Read Online Crimson Vengeance by Sheri Lewis Wohl - Free Book Online

outburst of disbelief. Through the years he’d been called everything from a wacko to delusional to just plain heartless and mean. People didn’t like to be told that something from their darkest nightmares might actually be real.
    “Get in the car,” she ordered, as if he was one of her staff.
    Her reaction would’ve surprised him if not for the scene yesterday. Last night the three women knew what they had on the table, and now Ivy Hernandez confirmed what he’d already figured out. He wasn’t the only one in the cemetery this morning who knew a vampire was the leading murder suspect.
    “You know,” he said as he slid into the passenger seat.
    “Yes.” The single word was soft.

    She turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life.
    She began to drive toward town where her morgue and office were located, but surprised Colin when she took a left at the main drag.
    Instead of going back to her office, they headed toward I-90. Once more she surprised him when, rather than pull on the freeway, she hung another right and drove into the parking lot of a large truck stop just north of the freeway.
    “Come on,” she said. “I need a really big cup of coffee.”
    Inside the bustling restaurant, she slid into a booth at the rear and he took the seat across from her. He waited until a cheerful waitress deposited two mugs and a carafe of coffee before he spoke.
    “How do you know about the vampire?” Colin decided taking the offensive was the quickest way to the truth. Besides, he wasn’t in the mood for social niceties.
    As she sipped the hot coffee with her eyes closed, he studied her. After a moment, her whole body seemed to relax, though when she opened her eyes and looked at him, her face was still tense. He wanted to touch her cheek, smooth away the care. He didn’t. He kept his hand wrapped around his own hot mug.
    “I’ve known about the existence of vampires for a little over a decade.”
    “No shit?”
    “No shit,” she echoed, and pushed the hair off her face. “Jorge is my third vampire victim in as many weeks.”
    That much he knew. The first victim was what set him on a path for this part of the country. Victim number two was killed just hours before he rolled into town. And number three, and a very interesting number three, had him sitting in a truck stop with the beautiful county coroner.
    “How did you find out about our evil dark predators?”
    “They’re not all evil or predators.” Fire danced in her eyes again, and though he didn’t understand why, he liked the fact that it wiped the despair from her face.
    “I would respectfully disagree.” He’d followed enough bodies over the years to know what he spoke of. Regardless of what Ivy thought, vampires were an abhorrence of nature. No, not of nature—
    of something far darker and more evil.
    “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” She started to push up and away from the table. Her voice had risen, catching the attention of a few nearby diners.
    Colin put his hand on hers. Very quietly he said, “I’ll tell you why I think of vampires the way I do, and you can tell me why you disagree. Deal?”
    She paused and seemed to mull his proposition over. Then, she nodded and slid back into the booth. “You first.”
    He finally took a drink of the coffee, not that he was thirsty; he just needed a minute to organize his thoughts. “All right, here it is, down and dirty. I’m a vampire hunter with the requisite tools of the trade. I work for the church and began to train when I was fourteen years old. I’ve been an active hunter since I was eighteen. As you can tell, I’m a little older now, so suffice it to say, I’ve been at this a long time. I’ve destroyed so many of these creatures I lost count a long time ago. Not one, and I do mean not one, has been anything but a blood-sucking monster. There are two left we’re aware of.
    One, right here in your little burg. The other, I’m not sure. We lost her trail