“Not exactly,” she said, suddenly more somber. “She
will
try to be there while you work with the artist in the morning, but she has to be in court at nine. She also got the scoop on Deke Saber.”
My stomach flip-flopped with renewed nerves. “What scoop?”
“He’s a former creature hunter,” Neil said flatly as he moved into the living room. “He’s credited with killing more werecreatures and vampires than anyone in the country.”
“Uh-oh.” My fluttering stomach clenched. Talk about the wrong man to let under my skin. Maggie took my hand. “Don’t worry. He’s a consultant now, not a hunter.”
“Then he must’ve been fishing tonight, because he showed up on my tour.”
Maggie stared, and Neil plopped on the coffee table in front of us. “Did he interrogate you?” Neil asked.
“Not precisely, but I couldn’t shake him afterward. He walked home with me.”
“That should be police harassment. Sandy can slap a suit on him first thing tomorrow.”
“I doubt that would stop Saber,” I said before Maggie wound into full-rant indignation.
“Why didn’t you—” Neil snapped his fingers. “—warp speed yourself home?”
Neil didn’t know I was a speed novice, and I wasn’t fessing up, so I shrugged. “Seemed kinda pointless since he knows where I live.”
Plus I’d rather win a battle of wits than speed any day, especially now that I knew what Saber was. Should I let on tomorrow? Maybe he wouldn’t even be at the sheriff’s office at eight. I might work with the sketch artist and never see Saber. Until the next time he popped up unexpectedly.
An experiment shouldn’t feel warm and fuzzy about seeing the mad scientist again, so why did I?
“Well, if he corners you again,” Maggie was saying, “talk to Sandy immediately.”
I agreed and changed the subject. “You two have fun tonight?”
Maggie and Neil exchanged one of those glances that spoke volumes. I thought of Saber ’s body brushing mine, but that was just lust. Sex was intimate, but Maggie and Neil had more than sex and a much deeper intimacy.
“Hey, Fresca,” Neil said, snapping his fingers in my face. “Are you laying off surfing till you get your board back?”
“Actually, I think I’ll buy a new board.”
“The queen of cheap is buying a new board?” He gripped his chest. “You mean brand-new? Retail?”
I snagged a decorative pillow and smacked him. He might’ve smacked me back, but the phone rang. No one calls Maggie after ten at night except her dad, so we all blinked at the white cordless unit before Maggie answered. A moment later, that one eyebrow arched halfway to her hairline.
“Wait a sec,” she said and turned to me. “It’s that Saber character. I’m putting you on the speaker so we can be witnesses to this.” She punched the speaker button, and I said hello.
“Marinelli, is your truck parked in the bank lot?”
I glanced at Maggie. “What?”
“Damn it, where is your truck parked?”
“It’s in the lot. Why?”
“You’d better get down here.”
The lot was only partially lit by security lights, and shadows danced across the asphalt. Saber stood by the bed of my SSR. I could tell my truck wasn’t its pristine aqua blue metallic color anymore but couldn’t see exactly how bad the damage was until I drew level with him. Black spray paint spelled the word DIE on my tailgate, and that was only a fraction of the destruction.
“Damn.” I reached to touch a shattered taillight.
Saber didn’t stop me. Instead, he said, “I’ve called the city police and sheriff’s office. The city cops are rolling. We’ll need to photograph and fingerprint the truck.”
Fingerprints. I didn’t want to blow the chance of catching the vandal, so I took Saber’s hint and clasped my hands tightly behind me. Good thing, because shock warred with righteous rage as I circled my baby to inspect her damage. Crimson paint smelling faintly of blood covered the cab, windshield, and hood in streaks and dripped onto the pavement. Where the paint didn’t cover them, deep scratches etched both entire sides. I couldn’t tell whether they were words, symbols, or random marks, but each ugly gouge pushed my blood pressure higher. Though the windows were intact, the headlights and taillights were all smashed.
By the time I’d made the circuit around my SSR, a city cop car pulled up to block the parking lot entrance. Neil stood beside Saber and looked grim, while Maggie stepped up to hug me.
“Oh, Cesca honey, I’m so sorry.”
I accepted her comfort, but my gaze never left Saber’s.
“How did you find this mess?” I asked him when Maggie let me go.
He shrugged. “When you went inside, I followed that cat. It headed straight for your truck.”
