by Peter Glenn
I waited a few seconds, but Daequan stopped talking after that.
“That it?” I asked.
Daequan shrugged. “Pretty much. I was supposed to meet with him again today to take him out there again, but he never called, so I assumed he had thought better about it. Who was I to know that he’d been killed?” His shoulders tensed again and his eyes narrowed. “But I swear I didn’t kill the guy. I really was with Charmaine all day today, until the police barged in. That part was on the up and up.”
I looked him over. His story had taken its toll on him, but I could sense that he was telling me the full truth this time.
“Very well,” I said. “I believe you, and I’ll help you the best I can, but I have to be honest, this doesn’t really help your case that much. If he really was anti-vampire, it’s going to make it look that much worse for you.”
“I know,” Daequan said with a sigh. “But there you have it. So what are my chances, little man? You think you can crack this case open?”
“Maybe,” I told him. I looked over at Charmaine and smiled. “Let’s just say I have a good idea of where to go next.”
6
At about nine o’clock the next morning, I rapped on Charmaine’s door to gather her and bring her to our next destination. We’d left the police station near eleven last night and I’d told her I wasn’t going to be any good to anyone with no sleep, so we’d parted for the night.
Besides, the person we were going to see wouldn’t have appreciated a midnight visit, and he would have been grouchy as all get out. And the last thing I needed was to make him any more of a grouch than he normally was.
“Who is it?” Charmaine’s muffled voice called out from behind the door.
“Damian. You ready to go?”
“Just a second!”
I heard the sound of shoes scuffling on hardwood, and a few other noises besides, then finally, the clack of the door unbolting right before Charmaine swung it open.
She smiled up at me, and I looked her over. She was dressed in a long-sleeved, wool-knit pink sweater and cream-colored jeans. Her shoes were pink and cream as well to match, and she was carrying a small, pink purse that had sequins all over it and a bow right where the clasp was. It was the brightest outfit I’d ever seen her in, and it felt completely out of character for her. But I suppose I hadn’t hung out with her that much, so who was I to judge?
“You gonna gawk there all day, or should we get going?” she asked me.
It was only then that I noticed that my mouth was hanging open, and I’d been staring. “Sorry,” I muttered. I flashed her a grin and held out my arm. “Shall we?”
Charmaine rolled her eyes. “Let’s just go see this old friend of yours, shall we?”
My smile grew broader. “Indeed.”
Charmaine did not take my offered arm and instead breezed past me on her way to the elevator. I stood there looking like an idiot for another moment, then I followed suit. On the way out of the building, I noticed that there was a different attendant in the lobby from the one last night and thanked my lucky stars.
I really did not need to see him again so soon. Or rather, he didn’t need to see me. After the scuffle last night, I could only imagine what he thought of me.
Best to leave that sort of thing alone.
We piled into Charmaine’s car—I really did have to get my own one of these days, I decided—and I started the engine. I typed our destination into my phone, and the AI assistant whirred to life.
“Fifteen minutes to your destination,” it blared.
Not too long, then.
“Thanks, Srini,” I told it with a mock salute.
Briefly, I wondered why the AI voices were always feminine, but I let it drop a second later. It didn’t really matter. I checked the rearview mirror and the side mirror, and the coast was clear, so I pulled into the street, and we were off.
“So this… friend of yours,” Charmaine asked. There was a strange emphasis on the word friend.
I glanced over in her direction while trying to keep my eyes on the road. “Yeah?”
“Are you sure we can trust him with Daequan’s case?”
“You mean Rick?”
Charmaine nodded. “Is that his name?”
I let out a small chuckle. “Yep. And yes, we can trust Rick. He and I go way back. Well, not really, but we were both involved in this case a few months ago, and we formed a pretty tight bond over it. And he has no love for the police, either.” I flashed her another grin. “We can trust him. I promise.”
“Okay. If… if you’re sure.”
