Smolder (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #29)(29)

“Start with taking the charm to your car, and we’ll go from there,” I said.

He just turned on his heel and went for his car. When he was out of earshot, Dolph said, “That charm isn’t just aimed at vampires, Anita.”

“It’s aimed at anyone who works with death magic.”

“I don’t think that McKinnon knew that before he brought it with him,” Dolph said.

“You know him better than I do, but if that’s true then his bosses sure as hell knew.”

“You think they sent him to test vampires out in the field, or you?”

“Both.”

“They used him to get to you,” Dolph said.

“I believe they know exactly where he is and used him like a Trojan horse.”

“Do you think that the Oversight Committee on Supernatural Affairs is trying to find a way past your defenses?”

“I think they’re either covering their bases in case I go rogue someday, or they’re actively working on ways to take Jean-Claude and me down.”

“In case he goes rogue, or do you think that the committee that’s supposed to be working to protect the supernatural citizens of this country is planning to do just the opposite?”

“I don’t know, but you prepare for what your enemy can do, not what they will do.”

“McKinnon is headed back,” Dolph said.

I put a smile back on my face and watched McKinnon walk this way. Was he my enemy or my friend? The fact that I had to ask myself that question was answer enough. I would be friendly with McKinnon, but we weren’t friends anymore.





9

THE THREE OF us were squished into the manager’s office; there was barely room for me to squeeze myself into a corner over the manager’s shoulder. He brought up the video on a small monitor. “I’ve got it set up to just after the alarm sounded on the floor.”

“Thanks for anticipating,” Dolph said.

“I’m saving the video that shows her coming out of the room with the fire extinguisher to share with the management company that runs this place. I figure if I send it up to them now, with the New York fire still in the news, Mona has a better shot at a bonus.”

“That’s good of you,” McKinnon said.

“I saw the video from New York; Mona is a freaking hero and I want the company heads to know that.”

I waited for McKinnon to say he’d been in New York in person, but he didn’t, so I let it go and watched the grainy black-and-white video. Mona appeared on camera and looked at the far doors, then walked out of camera to come back with the fire extinguisher. She went straight to the door, knocked, and though there was no sound it looked like she announced herself and even waited to see if there was a reply from inside before she used her key card to enter.

“Did she knock and announce before entering the room?” McKinnon asked.

“Under stress a lot of people repeat patterns,” Dolph said.

“Maybe,” I said.

Dolph looked at me.

I looked back at the screen frozen with the door closed behind our heroic maid. “Can you let it play from there, please.”

The manager shrugged and hit the button, so we were looking at the closed door for several minutes. Nothing happened, no one ran past in panic from the fire alarm. “Was the victim the only person staying on that floor?” I asked.

“No, we’re almost full this week.”

“So, if the fire alarm sounded why aren’t the room doors opening and people running for safety?”

“A lot of people were at dinner, or still out for the day when the alarm sounded. We got lucky that it wasn’t just after dawn like in New York.”

“The rooms on that side only get afternoon sunlight,” I said, repeating what Mona had said.

The manager looked at me funny, then seemed to think about it. “I suppose so, what does that matter?”

“You need direct sunlight for the vampire to catch fire.”

He looked back at the video and the empty corridor. “So, we got lucky because the only vampire we have staying with us chose an afternoon room?”

“Something like that,” I said.

A man ran past the camera, then two people carrying small children ran past, and a couple holding hands. Every face we could see clearly looked terrified. “Pause and check the time code,” Dolph said.

The manager stopped it and checked the time. He rattled off the time on the video. “That’s when the fire alarm went off,” McKinnon said.

The manager frowned up at us. “But Mona went into the room because she smelled smoke; did she smell it before the smoke detector did?”

McKinnon and I both shook our heads. Dolph just started making notes in his ever-present notebook.

“Wow, even more impressive that she smelled smoke before the smoke detector,” the manager said as he watched more panicked people run past the camera. The door to the room stayed shut during all of it.

“How did you know what Mona had done to put out the fire?” I asked.

“The firefighters found her in the room. She told me she was afraid it would start burning again, so she stayed until the firemen came.”

“It?” I asked.

“The vampire, she was afraid it would start burning again, so she waited with the fire extinguisher. I saw what was left of the poor bastard, I couldn’t have stayed in the room with the remains like that. Mona deserves a medal.”