Unspoken

  It was wrong. But so was lying, and he’d done plenty of that.

  She went to the door and turned the knob. He hadn’t locked it. Practically an invitation.

  Pushing the door open, she could swear she heard something. She stopped on the doorstep and listened. The only thing she could hear were nature noises: birds and critters scurrying around. Then she noted an opened window.

  She looked around. The cabin’s layout was the same as the one she shared with Miranda and Kylie. A joined living room and kitchen, two small baths, and three bedrooms. The furniture was different and newer. This must be one of the cabins built a few months back when the camp turned boarding school. Della inhaled, and the scent of paint hung heavy.

  She continued to survey the home, and stopped when she saw the framed photograph of a family of four. A mom, dad, brother, and sister. Stepping closer, she recognized it as the one he’d kept at his other cabin, his much nicer cabin.

  She picked up the picture. Chase had been young, fourteen or so. The photograph had probably been taken right before the plane accident that killed his family. As she brought the picture up, Chase’s scent grew stronger. She let the scent fill her airway—even inhaled a little deeper.

  On the glass, she saw a fingerprint smear as if someone had touched the image. She knew it had been him. Could see him doing it in her mind.

  Did he still miss his family?

  Of course he did.

  Her heart ached for him, then she turned to her own family issues. Would the pictures of her family be all she had of them someday?

  Putting the frame down, fighting the pain, she saw an opened laptop and some papers on the kitchen table.

  Nudging the achiness away, she recalled the reason she was here. To see if Chase Tallman was hiding something about her uncle—to ultimately get her father off of a murder charge.

  “What are you up to, Chase?”

  She picked up the papers and read the name “Douglas Stone.”

  Immediately she remembered Burnett’s words: He’s saying a man named Douglas Stone killed your aunt.

  She read on. Chase had several addresses and information on several different Douglas Stones in the Houston area. He also had the name “Don Williams.” She didn’t know who the Williams character was, but she’d bet a quart of O negative blood that he had something to do with her father’s case.

  And damned if she wouldn’t find out.

  She pulled her phone out and snapped close-up shots of the papers.

  * * *

  Della went back to the office to collect her things, then headed back to her cabin. She should try to rest, but the thought that Chase was somewhere hiding from her made napping impossible.

  She’d drop her stuff off then find him. Then nap. She hadn’t seen her cabin when her nose caught the scent of one particular dog’s message. Then she was hit by the scent of his owner.

  She took off, expecting to find him on the porch, but nope. Then she noted the door was ajar. The little twerp had just invited himself into her cabin. Who did he think—

  Okay, maybe she couldn’t bitch too much about that.

  Not that she didn’t have plenty of other things to bitch about. She flew up the steps, dropped her items on the porch with a loud thud, and went to confront the lying piece of poop.

  Chapter Fourteen

  When she flung open the door, he stood between the sofa and the coffee table. No doubt he’d heard her coming in time to make it to his feet. But the sofa hadn’t had enough time to lose the six-foot imprint of his frame. His eyes, she noted, still carried the lazy look of sleep.

  “Sleeping on my couch, huh?” she accused, and felt Baxter bumping her leg with his nose begging for a petting. Bending slightly, she petted the dog, hoping that bit of kindness didn’t make her appear less than pissed.

  Chase passed a hand over his face as if trying to wipe away the evidence. “I was waiting on you.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket as if to see how long he’d slept. “What all did Burnett want?”

  “Where’s my uncle, Chase?”

  He frowned. “I could swear we already covered that.”

  She opened her mouth to blast him with all the reasons she would never believe a word he said, when he spoke up.

  “But I’ll be happy to answer it again.” He looked right in her eyes. “I don’t know where he is. He didn’t kill your aunt. And I’m here to help find the person who’s guilty.”

  “By napping on my sofa? Uninvited,” she blurted out, pushing aside her own guilt of snooping in his cabin. Baxter raised his paw and gently placed it on her knee. She offered him another soft scratch behind his ear.

