by Vivi Anna
Maria ended her call and flipped her phone closed. “The director is on his way here to make a statement. I couldn’t get a hold of the assistant.”
Gabriel sighed. “I can talk to her when I go to Elise’s to pick her up.”
Kellen chuckled. “So, where are you two going? Romantic hideaway?”
Gabriel gave the vampire a hard stare. “Do you like your job here, Falcon?”
Kellen shrugged playfully. “It’s okay, I guess. A raise would rock, though, if you’re offering.”
“I’m not. And you’re lucky you have a job. If Sophie wasn’t so enamored with you, I would’ve shipped you back to Necropolis.”
Kellen jumped to his feet, Sophie along with him. “Oh, I know you like me, Gabe, so don’t play coy.”
Gabriel shook his head, but appreciated the vampire’s humor. Despite his theatrics and the loud hardcore music he played in his lab, he liked Kellen. He’d been a good addition to his team.
“I’ll keep you apprised of our status, Gabriel,” Maria said. She offered him her hand. He took it and shook it, appreciating her thoughtfulness. “Have a safe trip.”
“Thanks, Maria.”
She left. Francois followed her out without many words. The young witch had lost some of his vigor when Olena had married the Interpol agent who had worked on a case with them last year. Francois had been in love with her for a long time. That left Sophie and Kellen to aggravate him.
“I’ll call you if anything happens,” Sophie said.
“Call me even if nothing happens. I hate being out of contact.”
“You just don’t want to be alone with Ms. Leroy,” Kellen needled him.
Gabriel stood and was about to come around the desk when Sophie pushed on Kellen’s chest to take him out of the room. “We’re going, Gabe. Stay safe.”
“Yeah, remember to use a condom,” Kellen said just as he was dragged out of the door.
Gabriel was angry, but not at Kellen. He enjoyed the vampire’s good-natured ribbing. He didn’t often get that, as he didn’t have many male friends. Certainly not anyone he would confide in, or confess that he still had feelings for Elise and wasn’t sure if he was strong enough to be around her for a few days without acting on those emotions. There was no one from his pack that he felt close to. One of his closer lycan pack members had died last year in the bombing of a nightclub. Coincidentally, Kellen had been the one who had tried to save him. The vampire had saved Sophie and hundreds more, as well.
He wished someone would save him right about now, because he had a feeling he was heading for one giant disaster.
Chapter 11
Gabriel pressed the button on the intercom at the gate to Elise’s home and spoke into the built-in microphone. “Inspector Gabriel Bellmonte.”
“ID, please,” the male guard said.
Gabriel slid out his wallet, opened it to his badge and put it up to the small camera. After a few seconds, the gate started to open.
He drove the rented Mercedes through the gate and parked in the loop at the front door. He figured Elise would appreciate a luxury car instead of the older sedan he used for work. The door opened before he even got out of the vehicle. Lily stood there waiting for him. She smiled when he approached.
“Elise will be ready in a moment.”
Gabriel followed her into the house. She led him to the main sitting room. “Would you like something to drink?”
He shook his head. “No, but I would like to ask you a few more questions, if that would be okay?”
She eyed him sidelong. “I guess, if you think it would help Elise’s case.”
“I understand Inspector Serrano called you.”
“Hmm, I don’t think so.”
“She said she left a message for you to call her.”
She shrugged. “I didn’t get a message.”
“There were four sets of prints on the letter, Lily. Why didn’t you tell me that Reginald Alcott also touched it before we arrived?”
“I guess I forgot.” She folded her hands in front of her. He wondered if it was to stop the little shake he saw in them. “There was a lot of stuff going on at the time—it’s easy to forget some details.”
“That’s true.” He was glad to have his suspicions confirmed. He didn’t think the director was their letter writer. “Is there anything else you are forgetting to divulge?”
“No.” Her voice went up an octave. He heard the slight infliction in its timbre. She was definitely hiding something.
“I know there’s something, Lily. You may not think it has anything to do with Elise’s situation, but you could be wrong. I know how much you care for her, and I know you wouldn’t want to be keeping the one piece of information that could break this case.”
Angry now, her cheeks flared pink. “I resent the implication that I would ever do anything to harm Elise. I have been nothing but cooperative with you and have answered all your damn questions. I have nothing further to say to you.”
But before she could escape from the sitting room, Elise filled the doorway. “It’s okay, Lily, you can tell him.”
