Free High Stakes by Helen Harper Page A

back outside. Despite his hardened exterior, I think he’s as shaken by what happened to Corinne as I am.
    ‘How did you know?’ I ask him, when he finally releases me from the cuffs. ‘How did you know she was lying?’
    ‘I didn’t,’ he answers, ‘not for sure. But actually there was a witness when she got into his car. It’s an old lady with bottle tops for glasses and she was on the other side of the street. She swore that Corinne got into the car voluntarily.’
    ‘That’s why he thought he could get away with picking her up so easily,’ I muse, ‘and why she spoke to him. She thought he was a john.’
    ‘It was a small detail,’ he agrees. ‘And it didn’t mean I thought he wasn’t a bloodguzzler. But…’ his voice trails off. He’s a better copper than I gave him credit for. And a better human being. ‘If your records were open to us, we’d have discounted vampires much more quickly.’
    ‘We’re working on that. And I can still get access to most of the Families if you want to double-check what I’ve told you.’
    Foxworthy runs a hand through his hair. ‘If it’s not from every Family, then there’s no point, is there?’ He pockets the handcuffs. ‘Time was, we’d never have got to the truth. She could have said “vampire” from every rooftop in town and you lot wouldn’t have bothered to comment.’
    ‘Many things are different these days,’ I say.
    He grunts. ‘It would be a good idea if you kept this to yourself for the time being.’
    I stiffen. ‘We’re in a bad spot right now, Inspector. If people continue to think a vampire was responsible for this, then the antagonism will escalate.’
    ‘You misunderstand me. I know how dangerous it could be if things get even more stirred up with the Families.’ He looks at me darkly. ‘I’m fully aware of how much strength bloodguzzlers have at their disposal. No, we’ll release the information that the perp is a human as soon as I’ve cleared it with those higher up. It’ll be out by morning at the latest. I just mean that it’ll go better for Corinne if you keep quiet about her day job.’
    I’m filled with distaste. ‘You really believe I’d run to the tabloids to tell them she’s a prostitute?’
    ‘Quite frankly, Ms Blackman, these days I’m prepared to believe almost anything.’
    *
    Although I feel like the good inspector and I had a moment together, he is still lukewarm towards me. He leaves me in the hospital car park with some vague remark about me being able to collect my impounded bike within the next few days. I suppose it’s better than his previous hostility but I could really have done with a lift back to Covent Garden.
    I decide to stretch my legs and test my burgeoning vampiric skills so I stride over the road and use a nearby fire escape to pull myself up to the roof. Once there, I crick my neck from side to side and make a few unnecessary stretches, as if to warm up. It makes me feel more human. Then I brace my right leg backwards and focus on a tall, illuminated building in the distance. I glance down at my watch, making a careful note of the time. If I were human, it’d take me at least fifteen minutes to reach the building via the pavements below, even if I ran at full pelt. I reckon I can halve that time.
    I suck air deep into my lungs then I’m off. My toes pivot off the edge of the first building and I sail over the gap. I pick up speed as soon as I land, scaring off a nesting pigeon. The next leap is harder because I have to spring upwards as well as over. I grab the edge of the rooftop with my fingers and pull myself up. This building has a sloping roof so I have to balance along the top. My foot slips on a patch of slimy moss and I start to slide down towards the gutter. I jump up in the air, twisting my body sideways so that when I land I can use the edge of my boot to dig in and halt my momentum. Then I force myself back up to the top of the slope.
    The crescent moon, obscured until now