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Sophia stood quietly, her head tilted to one side, listening "A body," she said "In the freezer"

"Ah, fuck" Colin sighed deeply "I should take a look"

Sophia walked with him into the bar They went in the front door, held open by one of Raphael’s vamps who directed them to the back Not that Colin needed the assist There was only one place a freezer big enough to hold a body could be

It was a big chest model, maybe twenty-five or six cubic feet A lot of the people around here had therocery store was fine for day-to-day sort of stuff, but most of the residents s likeelse that could be frozen

The lid was propped open, but Colin really didn’t want to see as inside He looked anyway

"Yeah, dalanced away This was beyond the pale, completely unnecessary It wasn’t Leon’s fault those jack-offs had decided to meet in his bar But even so, the bar owner hadn’t told anyone what he’d heard And they’d killed him anyway

He reached for the freezer lid and sla his prints "The cops’ll have to be called on this," he said flatly "Make sure there’s nothing to say you were here"

He spun on his heel and strode back through the bar into the parking lot

Sophia walked with him She put a hand on his arm as they crossed the dirt lot "I’m sorry, Colin"

"Yeah, well, it wasn’t any of you that did it"

Sophie’s grip on his ar hi only she could hear "Raphael wants to speak with us," she said

Colin didn’t even ask how she knew that He’d already figured out there was so on between the vamps He just wondered hoidespread it was

"You were correct in your assessment," Raphael told him, once they’d draithin human earshot "There were no fewer than four blood trails They begin a the trees, where the assailants concealed the lot "--at which point the humans took to their vehicles The hulared at Raphael "Leon," he snapped "Leon Pettijohn"

Raphael gave a sideways tilt of his head, acknowledging the point "Yet another victim of these killers He died inside the bar, his neck was broken With no blood and the body frozen, the scent was alht container"

Colin nodded "So what happens next?"

"We go after the with McWaters," Raphael said "He appears to be soleader, maybe even the mastermind behind this scheested "Ellen Pettijohn, Leon’s wife--his --gave us a name that came up on the vehicle list, as well Curtis Jenkins--"

"Deb’s brother," Raphael said, surprising hireed, puzzled "But how do you know that? She just got back into town ashe’s involved in this?"

"Not directly, no"

Colin waited for so Next to him Sophie seemed as puzzled as he was, at least at first

But then she exhaled a breathy "ahhh" sound and said slowly, "But she is involved Perhaps with one of your vaave her an unfriendly look, which was answer enough