Midnight Hour (Shadow Falls: After Dark #4)(24)

she might have the gift of scent. So she didn’t have to see the robbers to recognize them.

Or was there more to this? Could she be behind the robbery?

He hated thinking that because … because she’d had such kind, pretty eyes. But Shawn wasn’t stupid. Pretty didn’t equal innocent. And when

Mrs. Crow had admitted it had been Lily’s idea not to mention her, it made Shawn even more suspicious.

For all he knew, Lily’s family might be here right now, counting the booty they’d stolen.

He got a flash image of her in the store, looking soft and feminine. He hoped his suspicions were wrong.

He got out of his car. In the distance he heard thunder. One of the sudden summer storms was rolling in, he smelled it. The sky had gone dark.

There were no lights on in the house, but Lily didn’t live in the house. His footsteps tapped quietly as he moved to the back of the house

where there was a garage apartment.

As Shawn moved away from the streetlights, the storm seemed to close in on him. The sky had turned to a deep dark gray.

Slowing down, he reached back to confirm he’d brought his cuffs. Not so much for Lily, the girl probably didn’t weigh a hundred pounds

soaking wet, but for any company she might keep.

He cut the corner around the house, staying on grass instead of concrete, hoping to silence his steps. There were a few lights on in the

apartment. He spotted movement through one of the windows. Just Lily? Or did she have company.

A blast of wind stirred his hair—moving past him and hopefully making it harder for other supernaturals to pick up on his scent. Still, he

reached inside his shirt and drew out his gun from his shoulder strap.

Heavy in his hand, the weapon had been designed to look like a regular Glock.

It wasn’t.

It had two settings: to stun, and to kill. The first setting sent out a minuscule dart with enough drugs to stop an elephant. The second shot a

bullet with enough power to take out any lunar-enhanced were or ticked-off shape-shifter.

Right now it was on stun, but, with a flick of his thumb, he could change that.





Chapter Seven

Shawn neared the porch. Someone moved past the front window. The door opened. He darted to the side of the building.

Careful not to breathe, he leaned forward to see who’d walked out. The long dark hair swaying from shoulder to shoulder told him it was Lily.

He stared as she moved almost seductively in a pair of red high heels. The roll and grind sound of the large suitcase she pulled behind her

echoed in the dark. The tapping of her heels bounced on the concrete walkway. A large backpack hanging over one of her shoulders swayed back

and forth.

Suitcase?

So Lily Chambers was skipping town, huh? Generally, only the guilty run.

Disappointing, since he’d wanted to believe Mrs. Crow. He waited to see if anyone else walked out. When they didn’t, he lowered his guard and

eased away from the house.

She stopped as if she’d heard him.

She lifted her nose up. No doubt, to catch his scent.

So the girl did have the gift of sensitive hearing and scent. But probably not like a full vampire, or she’d have detected him earlier.

“What are you doing here?” she asked without looking back.

“You going somewhere?” he asked.

She turned around on her heels and faced him. At first she looked baffled, but then her gaze shot straight to the gun. Fear filled her eyes.

She gasped. “You’re with Jax!” she screeched.

He didn’t have a friggin’ clue who Jax was, and while he hadn’t known how she’d react, he hadn’t expected the suitcase that came hurling

at him.

She took off in a dead run. Too late for him to duck, the damn case, weighing a ton, slammed into his gut—knocked him on his butt.

The gun flew from his hand.

Bolting to his feet, not even taking the time to snatch his gun, he hauled ass after her. “FRU, stop!” he yelled but she never looked back.

She ran fast. He was faster. He caught up with her around the front of the house.

Taking one hard flying leap, he tackled her. She went down with a soft whoosh, and he went down on top of her.

One side of his brain, the male side of it, reminded him that it had been a while since he’d been on top of a girl. The other side of his

brain, the FRU-trained side, rolled off her, flipped her on her back, yanked out a pair of you-ain’t-going-anywhere cuffs and had them on her

before she caught her breath.

Unfortunately, before he caught his, she’d flipped back over.

“Don’t try to run,” he said. “Because—”

Before he could state the handcuff warning, before he put up his proper guard, she kicked him right in the face with the toe of her red shoe.

He fell back—again—tasted blood, and ran a hand over his busted mouth. “I wouldn’t run,” he screamed. “The cuffs are charged.” He patted

his right eye—which felt swollen—and checked to see if any of his teeth were missing. Then he waited.

Patiently.

Miss Lily Chambers wouldn’t go far.

He heard her yelp and watched her hit the ground.

Whoever had invented those handcuffs should get a silver star.