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As usual, I ran the errands scheduled for the day—a case of blood at Mr. Rychek’s house, cat food for Ms. Wexler, a meeting with a photographer who was thinking about expanding into vampire ceremonies.
And I deposited some of the rather large wad of cash Cal had given me as a “retainer.” That was unusual. I felt like I was walking around with a target on my back, carrying that much money around. There was a possibility that the Council was watching my accounts following their visit. So I put half of the money into Gigi’s college fund, which was in her name, and made a double payment on the home-equity loan. The loan payments were reasonable enough that making several increased payments over time wouldn’t raise too many eyebrows. The rest would be kept in my sock drawer for emergencies … or to lure Chick Webster to the house the next time we had a midnight plumbing disaster.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much cash at once, Miss Iris,” confessed Posey Stubblefield as she counted out five thousand dollars in hundreds for Gigi’s tuition fund. A recent hire, Posey had been fired from her job at the Half-Moon Hollow Public Library for setting the reference room ablaze with a badly planned Halloween display. Lit jack-o’-lanterns and newspapers were, apparently, a dangerous combination. With this in mind, I kept my very flammable stack of money close until it was absolutely necessary to hand it over.
“I’ve been saving up here and there for a while,” I told her quietly. “Sort of a cookie-jar savings account.”
“Must have been one hell of a cookie jar,” she muttered. “Do vampires really tip that well?”
I chuckled. To most humans who worked for them, vampires were notoriously horrible tippers. Most of them had been turned long before the practice became popular and seemed to resent the idea of rewarding humans for “doing their jobs properly.” But instead of bursting poor Posey’s bubble, I just nodded and signed the slip for Gigi’s deposit.
“Do you need any extra help at Beeline, Miss Iris?”
Thinking of the many jobs Posey had lost because of mysterious workplace fires, combined with the general flammability of my clients, I shuddered. “Sorry, Posey. I’m just starting out. I don’t need anyone else just yet.”
Posey shrugged and grinned good-naturedly. “Oh, well, but keep me in mind, will you?”
I booked it out of the bank lobby before Posey managed to ignite her nameplate.
Eager to make up for missing the day before, I was meticulous in my attention to detail. I double-checked invoices and triple-checked blood types. I entered my clients’ houses carefully, straightened area rugs, and left each place tidier than I found it.
I was not looking forward to going into Cal’s house later. I had a weird sense of foreboding, like a black spot hanging over the end of my day. I chalked it up to anxiety over the bank deposit and whether Posey would flap her gums about my “tips.” Anyone who knew vampires would see through that ploy right away.
I tried to think of something else, focusing on the tasks at hand. But finally, just around four, I pulled into the driveway four doors down from Cal’s house. I dialed my home number on my cell and actually hoped that Cal wouldn’t pick up, so I wouldn’t have to go in. But damned if he didn’t pick up on the second ring, sounding somewhat coherent.
Silently mouthing curses, I tucked my earpiece into my left ear and got out of the car. I pulled a slip of paper and a blue plastic card out of my purse. I punched the code into the keypad near the door. But the light over the buttons flashed an uncooperative red.
“I told you, the Council has changed your door code,” I said, checking the paper and retyping the code listed.
“That’s why I gave you that blue card,” he said, yawning.
“What does it do?”
“I can’t tell you.”
I cocked my hand on my hip and glared toward the earpiece as if he could feel my irritation through the cell connection. “I get really tired of that answer.”
“Place the card between the wall and the lockbox, and shove it until it’s between the metal plates. It will interrupt the signal to the lockbox without alerting the alarm company.”
I was about to follow his directions, but I withdrew my hand from the keypad. “Will that shock me in any way?”
I heard him yawn again. “It shouldn’t.”
“Also not a great answer,” I told him dryly as I slipped the card into place. The indicator lights flickered once and turned green. I yanked the card out and stuffed it into my pocket. The house was dark. The sunproof shades were down, and I didn’t think it would be a good idea to raise them or turn on the lights. I stilled, blinking rapidly to let my eyes adjust to the darkness.
“Cal?” I whispered into the headset. “Are you awake?”
“Barely,” he muttered. “Why are you whispering?”
“I really don’t know.” I allowed my voice to rise to a normal level. “Where do I need to look?”
“My office,” he said. “Top of the stairs, first door on the left. There should be a white cardboard file box on the desk.”
“Seriously, you just left your files out on your desk?” I asked, climbing the stairs.
“No, that’s my decoy box. I just want to see if they took it.”
“Your mind is a dark, scary place,” I murmured as I turned into the hall.
