Chapter Seventy-Nine
When I got back to the Dauphine Hotel it was almost ten-thirty in the morning. I was too tired and too worked up to sleep. My heart was still racing. There was a message for me: Inspector Hughes had called from San Francisco. I stretched out on the bed and called Jamilla back. I shut my eyes. I wanted to hear a friendly voice, especially hers. 'I might have something good for you/ she said when I reached her at home.'In my spare time, ha-ha, I've been taking a close look at Santa Cruz. Why Santa Cruz, you might ask? There have been several unsolved disappearances there. Too many. I plotted them out myself. Alex, something is happening up there. It fits in with the rest of this case.' 'Santa Cruz was on our original list,'I said. I was trying to focus on what she had just told me. I couldn't remember exactly where Santa Cruz was located. Tou sound tired. Are you all right?' she asked. 'I just got back to the hotel a few minutes ago. Long night.' 'Alex, go to sleepi This can wait. Goodnight.' 'No, I can't sleep anyway. Tell me about Santa Cruz. I want to hear it.' 'All right. I talked to a lieutenant with the Santa Cruz PD. Interesting conversation. Annoying, too. They're aware of the disappearances. The/ve also noted house pets and livestock disappearing in the past year. Lot of ranches in the area. Nobody believes in vampires, of course. But - Santa Cruz has a certain reputation. The
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kiddies call it the vampire capital of the US. Occasionally, the kids are right.' 'I need to see what you have so far/I told her.'I'm going to try and get a little sleep. But I want to read whatever Santa Cruz sends you. Can you send it to me?' 'My contact at The Examiner promised to send me the relevant files. Meanwhile, today's my day off. I might just take a ride.' I opened my eyes wide. 'If you go, take somebody along. Your contact at The Examiner. I mean it.'I told her about the murder of the vice detective, Maureen Cooke, here in New Orleans.'Don't go there alone. We still don't know what we're dealing with.' 'I'll take somebody along,' she promised, but I didn't know if I could believe her. 'Jamilla, be careful. I don't have a good feeling about this.' 'You're just tired. Get some sleep. I'm a big girl.' We talked for a few more minutes, but I wasn't sure if I had gotten through to her. Like most good homicide detectives, she was stubborn.
I shut my eyes again and started to drift away, then I was gone.
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