A Wolf's Heart (Harlequin Nocturne) (16 page)

“No comment,” Gabriel said as he came around the vehicle and got into the driver’s seat. He shut the door on the plethora of questions being tossed out.

“I could sue you for police brutality.”

Gabriel turned and glared at him. “You haven’t seen police brutality—I could show you if you like.”

“I’m calling my lawyer.” He flipped open his phone and dialed while looking out the side window.

As Gabriel pulled away from the curb and into the street he flipped his phone open again and dialed Elise’s number. Again it rang five times and he got her voice mail. “Are you punishing me? Just call me back, okay. I don’t care if you
are
mad at me.” He flipped the phone closed.

“Trouble in paradise,” Diego chimed in.

Gabriel declined to respond to the vampire’s taunting. It would do no good. Something was definitely wrong. He could feel it, but if he had the number-one suspect sitting in the backseat of his car, why was Elise not answering her phone?

Chapter 22

E
lise blinked open her eyes, then closed them. The room was spinning and it made her stomach roll. When she opened them again, more fully, the bright light stung like acid. She quickly snapped them shut.

Licking her lips, which felt dry and cracked, she tried to open her eyes again. At first, everything was spinning, but she fought gagging so she could get her bearings. Finally, the room stopped swirling and she was able to focus a little on her surroundings.

She was in a small room illuminated by big spotlights in all four corners. She was on the floor, hard cold tile, and there was something familiar about it. Rolling onto her back, she stared up at the ceiling. Her body ached in all sorts of places. Especially her lower back and her legs.

Her limbs felt leaden, but she was able to lift her right arm. Blood streaked her skin. There were deep cuts on her hands and wrists. Staring at the wounds, she tried to remember how she got them. Had she gotten into a fight? With whom, though?

She licked her lips again. There was an odd taste in her mouth. Sour and strong. Almost like garlic. She swallowed the bad taste down and lowered her arm. She raised her other arm and saw similar cuts and bruises. Yes, definitely a fight of some kind.

She groaned from the soreness in her body. By the ache in her lower back she assumed she’d been lying on the floor for some time. But it was impossible to know how much time had passed, since there were no windows and no clock on the whitewashed walls.

There were pictures on the walls, though. Landscape paintings. She stared at them, a shiver starting at her toes and rushing up her back. She recognized those pictures.

Rolling onto her side, she surveyed more of the room. There was a sofa and chair and coffee table behind her, all mismatched and eclectic. She rolled to her other side and spied a TV set and bookcases. Next to them was a door. A blue door.

Swallowing down the urge to retch, Elise closed her eyes and opened them again. She had to be dreaming. This couldn’t possibly be true. It was a joke.

Because if everything was real, then she was on the set of one of her first movies.

Chapter 23

G
abriel drove like a demon to the station. Once parked, he quickly escorted Diego up to an interview room where he sat him down and made him wait.

He leaned on the wall just outside the room and opened his phone again. This time he’d call Constable Sharpe. If Elise didn’t want to talk to him that was fine, but he had to know everything was okay there.

The constable didn’t answer his phone. Voice mail picked up after four rings. Gabriel disconnected and tried again, only to get voice mail once more.

He slid his phone into his pants pocket and stormed back into the interview room.

“Why were you at Elise’s cottage this morning?”

Diego sneered, arms crossed over his chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Leaning on the table, Gabriel got into the vampire’s face. “Don’t mess with me. I know you were there. Why did you gut that wolf and leave it on her porch? Was it a death threat?”

That startled him and he dropped his hands to his lap. “What wolf? There was no wolf.”

“So you didn’t see a dead wolf when you came to the house?”

“No.”

“So, why were you at the house?”

Diego sighed, realizing that Gabriel had maneuvered him into admitting he had been there. “I was just looking.”

“Why?”

“There’s no law against coming to call on a friend, is there?”

“It’s called trespassing.”

“I just wanted to make sure that she was okay.”

“Why? I thought you hated her.”

He flinched. “I don’t hate Elise. I still… I still have feelings for her. I was an idiot for cheating on her. She’s a remarkable woman.” He smirked. “But then I guess you already know that.”

“Yeah, I do.” Gabriel leaned in closer, making sure Diego could see the anger in his gaze, and how hard it was to contain it. “And I think that pissed you off, and you went into the woods, killed a wolf and brought it back to gut it on her porch to teach her a lesson.”

Diego shook his head. “That’s not how it happened.”

“Then tell me how it happened.”

