Bound by Blood (Vampire Romance) (7 page)

When that didn’t look as if it was going to happen any time soon, Alex stopped in the office and caught up on some paperwork.

“Do you think Morgan was lying?” Nick asked after grabbing a cup of coffee and perching on the end of Alex’s desk.

Alex leaned back in his chair. “About what? I’m sure that message was real.” Very real.

“Not the message, although…” Nick cocked his head to one side as if considering the possibility, “although the wife could have planted it.”

“Or he could have.”

“Nah! She seems the type. He seems a pretty straight arrow.”

“Then what could he have lied about?”

Nick blew across the top of his coffee. “How could anyone live with someone for two years and not know anything about them?”

Alex held up his fingers as he ticked off points. “First, they weren’t living together, and two, she probably had a lot more to say to Mrs. Morgan than the father.”

“Still, do you think he was lying?”

Alex rocked back in his chair, then let it pitch him forward so that he was sitting straight again. “There was nothing to lie about.”
Was there?

“Not sure I believe it, but I’m willing to let it go for now.” He stood, and looked down at Alex, his expression more serious than it had been moments before. “It really bothers me, Alex, that we haven’t found a lead on this kid.” He shook his head. “That doesn’t bode well for the girl. I’ve seen enough of these to know if we don’t get something soon, and find the kid by tomorrow, we may never get her back. At least not the way her parents would want her to be.”

Alex gave a brief nod of agreement and watched Nick walk to his desk. The man was right, which was why he had spent the last hour or so they had been in the office searching out Carlos on the various databases he could access from here. It was not an easy trail to find. And he knew it could well be cold, but it was a place to start. The contents of the message, meager as it was, gave him plenty to chew over. It could mean different things, depending on who it was really addressed to. He couldn’t dismiss the niggling thought that Carlos
knew
the child was his.

Shutting down his computer, he stood and stretched. “Hey, Nick, I’m going to head home for a bit. I should be back in another hour or so. I want to check something out.”

He addressed Nick, but the other men in the room looked at him with interest.

“Whatever,” Nick responded, “but I have no idea what you can look at home that you can’t find here.”

Alex didn’t bother answering him, but suited his action to words. That information was not for sharing. In a very short time, he pulled up to his driveway. The lights of the house were still off save for the one lamp in the great room that he had left on for Lisa. He wondered if she was still there, but was loathe to open the door and actually find out.

It had been a long night. Once inside, he closed the door softly behind him and made his way to the kitchen. There, he poured himself a glass of nourishment, and drank quickly. He needed to feed, but he surely didn’t want Lisa, or anyone for that matter, to walk up to him while he was in the middle of it. He rinsed his glass, left it in the sink, and then headed to the media area of the room.

She was sound asleep, curled in on herself. The television was still on, so she must have been watching it. He stood where he was, looking down at her.
What was wrong with him?
He couldn’t seem to have his fill of her.

Not that he had suspected otherwise, but unless she was extremely fast, hyper-fast, then she could not have been at the Morgan’s. But she could have orchestrated it, a niggling voice told him. He banished the thought. He could
smell
her innocence. Some things you could disguise, some you could not.

Stepping behind the couch, he rested his hands on the back of it; she didn’t awaken. Her breathing was deep and even. Even in the gentle light he could see the circles of exhaustion under her eyes. Resisting the urge to wake her, he took one of the throws and drew it over her; watching her snuggle into it. Leaving her side, he retrieved his laptop from the computer armoire and made himself comfortable in one of the nearby chairs. Crossing one leg over the other, he opened his computer. He hesitated a moment before turning it on, hoping the sound of the machine booting up wouldn’t startle her. She was in a relaxed sleep now. Her muscles had loosened; her blood flowed even more smoothly. He nearly groaned. Now why did he have to zero in on that? He had just fed. He certainly wasn’t hungry.

