Moonlight, Roses & Murder - Chapter 5
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Chapter 5
When Damian opened his eyes, he saw Selina Bellerose looking down at him. “It’s about time,” she said. “You had me worried.”
He smiled in spite of the pain he was in. “Sorry to drop in on you like this.” He noticed he was missing his shirt and could feel the sting of antiseptic on his face.
“You seem to have gotten yourself on the wrong side of someone’s fists,” Selina said with some concern. Then looking down at his ribs, she added, “Or maybe their boot.”
“All part of the job,” Damian said nonchalantly, waving a hand and wincing.
Selina tried to hide a smile, then grew more serious. “I was surprised to see you choose my club rather than a hospital,” she replied, “until I saw this.” She pointed to his shoulder, where there was a tattoo of a woman shooting an arrow. “This looks like Diana, goddess of the hunt.”
Damian nodded. “I like to hunt…”
Selina shook her head. “And this symbol above and to the right. It looks like a crescent moon.”
“So, I like to hunt at night,” Damian replied.
Selina smiled and shook her head again. “No, this is the mark of the vampire hunter. I did not know they still existed.”
Damian looked at her and said very quietly, “How do you know what this represents?”
“I like to read,” she replied. “I have a library at home, and I collect old books. Some have a little paranormal mixed in with the history and I remember seeing this symbol.” She smiled. “My name gave me an early interest in mythology, and this is Diana’s bow and arrow under the crescent moon.”
Damian relaxed and smiled. “Selina, as in Selene. That makes sense. And you’re right…my older brother taught history and mythology in Florence many years ago. He’s the one who told me about the meaning, and I thought it would make an interesting tattoo.”
“While I would enjoy discussing this further, Mr. Salvadori,” Selina paused, glancing down at his bruises, “tonight, you should be in the hospital. I’m no expert, but it would seem you have two possibly three cracked ribs.”
“No hospital,” Damian replied too quickly.
Selina’s eyebrow went up and she tipped her head. “Surely, a valued member of Interpol should be in a hospital,” she said. “You are a valued member of Interpol, are you not?”
“Yes and no,” Damian admitted. “I have a complicated relationship with them and having the hospital ask a lot of questions would not help.”
“Well, you can’t stay here,” she replied. “The girls and I are going home in a few hours when the club closes. We’ll be gone until Tuesday afternoon, so you’ll have to find somewhere else to recuperate.”
Damian realized he was lying on a sofa in an expensive looking townhouse. One with a fireplace, but no windows. “Is there any way I can get someone to take me to my hotel?” he asked, hoping he could make it to his room.
“Excuse me, Selina,” Marcus said as he walked into the living area. “There’s a woman in the club, who’s asking to see you.”
“Is she blonde and gorgeous?” Selina asked, wishing Diana would leave them alone.
“No, she’s Hispanic and looks like she means business,” he replied.
“I’ll be right out,” she said. Looking back at Damian, she added, “Don’t move from this sofa.”
She walked out the door as Damian closed his eyes and wished the room would stop spinning.
“Detective Fuentes,” Selina said, looking around for Nate. “Where is Detective Wright?”
Maria smiled. “We have been known to work separately, but he’s questioning some of your employees regarding Damian Salvadori.”
“The man from Interpol,” Selina said. “I saw him yesterday, but he didn’t seem very interested in anything we had to say.”
“Someone reported seeing a Maserati parked in your alley this afternoon, and we haven’t seen Mr. Salvadori since last night.”
“I see,” said Selina. “I could check the cameras we have installed in the back. Why don’t we go into my office?”
“Fine,” Maria agreed. “Sorry to bother you while you’re working, but it’s important.”
“Of course,” Selina said, leading the way into her office. “Do you suspect something has happened to Mr. Salvadori?”
“We don’t know, but we have a few questions we’d like to ask him,” Maria replied.
Selina motioned for her to sit in one of the chairs. “Let me get this copied for you,” she said. A moment later, she handed Maria the thumb drive and smiled. “Do you miss your Goth days?” Selina asked as Maria glanced around the room.
“Actually, yes,” Maria replied, laughing. “It was a lot of fun and drove my mother crazy. Now, my two boys are doing the same to me.”
Selina nodded. “They certainly know how to do that. When the girls….” She stopped. “I should let you get back to work.”
Careful again, Maria noted. She wasn’t sure if Selina was a private person or if she had something to hide. She liked her, but Maria sensed there was something troubling her. “You know if there’s anything you want to tell me, we are here to help.”
Selina decided it was time to make a change. “I just wondered, would the police mind if the girls left for a few days? We’d been planning this trip to Portland,” she stopped and smiled. “I won’t be going, but I’d like them to enjoy it.”
“You’d like to get them out of town?” Maria asked, nodding. “I can understand that.” She paused for a moment. “Go ahead. I’ll contact you if we need to reach them for any reason.”
“Thank you,” Selina said. “I’ll be in Port Townsend for the next two days, then back here on Tuesday afternoon.”
Maria got up. “Thank you for this, Miss Bellerose,” she said, holding up the thumb drive. “And if Mr. Salvadori does contact you, please tell him to call me.”
“Of course,” Selina replied.
As soon as the detectives left, Selina went back through her office and into the living area to see Damian. “You need to call Detective Fuentes. The police have some questions for you.”
“What did you do with my car?” Damian asked. “If it was still in the alley, they would have known I was here.”
“We moved the Maserati this afternoon after we brought in your clothes,” Selina said, looking over at the suitcase. “We thought you might need another shirt since we had to practically cut off the one you were wearing.”
“I appreciate you cleaning me up,” Damian replied. “And my car?”