Charmaine still seemed a little tense and uncertain, but I wasn’t sure what else to tell her that would help calm her nerves. What did you tell someone whose husband was wrongfully arrested for murder, anyway? Especially when they’d just learned that said husband was harboring secrets. Secrets that only made him more suspect.
“Look,” I said finally, sparing her another glance, “if I didn’t think Rick was the right guy, there’s no way I’d bring any of this up with him, okay? You are my client. No one else. I wouldn’t do anything to purposely endanger you or your husband.”
Charmaine let out a sigh. “Okay.” She slumped against the window of the car a bit, looking a little more at ease. “It’s just… you think you know someone, you know?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I know.”
“Turn right in five hundred feet,” Srini blared.
“You got it, boss.” I gave her another salute.
This time, Charmaine didn’t even budge. No giggle. No eye glimmer. No snort. Nothing. She must really be feeling off to be ignoring my antics. I pondered what to do about it as I waited. The street ahead was busy, so I had to wait a minute for the light to change. Seattle streets could be pretty busy in the mornings. At long last, the light changed, and I turned onto the next street.
“In two thousand feet, turn left,” Srini said.
“Ooh, baby, I like it when you talk dirty to me.” I gave the phone a suggestive wink.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Charmaine’s face crack into the slightest smile and she shook her head. Worth it. I’d finally managed to cheer her up a little bit.
We drove in silence for a little while, with Srini barking new orders every so often, the only sound other than the constant hum of traffic.
“So, why did you go vegan?” I asked Charmaine when we were getting close to Rick’s. It was a question that had been bugging me for a while. “I mean, like you said, you don’t get all the benefits from fake blood and… coconut pee.”
Charmaine snickered at the mention of coconut pee. She sat up a little straighter. “I wasn’t for a long time. For many years, I drank blood just like a regular vampire. But then one day about fifty years ago, it all changed. I suppose it all really came down to freedom of choice.”
“Freedom of choice?” I scrunched my nose. “How so?”
Charmaine frowned a bit. “It’s hard to explain. Remember when that vampire bit you last night, how you felt like you wanted to feed him?”
A shudder ran down my spine. That was a sensation I would not soon be forgetting. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“That’s how all the victims feel. Or at least, I’m assuming that’s how they all feel. I guess I don’t really know for sure. But at least in my head, that’s how they all feel. And that’s what matters for me.”
“Why? Why would everyone feel like that? I’m pretty sure there’d be more stories about vampire bite euphoria if it was a constant thing.”
Charmaine’s frown deepened. “Think about it, Damian. It keeps the victim from struggling and makes it easier for the vampire to feed. Plus, most people forget about it afterward. Or so I’ve been led to believe. Which would also make a lot of sense. That way, vampires don’t get a bad rap.”
Huh. That did make a lot of sense. I nodded.
“To be honest, I’m not really sure why you remembered the feeling when so many forget it. Maybe it has something to do
with your magic abilities.”
“Okay, I suppose you have a point, there, but even if it’s common, can’t you just turn it off?”
Charmaine shook her head. “I don’t even know how it turns on to begin with, so no, not really. It’s an instinctual thing.”
Weird. Vampires were so foreign to me. “Okay, fair enough. But then how did you–?”
“Find out about it in the first place?” she finished for me.
“Heh.” I grinned at her. “Yeah, that.”
Charmaine let out a long sigh. “Fifty years ago, I got bitten by a vampire myself. I think they didn’t really know that I was one, too, or they probably never would have tried it. And when they did, I felt all those sensations that I imagine you felt. Euphoria. Like I wanted to feed them.”
She paused for a long moment. “Fortunately, the bite didn’t last long. I’m guessing vampire blood doesn’t taste quite the same and doesn’t have the same kick. I’m not really sure, but they let go a moment later. But that feeling. That feeling stuck with me all these years.”
“Yeah,” I said. That I could agree with. I didn’t think I was going to forget my own experience anytime soon, either. “I suppose that makes sense. But what does that have to do with going vegan, exactly?”
