Wyatt took the laptop and gently set it on his desk. He dusted a few potato chip crumbs off his leather chair before sitting down and switching on the computer. “The blasted battery’s dead.” He turned the laptop around and studied the ports. Then he rolled all the way to the left, opened a drawer, pulled out a cord, and rolled back to the right. Watching him work was like going to a geek ballet.
Gem glided forward and backward on her skates, her legs widening and then closing.
I pulled a round stool out from beneath the desk and sat next to Wyatt. “Don’t close the Internet windows or reset it. She has a Breed dating website open and was still logged in.”
Wyatt slowly turned and gave me a cold stare. “When the battery dies, it usually reboots. Why didn’t you keep it charged at the motel?”
Because I didn’t have time to grab the power cord while the house was burning?I crossed my legs. “Couldn’t find it.”
He shook his head. “That’s fine. Most people are dumb enough to either save their passwords in their browser or keep them on a list. If not, I can still hack it. I need to back up her data before I start, just in case something goes screwy.”
I swiveled in my seat. “Have there been any new developments in the case?”
“No more bodies, if that’s what you mean.” He reached in a small bag of greasy chips and ate a few while the laptop powered up. “Viktor called the detective to see if they disposed of the first body. She might have had a similar tattoo or something we missed.”
“Did you find one?”
“They already cremated her,” Gem said. “They don’t have a facility to keep bodies lying around, and no one claimed her. It’s pretty standard with Breed homicides. I hope someone claims me when it’s my time to go.”
“That’s a little scary,” I said. “If they thought the victims were human, they should have just left the bodies for the cops to collect.”
Wyatt crunched on another chip. “But it turns out she wasn’t. Even if she was, the killer was most definitely not, and haven’t we already gone over this? The FBI would love nothing more than a string of dead bodies with puncture holes in the neck. Anyhow, no one was a hundred percent on their status. Humans usually carry ID, car keys, or phones, and these girls had nothing. Since a Vampire’s behind it, they’re not going to leave that evidence for the cops to collect. They have all that forensic shit. The thing is, no one knows if there’s something different in our blood that humans would be able to identify in an autopsy or pathology report. Their technology is always improving. What if the Vampire left behind some of his blood? What if they cloned it and made a super race of Vampire assassins? I watch those spooky sci-fi shows.”
Gem grabbed his hat and pulled it over his face. “I should have never bought you that zombie DVD collection.”
“Has yourfriendbeen able to tell us anything?” I asked skeptically.
Wyatt faced me with the hat still covering his entire face. “No, but he cleared out all the other spooks from the house. I ain’t complaining.”
I anchored my hands on the stool between my legs. “I still don’t get why they don’t at least photograph the crime scenes. They can always burn the pictures later.”
He peeled the hat up over his eyes. “It depends on who’s working the case. Some do, some don’t. They don’t really like capturing Breed in photographs. It creates more evidence they have to track and destroy. Usually a few investigators on the scene is enough to piece together what happened. I guess Detective Glass likes to play it safe.”
“Speaking of which,” I said, getting up. “I have to get ready for my date.”
He turned his chair and straightened one leg to block my exit. “What do you mean by that?”
Gem skated toward me. “Someone has a hot date tonight with the good detective.”
His brows arched as his boot heel hit the floor. “Now that’s a twist I didn’t see coming. Does Viktor know?”
I scratched the back of my neck and quickly made my escape. Viktor might not like my fraternizing with our business partner, and it left me wondering what Glass was going to say to him when he arrived to pick me up. Hopefully I could just slip out the door and Viktor would be up in his office somewhere.
Gem hooked her arm in mine, and I stumbled trying to keep up with her fast pace. “Let me take you to my abode so we can talk about your date.”
Without giving me a choice in the matter, Gem led me to her room. It was also on the second floor but in a different area from Wyatt’s office.
My jaw dropped when she opened the door.
She skated in ahead of me and stopped in the center. Gem had transformed her medieval surroundings into a Bohemian dream. The stone walls were covered with alternating shades of delicate fabric that were somehow attached to the ceiling, giving the room dimension. Unlike my room or Christian’s, hers had a long row of windows on the left side that overlooked the courtyard. It brought in so much light. Sheer gold curtains covered them, casting an ethereal glow in the room. Large area rugs decorated the floor, and in front of the fireplace on the far wall was an oversized gold sofa with a curved back. She had it facing the door as if ignoring the fireplace.
I ran my fingers along her bejeweled armoire just to my right.
“I did that myself,” she said proudly. “It took a long time to find all the different rhinestones I wanted, but I think it’s beautiful.”
It sparkled with the outdoor light coming in, and I could only imagine what it looked like in candlelight.
“Viktor gave you electricity?” I asked, marveling at the tiny white lights on one of the walls.
