Uncross My Heart Page 4
“The police have them,” Tanya said. “They’re keeping them for evidence in your kidnapping. You can’t wait too long to talk to them, or they’re going to call your family and report you missing.”
Zoe sighed and cradled her head in her hands. Her parents—pillars of Baltimore society—had never approved of her living in the artist section of town on her own, in this dump, as they affectionately referred to her apartment. If they found out her shop had been broken into, they’d have ten fits. “I’ll call them. Right now. And I’ll tell them everything so they won’t worry.” Not everything, of course. Just enough to make it all seem like no big deal.
“I’ll call the police for you. Maybe they can send someone over here to take your statement so you don’t have to go downtown.”
Bryan’s offer warmed her and at the same time increased her panic. What would she do about Devlin? “No, that’s okay. I’ll just clean up, and I’ll take care of it. You guys have done enough. Really.”
Bryan gave her that skeptical look down the bridge of his long, patrician nose. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m positive. Now, why don’t you guys go back to the club? Have a couple of drinks, unwind and I’ll meet you there. The night is young. There’s still time for karaoke and kamikazes.”
Tanya raised a curious brow. Zoe might be able to fool Bryan, but not her best girlfriend. She knew something was up.
“Zoe—”
“Really, Tanya. You two go. I’ll see you later. I promise.”
Zoe never broke a promise. They knew that. They’d trust her to tell them the whole truth eventually.
After another questioning glance, Tanya looped her arm through Bryan’s and nudged him toward the door. “A girl needs her privacy,” she said. “Take all the time you need, Z. We’ll be waiting for you at Kimono.”
“Great. I’ll call you when I’m on my way…and I have my phone back.”
“But why don’t we go with you…” Bryan’s protest faded as Tanya dragged him out the door. She’d make up something to keep Bryan off the trail, and Zoe would have enough time to get her story straight before she went to the police. She hated lying to her friends, but it wouldn’t be forever. When Julian Devlin was safe and sound, wherever it was ex-vampires could go to be safe and sound, she’d tell Bryan and Tanya about everything. Absolutely everything.
Julian had one leg dangling out the bedroom window when it occurred to him that he wouldn’t get far wandering the streets shirtless with a big white bandage across half his back.
Besides that, he hadn’t quite figured out where to go yet. He didn’t dare trust a vampire; even the few he’d sired himself would feel no loyalty to him now. Certainly a few of his employees might happily revamp him in order to gain power over him, but he couldn’t risk that. He had to think outside the box for allies now.
He was rummaging through the Technicolor adventure of Zoe Boyd’s closet, looking for anything passable to wear, when she burst through the bedroom door. She looked somewhat shocked to find him standing there, holding a Baltimore Orioles jersey in front of his chest.
“I could use a clean shirt,” he said, as though it were perfectly natural to be standing in her bedroom, half naked, elbow-deep in her frothy clothes. “Can I borrow this?”
“Oh. That’s Bryan’s. He left it here…once.”
“Your boyfriend, I gather. I didn’t mistake the tone of jealousy in his voice when he asked if you were alone. He’s the possessive sort, apparently?”
“No, he’s not. My boyfriend, I mean. He’s just a friend.”
The patchy blush that stained her cheeks told him otherwise. Why else would a man leave his clothes in her closet? “A friend that you’ve slept with?” Julian couldn’t resist, since she looked so flustered by his discovery.
“No! Of course not. Oh my God, no.”
“I’m not judging.” Her guilty expression intrigued him, so he pressed. “Then there is no boyfriend?”
She scowled. “I got tired of being cheated on by every rat bastard that came down the pike. So no—not that it’s any of your business. I’m focusing on my career now.”
How had Shakespeare put it? The lady doth protest too much? He held up the jersey, estimating the fit. It would be tight across the shoulders. “I see. This Bryan is a little small, though. Do you have anything else I could try on?”
“Sure.” She swept across the room and nudged him aside, her momentary outburst forgotten. While he watched in amused awe, the entire upper half of her body disappeared into the tight press of clothes jammed into the closet. Rhinestone studded jeans flew out first, followed by a taffeta skirt, a petite sundress the color of lapis lazuli, belts, handbags and lastly a winter parka.
Finally, she produced a plain gray sweatshirt that looked like it would neatly hold two of her. “This was my dad’s. I’d appreciate getting it back one day.”
At least her father was a man-sized man. Julian slipped the sweatshirt over his head, grateful not only for the loose fit, but the soft lining of the thermal cotton as well. “Thank you.” He meant it. There was something about the way she looked at the garment that told him it held some sentimental value. Allowing him to take it was clearly a sacrifice.
She nodded. “Now what? Where are you going to go?”
“I don’t know yet. I’ll find someplace. It’s not a good idea for me to stay in one place too long.”
“Well, be careful.” Was that concern for him in those sparkling eyes? How long had it been since someone had truly cared about his fate?
She swallowed once, flicked her gaze to the partially open window. “Were you climbing out the window?”
“Yes.”
“There’s no fire escape on that side of the building. You’d have killed yourself.”
Julian dismissed her female fretting with a wave of his hand. “It’s not that far down.”
