Hunt Me (4 page)

“Nah, I want to keep my badge. Keep in
touch.”

He ended the call and tucked the phone in his
pocket. Blowing out a breath, he started toward the office.
Although he had no clue what he was going to say once he got in
there.
Hello... I’m a cop. I live a few hours away from here and
the night before last, I broke up with my sort-of-girlfriend and
less than an hour later I saw her hauling my other
sort-of-girlfriend’s body out of the window of an apartment. They
disappeared right in front of me. Nobody has seen them almost
forty-eight hours. Now I don’t know why I’m here. But I feel like
I’m supposed to be. Any idea why?

Yeah, that would get somebody’s attention.
Just not the kind he needed.

Okay, so he wouldn’t mention the fact that
Dakota had disappeared from a five-story building carrying a woman
who had weighed almost as much as she had. She hadn’t fallen,
because they would’ve found bodies. He kept that fact quiet from
his fellow officers—he would keep it quiet now. He would just go
with some official line,
investigating a missing persons case...
yadda yadda yadda—seen anything suspicious?

No reason to get descriptive at all.

As he stepped inside the office, stale stink
of cigarette smoke wrapped around him like a cloying, embrace. It
was going to cling to him, too. Sighing, he moved to stand at the
desk.

As the older man ambled through a door behind
the counter, Drew rested his hands on the old, stained wood. It was
clean, though, cleaned and polished to a mirror shine. There was a
smudged fingerprint there. Absently he brushed his thumb across the
small smear. When he did, his elbow bumped into a cup of pens,
knocking them over.

“Sorry.” He shot the owner an apologetic
glance and scooped up the pens on the counter. Then he crouched
down and gathered the pens that had rolled onto the floor. That was
when he saw it. If he hadn’t bent down on his knees, he never would
have.

A piece of paper, maybe a receipt. Folded
into a neat triangle, roughly the size of the end joint of his
thumb.

She could never be still. For some reason, it
had always charmed him. That wild, crazy energy she had inside
her.

The little folded triangle lying on the floor
could have been left there by anybody. Logically, Drew knew that.
But as he picked it up, that itch along his spine got worse, and
his blood roared in his ears.

Slowly, he stood. The hotel manager was at
the counter now, a friendly smile on his face. But it faded when
Drew pulled out his shield and laid it on the counter.

“Officer. Can I help you?”

“Detective.” His hands were sweating, he
realized. His hands were sweating, his heart was racing, and he
felt more than a little sick. Dakota...was she here? How could she
have hurt Nicole? How did Dakota even know about her? “I’m looking
for a woman who might be one of your guests. She’s about 5’3,
mid-thirties, long, dark brown hair. She would have checked in
yesterday or today. Have you seen her?”

Something flickered in the man’s eyes. He was
good—very good. But Drew saw it, that flash, there and then gone
again.

With a smile, the man said, “Naturally,
Detective, I want to help. But I have a responsibility to my guests
as well. You’ll need to give me some sort of warrant before I can
tell you anything.”

Still gripping that small piece of paper,
Drew returned the man’s smile. Then, without a word, he left the
hotel’s office. The man had already told Drew everything he needed
to know. The rest, Drew figured he’d just take a look around and
see if he couldn’t find those answers for himself.

Sick at heart, tired and hungry, Dakota rose
from the floor. Nicole was sleeping on the bed, if her restlessness
could be called sleep. The fever had come on her yesterday, the
Change hitting hard and fast.

As hungry as Dakota was, Nicole needed to
feed. Drawing her knees to her chest, Dakota pressed her face
against them. “I’m not equipped to handle this.”

She had never brought anybody over. She knew
the basics. After all, she had gone through this herself, and all
of the Hunters were taught—they had to be, in case they ever had to
make a choice like this. Ideally, this would’ve been done in a
better place. A more controlled environment. Too bad life didn’t
happen under ideal circumstances.

So Dakota was doing the best she could—the
best she could think of was to get Nicole to Excelsior. But first
she had to get somebody here so the newborn vamp could feed when
she awoke. Which meant Dakota needed to go trolling.

