Читать книгу Kissed by a Vampire - Caridad Pineiro - Страница 9

Alex handed the artist’s sketch to Miranda, the final one of Andrea’s friends he had to interview. The very last person who had seen Andrea entering the private area with the man they called “the Sheik.” Miranda had agreed to meet him at one of the cafés along the Ocean Drive strip where they sat at an intimate table for two tucked beneath an umbrella.

Miranda took but a cursory glance at the sketch and immediately shoved the drawing back in Alex’s direction. “This is the guy.”

With shaky hands she reached into her purse, pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered him one.

He held up his hand. “No, thanks.”

She lit up and took a deep drag, her actions skittish. Her eyes were hidden from him by the sunglasses she wore. She blew out a breath of smoke, and he watched it drift into the darkening Miami sky.

“You’re sure Andrea was with this man at the Widget?” he pressed, just to confirm.

Miranda bent forward and perused the sketch again before nodding and taking another nervous drag from her cigarette.

“I’m sure. We had seen him there before. He always had a harem and lots of money, so we nicknamed him ‘the Sheik.’”

“Do you know his real name?” Alex picked up his espresso cup and blew across its surface before taking a tentative sip.

Miranda glanced around, almost as if fearful to answer.

Alex tracked her gaze but observed nothing suspicious.

“Are you afraid, Miranda? Do you think—”

“He’ll come get me?” Miranda took a long pull on her cigarette before forcefully blowing out a plume of smoke.

“So, are you afraid?” he repeated when she delayed.

Miranda shrugged. “I don’t plan on going back to the Widget. Ever.”

“No one asked you to do that, Miranda. I just need you to tell me a little something more about that night and this man.” Alex flipped the sketch around so Miranda could not avoid seeing it.

Another shrug came in answer, shifting the strap of the loose black tank top she wore. The shirt dipped to reveal the curves of her breasts and no bra.

Miranda pulled the strap back into place as she said, “We went. We saw. She conquered.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “She, as in Andrea?”

Miranda nodded. “Andrea had been intrigued by the Sheik more than the rest of us. That night she was determined to meet him, so she was dressed to kill. It seemed like it was her lucky night.”

“Why’s that?” Alex leaned toward her so he could read the nuances in her body language. He wished she would remove her damned sunglasses so he could see her eyes.

Eyes could definitely tell you a hell of a lot more than words alone.

Amazingly she did as he had wished, tossing aside the sunglasses before dragging a hand through the long locks of her dark hair.

She had old eyes, he decided. Aged beyond her twentysomething years. A sure sign of a hard life, but given what he knew of Andrea’s past, he supposed her friend’s eyes mirrored that. Drugs and other problems had taken their toll.

“The Sheik was alone that night. Drinking at the bar all by his lonesome. Andrea jumped on the opportunity to meet him.”

And to jump on him, Alex suspected but didn’t say. “So they spent time together at the club?”

Miranda nodded. “Dancing. Drinking. After, he took her to the video-game area.”

“You saw her there? In the video-game area?”

Another quick bob of Miranda’s head confirmed it before she said, “For an hour or so. Then she went with him into the private rooms. We thought she was going to one of those luxury gaming digs that everyone was always talking about.”

“And that was the last time you saw her? You didn’t think to call or check on her the next day? Or the day after that?”

She winced at the condemnation in his voice, which he hadn’t been able to control. Even if Andrea hadn’t been Dan’s daughter, it would have been hard not to question what kind of friends she had. Friends who had left her without a second thought, apparently, and who hadn’t worried about what had happened to her until Andrea’s father had started asking around.

“We figured she’d hit the jackpot. The Sheik was always a high roller. Handsome. He could get into the private rooms. Do you know how hard it is to get into that area?” she said, gripping the edges of the table as she leaned toward him to emphasize her point.

“I guess I’m going to find out,” he said and rose. “Thanks for your help.”

Miranda nodded, and Alex tossed some money on the table to cover their check.

He walked away and crossed the street to Lummus Park. The activity in its gardens and along the walkways had changed from the morning beachgoers to those who would be strolling along the strip to pick a place to eat before heading out to party later that night.

It was still too early for him to scope out the Widget, although he was eager to return there, and not just on account of his investigation into Andrea’s disappearance.

The demon had come to him in his dreams once again, but she had been more mortal this time. Looking way too much like the woman he had seen last night. He didn’t know if he should take that as an omen to avoid her because she’d be nothing but trouble.

Despite that bothersome possibility, she had awakened a different kind of need in his dreams—a desire to discover more about her. To find out why the demon who had been haunting him for months was suddenly pointing him in the direction of his mystery woman.

He popped open the doors on his Crossfire convertible, which was parked on the street across from the News Café where he had met Miranda.

With a quick glance at his watch, he slipped into the low-slung car, experiencing only a slight pull in his midsection in the area where he had been shot nearly a year earlier. He paused for a moment, pressing against the spot to tame the stitch in his muscles, and then lowered the top on the convertible. After a quick cruise up and down Ocean Drive to see who was out and about, he then headed back to his office to review his files and notes once again before returning to South Beach.

