Greywalker - Kat Richardson [68]
“Why—why,” I repeated, raising my voice with each rep, “why would they talk to me?”
He stopped and stared at me. “Well, because . . . because you’ve got great legs. Who could resist a smart PI with good legs who can spot a vampire without a mirror? Please try. Please? I can pay you. I’ve got lots of money. I’ll pay you double your normal rates. Come on. Is it a deal?”
I had a strange feeling about this. “Let me think about it.”
“OK. How ’bout twenty-four hours?”
“Make it twenty-eight hours. I’ve got a life, you know.”
“Yeah, rub it in.”
“Cameron . . .”
“OK, OK. Twenty-eight hours. What do I care? I’ll still be up.”
My riposte was interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Come in!”
Quinton opened the door and stuck his head into the room. “I’m having a little problem.”
“Come all the way in and tell us about it,” I suggested.
Quinton closed the door behind himself and perched on the edge of the shabby chair next to Cameron’s.
“I can’t get this system functional tonight. I’ve got most of the work done—the lock’s fixed and all that—but one of the alarm modules I brought with me is toast and I can’t get another one until morning.”
“Can you rig something temporary?” I asked.
“Not for this. There has to be a brain of some kind for a multi-input, multistage system like this,” he explained. “The fried module is the brain, but it’s the one thing I don’t have a spare for. I can fake it, but no guarantees, or I can get the correct part in the morning.” He glanced at me, then looked over at Cameron. He twitched a stiff shrug. “Sorry.”
Cam’s face wrinkled up and he pursed his lips. I could almost read the swear words forming around his head. But all he said was, “No problem.” Then he looked at me. “You got any suggestions?”
I shook my head and looked at Quinton. “You?”
“Well, if you guys both trust me with her, you could leave the car with me and I can take it down to a friend’s garage first thing in the morning. I’ll get the module from him, finish up the work, and bring the car back. Be done by nine.”
“A.M.?” Cameron asked.
Quinton nodded. One corner of his mouth rippled.
Cameron looked at me with rising panic. “I’m not much of a morning person.”
I waved him down. “I’ll take care of that. I can pick up the car and pay for it. You’ll have to pay me back. Assuming that I can find you a safe place to sleep, that schedule sounds OK to me.” I looked at Quinton.
“All right,” said Quinton as he pushed to his feet. “Any problems, I’ll page you. Car’s all locked up. Should be safe where it is till morning.” He looked at Cameron. “You need anything out of it before I take off with the keys?”
“Uh, no. I can make do. Thanks.”
“No problem,” Quinton replied, slipping out the door.
When he was gone, Cameron shot me an expectant stare. “What am I going to do? Where am I going to sleep?”
“Hang on. I have to make a phone call.”
I dialed and waited.
“Hello?”
“Mara, it’s Harper. How do you two feel about vampires?”
“Never met any. Why?”
“I have a young man in my office who doesn’t have a pulse, sleeps during the day, and needs a place to hide out while the sun is up. He seems all right, but he’s got some problems we’re dealing with. I only need a place for one night. Would it put you out if I dropped him off with Ben?”
“Oh, no. I’m sure we can work something out. There’s a little finished room in the cellar that’s quite cozy and the light doesn’t come in during the day. That might do.”
“All right. Now let me talk to Ben.”
“You do catch on quick to this wife/husband business,” she said, before turning away from the phone to call for Ben.
“Hi, Harper. Are you coming back for pie?”
“Let me tell you what’s come up before I answer that. I need to find a place to hide a vampire for one day, and I’m in a bit of a bind about it.”
“I don’t understand.”
“He’s a nice kid, but he’s new to this vampire business and his normal sleeping place won’t be available until tomorrow. Mara thinks you might have a place he could hang out until