Page 70 of Isabelle’s Forbidden Love

“Orlando received an anonymous note from somebody who knows about Orlando’s past in Montreal. There were fingerprints inside the envelope, which could only have come from the person writing the note. His name is Dennis LaRuson.”

Nelson sat there, and it looked as if the video had frozen for a few moments.

“Nelson? Can you still hear us?” Isabelle asked.

“Yeah, yeah, go on.”

“Apparently, Dennis LaRuson is a criminal from Montreal, who was turned into a vampire sometime around the 1980s. He was obsessed with Orlando’s wife, and we believe that he’s out for revenge.”

Isabelle felt Cooper’s incredulous gaze on her and gave him a sideways glance. “I spoke to Ines, the Arnaud family’s old housekeeper. The family was murdered in Montreal, and she told me who LaRuson is.” She turned back to the monitor. “He’s a violent criminal, and he’s got an axe to grind. I believe he’ll stop at nothing to get back at Orlando.”

“Well, that’s not a lot to go by so far. Does this Ines person have a photo of that guy?” Nelson asked, leaning forward.

“Not sure. She’s looking,” Isabelle said. “She has a dozen boxes she has to go through.”

“Hmm.” Nelson rubbed his nape. “Okay, I think I have a few ideas of how to proceed. I’ll need the fingerprint file if you have it. I can run that through AFIS. Maybe we can get a hit. Give me an hour to come up with a few things.”

“Yeah sure. Just let me know what you need from us,” Isabelle said.

“Oh,” Cooper said raising his hand. “There’s something else about the anonymous note. I almost forgot about it.”

“What?” Isabelle asked.

“The handwriting.”

“What’s with the handwriting?” Nelson asked.

“I’ve seen it before. I just can’t remember where. But I’m sure it’ll come back to me.”

“Hmm.” Nelson’s forehead furrowed. “I’m not sure that’ll help us if you can’t remember where you’ve seen it before. And maybe it’s just similar but not identical.” He shrugged.

“Odd,” Isabelle added with a look at Cooper. “I saw the note too. And now that you’re mentioning it, the handwriting looked familiar to me too.”

“Okay, guys,” Nelson interrupted. “Hate to be the party pooper, but that’s not gonna help us right now. Let’s work with what we’ve got. I’ll call you shortly, once I’ve worked out what needs to be done. Can I reach you on your cell phone?”

Isabelle cast Cooper a quizzical look.

“We retrieved it. It’s in your office.”

“Okay, Nelson. You’ll be able to reach me on my cell.”

“Good. And I assume we’re all in agreement that neither Samson nor the police chief can find out what we’re doing behind their backs, right?”

“Right.”

“Good, ‘cause I don’t wanna get fired over this,” Nelson said with a nod, before he signed off.

When the screen went blank, Isabelle turned back to Cooper. “Let’s go get my cell phone.”

“All right.” Cooper went to the door and opened it slowly, then peered out. “All clear.”

“Let’s take the stairs instead of the elevator.”

“I can go get it for you, and meet you down here when I have it,” Cooper suggested.

“It’s okay, I’m coming with you. I need a couple of other things from my office anyway.”

“As you wish.”