Born in Blood (The Sentinels #1)(19)

The man nodded, his gaze shifting over her shoulder to stab Duncan with a glare of open dislike. “Yes, line two.”

“Thank you, Mel.”

“No problem.”

The man sent one last glare through the doorway before turning to stalk down the hallway, but Duncan was already crossing the room to punch the extension number as he pressed the receiver to his ear.

“O’Conner.”

“We have a problem.” As always Molinari was blunt to the point of rudeness.

The five-foot-five middle-aged woman didn’t weigh a hundred pounds soaking wet, but she ruled the station house with an iron fist.

“Another one?”

“The body’s missing.”

He sucked in a sharp breath. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but it sure the hell wasn’t that.

“Leah?”

“Yep.”

“What the f**k happened to it?”

“No one knows.”

Distantly he was aware of Callie politely stepping away, giving him the illusion of privacy despite the fact she couldn’t help but overhear the conversation. It wasn’t as if he or Molinari were bothering to keep their voices lowered.

“A body doesn’t just disappear,” he growled.

“You think I don’t know that?”

“You checked the tapes?”

“Clean.”

“And no one saw anyone enter or leave the morgue?”

“No one.”

“What about—”

“You wanna come do my job?” the chief interrupted, her tone warning he’d trespassed on her last nerve. “Maybe wipe my ass while you’re at it?”

Duncan grimaced. “I want to know what the hell is going on.”

“Then find out.”

Rubbing his forefinger against the pain beginning to shoot through his temple, he tried to think.

Something that would have been a hell of a lot easier if freaky shit didn’t keep happening.

“The usual chop shops wouldn’t risk stealing a body from the police morgue,” he muttered, referring to the gangs that occasionally made a grab for bodies in the hospital. If they could get them fresh enough the organs went for a fortune on the black market. “Unless there’s a new player in town.”

“I have Caleb checking out the usual suspects,” Molinari said.

“What do you want from me?”

“Find out if the freaks have an extra body hanging around.”

Duncan rolled his eyes. “Great.”

Callie leaned against the bar that separated the small kitchen from the living room.

Despite the rumors, all high-bloods were taught proper manners. She knew that she should leave the room so that Duncan could speak to his chief in privacy.

But she couldn’t deny an irresistible curiosity to discover if the human police had learned any information on the dead female. If they could determine why she’d been chosen as the victim, they would surely be one step closer to finding the murderer, right?

And more importantly, she simply wanted to remain close to Duncan. At least for a little while longer.

Unconsciously her fingers lifted to touch her lips, still swollen from his kisses. She’d half expected to be disappointed. After all, the sexy cop had filled more than one fantasy over the years. How could he possibly live up to her obscenely high expectations?

But he’d not only lived up to them, he’d blown past them as he’d tutored her in the vast array of kisses from tender sweet to raw, bone-melting perfection.

She’d been lost in the sensations that seared through her. The pounding of her heart. The squeeze of her lungs as she struggled to breathe. The aching need that twisted her stomach.

And all from a kiss ...

She wasn’t sure she could survive a full-out assault.

Not that she wasn’t willing to give it a try, she acknowledged with a shiver.

Realizing that Duncan was slamming down the phone, Callie fiercely squashed her renegade thoughts. A dead girl was missing. Now wasn’t the time to be wishing that they’d ignored the knock on the door.

They would have time later to explore the heat that sizzled between them. She intended to make damned sure of that.

Pushing away from the bar, she watched as he turned to meet her steady gaze, a surprising hint of color on his cheekbones.

Because his chief had called them freaks? Or because they were still considered suspects?

Probably both.

“You heard?” he demanded.

She nodded. “I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop.”

“It doesn’t matter.” He shoved his fingers through the pale gold of his hair, making her breath hitch at the desire to smooth the short satin strands. “We need to find out what happened to the body.”

Damn. With an abrupt jerk, she was heading across the room. She couldn’t concentrate when she was alone with this man.

“We need to share this information with the Mave.”

She opened the door before he managed to capture her arm and tug her back to meet his hooded gaze.

“Callie.”

A shiver of anticipation crept down her spine. “Yes?”

He leaned down until they were nose to nose. “This isn’t done.”

“You said a kiss,” she reminded him, not about to admit that she’d already made the decision to lock him in her apartment until he proved whether the rest of his skills lived up to her fantasies.