The Book of Death (15 page)

The compliment obviously went
down well because Flake’s face lit up. ‘You know,’ she said dryly, ‘because
you’re wearing those shades, I can’t tell if you’re kidding or not.’

‘That’s why I’m keepin’ ’em on.’

It suddenly dawned on him that
they were flirting. How had this happened? Flake was quite fit (particularly
now she had on the uniform), so why was she flirting with him? Fit women never
did that unless they wanted free drinks in the Tapioca. Odd
.
He’d
definitely have to keep a close eye on her, he decided. Particularly her ass.

As if she suspected he’d be
wondering about the whereabouts of The Book With No Name, Flake kicked the
bottom drawer of her desk. ‘The book’s in there,’ she said. ‘I’m going to ask
around later to see if there’s any vampire folklore about magic books or
anything. I’ll also try an Internet search to see if I can find out who wrote
it.’

‘Good luck with that,’ said
Sanchez. ‘I think you’ll have more chance of finding out who wrote the Bible.’

‘Worth a try though,’ said
Flake.

Sanchez barely heard her. Something
else had grabbed his attention. Something far more important. Someone had just
walked into the station through the glass doors at the front. It was a lady he
recognised. The woman of his dreams.

Jessica.

She was wearing a black catsuit
and she looked as hot as ever. Her dark hair positively shone and her milky
white skin looked as soft as silk. Sanchez had feared he might never see her
again ever since she had gone missing from his spare room above the Tapioca.
He’d had her safely tucked away up there for months while he had nursed her
back to health. But then she’d just recently come out of a coma, only to then
vanish while he was out shopping. It really was a relief to see her alive
again. And he was particularly pleased that she’d turned up while he was
wearing a super cool highway patrolman’s outfit. If he could get himself a
motorbike too, he’d be irresistible to any woman.

‘Jessica,’ he said strolling
nonchalantly towards her. ‘Where have you been? I was worried. Thought you
might have been shot by the Bourbon Kid again.’

She obviously hadn’t recognised
him straight away, but he could sense that she recognised his voice. And she
smiled too. A good sign. She walked up to him with her usual sexy swagger.

‘Well, hello there
Paunch-a-rello,’ she said patting his stomach. ‘How’s tricks?’

‘Great,’ said Sanchez. ‘How’s
your memory today? Have you got amnesia again? Because you should know, we’ve
become quite close.’

She smiled. ‘My memory is just
fine. How could I forget you, Sanchez? After all you’ve done for me?’

This was a great sign. Chances
were high she was single again. Her previous lover Jefe had been killed the
same day she had slipped into her latest coma, so finally, the timing might be
just right for a romance with Sanchez.

‘Have you come here just to see
me?’ he asked.

‘Actually I’ve come to report a
theft.’

From behind Sanchez, Flake
called out, ‘I can help with that. Please take a seat, miss.’

Jessica sauntered past Sanchez
and took a seat on the customer side of Flake’s reception desk. ‘Who are you
then, sweetcheeks?’ she asked.

‘Officer Munroe,’ said Flake in
an official sounding voice. ‘And you are?’

Sanchez answered on Jessica’s
behalf. ‘Jessica Xavier,’ he said.

Jessica turned her head and eyed
him suspiciously. ‘How do you know my surname?’ she asked.

It was a good question. Sanchez
had hired the services of Rick from the Ole Au Lait to find out the information
from some seedy contacts he had in the press. Best not to admit to that,
though.

‘You talk in your sleep,’ he
replied, relieved that he was wearing his sunglasses, which would hide the
deceit in his eyes.

Flake had been typing the name
into her computer. After hearing the revelation that Jessica talked in her
sleep she looked up. ‘You two have slept together?’ she asked.

Jessica grinned at Flake. ‘Oh
yes, lots of times. Sanchez is a real animal in bed. Didn’t you know?’

‘No, I didn’t.’

Sanchez frowned. He’d never
slept with Jessica. Maybe she thought they had? She certainly seemed to be
bigging him up to Flake. Maybe this meant she was into him? If she genuinely
thought they had already slept together then he really did stand a chance.

