Dead Man Running: Book Two - Supernatural Bounty Hunter Romance Novellas (8 page)

Chapter Twelve

Alma and Viktor spent the next day in bed.  Viktor was somewhat annoyed at losing a whole day, but Alma wouldn’t allow him to go out in the sunshine, and besides,
she did manage to find something to distract him.

After sunset, and after much
umming and ahhing, they headed to the hotel where the incident took place.  Hotel Jinx was one of the higher end hotels in Playa Lunar, and also the hotel Julian always stayed at when he visited.  He always stayed in the penthouse suite.

Viktor strode through the lobby, pulling Alma behind him.

“Okay Sherlock, what makes you think they’ll actually allow us to go up there?” she whispered furiously.  “It’s still a crime scene.”

Alma inclined her head in
the direction of the two podgy and bored looking patrol officers who were standing, ostensibly guarding the private elevator to the suite.

Viktor ducked behind a pillar, dragging Alma with him.  Sure that no one could see them, he took the opportunity to kiss her and run his hands down her supple body.  She moaned into his mouth as her soft curves trembled.

Alma leaned her head back and closed her eyes.  “Mmm, maybe we should just get a room…”

Viktor growled lowly as he scented her burgeoning arousal.  They’d spent all day making love and yet it still wasn’t enough.  Forever wouldn’t be enough for him,
he’d always want more
.

“Later, my darling.  First we need to get into that suite.”

He darted glances around the lobby.  The patrolmen were the only cops there.  Most likely they were just there as a precaution, the cops tended to be over-cautious when it came to vampire related crime.  They had probably already processed the suite, and removed the evidence they needed.

Viktor eyed the two men carefully, his sharp eyes paid attention to the lines of their body. 
Bingo
.  The keycards for the hotel were pretty bulky, and if he wasn’t mistaken, there was one in the back pocket of the older, more grizzled of the two cops.  It had to be the key for the suite. 
Either that, or the guy had the weirdest shaped ass Viktor had ever seen.

Both cops were human, which was a bonus.  They wouldn’t be able to scent that Viktor was a vampire, which might have put them a little on edge.

He turned back to an impatient looking Alma, and was slightly disappointed that her arousal had dimmed, considerably.

She tapped her foot.  “So what’s the plan,
Kojak?”

“They’re never going to just let us in there, so we’re not going to bother asking permission.”

Alma chewed on her lip, pretending to ponder the matter.  “Perhaps I could ask Detective Leeman if we could just…”

Viktor snarled angrily.  “If you mention that damn lion one more time I will murder him!”

She smirked.  “Settle down, fang boy.”

“You’re just trying to annoy me, aren’t you?”

Alma fluttered her eyelashes.  “I don’t have to try.”

The vampire huffed and shook his head. 
Damn devil woman
.  “I think the portly cop has the keycard…”

“Portly?  You know, sometimes I forget you’re old.”

He ignored her.  “I just need to pick his pocket; do you think you can distract him?”

She arched an eyebrow, a look of disbelief spread over her face.  “You’re joking, right?  You honestly believe I can’t entertain a couple of middle-aged men for a few minutes?”

Viktor counted to ten.  “Just don’t go overboard, okay?  Try to restrain yourself.”

“Ah, gee, and here I was planning on flashing both my boobs at them, I tell you what, I’ll only flash one.”

He pursed his lips.  “Yes, you getting arrested for indecent exposure, that’s just what we need.”

Alma sniggered.  “
Puh-lease, they are not going to arrest me, they’d be more likely to get down on their knees and ask me to marry them.”

Over the years, Alma had been proposed to eleven times, but obviously she’d always declined.  Holding out for
Mr Right, even if he did turn out to be Mr Downright Infuriating at times.

Viktor
tutted mockingly.  “So cocky… but you’re not wrong.  Okay, you go over there and dazzle the cops…”

“The portly cops,” she interrupted.

