Reborn (Shadow Falls: After Dark #1)(43)

So her smelling was acting out like her hearing, huh? But not her eyes. Through the trees she could make out the figure. Not enough to see the face, but enough to know it was male.

Was it Chase?

She started running again, got almost to the fence, and took another breath. Still no scent. “Show yourself!” she demanded, not knowing if he was friend or foe.

She considered it could be the vamp who killed the couple, or perhaps the culprit who’d hit her on the head. Her muscles tensed. She debated leaping over the fence and facing the scoundrel. But knowing it would piss off Burnett, she forced herself not to act.

“So you hide like a coward, do you?” she spit out, gripping the fence and shaking it.

The intruder darted deeper into the woods, hid for one second, and then took off. Fast. But not so fast that she didn’t recognize him.

Chapter Thirteen

His gait. His jet black Asian hair. His skinny legs.

“Chan stop. I need to talk to you,” Della called out

He didn’t stop; he ran into the woods and became nothing more than a speck in the night. “Call me!” she yelled. “I need to—”

Why the hell would he run from her? Better question, why had he come here? She’d told him numerous times that Burnett had installed an alarm. Then again, he wasn’t on the property. Not yet, but no doubt he’d been about to jump it. He had to be here to see her, right? So why hadn’t he?

Right then, she heard the telltale sound of someone flying close by. Company. So that’s why Chan had skipped out. She turned her head and breathed in the scent. This time her nose worked. Damn Chase for preventing her from getting information.

“Who’s Chan?” the panty perv’s deep, rich voice asked behind her.

No one, she longed to say, but that would have been a lie. And he would know.

“My cousin.” She turned to face him. “I thought I saw him, but he disappeared, so there’s a possibility that I could have been mistaken.” She posed the answer so it wouldn’t sound like a lie. The fact that she didn’t believe that possibility was another matter.

Chase raised his face in the air, searching for a scent. Della’s gut knotted.

“I don’t get a trace of anyone,” he said.

“Yeah, I told you, I think I was mistaken.” She formed her words so he couldn’t read her untruths, but she cut her gaze back to the woods, relieved Chan had escaped and taken his scent with him.

“Did you get a trace?” Chase asked.

“No,” she said, another truth. The fact that her ability to pick up scents had failed her again should concern her, but it worked in her favor now. But whatever this was interfering with her senses had better pass quickly … smell and hearing were part of her defense mechanism. She needed them if she was going to work for the FRU.

“Did you get a visual?” he asked.

On the inside Della grimaced. Was he testing her, trying to see if she was lying? “I did, but it came and went so fast. And since it’s not on our property, it could have been anyone.” She stared out the fence and prayed Chan wouldn’t come back. Jeepers, why had he come here to start with? Yes, she’d called him, but not once had she told him to come here.

Feeling Chase standing behind her, she wished the vamp would go. His presence annoyed her. His scent annoyed her. For some reason, she recalled their encounter earlier: You’re cute when you get mad. She continued to stare out into the dark woods. In the distance she could hear the animals at the wildlife park. An elephant. A lion.

He actually moved closer. She could sense him only a few inches from her. She could hear the sound of his heart thumping rather fast. His scent became stronger.

“Are you sure it wasn’t the same vampire who attacked and killed that couple?”

She did an about-face and stared at him through tight eyes. Standing too close, she took a step back. “How do you know about that?”

“I’m working with Burnett and the FRU on the case.”

He was working with Burnett? Hadn’t she told the camp leader she wanted to do this? “Burnett wouldn’t allow that. He barely knows you.” Besides, this was her case. She was already invested in it. She’d gotten a trace. She’d lived the images of the dead for days.

“I guess some people around here are more trustworthy than others.”

She glared at him and lit out. It was almost five now. If Burnett wasn’t up, he was about to be.

Della landed on the front porch of Holiday and Burnett’s cabin. The front door swung open, and Burnett, hair a little mussed and looking sleepy, stood there wearing only his boxers. He did have a pair of jeans in his hands as if he’d been planning on getting dressed and had run out of time.

“What is it?” he asked, his tone tight and his voice morning raspy. Then, in one swift move, he donned the jeans. Della watched his toned legs disappear into the denim.

“Have you assigned Chase to the recent FRU case?” she asked.

Burnett ran a palm over his face as if still trying to wake up. “You … you came here at this time to ask me about that?”

“Did you?”

He exhaled. “You couldn’t have waited another hour?”

She could have, but she didn’t want to. “It’s almost five, I thought you’d be up. Are you avoiding my question?” She tilted up her chin, hurt and determined to make him see his mistake. She wanted to work this case. After seeing the ugliness of what that creep did, she wanted to help bring him down.