"Mr. and Mrs. Quinlan, my name's Anita Blake. I need to ask you a few questions."
"Have you staked the body yet?" the man asked.
"No, Mr. Quinlan, the sheriff and I agreed to wait twenty-four hours."
"Her immortal soul is in jeopardy. We want it done now."
"If you still want it done tomorrow night, I'll do it."
"We want it done now." He was holding his wife very tight, fingers digging into her shoulder.
She opened her eyes and blinked at him. "Jeffrey, please, you're hurting me."
He swallowed hard and loosened his grip. "I'm sorry, Sally. I'm sorry." The apology seemed to take some of the anger out of him. The lines in his face softened. He shook his head. "We must save her soul. Her life is gone, but her soul remains. We must save that at least."
There had been a time when I believed that, too. Down to my toes I thought all vampires were evil. Now, I wasn't so sure. I knew too many of them who didn't seem that bad. I knew evil when I felt it, and that wasn't what they were. I didn't know what they were, but were they damned? According to the Catholic Church, yes, they were, and so was the girl upstairs. But then, according to the Church, so was I. I'd become Episcopalian when the church declared all animators excommunicates.
"Are you Catholic, Mr. Quinlan?"
"Yes; what difference does that make?"
"I was raised Catholic. So I understand your beliefs."
"They are not beliefs, Miss... What is your name?"
"Blake, Anita Blake."
"They are not beliefs, Miss Blake. They are facts. Ellie's immortal soul is in danger of eternal damnation. We must help her."
"Do you understand what you're asking me to do?" I asked.
"To save her."
I shook my head. Mrs. Quinlan was looking at me. Her eyes were very intent. I was betting I could cause a little family disagreement.
"I will put a stake through her heart and chop off her head." I left the fact out that most of my executions were done with a shotgun now, at close range. It was messy and you needed a closed coffin, but it was a lot easier on me and a quicker death for the vampire.
Mrs. Quinlan started to cry again, huddling against her husband. She buried her face against him, smearing makeup on his clean white shirt.
"Are you trying to upset my wife?"
"No, sir, but I want you all to realize that two nights from now Ellie will rise as a vampire. She'll walk and talk. Eventually, she'll be able to be around you. If I stake her, all she'll be is dead."
"She is already dead. We want you to do your job," he said.
Mrs. Quinlan wouldn't look at me. Either she believed as strongly as her hubby, or she wouldn't fight him. Not even for her daughter's continued existence.
I let it go. I could stall for twenty-four hours. I doubted that Mr. Quinlan was going to change his mind. I had hopes for Mrs. Quinlan.
"Does the poodle always bark at strangers?"
They all three blinked at me like rabbits caught in headlights. The change of subject was too abrupt for their grief.
"What has that got to do with anything?" he asked.
"There is a murderous vampire out there somewhere. I'm going to catch him, but I need your help. So please just answer my questions as best you can."
"What does the dog have to do with it?"
I sighed and sipped my coffee. He had just found his daughter dead, murdered, raped, I'm sure he'd told himself. The horror of it cut him some slack, but he was beginning to use it up.
"The poodle barked its head off when I came to the door. Does it bark every time a stranger comes to the house?"
The boy saw what I was getting at. "Yeah, Raven always barks at strangers."
I ignored his parents and talked to the most reasonable person in the room. "What's your name?"
"Jeff," he said. God, Jeffrey Junior, of course.
"How many times would I have to come to the house before Raven stopped barking at me?"
He thought about that, rolling his lower lip under, really thinking about it.
Mrs. Quinlan sat up, a little apart from her husband. "Raven always barks when someone comes to the door. Even if she knows you."
"Did she bark tonight?"
The parents frowned at me. Jeff said, "Yeah. She barked like crazy until Ellie let her in her room just after dark. Ellie let her in, then a few minutes later Raven came back downstairs."
"How'd you find the body?"
"Raven started barking again and wouldn't stop. Ellie didn't let her in. Ellie always lets her in. I mean, I'm not allowed in her room, but Raven gets to go in even when Ellie wants her privacy." He made that last word sound like he usually said it with a lot of eye-rolling.
"I knocked at the door and she didn't answer. Raven was scratching at the door. It was locked. She locked her door a lot, but she wouldn't answer." A tear escaped from his wide eyes. "I went and got Dad."