He sighed.  “Yes, the portly cops, let’s just name them Wingus and Dingus.  You dazzle Wingus and Dingus with your womanly wiles, and I’ll pick Wingus’ pocket.”

“And then what?  Even if we get the key, they’re still guarding the elevator.”

“Let me worry about that, are you ready?”

Alma nodded and started to go when Viktor grabbed her arms.  He pushed her back against the pillar and crushed his lips to hers in a satisfyingly lusty kiss.  As he pulled away, she moaned in satisfaction.

He pushed a tendril of hair behind her ear and let his thumb trail down over her cheek.  She shivered at feeling the coolness of his touch against her hot flesh.

“Just remember, my darling, don’t be too dazzling.  I would hate to have to rip those two humans to shreds; they may have families.”

Still dazed from his kiss, Viktor pushed her out from behind the pillar with a firm pat on her behind.  She whipped around to scowl at him, only to find he’d already darted across the floor, and was nonchalantly reading a copy of the Daily Lunar. 
Slippery vampire
.

Alma took a few moments to compose
herself, before sauntering over to the cops; hips swinging.  They were both playing with their smart phones.

“Excuse me?  I’m sorry to bother you…”

Both cops looked up, on seeing Alma they straightened and sucked in her overhanging bellies. 

“Not at all,” drawled the younger of the two, Dingus.  He gave her his most winning smile.  “How can we be of assistance?”

Alma giggled flirtatiously. 
If vampires could vomit, Viktor would
.

She tangled a lock of hair around her finger and unconsciously pushed her breasts toward them.  “I’m from out of town, and was wondering if you guys could give me any advice on the best places to visit?  I’ll bet you guys go out partying all the time.”

The two cops actually straightened a little further,
if that was possible
.  Wingus started reciting some club names,
most likely those where he’d been called to arrest people
.

Viktor blocked out their voices and ambled over to them, pretending to be engrossed in the newspaper.  He bumped into
Wingus, causing the cop to step forward.  Viktor smoothly and swiftly lifted the key card.

Wingus
turned to him, his face beet red at being embarrassed in front of a pretty lady.  Viktor reflected his expression wasn’t nearly as warm as the one he gave Alma. 
Ah, to be a leggy, Latina woman.

“Watch where you’re going
, dumbass!” spat Wingus.

Viktor shrugged.  “Sorry, I was just watching that guy over there.”  He nodded in the direction of a man sa
t tapping at a laptop, he was sitting next to an elderly, overweight woman.  “I thought he was trying to bite that woman’s neck, for a second I thought he was a vampire.”

Both cop’s eyes widened, and they speedily drew their weapons and sprinted toward the unsuspecting man.  Viktor grasped Alma and disappeared into the elevator, inserting the card and setting it going to the penthouse floor.

“How did you know that would work?” she asked, breathlessly.

“Since Julian was arrested, anti-vampire fever is at an all-time high.  All I had to do was shout vampire and the Keystone Cops went nuts.”

The elevator drew to a stop, and the doors pinged open.  Viktor crept out, checking to see if anyone was around.  Alma followed behind; her heels noisily clattering on the marble floor.

“Couldn’t you have worn flat shoes?  You're not exactly stealthy,” he murmured.

“First of all, I don’t own any flat shoes.  Second of all, I’m human; we don’t skulk around like vampires.”

He groaned inaudibly.  “Vampires don’t skulk; we’re just…”

“Sly?  Sneaky?  Shifty?  Crafty?”

“Did you swallow a thesaurus?  Now pipe down; I need to make sure no one’s here.”

Alma pouted and folded her arms.  “Oh!  From bounty hunter to detective and now cat burglar, you really know how to show a girl a good time.”

“If it makes you feel any better, we’ll stop by
Hola Sunshine when we’re through here.”

