Read Online Stalking the Others by Jess Haines - Free Book Online Page B

autumn leaves. It had the added benefit of taking the edge off the belt’s need for an adrenaline rush. The trench coat hid my weapons, and the armor was sufficient for keeping me out of harm’s way, but it wasn’t a great substitute for a turtleneck and some sweatpants. I stopped when I reached the Pelham Cemetery on King Avenue, glancing around to make sure I wasn’t being watched.
    No one was awake at this hour to see my intrusion into the domain of the dead, and it seemed a fitting place to make my call. Ignoring the P RIVATE P ROPERTY N O T RESPASSING sign, I slid over the black wrought iron fence. The headstones loomed in the darkness, lit by little more than moonlight and a few distant lights from a nearby marina.
    Passing a tall, blue-white spire dedicated to someone named Jennings, I crouched in the dead grass by a thick shrub to minimize my visibility to anyone who might happen to drive by or look out his or her window. No one to see me here but any lingering ghosts. The salt sea breeze laced with smells of gasoline and old fish stung my nose, and the biting cold seemed worse here, this close to the water. Shivering, I dialed the cell phone number I had committed to memory that had been scrawled on the back of the cop’s card, figuring I’d leave a message. The detective surprised me by picking up after a couple rings.
    “Hello?”
    “Detective Smith? It’s Shiarra Waynest.”
    There was a very lengthy pause before he answered. “It’s good to know you’re alive. I’m surprised you called.”
    “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t have if I could have avoided it. I don’t suppose you know why some of your fellow boys in blue tried to pull me in for questioning, do you?”
    “Someone very high up wants to get their hands on you. First it was just for questioning as a witness in the disappearances and murders. Running made you a suspect.” That sent a thrill of fear down my spine. My grip tightened on the phone, and I had to lean against a nearby tree for balance while he continued talking. “Wherever you’re hiding, you’re doing a good job. Stay there, and keep your head down. We’ve managed arrests on a couple of the Weres who were involved, but most of them are still at large, and you and your friend are still in danger. Plus, you’re the only witness in our case against the Sunstrikers who’s still alive. I know you didn’t do it, and I need you to close this damned case, so stay out of downtown as much as you can.”
    “Okay. Shit.”
    “Yeah. By the way, your ex and his cronies are doing a better job of hiding than you are. I don’t suppose you might have given him some tips on where to hide? So far we haven’t been able to track down any of the men you indicated were involved. Have you and Ms. Halloway had any run-ins?”
    I wasn’t about to tell him I’d been searching for Chaz and Dillon, too. Disappointing, since he’d already essentially answered the question I’d been intending to ask him. Then his last question registered. “Sorry, what? I haven’t, but—hasn’t Sara been keeping in touch with you?”
    “Not since the phone call a couple weeks ago. I assumed she was with you since both of you fell off the radar after one of our officers jumped the gun and tried to take you in. Are you saying she isn’t with you?”
    I cursed softly. “No. No, she’s not with me, but she’s safe.” I really, really hoped that wasn’t a lie. God damn Royce. Whatever the vampire had done to Sara, I’d make him repay a thousandfold.
    Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to pay him a visit before sunrise. Without the belt, during the day I’d be at a bigger disadvantage than he would.
    “Wherever it is, it better be safer than Fort Knox. The vampires in the city have been withdrawing their assistance from any programs that support Weres since that girl was killed—Trish Booker, the CEO of that genetics research corporation—and there have been a few skirmishes. Killing someone who was