Viper (Sons of Sangue)

by Patricia A. Rasey

  Cara sighed, then said, “We have footprints leading back to the area where the body was found.”

  “You have casts? Then match it to my boot and prove I was there. But considering the amount of rain we had that night, I’m betting your evidence washed down the hill. How far off am I?”

  If Joe hadn’t been standing mere feet behind her, she might have pummeled his smug chest. Kane knew she bluffed and that they had no evidence at all to point to him or Kaleb having been at that site before they arrived to cordon off the area. But someone had been digging up that body and messing with the crime scene, and she would bet her grandfather’s life that it was either Kane or Kaleb. The brothers, no doubt, covered for one another. Call it intuition, but she knew.

  At Kane’s obvious lake of respect, Joe started to step around her. But Cara held out her arm, staying her partner. She wouldn’t allow Kane to think he could best her or that she needed her partner to go to battle for her. Besides, where would Joe be tonight when she showed back up at the clubhouse under Kane’s protection?

  “You know, Mister Tepes,” —she stuck with formality since he said he preferred her not to— “you aren’t helping your case if you are in fact innocent by not cooperating.”

  His gaze darkened, and Cara swore she could see just hint of the obsidian-like glass his eyes turned to in his vampire state. “Just so you know, Detective, I am cooperating. If I weren’t, you’d still be pounding on the fucking door.”

  “Then why lie about being at the scene.”

  “You haven’t proven I was, therefore you can’t make the assumption I’m lying.”

  “Someone was out there. That much we know. Someone disturbed the make-shift gravesite … maybe someone who had a stake in this.”

  “And what stake would I have?”

  “She was your girlfriend.”

  “I thought we already established that I didn’t have a girlfriend. Don’t embellish the facts or put your own spin on the truth. She was someone I fucked on occasion. And that’s all she was to me.”

  “So did you get rid of the annoyance?”

  Kane’s brow furrowed. “Now what direction has your inquisitive little mind taken you? Why the hell would I want to rid myself of a good piece of ass?”

  “Was she?”

  He laughed, humor twinkling in his gaze. “Why would you or your case care whether my last fuck was any good?”

  “Because if she were, then maybe you wouldn’t have killed her.”

  “Or maybe you have a personal interest.”

  Cara looked briefly at Joe to see his reaction. She couldn’t tell if her partner was angry at her for the line of questioning going south or mad at the biker for insinuating she might be jealous. She certainly hoped for the latter or she’d have a lot of explaining to do.

  “You live in a dream world, Mister Tepes, one where every blonde haired, blue-eyed woman cannot resist you.”

  He raised one brow. “I haven’t found one yet who could.”

  “Then your ego is inflated, because this blonde is resistant to your charms.”

  His smile widened. He didn’t believe her. And why should he? She hadn’t given him any reason to. No, just mere hours ago she damn near gave him everything he desired from her.

  “Let’s get back to the questions, Viper,” Joe growled, his temper showing.

  “That’s Mister Tepes to you, asshole.” Kane’s humor quickly retreated. “Ask your questions, then get the fuck off my property. But if you even start with whether I was at Bender Landing County Park the night in question, you should know, my answer hasn’t changed.”

  “And my belief that you were there hasn’t either,” Joe retorted.

  “Then we’re at a standstill. It’s your job to prove I was, Detective. Why not go do your job?” Kane glanced back at Cara. “And unless you can prove I had anything to do with Tab’s murder, or that I even had a motive, I suggest you find someone else to harass. I’m done here.”

  With that, he shut the door in their faces. A complete waste of time, Cara thought. Not to mention they had probably put Kane in one hell of a mood, for which she would likely pay later. Cara let out a steady stream of air, turned on the step and headed for her vehicle, hoping that Joe would let the innuendoes go without question.

  * * *

  “Where the hell have you been?” Cara’s grandfather griped, his voice raspy from years of smoking, even before she passed through the open doorway, a slice of his favorite peanut butter pie in hand.

