Chapter 50
Run Far Away
Icame down the stairs an hour or so later, muscles I didn’t even know I had aching.
My legs quivered with exhaustion. My whole body felt as if it was carved from sand.
Stifling a groan, I held the rail to make it down the stairs.
But despite my sore body I had a feeling of exhilaration that came from training hard.
That feeling came to a screeching halt when Karson walked out from the kitchen.
I twisted all up inside. I shouldn’t care for him. I should be scared of him—terrified. Anyone in their right mind would be. That was obviously the problem, there was something irrevocably wrong with the gray matter between my ears.
I’d intended on eating something then heading out, but I needed to escape. The house, his penetrating stare. I pretended he simply wasn’t there, running my fingers through the strands of my hair and dropping my head to hide my face. Scared of what he might see if he read my eyes.
“Why are you walking like that, are you hurt?” He actually sounded concerned.
I snorted bitter laughter and refused to answer. I grabbed the keys off the hallway stand and my handbag from beneath and threw it over my shoulder.
He appeared in front of me. So close, if I leaned in we’d be touching. “Where do you think you’re going?”
I lifted my chin. “That would be none of your business.”
“It is my business and was my business from the moment you waltzed into The Bite. And I thought you understood, it’s not safe for you yet, and it’s best you’re with one of us at all times,” he said, trying to reason.
I stepped back and placed my hands on my hips. “No, you decided, not me, and it seems, Karson, it’s not safe around you, either. I’d prefer to take my chances out there.” I fired a bullet, but it missed the target.
He threaded his fingers through his hair. “You are upset, Amelia.”
“Wow, Karson, your intuition is on point today, have you ever considered doing readings?”
His jaw clenched, and his voice lifted, “You are not leaving.”
“Oh I am, unless you want to throw me against a wall again.”
Ethan appeared at the top of the stairs, half dressed, scowling down.
“I can guarantee you, sweetheart.” His temper flared. “There is a lot worse things that might happen to you if you step out the door.”
“You don’t get to threaten me,” I shouted, “not now, not ever. And don’t fucking call me sweetheart. I’m not your sweetheart.”
“It’s not a threat,” his voice dropped octaves. He loomed above me.“But if you leave this house it’s a possibility. You will not be leaving. Do I make myself clear?”
“You can find how many fucks I give about your opinion at the nearest nunnery.”
Karson forced a laugh, but his eyes were as dark as a dire benediction. We glared at each other.
I toyed with my ringless finger, I forgot to put the ring on after training, it felt strange without it, but the effort of going back up the stairs to get it was too much.
Karson struggled to keep himself under control, he was so tense a vein throbbed on the side of his neck.
I should have been scared, but I was ropeable.
I was angry with him for trying to control me, for moving me against the wall, and furious with myself for loving a fucking bully, who happened to be a vampire, who was also way out of my league.
All in all, it was the perfect recipe for a broken heart, upon an already broken heart.
“You are not leaving,” he grated.
“I don’t have to listen to you. You are not my boss, you are not my partner, or another asshole foster parent, you are not .
. .” I stopped as I realized I’d given away a childhood I’d fought to keep buried.
A lump formed in my throat. I swallowed it down like it was made of lead.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do. Got it? ”
“Actually, I am your boss.”
The arrogant fuck. I felt my head climb with heat until I felt like it might burst.
“Then I fucking quit,” I yelled, side-stepping him, I stormed out.
Karson’s response was drowned by the slamming of the door.
I tensed as I waited for the blur of movement, for the breath of wind, for him to stop me.
It never came. I climbed into the car. Shaking with rage, I clutched the steering wheel, breathing deeply for a few beats, trying to calm myself.
I tried to put the key in the ignition. My hands shook so much I missed the slot.
I cursed and tried again, finally jamming it in. A soft click of the door sounded.
Ethan sat beside me, Jefferson’s laptop tucked under one arm.
“Where are we going?” he asked casually.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to open the door and push him out, or scream. Both, I decided.
“We are not going anywhere. Seriously Ethan. Come on, I need some time alone.”
“I agree, but I also want to see you come back alive, so it’s me, Karson, Michael or Monique. You choose.” He threw me a cocky smile.
“You’re such a pain in the ass,” I muttered, pulling away with a little more speed than normal. I gripped the wheel tight so he couldn’t see my hands shaking.
“So, where are we going?”
