Page 30 of Isabelle’s Forbidden Love

Isabelle took in a deep breath when she finally caught a first glimpse of Orlando. He looked directly at her, not even surprised at seeing her as he reached the landing and bridged the distance between it and the door with several long strides. His eyes homed in on her instantly.

“So you had to break in,” he started and entered the bedroom. His expression was unreadable.

“You don’t seem surprised.”

He walked to the window and pulled the shades closed, then flipped the light switch. “I was, when I saw on my security system that you picked the lock.”

“I didn’t know you had a security system.”

“That’s not the point. Why couldn’t you wait for my call? I would have called you.”

He pinned her with his gaze, and she knew he was telling the truth. “I know. But I couldn’t wait.” But before she launched into the questions that her search of Wayne Hong’s house had raised, she was curious about something else.

“Why didn’t you drive home in your Hummer? Who was—”

His angry growl cut her off. “Because my Hummer has four flat tires. Four! I had to take a fucking Vuber.”

“Oh.” At least that meant the person driving him home hadn’t been a girlfriend or lover. “No wonder you’re upset.”

“Upset?” He approached, looking like a caged animal ready to strike. “Damn it, Isabelle, you can’t just show up here uninvited. I had to leave the club early without an explanation as to why, so I could come home. Your brother is gonna have my hide.”

“But you didn’t have to rush back. I would have waited. I knew you weren’t done with your shift yet.”

“That’s not the point! Don’t you get it, Isabelle?” He ran a trembling hand through his hair. She’d never seen him like this. “Didn’t you listen to what I said last night? I have enemies. Somebody found me. He knows where I live. And now he probably also knows about you. That means he can hurt you to get to me. That’s why I didn’t want you to come here.”

“I’m sorry.” She reached out to him, but stopped herself. She wasn’t afraid of him, but she knew he wouldn’t be pacified with just a touch. She hadn’t given his words from the previous night as much weight as she should have. His talk about enemies hadn’t sounded like an imminent threat. But now, she suddenly saw that whatever the threat was, was very real. To him. He was scared that something bad could happen.

She wished she had realized this earlier, but couldn’t leave now. She had to tell him why she was here in the first place. “I’m really sorry, but I needed to talk to you. It’s important.”

Orlando sighed. “I guess there’s no use closing the barn doors after the horses already escaped.”

Isabelle shrugged. “I wish we were merely talking about escaped horses. But this is more serious. It’s about the murder of Wayne Hong.”

For a moment, he furrowed his brow, then something seemed to click. “The mailman that got killed? What about him?”

“Scanguards is investigating the murder. A vampire killed Hong on Tuesday night in his home in Glen Park. I’m the lead on the case, and I went to the crime scene earlier tonight. I found something.”

Orlando shrugged. “As is to be expected at a crime scene, I assume.”

She reached for her handbag and pulled out the letter she’d stuffed in there when she’d searched the house with Nelson. She handed it to him. “I found this.”

He took the envelope, looked at it, turned it around, then looked at it again. “That’s the bill for my car insurance.” He shook his head, staring right at her. “This place is on his route.” He grunted. “But that wouldn’t be an excuse for him to have my mail. Was he stealing other people’s mail too?”

“This was the only letter that wasn’t addressed to him or his wife. But it’s not all I found.”

“What else?” He gestured to her handbag, clearly expecting her to pull out another piece of evidence. But this piece she didn’t have on her. Nelson had taken it.

“A car key.” She hesitated, watching his reaction. “For a Hummer. Only, Mr. Hong didn’t drive a Hummer.”

Orlando narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“The key had slipped between the seat cushions on the sofa where Mr. Hong was brutally killed.”

He let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. “So you are saying what I think you’re saying. You think I did it.”

To her own surprise, she shook her head. “No, I don’t think you killed him. But it would help if I could verify that you have your key to your car.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key ring. On it dangled two regular keys plus the key for the Hummer. “Satisfied?”