Page 14 of Midlife Vampire Unexpected

I understood what she wanted. “Sure,” I agreed. “We should research similar crimes across state and county lines.” Our goal was to get Sheriff Ted caught up in a case that was nowhere near our demon problem.

“I thought of that,” Sheriff Ted said. “Why don’t I get you on that, Bianca. Start looking around and contact other departments. I want to see if we can solve this on our own. Deputy, you take this list and go to the Crown Hotel. Find out if any of the people there are matters of interest.”

I grabbed the piece of paper off the table and walked out into the reception area.

“I thought you were supposed to wait in the car,” I said to Antonio, who was sitting there waiting for us.

“I’m not a dog,” Antonio growled at me. “I don’t do as I’m told.”

“Well, that’s apparent,” I said. “It’s not very useful when it comes to working with the team. You want to be where you tell your teammate you’re going to be, so they know where to find you.”

“Just because I haven’t been on a team in a while doesn’t mean I don’t know what they are,” he said. “I just got a feeling I should come in here.”

“Now you can have the feeling to go out,” I muttered.

“Antonio, you need to go with her.” Bianca said. “Chloe needs to go down to the Crown Hotel and start talking to people from out of town who we don’t know. The demon could be there posing as a tourist. We don’t know, but we can’t send her out alone as bait for a killer.”

“My prime objective is to guard you,” Antonio pointed out. “You’re the one with the price on your head.”

“I’m sitting in the sheriff’s office. What’s going to happen?” Bianca said.

“Anything can happen,” Antonio said. “That’s one thing I know for sure, I’ve seen a lot of crazy shit in this world.”

“She needs you,” Bianca said pointedly.

Somehow those words triggered Antonio. I watched it in his movements. His ears perked up and his back got a little straighter. Still, it was not like he was pleased. He glared at Bianca.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “But we’re going straight to the Crown Hotel and then coming right back.”

“I don’t need you to take care of me,” I said irritably as we walked toward the police car.

“Well, apparently your teammate thinks you do, and if we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it right,” he insisted. “At least this way, if I’m with you can feed off me rather than off some unsuspecting patron of the crown hotel.”

“I’m not an animal,” I hissed.

“That’s what you think,” he said with a smirk, leaving me wondering exactly what vampire thing I didn’t know about.

Chapter 9

The Crown Hotel was only a two-block walk from the police station, so I decided I would walk down there. I didn’t really expect to find what we were looking for, but I had agreed to do my job, so that was what I was going to have to do. I had to follow the sheriff’s instructions. Antonio walked next to me, and his body was a furnace. Even at the couple of feet he walked from me, I could feel the heat radiating off his body.

My body had felt icy cold since I’d been turned. It was a strange kind of cold that didn’t bother me the way it would have when I was a human. With Antonio near me, it was like standing next to an inferno without feeling the burn. The idea I wasn’t a human anymore still made me feel a bit strange. At forty-five, I was single; I’d never had kids. I had dedicated my life to serving in the police force, but things in Indianapolis had gotten a little bit messy forcing me to leave.

“Do you need to know what we’re looking for?” Antonio asked.

“Suspects,” I said.

“Suspects to distract the sheriff with,” he clarified.

“If that’s what it takes,” I nodded in agreement.

“We could be out looking for the real killer rather than wasting our time.” Antonio pointed out.

“I have a job to do,” I said. “I’m going to do it and you never know, we might find the killer.”

“Is following the sheriff’s commands blindly your job description?” Antonio asked.

My skin flushed. “No, of course not, but he is my boss and I think in this case he’s right.”

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