3:22 a.m. When did these places close down, anyway?
I didn’t know, but by now, there were only a few cars left in the parking lot.
At 3:45, the last one drove off. I recognized the outline of Rick’s thick neck, as the vehicle receded in the distance. I used my vampire senses to see if anyone was still inside the club.
Empty.
That was also the time I got out of my minivan, which I’d discreetly parked down the street. With a spring in my step, I approached the strip club, with a can of gas by my side.
It didn’t take me long to dowse the structure with gasoline. That I did so with a surprising glee should have been alarming. I never knew I had such an inner arsonist.
I stood a few dozen feet away, and held up the fancy lighter I’d purchased at a smoke shop for just this occasion.
The damn club had brought so much pain to my life. Hell, it had been the beginning of the end of my relationship with Danny.
I hated it, even if it did bring an unlikely friend into my life. The friendship had been bumpy and likely would have remained so. I might never have truly forgiven her, but I had been willing to try, and so had she.
Either way, it was time to close this chapter of my life…
In a grand fashion.
I held up the lighter, flicked it to life, and tossed it into a nearby pool of gas.
ome call me a vampire.
I say, why use labels? I’m uncomfortable calling myself anything other than a mother. That’s the one label I am comfortable with. I’m a mom first and foremost. A private investigator next, even though that is fairly recent. Seven years ago, I wasn’t a private eye, but a federal agent.
So, even that is subject to change. Perhaps someday I might find myself better suited for a different job, although I will always help those in need. Although I’d always admired Judge Judy, I would never want to be in her position: to judge the actions of others. That takes wisdom… a lifetime of wisdom. Technically, I’m only in my mid-thirties, although I look much younger. Still, far too young to judge others.
Truth is, my current lifestyle’s perfectly suited to private investigation. Other than meeting new clients, who tend to want to meet during the day, I get along just fine working the nightshift.
So yes, one of the constants in my life is that I’m a mother. Of course, even that was threatened just a year or so ago, when a rare sickness almost took my son from me. A son who was growing so fast.
Supernaturally fast.
Don’t ask.
I have a daughter, too. A daughter who offers many challenges, the least of which is that she can read minds as easily as she reads her Facebook newsfeed. I’m a sister, too. My sister has had a rough time of it, of late. She’s recently been introduced to some of the darker elements of my world, and might be holding a grudge. But she’ll get over it. She’d better. I need her in my life.
Of course, there is another constant in my life… a constant I ignored. A constant I denied. And, as they say, denial isn’t just a river in Egypt.
Denial is my sanity.
You see, I have to deny what I am. Who I am. Or I would go crazy. I know I would. In fact, a part of me is certain that I just might be crazy. But let’s not go there.
Yes, call me anything. But please, just please, don’t call me a vampire.
At least, not to my face.
try to get to work around nine.
Luckily, I have a very loose definition of
try
and
around
. And since I like to think of myself as
progressive
, I don’t worry about things like
time
. That’s the beauty of being progressive: I’ll get there eventually.
At just past ten, I arrived at my building. With a mocha latte in one hand and my keys in the other, I smelled the cigarettes and cheap perfume wafting under my office door into the hallway.
Before slipping the key in the lock, I tested the handle. Still locked. I looked around. My pathetic business complex was quiet. Precisely four cars sat scattered around the parking lot. One of them was my
I didn’t know, but by now, there were only a few cars left in the parking lot.
At 3:45, the last one drove off. I recognized the outline of Rick’s thick neck, as the vehicle receded in the distance. I used my vampire senses to see if anyone was still inside the club.
Empty.
That was also the time I got out of my minivan, which I’d discreetly parked down the street. With a spring in my step, I approached the strip club, with a can of gas by my side.
It didn’t take me long to dowse the structure with gasoline. That I did so with a surprising glee should have been alarming. I never knew I had such an inner arsonist.
I stood a few dozen feet away, and held up the fancy lighter I’d purchased at a smoke shop for just this occasion.
The damn club had brought so much pain to my life. Hell, it had been the beginning of the end of my relationship with Danny.
I hated it, even if it did bring an unlikely friend into my life. The friendship had been bumpy and likely would have remained so. I might never have truly forgiven her, but I had been willing to try, and so had she.
Either way, it was time to close this chapter of my life…
In a grand fashion.
I held up the lighter, flicked it to life, and tossed it into a nearby pool of gas.
ome call me a vampire.
I say, why use labels? I’m uncomfortable calling myself anything other than a mother. That’s the one label I am comfortable with. I’m a mom first and foremost. A private investigator next, even though that is fairly recent. Seven years ago, I wasn’t a private eye, but a federal agent.
So, even that is subject to change. Perhaps someday I might find myself better suited for a different job, although I will always help those in need. Although I’d always admired Judge Judy, I would never want to be in her position: to judge the actions of others. That takes wisdom… a lifetime of wisdom. Technically, I’m only in my mid-thirties, although I look much younger. Still, far too young to judge others.
Truth is, my current lifestyle’s perfectly suited to private investigation. Other than meeting new clients, who tend to want to meet during the day, I get along just fine working the nightshift.
So yes, one of the constants in my life is that I’m a mother. Of course, even that was threatened just a year or so ago, when a rare sickness almost took my son from me. A son who was growing so fast.
Supernaturally fast.
Don’t ask.
I have a daughter, too. A daughter who offers many challenges, the least of which is that she can read minds as easily as she reads her Facebook newsfeed. I’m a sister, too. My sister has had a rough time of it, of late. She’s recently been introduced to some of the darker elements of my world, and might be holding a grudge. But she’ll get over it. She’d better. I need her in my life.
Of course, there is another constant in my life… a constant I ignored. A constant I denied. And, as they say, denial isn’t just a river in Egypt.
Denial is my sanity.
You see, I have to deny what I am. Who I am. Or I would go crazy. I know I would. In fact, a part of me is certain that I just might be crazy. But let’s not go there.
Yes, call me anything. But please, just please, don’t call me a vampire.
At least, not to my face.
try to get to work around nine.
Luckily, I have a very loose definition of
try
and
around
. And since I like to think of myself as
progressive
, I don’t worry about things like
time
. That’s the beauty of being progressive: I’ll get there eventually.
At just past ten, I arrived at my building. With a mocha latte in one hand and my keys in the other, I smelled the cigarettes and cheap perfume wafting under my office door into the hallway.
Before slipping the key in the lock, I tested the handle. Still locked. I looked around. My pathetic business complex was quiet. Precisely four cars sat scattered around the parking lot. One of them was my
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