“Ms. Capurro?” Sebastian said.
“Mr. Zidonis,” I said back. I did take his hand, and he had a gentle but firm grip.
“Wow, you pronounced it correctly.” Sebastian smiled. Good lord, everything about him was big, including his grin.
I cocked my head toward the receptionist. “She helped by saying it for me first.”
Sebastian glanced at the grandmotherly woman manning the desk. “She may look soft, but she’s better than having Dobermans at the door.”
“So I hear. I’m glad you were in or I’d never have gotten past her. Thanks for seeing me. I’m sure you’re busy.”
He stepped forward and put his hand on the back of my shoulder, leading me. “Let’s go to my office.”
I followed him down a long hall, turned right, then through the first door on the left. I sat without him directing me. I could hear the commotion of people in the hall behind me, but I didn’t turn to look.
Sebastian adjusted his pants at the thigh as he sat. The desk between us was clear acrylic and held two desktop computers with flat screens and a laptop. Sebastian closed the laptop as he sat.
“Not what you expected?” He must have noticed me taking in the surroundings.
The office was about the size of my living room, which isn’t small, but not too large either. The walls were white; an office-sized basketball hoop graced one wall with a garbage can under it. There wasn’t a piece of paper in sight, nor were there any filing cabinets other than the one black two-drawer file under his desk. Since there were no drawers in the desk, I assumed this was where he kept any papers, pencils, pens, clips. I’m assuming, because I wasn’t sure those items actually existed in his office.
“Not even close to what I expected.” But I couldn’t explain why.
“You expected dark, with vampire memorabilia on the walls? Or a vial of blood somewhere?” He spoke lightly, smiling.
“Well, no, but I did expect to see files, paper, maybe a pen or highlighter.”
He laughed. It was like his voice, low and throaty. Sexy. I could sit and listen to him talk, or laugh, all day.
“We work with highly confidential materials for major companies. We don’t keep anything out where it can be seen. I do have office supplies in my desk if you’d like to see them.” He pulled open one of the file drawers.
I have no idea why, but I blushed. It felt like he was revealing something private. It hadn’t been that long since I’d been in the same room with an All-American boy. But I guess it had been that long since I thought about what a guy would look like naked.
The All-American image dissolved the moment Sebastian pushed up his sleeves. From where his watch lay to where his sleeves were at his elbows, his skin was covered in tattoos. I didn’t want to stare, but from a glance I saw a pentagram, blood drops, and what looked like a scepter.
He looked at me looking at him. “Surprised?”
I didn’t want to start out with a lie, so I said, “Yes and no.”
“If it helps, you’re supposed to be. I only roll up my sleeves when I’m not with clients. Tattoos, whether I like it or not, have a stigma.”
Could the guy be more easy going?
He continued, “Besides, I have to admit, I was surprised by you, too. When Ethel said there was a private detective here to see me, I didn’t expect to see a, well, a sexy woman?”
“Thanks? I guess.”
Suddenly the room temperature seemed to increase by at least fifty degrees.
This was not going the way I’d planned. I wasn’t sure if I should be flattered or insulted. In a flash, I got it. Sebastian knew exactly how good looking he was. And like Nick, he was accustomed to using his looks to put people off center. How old was I anyway? I sure wasn’t a twenty-something who’d be pulled in by Sebastian’s compliments.
“I’m curious. Has a girl ever told you no?”
Sebastian laughed. “Actually, yes, but not often. I really do think you’re attractive.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re a private detective?”
“Yes.”
“I’m curious, did you always want to be a private detective? Or was it something you stumbled into?”
I couldn’t tell if he was sincere, or mocking me. “I came to it in a roundabout way.”
He leaned his tattooed elbows on his desk. “And how was that?”
“I went to college to be an athletic trainer. But I got the chance to apply to the Secret Service and I did that instead.”
“Too bad,” Sebastian said. “I’ll bet there were a lot of young men sorry you didn’t tape their ankles.”
