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Jarvis snorted He opened the door for ainst a hip, and we stepped out of the cold into a building that was less cold, if not exactly warm

The inside of the warehouse was nearly eed-off entrance into the large storage area where evidence was held A large h he’d probably been in great shape once, hiswould have been sent to the chilly, large building so quickly if the OWEA weren’t taking over the investigation Much of it would have made its way to a s responsibility, the evidence was no longer the Chicago PD’s proble officer behind the desk waved at me I’d seen hie nun in

"Should have some evidence delivered earlier froht soo" He reached onto a set of shelves directly behind hirabbed a couple of boxes "Not sure what all’s co that?"

"Yep," the i fro e table next to the officer’s desk and opened the first one Officer Donaldson handed Jarvis a for on his computer before I arrived Given the current hour, I suspected Solitaire

I closed my eyes and turned so my back was to the officer I held my hands, palms down, over the boxes and concentrated on my breath In and out Slow and steady There The coin I’d found at Casino Merveilleux was inside one of the boxes I could sense the other evidence too Not its forered on the material The coin had to be old or bronze Those y better than more modern blends It took a while to soak in, but once it was there, the energy could remain for years

Besides, with how saturated this coin was, I was al time Carried it on his person for decades, at least Wherever the vaotten it, he had obviously prized the coin

I frowned It didn’t feel quite like the vampire victiy that clung to it seeer than it had in theelse in the box pulled at ly, so I opened the lid and pulled out the s the coin

It had already been fingerprinted and samples fro anyway I itched to take it out, handle it to get a better feel for its owner, but I studied it first The OWEA would want it kept as untouched as possible in case they decided to run additional tests Unlike most people, I wasn’t afraid of Mason Sanderson But I didn’t want to be accused ofevidence either

The surface orn, and while I didn’t recognize the i on the coin, it looked very old Bronze inal pictures, even with how rubbed down they were The face on one side supported h The man’s profile revealed a full beard with some sort of headpiece that tied behind his head Not awas odd too, but had been rubbed away so much I couldn’t be sure of the alphabet

The opposite side portrayed what I could only call an angel But judging fro wrap around his waistvery different I kept rip would have been better, but not as evidence-friendly

Otherworlder energy soaked the thing, and I could see and feel it infro So else niggling at the edge of

"Can I get you some coffee?" A voice asked from behind me, far too loudly

My eyes flew open, and I al officer "No, thank you I’?

"Well, I’ll be right back," he said, then disappeared into a door near his desk I took a deep breath, setting the coin back into the box I replaced the lid and bitto bet that it wasn’t the va up--the owner had to be older andto? In reality, even if the spot of blood ed to the victim, that didn’t necessarily mean that it ned by the killer

But I found that unlikely The vampire who’d owned the coin had held onto it for decades, if not centuries To keep so…no The oouldn’t have siround He would have come back for it He would have searched for it Unless he couldn’t come back to that roo a body over a poker table

I shook my head It didn’t matter, not really The murdered vampire was Mason’s problem now I’d file my report and let him handle the rest Or let him and Mac arm wrestle for it

But, just a s And Mason would likely want inforht in mind, I reopened the box and pulled the coin out I turned to wave Jarvis over But, tothe coin with interest

"I’ to observe so if needed, you can testify to the fact that I didn’t manhandle it or dip it in blood, or whatever"

Jarvis frowned "Are you sure that’s a good idea? Shouldn’t you wait until the OWEA confirlared at the coin I needed to touch it Just a few seconds and I’d be able to ID the vamp if they could find him I was sure of it "It’ll just be for a sec"

Jarvis took a step back, as if e of the baggy, ready to slip it open Then a pop sounded, and the world went black

A hard, angry scowl on a very handso I sahen I opened o

"Astrid? Can you hear ravel For all I knew, he did Would be fitting, so, your face is going to freeze that way," I muttered