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She had no idea who he was, though. His dark hair was fanned over the side of his face. He wore the leather pants the Border Patrol men wore, so there was a good chance he served on the Crescent force. He had burns all down his arms and chest, along with severe bruising, and enough cuts to finally bleed him out.
Her stomach knotted up. She had to look away, regroup.
She focused on the tri-part bridge itself and each of three sets of entrance-exist gates. A ‘T’ formation occurred in the center of the bridge and led to east Phoenix. This part was guarded by the US Border Patrol. The main bridge itself served to connect Elegance Territory with Crescent.
Witches and wizards lived in Elegance exclusively. Vampires in Crescent.
Right now, Sentinel Bridge looked like something out of a movie, with a dozen cop cars lit up, lights flashing at all three control points. The closest vehicle was maybe forty yards away.
But why had Donaldson wanted her out here? What possible good could come from her presence? She was only sent to witness a case like this, make a report, and offer suggestions about follow-up, most of which would never be acted on. One of the Border Patrol stations would handle the case itself. She had no significant role, except possibly in identifying the Elegance victim.
She stood alone in the center of the bridge, her bike a few yards away. She’d already spoken with the Elegance Border Patrol officers who’d been directed to wait for her, but at a serious distance. According to them, the vampires were sending a man in to have a look.
She put a hand to her chest and walked in a slow circle. In the distance, she caught sight of a Crescent officer levitating above the flashing police cars. He was heading in the direction of the crime scene.
Now she’d have to deal with a macho vampire, who’d no doubt give her grief because she was a witch.
Returning to the two victims, she set her gaze on the dead vampire. He was bare-chested and like most BP officers, had lots of tattoos. He was lean and heavily muscled. His pants were cut up badly in a number of places.
She had so many questions. Why were the two of them placed here? Were they involved in some way? And how the hell could any of the drug lords orchestrate this kind of closing of Sentinel in order to put the couple in position? The Tribunal had charge of the five major bridges.
From her peripheral, she saw the vampire land. She turned toward him and lost the ability to breathe all over again. “Connor.”
Holy shit, the second time tonight. The third if she counted his hovering above her house. But why was he out here now?
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“Iris.” He’d never looked more startled as he stared at her. “You were called to Sentinel? You specifically?”
“I was. And you?”
He nodded.
Her mind spun. “Is Sentinel part of the territory you usually cover?”
“Nope.” He was scowling hard.
“I wasn’t even supposed to be on duty tonight.”
He shook his head. “Why are either of us here? This makes no sense.”
“I totally agree with you.”
His gaze fell to the couple. “They’ve been tortured.”
She nodded in agreement, but had to work at swallowing again.
When he shifted his gaze back to her, she found it hard to breathe. She didn’t know what he was thinking, but like hell she was going to look away first.
She knew the game. Vampires valued strength above just about everything else and one thing the battling of his kind had made her: She was damn strong.
His jaw worked and his eyes narrowed as he finally shifted his gaze once more to the couple on the pavement. “So what do we have here?”
Iris looked at the wrecked bodies once more. “I have no idea.”
He waved a hand toward the woman. “And she’s a witch.”
“Yes. Sadie Thompson. She worked at the Tribunal, though in a different department.” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t know her well, but I understand she was a good, hard working woman.”
