Carpathian 06 - Dark Fire

question but that it was a suicide. But I say differently. Matt was one of us. He knew what he was up against. He wouldn't have taken pictures of just anybody." Brady Grand drummed his fingers alongside the photograph, then tapped it twice. "This woman knows something. This stream is the same stream where Matt's body was found."
    "Come on, Brady," Cullen Tucker protested. "Look at that picture. It's full sun. Broad daylight. No way is that woman a vampire."
    Grand's cold eyes traveled around the circle of men.
    "I didn't say she was, only that she knew something. For all I know, she was helping Matt. Find her, and we can get at the truth."
    "The'truth' is, we haven't gotten anywhere," Cullen snarled. "You say this band is a group of vampires.
    The only 'proof you've offered so far is some obscure quotation based on the Persian word Dara, referring to the troupe's Singer, Desari."
    A low murmur of approval went around the room. Then the others shifted nervously. No one wanted to cross Brady Grand outright; he was just too mean. But they had lost six men in the first attempt against the band, excellent marksmen, and now they'd lost Matt Brodrick.
    Brady looked around at the others. "Is that what you think? That I'm wrong about these creatures?
    What of the fact that we sent six military-trained assassins to kill supposedly defenseless civilians, and all our soldiers ended up dead, the creatures still alive and well? Tell me how that happened, Cullen. You tell me how some simple security guard single-handedly destroyed all six of our men and their remains.
    They had a foolproof escape plan but disappeared. They sprayed the stage with bullets, yet the band members were relatively unhurt. Explain that, Cullen, because I don't see how it's possible."
    "The band got lucky. Maybe their bodyguard is better than you think, paramilitary himself. What do you know about the big guy? Not too much gets by him. Is it possible the team went in with poor information? That maybe it was you who screwed up?"
    Brady's fist clenched tightly until his knuckles turned white. A muscle twitched in his jaw. "I know for certain that the singer is a vampire. I know it, Cullen. The team knew, too, or they never would have gone in to make the hit. We wanted to bleed her as much as possible, weaken her, and take her alive.
    Our people have wanted a live specimen to study for years. But if the only thing we can get is a dead one, than so be it."
    "All we've accomplished so far is to make the world think we're a bunch of crazy fanatics," Cullen objected. "I say we target someone else, someone not so damned popular. The cops love Desari. The merchants in every city she goes to love her. The audiences love her. If we kill her, they'll hunt us down like dogs."
    "That's your trouble, Cullen-no sense of commitment. This is war. It's us against them. Do you believe they exist? With all the proof I've given you, do you really not believe?" Brady demanded. "After what you saw with your own eyes? Or was that just a tale to get you inside our group?"
    "Hell, yes, I believe vampires exist," Cullen said. "But not this singer. She's just some woman with a beautiful voice and a bodyguard as lethal as anything I've ever seen. So she sleeps during the day. What do you expect? She works all night. So we can't find their campsites even when we track them all the time. They're very careful, very private. But no one ever dies. No kids are killed. They never leave a trail Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    of drained carcasses behind. If they're vampires feeding off people, where are the bodies? Every vampire I've heard about kills. The reason we can't find these people when they camp is because their bodyguard is good. That's why there are no pictures, not because we can't get anybody on film. This guy does his job and does it well. Thus, no unauthorized pictures."
    "And the leopards?" Brady demanded.
    "Part of the show, the mystique. They're in show business, Brady. Everyone has some kind of gimmick.
    They like leopards. Big deal. Vampires like wolves and bats Isn't that what we've been told?" Cullen drove his point home.
    The man nearest Cullen cleared his throat. He was little older than the others and generally very quiet. "I is possible Cullen is right in this case, Brady," he said softly. "There is no evidence that any in this group were ever in the Carpathian Mountains or even originate from that area."
    "Wallace," Brady