Mark nodded. “Makes sense. I found one of his minions in a bar when I first arrived. I followed him when he took a woman to a cemetery and killed him.”
“I guess he found someone who thought that doing it in a graveyard would be exciting.”
“Even young vampires can be seductive,” Mark said.
Sean nodded. “We’re on the alert for anything unusual. I’ll call you, right away if I hear anything at all.”
Mark thanked him and left the police station.
Stephan and his followers were targeting easy prey, he thought. Women who were ready to be seduced—for a price. They just didn’t know that they were the ones who would be paying.
Well, he’d hit the bars, and he had found one of Stephan’s lackeys, though the young woman he’d gone after had been just a tourist.
But Stephan had an untold number of followers. They could be anywhere. Not one of them, so far, seemed to have acquired the kind of strength and power Stephan had learned over the years, though. By day most of them were probably resting. But maybe not all of the.
During the day, the city was quieter than it was by night. Most people spent their time checking out the historic district, the museums, the restaurants and the shops. Parents took children for carriage rides. The aquarium and the zoo drew crowds.
But the bars were open.
And so were the strip clubs.
He wandered in and out of a few of the bars, catching snatches of live music along the way. At one place, the group was so good that he wanted to forget his quest and stay to listen, but he resisted the urge. Everywhere he went, he sensed nothing, saw nothing. Everything was quiet.
He decided to try a few of the strip clubs. At the Bottomless Pit he found worn carpets, cheap patrons and tired strippers. No one appeared the least bit menacing. In fact, performers and audience alike seemed to be asleep.
He moved on and found a neon sign that promised
A hawker with bad teeth was out front, trying to lure people in. Mark decided to pay the cover charge and take a look.
It was quiet.
There were a few scattered patrons, including a heavyset man in the front row, with a prime location right next to the pole. As Mark entered, a weary announcer was trying to make his voice excited as he raved about Nefertiti, goddess among women.
She appeared on the walkway, and on contrast to the rather cheesy atmosphere of the place, the ennui of the announcer and the shabby appearance of most of the patrons, she was good-looking to the point of beautiful. Tall, golden skinned, with long, sleek dark hair. She made her way to the pole and eyed the heavyset man who had taken up the catbird seat.
She twisted and writhed. She started out wearing spangly harem pants and a jeweled bra, with finely meshed material connecting the skimpy bits. The mesh went quickly, then the top, and before long, just as promised, she was
She elicited a fair amount of applause for her act, considering the room wasn’t particularly well populated.
Then Nefertiti stepped down, and the announcer called out the next girl, Annie Oakley, with a faux hearty “Ride’em, cowboy.
Annie Oakley had clearly been around a while. Her breasts were definitely silicone, and gravity was establishing dominance.
Few people were watching her.
Nefertiti had gotten dressed, though she wasn’t exactly ready for church, and gone over to the man in front, offering him a lap dance. Mark kept one eye on the stage and the other on Nefertiti. It was the usual stuff, but the heavy-set man was evidently enamored.
Mark’s phone rang. Still watching Nefertiti negotiate, he answered with a soft, “Yes?”
“I’ve got something.” Sean’s voice.
But Mark barely heard him; he swore and snapped the phone shut, staring at Nefertiti. Her hair was a good foil, but not good enough to hide the fact that she was just about to take a bite out of the beefy flesh and pulsing jugular of her heavyset client.
Heidi did seem more like Heidi, Lauren thought. She seemed confused by her own actions, though, almost as if she didn’t really remember a thing about the day before.
“Hey,” Lauren said, giving her a hug when she found her downstairs at the breakfast table.
“Hey,” Heidi echoed, then asked anxiously, “Do you think Deanna is going to be all right? I can’t…I can’t seem to make much sense of yesterday. I guess I was coming down with something. And you’re not going to believe this. It’s awful”
“What?” Lauren asked, her heart thumping.
“I can’t find my engagement ring. How in God’s name did I lose my engagement ring?”
“It might show up,” Lauren said.
“Barry will kill me,” Heidi said.
“No, he won’t. And…you’re still going to marry him?”
