“Geez…no pressure,” she said rolling her eyes.
“You’ll be fine,” he said with a smile. “I have faith.”
“So this treaty is meant to put aside all of the bickering between vampire cultures?”
“Yes. Bringing us closer together. Unifying us so we can focus our collective attention on the sycophants in this world. We will once again become one.”
“Again?”
“There was a time when there was only one vampire nation. We lived together in one place, in one village. But that was a very long time ago.”
He looked away from her and she got the feeling he was omitting something. It was just a gut feeling, but as a detective she had learned to trust her gut. It had served her well.
Just the same she let it slide. He was being pretty transparent. She couldn’t fault him if he wanted to hold back at least a little bit. But what was it he could possibly be holding back? He had told her so much already. Why stop now?
Still she did not press. He had broken the law for her. What more could she ask of him?
“Well, I better get dressed and get on with my day.” She took a large sip of her coffee then carried the cup with her into the back bedroom.
She was pretty much a no-frills woman. With the exception of times like last night, she preferred jeans and a casual shirt. But for work she went with a blouse of indigo silk. She dressed her hair up into a knot at the back of her head and quickly applied her makeup. Like her it was light and casual. She brought a purse to work but didn’t carry it to crime scenes. Instead she carried a zippered binder to write her notes as the crime scene developed. She left her binder in the car whenever it wasn’t in use, which wasn’t often. The binder usually went with her everywhere she went. At present it was sitting on her kitchen counter where she had left it in order to peruse and add to her notes before heading out to dinner the night before. She was currently working about thirteen open homicides, but her focus had been on the most recent. Now she knew what her killer was, she simply didn’t know who. And now Rafe was asking her to throw the case. To be incompetent. She wasn’t sure she could do that. But she supposed she would have to try. The last thing she wanted to do was corner the wrong suspect and get one of her fellow officers hurt. Or worse, killed.
She finished getting ready and hurried back into the kitchen. Rafe had closed his laptop and was waiting for her. He got to his feet when she entered the room.
“Ready?” he asked.
“As I’ll ever be.”
They went out to the car and she found it had been cleaned of all the snow that had accumulated in their sleep. Rafe must have done it when he had gone for his laptop. She stepped in the deep snow to get to the passenger side, immediately getting her pants wet at the ankles. But she made it to the car and, with a quick stomp of her feet to shed any snow she had accumulated from the side of the running board, she tucked herself into the car. She took out her phone and texted James. She wanted to make certain he was driving today so at least one of them would have a car. He texted back that he did indeed have wheels and that he was on his way in. He also wanted to know who was giving her a ride to the precinct, but she dodged the question with a quick No one you know. Then she checked her texts and found several from Emily. As expected she was all atwitter about the fact that Rafe had apparently slept over last night. She wanted all of the details…especially the dirty ones.
Renee didn’t know how to respond to her friend. Yes, Rafe had spent the night, but not for the reasons Emily thought. She could explain that it had simply been too unsafe to drive home and that he had slept in the guest room. Yes. That was a good idea. It would avoid the real reasons why he had stayed and derail Emily’s misconceptions. She shot her friend a quick text only to have her respond just as quickly with an Oh poo! Now I’m all disappointed! and then Are you SURE you didn’t have hot monkey sex? You really could use it! She followed it up with a monkey emoji. Renee laughed out loud in a burst of bright humor.
“Something funny?” he asked.
“Oh. It’s nothing. Emily thinks, well, she knows you didn’t leave last night so she assumed…” She trailed off meaningfully.
“Ah. Well, tell her I stayed because I was too drunk to drive home or something. I don’t mind being the fall guy.”
“I told her it was because of the weather.”
“Also a good idea.”
“I like yours too. I’ll use that tomorrow.”
She realized the minute she said it that she had assumed he would be spending the night with her again. But the truth was he had already said he was determined to protect her. Still, this couldn’t go on forever.
“We have to do something about these attacks. Cut them off at the source. Only then will I be safe again.”
“We do not have to do anything. I will alert our authoritarians and they will look into the matter.”
“Authoritarians?”
“Our police force. They will find out who is behind this and then they will direct our bounty hunters to bring them in.”
“I could help. I could—”
“No! Absolutely not.”
“Rafe, this is my skill set! This is what I do! Let me at least research—”
“I said no!”
“You know, you aren’t my boss,” she snapped back. “You don’t get to tell me what to do!”
“I think in this case I do. Come on, Renee. Use your head and not your heart. Your heart wants to hunt for these dangerous phants, but your head should tell you that in spite of your impressive skill set, you are no match for whatever sycophant is out there waiting for you to cross its path.”
Renee seethed silently, but it was because she knew he was right. Still, she had held her own last night. She could protect herself now that she knew how to kill the bastards.
“Fine. Whatever,” she said sullenly.
After a moment he reached across the car and took her hand in his. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I know how frustrating this must be for you.”
“I really don’t think you do,” she said, temper still in her tone.
“Do you think it will be easy for me to turn over the investigation into your safety to someone else? To trust them to do a good job? It will be one of the most difficult things I will have ever managed. But I must make myself aware of the differences between my head and my heart. My heart wants to tear these phants apart and make you safe again, my head understands that this is not a battle I can win on my own.”
