Murder in Vein (2010) (13 page)

Madison gave him a curt nod and plopped herself down into
the leather side chair. She didn't want to talk to anyone; she was
too shaken. She did know the dead woman in the photos Mike
had just shown her. At first, she'd been sure there had been a mistake, but Mike had confirmed the woman's identity.

The dead woman's name was Evie Banks, the waitress who'd
been on the schedule to work both Friday and Saturday nights.
The waitress who'd left Auntie Em's just weeks before, leaving a
spot for Madison to switch from a day shift in order to take a class.

Even more startling to Madison, Evie had had a bloodline.
The sweet but often ditzy woman with the long brown hair and
soulful brown eyes had been marked to become a vampire; now
she was dead. According to Mike Notchey, Evie had died last night, possibly around the time Madison had been in the vampire restaurant. But Evie's death had been different from the others. She hadn't been torn apart in a fit of animal rage but had
died of blood loss. While she was still alive, her main arteries had
been cut, and she'd been allowed to bleed out. Even more startling, there had been no sign of blood at the dump site of the
body, which had been in Angeles National Forest.

Madison had stared at the photos of Evie in disbelief. Her
eyes were closed, her body naked. Madison had worked with her
a few times when shifts had overlapped. Evie was only twentyfour, just one year older than Madison. Evie Banks had not been
the sharpest tool in the shed, nor one of the prettiest, but she had
been one of the nicest.

Mike, in front of the council, had questioned Madison about
Evie's life, such as boyfriends, family, or any customers who
might have bothered her. When the police identified her, they'd
learned she'd worked at Auntie Em's. That led Mike right back to
Madison. Madison didn't have much to tell them. She knew Evie
and had worked with her, but because their shifts were different,
she hadn't learned much about Evie's personal life. Madison only
knew that during the week she worked as a secretary for one of
the Culver City studios-not one of the big ones like Sony, but
one of the minor studios that seemed to crop up like weeds in
the shadow of the giants. The weekend gig at Auntie Em's had
only been to earn some extra money. She had been there just
under a year.

"So you two weren't friends," Stacie had asked, questioning
Madison in her blunt attorney style.

"We weren't enemies," Madison had shot back. "We were
friendly coworkers, but we didn't hang out or anything like that. With Evie working two jobs and me on days and going to school,
our paths didn't cross very often."

"When did they cross?" Stacie pressed.

Madison shrugged, trying to give helpful answers while working through the trauma of seeing Evie dead. "If someone called
in sick on Friday or Saturday nights, sometimes Kyle-he's the
owner of Auntie Em's-would ask me to work a double shift.
Then I might work with Evie." Madison thought of something
else. "I'm also the one who trained Evie when she first started."

"Are you sure she didn't have a boyfriend?" asked Kate. "Or
maybe a former one who didn't treat her right?"

Madison looked at Kate when she answered. "You're looking
for a reason not to connect Evie's death to the others, aren't you?"

"We're looking at all possibilities, Madison," Samuel answered.
"Before moving forward, we need to make sure this wasn't something else entirely, like a lover's quarrel."

"Angry lovers don't usually drain off their girlfriend's blood,
do they?" Madison asked the question of Notchey, her voice
tinged with anger.

Instead of answering her question, Mike said, "Answer the
question, Madison. Do you recall Evie having a boyfriend?"

Madison turned back to Kate. "She never said anything specific to me, but I got the feeling she didn't date much. She was
kind of quiet and shy-a good waitress, though. She did say she
was saving her money to travel. I got the feeling from Kyle that
she'd quit to do just that."

She turned in her seat to address Mike Notchey again. "Aren't
these the same questions the police will be asking?"

"Yes, pretty much," the detective told her. "At least in their
official capacity. And I'm sure Mr. Patterson will fill them in on everything concerning Evie that he can." Mike rubbed a hand
up and down his face in exhaustion. "Thing is, now we believe
you were taken by accident-that it was probably Evie the killer
was after, and Bobby Piper screwed up and grabbed the wrong
woman, especially since you changed shifts so recently. While
you and Evie look different, you both have long dark hair, the
same build, and are about the same age. If Bobby was just given a
description, he might not have known he had the wrong person.
When Bobby failed to show up with Evie, someone else might
have tracked her down."

Madison had another thought. "The guy that the police are
holding-the one who's confessed to killing the earlier womenwhat about him? If Evie's death is connected to those other
women and to my kidnapping, won't the police realize they have
the wrong guy? That the killer is still on the loose?" She looked at
Mike.

"Right now," Mike answered, "they think it's a different matter or a very bad copycat, because the neck cuts are different."

"Madison," Samuel said from the far end of the table. "The
police will, of course, be looking into the death of this unfortunate girl, and I'm sure they will consider that the man in custody
isn't the real killer or wasn't acting alone, but we have our own
reasons to look into it. Detective Notchey is helping us avoid a
potentially dangerous public situation."

"He told me," Madison said, looking at Samuel and fighting
the pull he had on her. "You think the people doing this are suffering from vampire envy."

A few of the vampires seated around the table chuckled. Colin
eyed Madison with barely disguised scorn.

