Murder in Vein (2010) (24 page)

"Paid well, I might add," commented Doug.

Madison frowned. "That sounds like a brothel."

Samuel tilted his head back and laughed heartily. "That it
does, Madison. Though at Scarlet, sex isn't on the menu, just the
blood. But there are places for both."

Madison looked at Samuel with confusion. "And there are
beaters who do this, and you don't fear them telling anyone?"

It was Mike Notchey who continued her education. "There's
a whole service industry out there that caters to vampires, Madison. People like Pauline who care for their homes and personal
needs, those who provide human blood, deliver animal blood,
take care of their business and finances. It's a small, tight, and
very secretive service community."

"That's paid very well," repeated Doug.

"Yes," Mike conceded. "People who are paid well to do what
they do and keep their mouths shut."

"And they know if they talk, they will die," added Samuel, the
laughter gone from his voice.

"Okay," said Madison, ignoring the die part and turning the
information around inside her head with the other stuff. "So if
there are blood bars for vampires, then why can't there be blood
bars for the covens?"

"There very well could be," agreed Mike. "And probably are.
But they would be very deep underground-so underground
that even Colin here hasn't seen them."

"That doesn't mean these people weren't killed at one," Madison persisted. She shivered at her next thought. "Maybe their
blood was drained and stored to keep the covens provided with
human blood for those who drink it or for special events. Like
Dodie said, it's like making a donation to a blood bank, but in
these cases it wasn't voluntary."

"But why only people with bloodlines?" Dodie asked. "Seems
if these poor folks were killed during a ceremony or at a blood
bar, the bloodline wouldn't matter."

Notchey leaned back in his chair. "Sorry to say this, but I
think someone-a beater outside the service industry-knows
about the bloodline and what it means. Could be, they think the
blood of people with bloodlines is special."

Madison looked down at the fake bloodline in her own hand
and rubbed it. It didn't go away. It felt like having a target on her
back, but then it was meant to be exactly that.

"Outside of Geoff noticing my bloodline last night," she
told the group, "only two other people have taken notice of it.
Although she didn't say anything at the time, I'm sure Lilith at
Fang Me was surprised by it." Madison didn't want to say the
other name but knew she had to, and if she didn't, she knew
Samuel would know by getting into her head like an unwelcome bed bug. "Kyle, my boss at the diner, noticed it when I was in
there today"

Colin jerked his head in her direction. "What did he say? Did
he seem surprised?"

"He just wondered what it was. I told him I thought I'd broken a blood vessel or something like that and it was starting to go
away." Madison shrugged. "That was it."

Samuel's jaw was tight. "He didn't say anything to you about
Evie having one like it?"

"No. Nothing like that. He just seemed curious. But I thought
I should mention that he'd noticed it."

"You did the right thing, Madison," Samuel told her. "Anytime
anyone notices that bloodline, tell one of us, especially Colin if
he's with you at the time. Your boss, does he work at the diner at
night?"

"Sometimes"

"Do you know where he lives?"

Madison nodded.

Samuel paused before speaking again. Everyone waited.
"Doug. Dodie," he finally said. "I want you to follow this Kyle
person from sundown to sunup, starting immediately. I'll have
Gordon take over from sunup to sundown."

Madison was puzzled. "Who's Gordon?"

"Gordon is Samuel's personal driver and bodyguard," Dodie
explained. "He's waiting outside right now."

Curious, Madison got up and went to the window. Pulling
back the drape, she spotted a dark sedan parked in front of the
house. Leaning against the car was a tall, beefy man in a dark
suit.

"What about that man you recognized at Dark Tidings?"
Dodie asked Madison. "Have you placed him yet?"

"No, not yet. I keep thinking about it, but nothing comes to
me.

"What man?" asked Mike.

"There was a guy at the Dark Tidings coven I thought I'd seen
somewhere before, but I can't remember where."

"Was he in one of the photos I showed you?" Mike pulled a
folder out of a case he'd brought with him. From it, he retrieved
the photos of the coven leaders and spread them on the table for
Madison to have another look.

Madison came back to the table. She pushed the photos of
Lord Wilhelm, Lady Harriet, and Lilith to the side and studied
the others. "No, he's not here. But this one," she tapped a photo
in the pile. "He was tending bar at Bat Beauty today." She looked
at Mike. "Do you have a photo of Ethan Young?" She shot a
glance at Colin. "Wasn't that his name? The leader of Bloodlust?"
Colin nodded.

Mike pulled a photo out of the pile and showed it to her.
"This is Ethan Young."

The man in the photo fit close to the description Lilith had
given them. He wasn't a big guy but looked very built, with
a shaved head and trimmed goatee. The wire-framed glasses
perched on his nose gave him an intellectual air, while the tattoo
Lilith described was nowhere to be seen in the photo.

"Colin," Samuel said, continuing to hand out further orders,
you keep making the rounds of the covens with Madison. Give
her some room to roam without you, but not too far. Mike and I
will work our respective contacts. I'll also get someone to cozy up to Lilith and see what she might know. Isabella Claussen just got
back into town. I'll see if she can do it."

Samuel looked at Madison. "I also want you to go back to Bat
Beauty tomorrow afternoon."

