Midnight Moon (Vampire for Hire #13)
Author: J.R. Rain
Chapter One
"I trust that anything discussed between us will be held in the utmost confidentiality," said the uptight man sitting across from me.
"It will unless I deem otherwise."
"You mean, unless I give my consent."
"That's not what I mean nor what I said."
The uptight man, whose name was Charlie Reed, studied me long and hard. I didn't like to be studied long and hard, or at all. Studying me long and hard might bring into question, say, my particularly sharp nails. Or the fact that I didn't, you know, breathe. Or that I was presently not casting a reflection in my office window, or on my computer screen, or even on the glass of beading water in front of me.
Charlie Reed was an electrical engineer for Raytheon. He was maybe forty-five years old. He was trim and well-groomed. He smelled good too. There were no laugh lines around his eyes. If anything, there were dark circles around his eyes, and actual bags too. The man needed a nap, like pronto.
"Ms. Moon, you don't seem to understand. I don't want my confidential information discussed with anyone."
"Duly noted, and I will do my best to comply."
"I'm not sure that's good enough. Can you give me any other assurances?"
"If I don't get questioned by the police, you should be okay. If I don't need to stop a crime, you should be okay. If I don't need to report you, you should be okay. That's all the assurance I can give you."
He sat back in my client chair, tilted his head to the right and took in some air from the position. He thought about my words, then he started nodding. "I get it. You're neither an attorney nor a doctor."
"Nope."
"So there's no client or patient confidentiality."
"None to speak of."
"And should you need to go to the police, or the police come to you..."
"I'll decide how much I will tell them, if anything."
"You've been in this business a long time."
"Ten years and counting."
"And before that?"
"I was a federal agent."
He nodded. His nerves were settling. He hadn't liked me asserting myself. Whether or not that was because I was a woman, I didn't know. Granted, I could have found that out easily enough. Yes, I'm one of those super-duper weirdos who can read minds. But I don't read minds willy-nilly. Mostly because doing so sort of opens up a mindlink, and sometimes my own personal thoughts get through to them too. As in, he could know what I was thinking. I didn't think Charlie Reed wanted to know what I was thinking.
I waited for him to process the information provided. While I waited, I noted his slicked-back hair and neat suit and perfectly manicured nails. Now he started nodding. He was coming around to the idea that he needed my help more than he needed to tell me how to run my business.
"Okay," he said. "Your terms are reasonable. And Detective Sherbet had good things to say about you."
"Did he mention anything about my uncanny knack for getting out of sticky situations?"
"No. But you are joking."
"I am, but I kind of do."
"Get out of sticky situations?"
"Yes."
"Good to know. He also said you were, ah, particularly qualified to help me with my, um, situation."
"That's a lot of 'ums' and 'ahs,'" I said.
Charlie rolled his head from one side to the next, which resulted in a number of pops and cracks. Next, he adjusted his position in the client chair, shifting from one cheek to the next, probably because my client chairs weren't too comfortable. Or maybe because the conversation had taken a direction in which he felt less sure-footed.
Of course, any time a client came recommended to me from Sherbet for my "particular qualifications," there were going to be a lot of "ums" and "ahs" and neck-cracking and butt-shifting.
"Ms. Moon. Do you believe in ghosts?"
Chapter Two
"Yes."
"So you've seen them before?"
"Oh, yes."
"Do you see them often?"
"Yes."
"Every day?"
"Yes."
"Do you see one now?"
"No, not now. My house isn't haunted."
"Where do you see them?"
"Just about everywhere else."
"Are you prone to delusions, Ms. Moon?"
"Would I know it if I were?"
He thought about that. "Maybe not. But you think you see them?"
"I know I see them."