Old Rossi produced another cup that smelled softly of mint and green tea and handed it to her while ushering her over to the island to sit.
She settled across from me. Rossi somehow managed to make where he sat seem like the head of the table.
Etta wrapped long fingers around her cup and stared down at it. Rossi caught my gaze and nodded toward her.
I hated having to talk to the bereaved so close to a death. I usually made Jean come along
with me. She was good at giving comfort, good at somehow making it seem like there was hope when the world was wrapped in darkness.
“I’m sorry about Sven,” I said gently. “And I’m doing everything I can to find out who is behind his death. I have a couple questions. Do you think you could answer them?”
She nodded, still staring at her cup.
“Were you dating?”
Nod.
“When was the last time you saw him?”
Pause, then her mouth curved into a watery sort of smile. “Four days ago.”
“And where were you?”
“My bedroom.” Her eyes flicked my way.
“Okay.” I nodded and took a sip of tea, encouraging her to do the same.
She seemed to notice she had a cup in her hand, then glanced over at Rossi, who also nodded toward her cup. She raised it, took a sip and pulled the cup away for a moment while the tip of her tongue darted across her lower lip. Then she tilted the cup back for a longer drink.
Some of the tension I hadn’t noticed in Old Rossi seemed to drain away. I wondered if anyone had been looking in on Etta or if I needed to make sure someone was taking care of her.
“Have you noticed anyone around him lately who didn’t like him? Anyone who wanted to argue, fight? Anyone who had made threats?”
“He worked as a bouncer,” she said. “He got threats every night.”
“Anything different or unusual?”
She held very still, her cup pressed into her bottom lip as she inhaled steam through her nose. “He said there were men there...mortal men. At the bar.”
I waited. Plenty of mortals lived in town and a world of them surrounded us. Didn’t sound unusual to me.
“They were quiet. Watched him a lot. Went to the bar every night for a week, drank, but didn’t say much. They weren’t from town.”
That still didn’t seem unusual. Maybe they were in town for a business seminar, or were passing through for a number of other reasons.
“Why did he mention them?”
“He said they smelled funny.”
I tried not to make a weird face. “Okay. How so?”
She shook her head. “He couldn’t explain. But that’s...that’s the only unusual thing he mentioned.”
“Etta,” Old Rossi spoke in a low voice. “Tell us everything.”
I didn’t know if he put any vampire influence behind it, but her eyes flashed and she put her cup down.
“Ryder Bailey was there.”
