“Shitty. Did you see the news this morning?”
“How could I miss it? The words ‘psychopath vampire’ were splashed over El Universal,” Kika said, moving her hands as if she were holding an invisible newspaper.
Yep. That’s exactly what it had said. The reason why Castillo had dragged Ana into his office and yelled at her, quickly blaming her for the mess. If she’d only caught the rogue vampire quickly, none of this would have happened. He told her she obviously did not know her asshole from a good lead and would now be “assisting” another detective. He’d also accused her of tipping off the reporters about the story, when she knew without a doubt it had to have been one of the photographers, trying to make an extra buck by selling crime scene pictures, or a prick like Luna. Maybe both, in conjunction.
“I imagine it was as bad as the papers made it seem,” Kika said, glancing down at her own menu, running a finger down each item.
“Worse. A bloodbath. There’d been a fight, so you had the people who died during it and the people the vampire killed after. He was hungry and very pissed. He ate one guy’s face.”
“You have any witnesses? Anything?”
“I have a witness, a person who survived the mess. Apparently a bunch of entrepreneurial folks found Atl and, since she was injured, managed to lock her in a cell. They were making a deal with Nick. He was coming to collect her. She broke out, there was a big fight, and the result is I’m not sure whether she’s dead, he’s dead, or they’re both dead somewhere.”
Kids. They’d found a bunch of dead kids. And they were also chasing kids. Two deadly children, not much older than her own daughter.
A waitress arrived and gave them a tired glance as she pulled out her notepad.
“Coffee,” Ana said. “Cream, too.”
“Beer and pork chops. And a basket of bread.”
The waitress looked rather skeptical about their choices.
“I don’t think our collaboration is working as planned,” Ana said. “That thing with Atl? It was a mistake. She got away and all we had was a bunch of dead people in the street. I’m lucky I’m here.”
“Life is unexpected,” Kika declared, as though she were a walking, talking greeting card.
“Well, what’s unexpected is that after the massacre at that factory my boss has sidelined me. I gave him Atl and Nick’s pictures. Luna is doing some shit with checkpoints and distribution of the images. I’m not leading the investigation anymore. I’m probably of no use to you now.”
“I wouldn’t say that. You got us very close to her. I have faith in you. You want the other half of the money, right?”
“I want a decent night’s sleep, is what I want,” Ana said.
The waitress returned with the coffee and the beer. She forgot to bring any cream and Ana stared at her drink, irritated.
“You’re the closest thing to a vampire hunter in this town, Ana. We don’t have anyone else to go to.”
“Why don’t you just let them kill each other?” Ana asked, utterly exhausted by the conversation. “They’ll manage it, eventually.”
Ana grabbed a napkin and folded it in half, then in another half, while Kika drank her beer, looking cool and chill. If the young woman ever had a bad day, she didn’t let it show.
“I told you why already. It’s disrespectful. Vampires start getting the idea they can just waltz into Mexico City, how soon before they’re snacking on us and messing it up like they do in the rest of the country? It’s a question of pride.”
“Yeah, I don’t give a fuck. I’m worried someone thinks I’m working with you, or at least suspects something’s up.”
“You’re imagining things.”
“I’m not imagining shit. I got a phone call the other day, very unsettling, asking why I was researching Nick and Atl.”
Ana had not breathed a word to Marisol about what she was doing in her spare time, but she had checked the locks on the door and made sure the electronic peephole was in good working order. Marisol was under strict instructions to never open the door when Ana was away anyway, but it didn’t hurt. As an extra precaution Ana had arranged for Marisol to ride the daily school shuttle back and forth from school, which she normally didn’t do because it cost an extra fee. Since it was a private school the shuttle carried an armed guard.
“Come on, you do give a fuck,” Kika said, brushing away Ana’s concerns like they were useless garbage.
“My boss is going to fire me if he figures out I’m working with you,” Ana countered.
“Who cares?” Kika took another swig of beer and smiled at Ana. “Don’t start with the lame excuses. You won’t need your stupid job soon enough. Are you scared?”
“It’s scary when you’re going against vampires. Maybe you don’t care, because you think this is a staff barbecue, but I know what they can do.”
“If the pictures in the papers are correct, I also know what they can do. Disgusting.”