Into the Darkness (3 page)

partner.

Feeling abandoned, and a bit like she was watching a “good

cop-bad cop” inquisition, Natalie straightened in her chair

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15

and turned her head to face the other woman. “What else

would you like to know?” she asked, keeping her tone even.

Chessa blew out a breath, and then folded her arms over

her chest. “Are you sexually active?”

Only the incessant buzz from the fluorescent lamp hanging

above the metal table broke the long silence.

Natalie’s face heated in mortification.

“Cheech, is this necessary?” Rene asked, his expression

dark and guarded.

At Chessa Tomas’s curt nod, he sat back in his chair.

Natalie’s glance cut to his partner. Her emotions, brittle as

thin glass, spiked toward anger once more. “Why is that any

of your business?”

“Just answer the question.”

Chessa’s unrelenting stare and the naked nature of the

question itself cracked the barrier of Natalie’s self-control.

Her eyes watered, and she shook her head. “No.”
Such a stupid

question. What did she know?

“When was your first period?”

Sweet Jesus! What the hell did that have to do with any of

this madness? Nevertheless, Natalie cleared her throat and

whispered, “Two weeks ago.”

She heard Rene’s indrawn breath, but didn’t dare face him.

So she was a freak of nature! Only her mother hadn’t thought

it odd. She’d assured her that her time would come.

Chessa Tomas stood and walked around the table to kneel

beside Natalie’s chair. The first hint of an emotion other than

impatience softened the tense angles of her face. “Are you

feeling sexual hunger for the first time,
now
?”

Natalie clamped her lips closed and glared at the woman.

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“Natalie, I really do need to know.” Chessa’s steady gaze,

now free of any derision, held hers for a tense moment.

Tears spilled from her eyes unexpectedly. She crossed her

arms in front of her and nodded.

Chessa looked away. “Well, fuck!”

“What the hell’s this all about, Cheech?” Rene asked, his

voice strained.

Chessa drew in a deep breath and stood. “I hate to burst

your bubble, partner, but I think we’ve got bigger problems

here than catching a serial killer.”

chapter

2

ene raked a hand through his hair. “What the

Rfuck was that all about?”

“You tell me!” Chessa crossed her arms over her

chest, a scowl darkening her face.

Rene avoided her gaze and instead looked

through the two-way mirror into the interrogation

room where Natalie sat alone, staring into the mirror like she could see them. “What are you talkin’

about? I wasn’t the one grillin’ her like she was the

killer. We both know that’s not true.”

“As far as Memphis is concerned, she’s still a suspect. And
you
were playing footsie.”

Rene’s cheeks burned. “I was just cleanin’ her up.”

“Dammit! I’ve never seen you touch a female

suspect except to cuff ’em.”

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Rene shot back a glance at Chessa. “She was injured. Bleeding. I did what anybody would.”

She leaned in close, staring into his face. Although shorter

by a head, she still managed to look pretty intimidating.

Knowing what he did about her capabilities, he knew that

look wasn’t a bluff. He stiffened.

“Tell me, Rene.” Her voice was soft, but held steely intent.

“Don’t you think your reaction was just a little odd? You were

all over her.”

His shoulders bunched tight with frustration as he clutched

the frame around the mirror. He hated how she’d read his interest that easily. She might be his partner, but she didn’t

have any business getting inside his head. Nobody did. He

glared. “What? You jealous, Cheech?”

Rather than reacting with a sarcastic jab, which was her

favorite defensive weapon, Chessa laid her hand on his forearm. Her always caffeine-intense expression was now taut and

worried. “Think, Rene! She’s putting out ‘fuck-me pheromones’! You’re drawn to her, but it’s happening too fast to

be natural.”

He shook his head, narrowing his eyes. “She’s an attractive girl. My reactions were entirely normal.” He bit out his

words. “I didn’t cross any lines.”

One eyebrow crooked upward. “Then why didn’t you let

me tend her wounds?” she asked softly.

Uncomfortable beneath her searching stare, he shifted on

his feet. He didn’t have a real answer. “Maybe, I didn’t want

you tempted by all that blood.”

“Fuck that!” she muttered beneath her breath, closing her

eyes briefly. She let go of his arm and faced the mirror. “Her

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19

attraction isn’t natural. But I may know what this is.” She

closed her eyes, her mouth twisting. “No wonder I was so

pissed off.”

“Chessa,” he growled, “You’re not makin’ any damn sense.

Those questions you asked her—”

Chessa avoided his glance and stared at Natalie. “Believe

me, you don’t wanna know the truth. In fact, it’s better you

forget what you heard.”

“She’s not a suspect.” He tensed, expecting Chessa to

disagree.

Instead, she nodded. “I know. By the age of our cold case

files, we both know she can’t be the killer.”

“All right, I’m confused. If we’re sure these crimes are related and she’s not a suspect, then why grill ’er?”

Chessa glanced back into the interrogation room. “Look,

I can’t say much right now. Just trust me when I say this is

outside the department’s jurisdiction.”

Something about the urgency in her voice raised the hairs

on the back of his neck. He held back the questions teeming

inside his head.

Chessa began pacing like a nervous cat. “I have to act fast—

and you have to trust me. She’s a goddamn disaster magnet,

and we have a full moon rising soon. I need you to keep her

out of trouble—out of sight.”

“Me? Where the hell are you gonna be? And what does any

of this have to do with the moon?” At her impatient glare, he

waved her off. “You know? I don’t wanna know.”

“We’ll drop by her place, check it out,” she said, as if he

hadn’t spoken. “Have her pack a few things. Then I’m leaving

you.”

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“Dammit, Cheech, what’s goin’ on here?”

“Trust me. Take her to your place. Make sure you’re not

followed. I’ll contact you later.”

