Gemma Halliday - Fearless in High Heels

“Alexa worked a private party for me two nights ago,” he answered. “That was the last time I saw her.”

“Did she leave alone?” I asked.

Sebastian paused, and I could see him carefully formulating his answer. “My actresses always leave alone. What they do once they leave here, I have no idea. That’s beyond my control as an employer.”

I raised an eyebrow. Why did I get the feeling he was being purposefully vague again?

“Did Alexa have any enemies?” Marco cut in. “Anyone who would want her dead?’

Sebastian shook his head. “Not that I know of. Then again I wasn’t on personal terms with her. She was an employee.”

“How long had she worked for you?” Dana asked.

“A few weeks.”

“And how deep into the vampire fantasy was she?” I asked.

He shrugged. “She was very good at her job. Beyond that, I can’t tell you what her preferences were, whether or not she chose to live the lifestyle outside of work.”

Whether she chose to live it or not, it had certainly been a part of her death. Which brought me to my next question…

“What do you know about sanguinarians?” I asked, pulling the term from my Moonlight education.

Sebastian turned to me, the twinkle of amusement shining in his unnaturally pale eyes again. “You mean drinking blood?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Okay, I’ll bite.” He paused, then grinned. “No pun intended,” he added with a wink. “Sanguinarian is the technical term for a person who has an inherent thirst or physical need, that lies outside of eroticism or fetish, to drink blood. Los Angeles has the largest recorded number of sanguinarians in the United States. According to the 2010 census more than two-hundred and seventy-five thousand of them reside in southern California. Is that what you wanted to know?”

I bit my lip. And slowly nodded. Though I noticed he the use of the world “them” to describe the blood drinkers and not “we”. I wondered if it was intentional or a slip of the tongue.

“Was Alexa involved with anyone at your parties who was a sanguinarian?” I asked.

Sebastian frowned. “May I ask why you’d like to know?”

“Because she was killed last night,” Dana pointed out.

I could see thought churning behind Sebastian’s eyes, but his face was impassive enough that I couldn’t read them. “And this has to do with my parties because…?”

“She bled to death. From a pair of bite marks on her neck.”

“Messy,” he answered, his face still impassive.

“You’d think. But there actually wasn’t much blood at the scene at all.”

“So, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that…” I paused. I wasn’t really sure what I was saying. It seemed silly now that I was voicing our theory out loud.

“That a vampire bit her, drank her blood, and killed her,” Marco finished for me, never one to worry about looking silly.

Sebastian looked from Marco to me to Dana, then back to me again. “And you’re here to accuse me?”

“If the fangs fit,” Marco said, with a lot more bravado than I currently felt, pinned to my seat by those intensely pale eyes.

But while I might have expected Sebastian to get defensive when being accused of sucking the life out of a person, he seemed as cool and calm as he had since we entered his modern lair.

“I’m sorry, but you’re way off track,” he told Marco.

“So point us to the right one,” I offered. “Who might have done this to Alexa?”

He shook his head. “Like I said, I wasn’t privy to her personal life.”

“Do you know who might have been?” I asked. “She had a friend with her last night. A redhead?”

“Becca?” Sebastian asked.

Bingo. “Do you have a last name for Becca?”

“Diamond. She worked for me as well. Why?” he asked.

I hesitated to tell him that she was as of now suspect nurermo uno. “She may have been the last one to see Alexa alive.”

Sebastian frowned. “That’s troubling.”

I’ll say.

“So, Becca is one of your vampires, too?” Dana clarified.

“Actress. But, yes, she plays that role.”

Maybe one Becca took too seriously. Had she fought with Alexa over something? Had she bitten her and – my stomach rolled at the thought – actually drained her friend of blood? “Do you know where we can find her?” I asked.

Sebastian nodded. “I can look up her personnel file. Excuse me for a movement.” He got up and moved from the room.

As soon as the three of us were alone, Marco leaned forward. “Did you see how he floated out of here?”

“He didn’t float. He walked. Gracefully,” I added.

“Did anyone notice if he had a reflection as he walked past the artwork? Did you see him in the glass?”

I rolled my eyes. “He is not a vampire, Marco.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Mostly.

Marco opened his mouth to argue, but before he could make another case for the undead, Sebastian returned, a slip of paper in hand.

“Here’s the phone number and address we have on file for Becca,” he said handing the paper to me. I cringed in anticipation of a cold, clammy hand but was met with normal flesh. I gave myself a mental shake. I’d been watching too much Moonlight .

“Thanks,” I said, slipping it into my purse as I rose.

“I would appreciate it if you would keep me apprised of your findings,” Sebastian said as he led us back toward the front door. “And please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

I nodded, thanking him for his time, even though I had the distinct feeling that last offer was a hollow one.

Especially if he was the blood drinker we were after.

The first thing I did when we got back to the car was dial Becca’s number. It rang seven times, then unfortunately went to voicemail, where I left her a message with my name and number, asking her if she could please call me back.

“So, what do we think of Fang?” Dana asked as I hung up.

That was a loaded question. I thought he was hiding something, for certain. But whether it was about Alexa’s death or his own unique drinking problem, I wasn’t sure. And adding to that uncertainty was the shiver still sitting mid-spine that his icy blue eyes had created. Dangerous, intense, seductive. Totally unnerving.

So instead I shrugged. “Question mark?”

“Good way of putting it,” Marco said, nodding in the passenger seat. “You can never be sure what vampires are capable of.”

Dana and I did a synchronized eye roll. “Seriously, Marco?” I said. “You can’t really believe there are vampires among us?”

Marco blinked at me in the rearview mirror. “Hello? Did you not hear the man? There are two-hundred and seventy-five thousand real vampires among us.”

“Two-hundred and seventy-five thousand weirdoes that claim to drink blood,” Dana clarified.

“Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe,” he annunciated, waving me off. “I’m still glad I’m wearing a turtleneck, because that guy – Hey, did you guys just roll your eyes at me?”

After all that eye-rolling and vampire questioning, I’d worked up an appetite. Luckily, there was an In-N-Out Burger conveniently situated just off Laurel Canyon, after a minimum of whining on my part about my starving baby, Dana agreed to stop.

Marco ordered a protein burger – meat, lettuce, tomato, no bun – saying he was watching his carb intake now that he was seeing Gunnar. Dana ordered water, saying that everything on the menu was loaded with fat and non-organic pesticides. I ordered a double, double with extra cheese, a side of animal style fries and a Neapolitan shake, saying nothing.