“My guess is it’s only a matter of time before Lawrence sends one of his thugs to keep her quiet. Your favorite witch has been tweeting about him, and we can use it to our advantage to lure him into the open.”
He’d warned her about this very thing. “It sounds like you want to offer her up as bait.” Garrett tried to keep the anger out of his voice and failed.
The captain’s silence only confirmed his suspicions. “I wish I had something different to report. We’ll send a uniform to stay parked outside the coven.”
“Thanks for the update. I’ll check in with you later,” Garrett said, ending the call. When he made his way back to where Gillian stood, she turned to face him, looking pale and shaken. Even without a stitch of makeup on her natural beauty shone through. Loose tendrils of dark hair fell from her ponytail. She wore an oversized, grey NYU hoodie and a pair of jogging pants that hugged her ass and shaped her long legs. Everything about this damn woman was a distraction he didn’t need.
He stood close to her, his boots almost touching her sneakers, absorbing her heat. “I just got off the line with my captain. He’s putting the location out on the police scanner. A squad car will be sent to the area.
Gillian nodded, looking relieved. “Thank you. I guess it’s a start.” She walked around the kitchen, waving her hands, leaving a trail of magick sparks as she lowered the blinds on all the windows before turning to face him.
“There’s still another matter to contend with. Have you been tweeting about Kurt Lawrence when I specifically told you not to? What could you be thinking?”
“Yes, but it was for the sole purpose of exposing him and his operation—”
He held up his hand. “No more. You’re only adding kerosene to the fire.” Tears swam in her eyes, and the sight burned any remnants of anger away.
“I didn’t mean to. I was only trying to help.”
“From now on, there will be no tweeting. It’s too dangerous.” He wanted to take her in his arms, rub her back, and run his fingers through her hair to ease her pain, but he stayed rooted to the spot. Guilt gnawed at him. He wished he could’ve given Brooke Corey a warning. The whole thing happened too damn fast.
She huffed out a breath. “Fine, I get it.”
“I’ll do everything in my power to find Brooke, uh, that is my partner and I will, along with the other agents,” he clarified, not wanting Gillian to know that he’d taken a special interest in this case. She was a witness and the last person he should be thinking about in such a raw, sexual way.
He wondered if a frantic lover was waiting for her call. How come he wasn’t racing over here to make sure she was okay? Maybe there wasn’t one. The thought shouldn’t have filled him with relief, but somehow it did.
“What happened to your other partner, the guy that came over to the coven with you?” Gillian grabbed a couple of glasses from the cupboard, filled them with filtered water from the fridge, and set them on the counter. She held the glass to her mouth and took a long pull. He tried to look away, he did, but his eyes, of their own accord, darted to the sexy tilt of her lips. “He was pleasant. Let me guess, you scared him away?”
Very funny.He didn’t need to drink water as humans did, but why be rude? So he lifted the glass and chugged. When he finished, he set it back on the counter. “He took a transfer that had absolutely nothing to do with me.” He didn’t owe her an explanation. Derek Sorenson had been his partner and friend for the past five years up until his wife had their second child. He requested to be relocated to North Carolina, something about being close to relatives. Every time Garrett thought about Derek and his happy, little family, his chest grew tight. Living like a vampire for the better part of his adult life meant that being a parent and a husband was something he’d never fully understand, or have the good fortune to experience, but deep down, he envied the hell out of the guy.
“What now?” Gillian asked, interrupting his musings.
“I haven’t checked your bedroom.” Garrett angled his head toward the hall.
She visibly tensed. “You want to search my room?”
“I’m not letting you go in there alone. I won’t take a chance with your life.” From the skittish way she reacted, it became abundantly clear she didn’t want him anywhere near her bedroom. The question was, why? “Is that a problem for you?”
“Nope, no problem at all. It’s on the main floor, second door on the right,” Gillian said and hurried out of the kitchen.
Mulroney followed her into the hallway and fell in step beside her. They passed dark wooden beams and archways, along with stained glass windows and doors. Tall trees in clay planters lined every corner.
They walked past the ritual room, and he remembered it from the last time he’d been there. Antique lanterns and redwood moldings matched the Victorian style of the house. He pointed to an area of unfinished molding, baseboards, and sheetrock. “It looks like your project never got finished.”
“After the murders last year, we lost quite a few members and ran out of money.” Gillian shrugged. “We’ve just never found someone to finish the job.”
Now he had even more reason to assume she didn’t have a boyfriend, at least not a handy one. His attention caught on the black and orange twinkle lights strung along the dark wooden beams.After they turned the corner, they passed the sun porch, and he let out a low hiss.
Hay stalks stood on either side of the screen door. Bright colored mums, pumpkins, and gourds sat on top of giant bales of hay. A life-sized plastic witch with a black pointed hat, crooked nose, and a cape dangled from a wire. Amusement shot through him at the artful display. At least these women could make fun of themselves. They certainly knew how to decorate for Halloween.
“Where do I go from here? Do you think Lawrence will come after me?”
“It’s certainly a possibility. We’re working on a way to offer you protection.” He rubbed the back of his neck and decided to leave out the part about getting assigned to be her bodyguard. “I wish I had more to tell you at this point. You need to be patient a little longer while we figure out a plan.”
She nodded, and a curious expression spread across her pretty face. “I’ve been thinking about the vampire that Lawrence works for, the head of this Du Sang brotherhood. Have you arrested him before? I mean, you seem to know a great deal about him.”
He stopped in his tracks, and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “I should. He’s my sire.”
