Page 9 of The Mermaid’s Bubble Lounge (Sam Quinn #8)

NINE

Not Again

I woke to scratching at the bedroom door. Exhausted, I dragged myself from bed and opened the door. Fergus gave me a look that said I’d betrayed him, barring him from the bedroom last night.

He moved past me and curled up in his bed with a disgruntled hmph.

“I’m sorry, buddy. Mommy and Daddy were doing grown up things and you were snoozing on the couch.” I scratched his tummy and he rolled onto his back, giving me full access while his big paws treaded the air.

“Should we run or snooze?” Hanging out with vampires was hell on sleep. At the word run, Fergus leapt up and pranced in a circle. “Okay. Let me get dressed.”

As I was getting ready, I realized I had a message from Clive on my phone. I ducked my head back into the bedroom and saw my husband in bed. Odd.

I opened voicemail and heard, Hello, darling.

I’m leaving you an update, since you’re sleeping soundly right now.

Cadmael and Vlad went down to the wharf to check out where the woman had been killed.

After you fell asleep, I joined them. I now understand Godfrey and Audrey’s frustration.

The scent trails are all there. I feel like I could map the entire attack and its aftermath, all except for the killer.

We’ve split up now. I’m searching along the water’s edge for anything out of the ordinary and finding nothing. I’ll probably stay down here another hour or so and then I’ll be home. Chances are you won’t hear this until I’m home and you’re awake. So, good morning, love. Stay safe today.

I leaned over the bed and dropped a kiss on his lips. “I love you too and I’ll do my best.” After slipping my phone in my hip pocket, I slapped my thigh and Fergus jumped up to race me down the stairs.

My phone began buzzing as Fergus went to his water bowl. I pulled it out and looked at the screen. Nerissa.

“Hello?” The woman owned The Bubble Lounge. What was she doing calling me a little after five in the morning?

“Sam, I need your help.”

“Okay.”

She blew out a breath. “It happened again. There’s a dead man by the dumpster and he has two holes in his neck.”

My stomach dropped. “The police won’t let me near the crime scene. They ran me off yesterday morning.”

“I haven’t called them yet. I had cameras installed yesterday.

They have motion sensors. After being alerted a maddening number of times and only seeing cats or tourists appear on the camera feed, I muted the alarms. I meant to unmute when we closed for the evening, but it was such a long, horrible day, I forgot. ”

“I understand.”

“I finally remembered and looked.” She paused, the silence charged.

“I saw the killer and he looks familiar. I just—I need someone like you, someone trustworthy, to check the scene. I’ll send you the video clip as well.

The body could be found at any time, though, so I need you to get to the club quickly. ”

“On my way.” I disconnected, grabbed Fergus’ leash, and headed for the elevator down to the garage. Fergus was confused but followed.

When the elevator doors opened, I looked over a sea of expensive automobiles.

Clive had a weakness for them. I went to the safe and sturdy sedan I usually drove, letting Fergus into the back seat.

The drive down to Fisherman’s Wharf was easy this early in the morning.

I had to use a parking garage and then Fergus and I ran a block to The Bubble Lounge.

Hopefully the lack of sirens and flashing lights meant that no one had stumbled upon the body yet.

We hopped over the chain blocking the entrance to the parking lot and headed around the side.

I pulled my hood up, hiding most of my face, and then shifted my snout.

Head down, I parsed through the scents, finding Clive, Vlad, and Cadmael among all the humans and fae.

Fergus whined, pulling at the leash. He knew there was a dead body nearby. I smelled it too. Head down, I followed the scent to the back. Clive had walked along this path.

I made Fergus sit and stay. He whined, but one growl from me shut him up.

The dead man appeared to be living rough on the streets.

His clothes were filthy. The stench of his long-unwashed body overpowered almost everything else.

In death, muscles relax and bodies release waste, so I was sorting through those smells as well, looking for the killer.

The dead man had been on or in the dumpster, no doubt looking for food. There was the smell of cats all throughout the area, though that specific scent was focused on the dumpster. And Clive again, faintly and underneath the death.

As with the woman, the latest victim was on his back, staring sightlessly up at the sky, a prominent vampire bite on his neck.

I leaned in as close as I could, to study and sniff the wound.

Trails of dried blood marked a path from the bite to the collar of the man’s jacket.

Closing my eyes, I tried to sort through every single scent, looking for one that didn’t belong.

The bark of the sea lions jolted me out of my daze. I had to call it in. I had no idea how long I’d already been here and whether or not one of the fishing boats had noticed me. I quickly took pictures and then a video, in case that helped.

I moved to Fergus, put my hand on his head, and dialed nine-one-one.

Fergus was looking up, staring at the roof.

As I spoke with the dispatcher and was told to stay until police arrived, I stared up too.

Pointed ears appeared, and then the bright eyes of a cat looked over the edge, staring down at us.

Shaking my head, I finished answering questions. When I disconnected with the police, I called Vlad.

“What?” His bored voice helped settle my nerves.

“There was another attack last night. I’m first on the scene. I just called the authorities and was told to wait.”

“Where?” he asked.

“The Bubble Lounge again.”

He cursed. “Quick. Take pictures of everything and send them to me.”

