He lay back in the chair for a few more seconds, still. Then he jerked upright and stared at me. "You could help me!"
"Me? I don't know even half as much about vampires as you do."
"You could be my… my intermediary. You're a neutral party. Maybe some of the others will talk to you. You could talk to Edward."
"I don't think th—," I started.
Cameron jumped up. "Yes! You could do it. You don't need to be a vampire expert. I could point out some of the people and you could ask them. They'll talk to you, I know they will!" He was almost capering with excitement.
"Why—why," I repeated, raising my voice with each rep, "why would they talk to me?"
He stopped and stared at me. "Well, because… because you've got great legs. Who could resist a smart PI with good legs who can spot a vampire without a mirror? Please try. Please? I can pay you. I've got lots of money. I'll pay you double your normal rates. Come on. Is it a deal?"
I had a strange feeling about this. "Let me think about it."
"OK. How 'bout twenty-four hours?"
"Make it twenty-eight hours. I've got a life, you know."
"Yeah, rub it in."
"Cameron…"
"OK, OK. Twenty-eight hours. What do I care? I'll still be up."
My riposte was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Come in!"
Quinton opened the door and stuck his head into the room. "I'm having a little problem."
"Come all the way in and tell us about it," I suggested.
Quinton closed the door behind himself and perched on the edge of the shabby chair next to Cameron's.
"I can't get this system functional tonight. I've got most of the work done—the lock's fixed and all that—but one of the alarm modules I brought with me is toast and I can't get another one until morning."
"Can you rig something temporary?" I asked.
"Not for this. There has to be a brain of some kind for a multi-input, multistage system like this," he explained. "The fried module is the brain, but it's the one thing I don't have a spare for. I can fake it, but no guarantees, or I can get the correct part in the morning." He glanced at me, then looked over at Cameron. He twitched a stiff shrug. "Sorry."
Cam's face wrinkled up and he pursed his lips. I could almost read the swear words forming around his head. But all he said was, "No problem." Then he looked at me. "You got any suggestions?"
I shook my head and looked at Quinton. "You?"
"Well, if you guys both trust me with her, you could leave the car with me and I can take it down to a friend's garage first thing in the morning. I'll get the module from him, finish up the work, and bring the car back. Be done by nine."
"A.M.?" Cameron asked.
Quinton nodded. One corner of his mouth rippled.
Cameron looked at me with rising panic. "I'm not much of a morning person."
I waved him down. "I'll take care of that. I can pick up the car and pay for it. You'll have to pay me back. Assuming that I can find you a safe place to sleep, that schedule sounds OK to me." I looked at Quinton.
"All right," said Quinton as he pushed to his feet. "Any problems, I'll page you. Car's all locked up. Should be safe where it is till morning." He looked at Cameron. "You need anything out of it before I take off with the keys?"
"Uh, no. I can make do. Thanks."
"No problem," Quinton replied, slipping out the door.
When he was gone, Cameron shot me an expectant stare. "What am I going to do? Where am I going to sleep?"
"Hang on. I have to make a phone call."
I dialed and waited.
"Hello?"
"Mara, it's Harper. How do you two feel about vampires?"
"Never met any. Why?"
"I have a young man in my office who doesn't have a pulse, sleeps during the day, and needs a place to hide out while the sun is up. He seems all right, but he's got some problems we're dealing with. I only need a place for one night. Would it put you out if I dropped him off with Ben?"
"Oh, no. I'm sure we can work something out. There's a little finished room in the cellar that's quite cozy and the light doesn't come in during the day. That might do."
"All right. Now let me talk to Ben."
"You do catch on quick to this wife/husband business," she said, before turning away from the phone to call for Ben.
"Hi, Harper. Are you coming back for pie?"
"Let me tell you what's come up before I answer that. I need to find a place to hide a vampire for one day, and I'm in a bit of a bind about it."
"I don't understand."
"He's a nice kid, but he's new to this vampire business and his normal sleeping place won't be available until tomorrow. Mara thinks you might have a place he could hang out until sunset tomorrow, but I wanted to OK it with you first. Is this safe?"
"Safe? Sure. You're not worried about all that 'has to be invited' junk, are you? Folklore. That's all. But are you sure this kid's a" — he lowered his voice—"vampire? Really?"
"You could almost pass him off as normal except for the teeth and the eyes and the fact that he doesn't have a heartbeat."
"Wow. This is kind of exciting. We can manage. Yes, sure. Brian's at my mother's until tomorrow, so that's no worry."
"Thanks, Ben. I couldn't think of anyplace else. And he really needs more help than just a place to crash for a day. I thought you might want to talk to him."
"Oh, God, yes! When are you coming?"
"I'll be there in about twenty minutes."
"Great! We'll fix some things up and see you then."
I hung up and looked at Cameron. "What do you think?"
"I'm not sure. Who are these guys? They didn't seem too freaked out by the idea."
"I'll tell you on the way."
Cameron followed me to the office door. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"It's the safest option I can come up with on such short notice. They won't be any threat to you, except that Ben might keep you up till dawn asking questions. Do you eat pie?"
"No. Solid food makes me spew. I drink a little alcohol or coffee every once in a while."
"Coffee?"
"Yeah. It has just the opposite effect it used to have. Now it smoothes me out."
On the drive back up to Queen Anne, I explained Ben and Mara Danziger, to the best of my ability.
"A real witch? Sweet," said Cam, leaning back in the passenger seat. "This could turn out all right."
"I hope so. The only thing I'm worried about is Albert getting agitated. I don't know if he could cause you any kind of trouble."
"I'll do my best to snake-charm him," Cam said with a smile that was both winsome and horrifying. It had to be the teeth. "Who's Albert?"
"He's a ghost. He… lives there."
Cam was still puzzling on that one when I pulled up in front of the house and parked.
"Come on," I urged, grabbing my bag as I stepped out.
We started across the sidewalk together. Albert materialized in the arch at the foot of the steps and glowered at us.
I sighed. Folklore. Right. "May we come in?"
He didn't move, and I was loath to walk through him. He stopped looking at me and directed his baleful gaze onto Cameron.
Cam stepped forward and held up his empty hands. "I promise I won't do them any harm," he said. "I… I give you my word. I just need some help and I hope your friends can give it to me. OK?"