again.”
I nodded, but at the same time, I was hoping that last night had been it. Ty would be found ASAP and I would be off the hook as the telepathically linked, fantabulously dressed girlfriend.
As much as I wanted to help, I didn’t really do pain and suffering all that well. While I knew there were bad apples in every bunch, I’d actually seen the brutality for myself. And felt the pain of it. And the experience sort of scared the crapola out of me and put everything into perspective.
Take my stack of bills, for example. Inconsequential compared to life and death. My stack of business cards from the MMW applicants? Important, but it’s not as if I’d burst into flames if I didn’t follow up every single lead. The stack of messages from my mother reminding me about Sunday’s mating prospect for Jack? Okay, so maybe that did qualify as afterlife and death (my own). But everything else? So off my list of must do right now or suffer dire consequences.
I summoned a smile. “Maybe today was the worst of it and he’ll come walking through the door, completely unharmed. Or at least limping with no permanent damage.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
I didn’t. That was the problem. “I’ll keep trying to contact him.”
“Good, and stop thinking so hard about what happened.”
“You’re the one who made me repeat it a zillion times.”
“To get the facts. Now it’s done, so don’t dwell on it. You might be inadvertently blocking a vital piece of information. Just try putting your mind on something else and, who knows, you might have a breakthrough and give us something solid.”
“And if I don’t?”
His eyes grew brighter until I actually had to blink. “We’ll have to deal with the situation.” He started to turn and I couldn’t help the sudden curiosity that burned through me.
“Why are you so intent on finding him?”
He paused and shrugged. “I hunt criminals for a living, but there are so many that it’s a full-time job. Ty’s good at what he does and he eases my caseload. Usually bounty hunters get in the way, but he’s the exception.”
“Because he’s a vampire.”
“Exactly. When he brings in a bounty, he knows whether to bring them to me or hand them over to the police.”
“But aren’t you the police? You’re a homicide detective,” I pointed out. “At least that’s what you told me.”
“I am, but I don’t work directly for the local police or the feds. I operate out of a smaller, more elite department. We function with a completely different agenda in mind.”
“To serve and protect?”
“To retrieve and punish.”
“Vigilante justice?”
“Quite the opposite. We’re sanctioned by Big Daddy himself.”
Hmmm…
In human terms, Big Daddy referred to the head of the FBI or CIA or even the president.
In vamp terms, it referred to a royal descendant of the daddy of all born vamps—at present Count Christoff Deville. I’d matched up one of his cousins—Francis—not too long ago. Since Francis was still sort of dweeby and, therefore, the black sheep of the Deville clan, I’d finally given up the hope that I’d be seeing any sort of token of gratitude—high five, new car, small country. Plus, I’d kind of matched him up with a human (big no-no), which would have killed my chances anyway. Not that I regretted pairing him up with Melissa. They were in love and living together. Big sigh.
As for Big Daddy…In were terms, B.D. meant the pack leader, be it wolf or bear or labradoodle.
I eyed Ash. Nix human. Forget vamp. Were? Nuhuh. He was some sort of Other, I knew that much since I couldn’t read him and he could make his eyes glow brighter than the sun at midday (or so I’ve been told). But since I’d led a sheltered, pretentious existence like every other born vamp, my knowledge of Other supernatural creatures was a teeny bit limited.
“We let the cops and the bounty hunters take out the minor offenders,” he went on, “while
I nodded, but at the same time, I was hoping that last night had been it. Ty would be found ASAP and I would be off the hook as the telepathically linked, fantabulously dressed girlfriend.
As much as I wanted to help, I didn’t really do pain and suffering all that well. While I knew there were bad apples in every bunch, I’d actually seen the brutality for myself. And felt the pain of it. And the experience sort of scared the crapola out of me and put everything into perspective.
Take my stack of bills, for example. Inconsequential compared to life and death. My stack of business cards from the MMW applicants? Important, but it’s not as if I’d burst into flames if I didn’t follow up every single lead. The stack of messages from my mother reminding me about Sunday’s mating prospect for Jack? Okay, so maybe that did qualify as afterlife and death (my own). But everything else? So off my list of must do right now or suffer dire consequences.
I summoned a smile. “Maybe today was the worst of it and he’ll come walking through the door, completely unharmed. Or at least limping with no permanent damage.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
I didn’t. That was the problem. “I’ll keep trying to contact him.”
“Good, and stop thinking so hard about what happened.”
“You’re the one who made me repeat it a zillion times.”
“To get the facts. Now it’s done, so don’t dwell on it. You might be inadvertently blocking a vital piece of information. Just try putting your mind on something else and, who knows, you might have a breakthrough and give us something solid.”
“And if I don’t?”
His eyes grew brighter until I actually had to blink. “We’ll have to deal with the situation.” He started to turn and I couldn’t help the sudden curiosity that burned through me.
“Why are you so intent on finding him?”
He paused and shrugged. “I hunt criminals for a living, but there are so many that it’s a full-time job. Ty’s good at what he does and he eases my caseload. Usually bounty hunters get in the way, but he’s the exception.”
“Because he’s a vampire.”
“Exactly. When he brings in a bounty, he knows whether to bring them to me or hand them over to the police.”
“But aren’t you the police? You’re a homicide detective,” I pointed out. “At least that’s what you told me.”
“I am, but I don’t work directly for the local police or the feds. I operate out of a smaller, more elite department. We function with a completely different agenda in mind.”
“To serve and protect?”
“To retrieve and punish.”
“Vigilante justice?”
“Quite the opposite. We’re sanctioned by Big Daddy himself.”
Hmmm…
In human terms, Big Daddy referred to the head of the FBI or CIA or even the president.
In vamp terms, it referred to a royal descendant of the daddy of all born vamps—at present Count Christoff Deville. I’d matched up one of his cousins—Francis—not too long ago. Since Francis was still sort of dweeby and, therefore, the black sheep of the Deville clan, I’d finally given up the hope that I’d be seeing any sort of token of gratitude—high five, new car, small country. Plus, I’d kind of matched him up with a human (big no-no), which would have killed my chances anyway. Not that I regretted pairing him up with Melissa. They were in love and living together. Big sigh.
As for Big Daddy…In were terms, B.D. meant the pack leader, be it wolf or bear or labradoodle.
I eyed Ash. Nix human. Forget vamp. Were? Nuhuh. He was some sort of Other, I knew that much since I couldn’t read him and he could make his eyes glow brighter than the sun at midday (or so I’ve been told). But since I’d led a sheltered, pretentious existence like every other born vamp, my knowledge of Other supernatural creatures was a teeny bit limited.
“We let the cops and the bounty hunters take out the minor offenders,” he went on, “while
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