“You’ll be fine,” he said with a smile. “I have faith.”
“So this treaty is meant to put aside all of the bickering between vampire cultures?”
“Yes. Bringing us closer together. Unifying us so we can focus our collective attention on the sycophants in this world. We will once again become one.”
“Again?”
“There was a time when there was only one vampire nation. We lived together in one place, in one village. But that was a very long time ago.”
He looked away from her and she got the feeling he was omitting something. It was just a gut feeling, but as a detective she had learned to trust her gut. It had served her well.
Just the same she let it slide. He was being pretty transparent. She couldn’t fault him if he wanted to hold back at least a little bit. But what was it he could possibly be holding back? He had told her so much already. Why stop now?
Still she did not press. He had broken the law for her. What more could she ask of him?
“Well, I better get dressed and get on with my day.” She took a large sip of her coffee then carried the cup with her into the back bedroom.
She was pretty much a no-frills woman. With the exception of times like last night, she preferred jeans and a casual shirt. But for work she went with a blouse of indigo silk. She dressed her hair up into a knot at the back of her head and quickly applied her makeup. Like her it was light and casual. She brought a purse to work but didn’t carry it to crime scenes. Instead she carried a zippered binder to write her notes as the crime scene developed. She left her binder in the car whenever it wasn’t in use, which wasn’t often. The binder usually went with her everywhere she went. At present it was sitting on her kitchen counter where she had left it in order to peruse and add to her notes before heading out to dinner the night before. She was currently working about thirteen open homicides, but her focus had been on the most recent. Now she knew what her killer was, she simply didn’t know who. And now Rafe was asking her to throw the case. To be incompetent. She wasn’t sure she could do that. But she supposed she would have to try. The last thing she wanted to do was corner the wrong suspect and get one of her fellow officers hurt. Or worse, killed.
She finished getting ready and hurried back into the kitchen. Rafe had closed his laptop and was waiting for her. He got to his feet when she entered the room.
“Ready?” he asked.
“As I’ll ever be.”
They went out to the car and she found it had been cleaned of all the snow that had accumulated in their sleep. Rafe must have done it when he had gone for his laptop. She stepped in the deep snow to get to the passenger side, immediately getting her pants wet at the ankles. But she made it to the car and, with a quick stomp of her feet to shed any snow she had accumulated from the side of the running board, she tucked herself into the car. She took out her phone and texted James. She wanted to make certain he was driving today so at least one of them would have a car. He texted back that he did indeed have wheels and that he was on his way in. He also wanted to know who was giving her a ride to the precinct, but she dodged the question with a quick No one you know. Then she checked her texts and found several from Emily. As expected she was all atwitter about the fact that Rafe had apparently slept over last night. She wanted all of the details…especially the dirty ones.
Renee didn’t know how to respond to her friend. Yes, Rafe had spent the night, but not for the reasons Emily thought. She could explain that it had simply been too unsafe to drive home and that he had slept in the guest room. Yes. That was a good idea. It would avoid the real reasons why he had stayed and derail Emily’s misconceptions. She shot her friend a quick text only to have her respond just as quickly with an Oh poo! Now I’m all disappointed! and then Are you SURE you didn’t have hot monkey sex? You really could use it! She followed it up with a monkey emoji. Renee laughed out loud in a burst of bright humor.
“Something funny?” he asked.
“Oh. It’s nothing. Emily thinks, well, she knows you didn’t leave last night so she assumed…” She trailed off meaningfully.
“Ah. Well, tell her I stayed because I was too drunk to drive home or something. I don’t mind being the fall guy.”
“I told her it was because of the weather.”
“Also a good idea.”
“I like yours too. I’ll use that tomorrow.”
She realized the minute she said it that she had assumed he would be spending the night with her again. But the truth was he had already said he was determined to protect her. Still, this couldn’t go on forever.
“We have to do something about these attacks. Cut them off at the source. Only then will I be safe again.”
“We do not have to do anything. I will alert our authoritarians and they will look into the matter.”
“Authoritarians?”
“Our police force. They will find out who is behind this and then they will direct our bounty hunters to bring them in.”
“I could help. I could—”
“No! Absolutely not.”
“Rafe, this is my skill set! This is what I do! Let me at least research—”
“I said no!”
“You know, you aren’t my boss,” she snapped back. “You don’t get to tell me what to do!”
“I think in this case I do. Come on, Renee. Use your head and not your heart. Your heart wants to hunt for these dangerous phants, but your head should tell you that in spite of your impressive skill set, you are no match for whatever sycophant is out there waiting for you to cross its path.”
Renee seethed silently, but it was because she knew he was right. Still, she had held her own last night. She could protect herself now that she knew how to kill the bastards.
“Fine. Whatever,” she said sullenly.
After a moment he reached across the car and took her hand in his. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I know how frustrating this must be for you.”
“I really don’t think you do,” she said, temper still in her tone.
“Do you think it will be easy for me to turn over the investigation into your safety to someone else? To trust them to do a good job? It will be one of the most difficult things I will have ever managed. But I must make myself aware of the differences between my head and my heart. My heart wants to tear these phants apart and make you safe again, my head understands that this is not a battle I can win on my own.”
