Page 7 of Cooper’s Passion

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Cooper spun on his heel and faced the person who’d barked the brusque command, expecting to be confronted by an over-eager uniformed officer of the SFPD. Instead, he saw a young woman in plain clothes pointing a gun at him. Although she stood in the darkness, his superior vampire vision allowed him to see her well enough to give her a quick assessment.

The woman was about his age, maybe a few years younger. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail, revealing her perfect facial structure and her olive skin. She was beautiful. Her blue eyes pinned him, and despite the aggressive stance she’d taken with her weapon—pointing it straight at him, finger on the trigger—he recognized a glimmer of fear in her expression. She was brave but also scared. She perceived him as a threat. Had he accidentally shown his vampire side? Cooper quickly ran his tongue over his canines to confirm that his fangs weren’t extended. They weren’t. He also knew that his eyes weren’t glaring red, otherwise his vision would be tinted red, which it wasn’t.

“I said hands behind your head! I’m not gonna say it a third time.”

It would be easy to use mind control on her to make her drop her weapon, but he hated having to explain to the chief of police that he’d had to wipe a police officer’s memory of the incident. While Police Chief Mike Donnelly had kept Scanguards’ secrets for decades, he preferred that vampires not expose themselves to his staff if it could be avoided. And in this case, it could be avoided.

Cooper slowly raised his arms and put his hands on the back of his head. “Excuse me, Officer, but I think you’re making a mistake. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

She scoffed, tipping her chin toward him. “Your shirt says otherwise.”

He glanced down at himself. He was surprised that she’d seen the bloodstains in the dark. Apparently, the woman had excellent eyesight. And the way Sebastian’s Blood Splatter had stained his shirt looked indeed like he’d brutally killed somebody. He couldn’t argue with that. But he had to clear up the misunderstanding.

“I can explain that.”

“Sure you can. At the police station.” She stepped closer, the gun still pointed at him. “Now get down on the ground, face down.”

“You’re making a mistake.”

She gestured with the gun. “You said that already. Now lie down.”

He shrugged. “Fine.” She would owe him an apology shortly. And he was looking forward to those words rolling over her kissable lips. Cooper lowered himself onto the ground, keeping his hands on the back of his head. He knew the drill.

He turned his head to look at her as she approached. “You’re really gonna handcuff me, aren’t you? It’s not that I’m not into handcuffs, but this isn’t really the place for it.” When he noticed her huff indignantly, he couldn’t help himself and chuckled. “You should at least buy me dinner first.”

A moment later, she gripped his left hand, clicked one cuff around it and pulled it down to his back, then did the same with his right arm. With his hands cuffed behind his back, she ordered, “Get up.”

Cooper rose and turned to her. “So now that you’ve had your fun, how about you call dispatch and ask for the chief. He’ll clear this up. No need wasting police time with a false arrest.”

“You think I’m stupid? This is the exact spot where only hours ago somebody was found dead, and I find you here, blood all over you, clearly looking for something. Tell me, did you lose something that might lead back to you? Is that why you came back?”

Fuck! How many people knew about the dead body already? Hadn’t Donnelly made sure that this was kept quiet?

“You weren’t one of the unis who found her,” he said, scrutinizing her. “What’s your name?”

“None of your business.”

“Fine. You wanna play hard-ass? Let’s play hard-ass. I want you to call the chief of police, Mike Donnelly. Now. Here. I’m not making another step until you do.” And if she gave him any more trouble, he’d simply break the handcuffs—since they weren’t made of silver, a metal no vampire could break—and wipe her memory of the incident.

She glared at him, but then finally, after a few seconds that seemed like minutes, she pulled out her cellphone and punched in a number.

Cooper heard the faint sound of the phone ringing even though he was standing several feet from the woman who’d arrested him.

“San Francisco Police Department, how may I direct your call?”

“The chief of police please.”

“Your name please?”

“Deputy Anita Diaz, Elko County Sheriff’s Department.”

Cooper raised an eyebrow. “This isn’t even your jurisdiction.”

Anita cast him a reprimanding look.

“I’m afraid the chief has left for the night. Can anybody else help you?”