Dead and Dateless (19 page)

My heart jumped into my throat and my nerves started to buzz.

No need to panic. Just stay calm and cool. You’re a vampire, remember? It’s like having a Get out of Jail Free card. They walk up and you vamp them. Simple.

Unless, of course, it was a female cop.

My gaze sliced through the darkness. Oh, man.

Female cop equals major complication. I couldn’t vamp her unless she happened to like women instead of men.

Or both.

I held tight to the possibility and braced myself as the female officer walked to the driver’s window and tapped the edge of a flashlight against the glass. She wore the typical cop’s attire, her blond hair tucked up beneath her cap. A subtle swipe of Maybelline’s Cotton Candy on her full lips was the only thing that hinted she was a female. Well, that and her sizeable boobs.

Not that I normally notice the size of another woman’s chest, but they were right there and they were big. Her buttons tugged, threatening to break free every time she took a breath.

“Roll it down,” she told the cabbie.

He punched the button and the glass hummed its way down. The officer trained a flashlight on the driver, who promptly handed over his license and registration, along with a frantic explanation.

“It wasn’t me,” he blurted. “I didn’t lay a hand on her. She hit her face on the door all by herself. Granted, we were arguing and I should have just turned and walked away just like they said to do in anger management, but then she started talking about my mother and I couldn’t actually walk on account of my legs were shaking. She really hates my mother and the woman is practically a saint who raised me all by herself and worked two jobs. She doesn’t mean to call ten times a day. She’s just concerned. I’m all she has.

“But Jeanine doesn’t get that,” the cabbie rushed on. “She’s jealous. Crazy jealous. But I held it together this time and I didn’t hit her. I swear. I hit the door, but not her, and then I slammed the door and she was on the other side and it sort of hit her face, but it wasn’t like I did it directly. I haven’t laid one hand on her since the last time and—”

“Calm down, Mister…Wiley,” the officer read the name on the ID, “this is just a routine stop.”

“In that case, you’re one beautiful woman.” He stared directly at her chest. “And I do mean
beautiful.
”

“Can it, Romeo. Who’s with you?” The beam shifted to Mandy, who sat directly behind the driver.

Mandy pulled out her hospital badge and held it out to the officer. “I’m a doctor.”

“Is that right?”

“Well, a resident. But it’s still a doctor. I work at the ME’s office in the city. I was just having a nightcap with my future in-laws and my future sister-in-law.” She spared me a smile before flashing her left hand. The massive diamond caught the glare of the flashlight and sparkle of light streaked across the cab’s interior. “I’m getting married.”

“Congratulations.” The beam shifted to me and I stiffened.

Lights, camera, action!

“Hi.” My lips tilted in a sexy, inviting smile. Sexy was the key. And sultry. And seductive. This woman was going to fall hook, line, and sinker for me.

And if not?

I inched my right hand toward the door handle.

“Name?” she snapped as my fingers tightened around the slim handle and pulled.

Nothing. My gaze shifted to the lock button.

“Miss?”

My attention swiveled back. “Yes?”

“Your name?” the officer prodded.

“Vanderflunkinpitt,” I blurted.
Sexy, you idiot!
“But you can call me Bambi.” Bambi? Hey, I’m a vampire, not an actress. Besides, I was nervous and disappointed and desperate, and so I wasn’t thinking clearly. “But enough about me. What about you, Officer…” My gaze dropped to the nametag on her uniform. “Morris?”

My memory stirred and I recognized her as the rookie who’d been with Remy Tremaine a few nights ago on my parents’ doorstep. Not a good thing to recall since I also remembered that Remy had vamped her. Which meant she was straight. Which meant I was F-U-C-K-E-D.

I forced a smile. “What’s
your
first name?”

“I don’t think that’s relevant right now,” Officer Morris told me, wagging her free hand at me. “Hand over some identification.”

“I didn’t know your middle name was Bambi.” Mandy nudged me as I reached into my purse. “Jack said it was some French thing.”

“Bambi’s French.” I rummaged in my bag.

