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Chapter 12

While aited for the court order, I talked to the fa to do, but necessary This hadn&039;t been a random attack, which meant they probably knew the vampire, or had known hi roo Beth St John hadup a tray I guess she didn&039;t want to see the body again Couldn&039;t say I blamed her I&039;d seen bloodier murder scenes, a lot bloodier, but each death has its own peculiar poignancy There was so very piteous about Ellie Quinlan stretched across her pink candy sheets, and I hadn&039;t known her Beth St John had Made it hard

The family sat huddled on the white sofa The man was broad, not fat, but square like a linebacker He had short black hair that was going nicely grey at the sideburns Very distinguished His complexion was ruddy, not tanned, but colorful just the same He was dressed in a white dress shirt unbuttoned at the neck, but sleeves still sporting their cufflinks His face was very tight, i entirely different was going on He looked callittered in his dark eyes

His arm was around his wife&039;s shoulders She leaned into hi softly, eyes closed as if that would , multicolored streaks like an oil slick down her cheeks She had thick black hair done in some short, complicated style that looked too stiff to touch She wore a long-sleeved, button-down blouse with a delicate flower pattern on it, pink predo pink Her feet were bare except for dark hose A delicate gold cross and wedding rings were her only jewelry

The boy was only about rowth spurt yet, and it er than he was His face had that soft, perfect skin that said he&039;d never had a piirl was seventeen, he had to be at least fifteen, maybe sixteen He could have passed for twelve A perfect victim, except for his eyes and the way he held hirief with the lines of tears drying on his face, he looked sure of hience and a rage that would hold the bullies at bay

His hair was the perfect black of his father&039;s, but it was baby fine, probably the natural texture of Mrs Quinlan&039;s before she styled it to death

A little black poodle was in his lap It had barked like a un, rat-a-tat-tat, yip-yip-yip until he&039;d picked it up and held it A soft growl tickled out of its curly jaws

"Hush, Raven," the boy said He petted the dog as he said it, thus rewarding the growling The dog growled again; he petted it again I decided to ignore it If the poodle got loose, I figured I could take it I was armed

"Mr and Mrs Quinlan, my name&039;s Anita Blake I need to ask you a few questions"

"Have you staked the body yet?" the reed to wait twenty-four hours"

"Her immortal soul is in jeopardy We want it done now"

"If you still want it done toht, I&039;ll do it"

"We want it done now" He was holding his wife very tight, fingers digging into her shoulder

She opened her eyes and blinked at hi rip "I&039;y seeer out of him The lines in his face softened He shook his head "We one, but her soul remains We must save that at least"

There had been a tiht all vampires were evil Noasn&039;t so sure I knew too many of them who didn&039;t seem that bad I knew evil when I felt it, and that wasn&039;t what they were I didn&039;t knohat they were, but were they da to the Catholic Church, yes, they were, and so was the girl upstairs But then, according to the Church, so was I I&039;d become Episcopalian when the church declared all animators excommunicates

"Are you Catholic, Mr Quinlan?"

"Yes; what difference does that make?"

"I was raised Catholic So I understand your beliefs"

"They are not beliefs, Miss What is your name?"

"Blake, Anita Blake"

"They are not beliefs, Miss Blake They are facts Ellie&039;s ier of eternal damnation We must help her"

"Do you understand what you&039;re asking me to do?" I asked

"To save her"

I shookatI could cause a little fah her heart and chop off her head" I left the fact out that un now, at close range It was messy and you needed a closed coffin, but it was a lot easier on me and a quicker death for the vaain, huddling against her husband She buried her face against hito upset my wife?"

"No, sir, but I want you all to realize that two nights from now Ellie will rise as a vampire She&039;ll walk and talk Eventually, she&039;ll be able to be around you If I stake her, all she&039;ll be is dead"

"She is already dead We want you to do your job," he said

Mrs Quinlan wouldn&039;t look at ly as her hubby, or she wouldn&039;t fight hihter&039;s continued existence

I let it go I could stall for twenty-four hours I doubted that Mr Quinlan was going to change his mind I had hopes for Mrs Quinlan

"Does the poodle always bark at strangers?"

They all three blinked at e of subject was too abrupt for their grief

"What has that got to do with anything?" he asked

"There is ato catch him, but I need your help So please just answerhave to do with it?"

I sighed and sipped hter dead, murdered, raped, I&039;m sure he&039;d told hiinning to use it up

"The poodle barked its head off when I caer co at "Yeah, Raven always barks at strangers"

I ignored his parents and talked to the most reasonable person in the room "What&039;s your name?"

"Jeff," he said God, Jeffrey Junior, of course

"How many times would I have to co athis lower lip under, really thinking about it

Mrs Quinlan sat up, a little apart from her husband "Raven always barks when someone comes to the door Even if she knows you"

"Did she bark tonight?"

