Page 20 of Cooper’s Passion

9

It was almost midday, when Cooper woke. He was famished and lusted for blood. Anita had wrung the last bit of energy out of his body, yet he didn’t regret a single second of their night together. Making love to her was the most natural thing he’d ever done. And the most satisfying. It was also evident to him that he wasn’t just attracted to her. It was more than that. He was drawn to her like a moth to the light. And even now, in the harsh morning light, he wanted to be close to her rather than leave her place. That had never happened with other women. Certainly, he’d always enjoyed spending the entire night with a woman, but in the morning, he’d always had the urge to leave. Not so this morning. But before he could welcome this feeling, he had to do one thing.

Cooper got out of bed, careful to be quiet, pulled his cellphone from his jacket pocket and walked into the bathroom. He shut the door behind him, before navigating to his messages.

The first message was from Sebastian. “Hey, bro, sorry about the blood splatter accident. Your car is clean again, and I’ve parked it in Wesley’s garage. Next time maybe don’t have the bottle rattle around in your car before you open it. Just saying. I mean you wouldn’t do that with a bottle of champagne either. Anyway, see ya.”

Cooper rolled his eyes, but he wasn’t mad at him anymore. After all, had he not had blood splatter on his shirt, he might have never made Anita’s acquaintance.

The next message was from Nicholas. “Coop, I’ve got the background on that woman you asked for: Anita Diaz. She’s 30 years old, never been married. Lives alone. She’s a deputy in the Elko County Sheriff’s Department. And get this: her father, José Diaz, is the Sheriff in Elko County. There’s no record of what happened to her mother. Apparently, she’s not been seen in the last twenty-one years. And here it gets interesting. Her father divorced her mother in absentia about fourteen years ago and remarried. He has two sons with his second wife. It doesn’t appear that Anita is close to them. Rumor has it that she’s been using sheriff’s department resources to look for her mother. And another thing: according to one of her colleagues I could reach on the phone, she’s looking for a local woman who left Elko about five or six weeks ago. The woman’s husband didn’t file a missing person’s report, but Anita thinks she was abducted. The sheriff was apparently so pissed off about her looking into this that he made her take a vacation. So, that’s all. Hope it helps. Let me know if you need anything else.”

Pleased about Nicholas’s thorough report, Cooper typed a quick text message to thank him, before he placed his cellphone next to the sink and stepped into the shower. As he began to soap up, he thought about the information he’d received from Nicholas. Everything Anita had told him was true, even down to the detail of when her mother had disappeared. The fact that her father had divorced his wife in absentia rather than having her declared dead fit with Anita’s assertion that her father believed that she’d left them and lived somewhere else under an assumed name.

However, Anita had left out that her father was the sheriff of Elko County and therefore her superior, and that he’d forced her to take a vacation, most likely to stop her from investigating the disappearance of a woman whose husband hadn’t even filed a missing persons’ report. So what had convinced Anita that this woman was truly missing and had ended up in San Francisco? There was something Anita hadn’t told him yet. She’d called it a hunch the night before, but he suspected there was more to it. Why would Anita drive all the way to California to spend her forced vacation looking for this woman?

By the time Cooper left the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his lower half, Anita came out of the bedroom, dressed in a short Kimono-style robe. Her long blonde hair was ruffled, her cheeks rosy, and she looked even more enticing than the night before. But he knew he couldn’t have sex with her right now, because if he did, he would bite her and drink her blood. He desperately needed to replenish, and right now, a good amount of regular food would help stave off the hunger for blood, until he could get his hands on bottled blood.

“Good morning,” she murmured, a smile curving her lips upwards.

He pulled her against his naked chest. “It’s almost midday. How about you get ready, and I’ll take you out for lunch? I’m famished.”

“That’s a great idea.”

Cooper released her from his embrace and gave her a gentle slap on her bottom as she turned to walk to the bathroom. “Don’t take too long, or I’m coming in there.” And God help him what would happen then.

While Anita got ready in the bathroom, Cooper collected his clothes and got dressed. In the kitchen, he gulped down a glass of water, and munched on a few crackers. He sat down at the dining table to check his emails on his phone, when he realized that the table was covered with file folders, maps, and photos. He didn’t want to snoop, but it was hard not to notice that some of the documents looked like they were police reports and autopsies. He took a closer look and realized that he was right. These were cases, but not from the Elko County Sheriff’s Department, rather they were from police departments all over the western United States. He saw files from Washington State, Oregon, Idaho, and even California.

The bathroom door opened, and he looked over his shoulder to see Anita come out of it, her hair damp from the shower.

She approached, and he pointed to the table, deciding it was best to grab the bull by the horns. “Do you always take work with you on vacation?”

There was hesitation on her face, and he could fairly see the wheels in her head spinning like a caged hamster, trying to figure out how to answer. He didn’t push her, simply waited for her to make a decision.

Finally, she sighed. “Let me get dressed, and then I’ll tell you all about it. Maybe it’ll even help with your current case.”

“Okay.” Now he was positively curious.

He was glad that Anita didn’t take a lot of time to get dressed. She joined him at the dining table only a short while later and sat down next to him. He met her gaze and noticed that she was still hesitating.

“Can you promise me to keep an open mind?” she asked.

He nodded. “Of course. So, what’s this about?”

“I believe there’s a serial killer roaming the western U.S. abducting and killing women.”

Stunned about her confession, Cooper’s chin dropped. “You’re chasing a serial killer?”

Her shoulders stiffened visibly. “Don’t say I’m crazy. I get that enough from my dad.”

Cooper lifted his hands in a show of capitulation. “I’m not. Is that why you’re in San Francisco? Because you think the serial killer is here?”

“Yes, and if I’m right, then the dead body that was found last night is his latest victim.”

Instinctively, Cooper tensed. He hoped that Anita was wrong, because if she was right, it would mean that the serial killer she was chasing was a vampire. “Okay. Show me your evidence. Let’s see if it checks out.”

“Thank you for not dismissing it outright,” she said and kissed him on the lips.

Cooper put one arm around her and pulled her close to deepen the kiss, before he released her, knowing if he kissed her any longer, he’d drag her right back to bed.