Once Bitten, No Longer Shy by Julie Steimle (to read list TXT) đ
- Author: Julie Steimle
Book online «Once Bitten, No Longer Shy by Julie Steimle (to read list TXT) đ». Author Julie Steimle
He mentally went through the four men remaining in the biting group, wondering if they were in fact connected to the murder of Brandon and Nicole. Dalton was just a frat boy who stupidly stayed at a party he shouldnât have, easily dismissible. But the others were of the same veinâblackguards. And porn-maker Marcusâhe deserved to be bitten the most. Honestly, Matthew was surprised that the vampire lady had not killed the guy.
âLook, Iâm going to retrace Brandonâs steps again to find his ghost,â JJ said, watching Matthew pore over the evidence for the umpteenth time. âHis body obviously was dumped somewhere Troy might have walkedâI think to frame him. You know the Order of Blood is still after him. Most ghosts haunt places where they have been killed, or their bodiesâwhich he hasnât.â
âOr reaped already,â Matthew murmured, hoping that wasnât so. They needed more evidence. What they had was not enough.
âI donât think he has,â JJ said, thinking the same thing. It was more hope than anything else. âGhosts of people who are murdered are quick. Nervous. I think heâs hiding from reapers.â
Matthew nodded, knowing JJ was just hoping it. âYeah. You do that. Keep looking for his ghost. I think I need to go to Brandonâs friends again and ask more questions. I have a feeling that Joshua and Connor have held stuff back. I could hear something was being restrained and they figured out how not to think of it. You know, focused their thoughts on what they were saying.â
âWhat Rick used to do,â JJ said with a nod, hope rising in him.
Cringing, Matthew closed his eyes. Yes. Rick was very good at controlling his thoughts so that they matched the things he wanted Matthew to know, yet keeping other secrets. Rick did not do that so much anymore. Most of his secrets were known to Matthew now.
âYou knew your gift could be beat by those who were aware of it,â JJ said. âThey could have been coached.â
âThatâs my thinking,â Matthew said, hoping he was right. He didnât want Troy to be the murderer.
JJ went alone. Backtracking to the places where Brandon was last alive. He had the witness statement from his friends Connor and Joshua who had gone to clubbing with him that evening. Joshua went off with a girl he had met at one club and he had last seen Brandon alive, leaving with a group to other clubs. Connorâs story was that Brandon had gotten severely drunk at a strip club they ended up at, which honestly JJ had not wanted to enter the last time he was there, though he had gone in. The last time, he had questioned the workers and owners of the establishment. He had gone before opening timeâwhen people were still mostly dressed and he could focus on the task. According to Connor, after Brandon got plastered, made a belligerent annoyance of himself, and threw up in the toilet, he and a friend had put him in an Uber to drive him home and that was where they lost track of him. Around the same time, Troy was already home with Nicole and accounted for by Bobo. Unless Troy miraculously snuck out for a night kill, some other vampire had gotten to Brandon. The question was, where?
Entering the establishment again before âopening timeâ, JJ showed his badge at the door and asked once more to enter. The owner, not wanting a cop roaming around, came out and asked JJ to come after hours.
âI need to look around now, before itâs too late,â JJ said, putting his badge away. Then with a glance to the muscular bouncer standing at the door. âLook, if I make people nervous, I will change my shirt so I will not look like a cop.â
The owner, eyeing JJ over, mulled over that with a hefty nod. âOk.â
Quickly, JJ went back to his car and switched shirts. He also threw on a jacket around his waist to hide his gun. The fact that he drove a plain car made it easier for his investigation, and he parked in a discrete place. As soon as he was finally admitted in, JJ wandered around the dark space quietly, listening for any ghostly moaning. He knew all the signs of a haunting, and already he was getting tingles up the back of his neck. The place had the scent of a ghostâsort of an acrid, almost ammonia scent.
âYou know, though, weâve cleaned up this place thoroughly,â the owner said with a sweeping arm at the stage, the collection of chairs and the bar. The DJ was already setting things up. It was more like a dance club with strippers. Not the usual smutty place where the strippers were the main attraction. âI donât think there would be any remaining sign of this guy here. We didnât clean-up blood, you know.â
âBut you remember him, right?â JJ said, his eyes raking in the still, but would-be-spinning light globe hanging from the ceiling. No ghosts up there. None were in the seats, either. âYou corroborated that he was behaving obnoxiously and ended up in the restroom worshipping, and I quote: âthe porcelain godâ.â
Nodding with a mirthless chuckle, the owner said, âYeah. We did clean up that.â
âThen thatâs where I start.â JJ crossed the room, looking for the restroom. He had a feeling. Ghosts were weird about places they haunted. It wasnât uncommon for a stairway or a bathroom to have a ghost inhabitant, especially if that was where they died.
The owner followed him. âWhat are you looking for exactly?â
âSigns of a haunting,â JJ said, weaving through the chairs and tables toward the back areas, looking for the placards of men and women stick figures on doors.
Halting in his tracks, the owner paled. âWhat?â
âA haunting.â JJ gave him a firm nod, continuing on. He located the doors. They had these crude pics of biological male and female reproductive systems on the doors. Clearly they did not want to play the gender game.
