“I’m the one asking the questions here, Ms. Lane. You’d do well to remember that.”
“Ego, much?” I asked.
“Excuse me?” He countered. When I didn’t reply, he gave me an annoying hand gesture, suggesting that I should continue.
I sighed. “I was trying to be nice for the girls tomorrow and get some prep work done for them.”
“When was the last time you saw Ms. Russo alive? Do you know of anyone who would want to harm her?”
“I saw her right before midnight. I was heading to the ladies room and she was over in that corner.” I pointed to the wall. “I don’t know of anyone who would want to harm her.”
“Now I know this next question may seem odd, considering we’re in a bar on The Las Vegas Strip, but did you see any strangers in here tonight? Anyone that stood out more than others?”
“You’re kidding me, right? I see strangers all goddamn day!” Alright, now I was getting really irritated. I don’t care how snarky I sounded. “Did anyone stand out? Maybe…..I guess. There was this one guy. Big vampire. I’ve never seen him before yet he carried himself like he owned the place. He paid with a card. Let me see if I can get you a name.”
“That’d be great. Thank you Ms. Lane.”
I walked over to the bar and flipped through the credit card transmittals until I found the one I was looking for. “Here it is. I found it. His name is Leonidas Markos.” Hold up, why do I know that name? I looked over at the detective and his jaw seemed to be ticking. Okay…that’s weird.
“Leonidas Markos. Are you sure?” He asked as he joined me at the bar. There goes the jaw tick again!
I looked at the slip again just to be sure. “Yeah, that’s what it says. What’s the big deal?”
“As in Leo Markos, President of Markos Enterprises? You know, the company that owns this bar? He acted like he owns the place Ms. Lane because he does. Are you honestly trying to tell me that you’ve never met the man you work for? I know for a fact that he personally keeps an eye on all of his employees, especially here in town.”
“Are you accusing me of lying?” I shouted. “Look, I would assume we’re talking about the same guy, but I don’t know for sure because I’ve never met him! Why is that so hard to believe anyway? He only bought this place a few weeks ago! Sure, he was in here tonight…… and maybe we had a moment, but I never actually talked to the guy!”
He stood up from his stool and slammed his fist down on the bar. “What do you mean you ‘had a moment’?” He mocked in falsetto. Why the hell was he getting so angry?
Taken aback by his reaction, I lowered my voice before answering. “It was nothing really. He ordered some scotch from table twenty. I poured the drink. His waitress served it to him. Before he drank it, he stood up to face me, held the glass up, nodded, and then he took a sip.”
“Then what happened?”
“Um, his fangs came out.”
“His fangs came out.” He repeated.
“Yeah. It was top shelf scotch. I’m guessing it tasted pretty good.”
“I’m sure it was great alcohol Ms. Lane.” He rolled his eyes. “Look, I think I have all I need for now. I’ll be in touch if I have any additional….”
I didn’t hear the rest of his sentence because at that exact moment the coroner came by, rolling Leslie’s body out in a black bag. I froze, feeling completely numb. I think I may have muttered something unintelligible, but I couldn’t be sure. The gravity of the whole situation just hit me at once. I slumped against the back counter and stared at the procession of investigators marching out the door with Miguel and Hank trailing behind them. I have no idea how long I stayed that way.
“Ms. Lane, are you okay? Can you hear me?”
I looked up and saw that the detective had moved behind the bar and was now standing directly in front of me, with concern filling his piercing blue eyes. My eyes leisurely took inventory while he was helping me into a sitting position on the floor. My God, why didn’t I notice how stunning he was before? He was tall, maybe 6’4” with dark blonde hair that was styled into short, sexy tufts. His bronzed skin was testament to the fact that he lived in the scorching desert.
I traveled down to his expansive chest which seemed to be testing the limits of his oxford button up. It tapered down to a lean waist and strong leg muscles that I could see flexing beneath his jeans as he squatted down in front of me. His deep, baritone voice rumbled in the back of his throat, sending chills straight down to my spine.
“Ms. Lane, can you…” His words brought me back to his face, specifically to his mouth. Oh my, I could spend hours kissing those lips!
I cleared my throat. “Karli.” I said. “Call me Karli.”
He let out a sigh, seemingly relieved by my response. “Karli, look I know you’re pretty shaken up from the events this evening. I don’t think it’s safe for you to drive yourself home. Is there someone who can come get you?”
“No, there’s not.” I replied.
“Maybe a boyfriend, or---”