“Bambi is not French,” she said beneath her breath.

“Sure, it is. It comes from the word
bambino.
”

“That’s Italian.”

“It sounds French.” I pulled out my ID and reached over the seat to hand it to Officer Morris. Her gaze collided with mine and I smiled again—
ultra
sexy this time. “Here you go.”

“This doesn’t say Bambi,” she said after shining her light on the laminated card.

“Bambi is my, um, stage name. I’m a dancer. Yeah, that’s what I am. A female dancer. That is, I dance for females. Males, too, but they tend to get much too loud and rowdy, and most of them couldn’t spot a pair of Kenneth Coles if their life depended on it…”

Yikes, I was sinking fast. “But I bet you would. I bet you have excellent taste in clothes.”

Here goes nothing…

And I bet you like dancers, too,
I added mentally.
In fact, you love them. You think they’re hot, particularly me. I’m the hottest you’ve ever seen—especially wearing my new lip gloss—and you can’t wait to see me peel off my clothes one piece at a time. You’re picturing it right now because you want me. You want me B-A-D.

“I need you to step out of the car…” she started, but then her words faded. A bright gleam lit her eyes and a look of pure rapture slid across her face.

I reached across and plucked my ID from her hands. She didn’t budge. She simply stood there, frozen. Enamored.

What can I say? I totally rock.

“Actually, I’m the one who rocks.” The deep, familiar voice slid into my ears as I stuffed my ID back into my purse. My head swiveled and I found myself staring through the glass at Remy Tremaine.

Relief swept through me, followed by a mega dose of “Oh, no!” when he motioned for me to step out of the car.

My fingers went to the unlock button, but I couldn’t make myself press it.

“Come on, Lil.”

“No.” What if Remy had changed his mind about me? What if he now believed the mounting evidence? What if he’d gambled away all of his earnings and desperately needed my bounty to bail his own ass out of a difficult situation?

“I don’t gamble and my ass is perfectly fine, and I don’t just think you’re innocent. I know it.”

My gaze snapped up and collided with his. He grinned. “You were thinking out loud. Now open up.”

I stabbed the button, opened the door and climbed from the car.

“Give us a sec,” he said to Mandy as he closed the door behind me.

I followed him up onto the sidewalk. The nearest house sat a half mile up the winding, shrub-lined street. Moonlight spilled down around us and lit up the darkness.

Remy wore a white dress shirt, his tie undone, his collar unbuttoned. He had on navy slacks and inexpensive shoes. His badge hung on his belt near a very dangerous looking gun.

He crossed his arms and eyed me for several long moments before I finally broke the uncomfortable silence.

“So how’s it going?” I tried to sound nonchalant.

“It would be better if I didn’t have wanted felons prancing around Fairfield’s most affluent neighborhood in the middle of the night.”

“I’m not prancing. I’m riding. Back to the city with Jack’s fiancée.”

His gaze slid past me to Mandy, who leaned forward in her seat and passed a hand in front of Officer Morris’s transfixed stare. “A human?”

I shrugged. “They’re in love.” I braced myself for the expected “Vampires don’t believe in love” speech so popular with most of my kind.

“I bet your parents are really upset.”

“They don’t actually know, not about the fiancée part. They think Mandy’s a phase.”

“What do you think?”

“I think it’s none of our business. What’s up with the roadblock?”

“It’s not a roadblock. It’s a checkpoint. To monitor activity in and out of the area. See, if I don’t keep an eye on things here, NYPD will move in and do it for me, and I’m not going to let that happen. They’ve been back and forth, stepping on toes as it is. They’re determined to find you.” He eyed me. “And they intend to be first in line.”

“I guess you heard about the bounty.”

“Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money.”

“It’s one hundred thousand,” I clarified. “They just raised it on account of some really incriminating evidence that makes me look extremely dangerous.” He didn’t look the least bit impressed. Rather, he looked worried.

Remy
was
a family friend. It only stood to reason that he would be worried about a huge bounty. That would mean more people looking for me. Questioning my parents. Disrupting his town.

