Before she could pat herself on the back his gaze met hers. His expression was almost unreadable. But his jaws were bunched up and that meant he was ticked at her. He didn’t say a word, nor did he move from his position.
Chapter Sixteen
Britt knew this was a test and he was failing miserably. He could feel Jess watching him. Watching his reaction. No doubt this was her latest ploy to drive him away.
“Something wrong, Britt?” She sounded tough right now, and cynical. But beneath all that cynicism was a woman who needed him. Maybe she didn’t know that yet, but he’d make sure she found out.
He could be just as tough. He knew the rules. If trying to drive him away with the realities of her life was her best method to get rid of him, he’d let her get it out of her system. It was the only way they’d ever get past the human versus vampire barrier. Of course, she wanted him to react. Probably wanted him to start screaming and calling her a monster. Maybe run out of the building and keep going.
He knew the tactic all right. But he wouldn’t give her the argument she wanted. Not this time.
“As I’m sure you’re aware, I was taken by surprise by your meal preparations. I hadn’t considered how you … sustain yourself until now.”
“Sustain myself. Is that what you call it?” She’d moved to the corner of the room where the lighting wasn’t good, and her features were shielded in shadow. “Not very pleasant, is it? Maybe you’d like to have a meal with me some time.” Her words were deliberately cold and hard.
“I’m sure that would be something I could get used to.”
Jess practically choked. He’d rebounded even quicker than she would have believed possible. “Not likely. Not even Regent can force himself to do that.”
“Maybe you’d be surprised by what I can do.”
“Maybe I wouldn’t.” Just the fact that he was willing to try it was something she hadn’t expected.
“You’re a tough piece of work, aren’t you?” he said, stepping closer to her. “You’ve been handed a hell of a life sentence. Worse than any I can imagine, but you’ve made the best of it. Turned it into something good.”
She didn’t react. Just stared at him. Gave him that withering look she’d probably perfected over the last few decades. She might have a few years on him, but he could still see through her. He had the feeling not many people tried to understand her. And maybe she didn’t quite know what to do with someone who did.
“Vampire’s are tough. But get this straight—there’s no way anything good comes out of what we are,” she said.
He let one hand trail over her wrist. Just a featherlight touch that created sparks of energy between them. He gauged her reaction, then slid his fingers up her arm in a caressing stroke.
“That’s where you’re wrong. You’re an amazing woman. And you’ve got me pegged wrong too. You’d find that out if you’d stop trying to shock the shit out of me. You can’t drive me away. I’m not like everyone else, Jess.”
Even though he couldn’t clearly make out her features, her eyes were watching him closely. She didn’t comment, so he continued. “Your first mistake was kissing me on the sidewalk the first night we met. I can’t get the taste of you out of my mind.”
She tried to wrench her arm away, but he wrapped his fingers around it and held her in place. A little more firmly than he’d have normally held a woman, but she was very strong. She could always get away if she really wanted to.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said.
“Why’d you do it, Jess?” He inched closer, his body almost touching hers. She’d be able to feel his heat. She wouldn’t make eye contact now, so he knew she was affected by him. “Why’d you kiss me that night?”
“I don’t know. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. It was stupid. Weak.”
“I don’t think it was either of those things and neither do you. But in those few seconds, I learned more about you than you expected.”
“You weren’t supposed to remember it at all.”
“Maybe not. Maybe deep down you wanted me to remember the sensual, exotic woman who made my pulse erratic and who made it hard for me breathe when I looked at her.”
“Exotic? You think I’m…? You’ve really got a screw loose.” She again tried to wriggle from his grasp, but he held on firmly. He pressed his body against hers, just like she’d done to him that night.
She backed up a little at a time until he had her pinned against the filing cabinet.
“Don’t do this, Britt. Remember what I am. I’m not a sensual woman. I’m a bloodsucking vampire. Don’t look at the outer package without being aware of the darkness beneath.”
“Honey, I’ve seen what’s beneath, and I happen to respect and admire the vampire as much as the woman. Only right now, I’m afraid all I can think about is the woman.” He pressed his lips to hers and wrapped his arms around her. He held her gently at first, then with more need as the kiss deepened and evolved into a dance. An intricate, heady dance between a man and a woman.
Heat fused them together. His hands roamed over her and the kiss became more desperate.
He thought he’d melt when she put her hand inside his shirt and began to unbutton it. Dear Lord, this woman could drive him to Nirvana and beyond with just a touch.
He let his mouth graze her jaw line, then found those luscious lips that were pleasure itself. Her fingers moved over his chest, creating an exquisite vortex of pleasure.
“Britt.” She pulled her hand from under his shirt, leaving him cold. “I just heard movement. There’s someone outside.”
“James?”
“No. We’ve got company of the unfriendly kind.”
Damnit! His ragged breathing, coupled with his pounding heart, made it hard to hear anything. His gaze swept over her, burning with hunger. Before she realized what he was going to do, he kissed her one last time, slowly and effectively.
“We’ll continue this another time,” he warned. He had no intention of letting her push him away again. He knew she’d try. He hadn’t expected to be this successful tonight. It was a step. A step in the right direction.
