other officers or the press grabbed them. The press ignored the current string of murders. The victims seemed insignificant and not important. That fact puzzled Slade too. No one reported any of the victims missing. How many vampires sucked these girls dry? Who raped them before the vampires killed them? All these questions needed answers and Slade and Connie looked for them diligently. Maybe the answers were at The Main Artery with Gustaf. That had to wait for another night, when Connie was ready and there were no more bodies to process.

Slade pulled in beside Connie’s car, grabbed the folders, got out of the car and followed Connie into DD’s. It must be late because no one sat at the counter, but the coffee was full and the smell of fresh donuts rode heavily on the air. Slade took his usual seat with Connie sitting to his left. They spread the photos out along with the coroner’s reports. Slade looked at the photos of the victims for what seemed the two hundredth time. There was something there but Connie and he missed it. Suddenly Connie squealed.

“What happened, Connie?” Slade barked.

“We missed it and now it slapped me hard in the head. How many vampires are involved here? Do we really know?” Connie squeaked.

“There were two vampires.” Slade answered.

“Are you sure? I wondered if there might be more. The bites on the neck and thighs were different. We need to check the bodies again and measure each bite. I think we will find that there may be more than two vampires.” Connie spoke quickly with conviction.

Slade took a long slurp of coffee, as he thought about what Connie said. What if there was a gang of vampires killing these women? It meant the vampires held the women captive until they became hungry and needed blood. Worse yet, if the vampires were new and were gang members before they turned, that explained the rape and the blood lust. The human members raped the girls and when they finished, the vampires drained them. Oh, this kept getting worse. The vampires fed on the victims of kidnap and rape of a gang. That was a difficult thing to prove. Slade and Connie sat there letting the gravity of the prospects sink in. Slade sat there, looked at Connie and wondered can she handle a visit to The Main Artery. He thought the place to start was with Gustaf. He needed to take Connie with him to meet the vampire leader.

"You need to go to the coroner tomorrow and measure the bites on all the corpses. Also, pick up any toxicology results from earlier victims. As you measure each bite, take a close-up photo and mark it with victim ID and measurements. This may be the first solid clue to the perpetrators." Slade told Connie.

Slade and Connie usually worked the evening shift from 3:00 pm to 12:00 am. The result of this shift was they caught all the vampire related crimes. The name 'spook patrol’ became their nickname and whenever they showed up, vampire involved crimes were there. Slade did not mind the moniker, but Connie tried to tolerate it. She liked working with Slade because she learned a lot from him. She never met a vampire and did not want to meet one alone ever. She knew that Slade protected her from them, but this series of murders reeked of vampire involvement. It was time to meet them up close and personal.

“Are we going to The Main Artery soon? We have to question vampires and the only place I know they hang out is there.” Connie hesitantly asked Slade.

Slade shook his head, “yes, we will go there tomorrow night after you get all the measurements and we evaluate how many vampires are really involved here.”

Slade gathered up the photos and reports, stuffed them into the folders and finished his coffee. He looked over at Connie and said, “Let’s call it a night. We have been busy well beyond end of shift and we have a busy day tomorrow in the daylight.”

Connie leaned over and lightly brushed his cheek with her lips saying, “Goodnight and sweet dreams. See you early in the afternoon tomorrow.”

Slade’s cheek tingled where Connie kissed him. That was the first time she demonstrated any feeling for him or any man that he knew. She left quietly and quickly after that and he followed shortly behind her after throwing a couple of dollars on the counter. He got in the car, put the folders in a lock box on the floor and drove back to the station. He went upstairs to his desk with the lock box, checked it in and signed out for the night. His mind still lingered on the kiss from Connie, as he drove home.

Connie drove home slowly, as her mind lingered on the kiss too. Why had she done that? It was not her at all. She wondered what Slade thought after she kissed him. She never expressed any feelings in the squad room or in the car before. Something made her do that and it felt good to her. Now what was next? She needed to dump her boyfriend tonight.

The series of murders puzzled everyone. The kidnap, rape and murder of five young women occurred over the past three weeks with no clues or end in sight. The bodies ended up in piles like trash on the side of the road as if thrown from the back of a pickup truck. No one reported the young women missing and their identities were still a mystery. The clues that came from the bodies were just as mysterious. There were five different semen samples from each victim, at least two vampire bites and a lot of blood, not all of it the victims. No drugs showed up in the toxicology screening and the women died from rapid blood loss from the vampire bites.

