Sid and Jared both watched her closely as she left. “She didn’t seem too broken-hearted,” Sid snorted.
Jared frowned. “I found her and Nicole in here with their heads together, which usually means trouble.”
“You poor bastards,” Sid chuckled, adding oil to a skillet.
“Sid.” Jared glared. “Shut the fuck up.”
“Just sayin’.” Sid grinned, chopping onions. “Women are nothing but trouble.” His comment was made to an empty room since Jared had already slammed out the door.
*****
Nicole pulled into Pam’s old apartment building, parking in the back. Clicking off the lights, she shut off the car with a long sigh. “You ready?”
Tessa flipped the hood of her black hoodie up. “Lead the way.”
Glancing around as they made their way across the parking lot, Nicole walked to the sliding glass door knowing it would be locked, but tried it anyway. Next, she tried a window, and sure enough, it opened, as Pam said it would.
“Hope my ass fits through that,” Tessa whispered, eyeing the window.
“You and your ass will fit.” Nicole laced her fingers together. “Come on, before someone sees us.”
Putting her foot in Nicole’s cupped hands, Tessa grabbed the windowsill and slid the window open. With one heave, Tessa was half in and half out of the window, her ass flashing out into the parking lot. Thank God, the window was above the sink. Placing both hands down on the counter, Tessa shimmied her way in, but ran out of counter space and fell the rest of the way through the window, landing on the kitchen floor in a clumsy heap.
Nicole hopped through the window with ease, landing with grace. “You okay?” Nicole whispered, reaching down to help Tessa up.
“Well, that was graceful. Yeah, I’m good.” Brushing off her pants, Tessa frowned. “Some days I guess it pays to be a vampire.”
“Yeah, it does come in handy.” Nicole grinned, handing Tessa a mini flashlight. Being a vampire, she could see perfectly at night. “Come on, let’s get busy.”
“What exactly are we looking for?” Tessa kept her voice low, testing the flashlight, but keeping it from shining toward the windows.
“A syringe vial.” Nicole headed out of the small kitchen. “I’ll check the bedroom. You check the bathroom.”
“That sounds familiar.” Tessa rolled her eyes. A syringe vial is pretty much what brought Tessa and Jared together.
“It does. I forgot about that,” Nicole snorted. “So I guess you don’t need a description.”
Tessa followed Nicole, stopping at the bathroom door. “Why didn’t you tell the guys that Pam contacted you?” Tessa herself had just found out before Jared had interrupted them in the kitchen.
Stopping, Nicole turned to look at Tessa, her face lined with worry and stress. “Actually, I was going to tell them, even though I promised her I wouldn’t, but Damon and Duncan were too busy beating the crap out of each other.” Nicole shrugged her shoulders. “I know I should have, but they pissed me off fighting, and the more I thought about it, I have never broken a promise to Pam. She said she isn’t in any danger, but was dealing with something and needed this vial if I could find it.”
Tessa nodded in understanding, wanting to help Pam as much as Nicole did. “Well then, let’s find that vial.” Tessa ducked into the bathroom and started rummaging through drawers and cabinets.
Nicole walked into the bedroom and stopped. The scent of old blood hit her highly-sensitive nose as soon as she walked in the room. Looking around, her eyes zeroed in on the bed. Making her way closer, she spotted two chains locked onto the head post. Her stomach clenched.
The bed was a mess of covers and a few clothes, Pam’s clothes. Grasping the edge of the cover, not really wanting to see what the cover hid, and even knowing exactly what is was, she flipped the sheet back. Her eyes welled up at the sight of old brown blood stains that told the horror of what happened in this room. “Oh my God.” Nicole felt the room closing around her. She had to get out of here.
“Don’t move.” A man’s voice and the click of a gun echoed in the silent room.
*****
“If you knew they were up to something, why the hell did you leave them alone?” Damon slammed into the Cincinnati Police Department with Jared hot on his heels.
“I didn’t leave them alone,” Jared defended himself as he passed Damon. “I caught them talking in the kitchen, and they looked guilty as hell. Nicole left and then…”
Damon stopped, a suspicious frown forming on his lips. “And then what?”
Jared thought about the ‘then what,’ which was Tessa’s sweet mouth.
“Wipe that goofy-ass look off your face and come on.” Damon gave him a disgusted look before heading to the front desk.
“Oh, like Nicole hasn’t turned your brain to mush with her sexy little…” Jared chuckled when Damon flipped him off over his shoulder.
Stopping, Damon loomed over the counter, glaring at the officer who was unlucky enough to be the one on shift.