  The late afternoon sun poured through the opened, west-facing window as a cool, fall breeze caused the tan sheers to float softly across the tiled floor. She had been running late, due to the busy supper crowd at Tom’s Deli. Joe and Cara put their time to good use. After a filling supper, they interviewed the crowd. Finding someone who might have seen a person dropping the cell phone used to call the S.O. across the street two days prior, though, didn’t happen. Had it not been for the great food, Cara would have called it a complete bust. She purchased a slice of pie to go and parted ways with Joe.

  “You know some of us have to work for a living, Grandpa,” she said with a smile as she bussed his cheek and laid the pie on the dinner tray, still sitting on the bedside table next to him. A roast beef open-faced sandwich, dripping with brown gray, and a perfectly rounded scoop of potatoes appeared all but untouched. “Doesn’t look like you ate much for supper.”

  “‘Cause I was waiting for that pie. I had to save room, you know.” He patted his slightly rounded belly. “Watching my figure for the ladies.”

  Cara chuckled. “They don’t stand a chance with you around, Grandpa. And if you don’t learn to eat better, you won’t have the energy to chase them.”

  She took a seat on the edge of the bed, grasping her grandfather’s weathered hand. The veins stood out in contrast from his brittle bones; the skin-covering seemed to get more loose and transparent every day. She knew her grandfather’s years were numbered and she wanted to cherish each and every one of them. After all, to her, he was the last of her family. Cara turned his hand over. A dark bruise marred his right wrist. At his age, it didn’t take much to purple his delicate skin. She rubbed the injured area.

  “Where did you get this one from?”

  “Getting out of bed.” He glanced at the wrist she held. Cara knew he loved the close bond they shared. “They put those bed rails up every night like I’m some damn child.”

  “They don’t want you falling out of bed, Grandpa.” Cara smiled. “If a bump caused this bruise, imagine what a fall would do. Don’t you be giving these ladies a hard time here. They take good care of you. I can’t be looking for a new home for you, one that would be willing to put up with your old cranky ass. I have a job to do.”

  “Bah! Cranky! You go right ahead and find me a new place, missy. These gals don’t give me no slices of peanut butter pie! That’s for sure.”

  Cara laughed again. “Then you best be nice to me or I won’t bring them either.”

  “Ain’t it a Saturday?”

  “You know it is, Grandpa. I come every Saturday evening to see you.”

  “You should pick another day.”

  Cara smiled. She knew what was coming. He never stopped chiding her about not having a man in her life.

  “Saturday is for courting. You should be out on a date.”

  “Don’t worry, Grandpa. You aren’t taking some man’s time. I’m still not seeing anyone.”

  His weathered brow creased. “You best stop playing so hard to get. You ain’t getting any younger and I ain’t dying until I get me a great-grandbaby. How about that nice detective you work with?”

  “Joe?” Cara laughed. On occasion, Joe would stop in to see her grandfather, said he liked the old fart … made him laugh. “He’s already married. Don’t you be pushing me off on someone else’s man. I can get my own.”

  “Well, you sure ain’t doing a very good job of it.”

  Her grandfather picked up the remote, turned on th
e television set and changed the channel to the news. Settled, he reached for the pie and began taking large bites.

  “You best not fill yourself with dessert. You need to eat some roast beef, too, old man.”

  “Who you calling old?” he said around a mouthful. “I can still outrun you on a bad day.”

  “I’d like to see that. You can barely get out of that chair.”

  Finished with the pie, he set down the empty plate and turned to look at Cara, his gaze serious. “You need a man in your life, girlie. You can’t spend the rest of your life alone. I only have so many good years left. Then who’s going to take care of you?”

  “I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for over ten years.”

  He sighed, moisture misting his eyes. “Don’t I know it and it’s a damned shame. Your mother was a good-for-nothing whore. Worked your father to death and took every damn dime he had. Made too many excuses for that one, he did.”

  “You don’t have tell me…,” She patted his weathered hand. “I lived it, remember?”

  “Exactly why you need to find yourself a good man. You’ve had enough unhappiness in one lifetime. You deserve to have a nice family.”