‘We go way back,’ he said
insouciantly.

‘Okay,’ said Flake, not sounding
convinced. ‘So Miss Xavier, what is it that you’d like to report stolen?’

‘A book.’

Sanchez’s ears perked up at
hearing about yet another stolen book. He quickly butted in. ‘What’s it
called?’ he asked.

Jessica kept her gaze fixed on
Flake who was still tapping away on her keyboard. ‘It’s called The Book of
Death,’ she said.

Well
,
this had Sanchez
confused. Jessica was looking for the same book as Ulrika Price. The same book
that Sanchez himself had stolen, but then given to Rick to return to the
library. Why would Jessica be reporting it stolen?

Flake remained calm and didn’t
give away the fact that she, like Sanchez, was only too aware of the fact that
Ulrika had reported the book missing earlier. And they had turned Ulrika to
dust and ash, the remains of which were now in the bin.

‘Do you know where it was stolen
from please?’ Flake asked.

‘The local library.’

Flake tapped away some more on
her keyboard before asking. ‘You work there?’

‘No.’

‘Was it your book?’

‘Yes.’

‘Why was it at the library
then?’

‘Because that’s where I liked to
keep it.’

Flake looked confused. ‘Have you
questioned the librarians about it?’ she asked.

‘The chief librarian is a
bitch.’

Sanchez nodded. ‘Right. Good
riddance to her.’

Jessica spun around on her
chair. ‘What do you mean, good riddance? Have you seen her?’

‘Umm, well, y’ know…’

Flake jumped in to bail him out.
‘What he means is, they used to date.’

Jessica turned back to Flake.
Sanchez frowned. What the fuck was Flake talking about? Jessica didn’t seem
convinced either.

‘You what?’ she asked, glaring
at Flake.

Flake shrugged. ‘Oh yeah. You
know Sanchez. He’s a real ladies’ man. He met Ulrika and just swept her away.
But she turned a bit psycho, so he recently dumped her. Didn’t you, Sanchez?’

Sanchez nodded. ‘Like I said,
she was a bitch. Good riddance to her.’

Jessica eyed them both
suspiciously for a moment. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘But if you see her, I’d like to
know about it. She might have the book I’m looking for.’

‘Certainly,’ said Flake. ‘Can
you tell us what this book looks like?’

‘It’s a big black hardback
book.’

‘That’s it? Just black?’

‘As far as I know. I’ve never
actually seen it.’

Flake looked puzzled. ‘What do
you mean you’ve never actually seen it? I thought it was your book. Surely you
must know what it looks like?’

‘It’s actually my father’s book.
A family heirloom that will rightfully be mine one day.’

Flake stopped tapping on her
keyboard and pursed her lips, deep in thought for a moment before responding.
‘Look, Miss Xavier, I don’t mean to sound obtuse, but surely, if this is just a
book with a black cover and you’ve never even seen it, wouldn’t it be easier
just to go to the shop and order a new copy?’

‘It’s one of a kind. There was
only one copy ever printed.’

‘Are you sure?’ Flake asked.

‘Yes I’m sure.’ Jessica’s voice
hinted at some serious irritation.

Sanchez tried to appease the
situation. ‘Maybe it’s available on the Kindle?’ he suggested.

‘IT’S NOT AVAILABLE ON THE
FUCKING KINDLE!’ Jessica snapped.

‘It wouldn’t hurt to check
though?’ Sanchez suggested.

Jessica took a deep breath.
‘It’s a hand written book. It’s centuries old. And it’s worth a lot of money.
To me, anyway. I’m advising you two about it, because I’m offering a fifty
thousand dollar reward for its return.’

Sanchez’s eyes lit up. ‘Fifty
thousand?’

‘Yes. Fifty thousand.’

‘Where d’ya get that kind of
money?’

‘My father is a wealthy man,’
Jessica said, her voice hinting at a degree of irritation at all the questions.
‘If you get the book, bring it to me. I’ll be staying at my father’s new home
on the edge of the city.’