“Like I said, it’s all about choice.” Charmaine eased back into her seat a little bit. “When I felt that euphoria, it was like my choice, my… freedom… had been taken away. I couldn’t fight it. I couldn’t choose if I wanted to be food or not. And I realized that in all my years of preying on others, I’d done the same thing. I’d taken away their free will. I didn’t want to be a part of that anymore. So I stopped.”
“Huh.” I blinked a few times. “I suppose I can understand that. Even respect it.”
Charmaine smiled at me. “Anyway, ever since that day, I decided to go vegan, even if it meant missing out on some of my vampiric powers.”
“Well, I, for one, am glad that you don’t see me as food,” I said with a cheesy grin. “But if it came to it, and you needed my strength for some reason, I’d let you have a little nibble.”
“Thanks,” Charmaine said. “But I doubt that’ll happen. Besides, blood tastes awful.”
“Really?” I mean, I’d tasted it a time or two myself on accident, but I would have thought something in the vampire transformation would have made it taste better. I guess not.
“Yeah.” Charmaine opened her mouth wide, and I saw a flash of her fangs. “It’s all metallic and salty. Not exactly a five-star meal.”
I burst out laughing, and Charmaine joined in. We laughed and joked for another minute or two, then we finally reached our destination, and I parked the car and got out.
The door to Rick’s office building loomed before us. He was on the first floor a little ways back into the building, so we entered and made our way down the hall toward it.
One of the offices along the way had caution tape hung on the door, and I could see thick, cottony cobwebs peeking out around the edges of the glass. I smiled a little seeing the Halloween decorations were in full swing there. It was still one of my favorite holidays, even if my birthday was just around the corner from it.
At long last, we came to Rick’s door. It was unadorned, which didn’t shock me in the slightest. He’d never seemed the type to go all out for holidays.
To be honest, he was a bit of a stick in the mud.
For a brief moment, I wondered if I shouldn’t have checked to make sure he’d be in first, but I dismissed the thought just as quickly. Rick was something of a workaholic. He’d be there.
I pushed open the door and walked in, Charmaine in tow. I scanned the room, searching for Halloween decorations and coming up mostly empty. This office was a stark contrast to the one we’d passed just a moment prior, with nary a festive adornment in sight, and stacks of papers everywhere, including on the desk of the secretary.
The secretary herself didn’t even bother to look up from her desk as we walked in, her nose stuck in some book that held all of her attention. I smiled a little to see that it was still the same girl from the last time I’d been here.
She was a terrible secretary that played stupid mind games with Rick, and for the life of me, I didn’t know how she still held a job, but it was none of my business.
“Is Rick in?” I asked her, standing over her desk.
The secretary barely inclined her head to look at me for a half second, then she returned to her book. “Do you have an appointment?”
“He’s here, then, I take it?”
She shrugged and waved us onward.
“Thanks!” I walked past her desk over toward the door to the inner office.
“Are you sure it’s okay to just barge in on him?” Charmaine asked. The worry was plain on her face.
I waved a hand dismissively. “Of course! Like I said, Rick and I go way back!”
“I don’t know, Damian. I think maybe we should come back later.”
“Nonsense! He’ll be over the moon to see me!”
I pushed open the door to Rick’s office and sauntered in with a big, dopey grin on my face, and my arms held out wide. “Rick, baby, I’m back!”
Rick was wearing his usual light brown, button-up shirt and khaki pants. His small frame tensed up the second he heard my voice, and his already whitish face paled as he looked up from his stack of papers. I saw his eyes go wide with shock as he took in my features and recognition dawned on him.
“D-Damian?” he blurted out in a half stutter.
“In the flesh!” I moved in closer and made beckoning motions with my hands.
“Wh-what are you doing here?” A scowl formed on Rick’s face. “You didn’t run afoul of another evil Celtic queen, did you?” His eyes trailed downward toward where Grax’thor hung dutifully at my side, then back up to meet my gaze.
