La Vida Vampire

I reached Tom at the body and paint shop, and he promised to pick up my truck and call me with an estimate. Something else to think about when I had time.

At five thirty, traffic flowing off the island wasn’t as packed as that coming on. Flagler Hospital was just on the other side of the 312 bridge on the left, and the way Saber drove, we were there in twenty minutes. We met Officer Michaels and Detective March in the hall and entered Gorman’s room. Michaels and March stood at the bedside, Saber and I took positions at the foot of the bed. I guess I expected Gorman to look frail in a hospital gown. Wrong. Oh, he looked worse for wear, but the bruising around his strange light blue eyes made them look colder than ever. Detective March took the lead. “You see who did this to you, Gorman?”

“Son of a bitch hit me from behind, and I never did get a good look. But she, ” he pointed at me with a perfectly steady hand, “had to have somethin’ to do with it. She searched my house and set me up for murder. Shit, I’d just had a little talk with her at Wal-Mart, so it ain’t no coincidence I got beat up not three hours later.”

Detective March shifted his weight. “Special Investigator Saber is supervising Ms. Marinelli. She’s never out of his sight.”

Gorman eyed us both. “That true?” he asked, his voice sounding harsher than ever. “You gettin’ it on with Mr. Special Investigator?”

Saber and I looked at each other.

“And he wonders why he got beaten,” Saber said mockingly.

“Poor people skills,” I answered, then looked at Gorman. “I had nothing to do with the beating or any of your other troubles, Mr. Gorman. What’s more, I think you know it.”

“Well, somebody searched my house while I was fishin’, and somebody planted things,” Gorman blustered. “If it wasn’t you, who the hell was it?”

I shrugged and spread my hands. “The murderer?”

“You didn’t kill that Frenchie?”

“I just said I didn’t set you up. I was sure you killed Yolette until I went to get my mail and found you bleeding.”

“You found me?” His jaw went slack, his eyes bulged. “You didn’t lick on me, or bite me, or anything, right?”

Lick on him? Gads, what a revolting image. “Mr. Gorman, I wouldn’t bite you if you were the last meal on earth.”

Michaels coughed into his hand. March harrumphed.

“Mr. Gorman,” March said, “the Fourniers complained that you were stalking them.”

Gorman’s eyes shifted away. “I wasn’t stalking ’em.”

“But you were following them,” March said.

“I live here. I have a right to keep track of what goes on in my city.”

“You were also following them in Daytona last Friday,” Saber said.

I looked at Saber, wanting to drop my jaw at this new piece of information. Instead, I clamped my teeth together and eyed Gorman anew. Maybe he had killed Yolette. Or Rachelle. Or both of them.

“So what if I was,” Gorman said picking at the edge of the blanket draped over his belly and casting an uneasy glance at March. “I got a right to go where I want.”

“Those surveillance photos you took of the Fourniers sure make it look like you were stalking them, ” March said. “We have your computer and your digital camera. The photos are dated. It could look to a jury like you were planning to kill the woman all along.”

Gorman balled the blanket in his fist. “But I didn’t. Hell, I got beat up last night, and I don’t know who did it or why.”

“Did you see the Fourniers with the Daytona vampires, Gorman?” Saber asked.

“Yeah,” Gorman admitted cautiously.

“Any particular vampires?” Saber pressed.

“You got the pictures. You tell me.”

Saber gave Gorman a long look. “You know their names?”

“No, and I’m gettin’ tired,” Gorman complained, a whine in his voice as he looked to March again. March stared back.

“We’re almost finished.” Saber leaned both hands on the metal foot of the bed. “How long have you been following Ms. Marinelli?”

“Three months, off ’n’ on.”

That bit of news made me want to shower for a solid week, but I managed not to gag.

“Who told you the Fourniers would be in St. Augustine?” March asked.

“I got friends,” Gorman said defensively.

“The Covenant?”

“Yeah, the ones down in South Beach. They were on recon at the clubs and overheard the Frenchies invite a bunch of vampires to have sex with ’em. Then the sickos bragged that they were havin’ sex with vampires all the way up the coast. They had a lure or somethin’ vampires liked. That’s when I knew I had to watch this ’un—” Gorman pointed at me again. “—extra close.”

“Gorman,” March said, “do you remember anything about the attack that can help us? How many there were? Voices, smells, anything?”

“Blood.”

“Yeah, you bled a good deal from what I heard,” March said.

“No, I mean what I remember. I was standin’ at the bank entrance—”

“The entrance to Ms. Marinelli’s building,” Saber said.

“Yeah, yeah, but I’m trying to tell you I smelled blood.”