“Yeah. But you were there first, and you’d be the best for this. Firsthand is always best.”
George sighed. “How much do I drop on her?”
“Just lay it out, within reason,” said Norma. “Ben and I’ll take the others on the field trip. You just get her in a quiet place, and then take her to where she can observe while you talk. That ought to do it.”
“What if I become aware,” asked George, “as this thing goes down, that we’re wrong about this?”
“About her, you mean?”
“Yeah, Ben. About her. Her qualifications. That’s why you should do this.”
“Norma and I picked her,” said Ben. “Too close to the subject. Got to be you.”
“And if you decide she’s not the one we want, then just slow it down, or minimize it, or whatever, and get out of it gracefully,” said Norma. “That’s what I meant by within reason. But that’s not gonna happen, my boy. She’s our girl.”
George held up his beer glass. “That’s me, old graceful.” He took a drink. “Here’s to you being right,” he said.
“You have doubts?” asked Norma. “Seriously?”
George leaned back, and looked at both of them. He was silent for a few moments, and then heaved a sigh. “Oh . . . no. Not really. I think we’ve got the right one. Just, you know, err on the side of caution sort of stuff.”
“Of course.” Ben pushed the chip bowl toward George. “Have some.”
“Remember to bring your gun?” asked Norma.
“Always do, Mom.” George picked up a chip.
“Don’t start the mother crap,” said Norma. “We just want you to be safe. Take her in close, but not too close. She’s got to be allowed time to think.”
“Got a plan,” said George. “I’m gonna rely on my instincts.”
Norma shook her head. “Not that . . . please, not that.”
“It’ll be fine,” said George. “Not to worry.” He cleared his throat. “How about ‘Ma’?”
“Thin ice,” said Norma.
“Just in case, better charge up your cell phone,” said Ben. “I’ve got a walkie-talkie for you, too. Radio’s much better if things go to hell on ya.”
“Thanks.”
Thursday, after a nutritious, if bland, academy lunch, the three instructors introduced their class to two new instructors from the DCI. With lots of hustle and bustle and by the shuffling of assignments, it was doubtful that any of the class was particularly aware that only Detective Dillman had been paired with George.
“What we gonna do, boss?” asked Dillman.
“Call me George. Well, we’re gonna take my car, for starters. Hop in.”
“Where we headed?”
“Buckle up,” he said. “You drive like I do, it’s just smart.”
She did so. “We assigned to some really bad guys?”
“Possibly one of the worst.”
He stopped at the intersection with the main base road, and glanced at her to see what effect that had had. He met the gaze of large blue eyes that seemed just a bit wider than usual. She was judging him, as well.
“You’re serious.”
“I am.” He pulled out, and headed for the highway.
“Cool.”
“I hope so,” he said. “It might be very late before we get back. You have any appointments, or plans to go out, or anything?”
“Just pizza, whenever we get back.”
“Okay. Well,” he said, turning south toward the interstate, “it starts gettin’ late, just call whoever it is and make an excuse.”
“Sure.”
“You got your gun?”
“Yep. You think I actually might need it?”
“Never can tell,” said George.
“Oh, cool,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, but this classroom routine was getting to be a little . . . ah . . .”
“Dull?”
“Yeah.”
“This ought to take care of that,” he said. He took the East 80 on-ramp. “Everything from now on is completely classified. Class I Confidential. No notes. Not now, not afterward. You remember it all. No report to a superior. Somebody asks you for one regarding today, you refer ’em to me or Ben or Norma. Okay?”
“Yes.” She sounded more serious now.
“Nobody else in this class is getting this briefing. Nobody. Understood?”
“Yes.” Her brow wrinkled, but she didn’t say anything else.
“I’m taking you all the way back to Iowa City,” he said. He turned to look at her. “Surprised?”
“Ah, yeah.” After a pause, she said, “I mean, I got that place wired, you know? Not sure there’s anything you can show me there that I don’t already know.”
“Wait and see,” he said. “What I’m going to show you is something behind some of the things you know, and maybe some of the things you take for granted.”
“What if somebody from my department spots us?”
“You’re taking me around to show me some stuff for class,” said George. “Examples of your work.”
She half giggled. “Wish I’d known you in high school.” She scooched down in her seat as far as the belt would allow. “Okay. What’re we gonna see?”
“For starters, I’ll show you, or prove to you, or substantiate everything I’m going to tell you.”
“Okay.”
He drove in silence for a moment. “What do you know about vampires?”
The silence resumed. He glanced over at her again, and saw her brows knit, her eyes regarding him with some suspicion.
“Anything?”
She finally said, “Well, just what I see in the movies, I guess.”
He could tell from the tone of her voice that she was marking time, just to see where this was going.
“They’re real.”
“No, they’re not.”
“Yes,” he said. “They are.”
“Shut up!” She paused, and he said nothing. “You’re serious?”
“Absolutely.”
“You mean, you know, live-action role players and that shit, right?”
“Nope. Real. Absolutely, positively real.”
“Oh, bullshit.”
“Nope. True. Real. I’ve seen what they do. I’ve even seen one or two. We’ve been working this case for better than three years now.”
“Three years?”
“They’re what you might call elusive,” he said.
“You actually . . .” she said, and then paused. “Okay, you want me to believe there are blood-sucking demons out there?”
“Well, they don’t suck blood,” he said. “At least, not as far as we know. Now.”
She sat in silence for about two miles. He didn’t look over, but he could feel her eyes on him. Finally she spoke.
“I gotta say, that, you know, if it wasn’t for your credentials, if it wasn’t for the fact that this is an official class, if it wasn’t for the fact that I know there are some investigations that most of us never hear about, if . . .”
