Last Vampire Standing (27 page)

“Ike didn’t notice these shackle locks had been tampered with?”

“What? But Ike had the only keys.” Ray edged marginally closer. “Where do you see this tampering?”

“Scratch marks. They’re faint, and they could be older than they look, but I’d lay odds they’re new.”

“You suspect that Laurel picked the locks?” Ray asked.

“That’s one theory.”

Saber dropped the cuffs and chains back in the chest and closed it as I turned to Ray.

“Will you let me see Laurel’s room for just a minute?”

He huffed a breath, clearly impatient, but gave me a short nod.

“Saber, are you finished here? The others will not care if you are in Laurel’s rooms, but Ike’s—”

“I’m done. Let’s go.”

As soon as Ray opened Laurel’s door, even he and Saber smelled the tang of oranges. The furniture was a mishmash of antiques and just plain old pieces, but the carved canopy double bed on the far wall could’ve belonged to an honest-to-gosh storybook princess.

I followed my nose to the bathroom first, looking for the source of the smell. No bathroom cleaners stored under the vanity. No orange-scented shampoo or conditioner or soap, but one green towel hanging on a rack smelled of it.

“Ray, do you have any paper grocery bags?”

He frowned. “I do not know, but I can ask Miranda.”

“Ask me what?”

I gave a “Yeep,” and Saber darn near had his weapon drawn as we spun to see Miranda bracing an empty laundry basket on her matronly hip.

“Oh, my, I’m sorry, Master Ray,” she said quickly, her British accent strong.

He waved a hand. “It is no matter, Miranda. Are the others all awake now?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Please let them know that I need them in the parlor shortly. Oh, and do you have some paper bags the Princess and Saber may take with them?”

She bobbed her head, curtsied, and hustled out of the room.

A curtsy to the master of the house? Now that was British, but I only let it bemuse me for a moment.

“Thanks, Ray,” I said as I scooted by him on one side of the door, Saber on the other. Next I went to the bed, where the scent seemed to be the strongest. The half-burned candle was vanilla, but the sheets reeked of oranges and sex. Not two words I’d have thought of in the same sentence.

I glanced at Saber standing at the footboard. “You need to take the sheets, too.”

Miranda bustled back in just then with a small stack of Publix grocery bags. “Will these do?”

“Yes, thank you,” I said with a smile as she handed me the bags. “I’m sure glad you take paper instead of plastic.”

She sniffed. “If anyone should care about the earth, vampires should. We’re here long enough.”

I couldn’t help grinning. “You’re right. Miranda, when did you last clean this room?”

“Nearly two weeks ago, ma’am. Is anything amiss?”

“No, no. Just wondering. Thank you.”

“Miranda, you may join the others in the parlor now. We will be there shortly. Correct, Saber? Princess?”

“We’ll be there in a jiffy,” I answered for both of us.

Ray lounged against the doorjamb and watched in silence while we bundled the bedding into several bags, Saber helping onehanded because of the sling. In the bath, I put the towel in yet another bag, folded the tops of the bag over twice to semi-seal them, and gathered them all to carry out. I wanted Saber’s good hand free, just in case Ray’s vamps took exception to us being in the house.

As we headed toward the door, Ray straightened and held out his hand.

“A moment. I have cooperated, and I will allow you to question the others, but you must tell me why taking these things is important to the investigation.”

Saber straightened the strap of his sling. “Here’s the short version. We know that Ike was paying protection money to Vlad. We know that Laurel was making runs to Atlanta for Ike. We know that there is a vampire in Vlad’s nest who is reported to be immune to silver.”

Ray inhaled, hissing air into his lungs. “That is not possible.”

“Apparently, it is,” I said. “But, wait, there’s more. Laurel knew things she shouldn’t have known. Like that Jo-Jo was in St. Augustine darn near before we’d met him.”

“She also gave Donita jewelry to pawn,” Saber said. “Items that tourists who had been in the club reported missing. They didn’t have memories of being robbed but remembered leaving the club with their jewelry and not having it the next day.”

