[Draven's Crossing 1] Hidden Diversions by Selena Illyria

Anger boiled in the pit of his stomach.
    There was also something else going on. It was as if the Representative wasn’t his usual calm, effervescent self. There was no calm, no tact. He was off center and irritable. Despite the smiles, he didn’t seem to be listening. The questions had already been run by him, and he was just on autopilot. Torger compared the Representative he’d met and interacted with versus the one during that interview. It was almost as if he wasn’t the same person. That puzzled Torger. Evanson had never acted that way. In fact, he was always a pain in the ass but took pains to be pleasant to everyone. Was he having a Hyde moment? He strode into the kitchen with the wheels of his brain turning over and over. “There’s something wrong here. Evanson is acting out of character, Muffy gets murdered, and we get a new body around the same time. Is there a connection?”
    Urban looked up. “Talking to yourself , bro? That’s the first sign of insanity, you know? What are the little voices telling you this time? Gotta jerk off again?”
    Torger resisted the urge to smack his brother on the back of the head. “Shut it. Anyway, I just watched Isadora Jones’ interview with Representative Evanson. Something was just off with him. He wasn’t acting like himself, like he wasn’t all there. I’m not sure if it has anything to do with what’s going on but still, something to file away. He’s not getting the same pressure that Drav does. I wonder what Jagger’s got, if anything. Have you found anything about the contests?”
    Urban sat back and took a sip of soda before answering him. “Nothing concrete, but I’m thinking that these contests weren’t authorized by the Tourist Board. No one I’ve contacted knows anything about these contests. At least not on the record. Looks like you’ll need to pull some people out of bed.”
    Torger groaned. He could feel another headache coming on. “The Tourist Board is running around putting things in place for the upcoming Ball and making sure that they are in line with the PR department. I’d have to look at the roster and see who I can talk to. I’ll have to move fast though.”
    The stress ramped up inside of him. A dull throb started at the front of his head. He let out a sigh. His stomach grumbled as hunger pangs began. “Too bad I can’t stay and wait to see if Jagger brings back the burgers.”
    “So all this new info will make a difference.” Urban’s stomach grumbled as well. It seemed like both siblings were suffering from Full Moon hunger pangs.
    Torger shrugged. “Yeah, where the hell is that vampire? Did he eat the damn ME.? Anyway, I’ve been treading on a thin line since the first murders. Nothing will be different. We have to figure out what she found out and why she was killed, but also what the connection is between each of the victims, if there was any besides these contests. The vics have to have the same something to attract the killer.”
    Urban opened his mouth to answer when the front door opened and slammed shut. Jagger appeared within a few seconds. “Sorry for the delay. Had to get the food.” He held up the bags of burgers and fries.
    Urban’s stomach growled again. “Took you long enough. You missed the pizza.” He put the pizza boxes into the oven and ignored the last remaining full pie at the bottom of the pile. He doubted Jagger would care. The food was passed around before everyone settled at the table.
    “So what have you found?” Torger asked before taking a bite into his bacon cheeseburger. He prayed that Jagger found something, anything to help them along the trail.
    “Well, the ME looked over Muffy Evanson’s body and, well, you’ll love this—her throat was slit and the healing was sloppy. So we’re not dealing with a vampire. I don’t know how the hell he got the clout to get the official report changed, but she was killed. We have to keep it quiet it though.” Jagger shook his head and ate his