Page 38 of Sinner's Secret

“You’ve got a thing for her then?”

“I didn’t know she was a cop when I stepped in. As far as I knew, she was a waitress, and those creeps were going to take her from my neighborhood, use her up, and toss her away. I couldn’t let that happen.”

“He’s got a thing for her,” Davis stage whispered.

“We’ll help as much as we’re able,” Smith said. “But we must follow procedure. We want to prosecute the people responsible for this, not execute them.”

“I assure you, my liability insurance doesn’t cover homicide,” Baz said dryly. “Can we go now?”

Smith glanced at Thomas, who shook his head. “This is a mistake.”

“We’re in the dark,” Smith said nodding at Baz. “He might be able to turn on the lights.”

Thomas looked at Baz. “You can ride with me.”

Baz flashed his sharp teeth. “I’ll drive myself.”

When Thomas opened his mouth to argue, Baz said, “The only way I’ll get into a vehicle with you is if I’m in a body bag.”

Thomas sneered at him, turned on his heel, and walked away. The rest of the cops followed him.

Baz got into the driver’s seat of his cab, turned on the engine, and drove out of the garage. He followed the three unmarked police cars to Nika’s house, then got out, and approached the front gate to her yard.

“How did they get in?” he asked Smith. He was done talking to Thomas.

“They cut the power to the house, then picked the locks on the backdoor.”

“So, they knew she had an alarm system?”

“Looks like it.”

“Someone did their homework.” He studied the house for a few more moments, then said, “Take me to the fight.”

“How do you know she fought?” Thomas asked.

Baz ignored him.

“How did you know that?” Smith asked when it was clear Baz wasn’t going to respond to Thomas.

“Because she’s Nika. She’d never go down without a fight. And she’s good. I watched her mash one of her would-be-kidnapper’s balls. She’d fight.”

Smith smiled sadly. “It’s inside.” He went first and Baz followed him. Thomas and the other cops trailed behind.

There wasn’t any evidence of violence until they got to Nika’s bedroom. A few feet inside the door there was a large pool of blood on the carpet. A second pool of blood had congealed near the foot of the bed. The blankets were disturbed and covered in blood spatter.

Baz took in the scene slowly, breathing through his nose to test the scents in the room. His sense of smell wasn’t better than a dog’s, but good enough to distinguish humans from vampires.

Nika’s attackers were all human and he had their scents now.

Her scent was all over the room, but it was stronger over in the corner. Avoiding all the blood on the floor, he went over to the far side of the bed and noted a small pool of blood on the corner of the side table.

He bent to examine it closer. “There’s hair here.”

“The forensic guys think someone hit their head on the corner.”

It was Nika’s blood, but he couldn’t say that to the cops. “Whose blood is it?”

“We don’t know yet.”

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