Always the Vampire (28 page)

“Eight forty-five, dear,” Selma corrected. “Before that you were getting your gloves and all your tools out of the garage.”

“And the trash can and lawn bags,” Hugh added.

Selma nodded her agreement and turned to Jim. “That’s right. I brought Hugh some water, but he never came into the house until he banged in the back door yelling for me to call the police.”

“I’m telling you, I would’ve seen it if those bodies were dumped there in a normal way. This wasn’t normal.”

“Are you willing to put that in a signed statement?”

Hugh’s chest puffed a little. “Sure am. Marinelli here draws a hell of a lot of chaos, but she isn’t a killer.”

“I’ll have an officer make an appointment for you. Thank you, Mr. Lister. Mrs. Lister.”

As Jim strode away, Hugh squinted at me. “You might want to get some sleep, Marinelli. You look bad. Blotchy.”

Which meant my skin was beginning to sunburn, but I didn’t dash for a shady spot as I would have in the past. The cool tingle still streaming through my body dropped a degree. I’d heal.

“Come on, Cesca,” Maggie said. “You need some aloe vera.”

“Hold it,” Hugh called before we’d taken a step. “Is the big wedding shindig still on for next weekend?”

“It’s called a reception, dear,” Selma said, her expression embarrassed.

“Whatever, it better not be canceled. We can’t return your goddamn gift.”

“Bless His holy name,” Selma muttered as she turned toward her house.

“Who are you blessing?” Hugh demanded, trailing after her. “What did I say? Was the gift a secret?”

Maggie’s wide-eyed gaze met mine. “Did they RSVP?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t remember panicking.”

“Me, either, but I’m having a moment now.”

Though the crime-scene techs were packing their gear, we were careful to take the same path back to my cottage that Balch and I had taken out of it. Once inside, Maggie forged ahead to the bathroom.

“Is your aloe in here?”

“I don’t need it, Maggie. I’ll heal fast.”

“Tough. I need you to need it. Now sit on the toilet lid, and I’ll do the applying while you do the talking. What’s going on?”

“The short version is that there’s a power-mad wizard on the loose,” I said as she dabbed gel on my reddened cheeks. “He conjured up this thing we call the Void that’s infecting and killing vampires with some kind of illness.”

Maggie’s hand froze. “Are you infected?”

“No, but most of the vamps in Florida are.”

“What about the vampires we met in Fernandina?”

“They’re healthy, and the illness isn’t transmitted to humans as far as we can tell.”

“So you and Saber have been coming and going at all hours because you’re tracking the wizard?”

“Essentially, yes. We’re working with Triton.”

“Did the wizard kill those people who were dumped in the yard?”

“It looks that way. They were homeless, and I bought them a pizza last night. That’s my only connection with them, so killing them doesn’t make sense.”

She put a swipe of aloe on the bridge of my nose and clicked the bottle closed. “Are Neil and I in danger? We can cancel the wedding and elope.”

“Cancel when you’re nine days out?” I said, dodging the danger issue. “Hell, no. Absolutely not.”

I stood and took Maggie’s hands. “You are not eloping. On October eleventh at six in the evening, you have cordially invited guests to the most perfect Victorian wedding and reception in history. The festivities will be held in your own home, and in your own backyard, as planned. Are we clear?”

“You’re certain this mad wizard isn’t after us?”

I sidestepped again and instead steered her toward the living room. “If he were after you, we’d have a sign by now, but I’ll take more precautions. I know a sorceress who is going to spell you and Neil,
and
this property,
and
the entire neighborhood with enough protection to deflect a bomb.”

“Really?”

“I swear. I’ll die before I let you or Neil be harmed.”

“Well, don’t go that far or I’m out my maid of honor.” She patted my cheek in a motherly gesture. “Go on back to bed, Cesca. I’ll be home the rest of the day, so I’ll keep an eye out for trouble.”

“No diva client today?”

“She canceled. Besides, I want to hunt for the Listers’ RSVP.”

We hugged, and Maggie opened the front door. Then at the threshold, she turned and titled her head at me.

“A sorceress?”