“For a vampire maybe. They have superhuman strength, right? But a human would break a leg at the very least. I can take you down to the basement, and you can get out that way. You said yourself you need to stay off the main streets.”
“Why?”
“Well, this way you could—”
“I mean why are you still helping me? Why didn’t you tell your friends about me? Or leave with them when they asked you to?”
She looked startled by his question. “Because I promised I wouldn’t. Look, Julian, whatever happened to you, I can see that it’s bad. You probably need to go to the police or the hospital and get some real help, but you don’t strike me as the type of guy who admits defeat too easily. So all I can do is promise not to tell anyone I saw you…for now. Don’t make me regret that. I don’t want to find out something terrible happened to you, and I could have prevented it if I’d just turned you over to the police.”
Julian ignored the ridiculous desire to take her hand or brush his fingers over her smooth cheek. Emotion equaled weakness, and the last thing he needed was more weakness. He allowed himself only one small acknowledgment of her kindness. “I hope you never have to pay the price for helping me, Zoe Boyd. Lead the way.”
She took him down to the basement of the building and showed him the access tunnel that led to the boiler room. From there, she explained, he would be able to take the ladder in the basement of the tea shop up to street level. If he kept to the back alleys, he might be able to stay out of sight for a while.
He wasn’t sure why his stomach was tied up in knots, or why he felt an inexplicable sense of loss when he turned away from her to duck into the tunnel.
“Be careful,” she said again. “It gets pretty…dark down there.” As if she knew. An hour below ground, and she was somehow an expert.
Against his better judgment, he spared her a parting glance before taking to the shadows. “It’s not in my nature to be grateful, Zoe. But I do appreciate what you’ve done for me. The only way I can repay you is to say that when I become a vampire again, I’ll do my best to forget I ever met you.”
Trusting and so tempting. He would never have let her go without a taste of her lips, her blood.
He’d be back. He knew himself too well. And he’d punish her for her kindness.
He could only hope by the time he’d orchestrated his revenge on Lambert, he’d have forgotten about her. He owed her that much.
Chapter Four
Zoe climbed the stairs and returned to her apartment, her mind reeling. Who was really after Julian Devlin, and what would make a successful businessman’s mind snap like that? The poor man thought he’d been a vampire, and now his house was gone and he was wandering the sub basements trying to figure out what to do next. He was obviously in shock, and she’d just let him go, humoring his neurosis.
Maybe she should have tried to force him to stay with her. Maybe she should have told Bryan and Tanya about him, and together they could have gotten him some help whether he wanted it or not. How would she live with herself if anything else happened to him?
While she showered the musty smell out of her hair, she debated telling the police exactly what had happened to her. Surely if the man’s house had exploded, and he was nowhere to be found, they’d be investigating.
Still unsure of what to do, she threw on clean clothes—a plain T-shirt and jeans and sensible sneakers. A gypsy indeed. Zoe Boyd had a unique style. She liked to celebrate life with color and flash. What was wrong with that? To spite Julian, she added a purple crepe ribbon to tie back her hair and replaced her charm bracelet, minus the cross, before leaving the apartment.
She had just enough emergency cash on hand to afford the cab ride to the municipal parking lot where she’d left her car. To her relief, it hadn’t been impounded, and the spare key she kept in the magnetic box in the wheel well was still there. She drove to the police station, all the while scanning the streets for signs of Julian Devlin and wondering if he would survive the night.
The police department was a busy place on Saturday night. The corridor to which the desk sergeant directed Zoe when she arrived was wall-to-wall people. Some looked weary and resigned, others surly and best left alone. She found a seat on a vinyl padded bench and waited for her assigned turn to talk to an officer in charge of her case. Sandwiched between a sullen teenager whose father was bailing him out of a speeding ticket, and a brassy redhead in a sequined halter top and thigh-high boots, Zoe felt small and definitely out of place.
She gave the redhead a polite smile, which was summarily ignored, and spent the rest of her time in the hall trying to remain inconspicuous.
An hour later a barrel-chested police officer with graying hair and bright blue eyes came out of one of the offices along the corridor and called her name. Zoe followed him to the end of the hall past the disinterested stares of those assembled. She was still rehearsing her story in her head when the officer directed her to an aluminum folding chair and plopped himself down behind a dented metal desk.
“I’m Officer Wells. What can I do for you, Miss Boyd?”
“Well…my friends reported me missing earlier this evening, and I’m here to tell you that I’m not. Missing. Anymore.”
Officer Wells pursed his lips and studied her as though she were something unusual. “But you were missing?”
“No. I was…just lost. I’m back now. I’m fine. I’d like to get my purse and cell phone back if possible.”
Wells broke eye contact and turned his attention to the dusty computer monitor on the desk. He tapped a few keys. “Boyd. B—O—Y—D?”
“Yes.”
A few more keystrokes and he looked up. “Okay. You can pick up your things downstairs in the impound office. Have a nice evening, miss.”
“That’s it?”
“Yep.”
“You don’t need a statement or anything?”
Officer Wells blinked at her. “A statement of what?”
“Of what happened.”
