I passed a hand over my face. I didn’t believe I was wrong about this. ‘Where’s Tallulah?’ I asked.
Kennard blinked. ‘Pardon?’
‘His car. He had a car. He must have parked it here.’
She checked his details. ‘Yes,’ she said finally. ‘He registered it when he checked in. It’s in the underground car park.’
I didn’t say another word. I grabbed my crossbow, nodded at her and walked out. This wasn’t over – not by a long shot.
***
Even at that time of night, the DeVane car park was well lit. Unfortunately, that didn’t help me find Tallulah any quicker. All the other cars were large, luxurious beasts so, although the scrappy purple Mini was certainly unique, she was hidden from view by the towering vehicles that surrounded her.
I marched down one side of the car park and came up short before swivelling and preparing to return in the opposite direction. That was when I caught the flickering shadow out of the corner of my eye about fifty metres to my right
It could have been anyone. This was obviously a well-used car park, so the chances were that it was merely one of the hotel valets. All the same, I slowed my steps, glad that my scruffy shoes had soft soles. Then I heard a rattle, followed by the sound of tearing plastic. The shadow in question was trying to break into one of the cars – and there was only one car down here that had plastic on it. I’d bet my soul on it.
I raised myself onto the balls of my feet and controlled my breathing as I
uncocked the safety on the crossbow. I edged closer until I confirmed that I was right; someone was indeed rummaging around Tallulah’s interior. Whoever it was, they must have squeezed in through the broken rear window before shimmying through to the front seat.
I stopped and waited for the sneaky bastard to either emerge or drive away. I was neither shaking nor afraid; my only feeling was cold, grim determination.
There was a faint click as the car was unlocked from the inside. A moment later, I spied a dark head appearing from the open door. This was no car thief: the fucker was searching Tony’s car. For what, I didn’t know – but I was definitely going to find out.
‘Police!’ I yelled. My voice echoed round the car park. ‘Stop right there!’
‘Should I put my hands up, D’Artagnan?’ Lukas’s now-familiar voice drawled. ‘Or should I freeze?’
I hissed. Of course it was him. ‘Put your hands up, turn around and freeze. In that order.’
He did as I asked. I expected to see a smug smirk on his face, but his expression was serious. He glanced at the crossbow and raised his eyes to mine. ‘I’m glad to see you took my advice and armed yourself properly. Do you know how to use that thing?’
I ignored his question. I was the one in charge, not him. ‘What are you doing here?’
His response was mild. ‘The same thing you are, I imagine.’
I glared at him, silently demanding an answer.
‘I’m looking for Tony Brown,’ he said. ‘I tracked his car to this location.’
‘How?’ I demanded. ‘How did you track it here?’
‘It might surprise you to learn there are vampire eyes all over this city. And Tallulah,’ he patted her bonnet, ‘tends to get herself noticed.’
I didn’t react when he gave the car’s name. I doubted it was a secret. ‘Keep talking.’
Lukas sighed. ‘Sometimes we entertain clients from a particular subset, the sort of subset who like to stay here at the DeVane.’
‘People who are wealthy?’
He inclined his head. ‘Yes. Consequently, we keep some of the staff on a retainer so they can inform us when certain clients are visiting. It helps us to prepare should they wish to travel a few streets over and come to see us.’
‘You mean you bribe the staff.’
Lukas shrugged. ‘That’s a crude way of putting it, but essentially yes. The valets are particularly useful.’
‘So one of these valets contacted you about Tallulah?’
He gazed at me. ‘Is this questioning going to take all night, D’Artagnan?’ He deepened his voice by a mere note, but it made it sound altogether more provocative. ‘I’m sure there are more productive things we could do with our time.’
I ignored his brief attempt at flirtation. Boy, was I not interested. ‘Which valet?’
‘Lily Twist.’
I made a mental note of the name and pressed on. ‘Why are you looking for DC Brown?’
‘Because, D’Artagnan, I find it curious that even without your death and subsequent re-birth, he is allowing you to wander the streets on your own. You’re a babe in the woods and,’ he opened his mouth an inch, before running his tongue over his sharp fangs, ‘there are monsters lurking around every corner.’
Too much had happened for his suggestive action to intimidate me. ‘Why do you care? I thought vampires only concerned themselves with hedonistic fun.’
He smiled. ‘Our PR team is very effective. The façade we present to the world doesn’t match the reality.’
I filed that titbit away for a later date. ‘Where were you last night?’