Lily stopped in her tracks, frowning. “Excuse me? I don’t have anything to tell.”
Elise moved farther into the room, her gaze on Lily. Gabriel could see a sorrow in her eyes. “It’s all right, Lily. I know. You don’t have to keep it secret any longer.”
Tears started to trickle down Lily’s cheeks. “Elise, please, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
When Elise reached the witch, she placed her hand on her wet cheek. “I know about you and Diego, Lily. I’ve known for some time now.”
Lily’s head dipped and the tears fell unhindered, dotting the ivory rug at her feet. “I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. Elise gathered the girl in her arms and hugged her close. She patted her back and made small soothing noises to her.
Gabriel felt extremely uncomfortable watching this unfold. He knew Lily had been hiding something, but he hadn’t thought an affair with Diego Martinez was what she was holding back. He hadn’t even considered it. And he wasn’t sure if the affair had anything to do with Elise’s case or not. He was at a loss for words.
“Um, maybe I should wait in the car.”
Elise looked at him over Lily’s shoulder and shook her head. She pulled back and rubbed her thumbs over Lily’s cheeks brushing away the tears. “It’s all right, ma belle.”
“You’re not going to fire me?” she stuttered.
“Of course not. I could never replace you.”
Lily chewed on her bottom lip. “I’m so sorry, Elise. I don’t know how it happened. It just did, then I got caught up in it and it just steamrolled from there.”
“I understand. Diego has his charms, however hidden they may be.”
Lily wiped at her eyes. “I’ll break it off, I swear I will. You’re more important to me than he is.”
“I know.” Elise pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Still wiping at her red-rimmed eyes, Lily turned and looked at Gabriel. “Bet this wasn’t what you were expecting to hear.”
“No, not really,” he said, “but it would explain where you were the night Elise’s car was vandalized. You were with Diego, yes?”
She nodded. “Doing it in the cloakroom of all places. I can’t even believe how tacky that is. His date was off dancing with someone else at the time.”
“Yes, but it does provide Diego with an alibi.”
Elise turned her gaze toward him. “I didn’t realize that Diego was even a suspect.”
“Everyone’s a suspect at this point. Everyone who knows you or has had a close relationship with you at sometime or another. The perp knows your habits and your schedule. Not just any stranger off the street can get access to that information.”
Lily eyed him curiously, her cheeks still streaked with tears. “I’m not a suspect, am I?”
Elise chuckled. “Of course, you’re not.” But her smile fell when Gabriel didn’t quickly agree. “You can’t be se
rious, Gabriel.”
“Everyone is a suspect until they’re not.”
Elise shook her head. “Well, that’s just ridiculous.” She patted Lily on the shoulder.
“I get to decide what’s ridiculous, this time around.”
Pursing her lips, she eyed him carefully then she turned and smiled at Lily. “Could you grab my bags for me? And bring them to the front door?”
Lily nodded and, after wiping at her face one last time, walked out of the living room to do as Elise asked.
Twirling a ring on her finger, Elise walked toward him. “Are we really back there, again, Gabriel?”
“What?”
“You know what. Fifteen years ago.”
Gabriel moved away from her and started for the front door. “We should hit the road if we want to make it to your cottage before dark.”
But she wouldn’t let him escape. She moved with him, matching him step for step. Finally, she caught him, or he let her catch him, he wasn’t sure which. Standing in front of him, she laid her hand against his cheek. “It’s not your fault, Gabriel. What happened to me all those years ago was an accident. You couldn’t have changed it.”
“I could have, if you had let me.” There was pain in his chest. It felt tight and he found it hard to breathe. He wanted to wrap her in his arms, to press his lips to hers and taste her again. But he beat the urge down like forcing a wild beast back into its cage.
“It’s not your job to save everyone.”
“It is now.” He lifted his hand and trailed his fingers along her shoulder down to the dip in her blouse. There he found the scar just above her right breast. It was small, nearly invisible now, but he saw it. He knew it was there.
It was where his best friend, Yves Martin, had torn at Elise’s flesh over fifteen years ago. It was Gabriel’s scar as much as it was hers. It was a reminder to Gabriel that he’d failed in the most important test of his life—keeping the love of his life safe.
She covered his hand with her own. “You didn’t know Yves was rabid, Gabriel. You couldn’t have known that he would attack me.”
“If I hadn’t been late that night meeting you…”
She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. You saved my life, remember? You were the one who pulled him off me. You healed me.”
