“Nick? What the hell happened to you last night?”
“Long story. I’ll tell you in person on Monday when I see you at the station.” That would buy him some time to decide what he would say. For obvious reasons, telling Soren that a coven of vampires was invading the city under the protective umbrella of a corporate identity didn’t seem prudent. But he’d have to tell him something.
Soren cleared his throat. “Listen, Nick. I found Kendra, the girl I told you about. She said the tattoo means she’s part of a… club, a sex club, okay? Nothing violent. I think we’re barking up the wrong tree on this one.”
“We are definitely not barking up the wrong tree.”
“So then you did find something.”
“Yeah. I can’t talk about it now.”
“It’s just you ignored all my texts and calls. If you found something, why didn’t you bring me in?”
Nick rubbed his eyes. Soren was usually more reasonable than this. “I was distracted with the case.”
“And with the girl,” Soren suggested.
“Yeah. She’s a distraction. A gorgeous, lovely distraction.”
“Is that right? I want details.” There was a pause. “Are you just heading home now? Is this call on your walk of shame?”
“No shame here.”
“Well, get some sleep, think about what I said, and call me later.”
“Sounds good.”
“Oh, Nick, I almost forgot. I ran into Gerald Stevenson last night.”
Nick raised an eyebrow and adjusted his phone on his ear. He’d almost forgotten that he’d seen the real estate tycoon in one of the booths during the auction. “How is old Gerald?”
“He’s one Raindrop of Heaven short.”
Nick sat up straighter. “What?”
“The jewel was stolen along with a set of matching earrings. Camilla opened her safe to try to wear them and they were gone.”
Intense pressure squeezed Nick’s brain, as if pincers had been applied at his temples and a sadistic madman was trying desperately to crack his skull like a nut.
“Any leads?” He rubbed his head and prayed the Uber would arrive at his apartment soon so he could medicate the hell out of this.
“No. But Gerald mentioned that the last person besides him and Camilla that had access to the safe and was on video surveillance was… you.”
“Bullshit,” Nick said. “He has housekeeping staff, and his regular security detail would have checked that the diamond was secure after my shift. That’s procedure.”
His head hurt so bad he thought he might throw up. Images were flashing through his mind, a fragmented zoetrope in black and white with splashes of color. The Stevensons’ Hampton home. A woman’s silhouette framed in the light of the moon on the bedroom balcony.
“I’m going to be sick. Migraine,” he mumbled. “Later?”
“Sure. Take care of yourself. We’ll talk Monday.” Soren disconnected the call.
“Here you go,” the driver said, pulling up to his apartment building.
Nick exited the vehicle, relieved that whatever had caused the pain in his head seemed to be abating. It was all the stress and exhaustion from the night. There was some dark shit going down in that basement. But real vampires?
And Rowan said she was a dragon. Those wings were part of her and stunning. He couldn’t wait to explore them again, run his hands along their edges and learn everything about her anatomy. Could she change into a dragon the way he’d seen Verinetti change into an owl? It didn’t really matter. She wasn’t human, and although he knew that should scare him, it didn’t. He was enchanted. Whatever she was, she rang all his bells and pushed all his buttons. Beautiful, smart, strong, she had it all. He was still thinking about her when he unlocked his door and a gray blur plowed into him.
“Hey, Rosco. Sorry, buddy. You’re about to pop, huh?”