“To see Matt, then maybe Chris, then Darcy.” I blew out a breath, starting to calm, but not by much.
He looked at me quizzically. “Darcy I get, why the rest?” He twisted back and placed the laptop on the floor in the back of the car.
“Matt can get us in to question Chris before Karson gets to him. I don’t want him being the one to do it. He’s not exactly sympathetic.”
“That’s all well and good, except Chris isn’t home, Karson went to question him last night and he was already gone.”
“Gone? Gone where?” I glanced over, concerned for Chris.
He shrugged. “I don’t know, perhaps to be with relatives for a few days.”
I felt relief at that news, at least he gets time to grieve without Karson interrogating him. I couldn’t help wondering exactly what a Karson-style interrogation might entail. It rested uneasy.
“We’ll get Darcy, and he can hack the computer and you can’t tell anyone he did,” I demanded.
“I’ll need to tell Karson.”
“Why?” Exasperated, I threw my hand out.
“Because we’re all on the same team, we need to find who killed the dog and Jefferson. It could be the same vampire. If there is a threat to you or not, the more of us working together the quicker it gets solved, the quicker you get your freedom back,” he stated, unapologetically.
“What if we don’t find out who killed Jefferson—who killed the dog? It’s probably got nothing to do with me, I don’t understand Karson’s insistence that it is.”
Ethan shrugged stared out the side window. “It’s a conversation you’ll need to have with Karson.”
“Need to know basis, too?”
He swung back to me. “The dog was targeted at you, that much we do know. Whoever did that was a vampire, you know that.” He held out his palms in a show of annoyance.
I kept my eyes on him, trying to read what he wasn’t telling me.
He scowled. “Keep your eyes on the road Amy, your driving skills are atrocious.”
I swung my head back to the road and straightened the car, which had crossed, slightly, onto the other side of the road.
Fifteen minutes later I pulled into a little café that sat at the edge of town and unbuckled my seat belt. “I need to eat, want something?”
He shook his head and climbed out of the car with me anyway.
We entered the fifties style diner. It was clean and surprisingly busy, and most of the booths were full. There was a faint smell of curry simmering, today’s chicken special, according to the board.
I looked around. Cole sat in a booth by the window talking to a male. The sight of him made my skin crawl. He looked up as if I’d just spoken to him. Recognition crossed his face, he stood, straightened his suit jacket. He sucked his belly in as he got closer.
I bit back a laugh.
“You’re the couple who tried to save Jefferson, aren’t you?” He held out his hand to Ethan.
Ethan hesitated, a muscle in his jaw ticked. I thought he wasn’t going to shake it, but he did.
“Ethan, and this is Amy,” he said, nothing friendly in his tone.
Cole didn’t hold out his hand for me to shake.
If I had to take a guess, he was an old-fashioned sexist pig.
The sort of guy who’d expect his wife to have dinner on the table when he got home and go butchers hook if she didn’t.
I gave him a scant smile. I couldn’t bring myself to be overly nice, everything about this man sent warning signals through my head and ice through my veins.
“It’s a damn shame about Jefferson, good man that one.
Who knew bears came that close to town? We got him though, did you hear?
” He spoke louder and deeper than his short portly frame might otherwise suggest he should, as if he changed the tone of his voice to demand attention.
It worked, half the diner watched and listened.
I shook my head.
He nodded. “Yeah, big bastard, not far away, blood still on his muzzle apparently. A landowner shot him.” He looked excessively pleased, as if he had tracked and hunted the bear himself.
“That’s lucky,” Ethan said, barely bothering to hide the look of disbelief on his face.
It bypassed Cole. “Sure is, I thought the interested parties might run a mile if we hadn’t got him. I might stick the bastard’s head on the wall in the restaurant when it’s built.”
Cole was clearly more concerned about his business than Jefferson.
“You work at the bar in town, don’t you?” His eyes, the size of sliced olives, grazed over me. I didn’t like the way he was looking at me.
“I do.” Did.
He reached into the pocket of his suit jacket, pulled out a wallet, bulging with hundred dollar notes. He removed a business card and held it out. Forcing myself to some kind of civil behaviour, I reached for it.
“I’m looking for staff. I’m in dire need of a personal assistant for around here. Call me, and we can arrange an interview.” His warm, fat fingers stroked my palm. The touch made my skin crawl and grated on my nerves.
Don’t say it, don’t say it.