Page 97 - Hunter - The Vigil

Flesh Trade Pt III

by Mike Lee

“A reporter?” Jack gave Vince a dubious eye as he turned the van onto North
Broad Street. “I thought you didn’t like reporters.”
It was past midnight, and the temperature was dropping quickly. The van’s
heater was broken, leaving its occupants to huddle deep in their jackets and
watch their breath plume in the air. Vince shrugged his broad shoulders. “This
guy’s not your typical vulture,” he said. “He used to work as an investigative
reporter for the Inky until they got tired of his conspiracy theories.”
The baby-faced detective frowned thoughtfully. “Wait a minute,” he said.
“You’re not talking about that guy who claimed the Mayor was a slave to some…

zombie?”
“Vampire, but yeah, that’s the one.”
“Jesus, Mary and the saints,” Dean moaned. His mother had been born in
County Cork, back in the old country, and when he was upset, his voice took on

the lilting notes of his forebears.
Gabreski chuckled. “You haven’t heard the half of it, kid. When the Special
Cases Unit was fi rst put together, some joker in the Mayor’s offi ce told him our
job was to handle reports like his. He must have called me every day for the
fi rst six months, telling me all kinds of crazy shit. Claimed to have all kinds
of evidence, too, but somehow or another, he always managed to lose track of
it before he could bring it in to show me.”
Dean shook his head. “Sounds like the guy needs to be on some expensive

medication, if you ask me.”
Gabreski’s smile faded. “Yeah, I thought so too, until tonight.” He glanced
out the window at the rainy streets. Once upon a time, he thought he knew
this city down to its very bones, but now every dark alley seemed strange and

secretive to him.
“Anyway, he freelances now,” Vince continued. “Last I heard, he was living
out of his car and working in coffee shops, selling stories to fringe magazines

and web sites.”
“So why the hell are we going to talk to him?” Dean said.
Vince sighed. “Because the guy is wired into this city in ways you wouldn’t
believe. Since we can’t use offi cial sources, he’s the next best thing. And
frankly, this sort of shit has his name written all over it.”
After a moment, Dean nodded. “Yeah, I guess it does, at that,” he said.