Integral - Vampire Fantasy Cyberpunk

The Not Very Safe House: Part 1

"So, you don't know why a Wrecker sits around watching your room?" Matthias questioned as the three sat around a small circular table.

"Maybe a coincidence?" she speculated.

"The rider saw Frank, and when he saw it was you we were visiting, he took off," Matthias countered. "He was watching you. Now he's probably reporting."

Frank rubbed his chin. "Let's get to it. Lance Burton was a client of yours, wasn't he?"

"Doesn't sound familiar," she shrugged. "But my clients don't always give their real name, if they even feel inclined to give me a name."

Matthias pulled out his com and pointed the lens at the table, projecting the victim's face for her to see.

"The sheriff," she said quietly.

Frank chortled. "He made you call him that?"

"I could call him whatever I wanted," she refuted. "But that's all he called himself around me."

"What a freak."

"When'd you see him last?" asked Matthias.

"I think maybe two days ago," she answered.

"Two days ago," began Matthias. "He was found dead."

"You killed him," accused Frank casually.

"No, I did not," she replied calmly. "Fuck," she muttered, looking down at her lap. "It's not like he was found here dead."

Matthias shifted in his seat. "Where were you late Saturday?"

"I was here, just like it says in my logbook."

"Thursday evening, one AM," Matthias announced, reading from a projected file. "Had a client who called himself Jimbo. Two AM. Had a client named Perla."

"Not very detailed," noted Frank.

"It goes on like this until at least three AM most days of the week," Matthias said, shepherding them toward implication. "Then on Saturday, a day when you are almost always busy until four, you see Burton at midnight and no one else until the next night."

Lucy took a drink from a shallow tumbler, her hand visibly shaking.

"No," she denied with a slight whimper. "No. No. No."

She looked at Frank, then to Matthias, then back to Frank.

"I was busy the rest of that night." She pulled out her com, thumbing through her entries. After a few moments, she sat the com down.

"They're gone. My logs from the rest of that night are gone."

"Come on," Frank said with a quick wink. "He was a fucking asshole, good riddance. Just tell us so we can wrap this up."

Matthias glanced at Frank curiously.

"Later that night there were two men and a woman that came in," Lucy claimed.

"What do you mean?" asked Matthias. "Clients?"

"Ya."

"Walk-ins or what?"

"Everything is automated," she said. "I don't know when, but they signed up in advance. I don't always check my schedule until people knock."

"Alright," he said. "Got any names?"

"I don't remember. Hadn't seen any of them before," she said, shaking her head. "Wait. The woman was Ricki. I remember her."

"What's that mean?" asked Frank, his curiosity piqued.