Caught in Darkness (14 page)

“Veronica! Good morning,” Cliff
replied exuberantly, a wide smile splitting his face. “I hadn’t seen you in for
the past few days and I
was
starting to worry I’d
chased you off!” He sobered, then, his voice lowering as his smile faded, and
he added, “Then I heard about your friend. I’m so sorry. I know that must be
terrible. How are you doing?”

Why me? It was a stupid thing to
think, she supposed, but it slipped into her mind before she could stop it. She
really wasn’t in the mood to have to pretend to like him. Letting the fake
smile fall away, Veronica looked down and replied, “I’m coping, thank you. What
can I get you?”

Cliff quickly placed his order,
barely waiting for Veronica to nod in confirmation before returning to the
conversation. “I’ve never actually lost someone, so I won’t pretend to
understand how you’re feeling, but have you had enough help? I mean, I’m sure
you haven’t felt a lot like cooking, but you have been eating, right?”

It took a genuine effort not to let
herself
glare at him. Maybe his heart was in the right
place (though, at the moment, she was having difficulty even believing that),
but common sense ought to have been enough to tell him to drop it. “Yes, I’ve
been eating.” And then she quoted him the price for his drink, not bothering to
comment on the rest of what he’d said and hoping he’d take the hint the second
time around.

As he dug through his pocket,
extracting his wallet, Cliff replied, “That’s good. And, hey, if you’re tired
after work tonight I’d be happy to make dinner for you. Do you have my number
yet? Let me give it to you and you can just call me when you’re off so we can
work something out.”

Veronica was speechless for a long
second, barely even managing to take his credit card when he held it out to
her. Did he really just ask me out? Did the man even know the meaning of tact? And,
oh god, he was pulling an obviously-worn business card out of his wallet.

Without warning Seth was leaning
in, ever-so-slightly invading Cliff’s personal space, and offering an
insincere, “Excuse me,” to him as he looked toward Veronica. When their eyes
met (or, more accurately, when her eyes met his sunglasses), he asked, “I have
to run, but you still wanted me to pick you up after work, right?”

“Yes,” Veronica said, hoping it
hadn’t been obvious how quickly she’d jumped on his offer as her head bobbled
up and down. “Please,” she added for effect.

He nodded sharply, stepped back,
and called, “See you soon,” as he strode away. There was no way he didn’t know
that at least half of the occupants in the room had noticed their exchange. But
that clearly wasn’t bothering him.

Cliff was staring, visibly
dumbfounded, after Seth’s retreating figure as someone else stepped into line
behind him. Veronica used this opportunity to call Cliff’s attention long
enough to return his card and hand him his receipt as she said, “I already have
plans, actually. And I need to help the next customer. Your drink should be up
soon.”

“You didn’t actually have to pick
me up,” Veronica said with a contradictorily grateful smile as she slid into
the passenger seat of Seth’s Corvette.

Seth arched a dark brow at her over
his sunglasses and asked, “How would you have gotten home? I noticed you didn’t
drive here.”

Shrugging, Veronica replied, “Cab,
probably. It’s how I got here.”

The frown on Seth’s face told her
all she needed to know about his opinion of that idea.

Deciding to change the subject
instead of explaining that she didn’t yet have a new license, Veronica said,
“Thank you for earlier, by the way.”

“You’re welcome,” Seth replied as
he eased into traffic. “Did it help?”

“As a matter of fact, it did,”
Veronica declared with a smile. “He didn’t say another word to me. Now if only
it’ll stay that way.”

“Does he harass you often?” Seth
asked, his face a careful study in neutral.

Veronica hesitated, wondering how
best to answer that question. She almost suspected the answer would be ‘yes’ if
she’d actually been at work the previous week, but she wasn’t entirely sure it
truly qualified as harassment. He was just…insistent. At length, she replied,
“I can’t go that far, no. This wasn’t the first time he caught me at work, but
since I missed most of the week…. I only actually met him about a week ago.”