Out of any other guy that would have sounded creepy, but somehow Sebastian made it sound romantic.
“Long story short, my husband died and I quit the Service. Soon after I opened Gotcha.”
“Gotcha?” Sebastian’s brows furrowed.
“The Gotcha Detective Agency,” I said.
“Cute name,” he said. “So you were married. I’m sorry to hear about your husband.”
How had this interview gotten away from me? “Sebastian, you are quite the charmer, but just about a decade too young for me to engage you any further. I came here to ask you the questions.”
“Get ‘em young, treat ‘em, rough, tell ‘em nothing.” Sebastian laughed again.
I ignored the remark. “I wanted to ask you about Monday night.”
“You wanted to talk about Esme’s death.” The preliminaries were over; we were getting to the point.
“You two were an item, right?” I said.
“Wrong,” Sebastian corrected. “We hadn’t been together for a while. But we did have connections in other ways.”
“The Camarilla.” I’d hoped to put him off center.
“Yes. So who told you?” He seemed curious, but not upset that I knew.
“First I heard it from Susan.” I saw a reaction. “Then Henry offered up more details.”
“Ha, Susan, what did she say?” His voice had tensed. I saw his knee bobbing under the desk.
“Just that you had brought Esme into the game. That a Kindred had to invite any new player into the game. She also said that it was very secretive. Membership included a swearing of silence.”
Sebastian rolled his eyes. “There’s no swearing of silence. We do have a pact to respect the personal lives of the players. As you’ve noticed, I don’t have anything vampire related in my office. Vampires and the Camarilla are my private life, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
“Okay. But you said you and Esme weren’t together?”
“Not anymore,” Sebastian said. “How do I put this? Esme tended to be gung ho about things. Obsessive even. She took everything on one hundred and twenty percent. That included me. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the girl did crack. How else could a person concentrate so much time on large projects?
“Did Esme do drugs?”
“Absolutely not,” Sebastian said. “Don’t you know about her mom?”
“I’ve heard a little. Like Esme moved out of the house because her mom accused her of getting too close to her boyfriend. Detective Christianson thinks the boyfriend might have been too chummy with Esme.”
“Try the real story. Opal, her mom, tried to sell her for drugs. She needed a fix so she offered her daughter to the boyfriend for money. I don’t know how much. Then she begged and pleaded with Esme to cooperate. Esme was old enough to make her own decisions, and she decided it was time to get out before she ended up raped.”
My heart sank. How could a mother do that to her own child? “How old was she?”
“This happened about ten years ago, so I guess somewhere around thirteen or fourteen. In so many ways she was old, and in those same ways she was very young.”
“Sad,” I said. “What about her father?”
“Are you kidding? Opal was like a cat in heat. She could have chosen from a number of men. But half of them she probably couldn’t track down.” Sebastian looked disgusted.
“Susan said she and Esme were friends since high school, and that Esme lived with her mom during that time. What you’re saying doesn’t mesh with Susan’s story.”
Sebastian laughed. “Susan only knows half as much as she thinks she does. Esme came home off and on. She had a good gauge for when her mom was trying to get clean. Even with all the crap, Esme still loved Opal. You know, the mother and daughter bond. I only met Opal once or twice. One of the times was at the house. When Esme went to the bathroom, Opal came on to me. It was creepy. I never told Esme, she didn’t need to know. But I never went back there again. That was probably a year ago.”
“Could Opal have killed Esme? Thinking there was insurance money or something?” This was a new train of thought for me.
“Oh, yeah, I think Opal would have done her daughter in for the right amount of money.” He steepled his fingers and put them under his chin. “But I’m pretty sure Opal had no idea where to find her daughter.”
“Are you sure? Susan knew Opal. Do you think she could have slipped and told her?”