Her destination was the town’s single bar. Of
course, it involved her leaving the security of the hotel before
the sun set. She could do it, tolerate some of the evening sun, but
not for long.

Nicole would sleep longer but if Dakota
wasn’t back fast enough, the baby vamp would rise and hunger would
drive her out on her own. She was too young to be able to control
it yet. The hunger would drive her to do awful things if somebody
wasn’t there to help her.

Staring at the tousled blonde head just
barely visible under the blankets, Dakota sighed. “This isn’t what
I signed up for. I wanted to kill the bad guys, that’s all.”

It only cost him $20 to convince the gas
station owner to let him leave his car there. Not bad, and it only
took him five minutes to make his way back to the hotel. And he got
back just in time to see something that left him rather
floored.

No. Just... no.

It was her, though. Dakota. He couldn’t see
her face—he was too far away. But he recognized that hair, and he
recognized that walk. Even with her head down, her shoulders
slumped—it was her, all right.

Was she leaving? Did he go back for his
car?

But even as he went to do just that, Dakota
glanced back toward building behind her. There was hesitation in
her steps.

What in the hell…?

As she started back toward her car, suspicion
settled in his gut. Suspicion. Fear. Maybe even hope.

The skin on the back of her neck crawled.
Dakota had the weirdest damn feeling she was being watched. The
wind blew her hair back from her face and the sun was already
stinging her skin. She breathed in deep, trying to pick up
something on the air—the strong wind was throwing her off, though
and she didn’t have time to linger if she wanted to be back before
Nicole woke. And this wasn’t just a
want
—it was a
need
. She
needed
to be back.

So she didn’t worry about the strange
sensation of being watched. Whoever it was, they were human. A
witch, a were or vamp—any of those would have set off her internal
alarm in a different way. Since it wasn’t that, she needed to focus
on the problem of her baby vamp and keeping her fed. Safely.

Maybe God would smile on her and there would
be a town drunk. Wouldn’t be a tasty treat for Nicole, but a town
drunk would be pathetically easy for Dakota to use her
not-so-impressive mental skills on and once Nicole had fed, Dakota
could wipe the memory away. Nice, simple…

Drew circled around from the back, making
sure any nosy managers peeking out from the office wouldn’t be able
to see him. He’d noted the general location Dakota had looked and
it had to be one of two buildings. Her car had been parked closer
to this one, too. So he figured this was the best option. But he
was wrong. The curtains were partially open. If anybody was using
either of these rooms, they were an obsessive neat freak. The same
could be said for the next unit. But the one next to it…the
curtains were drawn tight. Not even a sliver of the room could be
seen.

His gut was a cold, hard stone. He stood
there, staring at the door. Images flashed through his mind. Nicole
twisting on a bed. Crying out. Begging for help.

Swearing, he lifted his hands to his face.
Yeah, he’d relied on his instincts a lot in life. Listened to his
gut—sometimes he had hunches that had played out in ways that had
been almost spooky. So what if this felt
almost
like one of
those things? He couldn’t—

Swearing, he stepped back just a pace. Enough
with this shit. Blocking everything else out, he kicked the door
in. As it went crashing back, he braced himself. If he was
wrong—

The sight of the blonde laying in the bed
almost sent him to his knees.

“Nicole!”

But she didn’t move.

When he ran to her side, tearing back the
covers, she barely stirred. As a matter of fact, she barely seemed
to be breathing.

Dakota slowed and pulled into the parking lot
of the town’s sole bar. It wasn’t even a block from the hotel, if
you cut across the back lots. But since she planned on picking
somebody up, using him for a pint or two of blood and then taking
him to wherever he lived…well, she’d rather not be
seen
so
much. Climbing out of the car, she sighed and stood there, studying
the toes of her black leather boots, wishing she knew why she was
so edgy.

Wishing—

There was a breaking sound. She tensed and
slowly lifted her head. The bottom of her gut dropped away.
Vampires had pretty spectacular hearing.

“
Nicole!”

That voice…she knew that voice.

Swearing, she took off running toward the
hotel. Screw the car. Screw catching attention. He couldn’t be
near
Nicole now. And damn it, how had he found them?