She stirred when the machine powered on, turning her head so that her copper curls fell to one side, exposing her slender neck. He really, really did not need the distraction. He dragged his attention back to the computer. In spite of Nick’s skepticism there really were things he simply could not look for at work -- like exactly where Carlos was hiding. He had some leads that would put him in the proximity of where the vampire might be, if not the exact location of where he called home.

Another hour of work, and he was satisfied he had all the information he could obtain for now. He shut down the computer, but left it on the table beside his chair, stood and stretched. He would have time for a nap before he started his hunt in earnest. Nick was right about one thing as far as normal kidnappings were concerned: they needed to find the child ASAP. The note, and Carlos’ presence, convinced Alex there was nothing normal about this.

Chapter 7

Something woke him from his sleep in his below stairs bedroom a few hours later. It took a moment to regain his thoughts. An intruder was not likely. Then he recalled Lisa above stairs. He had left a note saying he would be in mid-morning and they would get something to eat then.

Swiftly, he got out of bed and headed for his closet. The total darkness of the room didn’t hinder him in anyway. It was true he had long outgrown the need to sleep all day in order to function all night, and as long as he was guarded and avoided direct sunlight he could function throughout the day just fine. So could Carlos. It was only the youngest vampires that had any difficulty moving between the two worlds.

Today was his day off from the office. He hesitated in taking it because they needed to solve the case; they needed to find the child. The advantage of not reporting in meant he could go where he needed to find his quarry and not make excuses to his partner or supervisor as to why he needed to work alone. Today, he also planned to learn more about Miss Lisa Mitchell. Grabbing another set of black jeans and black turtleneck, he showered and dressed before heading upstairs.

Lisa was sitting in the kitchen. The television was silent. A quick glance in the great room showed him the throw was folded over the arm of the couch and the computer was where he had left it.

“Good morning.”

She whipped her head around to face him. She must have expected him to come down the stairs instead of up from the basement level. Her response was tentative.

She stood, nervously wiping her hands down her jeans. “I’m really sorry about last night. There was no reason fro me not to go back to the Morgans.” She reached up a hand and looped a piece of hair around her ear. “I was just being silly. Um…” she waved her hand about, uncertain. “I couldn’t find your phone. I wanted to call a cab.”

Alex smiled at her. It had been a long time since he felt any tender emotions, but he did now. She looked prickly and ready to flee when in reality what she needed was to be held close. Too bad it wouldn’t be him. He didn’t even want to think that thought.

“Sit down,” he told her, indicating the chair she just vacated. “I left you a note. We’ll get something to eat in a moment. I eat all of my meals out so I don’t have anything here.”

“Look,” she used her hands to indicate herself, “I just slept in these clothes. I feel super grungy and super stupid for the way I behaved. Could you just take me back? Or, I could call a cab, really.”

Alex waved her to her seat again. “You are free to use the shower here. I can even loan you a shirt, but I’m afraid anything else simply won’t fit.” He did smile at her then as she looked at him assessingly. It was the first time she had done so that he was aware of. Rather deflating that she had never even noticed him. “Then, I will feed you and we can talk, but if you still want to go back now, we can do so.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to go back? I live there. At the Morgan’s,” she said.

“First shower, then we’ll talk.”

~*~

Less than an hour later they were seated in the local diner – of the next town.

“Was it really necessary that we come all the way out here?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I thought otherwise.” He stopped speaking when the waitress came for their orders. He listened with amusement as Lisa gave her a long list. He ordered coffee.

She looked abashed after the waitress left, and leaned forward across the table, whispering. “Is that all you’re having? You must think I’m a pig.”

Alex couldn’t help chuckling at her tone. He let his eyes wander over what parts of her anatomy he could see. “Hardly that. I can’t imagine where you put it.”

“You’re sure it’s not too much? I can pay for my own. Insist on it.”

“Ms. Mitchell, I never let my guests pay. Now sit back and relax. I need to go over some things.”