“I drove out at about ten. I parked on the side of the road. I was too chicken to drive right into the yard. I came across the yard and approached the house. I wasn’t sure I’d be welcome, so I just walked around the house. And yes, I looked into one of the windows. And that’s when I saw the two of you. So, I decided to get the hell out of there.” He ran a shaky hand through his perfectly coifed hair. “I drove home, called Layla and asked her for a late lunch. I figured I should just move on.”

“Layla would confirm all of this?”

He nodded.

Gabriel pushed away from the table. He believed him. “I’ll need Ms. Lee’s number to verify your statement.”

“Fine. Got a pen and paper?”

Gabriel handed a pen and pad of paper to Diego. The vampire wrote down a number and handed it back to him.

“Jesus, you’re just as bad as her agent. He’s been in my face, too.”

“About what?”

“About leaving Elise alone. He’s a persuasive jerk, too. But that kind of crap doesn’t work on a vampire of my caliber. I’m much too powerful to be swayed.”

“Well, you should’ve listened to him and you wouldn’t have been in this mess.” Gabriel ran a hand over his face. He was feeling the fatigue but his anger and fear for Elise’s safety drove him on. “You say you still have feelings for Elise. Have you been sending her love letters?”

Diego shook his head. “No. That’s totally not my style.”

Gabriel regarded him for a long moment, gauging him, taking his measure. However despicable he thought the vampire to be, his words rang true.

Clutching the notepad, Gabriel went to leave the room. “I’ll need to check this out. You’ll have to wait here.”

Diego threw up his hands in defeat. “Fine. Could you have someone bring me some tea then, since I missed my lunch?”

That was when a tall woman in a three-piece suit barged into the room, her black leather briefcase swinging like a weapon. “This interview is over, Inspector. My client’s rights have been violated.”

“No problem, Counselor. Your client is all yours.” Gabriel brushed past her and closed the door on her continuous stream of complaints and arguments.

As he marched down the hallway to the garage, he ran into Sophie. “What’s going on?”

“I picked up Diego. He’s not our guy.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded. “He was at the house but he didn’t gut the wolf. He didn’t send any notes, either.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. He’s pathetic, but he isn’t a sociopath.”

“Where are you going?”

“Back to the cottage. I can’t reach Elise or Ron. My gut tells me something’s wrong.”

“Okay, I’ll drive,” she said, turning around to join him.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m a faster driver than you anyway.”

“True.” He tossed her the keys to the SUV.

A record forty-five minutes later, they were pulling up the driveway to Elise’s cottage. The second Sophie put it in Park, Gabriel was out the door.

There was still blood on the porch and the front door was wide open.

Sophie withdrew her gun from her shoulder holster. “You take the back. I’ll go in through the front.”

Gabriel nodded and took out his own weapon. Senses on alert to every sound and smell, he skirted around the cottage and into the backyard. The first thing he noticed was the back glass sliding door had been shattered.

He mounted the steps to the patio. “Elise!” he yelled, as he crossed the deck to the broken windows. Gingerly, he stepped over the shards and into the kitchen. “Elise!”

There was no return call.

The kitchen was a mess. There were overturned chairs, and broken bowls and glasses. Tomatoes were strewn all over the tile floor. The scent of basil and vinegar laced the air.

Along with something else. Anger. Fear. And blood. Elise’s blood.

There were droplets of it on the counter in the kitchen.

The sight of it nearly took Gabriel to his knees. He was faint enough that he had to steady himself with a hand on the table.

Sophie came into the room. “The front is clear. No sign of Elise or Constable Sharpe.”

He nodded and walked briskly down the hallway to the bedrooms. Sophie followed him. He checked her room and the guest bedroom, where he’d put his stuff. He didn’t expect to find anything. By the mess in the kitchen it was obvious someone had come in and taken Elise and she had fought back.

But now she was gone. And he didn’t have a lead to who’d taken her or where.

They regrouped in the kitchen. “Call in the rest of the team. We need to go over this place with a fine-tooth comb. There has to be something here. There just has to be.”

Sophie set her hand on his shoulder. “We’ll find her, Gabe.”

“How can you be so sure?” He had to catch his voice before it shook.

“Because I know you. You’re a dogged son of a gun and you won’t give up until you track her down and punish the bastard who took her.”

She left him to make the call to the lab. As he stood there in the kitchen, looking over the broken glass and the blood, his heart thumped hard, painfully so, and he could hardly regain his breath. He hadn’t been able to keep her safe. He’d promised her and then failed her.

Again. Fifteen years ago he failed to stop one of his best friends from assaulting Elise. He’d been late meeting her for a date and because his friend knew where they always went, he’d shown up instead, with malice on his mind.

He’d been late again. Too late in calling her, too late in realizing something was wrong. Too late to stop her attacker from taking her.

If she died, it would be his fault.

And if that happened, he was unsure he could continue on without her.