Cooper's Passion: Scanguards Hybrids #5 (Scanguards Vampires Book 17), page 13
Cooper exchanged a look with Benjamin, then both shrugged as if they were performing in a synchronized swimming contest.
“Maybe a little,” Cooper agreed. “Could also be that Ginger was scared and projected her fear onto him. Happens.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Benjamin agreed.
“Well, let’s get copies of this sketch out to everybody, and send a few teams canvassing the neighborhoods. Let’s concentrate on the neighborhoods around where Janet’s body was found.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Send me a copy to my cell,” he instructed Benjamin and added, “Anita and I will take North Beach east of Columbus Avenue up to Telegraph Hill.”
When the elevator opened, they exited, and Cooper turned to her. “I’ll bring you to the lounge, where you can eat a bite, while I’ll quickly check in with my boss. Won’t take long. Then we can head out.”
Anita was about to protest, when she thought better of it. She was hungry, and she needed some time to herself to contemplate her next steps.
22
After dropping off Anita at the H lounge, the Scanguards lounge that served food for humans, Cooper contacted Benjamin, and they met in Cooper’s office.
“What now?” Benjamin asked.
“Whose brilliant idea was it to send you the sketch without editing out the fangs?”
“Sorry, the sketch artist who did the drawing just followed Ginger’s lead and sent me exactly what she claimed she saw. I hadn’t had a chance yet to alter the drawing when you showed up with a human in tow.”
“Bad timing.” It was his own fault for bringing Anita. “What’s done is done.”
“At least we know the guy is definitely a vampire.”
“True. But we can’t show the drawing like this when we’re canvassing the neighborhoods. Edit out the fangs, and then send it to me, and distribute it to everybody else at Scanguards to be on the lookout. Whoever else is not on assignment needs to get out there to ask around if anybody’s seen the guy.”
“I’ll get it done,” Benjamin agreed. “And Anita? You haven’t told her yet?”
“It’s not exactly an easy thing to work into a conversation.”
Benjamin smirked. “Yeah, from what I hear you don’t have a lot of conversations with her.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, according to Wes, you guys have been shagging like rabbits.”
Cooper huffed. “Wes is the worst gossip I’ve ever met.”
“So you’re not denying it. And I figure since you’re risking exposure by having her stay with you at Wes’s house, this isn’t just sex.”
“Has anybody ever told you that you’re nosy?” Cooper deflected.
“No.” Benjamin slapped him on the shoulder and laughed out loud. “Looks like another one bites the dust, huh?”
Cooper rolled his eyes. “Wait until it hits you broadside. Let’s see who’s laughing then.”
Benjamin winked. “Not gonna happen for a while.”
“That’s what I thought too. But in an ideal world, I wouldn’t be hunting a serial killer vampire either, while trying to figure out how to tell Anita what I am. Any suggestions?”
“Bro, you’re on your own when it comes to that. But good luck anyway!”
Shaking his head, Cooper left and went back down to the H lounge. Several of the human employees were in the lounge taking a break. Anita sat on a sofa, a plate of food on her lap, looking lost in her thoughts.
Cooper sat next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. “Hey, Babe.”
She shrieked and stared at him, but caught herself quickly. “Sorry, sorry, you startled me… I didn’t notice you. I must have been daydreaming.”
“Thinking about the case?”
“Yes, the case.”
“How’s the food?”
“It’s excellent. But I didn’t see where to pay for it.”
“Oh, it’s free to all employees and visitors.”
“Wow, that’s quite generous of the company.” She glanced around. “I’m surprised there aren’t more people here eating.”
“Everybody’s working different shifts. It’s never too busy in here.” He pointed to her empty plate. “You want some more?”
“No, I’m done. But you haven’t eaten. Aren’t you hungry?”
He wasn’t, because he’d gulped down two bottles of blood, but he couldn’t very well disclose that. “I’ll eat something later. I’d rather go out there and see if anybody saw the guy from the sketch.”
“Where do we start?”
“There’s an apartment building overlooking the alley where Janet’s body was found. Somebody might have seen something from their window.”
On their way to the parking garage, Cooper noticed that Anita didn’t walk as closely next to him as she’d done before. She was quieter too, and it didn’t feel like the companionable silence that they’d shared before. But he didn’t want to ask her if anything was wrong. Maybe she was exhausted. And why not? They’d had marathon sex, and while he as a vampire hybrid had pretty much endless energy for lovemaking, a human like Anita needed more sleep than he’d allowed her.
Damn it, he was a selfish bastard for not letting her rest when she’d needed rest. He hadn’t even tried to rein in his insatiable need for sex and just assumed that she wanted the same.
When they were in the car, driving toward North Beach, his guilty conscience didn’t let him remain silent. “I’m sorry, Anita.”
She glanced at him. “Sorry for what?”
He sighed. “For not letting you rest last night. I’m sorry I’m so demanding when it comes to sex. My only excuse is that you’re an amazing woman, and I just can’t keep my hands off you.”
“Oh.”
