Page 31 of Now or Never

There was no doubt in my mind that this was true. I took Hamilton Avenue to Broad and Broad to State Street. I drove through center city and turned onto Freemont. The laundromat was squashed between a store selling gently used clothes and a tattoo parlor.

“Look at this,” Lula said. “You could take your pick of parking spots. There’s hardly any cars parked here. Only that one in front of the tattoo parlor.”

“The one up on cinder blocks because its wheels have been removed?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. The one that’s all spray-painted with gang slogans.”

Here’s the thing. I’m not all that brave, and I’m not genius brilliant. I think I get by because I have some common sense and I persevere. And common sense told me that most self-respecting gangbangers weren’t out stealing cars and shooting people at this hour of the morning. So, the risk of theft and death was greatly diminished.

I parked at the curb, and Lula and I walked into the laundromat. It was standard fare with a row of washing machines and clothes dryers on one side, folding tables in the middle of the floor, and a row of plastic chairs on the other side. There were some vending machines and a couple closed doors at the back of the room. No one was out and about. The place was eerily quiet. Lula and I walked down the row of chairs to the machines dispensing detergent packets, soda, and candy bars.

“Looks like nobody’s home,” Lula said. She knocked once on a door that saidLADIES AND GENTS, pushed it open, and looked inside. “Nobody home here either.”

The door next to the candy bars was closed.Officehad been written on it with a permanent marker. I opened the door, and Lula and I stepped inside. A woman was sprawled on the floor. Her eyes were open and fixed. Her mouth was open, but her screams were silent. She had a wound on her neck and blood was everywhere. A man dressed in black was bending over her. He looked up when we entered and hissed at us. He had blood onhis hands and blood was dripping from his mouth. He catapulted over the woman, shoved Lula out of his way, and ran out of the room and out of the building.

“Holy hell,” Lula said. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she crashed to the floor.

My heart was beating hard in my chest. I instinctively put my hand to my belly in a protective gesture and sucked in air. I fumbled in my pockets, located my phone, and called Morelli.

“I’m in a laundromat on Freemont Street,” I said, “and there’s a woman dead here and there’s blood all over and the vampire knocked Lula out of his way and ran out of the building.”

“Are you pranking me?”

“N-n-no,” I said.

“This for real? Are you okay?”

“I’m sort of shaky, but I don’t think I’m going to throw up. Lula fainted, and she’s still lying here.”

“Step away from the crime scene,” he said. “I’m on my way.”

Lula was mumbling and her eyes were open, but she wasn’t coherent. I grabbed her feet and managed to pull her out of the office.

“Wha…,” Lula said.

“You fainted,” I told her. “Stay down until the paramedics get here.”

“Wha?”

I heard sirens and saw the cop car angle-park. Two uniforms came in. One went to Lula. The other went into the office and closed the door. A fire truck rolled to a stop and the paramedics came in.

I pointed to Lula. “She fainted,” I said to a paramedic. “I don’t know if she hit her head on the floor.”

I moved to the row of seats and sat down. Lula was still onthe floor, getting oxygen. I felt like I could use some oxygen, but I didn’t want to look like a wimp.

Morelli walked in and came directly to me. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Mostly,” I said. “I need a Snickers bar.”

“That’s my girl,” Morelli said.

“No, really. Get me a Snickers bar. The machine is in the back.”

Morelli yelled at one of the uniforms. “Jake, get me a Snickers bar from the machine.” He turned back to me. “Talk to me.”

“I got an FTA who was charged with assault. Bit a woman in the neck and said he was a vampire. His name is Zoran something. Owns this laundromat. Lula and I got here, and the place was empty. We went to the office and found this guy bending over a dead, bloody body. He had blood all over his hands and dripping from his mouth. He bolted when he saw us. Knocked Lula aside and ran out.”

“Maybe we should talk about our future and you retiring,” Morelli said.

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