Free To Catch a Vampire by Jennifer Harlow

again.”
    “Trixie does not ‘have my balls’ as you so eloquently put it,” Oliver says.
    “Bet she has you gardening or some such shit,” Sal laughs.
    “Hardly. We travel.”
    “Yeah? Where you been since Gidget got her hooks into you? She doesn’t strike me as the adventurous type, if you catch my drift.”
    Um, hello? I’m in the room.
    Oliver’s grip in my neck tightens. “I believe you are mistaking adventurous for whorish. Not surprising considering the company you keep.”
    “Hey!” Sal says.
    “And for your information, I have shown my wife the best of the world. Paris, London, Cairo, Rio to name but a few.”
    “Paris, huh? Been there three times,” Sal says.
    “We have been there four.”
    Okay, they’re about to whip out their johnsons and compare size. Macho men drive me nuts. I stand, tugging down my skirt. “Well, I think I’ve had enough socializing for one night. Nice to meet you all. Oliver?”
    With my chin up, I walk past the Gruesome Twosome out the door. I’m halfway up the staircase when Oliver catches up, taking my elbow. We don’t speak until the door to our room shuts.
    “We don’t have to do that every night, do we?” I ask, finishing my screwdriver.
    “Thankfully, no. I am sorry for how they treated you. It was inexcusable.”
    “They’re predators, it’s their nature to toy with food. And you didn’t help matters. Can you please not get into a fight while we’re here? The guy touched me, he wasn’t going any further. Low profile, remember?”
    “I was a husband defending his wife.”
    “No, you overreacted. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to get dragged into vampire court if I can help it.”
    For a fleeting moment, something passes over his face. His mouth tenses and eyes double in size, but it’s gone so fast maybe I imagined it. Was he scared? I’ve only seen him frightened three other times, and they were bad situations. Like, we-almost-died situations. “Oh, crud. What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing. You are right, I will control my temper.”
    “You didn’t have a nothing face. Is there something you’re not telling me? Because if—”
    “Trixie, dear, you are looking for trouble where there is none, I assure you. Now, we should leave. I had George arrange for us to review copies of the case files on the missing. They are expecting us.”
    “You’re kidding, right? I can’t walk into an FBI building dressed like this. Can’t we do it tomorrow?”
    “Would you rather stay in this house, alone with me?”
    Good point. “Don’t want to keep the Feds waiting,” I say, picking up my purse from the floor. I also pull out my suitcase feeling in the side flap for my credentials. There it is. I love this thing. It’s like a black card case, but when opened, there’s a gold shield with “Federal Bureau of Investigation” written on it. This thing can get me into anywhere: people’s homes, work, you name it. It’s also great if you’ve been caught speeding. (I was doing eighty in a fifty-five, and the guy let me off with a smile.)
    I also take out my fitted black leather jacket that flares out at the waist. My best friend in the universe, April, made me buy it, convincing me I looked rock-and-roll in it. It was a bargain at half my paycheck. With the matching leather skirt I definitely feel rock-and-roll, but more on the groupie side. If Nana could see me now, she’d throw me in reform school.
    “That is a fetching look on you,” Oliver says throwing on his own leather jacket. He loves that thing. It reaches down to his hips and hangs loose. What a pair we are.
    “Did they give you keys to a vehicle?” Oliver asks.
    “Desk,” I answer, putting the suitcase back under the bed.
    He grabs them. “Are we ready?”
    “I was born ready.”

Five
    The FBI Agent Rode a Black Motorcycle
    We make it downstairs and past the still-chatting group without incident. The Germans glare as we walk out the front door, and Marianna shouts “Have