at least, that was how it felt.
Peeling my eyes open, I glanced at the numbers on the glowing clock face. 6:48. I’d been in bed less than an hour. The vibrating ring tone told me it was Shane. I snatched the phone off the table and chucked it full force at the far wall. It collided with a satisfying crack, falling to the floor. Silent.
If people are going to insist on calling me before seven AM, I’m gonna need a cell phone that can handle being thrown across the room. I thought with some venom. Can you hear me now?
Making a mental note to swing by the electronics store later, feeling grateful I’d taken out the extra insurance this time, I tucked my head under the pillow, cocooned in my blankets, and drifted back to sleep.
It was almost three in the afternoon when I finally woke up. One of the major downsides of having a semi-nocturnal partner was it made keeping unusual business hours and existing on little-to-no sleep job requirements.
Dressing quickly I headed down to the office to boot up the computer. The red button on the answering machine blinked angrily at me. I hit the button with the eraser of my pencil, and the speakers crackled to life.
“You have three new messages. First message.”
Shane’s voice. “Hey Isabel. Just calling to check in. I found out something interesting you’re gonna want to hear.”
Sighing, I leaned back in my chair.
Beep .
“Ms. Stone, this is Mr. Curtis. I was just checking in to see how you were progressing with the case. Please give me a call.”
I pulled out the Curtis file and found his number. Figuring he was probably still at work, I decided to call his house and leave a message. At some point, I was going to have to reveal what I’d discovered about his daughter’s dirty little secret, but until I knew for sure how the vamps fit into the equation, I’d play that card close to the vest.
Beep .
“Hey Isabel. It’s Heather. I was hoping we could get together for lunch this week. I have some stuff to share with you. It’s not exactly urgent, but it’s important, okay? So call me. Or I’ll call you back later. Whichever. Ciao, chica !”
Rolling my eyes, I hit the delete button on the machine and dialed Mr. Curtis. As expected, I got his machine.
“Hello, this is Isabel. I wanted to call and let you know that I have a new lead in your daughter’s case. However, it’s too soon to tell whether it will pan out. I should have more solid answers for you by next week. I’m doing everything I can. I’ll be in touch.”
No, that wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation at all. Hopefully, I’d be able to go to him with something other than his daughter’s shady past and give the poor man some answers. Turning to the computer, I pulled up my online calendar. Shane’s vamp cotillion was tomorrow night, which was good and bad. Mostly bad , I thought, biting my lower lip.
As much as I was ready to get some answers on this case, part of me really wasn’t ready to let him go. Selfish, I knew, but that was just how I felt. For so long, he’d been my Shane. Even after we weren’t involved romantically anymore, he was still such a huge part of me. I didn’t want to admit it—I’d rather have eaten glass than confessed this to anyone—but deep down, I always hoped we’d end up together. I shook my head. It was silly. Insane, actually. Him being what he was meant we could never have a life together, not the life I wanted anyway.
But there was a part of me that still longed for the happily ever after that he’d promised me once. We’d been so close to perfect. So close to forever. But joining the Conclave meant, at a minimum, he’d have to move out. They liked to keep the neonates close to the nest. They probably wouldn’t let him continue to work with me, either. They’d give him some cushy job at one of their many businesses, all the better to keep an eye on him. The moment they took him in, he’d become an investment . And they expected returns
Peeling my eyes open, I glanced at the numbers on the glowing clock face. 6:48. I’d been in bed less than an hour. The vibrating ring tone told me it was Shane. I snatched the phone off the table and chucked it full force at the far wall. It collided with a satisfying crack, falling to the floor. Silent.
If people are going to insist on calling me before seven AM, I’m gonna need a cell phone that can handle being thrown across the room. I thought with some venom. Can you hear me now?
Making a mental note to swing by the electronics store later, feeling grateful I’d taken out the extra insurance this time, I tucked my head under the pillow, cocooned in my blankets, and drifted back to sleep.
It was almost three in the afternoon when I finally woke up. One of the major downsides of having a semi-nocturnal partner was it made keeping unusual business hours and existing on little-to-no sleep job requirements.
Dressing quickly I headed down to the office to boot up the computer. The red button on the answering machine blinked angrily at me. I hit the button with the eraser of my pencil, and the speakers crackled to life.
“You have three new messages. First message.”
Shane’s voice. “Hey Isabel. Just calling to check in. I found out something interesting you’re gonna want to hear.”
Sighing, I leaned back in my chair.
Beep .
“Ms. Stone, this is Mr. Curtis. I was just checking in to see how you were progressing with the case. Please give me a call.”
I pulled out the Curtis file and found his number. Figuring he was probably still at work, I decided to call his house and leave a message. At some point, I was going to have to reveal what I’d discovered about his daughter’s dirty little secret, but until I knew for sure how the vamps fit into the equation, I’d play that card close to the vest.
Beep .
“Hey Isabel. It’s Heather. I was hoping we could get together for lunch this week. I have some stuff to share with you. It’s not exactly urgent, but it’s important, okay? So call me. Or I’ll call you back later. Whichever. Ciao, chica !”
Rolling my eyes, I hit the delete button on the machine and dialed Mr. Curtis. As expected, I got his machine.
“Hello, this is Isabel. I wanted to call and let you know that I have a new lead in your daughter’s case. However, it’s too soon to tell whether it will pan out. I should have more solid answers for you by next week. I’m doing everything I can. I’ll be in touch.”
No, that wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation at all. Hopefully, I’d be able to go to him with something other than his daughter’s shady past and give the poor man some answers. Turning to the computer, I pulled up my online calendar. Shane’s vamp cotillion was tomorrow night, which was good and bad. Mostly bad , I thought, biting my lower lip.
As much as I was ready to get some answers on this case, part of me really wasn’t ready to let him go. Selfish, I knew, but that was just how I felt. For so long, he’d been my Shane. Even after we weren’t involved romantically anymore, he was still such a huge part of me. I didn’t want to admit it—I’d rather have eaten glass than confessed this to anyone—but deep down, I always hoped we’d end up together. I shook my head. It was silly. Insane, actually. Him being what he was meant we could never have a life together, not the life I wanted anyway.
But there was a part of me that still longed for the happily ever after that he’d promised me once. We’d been so close to perfect. So close to forever. But joining the Conclave meant, at a minimum, he’d have to move out. They liked to keep the neonates close to the nest. They probably wouldn’t let him continue to work with me, either. They’d give him some cushy job at one of their many businesses, all the better to keep an eye on him. The moment they took him in, he’d become an investment . And they expected returns
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