Come to think of it, she realized
as the words fell from her lips, it was the same day I officially met Seth. That
seemed incredibly bizarre to her. She felt like she’d known Seth for years now.
She was just so comfortable around him, and she trusted him so instinctively
that it didn’t seem plausible to her that she could only have known him since
the Saturday before last. Cliff, on the other hand, she had no trouble
believing she’d only met a week before.

“Interesting,” Seth murmured,
dragging her out of her unexpected comparison. He said nothing else on the
subject, both eyes at least apparently focused on the road ahead.

Veronica was wondering what to make
of his response—and trying not to make it obvious that she was studying his
profile—when a violent buzzing from his pocket drew her attention. It wasn’t
until that moment that she realized he had a Bluetooth in his ear.

A moment after
tapping the small, half-hidden device in his ear, Seth said, “Hunter.”

There was something very attractive
about the way he answered the phone. Then again, she was quickly coming to
realize that there wasn’t much about him that was unattractive. And one of the
very few things she’d known about him before their official meeting was that
she loved the deep, raw masculinity of his voice.

Frustration darkened the expression
on his face and tension tightened his grip on the steering wheel before he
said, “I’ll look into it. Don’t send anyone else out there.”

Veronica wasn’t sure she’d ever
realized just how nosy she was until that moment, but as she watched him end
the call she found she really wanted to know what was going on. And telling
herself
that it was none of her business didn’t seem to be
helping. Besides, what if it sort of is my business? It could have been about
Richards. If it had been about Richards, in fact, she felt she deserved to
know. Though she’d never considered herself a violent person, and she’d never
honestly wished ill on another living being, she found the idea of him
suffering physical pain for what he’d done didn’t upset her at all. It was safe
to say that she quite thoroughly hated Gregory Richards.

“I’ll have to go as soon as I drop
you off,” Seth declared after a beat.

With a faint nod, Veronica opened
her mouth, intending to say something agreeable and non-nosy, but what came out
of her mouth was, “Was that about Richards?”

He hesitated and Veronica knew the
answer before he reluctantly admitted, “Yes.” From his tone and the tightening
of his grip on the steering wheel she suspected he knew why she had asked, but,
to his credit, he didn’t say anything more.

Letting her gaze drift forward
again, Veronica said, “Take me with you.”

“Veronica,” Seth began, his tone
making it apparent that he disagreed with the idea.

“I can imagine what you’re going to
say,” Veronica interrupted, keeping her voice calm and her eyes forward. “But
I’m a part of this now whether we like it or not. I know he’s dangerous; I know
he’s stronger than me; none of that matters. I’m not saying I want to pick a fight
with him. I just need to be there when he goes down.”

He seemed to mull her words over
for a moment before he said, “You need to realize that it’s not my place to
bring him down. I can only bring him in.”

They were approaching the turn to
her street. Soon she would know his decision. “‘Down’ doesn’t have to mean
‘dead’,” Veronica replied. “I just want him to get whatever’s coming to him.”

Silence was heavy in the air for
several seconds and the intersection was nearly upon them before Seth released
an audible sigh and angled the car into the right turn-lane. Veronica’s house
was on the left. He turned without a word, resignation and displeasure
radiating off of him even as he swung another right a block later.

Relief eased the tension that had
begun building inside her and Veronica dared to sneak a sideways glance up at
him as she offered, “Thank you.”

“Just remember that this could
potentially be very dangerous,” Seth replied firmly. “We only have this lead
because Robert put over a dozen vamps on the street to help us find them and
one called in a sighting. If we’re cornering Richards and the Wilsons—which is
the hope—then this will get bloody. And there’s no guarantee that any of
Robert’s men actually know how to fight.”

“But you do?” Veronica countered,
finding herself almost disconcerted by her lack of concern in that moment for
how dangerous a position she could be putting herself in.

“Veronica,” Seth said pointedly.

“I’m not asking you to protect me,”
she elaborated, turning her gaze to the side window. “I just want to know how
much I should be worried about you.”

