Always the Vampire (27 page)

“Ma’am, I need to ask you some questions.”

I blinked at his face then his name badge. P. Huntington. I gave him a stiff nod.

After confirming the basic information he had from Sam’s Security, including my age and occupation, Huntington asked a few more basic questions before getting to the meat. Thankfully, the waves stopped crashing in my ears. Shock receded, burned away by low, slow anger.

“You know the victims?”

“Not by name.” And that gave me a heart pang that nearly made me cry. I swallowed hard to block the tears.

“You want to explain that statement?”

“They were homeless people I met last night after I’d given a ghost tour.”

“How were you associated with them?”

“I wasn’t other than I bought them a pizza and some drinks.”

“Alcohol?” Huntington asked sharply.

“Colas, tea, and water.”

“Why did you buy them a pizza?”

I sighed. “Gross as this sounds, they offered to let me drink from them if I gave them money.”

“Drink, as in blood? Feed from them?”

“I don’t bite people, ever, but I could see that the girl was desperate. I told them I didn’t have any cash, but I’d buy them a pizza and drinks. I paid with my credit card.”

“Where’d you buy the food?”

“I’m blanking on the name, but it’s the Italian restaurant on St. George Street between Hypolita and Treasury.”

He scribbled on his pad then eyed me again. “When did you last see them alive?”

“Thursday night. They took their pizza and drinks to go, and walked toward the bay front.”

“What did you do then?”

I knew not to mention too much, yet to tell as much of the truth as I could. “I went to meet the man I’m dating and another friend.”

“What time did you come home?”

“About one thirty, I think.”

“What did you do with these friends?”

“We exercised and talked.”

“You exercise that late at night?”

“We have for the last few nights.”

“Uh-huh.”

The younger officer knocked on the door frame. “Supervisor is here, and so is the Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime scene unit and the investigator from the ME’s office.”

Huntington looked vaguely surprised. “Thanks, Blair.”

“There is also,” Officer Blair added, “a woman here who says she’s Ms. Marinelli’s landlady. Says she got a call from the security office.”

I must’ve groaned, because both officers gave me a sharp look.

“That’s Maggie. Maggie O’Halloran. She does own this property.”

“Ask her to wait,” Huntington said, and looked back at me. “All right, I need the names of your friends.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but another deep voice from the door interrupted.

“Her friends are Deke Saber and Trey Delphinus.”

My mouth dropped open far enough to catch dragonflies. “Detective Balch? You’re on this case?”

Jim Balch worked for the City of St. Augustine PD. I’d met him during the French Bride murder when I’d been shot outside the condo where I’d first lived with Maggie. He’d been leery of me at first, but he’d attended the housewarming party Maggie and I had hosted in August.

Officer Huntington stood as Jim entered. “You want the rundown?”

Jim nodded, and Huntington read from his notes, condensing here and there while giving a perfectly accurate recap.

“Ms. Marinelli says the victims approached her after her ghost tour last night. They offered to let her bite them for money.”

Jim raised one brow at me. “What did you do?”

“I bought them a pizza and cold drinks instead.” Jim raised both brows, and I shrugged. “Hey, they were homeless and hungry.”

“You’re a soft touch.”

“That’s what Saber said.”

Officer Blair knocked yet again, this time stepping inside to stand by Officer Huntington.

“The ME’s people are ready to move the bodies,” he reported. “You want to talk to the investigator before he leaves?”

“I’ve got what I need for now. Blair, Huntington, good job. I’ll take over the interview from here, but please instruct Ms. O’Halloran to stay put about another thirty minutes. If she needs to speak with Ms. Marinelli right away, tell her to phone.”

The officers gave me a last, suspicious glance, but I smiled and thanked them for their help.

Jim took the chair Huntington had vacated. “I give it thirty seconds tops before Miss Maggie calls.”

“May I go get the house phone? It’s in the kitchen.”

He inclined his head, and I snagged the cordless unit from the kitchen.

“How worried is Maggie?” I asked as I tapped the phone in my palm.

“On a scale of one to ten, about fifty.”

I cringed. “I’m hosting a bridal shower here tomorrow. Will I have to change the location?”

“Depends on what the techs find and the answers you give me.”

The phone rang, and I punched the Talk and Speaker buttons, the latter so Jim could hear the conversation.

“Maggie, I’m fine,” I said before she uttered a word.

“What the hell is going on?”

“I wish I knew. Listen, everything is still a go for the bridal shower, so don’t worry. Detective Balch needs to talk with me right now, but I’ll fill you in as soon as you’re cleared to come over.”

“Can you stay awake that long? How much sleep did you get?”

“About three hours, but I’ll stay up as long as I need to.”

I disconnected the call and set it on the coffee table. “Okay, what do you want to know, Detective?”

“Have you talked to Saber this morning? Has he called you?”

“I haven’t talked with him since he left for Trey’s apartment to help move display tables. Wait a minute. How did you know I was with Saber and Trey last night?”

“Because I just finished taking their preliminary statements.”

My heart stuttered and so did my mouth. “S-statements? Is Saber okay?”

“Fine, but he and Trey discovered two other dumped bodies.”

My knees wobbled, and I sank slowly onto the sofa.

“Where? When?”

“The Alligator Farm’s secondary parking lot. Saber called in the bodies at nine forty. He and Trey aren’t under arrest, but they voluntarily went to the station to file complete reports and wait on me.”

I swallowed back my fear that the guys would be convenient suspects, but damn. Though the Alligator Farm was situated a little more than a block from Triton’s place, neither of the parking lots were within casual view of his shop or apartment. How did the guys end up over there?

