Boundary Born (Boundary Magic Book 3) - Melissa F. Olson Page 0,44
about vampires.”
I heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like Simon thunking his head against a wall. “No, I mean a vampire might have killed the guy. You know, drank all his blood?”
“Oh. Right.”
“Are you high right now?” he asked.
I considered the question. “Not unless Lily put something special in my IV.”
Simon didn’t laugh. “Then can you stop by the lab? I need to talk to you about my findings.”
“Sure, I can do that,” I said.
There was a pause. “Maybe get some coffee or something, too, Lex.”
Simon hung up without another word, and I shook my head a little, trying to clear it. I did feel awfully foggy, although physically I felt pretty good. I must just need coffee, I decided, and padded out to the kitchen, humming the theme song from one of Charlie’s favorite kid’s shows.
After I let the dogs out and finished my first mug, I remembered what I was supposed to be doing. I turned on my computer and checked the newspaper’s online home page. Sure enough, the top story was about the body of a forty-year-old man that had been found in a Dumpster behind a tech park. There was no information about the man’s identity or the cause of death, so I called Elise. She was working day shifts that week.
“Hey,” came Elise’s low voice. “Hang on a second.” Louder, she yelled something that sounded like “a hamburger and fries,” and I realized she was at a drive-thru. It was almost noon—of course she was getting lunch.
After a tinny voice told her to pull ahead, Elise was back. “Listen, today’s crazy, I’ve got like five minutes to eat—”
“That’s okay. Are you working the body thing?”
“Everyone’s working the body thing,” she grumbled. “I’ve been pointlessly knocking on doors all morning.”
“Can you tell me how he died?”
There was a long pause, and then a muffled exchange while Elise got her food. When she spoke again, she’d put on her professional cop voice. “You know I can’t talk about it, Lex.”
“To the newspapers and the public, yeah. But I’m not looking for trade secrets here, just what’s going to be on the Daily Camera website by close of business.”
She sighed. “We don’t know how or why he died, okay? There wasn’t a mark on him. Right now the ME’s suggesting an aneurism, but that’s kind of what she says when she has no idea.”
“So it might not have been murder.”
“We don’t know,” she said impatiently, her mouth now full of food. “Why are you asking, anyway?”
I paused. Why hadn’t I figured out what to say before I called? “Just curious, I guess,” I said lamely. “It wasn’t anyone we know, right?”
“Nah, just some electrical engineer from Fort Collins, worked in the tech park. Listen, I’ve really got to go. Love you.”
She hung up before I could say anything else.
I looked down at Chip and Cody, my two Lab mixes, who were looking at me with identical eager expressions. “Why is everyone hanging up on me today?” I asked them. Chip licked the air in front of his face, and Cody bumped his nose into my leg. “Okay, well, as long as it’s not me.” I shrugged and went to get dressed, humming.
As I got closer to Simon’s lab, I started to feel the pressure again. Maven was paralyzed for God knew how long, whoever did it was still running around free, and we had no leads, unless Simon had pulled a CSI miracle and traced the source of the dart guns. Somehow I doubted that.
When Simon opened the door to the Basement of Dr. Moreau, I nearly took a step back. His eyes were red and his hair was wild, like he’d been trying to pull it out by the roots. There were coffee stains down his shirt, and he looked haggard. “Whoa,” I said, handing him a fresh coffee. “You, um, look like you’ve been working hard. Where’s Lily?”
He took the coffee and ushered me inside, his movements slow, like it was hard to move his limbs around. I reminded myself that he’d lost a lot of blood the night before, too. “Taking a nap in my room.”
We went to the small kitchen table, which was now covered in binders and scribbled notes. I sat down in my chair from the night before.
“Did you talk to your cousin?” Simon asked.
“Yes. They actually can’t figure out how the guy died—no external marks—but the current theory is aneurysm. Doesn’t sound like a vampire attack.”