“Yeah, that’s it. Goth.” He shook his head. “They all looked like damn vampires to me.”
Eve and Detective Salinas swiveled and stared at Caine. He didn’t meet either of their gazes and looked straight at Mr. Crawford. “Can we search your daughter’s room?”
He motioned toward the hallway to the right of the living room. “The last room on your right.”
“Thank you.” Caine snapped on a pair of latex gloves, then proceeded to move toward the hallway. Eve followed him, also putting on a pair of gloves.
“I’m sorry about Aaron,” she said softly as they reached the last door on the right.
Caine wrapped his hand around the doorknob and turned, pushing the door open. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault he’s an a**hole, is it?”
“No, I blame his parents.”
The moment Caine crossed the threshold of the girl’s room, he began scanning the room, looking for anything that would give them a clue as to how Lillian Crawford ended up with a vampire’s fangs in her neck.
Her bed was neatly made. The things on her dresser and desk were precisely arranged.
The girl was orderly and tidy. There were no clothes tossed on the floor or shoes lying haphazardly on the rug. No outward signs yet on how she ended up with the wrong crowd.
Eve made her way toward the girl’s desk. A pink-colored laptop sat open on the bleached oak frame. “I’ll check her computer.”
While Eve booted up the laptop, Caine searched through the dresser drawers. He found nothing but neatly folded clothing. No secret letters or diary.
Turning, he eyed the bed. He pulled off the covers, and checked under the plump, pale blue pillows. Still nothing. Leaning down, he checked under the bed. Nothing. Not even any dust bunnies.
As he grabbed the edge of the bed to push himself to his feet, he noticed the edge of something black poking out from between the top mattress and the box spring. He pushed the mattress aside. A black piece of paper—looking a lot like a promotional poster for an alternative rock band—lay flat on the box spring. Right next to a black bound book on vampires.
He picked up the paper by the edge to study it.
It was a promotional poster for a band calling themselves Crimson Strain. There were four members pictured. Male, varying colored spiky hair, facial piercings and dark leather accessories.
And all vampires.
Even in a photo, Caine could see that the four males were Other. It was in their eyes.
They shimmered like tinsel on a Christmas tree. If a person didn’t know what they were looking for, they definitely wouldn’t be able to discern it. However, they would be drawn to the poster regardless. Their power wasn’t in their voices like the chanteuse Nadja, but in their eyes.
“What do you have?” Eve asked.
Caine turned around and showed her the paper. “Poster for a band. A vampire band.” He read the dates. “Looks like they played at Creston Community Hall a couple weeks ago.”
“Whoa. That’s illegal.”
Caine took out a plastic evidence bag and slid the paper into it. “It sure is.” He zipped it closed. “Looks like we have a few suspects to talk to now.”
After tucking the evidence into his kit, Caine walked over to where Eve sat working at the girl’s laptop. “Got anything?”
She nodded. “A couple of e-mails from someone named X, talking about the concert and how he really enjoyed meeting her, and can’t wait to see her again. His e-mail address is vamploverX at hotmail dot com.” She looked at him sideways, and arched her brow.
“Looks like we have another suspect.”
“Or this X is one of our VBB members.”
“VBB?”
“Yeah, vamp boy band.” She grinned.
Laughter bubbled from Caine’s mouth before he could stop it. Shaking his head, he rubbed a hand over his lips. “That’s clever.”