The parents frowned at me Jeff said, "Yeah She barked like crazy until Ellie let her in her room just after dark Ellie let her in, then a few minutes later Raven came back downstairs"

"How&039;d you find the body?"

"Raven started barking again and wouldn&039;t stop Ellie didn&039;t let her in Ellie always lets her in I o in even when Ellie wants her privacy" He made that last word sound like he usually said it with a lot of eye-rolling

"I knocked at the door and she didn&039;t answer Raven was scratching at the door It was locked She locked her door a lot, but she wouldn&039;t answer" A tear escaped froot Dad"

"You unlocked the door, Mr Quinlan?"

He nodded "Yes, and she was just lying there I couldn&039;t bear to touch her She&039;s unclean now I" He was choking on tears, trying so hard not to cry that his face was turning purple

Jeff caainst hiswhined softly, licked the makeup froave a choked laugh, petting the curly fur

I wanted to leave I wanted to let therieve Hell, the death was so fresh, they hadn&039;t gotten to grieving yet They were still in shock But I couldn&039;t leave Sheriff St John would be back with the warrant, and I needed as et before we braved the darkness

Larry was sitting in the corner in a pale blue chair He was being so quiet you&039;d al everything, filing it all away When I first realized he da I said and did, it was inti Now I counted on it

Beth St John came into the room with a tray of sandwiches, coffee, and soft drinks I didn&039;t re so to do besides sit here and watch the Quinlans cry Me, too

She set the tray on the coffee table between the couch and the love seat The Quinlans ignored it I took a fresh oes down better with caffeine

The group huddle broke up The poodle was transferred to the wife&039;s arms, and the two men sat on either side of her Jeffrey and Jeff looked at me with identical eyes It was almost eerie Genetics at work

"The va in at full dark," I said

"My daughter would not have let in her hteen, Mr Quinlan, it wouldn&039;t be ainst your will is stilltired of everyone callingfather could do it a few hter knew the valy"

"You are crazy Beth, go get the sheriff I want this woman out of my house"

Beth stood up uncertainly "David&039;s gone to get sos, Jeffrey I Deputy Coltrain&039;s upstairs with the body, but"

"Then get him down here"

Beth looked at ether, al them "Jeffrey, she&039;s a licensed vampire hunter She&039;s done this a lot Listen to her"

He stood up "My daughter was raped andanimal, and I want this wo at the same time, I&039;d have been pissed

Beth looked atto stand up to him if I needed her to Mucho points for her "Has anyone you know vanished or died recently?" I asked

Quinlan squinted at ain was just too abrupt I was hoping I could distract hi

"What?"

"Has anyone you know goneor died recently?"

He shook his head "No"

"Andy&039;s ain "That boy is no concern of ours"

"Who&039;s Andy?" I asked

"Ellie&039;s boyfriend"

"He is not her boyfriend," Quinlan said

I caught Jeff&039;s gaze The look said it all Andy had been a boyfriend, and dear old dad hadn&039;t liked him one little bit

"Why didn&039;t you like Andy, Mr Quinlan?"

"He was a criminal"

I raised my eyebrows "In ay?"

"He was arrested for drug abuse"

"He s to wish I could just go off and talk with Jeff He see to hide it Trick was how toinfluence on hter, and I put a stop to it"

"And he&039;s ?" I asked

"Yes," Jeff said

"I will answer Miss Blake&039;s questions, Jeff I am the man of the house"

Jesus, man of the house Hadn&039;t heard that in a while "I&039;d like to see the rest of the house in case the vampire entered somewhere other than her room If Jeff could show me the doors, I&039;d appreciate it"

"I can show you around, Miss Blake," Quinlan said

"I&039;ht now, Mr Quinlan Jeff can show me around, but only you can comfort your wife"

Mrs Quinlan looked up at him, then at me, as if she wasn&039;t sure she wanted to be coe would appeal to hiht" He touched his wife&039;s shoulder "Sally needs , using the poodle as a sort of impromptu handkerchief The poodle squirmed and whined Quinlan sat down and took his wife in his ar squirmed free and trotted over to Jeff

I stood Larry stood I moved toward the door and looked back at the boy Jeff stood and the poodle trotted at his side I opened the doors and ushered us all outside Raven the poodle eyed ht a last glio with us, but she sat down beside the unwanted sandwiches and the cooling coffee She sat like a good soldier She would not abandon her post

I closed the door, feeling cowardly I was glad it wasn&039;tthe vampire even in the dark didn&039;t seem so bad by comparison Of course, I was still safe inside the house Out there in the dark with the vaht feel different

Chapter 13