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“Yes. It’s not like I’m going to sleep either way.”

He didn’t reply. He keyed open the door into the main area and then led the way across the room, his movements filled with repressed frustration and anger. Once we were outside, I got my keys out of my purse and walked down to my car.

“You’re going to have to replace the windshield. It’s not safe to drive it too far with it like—” He paused, leaned closer to the glass, and then swore. “It wasn’t a damn stone that caused that hole.”

I frowned. “If it had been anything larger, I would have seen it.”

His gaze came to mine, and the fury I’d sensed earlier was now full-blown.

“What?” I said, my heart beating somewhere in my throat.

“If I’m not mistaken, that hole was caused by a goddamn bullet.” His expression was fierce. Angry. For me, not at me. “Someone was trying to kill you.”

Chapter Nine

“No way,” I retorted, not attempting to control my disbelief. “And even if it is a bullet hole, wouldn’t I have been hit? Or at least have heard it hitting something inside the car?”

He stepped around me and opened the car door. “Given the car was out of control and spinning at the time, probably not.”

“I still don’t get why you’d think someone was trying to kill me.” I crossed my arms against the chill gathering around me

, and watched as he began checking the inside of the car. “You said yourself not so long ago that some farmers within the reservation were granted special rifle licenses to shoot vermin. Maybe that’s what they were doing, and a shot simply went astray.”

“Where were you when the accident happened?”

I shrugged, a movement he had no hope of seeing given he was currently inspecting the side of the driver headrest. “About halfway between Guildford and Castle Rock.”

“So plenty of rolling hills and rocks?”

“Yes, and if there’d been anyone close enough to shoot at me, I would have seen them.”

“Exactly. The fact you didn’t suggests they might have been using either the rocks or trees as cover.” He glanced at me, a slight smile teasing his lips despite the sternness of his expression. “Unless, of course, the reason you didn’t see them was that in your anxiety to make our dinner date, you were dangerously over the speed limit and the landscape was little more than a blur.”

“I like you, Aiden, but I’m not willing to risk my life for you.”

“Your actions against that vampire say otherwise—which is something else I reminded the damn council about.” He pulled a glove out of his pocket. “You got a pen in that bag of yours?”

I fished one out and handed it to him. “Why on earth would you carry silicone gloves and not a pen?”

“Because I don’t write up scene reports. I record them and then download them onto my computer via an app. I will always need gloves, however.”

He dug the pen into the side of the headrest, and after a moment, something plopped into his right hand. He grunted and held it up for me to see. It was indeed a bullet.

I rubbed my arms, but it wasn’t doing much against the damn chill. “I really can’t believe it was deliberate. No one here has any reason to want me dead.”

Although I guess I was helping to hunt down the soul eater and the witch responsible for his presence here. Still, it was unusual for a witch to use such a mundane means to get rid of a foe.

“If it had been a stray shot from a farmer, they would have seen your near accident and reported it.” He pulled off his glove, enclosing the bullet within it. “I’ll need to impound your car for a day or so; we’ll have to go over it and check if there were any more shots taken. I’ll get the windshield fixed when we’re finished.”

“Except we’ll need the thing if we get booted out tomorrow.”

“They’ll give you time to pack everything up, Liz. As I said, they’re not heartless. However, you’ll need to be careful until we discover why someone took a potshot at you.” He slammed the door shut and plucked the keys from my hand. After taking the car keys off the main ring, he handed them back. “Let’s get you home.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were on station duty?”

“I’m there in case something comes up. Something did.” He waved me forward and then fell into step beside me. “It might be better if you call off trying to find—”

“No,” I said, before he could finish. “Even though I’m not convinced Larissa and her need for revenge are the reason the soul eater is here, until we find her, we simply can’t be sure. And given she’s managed to avoid all your efforts to locate her, using psychometry is our only other option if we want a fast resolution.”

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