Sebastian laughed. “Like I said, Susan thinks she knows more than she does. Right after Esme moved out, Opal went to prison for five years. During high school Esme lived with her aunt. Not a bad lady, but not good either. She also had money and drug issues, but she’d never sell Esme for a fix. Aunt Betty’s drug of choice could be made in the kitchen.”
“And Esme never told Susan it was her aunt?”
“You’ve met Susan. Would you trust her?” Sebastian leaned toward me. “Susan cares only about Susan.”
“Oh. But I thought they were best friends.” Don’t best friends share everything? And the girls lived together.
“Esme was Susan’s best friend. Esme had tons of friends. Esme is a very popular girl. I’m sorry, she’s still an is to me, not a was.” Sebastian looked down for a moment.
“I understand.” Esme’s death was still very new, and Sebastian hadn’t even been around right after it happened.
“Not being Susan’s friend can be a bad thing. Esme just put up with her.”
“But they lived together.”
“Sort of. It’s Esme’s apartment, but Susan needed a place to crash so Esme stayed at Lauren’s most of the time. I will never understand why, but Esme felt sorry for Susan.”
Susan didn’t seem like such a bad person. She did get a little testy about Esme, but part of it could have been the rawness of her loss. Then again, I didn’t quite trust her. She’d already been caught exaggerating the Camarilla.
With this in mind, I asked, “The Camarilla? Can anyone join the game?”
“Sure, within limits. We can’t let the game get too big. We’re already having problems.”
“So if I wanted to join, I wouldn’t have to be invited by Kindred, or a higher player in the game?”
“I thought I heard you say that before. No. Why, are you a vampire freak?” Sebastian seemed even more interested in me now. Weird behavior for a guy who’s ex-girlfriend had recently been murdered.
“Nope, not a freak. But Susan seemed to think it was all very hush hush. And quite the secret society.”
“Yes, and Susan was never a player. She was kind of uninvited before she was ever invited.”
So Esme had kept Susan from the game. By using the secretive aspect, she had kept Susan from talking about it. Esme was smart, and maybe, like Susan said, she was conniving. After talking with Sebastian, I see now that maybe she had good reason.
“You should stop by when we play. I’d like to get you in a dark place.” Sebastian’s eyes twinkled.
“Please, let’s not go there again.” I shook my head and looked away from him.
He leaned back and let go with a solid laugh.
“Do many people outside the game know about it?”
Still leaning back, he put his hands behind his head, lacing his fingers. I swear the tattoos looked like fabric, not skin. There were flowing layers of color, and images of werewolves, vampires, and witches melded into a solid mural. The artwork was incredible, whether I liked tattoos or not. I had to give the artist credit for detailed work.
“I guess quite a few people know of its existence. I mean you can’t go into downtown Santa Cruz on a Friday night without running into us.”
“Henry said the city is trying to stop the game.”
“Henry.” Sebastian smiled. “He’s always trying to make things right. And this time, with Esme’s help, he found a great way to do it.”
“Do what?” I asked.
“Make things right. He’s the reason we got together on Monday night.” He paused. “He did tell you about the dinner, right?”
“Yes, he said you were trying to find a way to show the city of Santa Cruz that the game could be an attraction.” I sure was getting a lot of repeat information.
“Yeah. You know the movie The Lost Boys?”
“The one with Kiefer Sutherland?” I knew the movie. Jamie Gertz and what was that other guy’s name?
“Yeah. Well, that movie was set in Santa Carla, but it was really Santa Cruz. Everyone knows that. It’s an old movie, but everyone’s seen it.”
“I’ve seen it too. I loved it.” I even remember the boy I went to see it with, Jimmy Donovan.
“So we thought we could capitalize on the history of Santa Cruz. Over the years the city has become synonymous with vampires. Esme had it all worked out. The four of us were the only ones interested in taking it to city hall. We had dinner at Georgio’s on Monday night. Georgio’s is an Italian place on Highway 68 in Salinas. You know it?”
“Yes, great food.”
“Would you like to go with me sometime?” He winked.
