Page 42 of Be Still My Unbeating Heart

Bastian shook the thought free. Salvador was just trying to con Bastian out of his money. That was all.

“Matteo, on the other hand,” Bastian said, “that’s a man who knows violence. When I looked into his eyes, I saw it, as plain as you are before me now. And he has motive. Luna dumped him.”

“What’s his motive for killing Emilio, though?” Whitby asked.

Bastian noticed heat waves rippling around her, like she was a slab of meat fresh from the grill, and he tried to ignore it. The case was more important than the effects of the sun.

“Perhaps Emilio knew something that pinned Matteo to Luna’s murder,” he said. “Emilio seized up during the mind-casting when I asked about Matteo. He was scared of him.”

“It would be pretty stupid of the man to killtwoof his colleagues in less than a day.”

Bastian squinted at her. “You think it’s a coincidence? Or are you saying that Matteo really is that stupid?”

“You tell me,you’rethe one who saw violence in his eyes.”

“You make it sound contrary.”

Whitby sniffed. “I’m not discounting your instincts, I just don’t think you can look in somebody’s eyes and know they’re a killer. If you ask me, it’s the mayor who should be top of our list right now. That goblet of blood was a dick move.”

“The blood affected you, didn’t it?” De Luca asked Bastian. Was that concern in his face? The thought made Bastian feel even more lightheaded. He was so accustomed to the inspector scowling and grunting, the sudden concern felt alien—and there was a tingle in his belly at the possibility that De Luca cared.

“I’m fine, darling, but thank you for asking.”

“Some vampires are able to wean themselves off human blood,” Whitby said, “but it’s sort of an all-or-nothing scenario. Removing human blood from their diet doesn’t necessarily remove the craving. A single drop can send them into a feeding frenzy. It’s like people who give up chocolate and then end up eating a whole box by themselves. I wonder if the mayor knows that.”

“If she did, that is worrying,” De Luca said.

“How long has she been mayor?” Bastian asked.

“Three years. She’s progressive, open-minded. The kind of person Vernazza needs, or at least, that’s how it has always seemed.”

“So progressive that she supports L.O.V.E.,” Bastian said. “I wonder if she has bitten off more than she can chew with that one.”

“She could be a vampire,” Whitby said, her eyebrows rising.

Bastian shook his head. “I heard her pulse. She’s human. De Luca, can you think of any reason she would want to get rid of Luna and Emilio? Some shared history, perhaps?”

“No,” De Luca said. “I’m not sure she even knew Luna.”

“She was in the League with Emilio, though. And she is weird, maybe even dangerous.”

“Going after the mayor of Vernazza would be dangerous,” De Luca said. “It would be an even bigger deal than going after the commissario’s son. If we’re wrong, we could lose a powerful ally.”

“But what if we’re not?”

“We’d need evidence. Something concrete that tied her to the murders. The commissario would accept nothing less than a bloody dagger.”

Nobody spoke.

De Luca was watching the harbor again, and there seemed to be something on his mind. Bastian recalled what Zappa had said about De Luca disgracing the memory of his father.

“Zappa shouldn’t have said what he did,” Bastian said, “about your father.”

De Luca looked at him, surprise in his eyes. Surprise that Bastian remembered?

“The oaf is a disgrace,” Whitby grumbled. “He should try a few nights in a cell, see how he likes it.”

De Luca’s mouth teased a smile as he looked at the cat, but she was too busy licking her shoulder to notice.