There were dozens of strip centers and shopping areas near Blue Ridge and Independence, Missouri, suburbs of Kansas City, and these particular Vampires loved to hit them after closing to feast on late night employees who were locking up or shoppers taking their time getting back to their cars. But they had a tip that the twins would likely be hanging out at Blue Ridge Crossing that evening, so the team assembled there at ten o’clock, which was early for them, but they had to accommodate the Vampires’ schedule.

Most of the team had ridden together in an Enclave after a brief meeting to go over the plan for the...