I swear his flirting was for real. “Are you that callous? Didn’t your girlfriend just die?”
“She wasn’t my girlfriend anymore. When Esme became obsessive, I cut off the sex. I hoped it would deter her from calling, sending text messages, and showing up at my house at all hours. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Esme as a friend, and fellow vampire addict, but I didn’t want to be with her anymore. If she hadn’t been so caught up in the Camarilla, I’d probably have asked her not to play anymore.”
“So, in the end, your only connection really was the game, and saving it. Why did everyone think you were still together?”
“Because Esme made it look like we were. I didn’t want to humiliate her in front of the other players, so I didn’t say anything. Besides, there weren’t any Camarilla players I wanted to fuck, so she wasn’t interfering with anything.” Sebastian rocked his chair back and forth. “I was already getting it elsewhere.”
“So everyone at the dinner thought you were together?” I asked.
“I guess,” Sebastian said.
“Who would they have been?”
Sebastian smiled. Not a genuine smile, but a knowing smile. “Sorry, I’m not going to tell you any names. Besides, you already know the others, Henry and Esme. Anyone else doesn’t really matter that much.”
“But it might,” I suggested.
“Probably not.” Sebastian looked at his watch.
“At least tell me about dinner. Anything weird happen? Anyone seem tense?”
“No, not really. When I got there Henry and Esme had just arrived. We went into the place together and a few minutes later the other guy arrived.”
“The Prince,” I prompted.
“Yes.”
“So what’s his real name?” I tried again.
Sebastian ignored the question. “We ate and had some wine, talked over the project. Esme was going to give the presentation at City Hall, and all was good.”
“No one came to or left the table?” The same as I’d asked Henry.
“Sure, Esme said she had to go to the bathroom, but I think that was it. No one came by to say hi or anything. I didn’t even see anyone I recognized, other than our party.”
“And you all left together?”
“No. I took Esme home. Henry and the other guy stayed on to
have drinks at the bar. Henry said he’d like to be nice and drunk before Lauren got home.”
So Henry didn’t stay behind just to work on their PR campaign some more. Why didn’t he tell me that? Well, maybe he didn’t want to admit he wasn’t looking forward to Lauren coming home after the signing.
“Did you go inside?” I asked.
“Inside where?” Sebastian replied.
“Inside the house, when you took Esme home?”
“Hell no. I told you, I wanted to back off the sex thing with Esme. If I’d gone into the house, she would have seduced me, and that was the last thing I needed. Don’t get me wrong, I like sex, but not sex with static cling.”
“A what?”
“You know, static cling. Some girls stick on like static cling if you have sex with them. Esme was one of those girls. I was trying to extricate myself from her, and going in that house wouldn’t have been a good idea. I dropped her at the back door.”
Again, I could hear people walking and talking in the hall. This time I looked to see where the noise came from.
“Anything else?” Sebastian looked at his watch. “I have a meeting in ten minutes.”
“Just one question. Did you see any cars in the driveway? Or on the street?”
“Not in the driveway. But as for the street, I really didn’t pay much attention.”
“About what time did you drop Esme off?”
He looked at his watch as if it held the answer. “I don’t know, around ten I guess.” Sebastian rolled his chair back. “Is that it?”
I straightened, ready to stand, “For now, but may I call you in the future if I have any questions?”
Sebastian stood along with me and came around the desk. I didn’t feel any insecurity from him, as Susan had mentioned. I felt only cocky self-satisfaction.
“Call anytime.” He had his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll walk you to your car. Do you have a business card, in case I think of something relevant?”
I did, and I reach into my clutch purse and pulled one out. When I handed it to him, he touched my hand and I felt myself melt a little. As much as I hate to admit it, I could see us horizontal with the lights out. I’d always wanted to do it with a guy who was different. Sebastian definitely qualified as different. Goodness, I’d been a walking hormone attack this week.
Gotcha Detective Agency Mysteries Boxed Set (3 Books) Page 11