Page 61 of Damian’s Conquest

“Mind control?” Naomi echoed. What else was there that vampires could do?

“I’ll explain later,” Damian promised as he guided Mrs. Zhang back into the flat.

Naomi followed, and Gabriel entered behind her and closed the door.

“Take a seat, Mrs. Zhang,” Gabriel ordered gently, and the woman sat down on an armchair. Gabriel stepped behind her, and held his hands above her head.

Naomi watched in fascination as he closed his eyes.

“I’m going back to Halloween night,” Gabriel said in an even voice.

For a few seconds there was silence. Then he added, “She’s getting up and looking outside the window toward the club. There’s a person dressed in a Harlequin costume with a Venetian facemask, gold and red, maybe five foot seven or eight, weight is hard to make out under the costume, but rather on the skinny side. He, or she, is carrying something. Looks like a small crate. He looks over his shoulder, but there’s nobody. He crosses the parking lot and walks toward the end of the alley. Write this down, Damian: he gets into a white Toyota Corolla. The license plate is dirty. I can only make out a few of the letters. K, then a 5 or an S, then dirt, and the last digit could be a C or an O, but I can’t be sure because of the dirt on the plate. It’s a California license plate.”

“That’s something,” Damian said.

“The car has a bumper sticker to the left of the license plate.”

“What’s it say?”

“Stop global warming.”

“Did you see where the thief stumbled and tossed the broken bottle toward the dumpster?” Naomi asked, surprised that Gabriel had left out that detail, even though he’d described the thief in more detail than Mrs. Zhang had.

“He didn’t stumble. And he didn’t toss anything away,” Gabriel said, his eyes still closed.

Surprised, she exchanged a look with Damian. “She told me he stumbled and something broke, and that’s why he tossed something toward the dumpster.”

“She lied,” Gabriel said. “That didn’t happen. Let me go back further now to see when she saw Mick meeting with somebody.”

“She said he met with somebody at least four or five times a week,” she added for Gabriel’s benefit, hoping it would help him find the right place in the woman’s memories.

“She recognized Mick from the photos I showed her,” Damian said.

“I know what he looks like. I see him. Hmm.”

Naomi noticed frown lines appear on Gabriel’s forehead. “What?”

“Mick is clearly meeting with somebody back there. But it’s definitely not a drug deal. He’s making out with a young woman.”

“Angelica, his girlfriend?” Damian asked.

“Petite, long black hair, Asian?” Gabriel asked.

“No,” she and Damian said in unison.

“Yeah, then it’s not Angelica.”

“Can you go further back?” Damian asked. “Maybe he sold the vial with his blood at another time?”

For a while, Gabriel was silent, and Naomi held her breath.

“No, sorry, it doesn’t look like he ever met with anyone and exchanged anything.”

Gabriel opened his eyes again and looked at Damian. “She’s been lying.”

“But why?” Naomi asked.

“Let’s discuss it outside,” Gabriel said. “Wipe her memory. I’ll be outside.”