With deft fingers he buttoned his shirt. “Let’s find out who’s here,” he said, grabbing his jacket out of the SUV and retrieving the silver stake from the inside pocket.
He missed having a gun, but they were useless against vampires. As a cop, his Sig Sauer had been a security feature for so long that a metal stake just didn’t quite cut it.
They quietly slipped outside the warehouse. He turned to Jess to formulate a silent plan, but she was already gone.
Had she really heard something out here? Or had she just said that to control the situation inside?
Something creaked to his left on the far end of the dock. When he realized she’d been telling the truth, relief swept through him. He slunk down the dock toward the noise’s location.
A vampire jumped off the top mast of the sailboat moored next to the dock and made a ten-point landing in front of him. Britt had never seen this guy before. His hair was wild, long and ratty. He bared his teeth in a strange smile as he began to advance on Britt.
“Why do you look familiar?” Britt felt for the stake behind his back.
The thin vampire hesitated for a second. “You recognize the resemblance?” He looked shaken. “I believe you met my father not long ago. You drove him to the church to meet Father Vandermire. That stupid man has the misguided impression that he can get help for me. That someone can cure me.” He squinted at Britt. “As if I want to be cured.”
“Why are you here?”
“Trying to distract me, are you? Don’t bother. I know Jinx is with you.”
That was the second time he’d heard Jess called that name. “Bergeron was your man, I take it?”
Britt scanned the rooftops while he talked, returning his attention to the vampire quickly. Vampires weren’t normally this talkative. The ghoul might be trying to keep him distracted.
The sickly g
rin spread further, baring more of his elongated eyeteeth. “You’re a quick one, aren’t you?”
“Why’d you kill him?”
The vampire circled while Britt remained in one spot, ready for the attack. Unless she’d been distracted by something or someone else, Jess must be watching too.
“I didn’t kill Bergeron. Someone else did. He wasn’t a bad kid. Had a penchant for boys, but then so do I.”
“Whoa, buddy. Need to know. And I didn’t need to know that. On the other hand, it’ll make it that much easier to exterminate you, knowing what a pervert you are.”
The vampire let out a bestial howl. “Ooooh, I’m scared.”
Then he leaned in closer to Britt, all the while keeping a watchful eye on the stake. “Cute little phallic symbol you’ve got there.” He slid his long, vile tongue suggestively across his lower lip.
“Jesus!” Britt slammed out his hand and impaled the vampire with one blow.
Jess landed beside him. “Stop!” she shrieked.
Too late. The body evaporated instantly. Dried atoms floated in the salty air and then were gone.
Desolation swamped her expression before she masked it.
“What’s wrong?” But Britt didn’t have to ask; he knew the answer already. His gut twisted. He knew killing that vampire had been too easy. He’d seen regular bad guys do things like that too. Usually when they wanted to die but couldn’t do it themselves. “Shit! The kid didn’t really molest boys, did he?”
Her shoulders slumped and she turned away. “Who knows? Truth was he wanted to go. You helped him. I guess he just couldn’t handle it any longer. At least there was enough good left in him that he couldn’t bear what he’d become.”
Even though she usually hid any sign of emotion, she’d failed this time. Her wounded expression skewered Britt as she said, “Some of us aren’t that lucky. Or that brave.” She looked up into the sky and reached out one hand as if to try and touch some of the fading molecules.
“Lady, don’t you dare tell me you’re a coward. And don’t you dare tell me you want out or that you’d ever consider pulling what that guy just did. I won’t let you. James won’t let you. You help people. You’re one of the good guys.”
She huffed out a disgusted breath. “Between you and Regent, I don’t know which of you is the most deluded. I am what I am. Nothing can change that.”
“You are. But you’re so much more than you realize, Jess.” He touched the back of her neck. “I’m sorry I killed him.”
“Don’t be. It’s what he wanted. Let’s get going.”
Britt had a lot to learn about vampires. They weren’t all totally bad. The majority of them had no remorse and no redeeming qualities. But, there were a few out there, like the kid, who couldn’t face up to what he was. He’d known exactly what to say to make Britt wipe him out.
Britt felt sick. He wished he could take back what he’d just done. But it was too late. He’d taken a life that might have been salvageable. He just hoped he could live with that. It was going to be a long night. “Where are we going?”
“First we’ll go to Tat’s place. He’s been staying in a halfway house in Brooklyn so the prison system can keep him under control. Maybe he’s turned up there.”
“Not likely.”
“Yeah, but I want to look around. See if we can find any clues. He might have left something incriminating lying around.”
“That’s possible. He’s one sick bastard. You sure you want to see what he’d leave around his place? There could be some nasty stuff there.”
She gave him a withering stare. “I’m a cop. And I’ve been around longer than you. Therefore, I’ve seen what you’ve seen multiplied by fifty years. There’s not much I haven’t experienced in the line of duty, or in my own private hell.”
She’d been pushing at him just about as hard as she’d ever pushed anybody. No one had ever pushed back like this before. She respected the hell out of that. She’d seen bigger men run scared with just one look from her.