“Don’t worry, they won’t find me. I’m keeping a low profile.”

“By showing up at your parents’ on a Saturday night?”

“The hunt was tonight.” ’Nuff said.

Remy nodded. “Still, you shouldn’t be riding around in a cab. It’s too risky. There are too many people looking for you.”

“Not for long.”

“You’re not planning on turning yourself in, are you? Because that wouldn’t be a good idea. This case is really stacked against you and unless you know something that we don’t—”

“Not yet,” I cut in. “But I’m working on it. That’s what I meant. I plan on putting a stop to all of this myself. Soon.”

“How’s that?”

“I’ve got a plan. I’m going to find the real murderer—the person framing me—and expose them.”

“You and what team of investigators?”

“Not a team. Just one, and he’s not an investigator. Not officially, anyway. He’s an independent fugitive apprehension agent.”

“A bounty hunter?”

I nodded. “Ty’s been really great. He let me crash at his place and he’s helping me figure all of this out.”

“Ty? Ty Bonner?”

“You know him?”

“I know of him. Colors outside the lines, but then most of his kind do.”

“He’s a really decent guy. And extremely smart.”

He nodded. “Obviously. He knows a good investment when he sees one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That you’re the key to whoever did it. If you are being framed for murder, it’s because someone’s out to get you. Meaning they’re not likely to sit by while you evade the cops. They’ll go after you again, and when they do, Ty will be right there. He gets the real murderer and the bounty. And you get to clear your name. Sounds like a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

I’d never really thought about it like that. Instead, I’d been thinking of Ty as this white knight, believing in me, rescuing me, sacrificing for me. When all he was really doing was making an investment in his own future.

Still. He
had
believed me
and
rescued me and he
was
sacrificing his own bed for my comfort.

“Nice work.” I killed the subject and pointed to the female officer, who stood transfixed by the driver’s window. “But I thought she was married.”

“What can I say? She’s got an active imagination starring yours truly.”

“Just her imagination?”

“We might have spent a little time together before she tied the knot, but we’re just friends now. I’ve given up humans for a while. After so many, they all start to blend together. I figured I’d hold out for something that might last a little longer.”

As in eternity.

I eyed Remy. Blond. With definite loyalty potential since he’d given up humans. “Are you serious? Because if you are, I’ve got a hot, sexy, mega-orgasmic born female who would be perfect for you.”

He grinned. “I thought I wasn’t your type.”

“I wasn’t talking about me.” Even if my heart did skip its next beat. What could I say? I was wired from my near brush with incarceration and obviously not thinking clearly. Me and Remy? No way. “Her name is Ayala. If you’re game, I could hook the two of you up.” I handed him a card.

He slid the number into his pocket. “I’ll call you.” He motioned to the cab driver who seemed mesmerized by the steady rise and fall of the female officer’s chest. “Make sure he thinks this is all just a really great dream when he gets back to the city.”

“I’m on it.”

His grin faded into a stern look. “And don’t give him one of your cards. The less evidence there is that you’re moving around, the better.”

“Who? Me? I would never do such a thing.”

I would, however, jot Evie’s name and number down on a piece of paper and slip it onto the cabbie’s dash. Just in case, you know, he got lonely.

Not that I mentioned as much to Remy. Instead, I spent the next few minutes talking about my dating service and filling him in on more Ayala facts. In the back of my mind, I pictured Ayala and Remy tying the knot and naming their firstborn after me. I also pictured Ty.

For his own personal gain.

The notion followed me back into the cab after I said good-bye to Remy.
After
a full five minutes of him lecturing me: Stay inside, don’t go out, don’t do this, don’t do that, don’t let Ty get too close—okay, so what was that about? It’s not like Remy should be jealous. Sure, we’d been on dates, but I didn’t like him and he didn’t like me.

Did he?

Nah. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have practically agreed to a date with Ayala. One that I was certain would be extremely successful. How could she
not
like Remy?

I tried to dwell on that question rather than the personal gain thing, but number two eventually won out.

What can I say? I was extremely hurt. And angry. And ready for a confrontation.