Reborn (Shadow Falls: After Dark #1)(100)

Burnett ran a hand over his face and then met her gaze. “Even without Chase recognizing the boy’s trace, I would have held him until I got the DNA evidence back.”

“And if he’s innocent, he’s suffering for no reason.” Della paused. “Why didn’t you just check his bite marks like you did with me when you brought me in? At least speed things up so he’s not suffering unnecessarily.”

Burnett flinched as if he didn’t like that memory any more than she did. “The bite marks weren’t clear, the wounds were too bad.” He exhaled loudly. “Look, Della, even if this kid didn’t commit the murders, he joined a rogue gang. Getting scared may straighten him out.”

She felt emotion rise in her throat. “When you talk like that it shows that you were born with the live virus. You don’t have any idea how it feels to be turned.”

“I know that—”

“No, you don’t know. You’ve never had to see yourself as a monster. I’ll bet more fresh turns join gangs so they don’t have to commit murder than those who join them to do terrible things. Chan told me that the gangs promise to provide blood and that they only kill when necessary.”

“I know that, Della, but my job—”

“Your job is to provide justice, and tonight I’m not so sure that happened for Billy.”

“Why are you so sure he’s innocent?” Burnett asked.

His question gave her another pause. She’d asked herself the same thing and came up empty. “I don’t know, but my gut says he is.” Her gut and the stupid voice in her head.

Della flinched as the image of the couple flashed in her head.

She looked at Holiday. “Has Lorraine come back to see you? You could ask her, maybe she could tell you.”

Holiday shook her head. “She hasn’t appeared again. I don’t know if she’s crossed over or just hasn’t wanted to communicate yet.”

Della refocused on Burnett. “Are you going to continue to work on the case? Investigate other leads?”

“We don’t have any other leads,” Burnett said.

I do. She thought about the Facebook message she’d received from Lindsey, Lorraine’s friend, about the Crimson Blood band. “Lorraine had an old boyfriend and her friends think he could have done this.”

Burnett stared at her as if she’d completely lost it. “This was a vampire kill.”

“I know, and maybe he’s—”

“We don’t follow maybes. We follow leads and it looks as if this lead is good.”

“The name of his band—”

“You’re grasping at straws.”

Della gritted her teeth. Burnett had his mind made up. She had to talk to Kevin. “Can I leave now?”

Burnett grimaced and looked at Holiday.

“It’s late,” Holiday said, and again rubbed her belly.

“Fine,” Burnett said. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Yes, they would, Della thought, and she hoped she had something to tell him about Phillip Lance. Something that would help Billy Jennings.

Della was only halfway to her cabin when she pulled out her phone and searched for Kevin’s text message.

U still n Houston? I need to c u.

She stopped walking and closed her eyes as the message sent. Would he see it? Answer it?

Staring at her phone, she saw the little icon that told her she had voicemail. From Steve.

Biting at her lip, maybe because she thought she couldn’t feel more than she was feeling now, she clicked it open and put the phone to her ear.

“I know you’re not speaking to me, but I just want you to know that I’m sorry. And while I wasn’t the one who initiated the kiss, I know I’d be pissed if someone kissed you. So get mad at me. I deserve it, but … damn it, Della, I care about you. I don’t care about her. It’s you I want. Please, call me.”

Emotion tugged at her heart. What she wouldn’t give for him to be here now—to just hold her, to help her understand all the craziness that was going on.

She had her finger over Redial, and hesitated. What was she going to say to him?

Her phone dinged with an incoming text.

From Kevin.

C me about what? Another favor? U really r going to owe me. We’re talking getting naked.

He put a smiley face beside it. She hoped that meant he was joking. But what the hell? She’d already been accused of being a prostitute. She wouldn’t do it, but he didn’t know that.

Whatever. Where r u?

Close to ur camp. Where do u want to meet?

Della considered jumping the fence—meeting him somewhere in Fallen. Burnett would have a fit. She’d have hell to pay. Then it hit her, why not do what Chase did with whoever the hell he was in cahoots with, and have Kevin meet her at the fence? As long as he didn’t touch the fence they should be fine. No reason to break a rule when one could just bend it a little.

She texted Kevin back and gave him the exact location where to meet her. Do not jump or touch the fence.

Ten minutes later, Della waited by the fence line where the creek ran through. Sitting on a fallen tree, she hugged her knees close. The cold air found its way under her shirt and brought goose bumps to her skin, which probably meant her temperature wasn’t right. The night noises echoed in the distance. A chorus of frogs, insects, and a few small critters scurrying in the brush trying to stay warm.