  “The door wasn’t locked.”

  Yeah, she’d used that excuse, too. “It’s still wrong.” She lifted her hand from the dog and slipped it on her hip.

  He stepped closer and smiled. “And it seems I’m not the only one … in the wrong. Did you go through my clothes? What? Were you curious if I was a boxers or briefs guy?”

  How the hell did he know I was there? She tightened her eyes at him. “Your undies don’t concern me.”

  “Not even a little bit?” His smiled widened. “Not that I blame you, I mean, I got to go through yours the first day we met.”

  “Still a Panty Perv, huh?” she asked through tight lips, remembering how he’d found her backpack and later commented about her underwear.

  “Just a Della perv.” He laughed.

  When she shot him her best go-to-hell look, he stopped laughing. “Okay, so maybe you weren’t going through my … undies, as you call them, but you were at my cabin. I smell the fresh paint.” He reached for her.

  “Stop!” She pointed a finger at him. “The only reason I’m tolerating your presence right now is that I need to get my dad off a murder charge. So either tell me something about that, or leave.”

  She stomped her foot and waited to see if he was going to tell her more about Douglas Stone and this Williams character. Not that any of it meant her uncle was innocent. But perhaps Chase thought he was. Perhaps her uncle had him fooled.

  He held up his hands in surrender. “I’m here to help, Della.” The tease in his eyes faded as he stared at her. “Did Burnett tell you that I resigned from the council and I’m working for the FRU?”

  “Yeah, he gave me the bad news.”

  He cut his eyes up as if her answer annoyed him. “I thought that’s what you wanted.”

  “Wanted. Past tense. You lied to me.”

  “I’m telling the truth now. I’m not hiding anything. Ask me anything, I’ll tell you.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t belong to the truth-will-set-you-free liar’s club.” She growled. “Are you dense enough to think you can come back here now and things will be the same?”

  He closed his eyes as if frustrated.

  Good. He deserved to be frustrated.

  He opened his green eyes and looked back at her. “Della, don’t fight me. Work with me. We can do this. We’ll make it right.”

  She shook her head. “There is no ‘we,’ Chase. There’s you and there’s me. I’ll work with you on the case, not even because I believe you don’t know where my uncle is. The only thing to make right is getting my father off. I don’t trust you. But right now you are the only lead I’ve got.”

  He exhaled. “Then I guess I’ll have to win back your trust.”

  “The likelihood of that happening is slim to none.” She tilted up her chin. Never let him say she didn’t give him fair warning.

  He stood there, just staring. “Why are you still fighting what you feel?”

  “Because I get to choose my destiny, not anyone else.” The moment Della said it, she realized how true it was.

  “Who else would be choosing your destiny?”

  “You. This bond. You did it knowing what would happen.”

  “So you would have really preferred to die than to care about me?” He looked hurt, and while he deserved to feel that, too, she couldn’t deny that hur
ting him … hurt her.

  “I would have liked the choice!” she seethed.

  “Life isn’t always about choices, Della! Did you choose to be vampire?”

  “No, and I hate that, too!” She swallowed the tears that threatened.

  “So you hate caring about me?”

  The question hung out there and she didn’t know how to answer, so she simply didn’t.

  Eventually, he looked up. “It doesn’t always happen like this.”

  “What?” she asked.

  “The bond. Not everyone ends up together. You still have a choice.” Honesty and hurt thickened his voice. “But I’m going to do everything in my power to prove to you that I’m the right choice.”

  “By lying to me?”

  “I’m not—”

  “You did.”

  “Look,” he said, sounding frustrated. “The day Burnett gave you those photographs, I was going to tell you.”

  “Sure you were.”

  “I was. If you’ll remember, I told you that we needed to talk. I called you early that morning and asked you to meet me earlier because … I wanted to come clean.”

  Feeling vulnerable, she tightened her fist. “Why don’t you just leave?”