  Cara smiled, hugged his hand to her chest. She knew he meant well and only wanted the best for her. But finding a man hadn’t been a priority, let alone had she ever thought about the word family. She lived for her career, which didn’t provide her a lot of time for dating. Besides, the men she came across on a daily basis weren’t worth having. No, she was better off alone.

  Kane came to mind.

  Her nights were about to get a lot less lonely. She didn’t plan on telling her grandfather that, though. He’d likely want to meet him, Cara thought with a chuckle. But Grandpa wasn’t ready for the vampire.

  “I have to go, Grandpa. There’s someplace I need to be tonight. I hope you don’t mind me cutting it short.”

  “You going to see a man?”

  “In fact, I am … but we’re just friends. Don’t you go getting no ideas.”

  “Bah!” He waved his hand in the air. “No such thing as a man friend. You go. Don’t keep him waiting on my account.”

  Cara kissed his cheek again. “I’ll be back next Saturday.”

  “You come see me another night.” His nearly toothless grin always brightened her day. “You save Saturday for that new friend of yours.”

  “Fine! No sense arguing with a bullhead.”

  “Not when you know I’m right. Now get on, get out of here.”

  Cara waved at him as she left the room, dread settling in her stomach as the sun began setting, casting an eerie glow down the long hallway to the entrance. Time had just about run out, and she had an angry vampire waiting for her.

  Chapter 14

  The door opened and Kane stepped back, his hand gesturing for Cara to enter. Her stomach fluttered. Hell, forget the butterflies, it felt more like a nest of angry bees. The entire ride from the nursing home here had her more nervous than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. She had packed an overnight bag before leaving the house that morning, knowing if she hadn’t shown up at the clubhouse, Kane would have in all probability retrieved her. She’d rather save herself the embarrassment and show up unescorted. No sense making him go all cavemen on her.

  Cara squared her shoulders and stepped beyond Kane without a word, her soft soles nearly soundless as they struck the wooden floor. A quick glance about, to her good fortune, told her they were completely alone. Thank goodness for small favors. Better to get settled before any of the other members descended on the club and discovered her presence.

  “Dare I hope you’re the only one here.”

  “For now,” Kane said, shutting the door quietly behind her.

  She hadn’t heard his footfalls but knew he stood very close, felt the heat of him through her clothes as his breath whispered across her nape. “Did you intend on pissing me off earlier?”

  Cara turned and looked up at him, his expression absolutely murderous. She steeled her resolve and wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her cower.

  “It’s my job, Kane. You need to let me do it.”

  “If you’re so fucking sure I killed Tab, then why the hell are you here without your shadow?”

  “Because, honestly, I have no one else to trust. You’re it. Is that what you want to hear? That my life may very well depend on you? Besides, you said you would retrieve me if I didn’t show up. I thought I’d save you the effort.”

  Kane appeared too damned pleased with himself that he was her only option for protection. At least he no longer looked at her as though he wanted to add her to the growing number of victims.

  “Does anyone know that I’m staying here?”

  He shook his head, then ran a large tanned hand through his unruly black hair. “Looks like you’ll be tonight’s surprise.”

  “Who all lives here at the clubhouse?”

  “Just me, Kaleb and Grayson. With any luck you’ll only have to contend with the three of us tonight. There’s been no meeting called, so hopefully the rest of the Sons will be otherwise occupied.”

  “And how many bedrooms are there?”

  “Three.”

  That was probably something she should have inquired about before her arrival. Certainly, he didn’t think— “I’m not sharing your bed, Kane.”

  Kane rolled his eyes, then reached for the bag she had slung over one shoulder. “Get over yourself, Detective. I’ll be sleeping on the couch. Even if I had intended to fuck you, this afternoon’s visit squashed any desire I might have had.”

  Cara wasn’t sure if Kane jested. But either way, she was glad to have dodged that bullet for the time being.

  “Remind me, then, to piss you off the next time you think to change the status of our relationship.”

