Page 14 of Fire Dancer

She moved away, disappointed.

I pressed down on my burger, bringing it closer to mouth-size.

“Where were we?” Ingo asked.

“Vampires,” I murmured, chomping down.

And, yum, was it good. Juicyandcheesy — so much that a little escaped the corner of my mouth and dripped down my arm.

Ingo reached over to dab it with a napkin before it reached my sleeve.

“Yes, vampires,” he grumbled, as if the burger proved my point.

I chewed, swallowed, and wiped my mouth. “So, this Victor Jananowhiz—”

“Jananovich.”

“Where is he? California?” That was Ingo’s last posting, I knew.

Ingo looked at me, his expression perfectly flat and devoid of emotion — except that little vein that pulsed by his eye.

Then it hit me. “He’s here?”

Ingo looked at the door as if a Transylvanian with fangs and a cape might come through at any moment. “He might be.”

Might be,my ass. Either the vampire was already here, or Ingo had reason to believe the guy was on his way.

Wherever he is, I’ll find out,his eyes swore.

I shook my head, tempted to take his hand and talk some sense into him. Yes, there were a lot of bad guys — and gals — in the world. That didn’t mean Ingo had to personally hunt down every one.

But I’d have more luck explaining that to my burger, so I didn’t try.

I did have a question, though. “Hang on. If this Jananovich guy has a restraining order against you, why did the agency assign you to his case?”

Ingo stared at the candle, not meeting my eyes.

Uh-oh. I leaned closer. “They didn’t assign you?”

“Not exactly.”

I thought it over a moment longer. “Is there even a case?”

“Not officially, no.”

Oh boy. Ingo was way out in the middle of a thinly iced-over lake, and he knew it.

“And yet the agency gave you the Sedona job.”

He nodded. “They didn’t know Jananovich had his eyes on Sedona. No one knew.”

As I stared into his eyes, the last puzzle piece fell into place. “No one except you.”

Ingo’s nostrils flared on a deep inhale, and he nodded faintly.

Wow. It really was personal, wasn’t it?

And a little disappointing, because part of me wanted to believe Ingo had come to Sedona for… Well, for me.