Slade arrived at the squad room first and opened up the lock box taking out the files of the victims. The photos and preliminary reports for the latest victim were on his desk when he came in. Connie was at the coroner taking more pictures and measurements. When she came back, they would huddle together in a conference room to go over all the data again. Maybe something will fall out to give them a clue. Slade took the victim’s files and laid them out on a table. They were the sum total of the information collected to date. Slade looked down at it all and shook his head. He hoped Connie would bring back something new on the vampires. They were the only clue that came out so far.

Connie came swiftly into the squad room, looked for Slade and went to the conference room. She gave Slade the photos from the scene last night along with the coroner preliminary report. She was grinning from ear to ear at Slade. He looked at her with questioning eyes. She put down her pictures of the bite marks and measurements after which she took off her coat and sat down. The smile had not left her face and Slade looked more confused now than ever.

“Take a look at the bite marks and the measurements.” Connie squealed.

Slade picked up the pictures and looked at the marks. As he thumbed through them, it became apparent that there were four distinct vampire bites. Two bites were large probably from males and two were smaller probably from females. That added a big clue to the cases. Now they knew, there were four vampires and five humans involved in each crime. That was a large group of people to have it kept quiet. There must be something else going on here too. It was time to visit The Main Artery something had to be there. Tonight was the night.

Slade and Connie worked throughout the end of daylight cataloging and collating all the vampire and human data collected. A single sheet of paper held all the relevant data. It was the sum total of the whole investigation to date. Slade gave the sheet to Connie. She looked at it, read it and shook her head. “It looks complete. Are we ready to roll to The Main Artery?”

“Yeah, let's gather all this stuff up, lock it up and take it with us. Who knows maybe we will get lucky tonight. You will get to see your first vampire, lucky you.” Slade quipped.

Connie stuck her tongue out at Slade as he laughed at her. They gathered all the file folders, stuffed them in the metal box and locked it. Slade took the box handle and Connie grabbed the car keys, as they went out the door. They put the box in the trunk, secured to the floor. It was a slow drive to The Main Artery again. This time the rain was coming down in what looked like sheets, making visibility poor and creating deep rivers on the streets. Cars hydroplaned easily and some drivers just would not slow down. There were abandoned cars on the streets, left where they died with no emergency flashers. Slade held the wheel so tightly his knuckles were paper white and his face was tight and drawn in a permanent scowl. Connie sat riveted to her seat holding on to the bar in front of her as they wove their way through town. Slade parked down the block from the alley that held The Main Artery. On street parking was easy to find here at night with most of the factories closed and no shopping areas open.

Connie got out of the car, pulled her coat tightly around her to protect from the rain and waited for Slade to join her. They walked slowly to the alley and as soon as they turned the corner, the rain stopped. The surrounding buildings shielded the alley from the harsh elements of everyday life. It was as if this was a new world. The small red light appeared as a beacon for all to see, drawing people to a welcome haven. Connie grabbed Slade’s arm as she shuddered from the sudden darkness and cold. A light mist bathed the alley making it glisten with wet walls and shiny worn bricks on the pavement. She put her head on his shoulder trying to get warm and feel protected. The alley had an eerie feeling about it that wrapped around them the closer they got to The Main Artery.

Again, as Slade approached the door the ever-present arm came out and stopped them from entering. This time the big bulky vampire talked into the microphone first. Connie looked up at him in awe at his size. The second big bulky vampire appeared and guided Slade and Connie inside. Tonight the club was almost empty only a few tables held patrons and the stage was vacant of dancers with the lights turned off.

Connie giggled as she whispered to Slade, “The two bouncer vampires remind me of Heckle and Jeckle, the magpies of cartoon fame.”

Slade laughed quietly thinking, leave it to Connie to find this amusing. She held onto him as they wound their way behind their guide. The barman polished glasses and the waitresses hovered nearby. Gustaf sat in his customary place overseeing the whole club. He was not alone. Leona sat very close to him with a hand on his thigh.

“Welcome detective Slade, thank you for coming to my humble establishment tonight.” Gustaf said with a flourish smiling all the while. “Who is this ravishing beauty on your arm?”

“Gustaf, may I introduce Detective Connie Stiles. She is my partner and fellow detective working the current murder case.” Slade said politely.

