Page 34 of Angel Of Darkness

The glow from the cop’s flashlight hit him. “Sonofabitch!” The man ran toward Keenan. “Take it easy, sir! I’ll get you help!”

Keenan lifted his hand. “I’m not hurt.”

“Neither am I,” Nicole murmured as she came slowly to his side.

The flashlight jerked toward her and illuminated her pale face.

“Ma’am, you sure about that?” The cop’s voice held an edge of worry. “That truck was smashed to hell and back.”

Apt.

“Not a scratch on me,” she replied as her lips rose in a weak smile.

The cop—no, that wasn’t a cop. The older man approaching them so cautiously wore a brown sheriff’s uniform. One complete with a shining silver star. The sheriff raised his brows. “Mind telling me what happened out here?” The worry had faded from his voice, and suspicion coated the words. His right hand began to inch toward his hip and the gun holstered there.

Nicole stepped forward.

After we get rid of him, you tell me everything, okay?

Keenan grabbed her wrist. Nicole wasn’t the same woman she’d been in New Orleans. He didn’t know what she’d been doing for the last six months. Drinking from prey, killing them?

I don’t know, but I still want her just as much.

That was the problem.

“Don’t hurt him,” he ordered, his voice a whisper.

Her expression never altered.

“Let go of that woman,” the sheriff barked. “And you both put your hands up high in the air.”

Keenan let her go and raised his hands. After a moment, Nicole followed suit.

The sheriff came closer, sniffing as he neared them. “Don’t smell any alcohol.” He peered at Nicole. “Ma’am, you been drinking?”

Keenan nearly smiled.

“No, I?—”

“Holy shit.”

Now that gun of the sheriff’s was up and out—and aimed directly at Nicole.

“I know who you are.”

Keenan saw the fear flash on Nicole’s face.

The sheriff jumped back and pointed the gun right at her heart. “I got an email in my office earlier today—one that included your picture. You’re wanted for murder in Louisiana.”

Keenan heard the hitch in Nicole’s breathing. A faint sound, but one he caught.

“And you nearly killed a cop ...” The deep lines around the sheriff’s eyes tightened and his lips thinned. “He came to help you, and you nearly killed him.”

“No, I didn’t!”

Keenan didn’t know this story. “Perhaps you have the wrong woman.”

The sheriff’s eyes darted to him. “You don’t want to be with her, mister.”

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