Sucker Punch (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 27)

“I am saying that she smelled different from her actions. I’ve learned that people can control most of their bodies, but not the change in scent.”

“Do all emotions have a scent?” Newman asked.

“No, or if they do, I have not learned them yet. I am still relatively new at being a shapeshifter. Anita might ask one of her fiancés. They have lived like this far longer than I.”

I appreciated Olaf conceding that Micah and Nathaniel might know more about something than he did. The Olaf I’d met years ago was too insecure, or too angry, to admit any weakness. Or maybe he just hadn’t admitted them to a woman. Either way, this was an improvement.

“I’ll ask them when we talk next.”

Newman stepped into Olaf, which made me step into both of them. “Are you saying that Jocelyn was pretending to be more upset than she really felt?”

“She was.”

Newman looked at me. “Do you think she was lying about something other than her emotions?”

“You got one question out, Newman, just one. Then she went hysterical, and the interview was over. The doctor won’t want us near her again,” I said.

“I might have to get a court order just to question her again.”

“That takes time,” I said.

“We have an extra eight hours, that’s all. I don’t want to waste that getting more judges involved. Besides, court order or not, if Jocelyn does another hysterical scene, we still won’t be able to question her.”

“Agreed,” I said.

The doctor came around the corner, and you didn’t have to be a shapeshifter to know he was pissed. It showed on his face and in his posture. “How dare you come into my hospital and threaten my patient?”

“We did not threaten her,” Newman said.

The doctor held up a hand as if we should just stop talking now. “Nurse Brimley heard you. That’s why she came to get me.”

“Is Nurse Brimley the tall one, Patricia?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Did she actually say we threatened her?”

“She said you were browbeating my patient into hysterics. I don’t know what gestapo tactics you people from the preternatural branch are used to doing in other places, but you will not intimidate anyone in this hospital. We had to sedate her again.”

“I swear to you we asked one question,” Newman said.

“I want all your names. I’m reporting you.” The doctor got out his phone—to make notes, I think.

“For what?” I asked.

“For threatening my patient. She’s been through enough.”

“I swear to you that we did not threaten her,” Newman said.

“The three of you looming over her bed would be threat enough,” the doctor said. He had his phone out, and he was ready to type with his thumbs. “Give me your names.”

“We didn’t loom over her bed,” I said.

The doctor motioned at Olaf with his phone still grasped in his hands. “How could he not loom? You should never have been in there alone with her!”

“Are you saying that someone over a certain height is scary just by being that tall?” I asked.

“No, but he is.” The doctor had a point, but he’d pissed me off, so . . .