âI know it sounds weird,â JJ approached the doorways, feeling for the ghost, âbut I have a special skill set. I can see, feel, and hear ghosts. And I use this to solve homicides.â
âOh crap.â The owner paled. He followed JJ quicker, though. âThatâs whatâs been happeningâŠ.â
JJ felt shivers go down his arms. Was it the AC on cooler, or sign the ghost was near? It just made sense that Brandon had died here. He had gotten drunk and was making himself obnoxious. And vampires went to clubs all the time. It was their favorite places to stalk people. Troyâs notes were adamant about this. They were places with willing âsuckersâ, excuse the pun. And if that were the case, Brandonâs wound would have opened and the blood would have lured the vampire in for a meal.
âI have to say this, but since you came around the first time, weird things have been happening,â the owner said.
JJ perked up, halting.
âEvery time the DJ plays a certain song, it gets ripped off and different song is put on.â The owner shook his head. âAnd I remember that prick hated that one song. He made such a stink about it.â
That was good. JJ nodded, heading toward the bathroom again. âThat guy did seem the type to haunt a strip joint.â
âHey!â the owner snapped, following him to the bathroom doors. âItâs a living.â
Shaking his head, JJ went into the menâs room first.
No ghost.
So⊠thinking about the nature of Brandon, still getting that chill, JJ turned and knocked the door for the ladiesâ room. âExcuse me. Maintenance.â
Immediately, cold washed over him in a gust. And across the room, looking under the closed stalls, was the translucent figure of Brandon, still in the clothes he had worn the night he was killed.
âYou perverted ghost.â JJ put a hand on his hip.
âGet out!â screamed the women behind the closed stall doors. All three were shut.
With haste, JJ stepped back and let the door swing closed. He exchanged one look with the owner who obviously could not see Brandon, though he had felt the chill. In fact, he said, âI saw nothing.â
âYou wouldnât,â JJ replied. âBut heâs there.â
The owner huffed. âYou just wanted to go into the womenâs bathroom.â
Rolling his eyes, JJ did not respond. He found it ironic that a strip joint owner was fussing over modesty in bathrooms.
The women when they stepped out of the restroom, swore at JJ, one punching him in the chest. But when they had vacated, JJ went straight in and stared down the ghost that only he could see. The owner came right behind him, feeling the chill.
âBrandon Turner, you naughty boy. Iâve been looking everywhere for you.â JJ folded his arms. The owner peered sideways at JJ.
Brandon looked pale as if he was his ghostly body was also drained. His bite marks stood out livid in his ghostly form as he gazed wanly on JJ then made a face at the owner who was peering around as if he could almost hear him.
âSo⊠you can see me,â Brandon the ghost said. âThat wasnât crap your vampire friend had said. Huh. Well, he can go to hell.â
âWho killed you?â JJ asked him, shivering. He hated how cold it got when he was near an agitated ghost.
Sighing, Brandon shook his head. âYou know I should have seen it coming. All the signs were there. He was hungry and a monster at heart. I knew it when I met him.â
âWho?â JJ hoped it really wasnât Troy.
But Brandon laughed, an evil look in his eye. âYou want me to exonerate your vampire friend, huh? Well, I wish he was the one who had killed me. I would have love to have him to blame. Nicole kept bragging about the size of his dick.â
âWho killed you?â JJ insisted, coloring.
âConnor,â Brandon said, laughing. âThe day I met him he said he wanted to be a vampire. I totally thought he was joking. But he started bragging about how they are immortal, how blood must taste good, and obvious how they get the ladies. I mean, your friend Troyâsoon after Nicole had sex with him, she didnât want anybody else. She said he totally spoiled it for her and she could never go back to small weenies. Thatâs what she called usâsmall weeniesâlittle smokeys.â
JJ put a hand over his face. This was embarrassing.
âImagine that, having her compare what youâve got to a little smokey after enjoying a bratwurst,â Brandon said. He rolled his pale, transparent eyes.
âSo Connor Davis killed you,â JJ said to confirm it, also trying to change the subject.
âAnd another vampire,â Brandon said. He shook his head. âI mean, Iâm at this rave here, enjoying myself, and they gave me drink after drink until I totally passed out and had my face in the toilet. They pushed it in and they drowned me.â
Drowned? JJ stared. Did the body look drowned? He had to go back and check the evidence.
âThen he and the other guy carried me out. I watched it all, stunned that I wasnât me anymore. They carried what had been me outside, pretending I was just drunk.â Brandon shook his head. âDamn. I didnât want to die. I mean, yeah, I hated that I was being sued for sexual harassment by that lawyer and all. But, I didnât want to die.â
âSo they drowned you first?â JJ asked once more to confirm it.
âAnd revived me, barely,â Brandon said. âOut in the alley. I had a breath and I was choking. They wanted to drink me alive. It was the vampire with Connor who bit me, making the holes for Connor to drink.â
JJ gasped, adding it up. Connor had not drunk vampire blood. Just human blood. Physically, he was still human. âSo Connor could still walk in daylight.â
Branson shrugged. âI guess. I donât care.â
Frowning, JJ knew asking ghosts stuff outside of their fixation was
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