  He shook his head. “Eddie had never told me about your aunt. I questioned him about it and that’s when he told me. Then when I heard about your father being arrested, I was shocked. I went back to Eddie and that’s when he told me what really happened. And all I’ve done since is look for that guy to get your dad off.”

  “There.” She held up a finger. “You finally said something that I care to hear about. What does my uncle say happened? Not that I’m sure I’ll believe him.” She walked to the chair and dropped down.

  “Why would he lie about that?” he asked.

  “Because he’s guilty of murder.”

  “He didn’t do it.”

  “Yeah, well, I trust him about as much as I do you.” She leaned back and her whole body melted into the chair cushion. Instantly, she felt the lack of sleep making her eyelids heavy.

  He moved to the sofa and sat down. “He was at a party one night with his girlfriend. They were leaving and some guy was hitting on her.”

  “I want to know about the murder, not my uncle’s love life.”

  “I’m getting to that,” he said. “Eddie stood up to him and they fought. The guy was vampire. When he got sick later, his parents took him to the hospital. A young nurse there was fae. She told him what was happening and even gave him some blood.”

  Della sat there, fighting the compassion that stirred for her uncle. His story was so close to her own that her chest ached. She was so darn tired.

  Then she felt Baxter’s soft snout rest on her leg.

  “The fae told him about a funeral home that would help him fake his death. They also offered him a few names of gangs he could join. He didn’t want to go that way, so he went on his own, but he couldn’t do it. He wound up joining a gang.”

  Chase folded his hands together. “It wasn’t one of the good ones. The initiation demanded he kill someone for blood. He couldn’t do it. They offered him one more chance. Told him if he didn’t do it, they would kill someone he loved. He didn’t think they knew anything about him.”

  Chase’s voice deepened and Della could tell just by his tone how much he cared about Eddie, that it hurt him to recount the man’s story.

  Silence and emotion hung in the air, then Chase continued, “Eddie went to tell the gang leader he couldn’t do it, and that he was leaving, but the guy laughed. Told him that the punishment was already set in motion. At first Eddie wasn’t worried; he countered that there wasn’t anyone he loved. But as he walked out, the guy called him by his real name.”

  “Realizing they knew, Eddie took off as fast as he could. When he got to the house, Bao Yu was already dead. One of the gang members, a Douglas Stone, was still in the house.”

  Della’s heart gripped. “My dad? Did he see it?”

  Chase shrugged. “Eddie said when he got there your father was unconscious. Eddie and Douglas went at it. But Douglas was a lot stronger. They were still fighting when the cops, sirens blaring, pulled up in front of the house. Eddie was in bad shape, but he managed to get out before they got upstairs. Unfortunately, so did Douglas Stone. He got away.”

  He paused. “As soon as Eddie was able, he went looking for Douglas Stone. But the gang had broken up. They’d all gone their own ways. A few months later, he found out about the Vampire Council. He went and appealed to them to help him catch the guy. They looked, but never found him. He’s still on their most-wanted list.”

  Della just stared, trying to take it all in, her exhaustion level climbing. “Who called the police?”

  Chase shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “It had to have been my dad.”

  “It’s possible.”

  The images flashing in her head were almost too painful to stomach. She felt Baxter bathe her hand with his tongue. She stared at the dog, using his soulful, caring eyes as a touchstone as the story replayed in her head. Did she believe it? Maybe. Oh, hell, she didn’t know what she believed.

  She looked up at Chase. Did she believe in him? Hadn’t he proved that she couldn’t?

  “Does my uncle work for the council?”

  Chase nodded. “Sort of. But not as an agent.”

  “Then what?”

  He smiled ever so slightly. “Eddie says he has more brains than brawn. The council put him through Baylor. Then he trained as a supernatural doctor around the world. He no longer works as just a doctor, but works trying to improve the health of vampires. He’s the one who discovered the five different lineages who are carriers of the Reborn virus and discovered how to save Reborns. He’s a good man, Della.”