‘You already know the answer to that. I was investigating your death.’
‘Did you come anywhere near this hotel?’
Lukas’s eyes narrowed slightly. ‘No.’ He tilted his head. ‘Tell me, did you find Brown in one of the rooms just now? There’s nothing in the car to help pin down his location. If you tell me where he is, you’ll save me a whole lot of bother.’
‘Is there anyone who can vouch for your whereabouts last night?’ I persisted.
‘Are you going to answer every question with another question, D’Artagnan?’
All of a sudden, his phone rang, a high-pitched sound that startled me so much that I jumped – and involuntarily squeezed the trigger on the crossbow.
The silver-tipped bolt flew in his direction, whistling through the air with lethal force. Lukas leapt to the side with a lightning reaction that was too fast for my eyes to follow, and the bolt embedded itself into the concrete pillar behind him with a thud. A cloud of grey dust belched out. Oh God.
Lukas touched the tip of his ear and frowned. I stared in horror at the dab of blood on his fingers. ‘You caught me,’ he said drily. ‘Maybe you do know how to use that thing after all.’ He took out a pristine white handkerchief and wiped off the blood. Then, with chilling calm, he answered his phone which had continued to ring throughout. ‘Yes.’
He listened to the other speaker while I looked from the crossbow to the bolt to Lukas and back again. I could well imagine that a vampire might take it personally that I’d almost shot them in the head. Under any other circumstances, this would have been the ideal time to leave.
As soon as Lukas hung up, I started to apologise. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘I didn’t intend to…’
Lukas sprang forward and grabbed me by the shoulders. The convivial light in his eyes had gone, replaced by complete darkness. He loomed over me and, for the first time, he genuinely scared me. ‘When?’ he bit out. ‘When were you planning to tell me that Tony Brown is dead?’
I stared up at him, suddenly mute. I’d thought that vampires were all about cold emotions and even colder grips, but Lukas was the complete opposite. Even through the bulk of my borrowed clothes, I could feel the heat of his skin. And I was certainly aware of the furious fire in his face. The familiar terror uncoiled in the pit of my stomach and an involuntary tremor ran through my body from head to toe.
‘Fuck!’ He released his hold on me and stepped back. He didn’t take his eyes away from me, but I felt some of the tension leave my body. I could breathe again. That helped.
‘Was that Lily Twist again?’ I asked shakily.
Lukas shook his head. ‘Housekeeping.’
I watched him warily in case he made another move. Even if I could have reacted quickly enough, the crossbow was all but useless without a bolt loaded in it. ‘Bad news travels fast,’ I whispered. ‘It’s been less than an hour since I found his body.’
Lukas began to stalk up and down, five paces one way, five paces the other way. I flicked my gaze to the right. The exit from the car park into the hotel was fifty metres away. I’d never get there fast enough; I’d already seen enough of Lukas’s reaction times to know that.
‘Cause of death?’
‘I’m no pathologist.’
Lukas stopped pacing and glowered at me. ‘Your throat was cut. Did that happen to Brown too?’
‘No.’
‘Were there any similarities between your death and his?’
‘No.’ I paused. Other than the fact that we were both killed within hours of each other, of course.
He curled his fingers into fists. ‘I am not the enemy, D’Artagnan. It might not feel like it, but I am on your side. I can help. What happened to Brown?’
I knew that I shouldn’t believe him. I knew I should turn tail and run away as fast as I could. But I had few friends and even fewer answers. If Lukas was going to keep appearing out of the blue, maybe I should make use of him. I no longer seemed to have much to lose.
I sighed. He’d hear it from the housekeeper anyway. ‘On the face of it, Tony died as a result of auto-erotic asphyxiation that went too far.’
Lukas blinked. ‘Interesting kink,’ he murmured. ‘You don’t believe it?’
‘No.’ I watched him, expecting him to tell me that I was being naïve and people got up to all sorts of things behind closed doors. He didn’t; he simply waited. ‘I went to his flat,’ I said. ‘It’s been trashed. It’s like someone was looking for something but I have no idea what.’
Lukas absorbed that. ‘And your home?’ he inquired. ‘Has it been ransacked too?’
‘No.’ Then I amended my reply. ‘Actually, I don’t know for sure. I’ve not been back since last night. But I don’t live alone – my boyfriend is there.’ I thought of Jeremy and the worry on his face when he’d knocked on the Supe Squad door. Had someone broken into our flat too?