  Living under the same roof, she planned to steer clear of him, arriving at dusk and gone by dawn. The less time she spent in the man’s exasperating company, the more she’d not have to worry about exposing her vulnerability. She almost laughed at the irony. The clubhouse was to be her safe haven from this unknown killer, this primordial Kane had referred to. But who was going to keep her heart safe from Kane?

  She certainly hoped Kane was correct that his OMC brothers would be an impassable barrier, making sure the two stayed polar opposites. Because just being alone with him threatened to break down her walls, not to mention what it did to her libido. Cara had a bad feeling that if she were ever stupid enough to sleep with Kane, he’d crush her far worse than the man who was instrumental in forcing to leave her job and home in Eugene. After all, Kane had said from the beginning women were only good for feeding his needs. She’d do best to remember that.

  Cara wasn’t about to be a one-night stand or another notch on Kane’s bedpost. If she had wanted a relationship without emotions, she could have stayed on the PD in Eugene and put up with Robbie Melchor. Just the thought of the overbearing, obnoxious, lousy excuse for a man sent her blood to boiling. Robbie had not only ripped out her heart, he had pissed all over it. She’d never forgive him for their last meeting. Cara shuddered at the remembrance. The word “no” had never entered his thick skull. He took what he wanted.

  Cara had kept the incident to herself, shutting herself off emotionally, knowing no one would ever believe the decorated officer had raped her. It would’ve been his word against hers. She had heard he moved up the ladder to the Oregon State Police and hoped he wouldn’t be part of task force sent to Pleasant to take over their investigation. Cara doubted she’d be able to be in the same room with him and not go for his balls. No, she’d doubtlessly give Kane permission to rip out his throat and drain the son of a bitch dry.

  “Cara?”

  She blinked, focusing back on the present: her current problem and temptation standing only a few feet away.

  “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

  Not about to share her memories and past history with Kane, she said, “I have a jo
b to do, Kane. If my partner wants to question you again, or any of your MC brothers for that matter, then that’s what we’ll do. I may not have a choice in the matter of where I’m staying at the moment because for some fucked up reason an ancient vampire wants to make me food, but that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. How about we skip the pleasantries and you kindly show me to my room.”

  She yanked her overnight bag back from his grip. “I’m tired and morning will come way too early as it is.”

  “It’s a Saturday, Detective. You feeling the need to go into the office on a Sunday?” He raised one brow. “You must have one hell of a social life.”

  “My social life is none of your business. My room?”

  Kane’s hand indicated the back of the club. “Down the hall, second door to the left. Make yourself comfortable.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll make myself scarce. Maybe you won’t even have to tell your brothers of your decision to offer me protective custody. I’ll be long gone before they even crawl out of bed tomorrow.”

  Cara gave him her back and headed for his quarters, but his answering laugh caused her to stop and glance back.

  “Mia Bella, I won’t have to tell them you’re here. They’ll smell you the minute they hit the door.”

  “Smell me?” Cara resisted the urge to put her nose to her armpit. “I showered this morning.”

  “Trust me, Cara, your scent isn’t unappealing. But that wasn’t what I meant. I was talking about the scent of your blood.”

  “Oh,” she mumbled. Jesus, they could smell the blood running through her veins? “Then you deal with them. Goodnight, Viper.”

  Cara entered the second door to the left, closed it and leaned against the cool wood. She was way out of her league. No way in hell would she leave Kane’s quarters before the rise of the sun. Becoming someone’s midnight snack was not on her bucket list of things to do. Besides the less time she spent in the sexy vampire’s company, the better off she’d be.

  A king-sized bed sat flush against the far wall, its sheets rumpled and unmade. Cara’s gaze traveled to the indention in the center of the mattress, causing her to think of Kane lying there. Did he sleep naked, a sheet tossed over his center? Just the thought had Cara fanning her face as her heart picked up its beat. Thinking of the man in his natural state was doing nothing to help her craving of the unattainable. Okay, so maybe it was attainable, but definitely off limits.