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Bones closed his eyes. He should have realized that’s where Charles’s unusual coldness had stemmed from. Instead, he’d been too wrapped up in his own pain to notice how deeply his friend was still hurting, too.
“You’re not ruined, mate. At worst, you’re scarred, but scars only show the places where we’ve healed back stronger.”
Something like a strangled laugh escaped Charles. “You, a poetic optimistic? Now I’ve truly seen everything.”
“Not yet, but would you like to see a slice of Richmond, Virginia, if you’re still in the States?” Bones asked in as casual a manner as possible. “Specifically, the exterior of a building that contains America’s top secret undead hunters?”
Instantly, Charles’s tone changed to diamondlike hardness. “You think they might try to spirit Cat away again?”
“I think it’s possible. But they wouldn’t expect a double aerial assault if they attempt to evacuate her by plane, and Rodney’s already in place if they try something on the ground.”
“I can be there in three hours,” Charles said, sounding fully awake now. “Just tell me where to go.”
Bones did, then thanked Charles and hung up.
During the days since he’d found Cat, he’d learned everything he could about her “office.” From the outside, it looked like a small professional complex set three miles off a public side street, with security checkpoints at each mile until you reached the main building. A narrow airstrip and helicopter pad ended at the tree line that surrounded half the site, while a normal-looking parking lot and fence surrounded the rest.
Yet appearances, as always, were deceiving. Most of the complex was several levels underground, according to the few blueprints Bones had found on it. It had originally been a secret fallout shelter during the Cold War, and had since been repurposed for Don Williams’ clandestine hunting operation.
Cat drove to work there nearly every day. If she went today and didn’t drive back out, Bones would attack with the kind of savageness they wouldn’t live long enough to be haunted by.
Two hours and fifty minutes later, Charles rang to say that he was in position. Five hours after that, Cat’s black Volvo blipped on his scanner as she drove by Bones’s office. The transmitter Bones had hidden on it when it was parked at the country club for Denise and Randy’s wedding showed Cat was headed into work.
Bones left at once, a helmet hiding his features as he followed her on his new Ducati. When Cat turned off the public road onto the complex’s private exit, he passed it by instead of turning there as well. He already knew that cameras monitored everything from fifty meters beyond that exit all the way to the compound, and if Ted’s hacking was correct, the area was also littered with weight-sensors beneath the ground to warn of any intruders who might try to sneak onto the complex on foot.
But Bones wasn’t trying to storm the property. Just to prevent any planes or unmarked vehicles from leaving it.
A nerve-grinding hour later, Cat pulled out of the compound and back onto the main road. Bones only caught a glimpse of her face from his hiding point, but she looked flushed with anger. Don must have confirmed his knowledge of her longevity. He’d also let her leave under her own recognizance. Interesting.
Bones rang Charles and Rodney. “Stand down, mates. So far, all is well, and she’s on her way home.”
“You let us know if isn’t,” Charles said. “I’ll be there.”
“Me, too,” Rodney said.
“Thanks, both of you,” Bones replied. “I owe you.”
But Bones was wrong. Cat didn’t drive home. She didn’t visit her mum to confront her next, either. She went to Noah’s.
Ice burned if you held it long enough. That’s what Bones felt as he watched Noah usher her inside his house with a wide smile-a cold, painful, insidious burn. Had he been wrong in assuming that Cat held only tepid affections for the bloke?
No, he realized moments later when Cat started to tell Noah a far more apologetic version of “it’s not you, it’s me.” Ah. She’d come to end things between them.
Should’ve left him a note,that cold burn whispered.
Bones pushed it aside. He needed to move past his bitterness if they were going to have a future. Nursing that grudge would only sabotage everything he was trying to build.
Finally, after several more apologies, Cat left Noah’s and drove home. Bones waited nearby for half an hour to see if anyone from her team would check on her, but no one did. Finally, Bones left. He had to clean up and change. Cat wasn’t going to be alone for very long tonight.
* * *
That evening,Bones slipped into the side door of Cat’s house. All it took was a quick lock pick. She really needed a security system. Her cat was useless. The feline only gave him a baleful blink as Bones walked by. Then again, heaven help the prowler that broke into Cat’s house intending to rob her.
Cat was in her kitchen, heating up a frozen pre-packaged meal in her microwave. She tensed as she felt the brush of his aura, and then her shoulders unclenched.
“It’s polite to knock. My front door’s not broken.”
“Yes, but this is more dramatic, don’t you think?” Bones replied in a light tone.