Seth was quiet for a beat as the
weight in the air started to lift and he made another turn before replying,
“It’s not me you need to worry about.”

She turned her eyes back to him,
sensing that he was watching her though his head hadn’t turned, and smiled
gently. Reaching out, she let her hand land lightly on his bicep and gave a
squeeze as she said, “Okay.” Her lips lifted, forming a teasing grin, and she
added, “I’m not worried about me, either. I’ve still got my pepper-spray in my
purse.”

Her joke seemed to do the trick, at
least for a moment, because she definitely caught the reflexive twitch of his
lips. “Good,” he said.

****

Bringing Veronica was a terrible
idea. It was, in fact, arguably one of the worst decisions he’d made in his
entire existence. But the woman had the strangest effect on him and he’d found
himself physically unable to disappoint or upset her. Sure, he would rather
have her angry with him than injured for any reason, but she had sounded so
sure that he’d let her convince him beyond all sense of reason. And though his
reason was finally beginning to return as he pulled up to the recently-closed
bakery it was far too late. He just had to hope this didn’t end in disaster.

“An old bakery?
Really?”
Veronica asked beside him, her eyes glued to
the building in the back of the small parking lot.

“And, likely, the apartment above,”
Seth supplied as he tried to focus. The bakery was actually a surprisingly good
idea. It was only a couple of blocks away from Robert’s penthouse, and
therefore in the heart of the Family’s personal downtown. If they really were
holed up here, then it was hardly a surprise no one had found them yet. No one
would think twice if they sensed another vamp or three in the area. He could
kick himself for missing such an obvious possibility.

“I don’t get the impression that
this seems as random to you as it does to me,” Veronica declared, lifting a
delicate brow at him with a silent question.

That was an open door he very
nearly walked through before his brain reminded him of all the danger she could
find herself in with that knowledge rolling around in her head. Still, he knew
better than to think she’d drop it outright, so instead he reached for his door
and said, “It doesn’t, but right now that doesn’t matter. Grab your pepper spray,
keep your phone in your pocket, and leave the purse in the car.”

Veronica released a breath but
refrained from further comment as she quickly complied and followed him out of
the car. She met him in front of the car a second later and he nodded at her
before turning his gaze outward.

The lights were off inside the old
bakery—at least from what he could see through the front-facing windows. Two
more vamps, both from Robert’s personal security team, were walking up the
sidewalk toward them. He could tell that they were eyeing Veronica curiously,
but he merely nodded at them before returning his attention to the building. There
was definitely the scent of vampire heavy in the air, indicating recent
activity, but he couldn’t decide if that made him hopeful or anxious. He didn’t
really want to end up in an altercation with Veronica anywhere near the line of
fire.

The two vamps came to a stop just
out of arms’ reach of Veronica and the taller one said, “Interesting
company
you’re keeping, Hunter.”

“She’s a friend,” Seth replied
shortly, shooting the younger vamp a warning glare through his sunglasses. “Where’s
Thompson?”

The other vamp—shorter and older
than his companion—replied, “Haven’t heard from him since he called in the
sighting. But he said he saw Troy letting himself in through the front door.”

Seth inclined his head. If Thompson
had vanished already then he’d probably tried confronting the older Wilson
brother—if not all three vamps—on his own. That wasn’t likely to end with good
results.

“So,” the taller vamp began,
shifting his weight pointedly, “are we just
gonna
stand out here and chat or are we going in?”

Impatient or not, Seth knew the
other vamp had a point and again he nodded. He turned his attention to
Veronica, who had been watching them all quietly, and said, “Stay by the car. Holler
if someone comes outside.”

Veronica narrowed her eyes at him, her
defiant refusal bright and undeniable, but the sudden stench of old blood was
suddenly assailing his nose and drawing his attention even before the
accompanying outcry had reached his ears. The voice was male and slightly
distant—muted by the walls between them. It was coming from the apartment above
the bakery.

“What was that?” Veronica asked,
now-widened eyes staring up at the building in shock.