Flake tapped the keyboard once
again. ‘Do you have the address please?’ she asked.

‘Yes. It’s the Casa De Ville.’

Sanchez was taken aback. The
Casa De Ville was the former home of El Santino, the recently deceased crime
lord of Santa Mondega. And it was a nasty place too. Scary looking from the
outside. It was practically a castle. Anyone who could afford to live there
must have a serious amount of cash. Really serious.

Before he could comment, he
heard a door open behind him. Captain Harker walked in through the door at the
rear of the reception. He was holding a small piece of paper in his right hand.
He headed straight for Sanchez.

‘You, Sanchez, I got a job for
you.’

‘What?’

‘There’s
been a murder on 54
^th
Street. The ambulance crew are already there.
The residents are saying that the boyfriend of the woman in apartment 406
stabbed some guy in the throat. I need you to question the woman in 406. Find
out who her boyfriend is and why he stabbed the guy, and see if you can find
out where he went. The woman’s name is Beth Lansbury. You think you can do
that? And get me something useful?’

Sanchez shrugged. ‘Yeah, s’pose
so. Mental Beth, huh? Who knew she had a boyfriend?’

‘Not me,’ said Harker handing
Sanchez the small slip of paper and a set of car keys from his pocket. ‘That’s
the keys to your squad car, number seven. It’s parked out back. And the address
is on that piece of paper. If there’s any street cops anywhere in the vicinity
of the murder I’ll get them to stop by and take over from you.’

Sanchez took the piece of paper
and looked at the details. ‘Do we know who the victim was?’ he asked.

Harker shook his head. ‘No one
local. Some dude with a pink mohawk haircut apparently. Probably drug related.’

From behind Harker, Jessica
perked up. ‘Did you say it was a guy with a pink mohawk?’ she asked.

‘Yeah. Freaky, huh?’

‘What was his name?’ Jessica
asked.

Harker frowned as he tried to
remember. ‘Ambulance people said his name was Silver or something.’

‘Silvinho?’

‘Yeah, that was it. You know
him?’

‘I did.’ Jessica stood up from
her seat. ‘He was a real hardass. Ain’t many folks around here that could get
close enough to him to stab him in the throat.’

‘Well, somebody did,’ said
Harker.

Jessica brushed past him and
grabbed the slip of paper from Sanchez’s hand. ‘Right,’ she said. ‘I’m coming
with you, Sanchez. I’d like to meet this Beth Lansbury myself.’

Sanchez couldn’t believe his
luck. This was a sure sign that Jessica was keen to hang out with him. It had
to be something to do with the uniform.
Chicks dig the uniform
, he
thought to himself. It was only his first day as a stand in police officer and
already he was taking Jessica on a ride along. This was going to be the start
of something big.

Eighteen

Sanchez had never driven a
police squad car before. He’d ridden in the back a few times, but being the guy
in charge of the siren and the flashing blue lights was awesome. Having Jessica
in the car with him only added to the experience.

‘Hey Jessica, watch this,’ he
said, slowing the car down to a crawl on one particularly icy street. He
steered it over towards the sidewalk where an elderly lady with a walking stick
was struggling to stay on her feet as she hobbled through the snow. As the car
pulled in just a few yards behind her, Sanchez flicked a switch on the
dashboard and turned on the siren. It blared out at a deafening level, causing
the old lady to jump in shock. She slipped on the ice and fell backwards,
landing flat on her back, screaming out in pain. Sanchez turned off the siren
and sped off again. He nudged Jessica who was sat shaking her head in
disapproval in the passenger seat.

‘Pretty funny, huh?’ he said.

‘Hilarious. How about just
getting us to the crime scene now though, huh?’

‘Yeah, good idea. Shout if you
see any more old people though. Or young children for that matter. Or cats.’

Jessica let out a deep sigh.
‘You know, Sanchez, it’s times like this when I wonder how it is that you’re
single. You’re a real catch.’