“And you believe Laurel was behind this?”

Saber took a deep breath. “We believe that Laurel helped murder Ike so she could take over the nest. We strongly suspect that the vamp with immunity to silver is helping her.”

Ray eyed us steadily. “You realize how fantastic this purported immunity sounds.”

“We know,” I admitted. “But Laurel didn’t escape by herself last night. She has a vamp accomplice who wasn’t at the club. That leaves us with Miranda and Charles, and it doesn’t make sense that either of them is involved.”

“No. No, it does not.” Ray locked gazes with Saber. “What will you do about Vlad?”

“Shut him down. Having a network of nests violates the rules, and I’ll hunt the bastard myself if I have to.”

“So the minor nests will no longer be forced to pay tribute to the major ones?”

“The word is going out to VPA agents all over the country. Major nest leaders will be audited.”

Ray raised a brow. “By the VPA?”

“Worse,” I said. “The IRS.”

Ray smiled with a touch of the sparkle I’d seen in his dark eyes when we first met. Then he shook his head and sobered.

“I must tell you so that you may warn others. There is a madness among the major nest leaders, as if they all have been infected with the same disease. And it is growing worse. It is the other reason I left South Beach.”

A madness? Shudders ripped through me, along with a dread I didn’t understand. The paper bags I clutched rattled and snapped as I shivered.

“Someone walking over your grave, Princess?”

I fisted the bags tighter. “You might say that.”

“If you sense
la oscuridad
, then you must prepare to fight it with
la luz.
”

“The darkness and the light? Ray, could you go for clear instead of cryptic here?”

He opened his mouth, then shut it. “When the time is right, you will understand. Come, the rest are becoming edgy.”

“I hate this woo-woo crap,” I muttered to Saber on the way back to the parlor.

He chuckled softly. “Right, this from the psychic vampire.”

I glared, but without real ire. To tell the truth, Ray’s reference to the darkness made me think of the weird dark shape Kevin had captured on digital video.

Our interviews with the other vampires didn’t take long. No one knew squat about Laurel’s love life, and no one had seen her bring

“company” home. Yes, Laurel had tried to stir them against Donita, but they confessed to being increasingly afraid of Laurel. The madness having a trickle-down effect?

When Saber asked if the no sex, no biting policy made anyone angry, they told us it only ticked Laurel. Miranda and Charles had each other, of course, and couldn’t give a flipping fang about club policies. The rest of them were relieved. Why? It turned out that Coach, Tower, and Suzy were seeing the three blood bunnies, Claire, Barb, and Tessa. The blonde Amazon Zena? She was seeing the club’s day manager, a divorced forty-year old with a child.

Mama Zena? Yikes! Talk about scaring small children.

Before we left, Saber cautioned them all that Laurel could be extremely dangerous and to be on their individual and collective guards. That duty discharged, we left.

In the car, Saber phoned Jackson to report he was bringing evidence into the station. Jackson said he’d wait for us, and that he’d call an evidence tech to take samples from us to account for any extra hairs, skin, and whatnot. Miranda was likely the only other vamp to darken Laurel’s bedroom door, and her DNA would be on file with the VPA. Hers and Ray’s. We gave our samples, then talked with Jackson in the break room about our theory that, although Laurel probably didn’t kill Ike herself, she was an accessory to murder. Saber also shared that the VPA agents in Atlanta were storming Vlad’s nest, and that we were waiting to hear the results.

“You’re positive Donita Ward had nothing to do with it?”

“Captain,” I said, “Laurel tried to make it look like Donita had robbed those tourists. Setting Donita up for murder would be a cinch, especially with a vampire accomplice.”

“I can’t say I disagree, I just wish this case weren’t so damned messy.” He tapped his pen on the table where his cup of coffee sat cold. “I’ll call her tomorrow. Let her know she’s no longer a suspect.”

We left the station at ten and, because Saber’s stomach was making volcanic hunger noises, we stopped at an IHOP and got an isolated booth in the back. He ordered a huge breakfast: eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, hash brown potatoes, toast, and a side of pancakes. I had sweet tea heavy on the ice, and, though he let me pick at his pancakes, he glowered if my fork inched anywhere near the hash browns.

