I wasn't really a civilian, but I had no official status. No clout. Maybe the new law would be a good thing.
I shook my head. Theoretically, I'd be able to go into any police station in the country and demand help, or involve myself uninvited in any case. Theoretically. In the real world, the cops would hate it. I'd be as welcome as a wet dog on a cold night. Not federal, not local, and there weren't enough licensed vamp executioners in the country to fill a dozen slots. I could only name eight of us; two of those were retired.
Most of them specialized in vampires. I was one of the few who would look at other types of kills. There was talk of the new law being expanded to include all preternatural kills. Most of the vampire executioners would be out of their depth. It was an informal apprenticeship. I had a college degree in preternatural biology, but that wasn't common. Most of the rogue lycanthropes, occasional trolls run amok, and other more solid beasties were taken out by bounty hunters. But the new law wouldn't give special powers to bounty hunters. Vampire executioners, most of them, worked very strictly within the confines of the law. Or maybe we just had better press.
I'd been screaming about vamps being monsters for years. But until a senator's daughter got herself attacked just a few weeks ago, nobody did shit. Now suddenly it's a cause celebre. The legitimate vampire community delivered the supposed attacker in a sack to the senator's home. They left his head and torso intact, which meant even without arms and legs he wouldn't die. He confessed to the attack. He'd been the new dead and just got carried away on a date, like any other twenty-one-year-old red-blooded male. Yeah, right.
The local hitter, Gerald Mallory, had done the execution. He's based out of Washington, D.C. He has to be in his sixties now. He still uses a stake and hammer. Can you believe it?
There had been some talk that cutting off their arms and legs would allow us to keep vamps in jail. This was vetoed mainly on the grounds of cruel and unusual punishment. It also wouldn't have worked, not for the really old vampires. It isn't just their bodies that are dangerous.
Besides, I didn't believe in torture. If cutting someone's arms and legs off and putting them in a little box for all eternity isn't torture, I don't know what is.
I walked back to the group. I handed the phone to Bayard. "I hope it isn't bad news," he said.
"Not personally," I said.
He looked puzzled. Not an uncommon occurrence for Lionel.
I talked directly to Stirling. "I've got to go to a crime scene near here. Is there someplace to rent a car?"
He shook his head. "I said you'd have a car and driver while you were here. I meant it."
"Thanks. I'm not so sure about the driver, though. This is a crime scene they won't want civilians hanging around."
"A car, then; no driver. Lionel, see that Ms. Blake gets anything she wants."
"Yes, sir."
"I'll meet you back here at full dark, Ms. Blake."
"I'll be here at dusk if I can, Mr. Stirling, but the police matter takes precedence."
He frowned at me. "You are working for me, Ms. Blake."
"Yes, but I'm also a licensed vampire executioner. Cooperation with the local police takes precedence."
"So it's a vampire kill?"
"I am not free to share police information with anyone," I said. But I cursed myself. By bringing up the word "vampire," I'd started a rumor that would grow with the telling. Damn.
"I can't leave the investigation early just to come look at your mountain. I'll be here when I can. I'll definitely look the dead over before daylight, so you won't really lose any time."
He didn't like it, but he let it go. "Fine, Ms. Blake. I will wait here for you even if it takes all night. I'm curious about what you do. I've never seen a zombie raised before."
"I won't raise the dead tonight, Mr. Stirling. We've been over that."
"Of course." He just looked at me. For some reason it was hard to meet his pale eyes. I made myself meet his gaze and didn't look away, but it was an effort. It was like he was willing me to do something, trying to compel me with his eyes like a vampire. But a vampire, even a little one, he was not.
He blinked and walked away without saying another word.