“What happened?”
“I was lost. And then I found my way home, and now everything is fine.”
“Were you drunk?”
“No.”
“On drugs?”
“Absolutely not!”
Wells scratched his head. “Off your meds?”
“No! I wasn’t…I’m not on meds.”
He shrugged. “Then have a nice evening, miss.”
“But my store was broken into.” Why couldn’t she just walk away? Why did she have to push it?
Wells leaned forward. “Oh?”
“On Bay Street. Dollars and Sense, the consignment shop.”
“Anything missing?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Any vandalism?”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t been there yet.”
“You want to file a police report?”
“Not…right now.”
Wells smiled. “You have thirty days, if you change your mind. Have a nice night, miss.”
Zoe rose. She was both stunned and relieved that the police had so little interest in her. “Where is the impound office?”
“Downstairs, room 108.”
“Thank you.”
Wells nodded, but he was already typing something else into the computer. He never looked up as she walked out of the room.
“They didn’t even make you look at mug shots?” Tanya asked over the rim of her strawberry margarita.
“Mug shots of whom? I didn’t get a good look at anyone.” Zoe tried to swallow a small sip of her Cosmo, but the tangy concoction just wouldn’t go down. The pulsing atmosphere of the Kimono Club seemed to have made her throat close up a bit. Why had she suggested her friends meet her here instead of somewhere quiet and calm?
“You okay?” Bryan asked, leaning close. He’d been sticking to her like glue since she’d arrived and, while she appreciated his concern, she was beginning to feel smothered.
Tanya had noticed as well and had already shot her a couple of WTF looks from across the miniscule table they’d commandeered near the bar.
“I’m perfectly fine,” she finally responded after forcing down the mouthful of cranberry-jazzed vodka and Triple Sec. It burned all the way down.
“Do you want me to take you by the store to look around? What are the police doing to find the men who broke in?”
“Not tonight, Bry. Maybe tomorrow. I’ll let you know. Since I haven’t filed a report, I don’t think they’re doing anything at the moment.”
“How many were there?” Tanya asked. She’d drained her own drink and now signaled the kimono-clad waitress for another round.
“I have no idea. It might have been one guy—one really big guy—or twenty. All I heard was a bang. The back door flew open, and I dropped everything and ran.”
“So you didn’t see anything at all?” Bryan had asked that at least a dozen times already, and Zoe had begun to feel like she was on the witness stand being cross-examined. None of her identical answers seemed to satisfy him. Her only real memory of the incident was of Julian, who was now wandering lost somewhere beneath the city streets.
And here she was belting back Cosmos with her friends like an episode of Sex in the City while his house lay in ruins.
She yawned, or rather convincingly faked a yawn. “I’m really tired. I guess I’ve had too much excitement today.”
“It’s only ten o’clock,” Tanya said, helping the waitress hand out the next round of drinks. Another pink-tinted Cosmo joined the one already sitting before Zoe. She groaned. “I’m sorry, guys. I really think I should go home and get some sleep.”
“I’ll drive you.” Bryan tossed some money on the table and half rose before Zoe placed a hand on his arm. Tanya’s dark stare could have melted lead. Fortunately it was aimed at Bryan, who seemed oblivious.
“I’ll follow you home. Maybe I should stay at your place tonight, just in case they come back looking for you.”
Zoe shivered a little at the thought. They’ll use you in several indescribably bloody ways before they kill you, Devlin had said. Was Bryan trying to scare her? “They don’t know who I am, Bry. I doubt anybody even knew I was downstairs. If they had, wouldn’t they have followed me? Or stolen my purse, at least?”
“Did you check if everything was still there?” Tanya asked. “I knew a girl once whose house was robbed after her purse was stolen. All she had in there was a bank deposit ticket from her checkbook, and they tracked her down with the address.”
“Thanks. I feel so much safer now.” Zoe rolled her eyes. “I checked my purse. Everything is there. I don’t carry my checkbook with me. All my credit cards, my driver’s license, my money…it’s all there.”
“I’ll stay with you tonight.” Tanya punctuated her offer with a pointed glare at Bryan. “It’ll be fun. Girls’ night!”
“Oh, so now I have to worry about both of you being kidnapped in the middle of the night?” Bryan feigned a smile as he leaned back in his chair.
He obviously knew something he wasn’t saying. Had the police told him something? Bryan had a way with people. They tended to confide in him, which made him a good friend and a great repository for secrets.
Zoe held up her hands. “Seriously. I’ll be fine. I’m going home, alone, to get some sleep. I’ll call you both tomorrow, and we can do something. How about lunch?”
“I’m busy until seven,” Bryan responded. “Work.”
“On a Sunday?” Tanya sighed. “Your new job is sucking all the life out of you, Bryan. We hardly ever see you anymore.”
“I’m sorry about that. I miss you guys, but if I want to make VP before I’m forty, I have to work my ass off now. Someday, I’ll be rich enough that I won’t even have to work on weekdays. I promise.”
“Well, don’t work too hard, or you might not make it to forty,” Zoe said as she pushed her chair back. “How about a late dinner? Someplace quiet like Milo’s?”