guys into the crapper. It’s like because of this one guy, we know less than we did before about these fruitcakes.”
“You talk like a cop,” he said.
“You sound surprised,” I said.
“I guess I am. Let’s just say I’ve heard some interesting opinions about you.”
“I just bet you have.”
“You don’t sound surprised.”
“I told you on the phone, I’m a girl and I clean up well. That gets the gossip going all on its own. But I’m dating a vampire, and though legally no one can bitch at me, it doesn’t stop the other cops from hating me for it.”
“It’s not dating the vampire, Blake.”
“What is it?”
“It’s moving in with him, or are you going to deny that you moved in with your Master of the City?”
“Why would I deny it?”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re not ashamed of it, are you?”
“You should never be ashamed of loving someone, Shaw.”
“You love him, a vampire?”
“They’re legal citizens now, Shaw. They have the right to be loved just like everyone else.”
A look of distaste crossed his face, so strong that it was unpleasant to look at. That look was enough. Vampires were legal, but that didn’t make them good enough to date, or love, in everyone’s book. The sad thing was that a few years ago I’d have agreed with Shaw.
We’d moved me into the Circus to help Jean-Claude’s reputation among the other vampires, but what we hadn’t anticipated was what it would do to my reputation among the cops. I shouldn’t have been surprised, and it shouldn’t have hurt my feelings, but I was and it did.
The door opened, and the good cop to Shaw’s grumpy cop entered, smiling. He had coffee for me, and that made me feel better. Just the smell of it helped brighten my mood.
He’d introduced himself earlier as Detective Morgan, though I suspected he was a little higher rank than a straight-vanilla detective. He had that feel to him of someone in a suit trying to mingle with the common folk, but used to giving orders to everyone else.
Morgan put the coffee in front of me and sat down in the chair that Shaw had vacated. He crossed strong, tanned fingers on the scarred tabletop. His hair was a deep, rich brown, cut short but still too close to his eyes, as if he were overdue for a haircut. I’d put him at about my age, but after an hour of looking at the small lines at his eyes and around his mouth, I’d put him closer to forty than thirty. It was a strong, well-kept forty, but he wasn’t the young, friendly guy he was trying to be. But I bet the act had worked on a lot of interviewees over the years, and probably women outside the job.
He waited for me to lift the cup. I inhaled the scent, and it was bitter enough that I knew it had been on the burner too long, but it was coffee, and I’d take it.
“Now, Anita”-he’d established first names a while back; fine with me-“we just want to know why this guy is after you. You can understand that.”
I looked into his true-brown eyes and that damn near boyish grin, and wondered if they’d put him in here because I was a woman with a reputation for men. Had they thought he could charm it out of me? Boy, were they barking up the wrong girl.
“I’ve told you everything I know, Ed”-yeah, Ed Morgan was his name. We were Ed and Anita, and he seemed to think that would win him points. He could have called himself Tip O’Neill and I wouldn’t have cared.
The door opened and Lieutenant Thurgood came back in; great. She was a woman, but she was one of those women who seem to hate other women. She was tall and moved with a muscular ease that said she kept in shape. She was older than me by at least ten years, which was how she’d gotten to be a lieutenant. Her hair was short and curled carelessly but attractively around a thin face with great cheekbones-the kind of cheekbones that people pay surgeons for, but hers were natural, because anyone who would pay for cheekbones would have worn a better skirt suit. Hers fit her like it had been borrowed, or like she’d lost a lot of weight and never bothered to replenish her wardrobe.
“Get out, both of you. I think we need some girl talk.” She said it like it was something bad.
Morgan gave Shaw a look, like
She leaned over the table, using her height to intimidate. She was tall for a woman, though I knew taller, but height never impressed me. I was used to everyone being taller than me.
“Did you fuck this Vittorio, too? Did you fuck him, then dump him for your Master of the City? Is that why he sent you the head? A little present about old times?” She moved around the table so the last words were hissed into my face.
Most people would have leaned away from her, but I wasn’t most people. I leaned into her, carefully, just my upper body. We were suddenly close enough to kiss, and she jumped back as if I’d bitten her.
She put the table between us, which pleased me; so much reaction to such a little movement from me. She was afraid of me, genuinely afraid of me. What the hell was going on?
“I didn’t think you liked girls, Blake.”
I stood up.
She moved back to the door.
Interesting, but not interesting enough to put up with it. “Have your little lesbian fantasies on your own time, Thurgood. My crime scene is getting cold while you guys dick me around. Worse yet, we’re wasting daylight, and I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want to be hunting these vampires in the dark if I can help it.”
“If we want you here all day, then you’ll sit here all day,” she said.
That was a mistake. “Are you charging me with something?”
“What do you think we should charge you with?” she asked.
I walked toward her, and she backed away. What the hell? The door opened and Morgan stepped inside, between us. Shaw followed at his heels. They were both pretty good-sized men, and without really threatening me, they backed me up just by walking toward me. I’d done a version of the same thing to Thurgood, so I couldn’t really bitch.
Morgan smiled his charming smile and said, “Anita, why don’t we sit down and have some more coffee.”
“No, thanks, Morgan.”
“Ed, call me Ed.”
“Look, I’ve had all the good cop/bad cop I can stand. Either charge me or let me go.”
They exchanged looks. “Now, Anita.”
“You know, I’ve changed my mind, Morgan; call me Blake or Marshal Blake. No more first names.”
“If you’ll just talk to us.”
“I’m done talking. I’ve got a federal badge, and I have every right to this crime scene. So, one more time, charge me or let me go.”
Morgan’s brown eyes lost some of that friendly shine. “And exactly what would we charge you with, Marshal?”
I smiled back at him, but it wasn’t a pleasant smile. “There, that’s better; I knew you didn’t like me, either.”
“You said I wasn’t pretty enough for you,” Shaw said from the door, “so I thought we’d add Morgan. Or is he not pretty enough for you, either?”
I looked Morgan up and down, slow, the way some men will do to a woman. I made sure to hit his face last, so he’d have time to be pissed. But he wasn’t pissed; he was challenging, defiant, but not really angry. “Well?” he said.
I started to say something disparaging, but though not really my cup of tea, he was attractive enough. I sighed, tired of the games already.
“I was going to say something cutting, but you’re cute enough. I just didn’t know that the Vegas PD put seduction on their list of interrogation techniques.”
He looked surprised. “I don’t know what you mean.”
