Page 45 of Prodigal Son

“Okay, we’re done here.” She pivoted toward her bedroom. For a moment there, she thought her brother was wasting his time working as a bouncer at a strip club and should maybe look into a job in forensics, but now she just felt sad for him.

“Come on, Destiny, think about it.”

“I’ve thought about it. Now, I’m done.”

“They were all drained of blood. And those were human handprints, not animal prints—”

“Enough, Vito! These are real people who lost their lives. Mothers and sisters and daughters. This isn’t Twilight and we aren’t living in Forks. For God’s sake, show the dead a little respect.”

“But what about the women who are still missing?”

“I’m done with this conversation. When I get out of the shower, I want all this crap cleaned up.” She shut the door in his face before he could say one more stupid thing.

CHAPTER 16

The police station was a complete disaster. Vito insisted they stop by the station to close out the MPR, but Destiny should have known he wouldn’t leave it at that. The experience went from slightly embarrassing to completely humiliating once her brother shared his supernatural mumbo-jumbo and vampire cult conspiracy theories.

They spoke to an officer named Odessa, who incessantly tapped the tip of his ballpoint pen on the rim of his coffee mug.

“Aren’t you that weather girl?” Odessa asked, rubbing the calloused edge of his thumb along his lower lip.

Destiny winced, not wanting her professional image tainted by anything her lunatic brother said. “I’m a reporter.”

“That’s right. A reporter. Not exactly an investigator, though, is it?”

Her mouth firmed into a thin line.

“You see, Miss Santos, when women like you start this vigilante stuff, it usually ends up costing citizens hard earned tax dollars in the end. A lot of time and resources went into searching for you.”

And yet they hadn’t found her. Her eyes narrowed at his chauvinistic tone, but she pasted on a fake smile. “Like I said, I appreciate the effort.”

“And we appreciate you staying out of the woods until we apprehend or put down whatever’s out there.”

“The woods are dangerous, and good little girls should stay in safer places.” She jerked back in her chair, her mouth twisting as if she’d just bit into a lemon.

What the fuck was wrong with her? Words kept shooting out of her mouth as if she had Tourette’s.

Vito’s lip curled at her peculiar behavior, and she shrugged, unable to explain why she kept saying dumb shit.

“That’s right,” Odessa agreed. “It would be best if you kept away from the woods.” He gathered the paperwork into a manilla file. When the phone on his desk rang, he held up a finger telling them to wait and answered the call. “Odessa.”

Vito shoved her arm with his and hissed. “Double your dosage and stop saying creepy crap.”

She shoved him back. “Like I’m the one who sounds crazy. You’re a one-man army suggesting a vampire hunting to the local police force. Don’t judge me.”

He stuck out his tongue mocking her like he used to when they were kids, then he made a moon-eyed expression and mimicked, “Good little girls stay out of the woods.”

Oh, God. Was that what she sounded like? “Shut up, doofus.”

Odessa hung up the phone. “Before you go, I’ll need a statement.”

She didn’t have much to share. Every time she tried to explain more than her nasty fall, her head started to ache. By the time they left the station she was exhausted and wanted to go to sleep in her bed.

On their way out of the station, they passed two officers taking a smoke break on the brick steps out front. “Take care, now,” one said.

“And be sure to keep on the lookout for Teen Wolf and Nosferatu.”

The officers snickered in an exhalation of cigarette smoke. “And watch out for any unlicensed broomsticks in your travels.”

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