Pretty When She Kills (Pretty When She Dies #2)(53)

“Jeff, I don’t know why we didn’t think of calling you earlier, but I tried calling my husband a little while ago and he didn’t answer his phone. He may be having bad reception, but I got a little nervous. So I thought about calling you.”

Jeff scribbled the woman’s name onto the pad. “Call me about what?”

Samantha raised her eyebrows after she read it was Cynthia Guerra on the phone.

“Pete Talbert came by this morning with a man named Ethan Logan. Do you know him?”

“Damn,” Jeff muttered. He added another notation.

Samantha tilted her head, her brow furrowed as she saw him underline the man’s name.

“Jeff?” Cynthia’s voice asked after he was silent for a little too long.

“Yeah, I know him.” Jeff sighed, rubbing his chin.

“So he is a paranormal investigator,” Cynthia said with relief.

“No, he’s actually a supernatural bounty hunter. He tracks down monsters of all kinds for various employers for a ton of money,” Jeff answered.

“Oh, God, Jeff.” Cynthia sounded suddenly terrified.

Beside him, Samantha’s eyes visibly widened.

“Ethan came to your house for what reason?”

“We should have called you!”

“Cynthia, talk to me. Why was he at your house?”

“He said he has the cure to vampirism. That he could turn Amaliya back to human, but that he needed the ashes of the vampire who made her.”

Jeff scribbled down everything she was saying, the sick feeling in his stomach growing. “And he was with Pete Talbert. The guy Amaliya admitted to feeding off of and wiping his memory?”

“Pete remembered her again. He knows she’s a vampire. That’s why he was helping Ethan. Pete wants to help her become human again. Can Ethan do that? Or is he trying to track her down to kill her?”

“I can’t say for sure, but if he’s after The Summoner’s ashes this may have nothing to do with Amaliya at all. Or at least, not directly. I’m not sure. Dammit. Why didn’t Sergio or Innocente call me?” Jeff lifted his eyes to see Samantha biting her bottom lip. Fear and horror tangled in her gaze.

“I don’t know! We were all so excited about being able to save Amaliya we didn’t even think about it! Jeff, they went to the cemetery where The Summoner died! They left three hours ago and I can’t reach Sergio!” Cynthia sounded close to hysterics.

“Cynthia, we’ll deal with this. I swear it!” Jeff gripped Samantha’s hand tightly. “I just need to talk to my team and make a plan, okay?”

“Jeff, should I call the police?”

“No! It will make it even more dangerous for all of them. Hopefully, Ethan will get what he wants and move on without causing an issue. We’ll deal with this, I promise. I will call you as soon as I know something.”

The woman’s sobs from the other end of the call made Jeff’s chest hurt.

“Cynthia, I promise. We’ll take care of this. It’s what we do.”

“Jackie kept telling me that Ethan was a liar. She said she could see it in his mind,” Cynthia wailed. “I should have called you sooner!”

“Jackie reads minds?” Jeff was flabbergasted.

“We think she got it from Innocente. Plus, I’m Irish you know. Could be from my side, too.” Cynthia regained control of her voice, but she was obviously scared. “I should have listened to her.”

“Cynthia, you can’t blame yourself. Ethan is very, very good at his job. Trust me. I’ve heard what he is capable of. I want you to make sure to call me if you hear from Sergio. Okay?”

“Okay...okay...I trust you,” Cynthia whispered. “And call me if you hear anything.”

“I will, Cynthia. I promise.”

There was a soft click when she hung up.

“Shit!”

“What are we going to do?” Samantha asked, her face pale and her lips trembling.

“Get to the shop, organize, and plan. We’ve got four hours before Cian and Amaliya are awake. We’re on our own,” Jeff answered.

“Do you think he really just wants The Summoner’s ashes?”

“Maybe. But for what?” Jeff hurried to Samantha’s bedroom and began to gather his clothes.

“Maybe he really does have the cure for Amaliya?” Samantha’s voice was full of doubt, but he could see she was struggling not to be terrified by the turn of events.

“I doubt that he was hired to save Amaliya. It’s just a convenient lie. One that Pete, Sergio and Innocente all fell for.” Jerking on his clothes, Jeff struggled not to be ragingly pissed at Sergio and Innocente for not contacting him. Love made fools out of everyone.

On the other side of the room Samantha dressed in black jeans, cowboy boots and a silky black tank. Tugging her hair back into a short ponytail, she glanced over at him when she realized he was watching her.

“What?”

“You look amazing,” he said bashfully.

“This is my badass outfit,” she informed him, holding out her arms and rotating. “If I am this phasmagnus thing, then I’m going to look uber-cool kicking bad guy butt.”

Catching her about the waist, Jeff drew her to him and kissed her ardently. The love he felt for her was overwhelming and he couldn’t endure the thought of anything bad happening to her. When his lips reluctantly left hers, Samantha’s eyelashes fluttered as she moaned.