Page 20 of Isabelle’s Forbidden Love

“I feel like I should ask why,” Craig said hesitantly.

“Yeah, don’t. I’ll explain when you get there. Use the back entrance.”

“All right.”

Orlando disconnected the call, grabbed the Ziploc bag with an envelope he’d placed on the kitchen table the day before, and walked into the garage. The moment he was inside his Hummer, he tapped on the garage door opener and waited for the door to open.

He would be safe in his Hummer. Like all cars driven by Scanguards employees, even those not owned by the company, his car was equipped with special windows. They were coated with a film that prevented UV rays from shining into the car, making it safe for a vampire to drive during the day without fear of being burned by the sun.

A couple of minutes after leaving his house, he hopped on the freeway and headed for downtown. Again, he scrolled through his phone and made another call.

“Talbot’s,” the man answered.

“Hey, it’s Orlando. I need cameras and motion sensors, for outside and inside. Five cameras, seven windows, three doors.”

“I’ll put it together for you. Will take me about an hour or so. You want it delivered?”

“No, I’ll be in your area.”

“Good, I’ll get it ready.”

“Thanks.”

Orlando disconnected the call. The exit he needed to take was already indicated, and he left the freeway and took several turns to make his way to the place where he was meeting Craig. Hendricks Bar and Grill was the perfect meeting place during daylight hours: it stood empty, there was a covered parking area behind the bar, and the locks to the place weren’t worth a shit.

Orlando parked his Hummer close to the back entrance of Hendricks, grabbed the things he’d brought with him, and left the car, locking it quickly. It took him all of one minute to pick the lock and let himself into the dark interior. It smelled of stale beer and other unpleasant odors made even worse by his superior vampire senses. The place stank, and he could imagine only too well why the city had shut down the place if the number of cockroaches swarming around under his boots and being squashed by them was anything to go by.

He didn’t have to wait long for Craig to show up. The back door opened, and the lanky police officer in plain clothes entered. He had no idea that Orlando was a vampire, and there was no need for him to find out. All that counted was that Orlando had saved his life when three guys who had a beef with the police had attacked him while Craig was checking up on a homeless man camping out in the entrance of a building across from the employee parking lot of the Mezzanine. Orlando had come upon the scene just as he was leaving the club after his shift, and had made mincemeat out of the attackers.

Craig was grateful, knowing full well that he wouldn’t have survived the attack, had Orlando not charged into the fray. Ever since then, Craig was only all too willing to help out with this or that, as long as it wasn’t blatantly against the law.

“Dank place,” Craig said as he approached. “Do you ever go out in the sun? It would be a perfect day for lunch outside.”

“Skin cancer runs in my family,” Orlando lied, “so, no sun for me.”

“All right, so what do you need?”

Orlando pointed to a table with several chairs and sat down. He pulled out two pairs of plastic gloves from a bag, and started to put one pair on. He lifted his chin toward Craig. “Might wanna put those on.”

Craig sat down and followed Orlando’s suggestion. “Now I’m officially curious.”

Wearing the latex gloves, Orlando pulled the envelope he’d received in the mail the previous day out of a small Ziploc bag and opened it. Carefully, he pulled out the postcard-sized paper.

“Got this in the mail yesterday. I need to know if the sender left any fingerprints.”

Craig raised his eyebrows.

“Unfortunately, the envelope will be of no use,” Orlando added. “Too many people handled it. But I’m the only one who touched the sheet inside. And only with my right hand.”

“May I?” Craig reached for the piece of paper and Orlando handed it to him.

“Is it doable?”

Craig nodded. “Yeah. I’ll have to eliminate your prints though, but I guess you knew that already, or you wouldn’t have asked me to bring the kit.”

“Yep.”

“It would be much easier if we went to the station where I could use the LiveScan machine to capture your fingerprints.”