Page 89 of Damian’s Conquest

“Do we know where she got the opioid from?” Amaury asked.

“I haven’t had a chance to question Cynthia yet, but my best guess is that it was prescribed for Ralph to make his last days painless.” Damian looked at Grayson. “Have you interrogated her yet?”

“No, I figured I’d let her stew in her cell for a while first.”

“She can wait,” Samson said. “First, we’ve gotta figure out how to proceed. We have several main issues to address: damage control, punishment, and deterrence. Suggestions?”

“I say Mick’s gotta do a stint at Grass Valley,” Grayson said immediately.

Damian wasn’t sure whether vampire prison was such a great idea. The prison in Grass Valley housed mostly violent vampires who’d committed unspeakable crimes. “Mick isn’t a violent offender. You throw him in there, and he’ll turn violent just to survive.”

Amaury cast him a sideways look. “Damian isn’t wrong. I’m thinking more of community service.”

“Community service?” Grayson repeated. “Doing what?”

“Hmm.” Samson didn’t comment, instead he asked a question. “What about the punishment of the human offender, Cynthia?”

Grayson shrugged. “Wipe her memory, and turn her over to SFPD.”

Damian shook his head. “Never gonna fly. Don’t you think she’s being punished enough by her brother dying? And you want to separate them in the last few days he’s got left?”

“Well, how would you punish her then?” Grayson snapped. “She knows too much.”

“I agree,” Damian said.

“Are you condoning what she did?” Grayson retorted, his eyes narrowing. “What if it had been you she’d been bleeding dry?”

“I wouldn’t have been stupid enough in the first place to sell my blood and open myself up to being used like a vending machine,” Damian growled.

“So you’re blaming Mick for everything?”

“I’m not. But both parties bear responsibility. That’s why we can’t just toss them both into a cell and throw away the key. That’s not a solution.”

“Then what is the solution?” Samson suddenly asked, drawing all eyes onto him. “Let’s start with damage control, because that’s more urgent than punishment. What are our steps?”

“Find out how many vials Mick and Tracy sold and to whom,” Damian said immediately.

Grayson nodded eagerly. “And since Mick says that Tracy was the one dealing with the buyers, we’ll have to wait until she’s conscious and can give us their names.”

“Good,” Samson said. “What else?”

“Mick can at least tell us how many vials he sold,” Damian suggested, “so we’ll know how many people we’re dealing with.”

“And once you have the names?” Samson prompted.

“Wipe their memories,” Grayson said.

Samson exchanged a look with Amaury. “We could be dealing with hundreds of people.”

Damian shook his head. “Probably not. I found the cash Mick hid in his flat. It couldn’t have been more than seven or eight thousand dollars. So we’re talking seventy to eighty people. Still quite a bunch, but there could be repeat customers, which would bring the number down.”

“True,” Samson admitted. “You’ll need to question Tracy to find out what she really told these people about what she was selling them. We might not have to erase everybody’s memory. At least I hope not.”

Damian hoped that too, because erasing a person’s memories was draining for a vampire, and time consuming. “That leaves what to do with Mick, Cynthia, and Tracy. And frankly, I’m torn about if and how to punish them all. We need a compromise.”

“I agree,” Samson said. “A compromise that will satisfy all parties.”

“A compromise is all good and well,” Grayson said, “but what about Ralph Lassiter? Are we just gonna let him die?”