I smiled. “Yep.”

“You do know the most interesting people.”

I watched her cross the yard to her own back door, bracing for the mound of guilt that should heap on my head at any moment. Yes, I’d hated ducking her questions about potential danger, but, really, what did I know for certain about Starrack? Not very frickin’ much, because why would he go after the homeless couple with Maggie and Neil at home and handy? Wouldn’t they have been easier targets?

Sure they would have been, if Starrack was watching me. And he had to have been spying on me last night to connect me with the homeless couple. A realization that made my stomach clench so hard, I was glad I hadn’t had my daily shot of Starbloods yet.

As little sleep as I’d had, I should’ve been a zombie. I wasn’t. The odd, cooling energy that had infused me an hour ago still flowed like a river current, strong and steady. The sensation puzzled me, but I’d examine it later.

I couldn’t talk to Saber right now, but I could take control of my next steps. Change out of the terry cover-up, place calls, and make lists.

Minutes later, wearing shorts and a bra-top cami, I grabbed a note pad and pen from my desk, the cordless phone from the coffee table, and marched into the kitchen. Snowball crept from her carrier and meowed at her empty bowl.

Okay, one detour to feed the cat. Then another when I smelled something funky in the laundry room. Snowball’s doing? No. I sniffed the air and wrinkled my nose at the faint odor of eau de mildew. Damn. With Saber living here, it seemed I always had clothes and sheets and towels to wash. I must’ve run a load that never made it to the dryer. I opened the washer lid to confirm my suspicion. Geez, how many days had this load languished in laundry limbo? If I couldn’t recall, it was too long.

Well, hell. A woman who couldn’t do her laundry from start to finish couldn’t kick butt. I would not be that woman.

I set the washer to run through another entire cycle, and set the egg timer so I wouldn’t forget again.

My next order of business, phone Lia about increasing the protection spells, and hope the wards didn’t block the call.

She answered on the second ring, and I launched into my questions.

“Have you talked with Saber or Triton today?”

“Cesca. You are awake.”

“Lia, the guys. Have to talked to them?”

“Twice. We found a strong trace of Starrack this morning, and I called Saber with the location at nine thirty.”

“The bodies at the Alligator Farm.”

“Yes, Saber called back to confirm that, but how did you—” I felt Lia in my head, seeing my thoughts. “Oh, Cesca, I’m sorry.”

“Your spell didn’t show Starrack at my cottage?”

“Merde, no. I would have alerted Saber immediately.”

I bit back a sigh and forged on. “Listen, Lia, I don’t know what else you have in your magical arsenal but I need it. Can you lay a mondo protection spell on Maggie and Neil?”

“And on your neighbors and friends. I’ll start right away, and Cosmil will help. We’ve already covered Lynn’s foster mother and roommates. And all of us, of course.”

“How is Lynn?”

“She could rest more, but she is well enough.”

“Well enough to move her if we can find a safe place?”

“I believe so.”

“Then I’ll talk with the guys. Keep the locator spell running.”

“Done. We must also continue training tonight.”

“I’ll be there after my ghost tour. And, Lia, we need that sketch of Starrack pronto.”

“You’ll have it.”

I broke the connection and tapped my pen on the pad while I organized my thoughts. Jim Balch’s questions had crystallized how lost we were when it came to Starrack. We didn’t know what motivated him, where he was hiding, or what he might do next. So what facts did we have?

First, the Void was real. A thought form brought to a zombielike state of being, according to Cosmil. Whether the oily fog was the Void itself or its residue, it was terrifyingly tangible.

Second, Cosmil was 99 percent certain that Starrack had created the Void. Why he’d done it, what he was accomplishing, those details were blank.

Third, Starrack was spying on me—maybe on all of us—and he was nipping at our heels. Cosmil had been injured in the Veil. Triton had been assaulted at his apartment. Lynn had taken ill after she’d hooked up with Triton. And now four humans were dead for no good reason.

Bottom line, we were floundering like mullet on the beach. Time to find facts and formulate a plan.