Maggie planted her hands on her hips. “Who cares about a damned cat? When are you going to catch Stony? He has to be behind it. He killed that woman, and now he’s terrorizing Cesca.”
“Now, Maggie,” I said, putting my arm around her in hopes of stemming a tirade, “this is vandalism. A very bad case of vandalism,” I added darkly, “but not terrorism. And here come the nice policemen to help us.”
Make that police persons. A male officer of about forty paired with a much younger female who did all the talking.
“Who called in the complaint?”
“Deke Saber, state special investigator.” His ID already in hand, he flashed it and went on. “I made the call, and this is the owner.”
“Your name, ma’am?” the female asked.
I moved away from Maggie and gave the officer my full name, address, and both the house and my cell numbers. When they insisted on seeing my driver’s license, Neil volunteered to run upstairs for it.
“Approximately how long has your vehicle been parked here?”
“Since a little before eight this evening,” I said dully.
“Any idea who might have done this?”
I glanced at Saber. “I have an excellent idea, but I don’t know his name.”
“Officers,” Saber said, “I told dispatch there’s reason to believe this incident is indirectly connected to a murder the sheriff’s office is investigating.”
The cops exchanged a glance. “The French Bride murder?” the female cop asked.
Great, the reporter had used the same catchphrase for the case. Now if they could just catch the guy responsible. The male officer’s eyes narrowed on me, then Saber. “You’re the vampire killer, right? That why the state is in on this case? Because she’s one of them?”
Oh, good, another fan. I was grateful Maggie didn ’t make a snide comment from the sidelines, but beside me, Saber scowled.
“I’m a preternatural crimes expert, and the case has international implications. I’m here to eliminate possible suspects.”
The cop didn’t look chastised but grunted something that could’ve been “Yessir.”
Neil came back with my license and, after making note of the number and expiration date, the officers and Saber looked my truck over together. I hardly had time to eavesdrop when they were back.
“We’ll file a report, ma’am. You can get of copy of it next week.” She handed me two sheets of standard white paper folded in half, one tucked in the other. “This is a victim’s rights booklet. My name and the case number are here on the front.”
I nodded and clenched the pamphlet in both hands. “Thank you, Officer, but what about the truck?”
Frankly, I didn’t want my trashed baby to be sitting in the parking lot in the morning for the bank and office employees to see. Not to mention the locals and tourists. Friday was a busy day downtown.
“The county’s taking care of it,” Saber said. “All the tow trucks are tied up on other calls, but they’ll page me when one is on the way.”
I wondered if he thought I’d done this myself and was determined to set him straight. As soon as the St. Augustine city officers left, I whirled on Saber.
“If you think I did that myself—”
“I don’t.”
“—I’ll—” I stopped short and glanced at Maggie and Neil to be sure they heard us. “You don’t think I did this?”
“No, especially after seeing you look over the damage.”
His voice rumbled with such uncharacteristic gentleness, I wondered what I’d revealed.
“It’s just a truck,” I said offhandedly so he wouldn’t see any deeper.
“It’s your independence.”
So much for not seeing deeper. I looked at Neil, who stood solemnly by Maggie. She jerked her head toward our building.
“What?” I mouthed.
She blew her blonde bangs in exasperation and marched up to Saber. I stepped behind him, out of her way. Maggie eyed him up and down. “I want a straight answer. Do you think Cesca killed that woman?”
I sucked in a breath. Saber ran a hand through his hair and spoke directly to Maggie.
“Officially, she’s still a suspect. Unofficially, I can’t buy it.”
“Why not?” I asked, surprised. Had he planned to let
me
know this anytime soon?
He gave me an over-the-shoulder glance. “I don’t think you have a motive, but I do have more questions.”
Lips pursed, Maggie nodded as if she’d made up her mind about something.
Boy, had she.
“It’s too cold to do this outside,” she said. “Come up to the condo with us.”
From my point behind Saber’s left shoulder, I shook my head hard enough to rattle my brains. Maggie —and Neil—
ignored me, but Saber turned to face me. I stilled so fast, I darn near concussed myself.
“Do you mind if I come up?”
All right, I had to admit I liked him for asking. But there I was in a manners dilemma again. I ’d had a hell of a day, my precious, freshly painted truck was trashed, and Saber was coming up for, what? Tea?
Cornered and resigned, I said, “Let’s go.”