Her skin was too cool. She wasn’t waking up,
either. Lifting one eyelid, Drew peered into Nicole’s blue eyes,
studying her pupils. No reaction—fuck, was she drugged? Sick?
What
—

“Get back, Drew.”

Hearing that familiar, low voice, he looked
up.

Dakota stood in the doorway, her eyes locked
on his face—for a second, they almost looked like they were
glowing—

Shit.

“I think
you
need to get back,” he
told her as his heart split in two. She’d done this. Damn it. She’d
somehow hurt Nicole. How could he have misjudged her—?

She came into the room, frowning at the door
for a moment and then shifting her dark eyes his way. “Drew…get
away from her. It isn’t safe.”

Drawing his weapon, he leveled it at her. She
didn’t even blink—damn it, she could stare at him over the barrel
of a gun and not blink. Who in the hell was this woman? “You
kidnapped a lawyer, Dakota. You’ve done something to her. You got
any idea how much trouble you’re in?”

“I didn’t kidnap her.” She lowered her head,
pressing a hand to her temple. When she looked back at him—

Drew stumbled back. Her eyes—
shit
—they
were
glowing. “Get back, Drew.
Now
.”

His legs started to move. He was halfway
across the floor before he could make himself stop. Shit. Not
right. This was so fucking
not
right. Spinning away from
Dakota, he stared at Nicole. “I’m taking her out of here and
getting her to a hospital.”

I need to call the cops
. That was what
he needed to do. But his gut told him Dakota wasn’t going to let
that happen. His gut also told him, though, that she wouldn’t hurt
him. Maybe she’d hurt Nicole and God knows who else, but not him.
Yet. He’d use that to get Nicole safe, and then he’d make her
pay—

Returning to Nicole’s side, he bent down to
lift her, still holding his gun. He had no chance, though. A hand
closed around his arm. Small and feminine…it shouldn’t have been so
strong. “No.” Dakota shoved him back.
Damn it—

He fell into the wall, hitting it with enough
force that it left his head ringing. Swearing, he shoved off it,
wobbling for a step before he steadied. “Dakota—” He lifted the
Glock he held and that crack in his heart widened, ripping his
heart in two. “Don’t make me use this.”

Her lids flickered. “If that’s what I have to
do to keep you safe, I will, baby. Please…just leave while you
can…”

A strange, whimpering moan rolled through the
air.

“Not yet, damn it. It’s not sunset…” Dakota
swore, her gaze shooting to the bed. Then her gaze cut to him.
“You. It’s you. Damn it, get
out
.”

If he’d been looking at Dakota, he might have
seen the fear in her eyes.

But he was staring at Nicole. Watching her
chest started to rise and fall…watching as her eyes opened,
revealing glowing eyes of blue. Watching as her mouth opened on a
broken moan. Revealing fangs.

“Nic…?”

She turned her head toward him.

He never even saw her move.

Dakota caught her just before Nicole reached
Drew. Fast brat. Wrapping her arms around the baby vamp, she pinned
the smaller woman. “No, Nicole—you can’t. Not now.”

“
Hurts
…” Nicole moaned low in her
throat. She snapped at the empty air, like it might ease that
burning ache.

“I know…shhhh…I know.” Dakota stared at
Drew’s stunned, pale face.
I couldn’t have fucked this up more
if I tried
.

“Dakota, please.” Nicole, begging and
pleading, shuddered in Dakota’s arms.

“Here.” Dakota lifted her wrist. “It’s not
going to help for long, but it’s better than nothing. It will hold
you for a few hours.”
Long enough for us to get out of here, at
least.

And as Nicole sank her newly formed teeth
into Dakota’s wrist, Dakota stared at Drew, wondering if he’d bolt.
He couldn’t leave knowing what he knew—and she wasn’t strong enough
to wipe his mind. She’d tried and failed.

What now…?

“What’s going on?” Drew asked, his voice
tight and rusty as he stared at Nicole, bent over Dakota’s
wrist.

“What, haven’t you read
Twilight
, seen
True Blood
?” Dakota forced a smile, even though her heart
was breaking. She didn’t know what to do.