Blood Revealed by Tracy Cooper-Posey

no detours. Then Blythe looked out the windows and noticed it was pitch black outside.
    She didn’t panic then. That would come later. In fact, she felt the same sense of carelessness that had probably let Jake figure it was a good idea for either of them to be out after dark. They had all let down their guard.
    Blythe consciously noticed that sunset had come and gone. As soon as there was a break she checked with Johnson, who thanked her for her work and let her go home. Thankfully, she hurried back to her locker and picked up her gear, then down to the subbasement to her car.
    She wheeled out of the hotel parking lot faster than normal. She still hadn’t been feeling any great distress, yet something made her hurry, anyway.
    The L.A. traffic that usually clogged the highways around dinner time had subsided considerably by the time she hit the freeway. She was able to make really good time getting home and turned into the driveway only forty minutes later.
    Her instincts had been driving her, even though she hadn’t realized it then. She dashed into the house, dropped her bag and called out. “Jake!”
    Silence.
    “Simone! Eloise!” This time she spoke louder, a hint of worry increasing her volume.
    Overhead, she heard the sound of feet hitting the floor, then footsteps.
    Relief touched her. And that was the first time she realized that the tension had been building inside her since before she had left the hotel. She waited as patiently as she could, until Eloise walked into the kitchen, looking puzzled.
    “Jake and Simone are not back yet?”
    Eloise frowned. “Jake went to Carly’s place ages ago. They’re not back yet?”
    Blythe sighed. She picked up a keys again. “Stay in the house!”
    “Where are you going?”
    Blythe wondered if Eloise had been sleeping. She seemed to be having trouble putting things together. “Make sure your cell phone is on,” Blythe told her. “And stay in the house,” she repeated firmly.
    Blythe ran for the car and cruised along the streets to Carly Mathur’s house. In the dark it was difficult to check every single person she passed, although she slowed down enough to look at pairs, as her stomach crawled. She had no idea why she was so panicked, but she obeyed her instincts as they had served her well in the past.
    The problem was, there was so many shortcuts and alleys between her house and Carly Mathur’s house. Jake and Simone were walking and would use all of them.
    Blythe reached the Mathur’s house without spotting either of them. She parked in front of the bungalow and ran across the lawn—screw the footpath—and hammered on the front door. The door opened almost immediately and Pete Mathur scratched at his tank top as he stared at her and tried to put together who she was.
    Blythe didn’t have time to fuck around. By now her instincts were screaming at her. She gave Jack a stiff smile. “I’m Blythe Murray, Peter. My daughter Simone and my son Jake were here. Are they still?”
    Peter put it together and straightened up, as if he had been caught slacking off. “Geez no. Marcy insisted they stay for dinner, before they went home. That Jake of yours is growing into a tall guy, isn’t he?”
    Blythe gripped the frame of the storm door, her chest tightening. “How long ago did they leave, Peter?”
    His brows came together, as it finally registered on him. “About…I don’t know…. Maybe fifteen minutes?”
    Blythe nodded. “Then they’re still out there,” she concluded.
    Peter shifted on his feet. “Is something wrong? Is there something I can do?”
    Blythe shook her head. The last thing she needed was civilians getting under her feet. “It could be nothing,” she said truthfully. “I just know I’m feeling uneasy.”
    “Perhaps I should come with you,” Peter said slowly, as if he was beginning to understand that he had some responsibility in whatever might have happened.
    So she shook her head again and gave him a smile. “I’m sure it’s