La Vida Vampire

I’d accidentally read minds the night before and was tempted to purposely try it now. I might be able to psyche out what Etienne was up to other than making Yolette jealous enough to strip my hide. And making Stony stare daggers at us. But did I really want to know what either man was thinking? Probably not.

I was glad to have my cell phone—on vibrate mode, and ready to dial 911, if things so much as looked like they might get out of hand. Being responsible for mortals was not to be taken lightly, especially when my vamp powers were only so-so. I really didn’t want to get close enough to Stony to take his ticket. Didn’t care if he had one. I did want Etienne to stop following on my heels, so I inched toward the other five women who made up the tour. In various styles and colors of jeans, jackets, and tennis shoes, the thirty -to forty-somethings stood not far from Stony talking about—assuming my vampire hearing wasn’t on the fritz—bumping people off. Poison seemed to be the weapon of choice, though one especially sweet-looking lady wanted to use a kitchen knife on her victim. Who knew guiding ghost tours would be so dangerous?

I must have made a noise, because Knifer looked up and caught me staring. With a grin and a wave of her hand at the others, she said, “Don’t mind us, we’re mystery writers. We get that reaction all the time when we talk plotting in public.”

Ya think? I almost said it aloud, but good manners prevailed. Then it hit me. Mystery writers. I love mysteries, and these women write them? Oh, joy! I’d discover new titles to search for, new authors to read!

I might’ve gushed about then, but it was time to start. I’d gush after the tour.

“Welcome to the Old Coast Ghost Walk. I’m Cesca, your guide. Please give me your tickets, and we’ll get started.”

“Are you really a vampire?” one of the writers asked. Her blonde flyaway hair shone an ethereal silver in the streetlights, and she poised a pen over a pocket-sized spiral notebook.

“Of course she is,” Shalimar answered, then gave me a little wave. “Hi, Cesca, I brought more friends to meet you. This is Barb and Darcy.”

“Thank you, Mrs.—” I racked my memory, but Janie and I hadn’t finished connecting all the Jag Queens’ faces with names.

“Millie Hayward, dear. Call me Millie.”

“Well, I’m honored you came back tonight with more friends, Millie.”

I smiled at the two new women, both gray -haired and grandmotherly while Shalimar Millie grinned and gave me their tickets. “I hope you’ll all enjoy the tour.”

“Do you mind if we record you?” another of the writers asked, this one with short salt-and-pepper hair that cupped her head like a cap. “We don’t want to miss anything in our notes.”

I hesitated because the tour company had taped audio and video tours that were for sale. But with Stony glowering in the background, maybe he’d behave if tapes were rolling. Couldn’t hurt, might help.

“That will be fine,” I said and took their tickets, too.

I turned to bite the bullet and get Stony’s ticket, but Gomer—I couldn’t recall his real name either—strolled up. “Here, Miss Cesca,” he drawled, passing two tickets to me. “That’s all of us.”

“Non! Beaucoup trop. We are too many,” Yolette said, elbowing Gomer out of the way to plant herself in front of me.

“He—” She flapped a hand at Stony. “—should not be allowed to go. He is dangereux. ”

Shalimar Millie glared at Yolette with a look that could maim if not kill. Objecting to her manners? Who knew? Much as I agreed and sympathized with Yolette on this one, I couldn’t ban Stony.

“Did you file a police report?” I ask calmly.

“Non, I did not.”

I spread my hands, my reticule dangling from my right wrist. “Then I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do except see that you get your money back if you want to skip the tour tonight.”

“And let this pig run me off?” Yolette tossed her head again. “Non, I will stay.”

Uh-oh. If Stony was grouchy before, he was livid now. Fists clenched and red-faced, he was growling under his breath. I plastered on a smile and launched the tour.

“Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we were supposed to go into two haunted buildings. However, I was informed that the buildings will be locked this evening.”

A blatant lie, but walking around shadowed streets with this crew would be bad enough. I wasn’t about to take them into dimly lit buildings.

“If you signed up for this tour specifically to see the inside of those buildings, I apologize for the inconvenience. We will see the outside of the same buildings where there are also ghosts. If that ’s not acceptable, I’ll take your names and see that the tour company gives you another tour for free.”

I paused to see if anyone—namely the writers—would take me up on a tour voucher, but no one did. With a small shrug, I opened the substation storage locker and grabbed a new lantern off the shelf. I could smack Stony with it if he gave me any trouble. That is, if Shalimar Millie didn’t pull a gun on him first.