~ Cassandra ~
Dakota Davenport sat at her desk in a spacious corner office. The Bedford Training Academy was located on fifty-nine lush acres in the New Florida sun. Though it was beginning to show the wear and tear of an older university, it was unique in that it was the only one of its kind on the continent.
Foremost among the hands on professionals was Dakota. She was always receiving requests for consults from local law enforcement on unsolved cases and missing persons in particular. She was possibly the most prominent private detective in the country and divided her time between hunting and teaching advanced justice courses at the one and only academy graduating fully trained professionals into law enforcement and the more sensitive field of intergalactic security.
The slang term these days for Dakota’s profession was ‘hunter’ because they were always being asked to hunt for something or someone. Over the last twenty five years, law enforcement had thrown all their resources and manpower into fighting the never ending war on synthetic drugs and the huge multinational drug cartels that seemed intent on ensuring everyone on the planet was addicted to some kind of exotic designer drug.
Civilian hunters were a novel concept that slowly emerged to fill in the gaps. Hunters were fly by the seat of their pants adrenaline junkies and cutting edge tech savvy professionals all rolled into one. In fact, their love of tech was second only to their love of hunting. Hunters were likely to be utilized by families and private sector corporations when local law enforcement was unsuccessful in solving a particular crime. Hell, even the military and intergalactic security contracted with them off and on. Dakota had completed several off world missions. Hunting was an extremely lucrative, glamorous, and high profile profession. She’d learned her trade from the best, saved a lot of lives, and solved several very complex cases throughout the course of her career.
She was consulted fairly regularly on missing person’s cases because they were time sensitive. After the first seventy-two hours, the probability of finding a missing person decreased by thirty percent and continued to nose dive to the point that after thirty days, the person was almost never found alive.
This is exactly what worried her about the Shardon case. Law enforcement had asked for a consult nine days ago on a wealthy CEO. Dakota was tempted to decline because there was no doubt a legion of people searching for him. The missing person was prominent local businessman, Alek Shardon. She had rubbed elbows with him on occasion.
Mr. Shardon seemed well mannered, professional, and reserved. In fact, he was intensely private. Considering his wealth and position, he didn’t end up in the news very much. On the few occasions she had been around him, she’d been thoroughly impressed with his nerdy charm and general attractiveness. If a person weren’t paying close attention, they might really underestimate him.
Unable to ignore any opportunity to assist, she had reviewed the information provided by law enforcement and worked up a profile on the perp. She also gave a list of instructions indicating that in addition to interviewing all witnesses, family, friends, and co-workers as suspects, that the officers should also pull his work and home hard drives and search them for clues. Those were things one shouldn’t have to remind law enforcement officers to do but they were simple actions not taken with enough regularity to be a problem. She suspected it was because of the limited tech support afforded public law enforcement agencies.
Mr. Shardon was the father of one of her students who had not returned to her classes since his disappearance. Arianna was one of her best students and Dakota thought if anything else was needed from her, surely Arianna would come to her.
Dakota was thinking of checking in with the local police chief to see if she could get an update on the case but suddenly, Arianna was standing in her doorway. The twenty three year old female was mixed heritage, although mostly vampire. Though thin and fit, she moved with a grace of a dancer. The young woman had short, dark hair and pale blue eyes that set off her delicate facial features. She was wearing street clothes today rather than her usual red academy uniform.
Dakota had to admit that she genuinely liked Arianna. She was strong, intelligent, highly motivated, well trained, and accustomed to success. She was a little rough around the edges but showed great promise.
Dakota motioned for the woman to sit and spoke cautiously. “If you’re back at class today, I assume your father has been found safe and sound.”
The young woman’s face was blank. Dakota tilted her head slightly and motioned for her to have a seat. “Detective Weaver just told me you probably won’t help find my father. He said you are a busy woman and you normally reserve your time for those who are vulnerable like children and people no one else cares about. I guess I always thought vampires fell in the category of people no one cared about.”
A perplexed frown wrinkled Dakota’s brow. “I followed through with the consult on the very day it was requested. If the police need anything more from me, they usually contact me. You must have a virtual army searching for your father. Pay the money and get him back. Just so you know, I reserve my time for complex cases, not necessarily cases involving ‘nobodies’ as you put it.”
Arianna stared at her despondently. “Either way, my father’s case is a challenging one. No one has contacted us requesting a ransom. The only thing unusual going on with him when he went missing was that he had recently discovered some financial irregularities in one of the non-profits he chairs. He had his personal accountant perform a financial audit and the accountant was found dead in his apartment two days after my father went missing. The police are calling it a suicide but I suspect otherwise. We really thought the police were making headway until I got a call from the lead detective this morning. My father has been gone for nine days, they are pulling their officers, but assure me they are keeping his file open in case new leads materialize. I have virtually no hope of finding him at this point. Is that fascinating enough to get your attention?”
Dakota’s was stunned. That did not seem like correct information. Another voice came from the doorway. It was Dakota’s son, Jared. “Mr. Shardon is now what is commonly referred to as a cold case. The police ran down what few leads they had and they went nowhere. Will you take the case, for me, just because I asked?”
Dakota looked thoughtfully at her son for a brief moment. He was strong and handsome, like his father. He was quickly growing into a large vampire warrior. Even at seventeen, it was apparent that he was going to be one of the strongest of his kind. Mixed heritage vampires usually were small and unimpressive but Jared’s long, dark hair with a slight red cast to it and sparkling teal eyes were the hallmark of his biological father’s line. Jared had no idea how important he was.
