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He laughed even though he was screaming inside. “Sorry, mate. Got here early and drank more than my fair share of whisky, I’m afraid. Even made me think I smelled an old friend on you, but now, I realize that I was wrong.”
“Oh.” Randy appeared mollified, but he winced as he rubbed his arms. “I didn’t know that you, uh,couldget drunk.”
He couldn’t on anything that a human bar served, but Randy’s ignorance of vampires was to Bones’s advantage now.
Bones threw a hundred-dollar bill on the countertop and affected a sheepish expression. “Yeah, enough whisky will do even my kind dirty. In fact, why don’t we go to your place instead of staying here? Don’t think I should drink more.”
“Sure,” Randy said without hesitation. “Denise is getting dinner with a friend after her fitting, so we’ll have the house to ourselves. I know a great place that delivers, too.”
“Smashing,” Bones said before adding, “Who’s this friend?”
“Cristine,” Randy replied. “She’s Denise’s maid of honor. She helped move my stuff into the house today, and wow, is she strong! Guess she’d need to be, with her job.”
“What job is that?” Bones said while thinkingCristine. Local to Richmond. Best mates with Denise.Bloody hell, he’d have Cat’s address tonight with such a bounty of facts!
“FBI,” Randy replied. “Cool, right?”
“Very,” Bones managed, unable to keep the hoarseness from his voice. Thishadto be Cat! Every piece fit.
“Best if you drive,” Bones said, leading Randy toward the door. “Just have to grab something from my ride first.”
“Sure,” Randy said, oblivious.
Pity that Bones had to dose him, but Randy needed to quickly fall asleep and forget this conversation. A pinch of the chemicals Bones had in his glove box should accomplish both.
“Ready?” Randy said after Bones met him at Randy’s car.
“More than,” Bones replied. Just not for the take-out food and male bonding that Randy thought was about to happen.
Soon, Kitten. Very soon.
8
Four hours later, Bones hid behind an electricity pole in one of Richmond’s many residential neighborhoods. At one in the morning, the streets were so empty and quiet that he could hear snores from people sleeping in the nearby homes.
That’s how he heard the car blocks before it turned onto this street. The black Volvo SUV slowed as it approached the cul-de-sac, and then parked in front of a blue house with white trim. Moments later, a woman hopped out. Her back was to him, but Bones didn’t need to see her face to know his search was over. Moonlight danced across Cat’s bare arms as if envious of her skin’s faint luminescence, and her silhouette showed off her lithe limbs and ripe curves as if taunting him.
Bones gripped the wooden pole concealing him. He’d thought nothing could compare to what he felt when he snuck inside her house and her scent enveloped him from every angle, but this…
Cat’s head suddenly whipped around.
Bones ducked behind the pole. His aura was locked down, and he hadn’t made a sound. What had attracted her attention, then?
A glimpse revealed Cat stretching her hands as if trying to grasp something unseen in the air. Bones stiffened. She might be feeling traces of his aura from when he’d first come to her house. He hadn’t locked it down then because she hadn’t been there. Had he left too much of it behind?
At least she wouldn’t be able to scent him. Her nose was the only part of Cat that hadn’t been supernaturally enhanced. She also shouldn’t be able to see him since he was two blocks away. Just in case she somehow felt his gaze, he looked away.
No sounds for several minutes. Each second grated across Bones’s nerves. Finally, he heard faint footfalls, and they weren’t coming closer. He risked a glance and saw that Cat was now headed inside her house. Moments later, the front door shut, and he heard her say “Hey, Helsing,” to her kitty.
That kitty was the only other occupant of the house. Furthermore, the only pictures Cat had were of her mum, Denise, and Helsing. If she had someone special in her life, he hadn’t reached photo-displaying status.
But she also lacked cameras in or around her property, and he’d worn a full ski mask anticipating those. His scanner also hadn’t picked up any recording devices in or around her house, so if Cat was still being monitored by her boss, then Don was doing it by bloody satellite.
Annette’s words rang in Bones’s mind.Even before you left her that watch, if she truly wanted to contact you, she could have…her silenceisher message. It states her preferences quite clearly…
So it would seem. But if Cat no longer cared, why had she kept the car? That black Volvo had been his Christmas present to her several years ago. And why had she spared Ian? And why, out of every name in the world, had she chosenthatalias?
Bones had searched for Cat under countless variations of her name, her mum’s name, her grandparents’ names, their parents’ names, and so on since people usually picked some iteration of their family’s names for an alias. Not Cat, as he’d found out a few hours ago. She’d been living under the name Cristine Russell-and Russell was the surname name that Bones had been born with almost two hundred and fifty years ago.
