Nick had initially asked me to pick up Robert’s fangs at his place, which had caused me to laugh so hard that I’d started coughing. Not in a million years would that be happening, I’d told him. I could imagine howthatwould go down. It would involve something along the lines of Nick trying to woo me with a candlelit dinner of greasy takeout and cheap wine he’d picked up at a gas station as an afterthought. Cheesy rock ballads would serve as background noise, video games offered up for dessert.
I’d racked up some embarrassing deeds in my lifetime, but dating Nick was at the top of the list. Like lingering trauma from a bad, hasty haircut, every time I thought of our relationship, I asked myself what the hell I’d been thinking. I could only hope that he’d finally lose interest in me after being rejected so many times, but I wasn’t optimistic on that front. He had the tenacity of a tick.
Well, Nick could pine for me all he wanted. Once I got Robert’s fangs back, he wouldn’t have anything else to hold over our heads. It would be snowing in hell before I contacted him again.
I pulled up at Lakeside Plaza ten minutes late, having driven slower than usual to put off the inevitable. I checked my appearance in the mirror, cringing at my haggardness. It took everything I had not to smooth my hair and throw on a little lip gloss. At least it was dark out, which offered some cover as long as I didn’t walk directly under the unflattering outdoor lights.
When I approached the fountain, I was once again reminded just how silly it was of me to hope for a positive outcome with any situation that involved Nick. I sighed in annoyance. Something was amiss. The obvious indication of this was the group of shoppers gathering around the fountain.
Of course,Nick had spurned the opportunity to have a normal meeting and instead settled on his usual insanity. What had he done, bombed the fountain with rose petals? Jumped into the water naked because he thought it would be romantic?
As I got closer, I began to understand that I was on the wrong track completely. Though I couldn’t seeeverypart of the individual being pulled from the fountain, I knew it had to be Nick.
And he was dead.
3
It was Nick’s feet that convinced me it was him. Motionless and pointed skyward, they were the only part of his body I could make out through the mounting crowd around the fountain. He’d worn the same all-white sneaker style for as long as I’d known him, though tonight they had added streaks of red, like two bloody candy canes.
I stood on my tiptoes, getting a better view of the bloody scene. Had Nick committed suicide to get back at me? Seemed like something he’d do. Maybe he’d tried to time it perfectly so that he’d bleed out at my feet as I approached. His plan might have even worked, had it not been for my tardiness.
I shook my head. That didn’t make sense because of the blood. There was justso muchof it. Not only on his shoes, but all around the fountain as well. The water was tinged dark pink with it.
An accident? No, I didn’t think so. Accidents usually didn’t summon four police officers and two crime scene investigators.
So, murder, then.
I frowned at the slack-jawed ghouls taking videos on their phones and gaping at Nick’s lifeless corpse like it was aRembrandt up for auction. I’d always been perplexed by people who took videos of crime scenes. What exactly did they do with the footage, save it for occasions they felt particularly nostalgic for the time they witnessed the aftermath of a murder?
Though my ex and I had hardly parted on amicable terms, their blatant disrespect got my hackles up. Did nobody have shame anymore? Whatever happened to common decency?
I elbowed my way through the crowd, ignoring the gasps and grumbles of those I jostled. Trying to get some attention, I waved at an officer who met my eyes and then pointedly looked away. Probably thinking I was a busybody looking for details.
I cupped my hands over my mouth, raising my voice to be heard. “I know the victim. I was coming here to meet him.”
Well, that got his interest.
Suddenly, he seemed mighty eager to talk to me. So did others in the crowd, who began hounding me for information about the dead man I had once loved and shared a home with, though it seemed like a lifetime ago. I ignored their questions, but I did offer up a few more dirty looks.
After concluding a swift, hushed conversation with a crime scene tech, the officer ducked under the caution tape and led me to a nearby bench. We both sat down.
“I’m Officer Neil Dodds,” he said, taking in my disheveled appearance. “And you are?”
I introduced myself, wishing that I’d dressed better, as if being unkempt somehow implicated me of murder. I didn’t know why I felt so nervous. It wasn’t like I’d killed Nick.
The thin metal slats of the bench, chilled by the crisp San Francisco evening air, bit at my skin through my sweatpants. It added to my edginess. Despite my impatience to hurry things along, I remained silent and waited for the officer to start asking questions. Call it a byproduct of associating with vamps, but I’d witnessed enough crimes to know that nervously yammeringwould only make me look guilty. I needed to be extremely careful about what I said to the police.
I was thinking about the VGO, who may have had a hand in the murder. Nick had never prided himself on his loyalty or his intellect. It wouldn’t have surprised me if he’d attempted to extort money from them to buy his silence about the existence of vampires. If he’d done that, I would have been more astonished if theyhadn’tkilled him, since they were highly sensitive about threats of exposure.
Still, I wasn’t entirely convinced the VGO were responsible. Not murdering Nick had been a condition of the agreement I’d struck with them. I wasn’t gullible enough to think they’d fear betraying little old me, but they would have at least notified me of their intention to void the non-murder portion of our deal. They were surprisingly dedicated to keeping their word.
Besides, had they wanted to assassinate Nick, they wouldn’t have risked carrying out the hit in such a public fashion. They would have attacked him when he was alone, with no human witnesses around.
But, if not them, who?
Officer Dodds ripped me away from my thoughts. “Miss?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
I realized he’d been speaking for some time. Embarrassed, I glanced away. Big mistake.