“The girls wanted to drive it,” Selina explained, smiling, “but David was the closest to your size, so he put on your coat and moved it to the parking garage a few blocks away.”
“I see,” Damian said. “So, what do you plan to do with me?”
“I told you,” Selina replied, “you should be in a hospital.”
“Yes, well that’s not such a good idea.” Damian looked around. “I could stay here.”
“Also, not a good idea,” Selina said, opening the suitcase and handing him a shirt. “I need you to call Detective Fuentes, so she stops looking for you. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Damian winced as he carefully put on his shirt. “I’ll tell her that I’m out of town following up on a lead. And my phone connection is breaking up.”
“Not a bad idea,” Selina replied as she walked out of the room. “Do it now,” she said as she closed the door.
Selina walked into the club and motioned for Isabella to come over. “Tell the girls I need to speak to all of you as soon as we close. The guys, too.”
Isabella nodded, then Selina walked over to the bar and poured two glasses of whiskey. She carried them back into her office, set them down on her desk, then opened the safe. She took out a vial and very carefully added three drops of liquid to one of the glasses. Then, considered for a moment and added two more.
As she walked back into the living area, she handed one of the glasses of whiskey to Damian. “I thought you might like a drink.”
He looked at her and smiled. “Nice of you. I don’t suppose you’d mind switching glasses?”
Selina hesitated, then smiled. “You don’t trust me?”
“I do if you’ll swap glasses with me.” Damian raised an eyebrow and Selina handed him her glass. He gave her the other one and they toasted, then he watched her take the first sip and drank his whiskey.
“That should help you rest,” she said as she took the glass out of his hand.
He felt himself getting foggy. “What did you put in the whiskey?” he asked.
“It won’t hurt you,” she replied, “but I’m not taking a vampire hunter home with me unless he’s in no condition to be a threat to anyone.”
Damian shook his head and tried to get up. “You don’t understand, you shouldn’t have done that…” He fell back and closed his eyes.
Selina smiled and finished her whiskey, then walked back into the office.
An hour later, she was talking to her entire staff as they sat around a table at the back of the club. The customers had gone, and they’d just finished cleaning up for the night.
“I want you all to stay in Portland for the next few days,” Selina said, “my treat. And don’t worry about going home to pack since the hotel is close to several department stores. You can get whatever you need there. Again, my treat.”
“What’s really going on?” Michela demanded.
“And why do you think that we’d leave you in the middle of all this…” Isabella hesitated, then added, “this situation.”
“It’s only two days and you’ll all be back Tuesday afternoon.” Selina looked at Michela. “I need a little time to deal with the fallout from all this.”
Michela knew that she meant Diana. “What about the Interpol cop?” she asked.
“He’s going to need a few days to recover,” she said. “Another reason for you to go have fun and give him a chance to rest. A houseful of young women is hardly what he needs right now.”
Annalise smiled. “We can be kind of loud,” she admitted.
Genevieve nodded and looked over at Marcus. “So, do you guys want to go to Portland?”
Marcus smiled and nodded, looking around at the others.
“I don’t feel right about you paying for everything,” David said seriously.
“Think of it as a well-deserved bonus,” Selina replied. “You have all worked very hard these past few months, and I believe you’ve earned it.”
David smiled. “All right, I’m in.”
“Me too,” said Jeremy, who looked over at Brandon.
“Are you kidding?” Brandon laughed. “Free hotel…I’m in.”
Isabella turned to Selina. “It’s a good idea, but I need to go over some things in the office with you before we leave.”
“All right,” Selina replied. “Michela, why don’t you call for a limo, and I’ll give you the paperwork for the hotel reservations when I come back out.”
Michela watched them go into the office, then turned to Genevieve and whispered, “I don’t like it, but arguing with her is pretty pointless.”
Genevieve nodded. “I know.” Then, she looked over at Marcus and smiled. “Have you ever been to Portland?” she asked.
As they closed the office door, Isabella turned to Selina and said, “I don’t think it’s a good idea, you’re staying here with that Interpol cop while we’re all out of the house.”
“Are you worried about my reputation?” Selina asked.
“Very funny,” Isabella replied. “You know what I mean. Who is this guy? And why are you taking him to the house?”
“He needs to recover, and he can’t go to a hospital.” At Isabella’s look, Selina added, “It’s complicated.”
“Uh huh,” Isabella said, smiling. “You like him.”
“I don’t even know him.” Selina grew serious. “Don’t worry the others, but I think Diana may have had something to do with him showing up in that condition.”
“I wondered about that,” Isabella said. “Michela did, too, but the others didn’t seem to notice anything.”
“Then, I need you two to get everyone settled in Portland, and I’ll call you Monday night to let you know if it’s safe to come home. If not, we’ll extend your stay.” Selina walked over and handed her the paperwork for the hotel, then hugged her. “Take care of yourself and the others. And know that I love you all very much.”
“We love you, too,” Isabella said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Be careful.”
Isabella walked out and got the rest of the staff upstairs and into the limo while Selina checked on Damian. He was still sleeping, so she went into the office and called for her town car. When the driver arrived, he helped her get Damian out to the car and settled in the backseat.
“Is everything all right, Miss?” the chauffeur asked.
“Yes, thank you, Daniel,” Selina said. “I appreciate your discretion as always.”
“My pleasure, Miss Bellerose,” Daniel replied. He drove her to her house and back at least twice a week, and she was a very good tipper.
“Why don’t you put up the divider and we’ll let him sleep,” she said.
Selina looked over, wondering just how much she should tell Damian. She realized that taking him to the house alone was probably not one of her better ideas. But with Diana in town maybe a vampire hunter was exactly what she needed. She leaned back and closed her eyes as they drove onto the ferry.
Read another chapter next Thursday!