"He didn't throw up on the crime scene, just near it."
There was a moment of silence. "Better than throwing up on the body."
"I'm never going to live that down, am I?"
"No," Dolph said, "you aren't."
"Great. Larry and I will get out there as soon as we can. It's about a thirty-minute drive, maybe more."
"I'll tell Sheriff St. John you're on your way." He hung up.
I hung up. Dolph was training me never to say good-bye over the phone.
Chapter 11
Larry slumped in the seat as far as the seat belt would let him. His hands were clenched tight in his lap. He stared out into the dark like he was seeing something besides the passing scenery. Images of butchered teenagers dancing in his head, I bet. They weren't dancing in mine. Not yet. I might see them in my dreams, but not awake, not yet.
"How bad will this one be?" he asked. His voice sounded quiet, strained.
"I don't know. It's a vampire victim. Could be neat, just a couple of puncture wounds; could be carnage."
"Carnage like the three boys?"
"Dolph said no, said it's classic, just bite marks."
"So it won't be messy?" His voice was squeezed down to a near whisper.
"Won't know until we get there," I said.
"You couldn't just comfort me?" His voice sounded so small, so uncertain that I almost offered to turn the Jeep around. He didn't have to see another murder scene. It was my job, but it wasn't his job, not yet.
"You don't ever have to see another murder scene, Larry."
He turned his head and looked at me. "What do you mean?"
"You've had your quota of blood and guts for one day. I can turn around and drop you back at the hotel."
"If I don't come tonight, what happens next time?"
"If you aren't cut out for this kind of work, you aren't cut out for it. No shame in that."
"What about next time?" he asked.
"There won't be a next time."
"You aren't getting rid of me that easy," he said.
I hoped the darkness hid the smile on my face. I kept it small.
"Tell me about vampires, Anita. I thought a vampire couldn't drink enough blood in one night to kill somebody."
"Pretty to think so," I said.
"They told us in college that a vampire couldn't drain a human being with one bite. Are you saying that's not true?"
"They can't drink a human dry with one bite, in one night, but they can drain one with one bite."
He frowned at me. "What's that supposed to mean?"