We trooped into the building, stood silent in the elevator. In the penthouse, Maggie ushered Saber to the dining table and put water in the electric kettle. Tea. I was right. Geez.
Saber was mannerly enough to compliment Maggie on her home and make conversation with Neil about the state archaeology department. Neil’s face lost some of its tension as he talked about the digs he ’d been part of. Maggie appeared to relax, too, as she set out mugs and tea bags, sugar, and milk.
I wasn’t calm at all. Saber’s unbuttoned jacket gave me an occasional flash of his weapon, and my body tingled in memory of our accidental hug. Yet there he sat, nonchalantly chatting while my day went from bad to worse. I smoothed the victim’s rights pamphlet on the table, picked at the bent corner, and gritted my teeth to keep from jumping out of my skin. By the time the teakettle shut off, I couldn’t keep quiet a minute longer.
“What do you want to ask us, Saber?”
He cut his gaze from Neil to me. “First, I need to tell you it’s doubtful we’ll get any prints. There was no trail of paint to follow. No apparent footprints. If it’d been me, I’d have had a garbage bag handy to toss the paint cans in, and I’m guessing that’s what happened here. The city police and county deputies can check around, alert sanitation workers to keep an eye out, but the guy could have ditched the stuff anywhere.”
I’d figured the same thing. Still, it sucked. “Peachy. Guess I can toss the victim rights booklet.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but you strike me as the type to want the truth.”
“Yeah, and I hate that about myself,” I muttered as Maggie served the tea with a plate of Fig Newtons. Yum. Comfort food.
When she handed me a steaming cup and I snagged a Newton, Saber looked surprised.
“You, uh, ingest food?”
“Saber,” I said, deliberately taking a small bite of cookie and talking around it, “if you’re gonna call yourself a vampire expert, you really have to catch up to the times.”
His mouth quirked in that too-attractive way. “I’m trying.”
Neil chuckled, and Maggie hid a grin behind her mug. I had three sips of tea and another bite of cookie —mostly to show Saber I could—before Neil caught my eye.
“You realize,” he said, looking steadily at me, “no matter who did this—Stony or someone else—he knew you drove an SSR, and he knew where you parked.”
“Which means he knows where Maggie and I live.”
Neil pushed his mug away. “I don’t think you and Maggie are safe here.”
Maggie snorted. “Neil, the guy doesn’t have a key to the building, he doesn’t have the code to the elevator, and I have my dad’s army service revolver. Just let him try anything.”
I blinked at her across the table. “
You
have a gun, too?”
“Yes, and I’m teaching you to shoot this weekend.”
Saber choked on a sip of tea. Neil groaned softly.
“It won’t do any good to learn,” I said. “The Vampire Protection Agency frowns on me having a weapon.”
“Screw the VPA. You have the right to protect yourself.”
“I agree with you, in theory, Mags,” Neil said, “but this sicko can come after either of you anywhere, anytime, and it won’t be with a can of paint. He’s erratic, and that makes him even more dangerous.”
Maggie took his hand. “Honey, I understand your concern, but I need to start the design for my new client, and Cesca has work and activities. We can’t put our lives on hold until the cops lock this guy up.”
Neil shot Saber a measuring glance. “No, and I don’t guess Mr. Special Investigator here can move Cesca into protective custody, can you?”
I froze. My little voice screaming,
Nonononono
was rewarded when Saber shook his head.
“I doubt the county keeps safe houses fit for a vampire.” He grabbed a cookie and took a healthy bite of it.
“Then how about this.” Neil turned his hand to clasp Maggie’s. “I have to teach a graduate seminar all day on Saturday in Tallahassee. You said you wanted to check out some warehouses there, Mags. You could come with me. Make a weekend of it, and give the cops time to track down Stony while you’re safe out of town.”
“No. I won’t leave Cesca alone.”
“She won’t be alone. Not if Saber moves into the penthouse to guard his suspect.”
TEN
“What?” Maggie and I yelped together while Saber coughed a fine spray of Fig Newton on the table. I pounded Saber’s back, the pulse in my throat doing triple time. Was Neil nuts?
“Are you nuts?” Maggie snapped. “You want to go off and leave Cesca alone with a vampire killer?”
“He’s a consultant, Mags,” Neil countered, unperturbed. “You said that yourself, and he’s a law officer. He’s equipped to protect her.”