head?"
"I'm afraid so. He apparently used to work here."
"He might have done. I don't ask their names, you know?"
If it was me, I'd want to know the name of the man I was trusting to provide fulfillment in the form of a bite. But then, regular junkies often didn't know the names of their suppliers. All that mattered was the hit.
"That's it for now, then. We'll be in contact with you to get the image."
She nodded and sprang to her feet. "So I can go?"
"You certainly can." I waited until she'd opened the door before adding, "Oh, there is one more thing."
She paused and raised an eyebrow as she glanced around at me. "Yes?"
"Why this place? You obviously can afford to go to one of the better establishments."
Surprise flitted across her features, then she smiled ruefully. "If I go to the other places, I might run into people I know." She shrugged, and there were shadows of unhappiness in her eyes. "I can't seem to give this craving up. I want to, but I can't. So I come here, where no one I know would ever come."
"Thanks, Mandy."
She nodded and traipsed out, though I fully expected her to get one more pleasure hit before she left the club. She had that hungry look in her eyes, despite the sadness I'd glimpsed.
The remaining two patrons couldn't tell me anything more. Neither of them recognized the victim's name, and they didn't even seem to care that someone had been murdered close by. The only thing they cared about was the inconvenience we were causing them.
I let them go, then switched off the recorder and shoved the phone back into my pocket. It was time to go home and catch up on some sleep.
I pushed to my feet and headed out the door. The interior of the club was still dark, despite the fact it was close to eleven. Obviously all the windows had been blacked out.
I walked over to the bar and motioned to the bartender. Business was obviously slow, because he was still chewing gum and polishing glasses.
"Your boss was going to leave me the address of a Henry Gateway."
He raised an eyebrow and, after a heartbeat, said, "The boss is on his way down again."
Damn. I did not need another confrontation with that vampire when my energy reserves were so low, but Starke was already gliding towards me, his body long and strong and beautiful, his skin glowing as if it was fired by the sun itself.
I blinked, and the image shattered. But not the desire.
I suddenly wondered if he were an emo vampire. Emos lived off emotion rather than blood, and they had the ability to augment the stronger emotions for their own feeding pleasure. A nightclub servicing the hungers of others would certainly be a perfect feeding ground for an emo vamp - and it would also explain my unusual reaction. I made a mental note to check his background when I got back to the Directorate.
He offered me a piece of paper. On it was Gateway's address. He lived close, meaning I might as well go see if he was home before I went that way myself. I folded the paper and shoved it into the back pocket of my jeans. "I don't suppose you have security cameras here, do you?"
"Regretfully, no. My patrons prefer not to have their exploits captured." He paused, mouth curving seductively. "What about you, Ms. Jenson? Do you like having your conquests recorded for future pleasure?"
"I prefer my pleasures to be of the moment," I said. Then, as the spark of desire burned deeper in his eyes, I added hastily, "Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Starke."
"Any time, sweet lady. Anytime."
I snorted and got the hell out of there. The brightness of the sun had my eyes watering after the gloom of the club, and I blinked several tears away and took a deep breath, clearing my lungs of the last vestiges of blood, desperation, and luscious vampire. Then I spun on my heel and headed for the parking lot.
Cole and his team had already left, and although the blue police tape still lined the lot, there were no cops guarding the perimeter. Obviously, Cole had gotten everything he needed and someone had simply forgotten to take, down the tape.
I climbed into my car and typed Gateway's address into the onboard computer. He only lived a few streets away, so it didn't take me long to get there.
Gateway's house, like so many