Morgan looked up. “You’ve been suspended,” he said, setting aside the papers in his hands. “We know you’re not behind these murders, but the community is out for blood, and they’re unhappy we’ve recruited a vampire onto our force. Until this is over, you’ll be asked to not set foot on the premises unless you have information pertinent to this case.”
“That’s it?” The whole situation felt surreal. One minute I was a part of the Politia, the next I wasn’t.
It reminded me of my chats with Principal Hazard a couple months ago, when I was forced to do independent study for a week. However, unlike Hazard, if the chief constable disliked me, he hid his emotions well.
Chief Constable Morgan’s gaze somewhat softened, which likely meant that I looked more than a little pathetic. “Yes, that is it. If you had a badge and issued weapons, we’d ask you to turn those over, but that’s not the case. Feel free to keep the files we’ve given you. It’s our hope that you’ll continue to work on the investigation for the sake of the truce.”
“Is this because I showed up at the crime scene?”
That was the wrong thing to say.
“Amazingly Gabrielle, not everything is about you.” Two splotches of color appeared on either side of the chief constable’s face. Still a sore spot I guess. “We’ll give you a call when your suspension has been lifted. Now get the hell out of my office.”
I left his office with as much dignity as I could and caught a cab back to my dorm.
The clock next to my bed said that it was 5:15 a.m., which meant that I could get about two hours of sleep before class. I may be suspended, I may be hated, and I may be stalked by the devil, but at least I wouldn’t have to pull a complete all-nighter tonight.
Thank God for silver linings.
***
“I’m so sorry about this Gabrielle,” Oliver said, dropping a physical copy of today’s newspaper on my chest.
“Hmmm,” I said, rubbing my eyes. I stretched and sat up in bed, blinking away the sleep from my eyes. I felt like death warmed over—not an entirely inaccurate description. “It can’t already be time to get up.”
I squinted at the clock. It couldn’t possibly say that it was 7:45 a.m. That would mean . . .
“Crap!” I scrambled out of bed and began to change, not caring at the moment that Oliver was in the room with me.
“Oliver, don’t look,” I said as I began to change in the corner of the room. Leanne must’ve already left for class since her bed was made and her satchel was gone.
“Pfft, as if I’d even be remotely interested in your goods. Now Andre, on the other hand . . .”
“Please don’t finish that statement. I really don’t want to know what fantasies you have that center around my undead boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” Oliver started to turn.
“Oliver, you’d better keep your eyes to yourself,” I warned.
He huffed, but I could tell he wasn’t truly offended because the smile was back in his voice when he spoke again. “Tell me you took advantage of that situation and jumped his bones.”
“Oh, I tried to take advantage, but no, unfortunately, no bones were jumped,” I said, sliding on my long sleeved blouse.
Oliver made a tsk-ing sound. “This just keeps getting better and better. Do spill.”
“There’s nothing to spill. It didn’t happen.” I untucked my hair from my shirt and made my way back to my bed. “I’m more interested in whatever it is that you saw in the paper.”
I picked up the newspaper.
Vampire Gabrielle Fiori Suspended from Politia Amidst Accusations of Murder
The school picture I’d taken several weeks ago had been plastered on the front of the page, right next to an image of the cops at last night’s crime scene. The unstated connection was clear: they paper wanted me to look like the killer.
“At least your hair and make up looks good in the picture,” Oliver said thoughtfully, coming up next to me to peer at the paper. He tilted his head. “I was definitely on my game that day when I helped you get ready.”
I ignored his comment and turned to him. “There’s a question neither you nor Leanne have asked me yet.”
Oliver put his hands on his hips. “Yes?”
“Neither of you have asked if I did it.”
Oliver rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. “Of course we didn’t ask you that. I’m offended you’d even have to bring this up. After all, you’re working on the investigation.”
“So? I could’ve still done it.”
Oliver moved to the mirror and checked out his hair. “You set the case files on the desk—not too smart when you have a fairy for a roommate.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You rifled through the cases?” I asked incredulously.
He moved away from the mirror, crouched next to Leanne’s bed, and pulled out her stash of candy. “Of course,” he said, his back to me. He took two generous handfuls of the fun-sized chocolates, and pushed the nearly emptied remains of the bag back under her bed.
“Oh, and Leanne knows as well,” Oliver added. “She saw the files, but she’s also foreseen all those crime scenes. She told me.”