“Just your arm.”
“All right.” The word had a bit of a drawl to it. Ryder leaned forward and unbuttoned his shirt. My gaze flicked away from his face long enough to see he was wearing a T-shirt beneath the button down.
He tugged at the rolled up sleeve, then pushed his shirt off both shoulders, letting it pool around his low back.
His elbow was wrapped with a light gauze which was holding down a pad at the inside of his elbow.
“So what happened to your arm?”
“I gave blood.”
“To whom?”
“The Girls Scouts.” His eyebrows dipped down tight and he looked really confused. “Red Cross. Who else?”
“Do you donate often?”
“When I can.”
“Here in town?”
“No. I was in Seattle at a meeting. But there was a blood drive going on outside the restaurant next to the hotel.”
“So you decided to stop in and do your civic duty. How very Boy Scout of you, Bailey.”
“You’re not a fan of saving lives?”
I held his gaze. I couldn’t accuse him of giving blood to be used as a vampire murder weapon. But I could get my hands on the Red Cross record base. Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of vamps who worked for the agency, and I was sure Rossi knew a few who would be able to tell us if Ryder had actually donated.
“I’m a police officer,” I said after another sip of water. “I’m all about saving lives.”
“Then why are you staring at me like I’m keeping secrets?”
“Because you’re keeping secrets.”
His expression stayed closed off, flat. And then a little grin—a very Ryder grin—curved his mouth. “Why would you think that?”
“I don’t think it, I know it.”
He nodded. “So are you.”
I lifted one eyebrow, so he continued. “Keeping secrets. What aren’t you telling me, Delaney? Is there something about the death that I should know about?”
“Nothing I’m at liberty to share.”
He pulled the remainder of his shirt tails out of his slacks and tossed the shirt casually over the arm of the couch. Then he leaned forward, arms resting across his thighs, hands clasped. He looked like a man who was about to make a deal.
“I want to make a deal.”
Called it.
“No.”
“You wouldn’t say no if you heard the deal.”
“Still no.”
“I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
