Page 16 of High Stakes and Soulmates
“I very much am.”
“What if I turn you into a vampire? Then you can be less careful.”
“You think the way to avoid attention is turning me into a vampire? Like… no one will notice an unapproved turning and that the human detective is just poof, a vampire?”
He grins. “Correct. I don’t know. I just… like… you’re so fragile now.”
I playfully smack him, which makes him laugh. “You’ve literally only been a vampire for four years. Don’t get too cocky.”
“Fine, fine, fine.”
I wake up as the sun is starting to set since that’s when Joaquin will be awake. “I think I was supposed to get groceries today,” I realize.
“You think?” Joaquin asks, looking at my barren fridge. “I can go out right now. I mean… how many vampires are trotting around the grocery store?”
“I guess you could do a grocery pickup,” I say, thinking that’d be pretty safe.
“Don’t know how to do that, but I’m ready to try.”
“Okay. This one is open until nine. Let’s see if they can get it together that quickly. And then I’ll get a shower and we can go out or something. Bowling? You want to go bowling? My boss was talking about bowling the other day and I realized I don’t remember ever doing that.”
“Didn’t you cry the last time we bowled? I guess you were like twelve, but you still shed tears.”
“I don’t remember that. I’m sure I cried in a dignified way.”
“Very,” Joaquin says, heading back to his room to get dressed while I check to see if they’d take such a late order. Thrilled they will, I get it set up. Joaquin has been here a few days at this point, and quickly slipped back into the same routine of pestering me to be safe, telling me I really shouldn’t be putting my life on the line, and playing video games. Sometimes, I can’t help but wonder if he even wants to find the vampire after his life as much as I do. He was extremely adamant right after it all happened. But I think as the years went on, he kind of got tired of it going nowhere. A tip led us here and then… nothing happened. Not long after is when Casimir moved in and my life took a turn for the thrilling.
And Joaquin got anxious again, but I don’t blame him. I do the same when he heads out, knowing that he could fuck up.
“Pickup scheduled for nine,” I tell him.
“Got it, got it,” he says. “And I just like drive up and use the app?”
“Yeah. Thanks. I’m going to go get a shower.”
“I’ll leave here in fifteen minutes. Mind if I take your car?”
“I’d prefer it. I think running up on your vampire legs and just loading your whole body down with grocery bags might be oddly suspicious.”
“No idea what you mean,” he teases.
I get in the shower but before I’ve finished, my phone rings. I reach out and snatch it up just to see who is calling. When I see that it’s Maeve, I quickly rinse off and shut the water off before accepting the call.
“Hello?”
“We have another one.”
“I was worried that’s why you were calling me.”
“Bring Ezio.”
“Will do,” I say. The moment I hang up with her, I call Joaquin. “Hey, how far away are you?”
“About five minutes from home? Pulling up to the grocery store now. You need me?”
“No, I’m going to have Ezio pick me up. There’s been another murder. I’ll be home late.”
Joaquin turns quiet and I grimace.
