Read Online Nocturnal Urges (Nocturnal Urges, Book One) by Elizabeth Donald - Free Book Online

want to smack him one. “That’s my girl,” he said. “Always the bleeding heart.”
    * * * * *
    This time, when Det. Freitas appeared at Isabel’s cubicle door, she was holding her badge. “Got a second?”
    Isabel automatically touched the bandage at her neck. “You’re always checking up on me, Annie.”
    Freitas grinned. “Comes from a long line of Portuguese grandmothers,” she said. “Let’s grab some food.”
    As they walked to the café, Freitas kept sneaking looks at Isabel’s neck. “Yes, I feel just fine,” Isabel finally said.
    “I wasn’t going to say anything,” Freitas said. “Just wanted to make sure you were in one piece and your teeth were the same length.”
    “Ha,” Isabel said as they reached the café. “I got my shots, there’s no problem there.”
    “Good,” Freitas said. “I hate the night shift, myself.”
    Isabel stared at her for a second before she burst out laughing. “You have the strangest sense of humor, Annie,” she said.
    “Not laughing much these days,” Freitas said, scanning the menu. “I don’t know why I look at this; I always order the same thing…”
    “What’s happening on the police beat?” Isabel said. “You beat up any suspects this week?”
    “Nah, they run too fast,” Freitas said. “Too many ham-and-cheese omelets, I’m slowin’ down…”
    “So what’s giving you fits?” Isabel asked.
    Freitas sighed and closed the menu. “Another dead body at Nocturnal Urges,” she said softly. “I gotta say, Isabel. Going back there alone was a really bad idea.”
    “While we’re on the subject, how the hell did you find out about that?” Isabel said.
    “I know everything,” Freitas said, smiling. “My spies are everywhere.”
    “I didn’t press charges, it wasn’t his fault,” Isabel said.
    The waitress came to take their order, and after she had cleared away the menus, Freitas leveled her cop eyes at Isabel. Sometimes Freitas could be almost a normal person, Isabel thought, and other times the cop in her came out and those laser-like eyes would just bore right through you.
    “How did it happen?” Freitas asked.
    Isabel frowned. “You asking as my friend or as a cop?”
    Freitas shrugged. “How about both?”
    “As a cop, I can definitely say it was not his fault, just an accident. He got carried away,” Isabel said. “That’s why I didn’t press any charges.”
    “Yeah, I saw that,” Freitas said. “So explain ‘carried away’.”
    Isabel shrugged. “I, uh, moved too much,” she said, her face feeling hot. “His teeth sank in a little too far. He called for help right away,” she added.
    “Huh.” Freitas kept gazing at her with those narrow cop eyes.
    “What?” Isabel said. “Why are you asking about this?”
    Freitas leaned forward. “Because a vamp doesn’t lose control just because you move, Isabel,” she said. “A vamp like Ryan bites two or three people a night, only taking a little blood so the human can replenish it easily. A vamp like Ryan has been around the block enough to know how to hold a customer, how to keep the bite shallow. It’s natural to them. You don’t think they go around ripping throats out, do you?”
    Isabel lowered her head. “I don’t know how it’s supposed to work.”
    “Vamps live off humans like parasites, that much of what Osborne and his nutbars say is true,” Freitas said. “But a good parasite doesn’t kill its host. Hell, in order to drink a human dry the vamp would have to swallow something like two gallons of blood. That’d be like you or me sitting down to eat a whole turkey and following it with an Easter ham. It can be done, but why do it? You’d be sick.”
    “So how come you hear about vamps killing people?” Isabel asked.
    Freitas shrugged. “How come you hear about humans killing people?” she said. “It sure isn’t for food. Hell, the latest left half the blood on the ground…”
    Isabel gaped in sudden understanding. Freitas grabbed her