“This is
family business,
isn’t it?” Of course it was. The

prickling that bit the base of his spine during Chessa’s heated

interrogation should have warned him. “Your people aren’t

gonna harm her, are they?”

“I promise that’s the last thing we want to happen. But

you’ll be alone with her.” She grabbed the lapels of his jacket

and pushed him back against the glass, getting in his face.

“Whatever you do, partner,
don’t fuck her
.”

Rene’s head snapped back. “I don’t fuck on the job!” he

seethed.

“Well, you’ve never faced her brand of temptation before.”

She pressed him harder, her expression dead earnest. “Don’t

let her get a bite.”

He sucked in a deep breath, disappointed. “She’s a vampire

then?”

Chessa shook her head. “I’m not a hundred percent sure

what she is. But we don’t have time for this conversation.”

“Probably better to keep me clueless, huh?” he asked, a bitter taste at the back of his throat. Natalie Lambert wasn’t for

him.

That’s all he really needed to know.

“Yeah. Buy me some time, partner. I have a lot to do, and

the night’s slipping away.” She released him. “Let’s roll.”

Natalie unlocked her apartment door, for once not bothering

to peer up and down the hallway. Tonight, she had two armed

cops at her back.

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21

She opened the door and breezed through, glancing around

her one-room apartment to make sure she hadn’t left anything embarrassing in plain sight. The room was a mess, but

she hadn’t been planning on bringing guests home when she’d

left earlier that day. Natalie turned to allow the officers to

pass inside.

“Pack what you need for a couple of nights,” Chessa said,

her glance flitting around the apartment.

Natalie wondered if the woman was always this intense.

Her rudeness was beginning to wear on every last one of her

nerves.

Rene’s gaze was on the puddle of rumpled clothing next to

the sofa bed. Her nightgown, a sheer blue scrap of silk, lay on

top. When his glance met hers, Natalie wasn’t imagining the

heat banked in his expression. No, indeed. She could feel it

like a blast from a furnace.

She thrilled at knowing the feeling was mutual. She’d

stopped fighting her attraction. Having never felt such a

strong sensual pull at just the sight of a man, she considered

this anomaly a gift. One she’d just enjoy for what it was, because she didn’t have the luxury of time to explore these new

feelings.

Natalie opened her closet and pulled out a small suitcase.

Under his watchful stare, she grabbed underwear, T-shirts,

and a couple pairs of shorts and jeans and shoved them into

the case. Then she hurried to the bathroom, packed her toiletries, and grabbed another nightgown from the hook at the

back of the door.

When she returned to the main room, she dug under the

bed for her sneakers. She tried to ignore the fabric of her sun-22 delilah

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dress riding up her thighs as she reached, and the fact Rene’s

gaze burned over every inch of exposed skin.

She stilled. Funny, how she could feel that—as if he’d

touched her.

“What’s going on here, Nat?”

Natalie jerked back, sneakers in hand and looked toward

the door of her apartment.

Her next-door neighbor hovered in the doorway, suspicion

evident in the scowl furrowing his forehead as he eyed her two

bodyguards. Simon looked as though he’d just risen from bed.

His sun-streaked blond hair stood in spikes around his head.

He wore a rumpled brown T-shirt bearing his video store logo

and blue jeans. His feet were bare.

“Hi, Simon.” She darted a glance at the two cops whose

hands already rested on their holstered weapons. “It’s okay,

he’s a friend.”

Simon’s glance flickered over Rene, then caught sight of

the female detective. His back stiffened. “You’ve never had

guests, Natalie. I was a little worried when I heard the commotion.” When he looked back, his frown was darker than

before. “You were gone a long time.”

Natalie gave him a half-hearted smile. Explanations would

have to wait. “I had a little problem. These two police officers

rescued me.”

He raised an eyebrow—a silent question mark.

Her lips twisted. “They know everything. And I’m not

busted—yet.”

His lips clamped shut, but his frown reflected worry.

Warmed by his concern, Natalie gave him a half smile.

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23

When her whole world had been ripped apart, Simon had

been there for her, welcoming her back.

“Who’s this guy?” Rene asked, a dark glower hooding his

eyes, his shoulders taut like he still expected he’d have to defend her.

His caution on her behalf excited her, even while she reminded herself he was just doing his job. But his alarm was

misplaced—Simon with his lean build posed no physical

threat to Rene Broussard. “This is Simon Jameson, and like I

said, he’s a friend. I worked in his video store while I was in

college. This is his apartment I’m subletting. He lives next

door.”

“Does he live alone?” Chessa bit out, asking Natalie even

though her gaze drilled Simon.

“Yes. Unless you count Kestrel.”

Chessa’s expression grew impossibly darker.

“Kestrel’s a bird, although I don’t think she knows it,”

Natalie added, wondering at the suspicion clouding Chessa’s

face and the answering enmity she read in Simon’s straight

posture.

Chessa stalked toward Simon. “You’re aware of the problems following your
friend,
yet you didn’t call for help?”

Simon’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t back away from the

woman’s intimidating stance. “I’m here to support Nat. I

watch over her, but it’s not my place to interfere with how

she handles her problems.”

“Even if she’s not aware of possible solutions?”

“Her destiny will unfold as it is meant to be revealed,” he

replied, his words clipped.

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What the hell did that mean?
Natalie shook her head. The

two seemed to know each other, and Simon obviously didn’t

like the frosty detective very much—a sentiment Natalie

could match. “I don’t understand. Do you two know each

other?”

“No!” Chessa whirled on her heels. “You’ve got everything?” At Natalie’s nod, she turned to Rene. “You know

what happens now. Remember what I told you.”

Rene nodded and shot a glare at Simon, then grasped Natalie’s elbow to guide her toward the door.

As she passed Simon, his hazel glance grew distant. “I’ll see