In cop shows and mystery novels, the good guys investigate suspects by looking at phone, financial, and employment records. They look at family and known associates. They visit locations where suspects hang out. I doubted there was a wizard’s bar and grill that Starrack haunted, and maybe he didn’t leave a paper trail of bills or bank statements or income tax payments. But had anyone looked?

I jotted questions to ask Saber and Cosmil, and Lia, too. The COA had to keep records, however archaic they might be. Presuming that Starrack was behind the magical bomb that had hit their headquarters, it was in their best interest to help us, and perhaps Lia could use her clout. For that matter, we hadn’t grilled Cosmil about Starrack’s younger years when the brothers had been in touch, and we hadn’t pinned Lia down about her dealings with the mad wizard. Any little tidbit of information, any old habit they remembered might lead to a real clue.

Next on my list was the question of where to stash Lynn. My little voice offered the same suggestion it had last night, so I turned it over in my head. There were gaps in the plan, hulking whale-sized holes, to be honest. Then again, nothing ventured. It just might work.

I rummaged in my closet to find a certain business card then snagged the phone book off my desk. The first call ended up being easy. The second? Let’s just say I’d done some heavy hinting and abject begging to get a meeting. Closing the deal might be riskier than playing tag with a shark, but I was pretty sure I knew what buttons to push.

Selling the idea to Saber and Triton, and to Lynn herself, would be another hurdle, but one challenge at a time.

 

 

Saber came in the cottage door at two forty-five, just as I’d finished putting my laundry away. He didn’t sneak in, but obviously made the effort to be quiet. So he wouldn’t wake me, I supposed.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw me at the bedroom door.

“Hey, you’re up.”

Don’t you love it when men have a good grasp of the obvious?

“Yes, dear, I’ve been awake for a while, and I heard you had some excitement this morning.”

Guilt flashed across his face, deepening worry lines I hadn’t noticed yesterday.

“You know about the bodies dumped at the Alligator Farm?”

“In the parking lot. I do. Detective Jim Balch was here.”

“To verify my alibi?”

“No, to interview me about the bodies dumped on my porch.”

“What?” He had me in his arms in an instant. “Are you all right?”

I held him tightly, took comfort in his warmth, and breathed his unique Saber scent. And my heart broke all over again.

“They were barely more than teens, Saber, and they’re dead.”

“Who, honey?”

“The homeless couple I met last night.”

“The ones you fed?”

I nodded against his chest. “I couldn’t tell Jim their names, so I don’t know if they’ll be identified.”

“I’m so sorry, Cesca. When did this happen?”

“The alarm went off about noon.”

“Balch didn’t say a word to me.”

“I asked Jim not to tell you. He said you were at the station.”

“Yeah, but Triton and I left at one thirty. I would’ve come right home if I’d known.”

“Jim said the department will see the murders as the work of a serial killer.”

“What did you say when he questioned you?”

“I confirmed what you told him. That the murders are connected to a case you’re working, and that the killer is a supernatural being. I didn’t say what kind. It was just too hard to explain.”

We stood there, clinging to each other for long minutes. Saber sent waves of sympathy to me, and I sent them on to the spirits of the dead.

When Snowball interrupted our moment with a plaintive meow, I eased out of Saber’s arms.

“Go get her a treat. We’ll talk in the kitchen.”

He shot me a wary glance but went for the treat box, then took a new catnip toy from the cabinet. I folded my hands over my notepad and waited for him to sit.

“First, have you pumped Cosmil for information about Starrack?”

“Asked, yes. Pumped, no. Did their spell pick up Starrack here?”

“No, just at the Alligator Farm, but these murders have upped the stakes. It’s one thing if Starrack used those criminals to attack Triton, then tied up the lose ends by killing them. It’s plain pathological to kill those homeless people for no reason.”

“You were with them, which means he was watching you.”

“I’ve already tumbled to that, but I don’t think he’s constantly tailing us.”

“Why not?”

“Partly a gut feeling, partly because shadowing all of us would be work. The man Lia and Cosmil have described is basically lazy. He could’ve learned I was on the tour schedule with a simple phone call and decided to check me out.”

“And then decided to kill those kids?”