I finally put down my fork, crossed my arms on the table, and gave him the evil eye.

“All right, let’s have it. What is bugging you?”

With the last bite of hash browns halfway to his mouth, he startled and glanced up. “What?”

“You’re getting all broody on me. Are you worried about the results if the police have to run a DNA test on your samples?”

“Why would I worry about that?”

“You know. The mixed blood thing.”

“It doesn’t show in my DNA.”

“Oh. What about tonight? We did good questioning Donita and the vampires, didn’t we?”

“Yes, but Laurel and probably Marco are on the loose.”

“And there’s not a darn thing you can do about it?”

“Right.” He took a swallow of coffee and pushed away his plate. “I’m on edge about Candy and Crusher, about them getting what amounts to a SWAT team together.”

“You want to be on the team,” I said, the light dawning.

“Yeah, it’s what I do. What I did, anyway. I hate waiting on the sidelines.”

“Well, call her right now. Tell her you’re on the way. You can drop me at home and go kick Vlad butt.”

He smiled but shook his head. “I don’t want to leave you unprotected. I may not understand what’s going on with Triton or that vampire madness thing Ray mentioned, but the darkness smacks of the image Kevin got on video.”

The creepies marched up my spine. “I thought the same thing, but the madness is attacking nest leaders, not lone vampires. Besides, if the object is still to take control of the nest, Laurel and Marco will be after Ray, not me.”

“You’re probably right, but I’m not leaving you alone.”

“Stubborn man. Are you sure Candy hasn’t left a message on your cell?”

“Checked while we were with Jackson.”

“Then check your e-mail when we go back to your place. I’m sure she’ll give you a heads-up.”

“Not if there’s a chance the mission would be compromised.”

I heaved a frustrated breath. “Then I guess I’ll just have to find a way to keep you occupied.”

A wicked grin spread over his face. “How do you propose to do that?”

I pretended to think. “We could shop for those accessories your Realtor wants in your condo.”

He growled.

“Or I could give that magnificent super bod of yours a good workout, starting with—”

He grabbed my hand and jerked me from the booth. The twenty-dollar bill he threw was still floating to the table when we were out the door.

I half expected to see Pandora waiting for us at Saber’s place. She wasn’t, and I was starting to worry about her. Then Saber kissed me in the elevator, and she slipped my mind. She was an ancient shape-shifter. She could take care of herself. We’d just turned the lights on in the living room when Saber’s cell phone rang. He snatched it off his belt, checked caller ID, and immediately put it on speaker.

“Jo-Jo, what’s up?”

“The price of gas, again. Is Highness with you?”

“She is.”

“Good. I’m calling about the stuff you e-mailed to me. First, this isn’t the knife Marco had in Atlanta. Not that I saw all the knives he might have, but this isn’t the one he cut me with. Second, Marco didn’t smell like oranges. He smelled kind of funky, but not like citrus.”

I met Saber’s gaze and shrugged.

“You were right about the tracker bugs, though. There was one in the computer casing and in my cell. I had the guy save the bugs in a baggie if you need them for evidence.”

“We probably won’t need them, but keep them handy.”

“Will do. I can’t believe Ike was killed, and that poor Donita found him. How is she?”

“Looking to get a new job far away from Daytona,” I said.

“I would be, too. Highness, consort of Highness, I feel awful that I put you in any danger.”

“No problem,” I said. “Laurel was scheming long before you came to town. So how is the life of a big-time comic?”

“Weird, busy, and good. Vince has me booked on Leno August thirteenth. Can you believe it? Vince pulled it off!”

“That’s great, Jo-Jo. We’ll be sure to watch the show. What about your other gigs? Are you still in Vegas?”

“Yeah, for tonight. Tomorrow I go to L.A., then I’m booked in Reno in a few weeks in September, but something else came up, and I could use your help at that end, if you’re willing.”