“Who are the victims?” I forced myself to ask.

“A couple of local thugs with a long arrest history.”

Thugs? The men who’d beaten Triton were dead, too? But why?

“Trey wouldn’t confirm it, but my gut says he recognized them. Your face says you know them, too.”

“It’s more that I may know of them.”

“How? Tell me what the hell is going on.”

I met his cop gaze and gave him the best answer I could.

“The supernatural shit is hitting the fan.”

“You want to be more specific?”

What could I say? That a crazed wizard had created a thought form that had infected and killed vampires. That the crazed wizard and his thought form were now killing humans? Hell, I wouldn’t believe me.

I slumped against the cushions. “I would tell you if I could, but I’m baffled. I mean, why kill a couple of criminals and two homeless people who were little more than kids?”

“And why dump them on your doorstep?”

“Or dump those men so near to Triton’s business.”

“Triton?” Jim said sharply.

I waved a hand and thought fast. “Trey. I call him Triton to tease him.”

Jim looked blank.

“You know. Son of Poseidon. Trey’s heritage is Greek and he sells shipwreck treasures, so I call him Triton.”

Jim stared past my shoulder for a moment, and in my head I felt him weighing what to say. “Saber believes the homicides are tied to an ongoing investigation he’s conducting. Tell me straight up. Is this a preternatural crime?”

“I’m as sure as I can be that the killer isn’t human, but I didn’t see wounds on the bodies. How did they die, or can you not tell me?”

“The autopsy will determine the times and causes of death, but I spoke with the ME’s investigator when I arrived. He worked the other scene, too, which is why he and the FDLE crime techs got here so fast. All the investigator can say with certainty is that each of the four victims also shows lividity patterns indicating they were moved after they were killed.”

“That’s it? There are no wounds?”

“Not even defensive ones. There was no blood in the parking lot or here. No tire tracks to isolate, no drag marks in the grass near the lot or in your yard, not a single footprint to chase down. If the FDLE crime techs have found one scrap of real potential evidence, I don’t yet know about it. These bodies didn’t just drop from the sky or magically appear.”

“I wouldn’t bank on that.”

He paused and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Whatever supernatural shit is going down, you need to understand this. We have four bodies with no visible wounds, dumped in pairs within hours of each other. For all intents and purposes, we have a serial killer.”

I inhaled sharply. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“The department will want this guy caught and caught fast, because if the media get their teeth in it, the pressure will be intense. You know anything that can help me, then you need to open up.”

I shook my head, at a loss for words that some supernatural ass ended four human lives just to, what? Make a point that he knew where we lived? Show us we were vulnerable? Keep us distracted?

Whatever the reason, I was damn mad now. For the first time in my life—or afterlife—I was out for blood.

No sooner had I finished that thought when a tingling coolness pooled at the base of my spine. I straightened my back as the cool stream flowed upward, spurting through the core of each vertebra, streaming past my shoulders and into my neck. Instinct urged me to stand, and when I did, the sensation flooded through me as if it had breached a dam. From the soles of my bare feet to my scalp, each cell of my body exploded with awareness. My body, my being, felt charged. Powerful.

Jim Balch slowly came to his feet. “Ms. Marinelli—”

“It’s Cesca,” I corrected, “and I promise you this. If I learn anything concrete that will help you solve these cases, I’ll tell you.”

He locked gazes with me. “You really will, won’t you? You hate that this happened.”

“I didn’t know their names, Jim.” My voice broke, and I had to swallow hard. “The girl was pathetically grateful for that pizza, and I never learned her name. I didn’t ask.”

He looked away, cleared his throat. “When the medical examiner finishes the autopsies, I’ll let Saber know.”

“Thank you. And if no one claims the bodies of the homeless couple, will you call me?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, and if you don’t have to tell Saber you talked with me, please don’t. He has enough on his mind without worrying about me.

Jim nodded, albeit reluctantly, but then he didn’t truly consider Saber or Triton or me suspects.

We moved to the door, and as soon as I opened it, Hugh Lister hollered at us from his side of the jasmine hedge.

“Hey, Officer, come here and bring Marinelli. I got something to report.”

Jim gave me a desperate glance. “Is that the compulsive cusser?”

“Mr. Lister, yes, but there’s Maggie, too. And Selma Lister. She’ll drag Hugh inside if he goes on too long.”

Jim snorted, but since the crime-scene techs appeared to be finished with that portion of the yard, we crossed to the jasmine hedge.

Maggie’s eyes narrowed on me, but she didn’t have the chance to speak first. Hugh took the stage.

“I tried to tell the uniforms that the vampire here didn’t kill those people. The bodies just appeared out of nowhere.”

“I see,” Jim said.

“No, you goddamn don’t. I’m saying I’ve been out here in my backyard all morning pruning and raking. Her boyfriend left around nine, then everything was quiet until that son-of-a-bitching siren went off. I can hear it in this one’s house.” He hitched a thumb at Maggie. “That’s when I saw the bodies, but not who put ’em there. I told Selma to call 911.”

Selma nodded.

“Perhaps you had turned away while you worked, Mr. Lister. That would be natural.”

Hugh snorted. “Son, it takes some muscle to move dead weight, pardon the expression. Takes time, too. I was pruning the jasmines right here in front of your face when the alarm went off. I would’ve heard or seen body movers, but I didn’t.”

I felt Jim’s interest spark. “What time did you start working in the yard, Mr. Lister?”

“Eight, eight fifteen.”