Both Colin and Mike started to say something, but Samuel
stopped them. "Now that he's had her blood, he may not be suspicious of her intentions," he explained. "He might think she's
coming back for more." He looked at Mike. "Will the news about
Geoff Baxter be in the paper or on local TV news?"

"Some information was on TV tonight."

"Good" Samuel returned his attention to Madison. "Show
up under the pretense of seeing it on the news and offer your
condolences."

Madison spoke up. "I don't think Wilhelm killed Geoff. He
seemed genuinely pissed that Geoff didn't show up today. He
would never have mentioned him if he'd killed Geoff himself,
would he?"

"Probably not," Mike told her. "Unless it was an act to throw
suspicion away from him once the death was discovered."

"Mike's right," said Doug. "So be very careful. But if Wilhelm
is grieving, he might want to talk about Geoff. You may be able to
find out if Geoff was hanging out at other covens in addition to
Bat Beauty. Just don't stay long."

"And for bloody sake," Colin barked, "don't let the bastard
drink your blood!"

Everyone turned to stare at Madison. Unperturbed, she
scowled back in return.

Samuel started gathering his notes, signaling that the meeting
was almost over. "We have to find out who is doing this and stop
them. If Mike is right and this person knows about bloodlines, then he knows that we really exist. We've got to nip this in the
bud before everyone knows."

Madison chuckled.

Colin glared at her. "You find this amusing?"

"No, I don't," she answered truthfully. "I just thought of
something one of my foster mothers, a religious nut, used to say
all the time." She clutched the sweater together in the front of
her with one hand. "Something like, `the devil's greatest trick was
convincing the world he didn't exist.' Seems to me it's the vampire's greatest trick, too."

adison was upstairs going through her closet, looking for
something to wear now that her top had been torn to pieces. She didn't own many trendy things to start with, and
now she was down one garment-a favorite top she'd purchased
only after patiently waiting for it to go on sale. She'd wanted to
say something to Samuel but thought better of it, under the circumstances. She'd meant what she said about trusting him and
the others, but she didn't want to push her luck when it came to
ruined clothing. She didn't know what any of the vampires did
for a living except for Stacie and Eddie, but they all seemed flush
with cash and oblivious to those who weren't.

An idea struck Madison as her eye caught on the tee shirt
she'd worn to bed. It was a favorite of hers that she'd picked up
in a used clothing store when she'd first come to Los Angeles.
The faded black tee shirt, size men's large, hung on her and came
well past her hips. It was a souvenir shirt from the Rolling Stones'
1972 US Tour, touting big red lips, white teeth, and a huge red tongue on the front. As she held it up in front of herself and
looked in the mirror, a knock sounded on her closed door.

"Madison," asked Dodie through the door, "may I come in?"

"Sure," Madison called to her, still studying the tee shirt in the
mirror. It didn't look half bad with her jeans and boots.

Dodie came in and shut the door behind her. "I wanted to
bandage those wounds before you got dressed." Dodie eyed the
shirt. "That could look very cute with the right accessories. Very
hip, isn't that what it's called?"

"Not sure it will cover the bandage, though. I don't have many
things that will."

"Let's see what we can do after I patch you up." Dodie took
Madison into the bathroom and washed the cuts. They weren't
that bad, but Dodie knew that puncture wounds could get
infected easily, and she didn't want to take any chances. "There,"
she announced when she was finished. "I think that will do. I
used smaller bandages this time. Fortunately, Wilhelm cut you
on the back of your shoulder instead of on your neck. Now let's
try that shirt on."

Madison slipped the shirt on over her head. It hung like a sack
on her, and the collar gapped. She started rolling up the sleeves.
"I think this will help." Dodie helped her with the rolling. It did
make it look better, but it was still just a man's tee shirt.

"Wait here," said Dodie. "I have just the thing." When Dodie
returned, she was carrying a couple of items. One was a wide
black leather belt with an ornate buckle. She handed the belt to
Madison. "Here, try this."

Madison fastened the belt low on her slim hips. "That definitely helps. Thanks."

The other item Dodie had was a very long silk scarf in silver
and black with fringe on the end. She loosely draped it around
Madison's neck twice, leaving the long, feathery tails to hang in
front. "There," she pronounced. "It completes the outfit, and it
covers your neck in case the collar slips down."

Madison looked in the mirror. It was a doable club look, especially for a club with dark themes. Then suddenly she felt sad,
wishing she'd had such moments with her mother.

Madison released the hair that had been pulled up and started
brushing it out, leaving it loose. "This should help with the neckline, too."

Dodie looked at the young woman with pride. "You look
quite fetching."

"Huh," Madison said as she stopped fussing with her hair.
"That's what Lilith said yesterday."

"Lilith at Fang Me?"

"Yeah. She said something like how Ethan Young would find
me fetching." Madison laughed. "Odd. I've never been called that
before. It's such an old-fashioned term, and now two of you have
said it almost back-to-back"

Dodie picked up some makeup and started dabbing at Madison's black eye, touching up the cover job. "Well, you are fetching.
And there are three men downstairs who have noticed, so I'm
sure Mr. Young will also."

Madison put down her brush. "Three men? You mean Mike,
Colin, and Samuel?"

"I certainly don't mean Doug," said Dodie, feigning shock.
"Though he does find you adorable, but only in a fatherly kind
of way."