“I promise you I’ll let you sleep in the other guestroom tonight if that’s what you need to get some rest from me. I’m afraid that if we’re in the same bed, I won’t be able to restrain myself.”
There was a moment of silence, and for a second, he wondered if he’d said something wrong.
“Are you always like this? I mean with other women?”
“Not really. I mean don’t get me wrong, I do love sex, and I’ve had my fair share of pretty women…” He shrugged. “But they never got under my skin. Not like you.”
“So I fit your type, hmm?”
“That’s not it. I actually don’t have a type. No, it’s something else about you. When I talk to you, when I’m with you, I want you to know everything about me.”
Anita’s head was spinning. How could he play the open and honest man so convincingly while at the same time keeping a secret from her? And how was she going to find out what he was hiding from her? She couldn’t exactly ask him directly. If it was something worth lying about, he might lash out if confronted with the truth.
The silence was stretching between them, and she knew she had to say something, or he would eventually realize that something was wrong.
“I feel I already know a lot about you,” she finally said.
After all, she’d met his uncles and aunts, and his baby cousin, and saw how they lived. On the surface, they were a normal family—well, a rich, normal family, because the house his Uncle Wesley lived in was a massive Victorian that had to be worth several millions. But what was lying beneath the surface? What secrets were they hiding? Was it something that would change how she felt about him?
She suddenly felt Cooper’s warm hand on her thigh. “We’re here.”
They got out of the car, and Cooper pointed to the apartment building he’d spoken about earlier. They cut through the covered parking of a commercial building, crossed the street, and headed for the entrance door, which wasn’t locked, and entered.
“Let’s start with the flats that overlook the alley,” Cooper suggested, and they began knocking on doors.
Cooper took the lead, and introduced himself to the tenants that opened their doors. “We’re investigators working with the SFPD and are looking for this man.” Cooper turned his cellphone so the tenant could see it. “He may have been in this area two nights ago. Do you recognize him?”
The woman who’d opened the door shook her head. “Sorry, doesn’t look familiar.”
“He may have been hanging around in the alley behind you,” Anita added to help jog the woman’s memory.
“Sorry, I can’t help you. I have better things to do than look out the window all night.” She shut the door.
They moved to the next flat and continued questioning the other tenants in the same manner. Anita had to admit that Cooper had excellent manners and treated everybody he spoke to with courtesy, never getting impatient or frustrated. She felt herself involuntarily relax in his presence. Would her body really react like this if he was a bad guy? At the moment, she couldn’t trust her own judgement. When she and Cooper had made love, she’d felt loved and understood, cherished even, and desired. No man had ever taken care of her the way Cooper did, the way he made sure to give her the same pleasure he took for himself. She couldn’t imagine a more selfless lover. But was the old adage true? If something sounds too good to be true... Or was she simply focusing on some minor inconsistencies to sabotage this relationship? She pushed the thoughts aside, concentrating on the task at hand.
By the time they found a person who had indeed noticed something the night of Janet’s murder, it was already dark outside. The older man invited them into his flat and motioned them to the bedroom from which he’d seen something in the alley.
He opened the window and pointed to the alley. “I heard a vehicle idling out there, so I came to close the window. I didn’t want those fumes in the bedroom, you know.”
“Absolutely,” Cooper said. “Did you look outside?”
“Sure did. It was some van.”
“Did you notice the color?”
“It was already dark out, but I think it was white.”
Anita nodded to herself. A white van—it agreed with what she’d seen in Elko. “You didn’t by chance see the license plates?”
“No, sorry, ma’am.”
“What did you see the man doing?” Cooper asked.
“I saw him lower something to the ground. But I couldn’t see what it was. I figured he was dumping trash, you know, ‘cause he didn’t wanna call the city for a pickup, when they charge you for it. Wouldn’t be the first time that happened here…”
“Did you see the man’s face?”
“Just for a second. Can I see the picture again?” the old man asked.
“Of course.” Cooper turned his phone so the man could see the sketch.
This time, Anita stood next to the old man and saw the sketch too. She sucked in a breath. The face of the suspect was still the same, but the protruding teeth the sketch on Benjamin’s tablet had shown, were gone. Either Benjamin or Cooper had changed the sketch. Why? Why hide the fact that the suspect had pointy canines?
“Yes, that looks like him,” the old man confirmed.
“Thank you very much, sir,” Cooper said politely, put his cellphone back in his pocket, and added, “We appreciate your help.”
They left the apartment building and started walking to where Cooper had parked the SUV. The cool night air made her shiver.
“At least, we know for sure that the man Ginger saw following the female bank employee, is the same one who dumped Janet’s body in the alley,” Cooper said, walking past a large truck.
“Yes, it’s a start.” But the doctored sketch still bothered her. Now was as good a time as any to grab the bull by the horns. “About the sketch of the suspect. Why did you edit out the teeth? Don’t you think that’s a pretty prominent feature by which to identify the killer?”
Cooper was almost at the car and looked over his shoulder. “Benjamin and I figured that it would just confuse people.”
The answer didn’t satisfy her. “Confuse? Confuse how?”