Dakota sighed. For now, Jared was just a regular person, not a vampire legacy. He was just a young man, a grown up version of the little boy she never knew, and she felt the overwhelming urge to protect him with her entire being.
Today, he looked as tired and worn out as Arianna. He held her steady gaze, waiting for an answer to his question. Dakota blinked back to the reality of the situation and slowly nodded her affirmation. “You are my son. I hope you know, I will hunt for you any time of the day or night. All you have to do is say the word.” He smiled his gratitude and she thought she saw a hint of pride in his face.
He looked so much like his father. wearing his training leathers. The thick leather straps, strapped diagonally across his chest marked him as a hunter in training. Leathers began as a convenient way to carry excess gear. It was merely a leather utility belt with a bandoleer attached for carrying extra ammo. As the years wore on, they became more decorative than utilitarian and were worn only by hunters and hunters in training. Jared was a hunter in training and this was easily identifiable because of the thick red line than ran down the strap across his chest.
Dakota asked, “Do you mind if I ask what your interest in this case is?”
He looked at her evenly. “Does it matter?”
“It absolutely does not matter at all. Because you asked, I will hunt.”
Jared looked serious. “I expect your best work on this one, Mother.”
Tears welled up in her eyes because it was the first time he called her Mother instead of Dakota.
Grabbing up her phone and called Detective Charles Weaver. She put him on speakerphone. “Arianna tells me you are pulling your officers from her father’s case. The man has only been missing nine days. You could still find him, but obviously not if you pull your officers. He’s pretty prominent. We don’t usually leave prominent members of our community high and dry. What is going on here, Charles? Do you suddenly have a missing human to focus your attention on?”
The detective’s voice was stressed as he responded. “I didn’t pull them. That decision was made up the chain of command because we have had a diplomat’s teenage son go missing. International relations trumps missing local CEO. It is that simple for the white shirts upstairs.”
Dakota shot back. “Mr. Shardon is a war hero and a citizen of the Empire. His safe recovery should be prioritized above a non-citizen from another republic.”
“One would think so and I agree with you entirely, Dakota. However, some decisions are not mine to make.”
“Mr. Shardon is counting on your officers. That missing teen is probably not. As you well know, missing teenagers are usually runaways and his consulate would have rallied an army of resources to assist in tracking the teen down.”
“Trust me, I don’t like this at all myself. For pity’s sake, Dakota, he is a personal friend of mine. My hands are tied.” She could hear the anguish and frustration in his voice. She had known Charles a long time and it tore at her heart a little but she couldn’t help but to force his hand.
She automatically asked. “Is this teenager a human or a vampire?”
Charles became agitated. “Don’t make this about alien verses human. It is not discrimination.”
Dakota replied smoothly. “Of course not. Don’t worry about it, Charles. I’ve been asked to take over the case. Forward me everything you have. The job of law enforcement will once again fall to civilian hunters. Really Charles, you know I love you but sometimes, I wonder where our tax dollars go, if not to ensure the protection of our citizens.”
Charles’ voice sounded extremely pleased. “Snark it up all you like, Dakota. There’s some truth to your words. I do want to say, thank you for taking the case. At least now Alek has a fighting chance of survival. He is a nice person. You won’t regret it.”
Dakota smiled to herself and quipped. “I never do.” She thought vaguely that the only cases she ever regretted were the ones she didn’t take.
Arianna took a stuttering breath. “I never got around to actually asking you to take the case.”
Dakota smiled brightly. “Why else would you have come to see me and told me all about your father’s situation?”
Arianna relaxed a bit, running her hands down her pants legs. “What do you need from me to make this work?”
Dakota replied sincerely. “I will need all the things you won’t want to give. I need to see his room, his study, his computer, his office at work, his financial records, cell phone records, his bed, his sheets, everything private. Do you understand?”
Arianna swallow hard. “Of course, whatever it takes. Don’t worry, I will make it happen.”
Dakota stated in a firm voice. “Also, I need one more thing. I need your undivided attention. I’m willing to take time off for this hunt but you need to as well. I need someone who knows him personally to assist me in determining what is routine in his life from what is not. Do you understand?”
Arianna nodded her head. “I have no intention of returning to class until my father is safely back at home where he belongs.”
“Then we have an agreement,” Dakota held out her hand.
The woman’s eyes darted up to look Dakota in the face as she shook her hand. “Don’t we have to negotiate payment or something?”
Dakota glanced at her son before clarifying. “You weren’t the one to retain my services so you don’t need to concern yourself with such things.”
Dakota turned her attention to Jared. “Everything I just told Arianna goes double for you, young man. I don’t know what your interest in this case is but you aren’t going to get me involved elbow deep and skip out.”
“Don’t worry; I am in until the end. I will not fail you or Mr. Shardon.” The look of sincerity on his face was all she needed so see.
Dakota e-mailed the dean and she dropped by the front desk to alert them that she was taking a leave of absence as they left campus. The dean would not be all that surprised. They had a longstanding understanding. She left if and when she was needed. She was the most prominent hunter in the country and when she solved an impossibly difficult case, it was the equivalent of her peers having papers published. It verified her credentials and gained status for the academy. They had back up instructors in place to teach her classes.
Her fame and expertise were what filled the justice department with students every fall, bright young minds eager to learn from the best. The cases she worked were analyzed by her students to learn the trade. She would always be able to come and go as she pleased and the academy would always be delighted to have her back. That was business as usual in her world.