Alma reluctantly had to admit it did. 
Hola Sunshine was a Mexican fast food restaurant; their tacos were to die for.  They were her one weakness. 
Oh, who was she kidding, she had hundreds of weaknesses!

Viktor motioned for Alma to remain in the hall while he swept the other rooms.  After a few moments, he told her it was clear.  They both stood in the middle of the room eyeing the blood stains on the carpets.

Alma cocked her head on one side.  “So, Quincy, what are we looking for?”

He bent down and sniffed the ground, wrinkling his nose.  “
Wolfsbane.”

That didn’t sound good.
  “Is there a lot?”

“Well, let me put it this way, if Jackson were here he’d be climbing the walls and begging us to put him out of all our misery.”

Wolfsbane was particularly toxic to wolf shifters, but was also used by a lot of magic practitioners to create a talisman that would cover scents. 
An excellent thing to have if you wanted to sneak into someone’s hotel room and not be scented.

Alma fidgeted.  “Alright, I’ll admit that is weird.  Would Julian have
wolfsbane for any reason?”

Viktor shook his head.  “He wouldn’t need it; he can disguise his scent without it.”

She spread out her hands.  “I don’t suppose it was the cleaners trying to get rid of the smell of blood?”

“Doubtful, the owner of the hotel is married to a wolf shifter.  I doubt he allows
wolfsbane anywhere near his mate.”

Alma creased her brow.  “How do you know anything about the owner?”

Viktor grinned.  “I’m a wealth of information.”

Alma sniffed.  “And yet, you still don’t know when my birthday is.”

“I know when it is!” snapped Viktor.  “Last year, you made it very clear that you weren’t celebrating your birthday anymore.”

She shook her head, giving him a pitying look.  “Sure, because women
always
say what they mean.  You’d think you’d have picked up on a few things over all the years you’ve been alive.”

Ugh, god his mate was maddening!
  “Shall we concentrate on the task in hand?” he asked crossly.

Her lips twitched as she tried not to smile;
he was just too easy!
  “As you wish.  So, as far as we can guess, someone came here covered in wolfsbane so nobody could scent them.  Hold on, I’ve got an idea.”

Alma’s eyes gleamed as she recited a few words in Latin.  Viktor jumped as a burst of energy shot round the room, and neon footprints appeared on the ground in varying shades of red, yellow and one shade of green.  “What the hell?”

Alma stumbled a little and Viktor swooped to catch her.  She panted from the energy the spell had taken.  “It’s a retrace spell.  It shows all the people who have been in here in the last four days.  The green is for a shifter, lion I suspect by the hue, I guess those footprints belong to he-who-shall-remain-nameless…”

Viktor growled lowly but didn’t interrupt.

“The yellows are from humans and the reds are from vampires.”

He kissed her nose.  “My mate, you are remarkable.”

She shrugged.  There were a lot of different shades of yellow, most likely belonging to hotel staff, the murdered girls and the cops who had blown through there.  Altogether there were four shades of red.  One had to be Julian’s; one would be Viktor’s, but they couldn’t be sure who the other’s belonged to.

Viktor fingered one footprint carefully.  “I don’t believe Julian invited any friends here, and Playa Lunar doesn’t have any vampire cops.”

Alma sunk onto the couch to rest for a few moments.  “Hotel staff, then?”

“No vampires are employed at this hotel.”

She frowned.  “How do you know that?”

Viktor affected a look of modesty.  “I told you, I’m a…”

She waved her hand dismissively.  “Yes, yes, you’re a wealth of information.  Got it.  So, we have two unaccounted for vampires, and therefore two potential suspects.  Nice work Sipowicz.”

“Couldn’t have done it without you, my darling.   Not that it puts us much closer to a solution.”

“More than we had an hour ago.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Alma smiled as her mate pouted. 
He was disappointed
.  Apparently he thought they were going to rock up, find an amazing clue the cops missed, and clear Julian’s name, all within an hour. 
He was so optimistic; it was sweet really.