“Already ahead of you. I’m sending them now.” While they sent, I continued, “I searched all around the building. Besides you, Clive, Cadmael, Godfrey, and Audrey, there isn’t another one of your kind around.”

“The images are coming through now. Get me a picture of his hands.”

I did and sent them. Vlad was quiet, looking through all the images, I assumed.

“What’s the matter with his neck? Is that a trick of the light or was his neck cleaned?”

Crouching down, I studied the area and then took a video. “This man hasn’t had access to a bar of soap in a long time. His face and hands are coated in a kind of oily grime. The side of his neck where he was bitten, though, is in a patch of clean.”

“Interesting.”

Sirens wailed in the distance.

“Send me everything,” Vlad instructed, “and then delete all the images and the record of this phone call. Stow your phone out of sight and look frightened when they arrive. You have a legal address now. Give them that, tell them you’re feeling sick, and then ask if you can leave.

You’re an innocent witness who found a scary thing. Remember that.”

Car doors slammed and boots pounded on the pavement.

“Gotta go,” I whispered and did as he said before sliding my phone back into my hip pocket. Shit. If they patted me down, they were going to find the axe on my back. Shitshitshit.

Fergus and I moved back to where it felt like an innocent human might stand. When the cops came around the corner, I jumped and held up the hand not clutching Fergus’ leash. A cop stared at me, so I pointed a shaking finger toward the body to the side of the dumpster.

Another cop waved me to the side of the building and asked to see my ID. I explained I was running and not carrying one. I gave him all my info and explained what I saw.

The older cop from yesterday came around the corner and squinted at me and Fergus. “You were here yesterday too.” His voice dripped with suspicion.

I nodded, my eyes wide and hopefully projecting fear.

“We run down here a lot. Fergus likes visiting the sea lions.” Right on cue, the sea lions began barking and Fergus gave a quiet woof in response.

“We were cutting through the back because I didn’t want to run past where that poor woman was.

” I scratched behind Fergus’ ear. “He smelled it first and pulled me over. I’ve never seen a dead person in my life. And then two in two days.”

I leaned over and kissed the top of my pup’s head. “Sorry. We’re not running down here ever again.”

“Big dog,” the first cop said. The older one had already dismissed us and was headed back to the dumpster.

“Irish Wolfhound. He’s eight months old, though, so he still has some growing to do.”

The cop held out a hand. “Is he friendly?”

“Oh, sure.” I gave Fergus some slack so he could say hi to the cop. “I wouldn’t have a giant dog I couldn’t control.”

He asked me a few more questions and then let us go.

Fergus and I ran back to the parking garage and headed home.

I’d lied to the cop about a few things. One of which was I did have ID on me; I just didn’t want to have to give him any more information than was necessary.

As I didn’t want to be pulled over leaving the scene of a crime in a car after I’d told officers I was running, I was overly careful on the drive home.

Once I parked, I sat in my car, trying to shake off the nerves. A hand rapped on the window, causing me to yip in fright and Fergus to bark and growl.

Vlad’s face appeared in the window, rolling his eyes. I threw open the door, hoping to hit him, but he was unsurprisingly fast. Fergus scrambled over the seats so he could get out right beside me. Now that he knew it was Vlad, he was squirming, looking for pets.

Vlad waited for us at the elevator. “Are you coming?”

The door opened and Vlad went in, with Fergus dancing around him.

I followed, hitting the button for the first floor.

The door slid to the side and Fergus raced to his food bowl, even though I hadn’t filled it yet.

He clearly just wanted to make sure I knew where my priorities should be, helpful dog that he was.

Vlad flew to the darkest corner of the room, behind a bookcase.

“Dude, are you moving my furniture?” I scooped kibble from the food bin and dropped it into Fergus’ bowl. He began inhaling it at once.

“Were you concerned about your guests’ comfort, you would have done this yourself, instead of forcing me to erect a lightless place for myself.”

Shaking my head, I refilled the water bowl. “We gave you a comfortable, lightless place to stay. It’s my underground apartment. No one told you to come into our house during the day.”

Unlike yesterday, it was bright and sunny today.

I opened the back door so Fergus could go out when he was done eating.

The window in the dining room was across from the den, so I closed those curtains, making the den darker.

Once Fergus came back in, I drew the curtains around the back door as well.

“The video is helpful,” Vlad said from his fortress of inky blackness.

Oh, that reminded me. I pulled up my texts and tapped the video Nerissa had sent me this morning of the killer.

The cameras were good, but it was dark, the only light coming from distant streetlights.

The man I saw this morning hoisted himself up on the side of the dumpster and was pulling open bags.

Something flashed in front of the camera and then a man was standing behind the victim.

I could only see his shoulder, the back of his head, an ear, and a bit of his jaw.

He waited while the man ate something. The killer was completely still. Was he breathing?

When the man slid down from the dumpster, his knees buckled, but he clung to the side until he was standing on his own. The killer moved into the frame, spun the man around, grabbed him by the neck, and pulled him to his mouth.

Horrified, I watched as the poor man stared straight ahead, showing a disturbing lack of alarm. Had he been put in a trance? Faster than I would have thought possible, the now dead man was being dropped to the ground. The killer turned toward the camera before leaping up and out of the frame.

Heart racing, I backed up to watch it again. When the killer turned toward the camera, I froze it. Vlad.