Dead Over Heels Read Online Free PDF

by vampires, with vampire guests, a kid gets killed—by a vampire—and you’re saying it’s got nothing to do with this place?”
    “I would be surprised. As Betsy said, vampires don’t shit where they eat.”
    “The smart ones, anyway.”
    “I’d actually agree with her”—he nearly gagged as he said it—“but what if it’s a message?”
    “You mean like a note? Except left on the body of a kid?” I felt my gorge rise.
    “Yeah. A message for the king and queen. They knew you were coming, right?”
    “Of course,” Sinclair said carefully. He’d actually laid the paper down.
    “So, maybe someone in here is trying to impress you. Pay tribute. Whatever.”
    “They pay tribute with blood oranges, not ritual sacrifice.”
    “And they oughta know killing a kid is the last thing that will impress us,” I snapped.
    “Will they?” Nick asked quietly. “Your predecessors were pretty bloodthirsty, right? And aren’t you having some trouble being taken seriously by the teeming hordes of the undead?”
    “I wish you wouldn’t put it like that,” I grumbled, downing my Cosmo (hey, we were in New York) in a hurry.
    “All they know is that there’s a new sheriff in town. My bet is that they’re trying to impress you or freak you out. Either way, he—or she—or they—killed that kid to get to you two.”
    “So what do you suggest we do, Detective Berry?”
    He ticked our options off on his fingers. “One: leave town. Now. Tonight. Two: interview every vampire in this building. Thr—”
    “Pardon me, Your Majesty.” We all looked up and saw the bellboy (bellman) who’d tried to help unpack my shoes when we got here. “The rest of the staff has arrived and await your convenience.”
    “Thank you, O’Neill. I’ll meet with them when we’ve finished here.”
    “As you wish, Majesty.” He bowed in my direction. “My queen.” He ignored Jessica and Nick, but Sinclair must have said they were okay, because otherwise he wouldn’t have come up to the table in the first place.
    And then he trotted off. I was relieved that he hadn’t drowned himself or jumped off a high building after I’d snapped at him our first night, though I’d had no idea he was a vampire.
    “You dog!” Jessica exclaimed. “That’s why you weren’t in the room earlier . . . you were out interviewing suspects.”
    “Of course. I am not unaware of my responsibilities, though it is always refreshing to have someone less than half my age point them out to me.”
    Score! I thought it, but didn’t say it. Nick had the grace to look abashed. Or was it annoyed? Then he went back into jerk mode and said, “I want to be there for the interviews.”
    “No,” Sinclair said coolly.
    “Sinclair, you’re not a cop. There’s stuff you might miss.”
    My husband laughed politely.
    “Maybe you should—” Jessica began tentatively.
    Doing an eerie impersonation of Nick, Sinclair started ticking points off his long fingers. “One: he’s out of his jurisdiction. Two: even if he wasn’t, this is a vampire matter. Three: with his prejudice, he will be more a hindrance than a help, and four: although there is a killer in the city—perhaps more than one—I owe my people protection. Which does not include letting a human policeman find out they’re undead.”
    “Besides,” I said, “you have to help me do something instead. Now that Sinclair’s going to be tied up.”
    Nick managed to look mollified and pissed at the same time.

Chapter 11
    I knew I looked like a dork, twirling around like Maria in The Sound of Music , but I couldn’t help it. “Oh, it’s all sooooo beautiful!” I cried. “This is a shoe store,” Nick informed me.
    “This is the Beverly Feldman shoe store,” Jessica said. “It’s Betsy’s Graceland.”
    I rushed from one gorgeous shoe to the next. Pumps, flats, sandals! Lace, leather, sequins! Ballet flats! I tried to talk but gurgled instead.
    Nick picked up a gorgeous pump with white lace and a