  “If he’s so good, why isn’t he here? Why didn’t he come looking for me instead of sending you? What’s he hiding?”

  She saw the way Chase looked away for a second. Then he turned back. “It’s Burnett.”

  “He knows Burnett?”

  “No, because he’s FRU.”

  “But…” She paused as she tried to wrap her head around his answer. “You’re here and you’ve even joined the agency.”

  “Some people are more political than others.”

  “That sounds like a pretty weak excuse.” And damned if her eyelids didn’t feel heavy as well. She really needed him to leave so she could rest. But she was finally getting answers that felt half true.

  “Is he going to avoid you now?”

  “He wouldn’t do that.”

  Was that doubt in his eyes? “Then it doesn’t make sense.”

  He ran a hand over his face. “I don’t know why he hates the FRU.” He exhaled. “But whatever that reason is, it’s not … He’s got a good heart.”

  “Who is Don Williams?”

  “I think it’s an alias that Douglas Stone uses. I’ve got addresses on some here in the Houston area. Tomorrow I’ll go check them out. You obviously saw what I printed out.”

  She didn’t deny it. They sat there for a silent few seconds, her body sinking deeper into the chair, her eyes growing harder to keep open.

  “Any other questions, Della? I’ll answer them. I’m not hiding anything.”

  Did she believe him? Oh, hell, she was too tired to believe or not believe.

  Chase stood and walked past her. “I brought us something.” He pulled out a bottle of blood from the fridge, unscrewed it, and took a sip. The tangy scent was O negative. He walked back and held out the container.

  “Here.”

  The taste buds on her tongue tingled. She didn’t take it.

  “I don’t need it.” Her stomach grumbled in protest. “I had some last night.” She looked back at Baxter.

  “How long did you go without? Did you feed at all when you were at your parents’?”

  “Of course I did,” she said.

  “You know if you don’t feed regularly, you get worn down. Especially, when yo
u’re a Reborn.”

  She glared up at him.

  “I should have brought you some blood while you were there. I didn’t think. I apologize for that.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m not your concern.”

  “You will always be my concern,” he said softly. Then he put the plastic container in her hand. The wild berry scent rose up and her mouth watered. Oh, hell. She lifted it and took a sip. The flavor sent her taste buds to heaven.

  She looked up. The fact that he towered above her hit a nerve, but with zero energy, she didn’t have what it took to stand.

  “I don’t need you to take care of me,” she said.

  “We all need someone, Della. That doesn’t mean you aren’t strong.”

  She started to stand up, but he knelt down. His green gaze locked on her face. “You’re beautiful, smart, and funny. You care more about people than is required. You’re the furthest thing from a monster that I know, Della Tsang.”

  An achiness swelled in her chest. “You were eavesdropping.” If she weren’t so tired, she’d give him a hard shove and knock him on his butt. Hell, if she weren’t so tired, she’d come up with some rude remark about his compliments meaning nothing.

  “Not really eavesdropping. Not intentionally.”

  Before she realized his intent, he brushed a strand of hair from her cheek and let his hand linger against her cheek. The touch was both painful and wonderful at the same time.

  She cut her eyes to the side and glared at his hand. “That’s a good way to lose a finger.”

  As if to prove he didn’t believe her, he ran his index finger over her bottom lip. “Get some rest. I’ll check on you later.”

  She watched him walk out. Why hadn’t she bit him? Damn, she should have bit him!

  It wasn’t until she blinked that she realized she had tears in her eyes. Hell, she was so tired that she didn’t even know why she was crying. Not that she was short on reasons.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sleep had never felt so good. Della didn’t want to wake up, but then she heard the voices. Miranda and Kylie?

  She rolled over and forced her eyes open. Her gaze landed on a dresser. A big white dresser with matching vases of plastic yellow sunflowers decorating the top.