She noticed him hesitate, then suddenly glance in a different direction, remaining silent as if he’d heard something. But there was no sound. Was he stalling to find a suitable answer that she would accept?
“We want people to concentrate on the face, not be distracted by his crooked teeth.” He motioned her to approach. “Come, we’ve got more ground to cover.”
But Anita remained standing where she was. The tiny hairs on her nape prickled, and it felt as if a cold snake slithered down her back. She’d felt like that once before, and she remembered the moment: it had happened when she’d seen a man abducting her mother, and she’d stood by helplessly.
“Anita, get in the car, now!” Cooper suddenly ordered, a dangerous undertone in his voice as he glanced around the parked cars as if looking for something.
Anita didn’t move, because what she saw now sent a shock wave through her body, paralyzing her. Cooper’s eyes were glowing red, and this time it wasn’t a play of the light, because something else had changed at the same time. Two long pointy teeth were protruding from Cooper’s mouth.
Two fangs.
Snippets of the past two days with Cooper flashed before her eyes. Everything fit together now: the blood splatter on his shirt, the golden shimmer in his eyes when they’d made love, the incident where he’d nicked her lip with his teeth and claimed it had been accidental. And other things came back now too. The two puncture wounds on Janet’s neck had been made by fangs. That’s how she’d been drained of her blood. An image of Cooper’s cousin Jacob with his two sharp teeth appeared before her mental eye—he’d bitten her. She was sure of it. Yet Cooper had played it down. Just like he’d glossed over the fact that the sketch of the suspect had shown fangs. He’d removed them—evidently to protect somebody. If not the killer, then at least himself. The secret he and Wesley had whispered about was so obvious now. Vampires existed. They weren’t just myth or lore. They were real.
And Cooper was one of them.
A vampire.
“How could I have been so blind?”
23
“Fuck!” Cooper cursed.
He’d sensed somebody in the shadows, and had briefly seen the aura of a vampire, even though he hadn’t seen the man’s face, but he’d perceived him as a threat. The stranger had watched them, maybe followed them from the apartment building. As a result, his fangs had descended, and his eyes were glaring red. He was ready to defend Anita against any hostile vampire. Too late, he’d realized that by allowing his protector instinct to take over, he’d revealed to her what he was.
The shock of it was painted on her face. She stared at him, horrified, and he could see her chest heave from the effort of pumping more oxygen through her body.
“Anita, don’t be afraid.” He stretched one hand out. “I’m not gonna hurt you. But we have to leave. Now.” Because the stranger was still lurking somewhere, though Cooper didn’t know exactly where.
“Don’t come any closer!” she warned, her voice breaking.
“Anita, please, listen to me. We’ve gotta leave. There’s somebody here, watching us.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Please, you’re in danger.” He made a step toward her. “You’ll be safe with me.”
She let out a bitter laugh and shook her head. “No.” She reached into her handbag.
“Damn it, Anita,” he ground out and marched toward her, intent on dragging her to the car kicking and screaming if he had to.
Anita aimed her gun at him. “Stop.”
He heard a sound from a few yards behind Anita but couldn’t tell what it was. Had the vampire left? Was it just another pedestrian walking to their parked car?
“I’ll explain everything at home,” he said and made another step toward Anita.
The sound of a gunshot echoed in the night, and something struck him, making him lose his balance for a moment. Stunned, he looked at his chest. There, just below his right clavicle, a blood stain was spreading.
“You shot me!” Pain seared through him, and for an instant he paused and stared at her in disbelief. “What the fuck, Anita!?”
She continued to aim the gun at him. However, he knew that he couldn’t be killed with a regular bullet and rushed toward her. She pulled the trigger a second time, hitting him in the chest, before he reached her. Despite the pain caused by the two gunshot wounds, he wrestled the gun from her. She fought him, kicking him in the stomach, making him stumble backwards. He fell, the blood loss clearly weakening him.
Not knowing whether the stranger was still in the area, he couldn’t risk being unable to protect Anita and himself, so he reached for his cellphone. Time to call in the cavalry. He punched in his emergency code and hit send. Just in time, because Anita lunged for him, trying to snatch the gun from his hand. But he tossed it behind him and instead, grabbed Anita and wrestled her down to the ground.
“Damn it! Will you stop?” he hissed, while he finally managed to pin her beneath him.
She tried to free herself, and punched him in his chest wound, making him cry out in pain. Just because the bullet couldn’t kill him—only a silver bullet could do that—didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt like a bitch.
“Let go of me!” she cried out.
“Not a chance. I’m not gonna let you run into danger.”
“Oh, that’s rich!” She glared at him. “You’re the danger! You’re a vampire!”
“Vampire hybrid actually, half vampire, half human.”
He pressed one hand to his chest wound, trying to stem the flow of blood, because the more blood he lost, the more likely it was that he lost consciousness.
She pushed against him, trying to free herself, but he continued to pin her, though he could feel his strength waning. He had to last a few more minutes. The distress call he’d sent out would automatically go to those Scanguards employees who were closest to his location—a task that was accomplished automatically by pinging all Scanguards owned cellphones.