Samuel flashed Madison a quick white smile. "That's a colorful way of putting it, but yes." The smile vanished as he contin ued. "We think the person or people responsible for these unfortunate deaths know about the bloodlines and are killing women
who have them. At least so far, no men that we know of have
been murdered. We're not sure why this is happening, but one
theory is that whoever is doing this is trying to become a vampire by using the blood or flesh of the bloodline carriers."

"One theory?" Madison looked straight at Samuel when she
spoke, as if he were the only other person in the room. "What are
some of the others?"

"There's really only one other, Madison," Samuel replied.
"And that's that the murderers are trying to destroy all potential
vampires, or at least the women."

"That maybe," Doug interjected, "they are trying to make sure
no new vampires are created."

Madison thought about that. "Then why just women?"

"Because they make easier targets, why else?" said Colin.

"Not always," Stacie shot back.

Colin was about to fire off a retort when Samuel gently rapped
his knuckles on the table, bringing the meeting back to order.

"Maybe," Madison said, frowning in concentration, "they
think the bloodline is passed along through the female. Kill the
future mothers and you eliminate future vampires."

Samuel smiled at her. "Good thinking, Madison, but bloodlines aren't genetic. We're not sure why certain people have
them and others do not, but it seems random. Most people with
bloodlines don't even realize they have them or even necessarily
believe in the existence of vampires."

Madison's mind kneaded the puzzle like bread dough. "But
the killer may not know that. Whoever it is could be shooting in
the dark, hoping to stumble on the right combination" Madison paused. She had another question but wasn't sure if asking it
would be the smart thing to do.

"What is it, Madison?" asked Samuel. "I sense there's something else on your mind."

Madison took a deep breath and avoided eye contact with
the vampires. "There is a third possibility. Are you sure it's not
a vampire doing this? I mean, maybe one of your own is trying
to slow down the vampire population growth. Or maybe they're
just doing it for sport."

All at once, the vampires were voicing protests, except Samuel. And for once, Colin seemed in agreement with Stacie.

"It is possible," Samuel said with a slow, steady voice. "But
unlikely. Vampires usually know when a kill has been done by
another vampire. We have examined the bodies and found no
evidence of that."

"Doing your own vampire DNA swabs?" Madison didn't
know why all of a sudden she had dropped her fear and had
returned to her usual smart-mouthed self. Half of her begged her
to stop. The other half was tired of running scared.

Colin leaned toward Madison and flashed his fangs. "Remember who you're talking to, beater"

Mike, sitting between Madison and Colin, wedged his upper
body between the girl and the vampire. "Back it up, Reddy."

Samuel jumped to his feet. "Enough!"

Everyone went still.

Samuel looked at his watch, then at Madison. "Would you
excuse us a bit, Madison? We need to discuss some details."

o you're the reason for all the fuss."
C

Madison came out of her thoughts and looked at the small,
dark man on the sofa. She'd forgotten he was there. He
smiled at her and picked up a large teapot that rested on the coffee table next to a couple of mugs and a plate of cookies.

"You look quite shaken," Jerry said, pouring her a cup of tea
and handing it to her. "Here, this will make you feel better. It's
chamomile."

Without a word, Madison took the cup and clutched the
warmth between her trembling hands. She took a sip, her mind
still turning over Evie's death and the possible reasons for it.
Bloodlines, vampires, vampire wannabes-it was all too much.
She wanted to turn back the clock to last Saturday morning,
when the only thing on her mind was reading an assignment for
school before her shift at the diner.

A sip of the tea brought Madison back to the den and its coziness. Samuel had asked her to leave the meeting because they had confidential things to discuss. Fine by her, but what she really
wanted to do was go back to bed-maybe for a week or two.

"Usually during these meetings," Jerry told her, "I'm stuck
making small talk with Samuel's latest fling, but he came solo
this time." Jerry looked Madison over. "He has quite a taste for
young mortal women who are a feast for the eyes"

Madison studied Jerry Lerma over the rim of the teacup.
"You're drinking tea." It was a statement, not a question.

He nodded at her and raised his own cup in salute, knowing
what her next question would probably be.

Lowering her cup away from her face, Madison asked, "You're
not a vampire?"

Jerry shook his head and smiled. "No, I'm not. You might say
Kate and I have a mixed marriage."

"Is that possible?"

"Very, as long as I learn to be a night owl and she doesn't
mind my growing older while she doesn't. We've been married a
couple of years now."

He picked up the plate of cookies with his left hand and held
it out to Madison. "How about a cookie to tide you over until
breakfast?"

Madison shook her head, then spotted another interesting
detail about Jerry Lerma. It looked like he had a bloodline. At
least, that's what she thought the odd line stretched across his
palm might be. It was separate from his lifeline yet distinctly
different than the other creases on the palm.

"You have a bloodline?" This time it was a question and not a
statement.

Jerry put down the plate and studied his own hand. "Yes, I
do."

"Then why aren't you a vampire? You're married to one."

Picking up his own cup, Jerry took a long sip before answering. "While I'd love to spend eternity with Kate, I'm not so sure
immortality is such a good thing for anyone. And it's certainly
not natural. Kate has offered to turn me many times, but from
what I've observed, living forever is more of a curse than a blessing." He took another sip. "No, I'm content to live the life I have
and be done with it." He gave Madison a wide, warm smile.
"Quality over quantity, you might say."