Daniel and Kathryn tucked their weapons away as the sound of more humans around us in the park told us we weren't quite so alone as we'd thought.

"We should probably find somewhere actually private to continue our meeting," Jessica suggested.

Tara asked, "Are you still living in that apartment out on Islington?"

The tall redhead shook her head and sighed "No. Julian decreed that nobody was allowed to reside off-site anymore, so I'm back at the mansion."

"We'll get a hotel then I guess?" Tara asked as she looked at me.

I was only half paying attention to the conversation, as I stared at that tree again. I was certain this was the spot. Well, ninety percent positive. At least eighty percent, anyways. Everything had changed so much in thirty-seven years, but as near as I could tell they hadn't done any massive landscaping to this section of the creek, and the trees here looked old.

If I was right, then I was standing on the exact spot where I died. It left me feeling a little weird. I didn't think it would really mean anything to me, but then I hadn't actually been back here until today.

Beyond just feeling strange about revisiting the place where I died, now I had another thing nagging at my thoughts. It never occurred to me before, but since Tara brought it up I found I couldn't stop thinking about it.

What was Isabelle doing here that night? This was nowhere near her patrol area. I couldn't remember if anyone patrolled here at all in fact. I knew for sure nobody did when I was top enforcer. The furthest east we went was Victoria Park, which was a couple miles west of here.

I slowly turned around on the spot as I tried to recreate the events of that night in my mind. She came out of the trees and bushes, from the east or north east. The parking lot was three hundred meters south of this spot, and the main road was a hundred and fifty meters west.

If things hadn't changed too much then beyond the trees to the north there was a little residential road with big houses. And if you went east, you got more trees and more park, till you eventually hit that little road again as it sort of meandered through the trees. There used to be a funny little church over there too, but I was sure the thing was abandoned back then. It was probably gone by now, or replaced with something newer.

"Samantha?" Jessica asked me impatiently. "Are you even paying attention? What are you staring at?"

I sighed, "Sorry Jess. I was a little distracted."

She repeated herself, "Are you and Tara going to get a hotel in the city, or are you going to stay out here in the suburbs?"

I looked at Tara, but her expression told me she was leaving it up to me. After thinking it over I asked her, "Can you see if you can book us something nice? There's that fancy hotel right on the harbour front... Uh, Harbour Castle or something?"

"Ok Sam," Tara pulled out her phone and started searching for the hotel.

While she did that I found myself staring through the trees as my thoughts drifted back to that night once again. It was like one of those puzzles that once you pick it up you can't put it down.

Jessica commented, "If you don't mind the five of us squeezing into your SUV, I should send Eric away rather than let him know where you two are staying."

"Yeah," I nodded. I forced myself to concentrate on the present, but I knew I'd be back here one night in the next week or two for another look around. "Let's get going."

Tara tucked her phone away, "I've booked us an executive suite for two weeks, so we're set there. Let's go check in."

The five us started moving back towards the parking lot. As we emerged from the trees we crossed paths with a handful of girls who were walking east along the grass between the woods and the baseball diamond.

They looked about sixteen give or take a year, and they were obviously high-school students cutting through the park on their way home. It was that time on a Friday afternoon, and that's why we heard the park getting busier. School was out, there were numerous young people of varying ages wandering through.

The four girls in front of us were all young and cute but kind of self-absorbed.

In the lead were two brunettes and a blonde, all three were dressed in jeans and running shoes. Two had fall jackets, one of the brunettes was in a hoodie. Walking a pace behind them was another blonde, dressed in dark leggings and a powder-blue hoodie. They all had backpacks full of books and things, one of the brunettes and the blonde at the back had earbuds hanging from their ears, and the blonde in front had her phone in her hand. She was tapping at the screen while one of the brunettes was talking about a boy.

It gave me some mixed feelings as I looked at them. They all seemed so innocent, naive, and carefree. On the one hand I felt a bit scornful of them for seeming so clueless, but on the other hand I was just a tiny bit envious. They were normal girls having normal lives. They looked like they'd probably be in grade eleven, I'd have been a year ahead of them in grade twelve.

The three girls in the lead ignored the five of us, but the fourth one turned and gave us a funny look as she trailed along behind the others. She frowned as her eyes flicked over me and Tara then the other three vamps, before she turned and kept walking after her friends.

I wasn't surprised we got that kind of look, we were certainly an odd group. The three older vamps were dressed like business professionals, I was in my torn jean jacket with my chain over my shoulder. Only Tara looked vaguely normal in her jeans and hoodie. And all five of us were wearing dark sunglasses.

As we continued on our way back to the cars I realized me and Tara probably looked like a couple young drug dealers meeting with our suppliers.

Back at the parking lot, Jessica went over to the limo and dismissed Eric, then we all piled into the SUV. I got behind the wheel and Jess was in the passenger seat, while the other three rode in the back.

As I got us moving I asked, "So what's the deal with Eric? Is he trustworthy? He knows me and Tara are back in town and he knows you three didn't kill us on sight like you're supposed to."

"He's not trustworthy," Jessica replied. "That's why I didn't want him taking us to the hotel with you. On the other hand, he'll keep his mouth shut about you two being here."

Tara asked, "How can you be sure of that?"

