“You should see the things I can do in the dark. Although, I’m not known to be so silent. In fact, I can give every werewolf in this place a run for their howling money.”
A devilish gleam takes over his eyes. “I’ll make sure to give you something to howl about, Kitten.”
“Promises, promises.” I give his tie a quick tug. “So? How about it? You and me?” I shrug. “Are we a thing now?”
He lands his forehead to mine a moment. “We’re a thing.”
“Maybe this thing can meet up at your place later and we can share a pizza?”
“How about chicken parmesan? Stephanie dropped a pan off this afternoon, and I haven’t had a chance to dig in.”
“Why do I get the feeling my sister has the key to your cabin?”
“How else is she going to fill my fridge?”
“As long as that’s all she’s filling. If I know my sister. That’s my Nana Rose’s recipe, and just wait until you—” The room sways beneath my feet. That warm, fuzzy feeling takes over, and soon I’m treated to a view of a couple in my mind’s eye. It’s Jack Butler and is that…Miggy? They’re dancing. No, wait, they’re arguing, and he’s trying to hold her back from leaving. Miggy turns toward him and looks down at the way he’s holding her wrist. “I’m in danger.”
I gasp as Shep breathes hot in my ear.
“Bowie,” he says my name sharply before pulling back to get a better look at me. “It’s happening again, isn’t it?”
My mouth opens and closes. “I just”—I glance to the bar and spot a vampire with a broad forehead and winning smile—“there he is.” I pull Shep by the hand, and we find two stools right in front of the vindictive vampire himself. “What’s the special?” I call out as I force a smile to come and go.
Jack Butler looks every bit the vampire part, dark cloak with red lining, white as a sheet face, and bloody trails from his lips to his chin, but it’s those red contacts he’s wearing that really give him that otherworldly edge.
“Blood on the rocks—a Bloody Mary with a twist of lime.” He sheds a fanged smile.
“Sounds great.” I nod his way and he points to Shep.
“And you?” He squints at Shep a moment. “Hey, if it isn’t Detective Wexler. It’s on me. Name your poison.”
“Whatever you got on tap.” Shep takes up my hand and interlaces our fingers, and I marvel at how natural it feels.
Jack tips his head with amusement. “Is this your girlfriend?”
“Sure is.” Shep is quick to offer up my shiny new title. And darned if I’m not as giddy as a seventh grader who just scored the title for the very first time.
“I am?” I all but giggle right at him. Just hearing Shep say it makes me feels as if the cute boy in school just asked me to the dance.
Okay, so maybe he’s holding my hand and declaring me his plus one because it falls in line with the plan he’s hatched to trap the bartender into telling us all he knows, but I’m not opposed to his tactics.
“We’re new, though.” Shep blinks a dry smile my way, and I can’t help but swoon. The man knows how to weave a web. “My ex isn’t thrilled,” he says as Jack slides his beer over, then mine.
Jack’s chest thumps with a laugh. “I know all about it. Or at least I did. You know Hazel and I dated.” He picks up a glass and begins wiping it down. The blood running down his chin is bright red and glossy, and his incisors look filed down to vampire perfection and yet they look so natural. It’s hard to believe those chompers aren’t his. “Hazel wanted to control me. I know that’s not something I should say now that she’s gone, but I’m half-afraid her family is going to insist I’m locked up. Hazel Newton had issues.”
I make a face. “I’ve heard.” I don’t tell him that I happened to hear it from his present girlfriend. “But who cares if Hazel had issues? Don’t we all?”
Shep darts his eyes my way and shakes his head just enough for me to see he doesn’t think I should be headed in this direction.
I tick my head to the side as if to contest him. And I’m about to do just that when Jack’s shoulders sag a moment.
“You’re right,” he says. “We’ve all got something brewing just beneath the surface. But I can guarantee you, I would never touch a woman, let alone knife her down so brutally. Despite our differences, I really did love Hazel. I just couldn’t breathe anymore around her. So when she decided we should cool things for a while, I was thrilled.
“I met Carrie and she was a breath of fresh air. We have similar backgrounds—school of hard knocks, stuff like that—whereas Hazel had everything handed to her. Whatever Hazel wanted, Hazel got. I think that’s where the control issues came from. I was a wild card. She didn’t want me to open the club. She thought the women would overpower me. It’s as if she didn’t trust me to my own devices. I didn’t cheat on her, though. And yes, I’ve had plenty of opportunities.”
Shep blows out a heavy breath. “That sounds rough, buddy. I’m sorry it went down that way.”
I lean over my drink. “So what do you think?” I look Jack right in his blood red eyes. “Who could have been enraged enough with Hazel to take her down like that?”
He glances around the vicinity, and my guess is he’s looking for his brand new plus one.
“All right, so there was something I saw that makes me wonder. I’m not saying she did it. God no, but it was odd enough for me to sit up and take notice.”
“What is it?” Shep taps his glass over the counter like a gavel.
Jack takes a breath and lands on his elbows between the two of us. “Miggy and Hazel had a falling-out.”
“What?” I inch back, finding it impossible to hide my disbelief.
“It’s true.” His eyes widen with a genuine look of disbelief themselves. “Hazel was threatening to go out on her own, and Miggy said she wouldn’t let Hazel do to her what happened to Annabelle.”
“To Annabelle?” I rack my brain a moment. “With her party-planning business?”
“That’s right.” He nods. “Annabelle used to be the hot ticket. And for whatever reason, she dried up almost overnight. Hazel went to work for Miggy, but Hazel would complain that she was doing all the grunt work. She wanted some of the glory for herself. Miggy basically told her to step back. And Hazel said it would happen over her dead body. She said there was nothing Miggy could do to stop her.”
I glance to Shep.
A crowd engulfs the bar and Jack takes off to help inebriate the haunted masses.
“Shep,” I whisper to him. “I forgot to tell you that Miggy has the other earring—just like the one I found that night when I went to hose off. I swear to you, there was a bloody handprint on that wall and it didn’t belong to Stephanie.”
His brows narrow. “Why would it belong to Stephanie?”
My mouth opens, and I try to force a lie out, but it won’t budge.
“Because she touched the body.” I shrug. “Don’t ask. But I promise she’s not the killer.”