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The curtain was almost closed when I asked, “One of the vampires…was his name Holden?”
“Your friend is fine. He’s being a rather distracting pain in the ass and has been asking for you since we brought him in, but aside from some weakness and other symptoms associated with vampire starvation, he’s doing well. ”
“Maxime?” My voice was small.
The doctor became quiet. “No. I’m sorry. Now please, try and get some rest. ”
He left before I could ask about my father.
I lay still, staring up at the stained ceiling tiles and counting the beats of my own heart as they echoed on the ECG. They were slow, but that was normal for me.
After I’d counted to a hundred, the curtain rattled again. A man in a nondescript black suit came in. He was a little taller than me, and Latino, his black hair short on the sides in a severe buzz cut. He couldn’t have screamed government employee any louder unless he had mirrored aviators on and drove a black SUV.
“Good evening, Ms. McQueen. My name is Special Agent LaRoy. Sorry to bother you while you’re recovering, but my partner and I were hoping to ask you a few questions if we could. ”
“Is your first name Special Agent?” I asked.
“No, ma’am. ”
“Tell me your first name, and I’ll answer your questions. You’ll have to forgive me for not wanting to talk to anyone who uses a title instead of a name, considering The Doctor and all. ”
“Of course. ” He smiled, and it was a nice smile, one that warmed his face and made his eyes twinkle. As far as G-men went, this guy seemed okay. “My first name is Emilio. ”
“Hi, Emilio. My name is Secret. ”
“A pleasure, ma’am. ” The curtain rattled and was pushed back. “I believe you know my partner? Special Agent Tyler Nowakowski. ”
Chapter Thirty-Four
It was nice to know I could still be surprised.
It was also a good thing the collar had been removed. “Jesus fucking Christ, are you fucking shitting me?”
Emilio coughed into his hand to cover his laughter and clapped Tyler once on the back. “I’ll give you two a minute, go get us some coffee before we start the interview, okay?”
He didn’t wait for our response, just vanished into the hospital.
“Tyler?”
“Hi, Secret. ” He looked different. I was used to seeing him in dress pants and button-down shirts, but in his FBI suit he appeared less beaten down. The stubble normally coloring his jaw was gone in favor of a clean-shaven face. This was the Tyler I’d gone on a blind date with years ago. This was Tyler the way I’d imagined he’d been before he met me.
“Special Agent Tyler?” That was more of a mouthful than Detective Tyler. It might take some getting used to.
“Guess the cat’s out of the bag. ”
“How are you an FBI agent? I just saw you in New York less than two weeks ago working at the police station. ”
“That’s my cover now. ”
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. I couldn’t make sense of this. “Now? So you were a cop first and then a special agent, or a special agent pretending to be a cop?”
“I used to be just a cop, then after the incident with Gabriel Holbrook, and that…thing pretending to be you? I know you did me a favor by not taking my memory, but I had a hard time accepting the truth. I started doing some searches online. Turns out the FBI don’t just monitor the Internet for assassination threats and bomb recipes. ”
“They came to you?”
“They came to me and asked what I knew. I left you out of it, but I told them I’d seen vampires, told them what I’d witnessed in the basement of the precinct. Told them about those murdered teenagers at Christmas. Everything. I thought they would think I was insane and lock me up, but they gave me a job instead. ”
“What kind of job?”
