Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 6-10 - Laurell K. Hamilton [254]
Dolph was writing it all down in his trusty notebook. “So a vamp’s involved?”
“He may not know what she was planning to do. I’d check for a vamp boyfriend, maybe, or at least one she’s dated. Boyfriend may be too strong a word for Ms. Pierce. I’d see if she has some background in acting. Check out her major in college, maybe.”
“Already done,” Dolph said. “She’s got a background in theater arts.”
I smiled. “Why did you need me? You had it all solved.”
“The bite, the fact that vampires burn that easily…” He shook his head. “None of this shit is in the literature.”
“The books aren’t designed for police work, Dolph.”
“Maybe you should do a book,” he said.
“Yeah, right. Do you have enough to get a warrant for her bank records?”
“If I’m careful what judge I ask, maybe.”
“You know, even if she is charged and convicted, the damage is done. The petition and the meeting are scheduled for next week. All they’ll have is rumors of an attack, and it will grow in the telling.”
Dolph nodded. “Nothing we can do about that.”
“You could go down there and tell them what you’ve learned about Vicki in there.”
“Why don’t you do it?”
“Because I’m the whore of Babylon to the right-wingers. I’m boffing the head bloodsucker. They wouldn’t believe a damn thing I said.”
“I don’t have time to attend civic meetings, Anita.”
“You think the vampire businesses should be segregated?” I asked.
“Don’t go there, Anita. You won’t like the answers.”
I dropped it. Dolph thought vampires were monsters that the public needed to be protected from. I even agreed with him to an extent. But I was sleeping with one of the monsters. It made it hard to stay on the same bandwagon as Dolph. We agreed to disagree. It kept the peace and kept us working together.
“If you hate vamps so much, why didn’t you buy Ms. Pierce’s story?” I asked.
“Because I’m not stupid,” Dolph said.
“Sorry,” I said. “Sorry that I thought even for a second that personal feelings might interfere with your job. You’d never allow it, would you?”
He smiled. “I don’t know. You’re not in jail yet.”
“If you had proof of wrongdoing, I might be.”
“You might,” he said. The smile faded from his face. His eyes went empty, cop eyes. “What happened to your hand?”
I glanced down at the bandaged hand as if it had just appeared. “Kitchen accident,” I said.
“Kitchen accident,” he said.
“Yeah.”
“What happened?”
“Sliced my hand with a knife.”
“What were you doing?” he asked.
I never cook at home. Dolph knew that. “Slicing a bagel.” I gave empty eyes back to him. Once, not long ago, my face showed everything. Every thought plain to see, but not now. I stared at Dolph’s suspicious face and knew my face gave him nothing. Only the blankness itself was a clue that I was lying. But he knew I was lying. I wasn’t going to waste his time or mine by coming up with a really good lie. Why bother?
We stared at each other. “There’s blood on your hose, Anita. That must have been some bagel,” he said.
“It was,” I said, then couldn’t help smiling. “I would have said I was mugged, but you’d want me to fill out a report.”
He sighed. “You little shit. You’re wrapped up in something else right now. Right this minute.” His large hands balled into fists nearly the size of my face. “I’d yell at you, but it wouldn’t do any good. I’d throw you in a cell overnight.” He laughed, and it was bitter. “For what’s left of the night, but I don’t have any charges, do I?”
“I haven’t done anything, Dolph.” I raised the injured hand. “I was doing a favor for a friend, raising some dead. I got cut for more blood. That’s it.”
“The truth?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?” he asked.
“Because it was a favor, no money. If Bert finds out I’m raising the dead for free, he’ll have a heart attack. He’ll believe the bagel story.”
Dolph laughed. “He won’t ask how you got hurt.