Page 14 of The Elementalist (Four Elements #1)
Matters Seldom Discussed
She blinked.
Since I’d never posed the vampire question to anyone, I wasn’t sure what reaction I expected. The one she gave me would have been far, far down on the list.
Instead of laughing it off, or demanding I return her money for wasting her time—or being insane—she simply sat back, crossed her legs and folded her hands over her exposed knees. “Why do you ask, Mr. Long?”
To say her question and demeanor caught me off guard would be an understatement. I opened my mouth to speak, only to discover that I hadn’t a clue what to say.
Crystal tilted her head. “Mr. Long?”
“You don’t seem surprised by the question.”
She shrugged, although the rest of her remained perfectly still. “The rumors of vampires around here are nothing new.”
“Maybe,” I said, knowing she was right, of course. “But your reaction is a first for me.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“You took my question in stride,” I said. “Almost as if you had, well, expected it.”
“Or perhaps I’m still too stunned to give you a proper response.”
I shrugged. “Are you?”
She leaned forward. “Let’s cut the crap, Mr. Detective. What do you know?”
“The town has a vampire problem, or so I’m told.”
“Told by whom?”
By a blogger named Michael, I could have said, but didn’t. “My sources… one of which happens to be my camera. You don’t seem surprised.”
“Maybe because I’m not, detective.”
“If you knew it was a vampire who killed Dana and her husband, then why did you hire me?”
“Because I most certainly didn’t know. Honestly, I don’t understand much about vampires.”
“But you know enough not to laugh off my original question.”
She took in a lot of air. Some of my puppy love had faded, but as she inhaled again and her lungs expanded and her chest lifted, I might have swallowed. Hard. And I might have wet my lips a little, too.
After a long pause, she nodded. “I’m aware of the town’s vampire problem. And the recent ‘animal attacks’ seem to confirm that the vampires are back, but I wouldn’t know for sure. I’m not exactly in the loop anymore.”
“Anymore?”
“I’ve said far too much, Mr. Long.”
“On the contrary, you haven’t said nearly enough. Dana and Luke, unless I’m wrong, were killed by a vampire. At least, that’s what the evidence suggests.”
“What kind of evidence?”
I told her about the too-small-for-a-cougar bite marks on the neck, the tree branch covered in blood that had been up far too high for any cat to carry its prey.
“What are you suggesting? That a vampire dragged my sister up the tree and fed on her from up there?”
“I’m not sure what I’m suggesting,” I said, “but it’s damn strange nonetheless.”
“How did you come across this tree branch, if I might ask?”
“The tree branch had broken free.” I looked away. “Probably in a windstorm.”
“And you happened to arrive to witness this branch falling free?”
“I did. It fell at my feet.”
“How fortuitous.”
“My best guess is that the branch had been compromised by the combined weight.”
“Is that your very best guess, Mr. Long?”
I swallowed at her penetrating look. Geez, did she know about me? Duh, I just demonstrated the wind for her. Of course she knew about me. I recovered and put on my most confident expression. “Yes, of course. What are you suggesting?”
“I’m suggesting nothing. All I know is that Dana is dead and the man I hired to find her just stumbled upon some very unlikely evidence.”
I raised my hands. “Sometimes an investigator gets lucky.”
“Fine. If it was a vampire, then where does that get us?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “But you still have some explaining to do. How do you know about the vampires here in Shadow Pines? And why did you say ‘I said too much’?”
Crystal gave me another penetrating look. Then she nodded and stood. “Good questions, surely. But ones that I am not at liberty to discuss. Thank you for the coffee. I’ll be back in a few days for another update.”
She paused with one foot out the door. “Please be careful out there, detective.”
Her voice carried real concern, but I couldn’t come up with a response before she gave me a sad smile and left.