Dead Spots (Scarlett Bernard #1)(79)

“No! The police can’t handle this, Jesse. You should know that by now. Even if we could get Jared Hess out of there, we can never take him to the cops to talk about the Old World. Most of them will think he’s crazy, but a few will start to wonder.”

He gestured helplessly with his free hand. “But we can’t just—”

“Come on. You know Dash will never let that happen.”

Just like that, Jesse saw his dreams of arresting the La Brea Park killer vanish. He rubbed his head, frustrated beyond words. The murders couldn’t go unsolved. It would just terrify everyone—

“Jesse!” Scarlett yelled. “Are you listening?”

“Sorry, what?”

“I need you to meet me in Pasadena. Tell me you’re somewhere close, please.”

Jesse looked up at the bait shop. It was fifteen minutes on the freeway, tops. Less with the siren. “I’m a little closer than usual.”

“Good. Bring your gun. We’ve got to go get Corry.”

“Who’s Corry?”

“The other null.” Her voice grew agitated. “Hess took her, Jesse. She’s only fifteen.”

Pieces fell into place in his mind. “This is why you didn’t want to tell me about her?”

“Yes.”

“You could have trusted me, you know.” She said nothing, and he put it aside for the moment. “Where should I meet you?”

“Dashiell’s.”

Jesse sort of remembered how to get there, but he still scribbled down the directions. The second he hung up, he threw the car into drive and put the siren in the window.





Chapter 32


I picked up Jesse at the bottom of Dashiell’s long driveway and cruised toward the house with the headlights off, navigating mostly by memory. When I finally parked and turned off the van, I had the door open and one foot outside before Jesse managed to grab my arm.

“Wait,” he said. “We need a plan.”

After meeting Jared Hess, I was not in the mood for casual touching. “Let go of my arm. Now.”

He released me. “What’s your plan, Scarlett? You’re going to run in there, unarmed, and demand the release of your teenage friend who happens to be co-responsible for the murder that’s ruining Dashiell’s non-life?”

“I admit that it lacks a certain finesse, but—”

“Stop,” Jesse told me, and I closed my mouth, glaring at him. “Okay, look. Where would they be? What’s the most likely place where Hess would confront them?”

I thought about it. “Either Dash’s office or the patio. That’s where Dashiell and Beatrice would have been, if Hess surprised them, and where they would receive guests, if he knocked on the door politely.”

“What’s the best way to get to those two areas?”

I quickly outlined the interior of the mansion: front door leading to foyer, foyer branching into hallway, hallway leading down to living room, which contained doors to patio area.

“And the office?”

“On the other side of the foyer.”

“So basically, we pick left or right the second we get in the door?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” Jesse reached behind himself and took something that had been clipped to his belt. “Do you know how to use this?”

A Taser! I almost did a dance. “Yes, absolutely.” He handed it over. It was a slightly more advanced model than my own, but the basics were the same. I should have three crippling jolts before it ran out of power. I felt better.

“Okay, what’s your gut instinct? Patio or office?”

“Patio,” I said immediately, before I could overthink it.

“All right. Stay close to me, be as quiet as you can, and let’s go.”

We snuck around the house via the little sidewalk path, and Jesse eased the front door open. Ordinarily, we wouldn’t have a chance in hell of keeping our approach from the vampires, but I was hoping that all the vamps in the house were close enough to Corry to be human at the moment. Jesse stuck his head through the door into the dim interior, then looked back at me and inclined his head in the universal symbol for Let’s go. I nodded.

As soon as we were inside, Jesse gently swung the door closed and motioned that I should lead. In the foyer, I turned right, heading down the long hallway toward the living room. Bizarrely, sneaking around the vampire’s lair made me feel like a little kid again, staying up past my bedtime to play Capture the Flag with Jack and the other kids in our neighborhood. I felt the same rush of fear and excitement, and the sense that I was getting away with something.

Until I heard the gunshot.

Jesse and I exchanged a look, and I darted forward into the house, ignoring caution in favor of speed. The second we reached the doorway to the dark living room, however, I felt a gun barrel press against my temple.

“Stop right there,” a familiar voice said very softly. In the silence, I could dimly hear muted voices coming from the patio, but I was at the wrong angle to see out the doors.

“Albert?” I ventured.

“Yeah.”

“Who is he?” Jesse asked, hand frozen on his own gun.

“Albert is one of Dashiell’s men. He’s one of the guys who kidnapped me yesterday.” Up close, I had the nagging feeling again that I had seen Albert before that. “But I know you from somewhere else, don’t I?”