“Sorry.” By his expression he at least knew when he’d gone too far.
She nodded at his apology, then said, “Halfway houses don’t allow their residents to have unacceptable material, so I doubt we’ll find anything the least bit disagreeable.”
“Tat’s room is next to the guard’s office so we can keep a close eye on him. He can’t come or go without the parole officer unlocking the main door and escorting him to the police car. Every day he’s picked up by a cop car and taken to the warehouse and returned the same way. He’s never out of the police’s sight. Almost never,” the parole officer said, taking off his cap and swiping his brow with his shirtsleeve, then replacing his cap.
Jess watched Britt grit his teeth and knew he was reminding himself that he’d let the mass murdering psycho escape. Even though it wasn’t his fault, he blamed himself.
“He’s escaped,” Britt said through tight jaws.
The officer bit off a curse and looked at Jess and Britt as if they were personally responsible. Well, technically, she was responsible. That made her neck muscles taut.
“Tat Brophy is too dangerous to be on the streets,” the parole officer said. “Why in hell he was ever let out of prison is a mystery to me. God only knows what he’ll do now that he’s on his own.”
“Can we look around his room?” Britt asked.
The officer nodded. “Just don’t take anything. I’m still responsible for his stuff, even if I think the bastard should have been juiced a long time ago.”
“Sure. We just want to look.”
Tat’s room was immaculate. There wasn’t a crease in his bed covers. Each end had been intricately folded and tucked in. He had several magazines, nothing suspect. Besides the single bed, he had a small stand with a television and two uncomfortable looking chairs. There was also a small dresser. She pulled open the drawers one after the other and found his clothes, folded and categorized by color. The top drawer housed underwear, socks and T-shirts, the next drawer held two dress shirts, and the last drawer jeans. Knowing he was an obsessive compulsive along with the rest of his profile didn’t make her feel any better about him.
After checking under the mattress, Britt wandered into the four-by-four cubicle bathroom with a tiny shower stall. Even from the bedroom she could tell there were no windows in there. Still, she followed him inside, curious to see what he thought he’d find.
“Not a thing.” Even though he lifted the back of the flush tank, she didn’t expect he’d find anything. That would be one of the first places the parole officer would look during room checks. “You?”
“Nada,” she said, feeling a little at a loss now. She’d been so sure they’d find something to help them out. “Let’s go.”
Disappointment glistened in Britt’s eyes. She wanted to find out what was going on as much as he did. She felt like she’d let him down too. God, who knew her hellish life could get any worse. But then, it was her own fault, she should have never let this man get under her skin.
“Find anything?” The parole officer was leaning on the counter when they came out.
“Not a damned thing. How could a man live in there with nothing but two books and a dresser of clothes? Does he have a locker?”
“That’s all you found in there?” The officer frowned. “He had a duffel bag with personal things in it. Even carries around his parents’ pictures.” He shuddered. “Only reason I figure he’d do that is to remember how he murdered them.”
Britt and Jess looked at each other. Suddenly Tat’s disappearance made sense. It had been planned. “How’d he get his duffel out without being seen?”
“Not sure. There’s no way he went out the front door with it. And there’re bars on his bedroom window.” He came around the counter and went into Tat’s room to look. Britt and Jess followed him.
Upon closer inspection, they discovered the bars on the window had been cut through then wedged back into place. Tat Brophy had had help. He could have left any time h
e wanted.
“Is there anything you can tell us about Tat that might give us an idea of where he’d go?”
“Probably headed for Canada. Isn’t that where all the criminals head? Mexico’s too far from here.”
Jess pulled her card out of her pocket. It had her cell phone number on it. “Listen, if you find anything that could help us track him down, give me a call, will you?”
The officer eyed her up and down and a sly grin creased his doughy face. “Sure will, toots.”
“Lieutenant Toots, to you,” she snapped.
His eyes widened and he looked at the card. He’d forgotten she was his superior officer.
Britt had never really seen the scope of her abilities as a vampire. It was time for another lesson. She leaned closer to the man, stared him in the eyes and allowed her mind to connect with his. She could practically see his soul mirrored in his eyes while she willed him to forget they’d been there.”
“You’ve never seen us,” she said, snatching the card from his tightly clutched sausage-roll fingers. “You’ll go back to your duties as if none of this happened.”
His eyes glazed over like a sleepwalker’s, and he turned and went to his desk and sat down. Jess rewound the video tape on the surveillance system and erased the last twenty minutes.
“The minute we leave, you’ll turn the video tape back on and begin recording again like nothing happened,” she said.
He stared straight ahead, no sign of understanding visible on his face.
“Why did you do that?” Britt asked when they were outside.
“I have a funny feeling we’re being manipulated. We don’t know who to trust, and I don’t want anyone to know we were here. Especially the wrong people.”
“Good point.”
They got in the car and Jess pulled out the chunk of tombstone they’d found at the party. “Maybe this is all the evidence we need to find Tat. If he’s involved with the vampires, he might even be the one who left it at the house for us to find. I think this was an invitation.”
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