The Moonlight Monsters Detective Agency Volume One by Maggie Harper

taxed with a very particular job. They were the Moonlight City branch of the Supernatural Detective Agency and together with her partner, the Russian Werebear Boris Rachmaninoff, she investigated the paranormal and extra rare occurrences in the city. The rarest thing about the job was the days off.
      Her sleek black cat Gabriel pushed open the door of her living room and sauntered over to her on the couch. He rubbed his body against her leg and purred.
    ‘Well at least I’ve got you to keep me company,’ Tina said and reached down to stroke her companion.
    Twenty-eight years old and not one thing to do on her night off, she observed. And the only good man in her life was covered in fur and had whiskers.
    Tina stood up and went to the bookshelf to pick out a book. She looked out the window of her apartment. The rain was really pouring down and had been relentlessly for nearly a full week now. Tina sighed. It was early February and she was just about sick of the grim weather and dark evenings.
    ‘Now what do we have here?’ she said to herself as she ran her fingers along the weathered spines of her ample collection of paperback books. ‘The Thirty-Nine Steps? Or maybe The Big Sleep?’ She looked back at Gabriel and wrinkled her nose cheekily. ‘What do you think Gabe?’
    Her cat just stared at her. Suddenly he widened his eyes.
    ‘What is it?’ Tina asked.
    Gabriel leapt of the couch and ran out into the hall. The door bell rang.
     
    ‘Hold on, I’m coming!’ Tina shouted.
    She darted into her bedroom and pulled on her dressing gown over the old tank top and faded pajama bottoms she’d been wearing around the house. She slid her feet into her slippers and hurried out into the hallway.
    ‘One second!’ she called as she unlocked the bolt.
    She opened the door and the rain-soaked figure of Sam Parker appeared before, British expatriate vampire and the city’s first official paranormal private eye.
    ‘Alright Tina love,’ he said, ‘you busy?’
    ‘Sam,’ Tina answered, ‘no of course not. Come in.’ She was a little surprised to see him here, since Sam Parker and the SDA shared a checkered personal relationship – although admittedly it had improved somewhat in recent weeks. ‘How did you know where to find me?’ she asked.
    Parker smiled and Tina couldn’t help but note how cute he was, and not for the first time either. ‘Ernie the Egghead told me, didn’t he?’ Parker shrugged, ‘I called the station looking for you first.’
    Tina rolled her eyes. Ernie could have just given him her cellphone number instead of handing out her address. She had a sneaking suspicion he’d wanted to mix things up a bit for her on her night off.
    ‘Yeah,’ she said, ‘well even Monster Detectives have to take a night off once in a blue moon…’ She trailed off as she looked at the drenched man before her. Something in his face told her that this mightn’t end up being a night off after all. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.
    ‘I’ve got something for you,’ Parker said, ‘something big. So, are you free tonight?’
    Tina glanced back into the living room. Gabriel had curled up in a ball on the light blanket she’d laid on the couch. She looked back at Parker. ‘Give me a minute to get dressed.’
     
    ‘Do you want anything?’ she called as she hurriedly pulled on a blouse and a pair of tweed pants, ‘there’s coffee and herbal tea in the presses, help yourself. Sorry I can’t offer you anything stronger.’
    She bit her lip. She’d meant whiskey – Parker, like most European guys, was more than partial to a glass of liquor – but it had come out wrong, considering the man’s extra needs as a vampire. ‘I meant alcohol…’ she called.
    There was silence. When he spoke she could hear the amused smirk in his voice. ‘Nah, you’re alright love,’ he answered from the hallway. ‘Besides, I’ve got a full pouch of pigs’ blood here to keep me tiptop for the night.’
    She flicked her