“Did something happen last night?” Her voice was breathless. She raised a hand to her mouth. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Because there is nothing you could have done.” He watched as the waitress carried over Lisa’s plate. In following the waitress’s progress, he noticed a local law enforcement officer sitting at the counter.

Using his head to indicate the direction he wanted her to look, he told her they would speak later. Instead, he helped her to relax, chatting about nothing, nor asking anything in return when she proved to be silent. There would be enough time for talking when they left.

A short time later, they exited the diner, and headed for his car. Within moments they were headed back to the highway.

“Are you sure you don’t have a girlfriend?” she asked.

“Some things you know,” he said dryly. “Why?”

“I wondered why you chose to come here when Fair Oaks has a perfectly good diner, several in fact, not to mention delis. I thought maybe you were trying to avoid someone.”

“I am,” he agreed, “but not a girlfriend. More like anyone who knows the Morgans well.”

She shot him a look. “I don’t understand.”

“I didn’t expect you would.” Quickly he told her the events of the previous night, but not the contents of the note, or Morgan’s suspicions.

“They think I did it, don’t they?” Her voice was flat.

He could hardly lie. “It came up.”

“What about you? Do you think I would do such a thing?” Her voice rose an octave and she shifted in her seat to look at him. He suspected she wanted to see his reaction. There wouldn’t be one.

“No. I know where you were.” He didn’t tell her it was entirely possible for something to be done even if the perpetuator was not present. She was too innocent to even suspect such a thing.

She sat back in her seat. “Did you tell them I was with you—at your place?”

“They did not need to know.” He turned onto the highway, but quickly shot off at the next exit.

“Where
are
we going?”

“Eventually, we are going to meet with an acquaintance of mine who may be able to help us with the case. For now, we are heading to a place where we can talk in peace.”

 “Here? We’re going to talk here?” she asked when they pulled up to the curb.

From the tone of her voice it was evident she hadn’t expected them to show up in front of a church. He tried not to let his lips twitch. She didn’t even know the greater irony. He got out of the car and came around the side to open her door. “Can you think of a better place?”

~*~

She didn’t answer, merely stepped out of the car when he held the door open and led her inside. Walking next to him made her feel safe. There was a sense of contained power. It didn’t matter if she had to step double time to keep up. Seeming to notice her difficulty, he slowed and smiled down at her. It didn’t quite reach his eyes, but was reassuring anyway.

 Definitely a strange man, but so far, he seemed to be the only one who hadn’t found it odd she hadn’t seen much of the kidnapper; the only one who didn’t seem to suspect her. She realized he might actually do so, but he didn’t display any such manner to her. Walking beside him, she was surprised when he didn’t head up the front steps as she expected. Instead, he went around the side of the building and to a small office area. She should have realized they wouldn’t be going into the church itself. He hadn’t struck her as a religious man who was going to pray his way through the case.

Stepping in front of her, he led the way through another set of doors. It was impossible for her not to notice the lean length of him and the animal, alert manner in which he moved. Nothing would escape his attention. She instinctively gulped in reaction, glad she wasn’t trying to hide anything.

Finally, he stopped, and held open a door for her to enter the narrow passageway to the office. She squeezed past him, trying not to brush against his body, but that was impossible from the way he held the door.

The room was very warm; it only took a moment to see the fire burning in the fireplace was the reason. It was uncommon for this time of year, although she had to admit it certainly kept the dampness out.

“Have a seat,” Alex said, indicating the grouping of chairs close to the fireplace. She did as he asked, but still looked around for their host.

“Monsignor Phil will join us in a few moments,” he told her. His voice rolled naturally over the Italian title.

She nodded and sat down in one of the chairs. She was relieved –
of course she was
– that he sat in the chair cattycorner from hers and not next to her. She could think better when he was further away. She took a deep breath. He wasn’t saying anything, yet he said they were to talk. “What did you want to know?”

~*~

Alex leaned back in his chair. “Not a lot, but I would like to fill in some gaps. The Morgans seemed to know so little about you.”