The agreed-upon time for the trade was 7:00 PM.
Locke left the Sentinel Secret Service headquarters at 5:00 PM.
Getting into his Audi A8, he drove out of the parking lot and headed toward the abandoned hangar designated for the trade.
Just as he departed, an agent working as a clerk in the Sentinel Secret Service office lowered his head, pulled out a phone, typed a text message, and sent it.
Driving along the road toward the abandoned hangar, Locke held the steering wheel with one hand and a cigarette in the other.
He kept the car at a steady sixty miles per hour.
“Debbie, any activity over at the hangar?”
“None.”
Debbie’s voice came through his earpiece.
In the tactical command center, Debbie shook her head while monitoring the real-time Sentinel satellite feed of the abandoned hangar’s perimeter.
“From the moment the satellite went active until now, there hasn’t been a single anomaly.”
“Alright.” Locke nodded.
“Have Jack contact me the moment he finds Blade.”
Debbie nodded.
“Got it.”
“Good.” Locke blew out a ring of smoke.
This afternoon, he had told Director Walter Hermann that he had never planned to scheme against Natasha.
That was the absolute truth.
Because from the very beginning, his only target had been Blade.
Blade was an exceptional weapon for hunting vampires.
It was only fitting to let him take down Deacon Frost.
After all, he was the specialist.
As for whether a vampire riot would break out in New York City after Deacon Frost died, that had absolutely nothing to do with Locke.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
could choose to take the fall—or not.
They could just cut Blade loose.
Blade wasn’t an official S.H.I.E.L.D.
agent anyway, just a temp.
Taking the blame was practically a temp’s job description.
Honestly, Locke had no personal feelings or grudges against Blade.
That, too, was the truth.
But…
He only had his own curiosity to blame.
Locke thought to himself, resting one arm on the windowsill, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Although Natasha had already vetted him and confirmed he wasn’t some vampire’s blood thrall, Locke knew perfectly well that over the past month, he had been tailed by Blade on two or three occasions when returning home at night.
He had simply acted oblivious.
Clearly, Blade’s suspicions about him had not vanished.
Therefore, strike first to gain the upper hand; delay and face disaster.
Locke kept this maxim close to his heart.
Rather than reacting passively when the time came, he preferred to strike hard the moment a threat reared its head.
Nothing more.
[Ding!] [Obtained: Extraordinary Points × 2] [Current Extraordinary Points: 201]
“Hmm?” Locke arched an eyebrow and glanced at the sky.
Yes, it wasn’t even dark yet.
Well, well.
Blade was quite the busy bee today, working overtime during daylight hours?
Half an hour ago, before he even left the Sentinel Secret Service headquarters, he had received a notification for earning Extraordinary Points.
Now, another two?
Did Blade pop a blue pill today?
Doesn’t this guy usually hunt vampires at night for a bedtime snack?
Locke wondered.
Right then, Debbie’s voice came through his earpiece again.
“Boss, Jack’s on the line.”
“Put him through.” Locke snapped out of his thoughts and tossed his cigarette-butt out the window.
The connection went through a moment later.
“Boss.”
“Did you find Blade?”
“Uh…
yes.” In a dark alleyway in Queens, Jack looked down at the two severed heads on the ground.
He then offered his phone to Blade, who was currently spinning his sword with a flourish before sheathing it on his back.
“It’s my boss.”
Blade, wearing sunglasses, stared blankly at Jack before taking the phone.
“Hello.”
“Deacon Frost asked to meet me.”
“I know.”
“The loc—wait, what?” Locke caught himself and raised an eyebrow.
“You know?”
He remembered the Extraordinary Points he had received half an hour ago.
A second later, Locke smiled.
“Heh.
Let me guess.
Some clueless vampire crossed your path and blabbed about it to beg for its life.”
Blade pursed his thick lips.
“Yes.”
“Heh.” Hearing this, Locke couldn’t help but chuckle again.
See?
He was right.
Deacon Frost was never one to play by the rules.
In an instant, Locke figured out why Deacon Frost wanted Blade to know about their meeting.
His cooperative relationship with Blade hadn’t been exposed.
He wanted to use Blade to eliminate him—the corrupt law enforcement officer taking bribes from vampires.
What a coincidence.
Locke was also planning to use Blade as a weapon to kill Deacon Frost, the self-proclaimed leader of the New York vampires.
Smiling to himself, Locke spoke into the receiver.
“Seven tonight, at an abandoned hangar at JFK International Airport.
Jack will bring you there.”
He didn’t bother asking Blade who he would believe.
There was no need.
Locke only needed Blade to show up at 7:00 PM.
If he hadn’t sent Jack to find him, Blade probably wouldn’t have intervened upon seeing the scene.
But now that Jack had made contact, Blade would definitely strike.
Locke had absolutely no doubts about that.
“No need.”
“Hmm?”
Blade glanced down at the two severed heads on the ground.
“The guy you sent was tailed by vampires.”
Locke wasn’t surprised.
“I figured.”
That explained where the two Extraordinary Points from the notification had come from.
Since Deacon Frost wanted to use Blade to do his dirty work, it was only natural that he would have his lackeys tail his man.
Still…
“It’s still daylight.
How are they moving around?”
“They were blood thralls, not vampires.”
“Understood.” Locke nodded.
He didn’t dwell on why Blade killing blood thralls yielded Extraordinary Points for himself; instead, he instructed Blade to hand the phone back to Jack.
Jack took the phone back, stealing a glance at Blade, who had just sliced off two heads in the blink of an eye.
“Boss.”
“Clean up the scene.”
“Got it.” Jack complied and hung up.
He then fished out his car keys from his pocket and offered them to Blade, indicating his car parked outside the alleyway.
Blade glanced at the keys, then looked back at Jack, baring his teeth in a grin.
“No need.”
“Uh…”
Before Jack could process what was happening, with a sharp *whoosh*, Blade—who had been standing right in front of him—vanished into the alley like a fleeting shadow.
Jack stood frozen, blinking at the empty alley, then down at the two wide-eyed, severed heads staring blankly up at him.
A gust of wind blew by.
Jack shivered instinctively.
*Mom, there are ghosts!*
*Vampires!*