“Detective Stiles, welcome, please be seated.” Gustaf effusively gestured. Connie removed her coat, draped it over the rail around the box and sat facing Gustaf. Slade sat next to her after removing his coat. “How is the investigation proceeding? Do you have any suspects? Leona told me she told you about the two young vampires who bragged about the murders. I sent her to the scene of your latest find. She is my representative to assist in this case.”

Leona perked up at those words of high praise from her master. She looked ravishing tonight in a short tunic dress of crimson, highlighting her now red hair. Gustaf asked her to get drinks for the group. Connie and Slade chose water she knew what Gustaf drank. She left and the conversation began in earnest.

“Gustaf, we have reason to believe that there are four vampires and five humans involved in all the murders. With the evidence collected, this is the on-going investigation. Do you remember the two vampires who were here bragging about the murders?” Slade asked quietly.

“I had never seen the two vampires before. I am unaware that they were here or are vampires.” Gustaf lied. “Maybe Leona has more information for you. She has more eyes and ears here and in the community.”

Gustaf pushed the detectives to her to protect his stature and status in the vampire community. It was all about appearances to the vampire masters. They had to maintain control with an iron hand to protect their own. If it ever got out that Gustaf turned in a vampire for committing a crime his stature would diminish considerably. Leona returned with the drinks, set them on the low table between them and sat next to Gustaf again. She put her hand back on Gustaf’s thigh. She smiled at Slade and pursed her lips in a mock kiss. Slade picked up his water and drank a big swallow. Connie sat holding onto Slade, her fear quite evident. She watched closely, her eyes moving continuously between the two vampires. Slade saw that the current meeting got him nowhere and decided to push a little.

“Do you have surveillance tapes of visitors who came to the club?” Slade asked strongly.

“Yes, we do have tapes, but our machine broke sometime ago and we are waiting for repairmen to arrive. It is so hard to get them to come here at night, being vampires and all.” Gustaf replied smiling.

Slade knew it was a stall tactic, but supposed Leona might get the tapes for him. Leona smiled at Slade, as Connie slid closer and rested her head on his shoulder. Connie was acting strangely tonight as if the vampires threatened her well-being. Slade held her close, feeling her fear. The interview was over. Gustaf and Leona stood as one, baring their fangs in smiles of gratitude. Slade felt Connie shudder upon seeing the fangs. She was truly scared now. Slade wrapped his arm around her as they stood together. Connie relaxed that the interview ended without incident. Gustaf shook hands with Slade, ignored Connie and motioned for Leona to escort them out.

Outside the VIP section, Leona relaxed and led the pair of detectives to a back room of the club. Slade followed, but moved his free hand to his gun. Connie was giddy from the meeting and was useless. She was under a vampire spell earlier and now felt totally at a loss. Gustaf purposely kept her from the meeting, by making her cling to Slade. Now Leona led them to her private room in the back of the club. Slade watched her walking in front of him. He thought, she was once a beautiful woman and if she were alive now, he would try to win her hand. The dress she wore clung to her curves and made her desirous to all men who saw her. Once in her room, Leona turned and looked at Slade and Connie. Connie relaxed and sat in the chair in front of the make-up table. Leona took Slade ’ s hand, led him across the room, put him on her bed and sat very closely next to him. Connie watched, but registered no emotion. She was captivated again.

“Detective, your partner is under our control right now. She will not remember being here. We can speak freely or engage in anything you desire right now. I read your mind as we walked down the hall. I am yours and I want you too. We are dating after all as far as Gustaf and the staff knows. So we can be open with each other.” Leona says softly, as she looks Slade in the eyes.

“I desire you, but not this way, not tonight. I am on duty here investigating murders committed by vampires. Humans found these girls, kidnapped and raped them. Vampires drained them of blood. The perpetrators tossed them away like pieces of garbage. Will you help us find and put these people away?” Slade said with difficulty. He wanted to possess this vampire tonight.

“I will help you as much as you need detective. All you have to do is ask and I am at your beck and call any night.” Leona teases.

“Where are the tapes from the night the two vampires were here? We need to review them and see if we can identify the two men in question. Can we take them with us?” Slade recovers and asks.

“Wait here, I will return with them shortly.” Leona quickly said as she got up and left.

Leona returned shortly with two DVDs from the night in question. She handed them to Slade and brushed up against him. He felt a spark leap from her to him. She turned, smiled and took his hand, as she led him and Connie to the front door of the club. The vampire Connie called Heckle held the door open and she left. Leona held Slade back and kissed his lips and whispered in his ear, “Come back alone and we can play more. Goodnight Detective!”