Page 15 of Bound By Blood
The police hadgotten that far into their investigation before she ended it. Sheshould have said screw the consequences and let them continue, butit was too late now.
The killersdestroyed the footage taken inside the store that night, and shenever checked the cameras before it happened. She never looked atthe cameras when her parents were at the store and she wasn’t; itnever occurred to her to do so. The cameras were her dad’s tomonitor.
She regretted thatnow. Even if she couldn’t have saved them, she would have at leastseen who did it and known who to go after.
When a loud bangechoed throughout the back room, she gasped as she spun toward themetal doorway. The red light still showed on the alarm; no one hadentered, and they wouldn’t without setting it off, but her heartraced.
Without thinking,she lifted a hand to her nape and rubbed it as she suddenly feltlike someone was breathing down it. She glanced behind her, butnothing stood there.
Of course, theydidn’t. It was impossible. But what if something was hidinginhere?
She’d assumed thatcouldn’t be possible after all the police activity, and the alarmhad been armed for days. Before coming here, she’d checked theindoor cameras and monitored the security system, but what if…?
Caro turned totake in the room. She held her breath while she studied the shadowsencasing the numerous boxes. A killer could be hiding anywhere.They could be lurking around the corner, hidden inside, or crouchedout of view.
“Cut it out,” shehissed.
If anyone was backhere, they would have come out by now, and she would have smelledthem. Taking a deep breath, she worked to calm her racing heart butsqueaked and jumped back when another loud bang sounded on thedoor.
“Can I talk toyou?” a voice demanded.
Caro blinked asshe realized it was the same man from the front of the store. Shedidn’t reply as she crept closer to the metal door and reclaimedher sword from where she left it. She checked the monitor for thecamera over the back door, but it was off.
“Damn it, Caro,”she muttered.
It should havebeen one of the first things she checked when she entered thestore. Shaking her head, she mentally berated herself as she hitthe button to turn it on. Maybe she shouldn’t be so hard onherself, considering she recently lost her parents, but she’dprefer not to end up like them.
The screenflickered to life before revealing a large man who looked like he’dgladly kill anyone who got in his way. He stood outside the doorwith his forearm resting on the wall beside the door and his headbowed.
As if he sensedher watching him, he lifted his face to the camera. She sucked in abreath when his chilly, cobalt blue eyes met hers. There wassomething so distant and cruel about those eyes, but they were alsostriking.
His close-cropped,black hair emphasized his narrow face and hollow cheekbones. Notonly were his eyes magnificent, but so was his face.
The man could be amodel; he might be, but she doubted it. She’d never heard of such apublic profession for a vampire before, and he was most certainly avampire.
A black leatherjacket hugged his broad shoulders down to his narrow waist. Despitehis striking good looks, he radiated an aura of power and coolindifference that caused goose bumps to break out on her skin.
This man wanted totalk to her, and she’d prefer to run from him.
CHAPTER 12
“You should leavebefore I call the cops!” she called back.
As she watched,the man reached into his jacket and removed something from inside.A ripple of disbelief ran through her when he held it up to thecamera.
It didn’t take herlong to recognize the weapon as something her father made. Likemany of her father’s creations, the triple-bladed haladie knife wasa work of art.
However, this onewas a rarity as she recognized it as one of her father’s specialdesigns. He didn’t make many of these and rarely gave away the oneshe did forge.
The weaponappeared to be made of Damascus steel, but it wasn’t. Most didn’tknow that. He never revealed the truth about them to anyone but herand her mom. This was one of her father’s uncommon creations.
“Charles was afriend of mine,” the man said. “I’d like to know what happened tohim.”
“If you were suchgood friends, how come I’ve never met you before?” shedemanded.
“I don’t know;maybe it’s because I have no idea whoyouare. We can standhere and talk through the door all day, but I’m not going anywhereuntil I get answers. So, either stay in there and talk or open thedoor.”
There was no wayshe would open the door for him.
