Jennifer Rardin - [Jaz Parks 1] - Once Bitten, Twice Shy

'—could be faked. I don't have the time to talk myself out of this situation, Pete. Dawn's coming.'

'All right, let me talk to them.'

'I heard sirens. They'll be here in a sec. In the meantime—'

'Don't you dare sing me a lullaby.'

'I wouldn't dream of it. I just wanted you to know, we think one of the senators on our oversight committee might be dirty.'

'They're politicians, Jaz. It kind of goes with the territory.'

'You're tired, I get it.' I told him about our suspicions, wondering how much really sunk in. The guy might actually still be asleep. Dave could do that, carry on a perfectly logical conversation with you in the middle of the night and then not remember anything about it the next day because he'd been mostly asleep the whole time. 'Pete, are you awake?'

'Yes, Jasmine, I'm awake. It's your fault too, I want you to remember that.'

'Believe me, I will. And, um, we've got the senator thing covered from here, okay? If you get nosy and get yourself killed I'm gonna have to put your kids through college or something, so do me a favor and steer clear.'

'You know, last week Ashley was talking about getting her Ph.D. at Yale, so I have to say I'm a little tempted. But don't worry. There's a reason I hire the best.'

Wow. If only I deserved that remark. 'Hang on, somebody's at the door.'

I opened it mid-knock. The cop on the other side looked slightly stunned that I'd responded so quickly. Even more so when I handed him my badge and the phone and said, 'It's for you.'

He took it like it might be rigged to blow, and held it about six inches from his ear. 'Hello?' he said while his partner hung back, his Glock out but pointing at the floor for the moment.

The first cop listened for awhile and when he gave me an amused look, I relaxed. When he chuckled I started to fume. No doubt Pete was telling him all about my tendency to leave a trail of wrecked cars and blood-spattered walls that a blind dog with a cold could follow.

'Did she really?' asked the cop. He laughed louder and motioned for his partner to listen in on the call. All told, Pete kept them entertained for another three minutes and 25 seconds while I leaned against the wall and timed them. At 3:26 the cop handed me the phone and my badge.

'He wants to talk to you,' he said, then he nodded, headed out the door and down the stairs with his partner close behind.

'I take it I'm off the hook,' I said as I shut the door.

'Yup.'

'Thanks.'

'No problem.'

We hung up. Since my toes still felt like icicles, I went into the bathroom, shucked my socks, plugged the tub and ran in enough hot water to soak my feet. I could see the front door from where I sat, so I was aware of the chiseled marble look on Vayl's face when he entered the condo a few minutes later. That all changed when he saw the blood on the walls.

'Dear Christ!' He staggered sideways, caught his balance on the stove and pulled his phone from his pocket with shaking fingers. 'Jasmine, be all right. Please be all right,' he whispered as he dialed, his face suddenly very human, and extremely worried. He jumped about three inches off the floor when my phone rang. I answered it.

'Make it quick,' I said, 'there's somebody else in the condo with me and he looks alarmed.'

He didn't say a word, just dropped his phone, came over and picked me up off the edge of the tub. It's a little disconcerting being dangled effortlessly. Plus, I generally equate bear hugs with lumberjacks and friendly purple dinosaurs, not with suave, sexy vampires who savor a daily dose of necking.

'I thought you were dead,' he said.

Ah, that explained the momentous show of affection. 'So you knew Liliana was coming after me?'

'I… had a feeling.' I let his evasion stand for now. But in my mind I drew the line. One more and I would raise hell. Or, smarter but less satisfying, ask him to come clean. He let me slip through his arms until my feet touched the carpet. But he wasn't quite ready to let go. 'I am sorry that I left you. I suspected she would come after you, only not so soon. She has always coveted Cirilai, first because she was my wife and thought she deserved it. Then because our sons were dead and she thought I did not.'

'So… you've never… taken it off before?'

'No. Not for Liliana. Not for anyone. Until now.'

I started to squirm and he let me pull away slightly. Okay, don't panic. Every time you panic all hell breaks loose so do-not-panic.

'You're right, she came for the ring,' I told him. 'She demanded it from me.'

'What did you do?'

'I shot her. Then I pushed her off the roof.'

He smiled. Not the twitchy twitch but a genuine, full-face smile. 'You must have really wanted that ring.'

I put my hands on his chest, because he still held me by the arms and, frankly, because I suspected there might be hyperventilating in my not too distant future and I needed a strong base to lean on. I looked into his remarkable eyes, just now a warm, honey-gold with flecks of amber, and I nodded.