“If only you hadn’t been so reckless and had done what I asked of you.”
She squeezed his hand then. “What? I wasn’t reckless.”
“You were always reckless. And I don’t think things have changed much.”
She dropped her hand from his and moved away. He squeezed his hand into a fist; his fingers still tingled from where he’d touched her.
“Why can’t you let go of this, Gabriel? Forgive yourself, move on. I have.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed.” He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets although what he wanted to do was fill his hands with her again. “I’ll be outside, at the car. Don’t take too long.”
Without waiting for her response, Gabriel brushed past her and left the room. He marched down the hall and out the front door. Only when he stepped outside did he allow himself to expel the breath he’d been holding. Taking in a few gulps of air, he went to the car and leaned against it for support.
He was a fool. He’d angered her only because of the deep-seated guilt that he couldn’t let go. He hated himself for upsetting her, especially about that night. But to do any less he would’ve broken down. He would’ve dropped to his knees and begged her to forgive him. Begged her to love him again. He hadn’t realized how much she truly meant to him, would always mean to him, until he’d sensed she was in trouble. Right before he pushed her out of the way, Gabriel knew he still loved Elise. And would until the day he died.
Chapter 12
The two-hour drive to Elise’s country cottage was a long, agonizing test of patience. Thank technology for the blessed triumph of the iPhone. While Gabriel drove, Elise checked email, read a few magazines electronically and caught up on the latest industry gossip.
She hadn’t had time to do any of that lately, so she appreciated the moments she got to indulge, even if it was spent in a vehicle with a brooding sangloup who refused to speak more than four sentences to her. “Do you need to use the facilities?” was at the top of that list.
The moment Gabriel turned into the dirt lane leading up to her cottage, Elise felt better, as if a huge load of rocks had been lifted from her shoulders. Smiling, she gazed out the window as he rolled the car up the tree-lined driveway to the house. When the quaint cottage came into view, she sighed happily.
She’d recently bought the place, and had only spent a week here, but that week had been heavenly. She’d puttered around the house, tended the garden and gone for many long runs through the neighboring forest. It had been the most relaxed she’d been in years. And now she was back in hopes of finding that same sense of peace.
Glancing at Gabriel, she didn’t think that was going to be quite as achievable as before.
Once the car was stopped, she pushed open her door and stepped out. Taking in a deep breath of crisp clean air, she said, “Now, isn’t this a piece of heaven?”
Gabriel was out of the car and looking around. He nodded. “It’s nice.”
Nice? Leave it to Gabriel to make the biggest understatement of the year. “It’s more than nice. It’s absolutely a picture of perfection.”
He was busy at the back of the vehicle, taking out her bags—she’d brought three—and his measly pack. He shut the trunk and, carrying all the bags, he started for the front door. He pushed open the wooden gate that fenced in the front lawn and flower garden with his foot. “Reminds me of Bebe’s place.”
Elise halted on the stone path to the house and put her hand on her hip, really looking at the cottage. Bebe had been her grandmother. She and Gabriel had spent a lot of time together at her small cottage just outside the commune of Rodez, in the south of France, where both she and Gabriel grew up.
Because of their families’ feuding, they didn’t get many chances to be alone together. Bebe had offered them a sanctuary to explore their blossoming love. She’d never bought into the fight between the Leroys and the Bellmontes. She’d thought it a load of old-world bunk. She’d been right, of course. Bebe had been right about a lot of things.
Elise still missed her. Especially on days like these. She’d been dead going on ten years now, but Elise could still remember the scent on her skin and the delectable smells of home-baked biscuits cooling on the windowsill freshly made for her and Gabriel’s weekly visits.
Shaking off the maudlin feeling from the memories, Elise stepped through the open front door and into the main living room of the cottage. The light through the floor-to-ceiling windows flooded the room, making her smile. That was one of the features that had made her buy the place—the glorious light in all parts of the house. Shadows found it hard to hide in her cottage.
“Where do your bags go?” Gabriel asked from the huge country kitchen that the living room opened up into.
“This way.” She motioned toward the hallway off the kitchen. She walked down it, Gabriel following her to the two bedrooms that dominated the other half of the cottage.
She walked into the main bedroom, which never failed to put a little skip in her belly. She loved this room. It was open and airy and had its own patio, which curved around the backyard and garden. She stepped to the double glass doors and threw them open, taking in a deep gulp of floral-scented air.
