Kiss of the Vampire(25)

MacMillan smiled at the waitress as she began clearing the table. “Thanks, sweetheart,” he said softly as she left.

Nix heaved a sigh. “You flirt with every woman you see, don’t you?” She sounded more aggrieved than jealous. Somehow that made Tobias feel better.

“I like women. You’re my favorite though,” the detective added with a slight smile.

“Oh, give me a break.” She stared at him, lips twitching, and Tobias knew she fought a grin. She couldn’t win the battle, though, and let out a laugh, leaning sideways to bump MacMillan with her shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and hugged her to his side.

Tobias stared down into his coffee cup for a second. Once upon a time, he and Nix had been affectionate like that. More than just being in love, they’d genuinely liked each other. Now he supposed, at least on her side of things, that was gone. He tightened his lips. He couldn’t exactly begrudge her easy friendship with the detective, especially since it was more like brother and sister than anything romantic, but it rankled just the same. He looked across the table at his colleagues. “Can we talk about the case?”

“So what’s the plan, chief?” MacMillan took his arm off Nix’s shoulders and stretched it along the back of the booth bench.

“We should get started on interviews with Rinda’s friends.” Tobias paused. “You’ve already talked with the first victim’s friends and co-workers?”

Nix nodded. “The body was discovered early yesterday morning, but the ME says TOD was probably somewhere between ten and midnight the night before. From the time I left the crime scene up until I got the call about Rinda last night we were interviewing the friends we knew of. We still need to talk to his business partner, but other than that, we didn’t turn up much.” She leaned back against her seat and crossed her arms. “All of that should be in the report. Didn’t the council give you a copy?”

“They did.” He shrugged. “I’d like to hear it from you, though. Get your impressions.”

“Okay. His name is Johnson Pickett, and he came through the rift in 1136 AD. According to everyone we talked to in the pret community, he was held in good regard. No enemies that anyone was aware of.” Her voice was matter-of-fact. She recited dry facts, which wasn’t what Tobias had been looking for.

“He was a vampire,” MacMillan chimed in before Tobias could say anything to Nix. “It wouldn’t be much of a leap to assume he had enemies.”

“You’re right.” Tobias lifted his coffee cup and took a sip. He’d long ago lost the capacity to taste anything sweet, but he could still savor bitter and tart. “There’s no such thing as a vampire without enemies. Some of us just have more than others.”

“No big surprise there,” Nix stated with an arch look across the table at him. Before he could respond, she cleared her throat and went on. “Pickett’s business partner—and from what we’ve heard his sexual partner, since they lived together—was supposed to be back in town as of last night. We should be able to talk to him today. Once we’ve talked to Amarinda’s friends, too, we should have a clearer idea, don’t you think?” Her voice lost some of the recitation tone of earlier.

“This all needs to happen sooner rather than later. We need to go talk to the business partner now.” Tobias signaled to the waitress. “I don’t want any more killings.”

“Yeah, let’s not add to the spate.” Nix picked up her diet cola and took a long sip from the straw.

MacMillan grabbed the check from the waitress and fished in the rear pocket of his jeans for his wallet. “Am I missing something?” His gaze went from Nix to Tobias and back again.

Ignoring the detective for the moment, Tobias advised Nix, “Let it go. You can appreciate the council’s stance. We have two murdered vamps on our hands and not one clue as to why they’re dead or who killed them.”

MacMillan pulled a few bills out of his wallet. “Oh, I got it.” He looked at Nix. “Council’s been giving you a hard time again, have they?”

Tobias didn’t like the implication of that statement. From what he’d been told, Dante MacMillan had been on the Special Case Squad for only a month, yet the detective already knew that Nix and the council were at odds? Just how close were these two?

She rolled her eyes. “Apparently two deaths is now a ‘spate.’” Her brows dipped. “Not that I don’t understand why they’re upset. But I’m working as fast as I can.” She grabbed her wallet and dropped a five-dollar bill on the table to pay for her cola and oatmeal. She scooted off the seat to let MacMillan out.