The problem with the DEA materials he had reviewed was that he didn’t recall seeing anyone in their extensive databases and papers who matched the general description of the man Andrea’s friends had dubbed “the Sheik.” That could mean that the man wasn’t as much of a player as Andrea and her friends had thought. But although the Sheik hadn’t made the DEA’s watch list, maybe the man had come to the attention of the local law-enforcement officers.

Which meant that it was time he arrange for a visit to the neighborhood police department and speak to those LEOs. Maybe the Sheik had crossed paths with them and they could provide some background information on the man and his associates.

But not tonight.

Tonight he had to scope out the clubs one more time.

He owed it to Dan to find the Sheik and hopefully Andrea.

He owed it to himself to find the mystery woman from his dreams. For too long he had lived without allowing himself the pleasure of a woman’s company. First because of his heartache over losing his ex-lover, Diana, to her vampire lover and more recently because of his commitment to his work.

There had been a challenge in his mystery woman’s eyes, almost daring him to come and play for a while. It reminded him of the demon in his dreams as she bent to taste his blood. Maybe accepting her dare would allow him a respite from the prison he had created for himself with his obligations to his job.

Alex decided to take up that challenge, if only for a short break from the duties he took so seriously. He knew his heartache would not be so easy to forget.

Stacia smoothed the slick bloodred fabric across the flat lines of her belly. The color was a shock against the paleness of her skin and the nearly ebony shade of her hair and eyes. The bright hue was unfamiliar. She usually favored black and leather.

The Miami humidity factored against the latter, and something about the locale had her tossing aside all the New York black. Appropriate since the reason for coming to Miami had been to exact a change in the tedium of her eternal life.

Satisfied with her appearance, Stacia left her room and exited hastily onto the veranda of the hotel.

The nighttime activity had picked up and dozens of people streamed by in front of the hotel. Dressed in their finery, they were like peacocks on display. She honed in on the energy of their life forces. Savored the differences she detected in their powers: young; not quite old; strong; stronger still.

This was no place for imperfection in this crowd.

A slightly familiar energy came near and she smiled, recognizing a man from the night before. While she had been trolling for last night’s catch, she had implanted a suggestion in him to return to this spot since he hadn’t been quite what she wanted but had possessed possibilities. Not as many possibilities as the other intriguing Cubano, but for now he would do.

The man approached. Tall and sleek. Broad shoulders covered in a jacket of expensive raw linen, creamy against the darker tones of his skin and hair. The man smiled as he took note of Stacia up on the veranda and slowed his pace.

He would be such a fine repast, Stacia thought, detecting the vibrant pulse of his life force. Imagining how she would sink her teeth into the long, elegant line of the stranger’s neck.

Stacia strengthened the push of her elder power, calling to the man to come to her. As he neared, their gazes converged but something there sent a jolt through Stacia.

The man’s eyes were so dark as to appear black, reminding her of Cassius’s gaze, the deceiving, empty gaze that had stolen so much from her millennia ago.

Stacia released her control over him and he shook his head as if suddenly awakening.

He did an about-face and relief washed over her. Funny, really. There were few things that could scare an elder of her age and power, and yet …

She had her own demons.

Demons she had kept hidden for incredibly long to avoid displaying her weaknesses.

In a world as difficult as the vampire realm, any hint of debility made her vulnerable to attack. Something she had avoided successfully for centuries.

Until New York City.

Until the wannabe humans in that vampire underworld had reminded her of her one weakness. Of the single need she had kept buried deep within her for centuries.

To be loved once again.

Driving those thoughts away, Stacia slinked down the steps of the hotel, intending to savor the coming of a Miami night.

She ambled across the street to Lummus Park, slowly making her way along the winding cement walkway that separated the gardens from the beach. The walkway was relatively quiet, although she passed a few couples meandering beneath the palms and sea-grape trees. An in-line skater whizzed past her, lithe leg muscles propelling him to his destination.

She admired his lean buttocks and broad upper body for only a moment before he skated out of sight.

Peering toward the ocean, the moonlight silvered the crests of the negligible waves washing against the shore. Illuminated the occasional human strolling along the Atlantic’s edge. She considered grabbing a snack down along the oceanfront, but the possibility of a chase through the sand would be too much effort tonight. Maybe some other night when she had to release some excess energy and would actually welcome a challenging hunt.

Stacia continued until the end of the path and then crossed the street once more, all the time checking out the offerings, both human and not, in the restaurants along the strip. The food selections were varied, from the expected Cuban offerings to traditional Italian and an assortment of Asian-fusion choices.

She’d had her taste of Cuban last night. The murderous happenings in Manhattan before she had left had her swearing off Asian. That cuisine would remind her too much of the Kiang-shi vampire that had killed a number of the undead and nearly revealed their vampire underworld to the humans.

Italian possibly? she thought, noticing a fine-looking specimen lingering near one establishment. Tall and lean, the young man was dressed in tailored black slacks and a designer shirt that caressed the elegant lines of his body. A mop of artfully highlighted dark blond hair shifted as he bent to review the restaurant menu, straining the cloth of his pants against a lovely rounded bottom.

She approached, the thrum of her vampire desire riding high, and he lifted his head and swiveled it slowly in her direction. His blue-eyed gaze brightened, welcoming her.

Success, Stacia thought.