Page 23 of Blood Bearon
It helped that Rachel wasn’t laughing. She didn’t even look the slightest bit amused. Surprisingly, it hurt him a little that she didn’t immediately accept he wasn’t a cold-blooded killer. Perhaps it was his earlier comment about justice, but she would eventually understand.
Korred wasn’t innocent. He was guilty, and Khove feared that before this was all over, the Traitor would have the blood of more innocents on his hands. Death was treated differently in the shifter world, but losing one’s friends hurt all the same. Korred would be made to pay for what he’d done, and if it was at Khove’s hands, then so be it.
But strangely, as okay with that outcome as he was, Khove found himself wishing that the detective,Rachel, didn’t think of him like that. He didn’t want her to see him as a monster. The sudden importance attached to what she thought of him was confusing, and left Khove silent and retrospective.
I need to show her that’s not me. That a killer is not who I am.
Khove wasn’t sure how he was going to go about that, but he wasn’t about to let that stop him.
She’s going to see the real me.
13
They were headed back to where it all started.
“According to our internal security, this was the first scene where an alarm went off,” Khove said as they pulled into the parking lot out front of the charred building.
“This is the second call that we got,” Rachel protested, re-hashing the same point again.
“I know,” he said calmly. “But an electronic system response was registered inside, well before someone would necessarily have seen the fire.”
“What are you expecting to find here?” she asked, dropping it. Her goal had been to go from one scene to the next in chronological order, trying to recreate the arsonist’s steps.
“Absolutely nothing.”
She paused halfway out of the SUV, looking back inside. “What do you mean,nothing?”
Khove stared back at her from behind the grate. “Nothing? As in zip. Zilch. Nada. Shall I go on?”
Rolling her eyes, she got out, taking in the burnt standalone building. A solid third of it was destroyed beyond repair. It was a complete rebuild. “Why are you so confident we’ll find nothing?” she asked through the still open driver’s door.
“Korred is too good for that. Now, can you let me out?” He tapped on the grate, making the metal rattle.
“Maybe,” she agreed. “But Khove, everyone makes mistakes. This was his first crime scene, right?”
“I think. Here at least.”
“Criminals are always sloppiest at their first,” she said. “That’s a fact. If we’re going to find anything, it’s here.”
“I found something!”
Her head whipped around from staring at the building. “What is it?”
Khove looked up, shaking his head. “Sorry, Detective. I thought I was onto something. Turns out it’s just dried gum under the seat.”
Rachel bit back a few choice words. “Really?”
“Are you going to let me out?” he repeated. “Or do I have to break this vehicle too?”
“Don’t break anything,” she said, snapping her fingers and pointing a finger at him before pulling on the handle. “Just because you can’t appreciate the humor in it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”
“Trust me,” he grumbled, exiting the vehicle. “There is no humor in it. Why can’t I ride in the front seat like a normal person?”
“I have a lot of stuff in it,” she said quickly, turning to survey the building yet again.
“There are two file folders. I could have held those on my lap,” Khove told her.
Rachel sighed. “Look, nobody has ridden up front with me…in a long time. Okay? I just…” She trailed off, not wanting to say more.