“Oh heavens, no! One of those is more than enough for a lifetime,” I insisted. “Isn’t it, girl?” I patted Grax’thor and glanced down at the swirling runes on her surface.
Piss off, she said.
Pleasant as always.
“See?” I said, ignoring her. “Just the one of those.”
“Thank goodness,” Rick said. His frame relaxed instantly, and he let out a big sigh. “I was worried for a moment that you’d come in with some crazy new case or something.”
I gave him a wry grin. “Come on, Rick, you know me better than that.”
“Yes, I do,” he admitted. “Which is why I worried.”
My smile turned into a frown, and I gave him a pouty look, but he held up his hand to shush me before I could talk. “Look, I’d offer to let you sit, but I don’t really have a lot of time right now. I have dozens of papers to grade, and I’m in the middle of a new research project and…” his voice trailed off as he finally noticed Charmaine standing just a little behind me.
“Excuse me, miss,” Rick said, turning to face her. His posture straightened ever so slightly, and he stuck out a hand toward her. “I didn’t see you there. And you are?”
Charmaine took the offered hand and shook it vigorously. “Charmaine Johnson. I’m a friend of Damian’s. He speaks very highly of you, you know.”
“He does, does he?” Rick eyed me suspiciously. “Good to know.”
“Oh, yes.” Charmaine retracted her hand. “He said you’d be able to help us out immensely with his current case.”
“Current what now?” The color drained from Rick’s face once again, and his eyes narrowed. “What did he promise you exactly? And who are you, anyway?”
“Oh, Rick, you can be such a fuss pot sometimes,” I told him. “But I do suppose proper introductions are in order. Charmaine is a vampire, as is her husband. He’s been framed for a murder, unfortunately, and I am determined to help clear his name. Sorry, I probably should have led with that.”
“A v-vampire?” Rick’s mouth hung open and his features went slack.
“It’s not as bad as you think. She’s vegan.”
“That’s
right,” Charmaine added. “I don’t drink human blood. Well, not anymore, at least. So you have nothing to worry about.”
Rick side-eyed me. “They’re real?” he whispered in a voice that was barely audible.
“Indeed,” I assured him. “As real as you or I, at least. I should know. I spent some quality time with three of them last night.”
“Three of…?” For a second it looked like Rick was going to faint.
“It’s okay, I can leave if you need me to,” Charmaine said, lowering her head and looking downtrodden.
She made to leave, but Rick cleared his throat loudly and motioned for her to stop. “No, it’s okay. Please stay.”
Charmaine looked doubtful, but after a minute, she nodded and stood still.
Rick glared at me again. “I thought you said this wasn’t another of your crazy cases, Damian,” he said through clenched teeth.
I pointed a finger at my chest. “I didn’t say that. You said that. I never really specified.” I gave him my best smile. “So, anyway, do you think you can help us out or what?”
Rick let out a long, slow breath. “Take a seat, won’t you?” he said to the both of us, beckoning with his hand toward a pair of plush chairs. “And close the door behind you. I imagine this is going to take a while.”
I beamed at him. “I knew you’d understand, Rick.”
He sighed again and muttered something under his breath about how he couldn’t believe he was getting tangled up with me again, but what it was exactly, I couldn’t quite catch. I ignored it anyway. Deep down, I could tell he was happy to see me.
We took our seats, and he sat back down, leaning backward in his chair a little with his hands clasped in front of him in his lap. All in all, this was going a lot better than I’d thought it would.
“So, fill me in. What’s going on exactly?” Rick said in a resigned tone.
I leaned forward in my chair. “Well I already gave you the gist earlier. Charmaine’s husband is–”
“Yes, yes, a vampire framed for murder.” Rick’s tone shifted to dismissive. Seemed he had a stick up his butt today. “But since you came to me, I’m assuming you found something odd at the crime scene?”