Jess sighed, "Eric looks out for Eric. As long it's in his best interest he'll keep quiet. He's smart enough to know if he fucks with the three of us, or the two of you, he's not going to live much longer."

Kathryn added, "It's still best to keep him from learning anything else, just in case. If the elders caught wind you two were around and questioned him, he'd turn us all over in a heartbeat to save his own skin."

I gave Jessica a bit of a glance but she either didn't notice or she ignored me. It wasn't that long ago she tried convincing me Eric was an ally that I should come back and save. I was starting to get the feeling the chauffeur wasn't the only vamp in town who's loyalties only extended as far as their own skin.

"So what happened after the big showdown?" I asked as I glanced at Jessica again. "After us three escaped, how'd that all play out?"

Jess took a deep breath then explained, "In the aftermath, when the others found the bodies in the livery, there was pandemonium. Julian took charge and had Victor examine the bodies. Meanwhile Eric and I were the only ones who had some idea what had happened. He reported that he brought the four of us there at Isabelle's orders. And I had to tell them what I knew. That Isabelle intended to execute the three of you, but somehow you all got the better of her. I admitted my cowardice meant I missed the fight, and that's why I didn't die with the others. It also meant I didn't know exactly what happened and how you three got the drop on them."

She continued, "Of course I omitted everything you told Reuben and I about your and Isabelle's suspicions regarding the Slúag Marb. They never asked me why Isabelle wanted to kill you. Either they already knew, or they didn't care. I was reprimanded and punished for my cowardice, but they decided not to kill me since there were so few enforcers left by that point. And as I was the most experienced of the lot, I was put in charge. Like I said though, they made me give up my apartment and move back to the mansion."

"Are you still doing nightly patrols?" Tara asked. "You can't be covering much of the city with just three of you."

Jessica sighed, "We try. I try to monitor the whole of downtown. From Reuben's patrol in the west, Samantha's in the middle, and Carlos's old area in the east. Kathryn takes the north-east section, from Yonge to Victoria Park, Bloor to York Mills. And Daniel has the north-west, Yonge to the Humber River, Bloor to Wilson."

I frowned, "So you're trying to handle three enforcers' worth of territory, Daniel and Kathryn both have double-sized patrols. Three of you are trying to do the work of seven people."

"It's the best we can manage," Jess replied with a shrug. "As I said, we're not getting reports from human officials anymore. Or if we are, I'm not getting them. All we can do is tour the city and keep wary of stray scents. So far, we haven't encountered any."

Tara pointed out, "After a hundred and twenty years of killing outsiders, word's probably spread far and wide for vamps to stay the fuck away from Toronto. Maybe that's why they decided it was time to get rid of the peacekeepers? Without any outsiders coming to town anymore, they no longer needed guards on the prison."

I just nodded quietly. I was thinking the exact same thing.

Daniel asked, "So what's the plan? What are we doing?"

It was typical rush hour traffic so we weren't going to get to the hotel any time soon. I kept my eyes on the road as I replied, "We're working on that right now. What do you know about the rest of the family? If everyone lives at the mansion you should have some idea how things are going right?"

Jessica sighed again, "You know as well as I do Samantha, the family's always been run like separate little fiefdoms. Cynthia was the ruler of our group, and before her that was you. Either way you both answered directly to the matriarch, and none of us had much contact with any of the other groups."

She continued, "I know Cheryl's group remains strong. She has at least a dozen girls answering to her, they all live in the third building on the mansion estate. I wouldn't be surprised if Cheryl's club was one of the main sources of income for the Family. What I call the 'admin group' is more of a mystery. That includes Victor, Clive, and Harold, and probably a half dozen others. They always answered directly to the matriarch and elders. I haven't seen Clive or Harold in at least a year and have no idea if they're still around. Victor is, but he's just as elusive and mysterious as ever."

Jess finished, "Then there's the drivers. Eric of course, and there's four others who reside above the livery. John and Daniel used to handle the blood deliveries for you and Reuben and myself, and I'm sure they did other similar delivery work for the Family. I don't know the names of the other two vamps there. I mentioned people won't talk, everyone's circled the wagons around their own particular group. All that only accounts for maybe three dozen vampires, there's probably another one or two groups I'm not even aware of. There's parts of the mansion I've never been allowed to set foot in."

"Ok," I nodded. "To be honest that sounds a lot like how it was back when I was top enforcer. Folks weren't so paranoid back then, but they were still very secretive and protective and groups kept to themselves... I wouldn't be surprised if that's another thing the Slúag Marb established? Divide and conquer, right?"

Tara commented, "Also known as mushroom management. Keep everyone in the dark and feed them shit."

I suppressed a laugh, then asked "So what about the elders? Do Julian or Olivia ever leave the estate? Do they ever leave the mansion?"

"No," Jessica replied. "I've seen them in the main hall and the meeting room, but they spend the majority of their time behind closed doors in the east wing."

Tara asked, "What's in there?"

I shook my head, "Who the fuck knows. The 'east wing' is one part of the mansion that's always been off limits. Nobody but the elders and matriarch have ever been in there."

"Sounds suspicious," my girlfriend observed. "I wonder what they're up to in there?"

"Probably just their posh private rooms." I shrugged.

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