Page 10 of Blood Bearon
Tossing them at him, she watched carefully as he put the cuffs on both wrists with his hands behind his back.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, sitting him on the front of her car, not really expecting a response.
“This building and the construction site are my—company’s—property,” he said.
Rachel frowned at the slight hesitation before he said the wordcompany. What had he meant to say? Organization? Was he part of some sort of crime syndicate perhaps? It seemed a little random to be operating in such a small town, but still, she couldn’t rule out any possibilities. Not yet.
“So what does that have to do with you?” she asked casually, patting him down for weapons. “Out for revenge after they fired you?”
The man—he was huge, she couldn’t get over that fact—frowned. Sitting down on her hood, he was still taller than her. “What? Of course not, Detective. I’m here trying to find out what’s happening, trying to figure out who’s attacking us.”
“Attacking you?”
He nodded. “All the properties in the town that have been attacked tonight are ours. I got here not long before you found me. I was searching the area for clues.”
“Right. Well first off, that’s my job,” she said casually. “Secondly, you’re still under arrest.”
6
Squeezing his bulk into the backseat of her car, Khove glowered up at the detective, trying to ignore the way she looked beautiful even with her gun drawn and serious face on. Even in the dim light of her reflected headlights, her eyes glowed with a blue light that was rare.
“Do you wear colored contacts?” he asked casually as she got into the front seat.
“Seriously?” she groaned. “You too?”
Khove frowned. “What do you mean? Me too what? What did I do?”
“You think you’re the first handsome criminal I’ve arrested who’s tried to flirt their way out?”
He blinked. “I’m not trying to flirt, Detective. I’m just curious as to whether your eyes are naturally that blue or not.”
“They are,” she said tightly. “Now stop analyzing my looks.”
Khove sat back—or tried to, the cramped confines of the rear of her police vehicle not allowing for much in the way of leg room—and he considered the detective’s words.
“I’m not the criminal, you know,” he said calmly. “In fact, I have an alibi.”
“Do you now?” she said, obviously still irritated over his question about her eyes.
Why was that such a big deal to her? She could be grateful for her looks. Taller than most, it was clear she worked out a lot. Her blonde hair pulled tightly back into a working ponytail and revealing the little tuft in the front center that came down a hair lower on her forehead, gave her a sort of heart-shaped face. Clear skin, and a lovely rear, too. How could she be upset over that?
Humans are so confusing sometimes.
“I do,” he repeated, trying to act calm, to diffuse the situation he’d inadvertently caused. “I was at our corporate headquarters until an hour ago.”
“So you’ve been unaccounted for, for the past hour?” she shot back.
He snorted. “You made the drive out there this morning, Detective,” he said. “You know as well as I do that it’s a forty-five-minute drive. This attack happened while I was en-route, and the others had already occurred. I didn’t do this, and you know it.”
“So whyareyou here?” she said, focusing on driving.
“To find and stop the human criminals from destroying more of our property,” he snapped, wondering if he should just break out of the cuffs and go. There wasn’t time for this. He’d initially hoped to enlist the detective’s help, but so far that was off to a poor start.
“Thehumancriminals?” the detective echoed.
Khove winced at his slip of tongue. He would have to watch his words more carefully from now on.
“You have my alibi. Call and confirm it,” he said. “Then let me go so I can do my job.”
