Bound by Blood (Vampire Romance) (8 page)

She didn’t meet his gaze, but looked down at her fingers, twining them together. He didn’t disturb her for a few seconds, waiting to see what she would say. Finally, she sighed, and seeming to come to some resolution, she met his gaze.

If he had breath to do so, he would have sucked it in at the clear gray gaze looking back at him. He could see to her soul. And see it was a troubled one.
But why?
  Her innocence proclaimed she would have been the victim no matter what the problem.

“I didn’t tell them.”

“I gathered that.” He purposely kept his voice low and slow, encouraging her to continue.

“No, you don’t understand. There was nothing to tell them.”

“Everyone has a story, Lisa. Everyone.” Even him. Perhaps he more than most. “You did not just hatch on their doorstep, a nanny to order.”

She smiled weakly at his comment. “It’s not a particularly exciting story. I Like working with kids; love being around them. Being a nanny is a great opportunity to nurture them and see them grow.”

Alex nodded his head in agreement. “That’s a given. Truly wonderful nannies have had great impact on the world. ‘The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world,’ kind of thing.”

Her shoulders relaxed marginally.

“Why did you choose to come here? Your accent is clearly British.”

“This seemed a nice area of the country to live in.” She sounded defensive.

Alex waved his hand, as if pushing the trivial matters aside. “Lisa, you are much too intelligent not to answer the questions I’m asking. Giving me the standard answers, probably the answers you gave to the agency you hired through or the Morgans is not going to get us anywhere.”

She looked at him warily. “They’re the truth.”

“Are they indeed? Then why do you not tell me why you choose to nurture someone else’s child instead of your own? Why are you here, by all accounts, spending time only with Cassandra and not dating or meeting men you could marry, have a child with? Those are the questions that need answers.” They really didn’t need an answer, certainly were not relevant to the case if he believed she had nothing to do with Cassandra’s disappearance, but he wanted to know; needed to know.

She wore a stunned look, as if he had physically slapped her, and shrank back in her seat. “None of that matters.”

It was necessary for her to tell him she hadn’t taken Cassandra for her own child. In one motion he managed to stand and practically loom over her in the chair before she had a chance to move. He braced his hands on the arms of the chair, locking her in. “If it doesn’t matter, there is a reason. What is it?”

“It has nothing to do with this case,” she assured him.

“It very well could. What if your last lover decided he wanted to reconcile with you? What if the only way he could get to you is through this child?” He wanted to say my child, but she really wasn’t. Nor could he believe how difficult it was to speak of her having a lover. It nearly choked him to get the words out. Certainly not the reaction he should be having while on a case, and definitely not with a mortal, and not with this woman.

She was shaking her head before he finished the first sentence and continued shaking it until he finished. He was forced to rest his weight on one hand and use the other to grasp her chin, making her look at him.

“What part does not have merit?”

She put her hand up to his, as if to force it away, but left it where it rested. Her skin was cool in spite of the fire, but still felt warm to him. He eased his grip fractionally.

“It all is plausible,” she told him, “but none of it is true. “I don’t have a lover now. I haven’t.”

He released her chin. That didn’t sound right, but he was relieved nonetheless. She had to have at some time. That was one thing that seemed to be a given in this century; these decades. Earlier times there was a clearer division among the different types of women. Regardless, her eyes couldn’t disguise the hurt, the disappointment she suffered somewhere along the line.

“Tell me.”

Chapter 8

His voice whispered across her nerve endings. This close she could see the streaks of dark gray in his blue eyes. They were brilliant, not dull as she would have expected. Until now she would have said blue eyes were insipid. At this moment she found them utterly compelling. She wanted to tell him, wanted to tell someone the hurt she had experienced. Which was ridiculous. It was far in the past. Besides, she didn’t know this man. He was a detective working on a case, and she was someone who held a clue, small as it was.

She looked away for a moment, then gathering her resolve looked him in the eye. She didn’t matter to him, so whatever she would say would be the same as a stranger in the park; a voice over the phone.

“It’s not a new story,” she told him, hiking her shoulder up. Not so much a shrug as it was defense. She wished she could hide behind it. But she had held her head down too long.

“I got pregnant at too early an age,” she said. “Sixteen,” she tacked on before he could ask.

He leaned back, and she wasn’t sure if it was to give her breathing room or he was repelled by what she had said.

“I wasn’t married, and the baby’s father didn’t see any need for us to marry.”

“That is not exactly a crime,” Alex said. “It’s not the best story, but not unusual.” His voice grew unexpectedly husky.

Lisa dropped her gaze, and let her fingers pleat the end of her sweater. “It is when you’re the vicar’s daughter.”

Alex stood, but rather than moving away as she expected, he moved closer and sat on the edge of the armchair. He stretched out his arm and put one hand on her shoulder, rubbing it gently, offering consolation, before letting it drop. It was as if he had some idea of what she had gone through.

“That would be difficult for your father.” His eyes held compassion. Was it his cop training, or had he been through similar treatment?

“You have no idea,” she scoffed. Her voice dropped to a whisper.

She didn’t look at him. “He threw me out of the house. The…the things he said. I could not believe he was a man of God saying them, not to me.” She covered her face with her hands for a moment, waiting for the stab of resentment to pass. She thought she was long over it. “There was no forgiveness.”

Alex reached across the small space separating the chairs and caressed her head. She hadn’t let anyone get this close to her in years. She knew he was soothing her, doing his job, but it felt right. With this kidnapping, she felt more vulnerable than she had in ages. She needed to lean on someone, and Alex was proving willing.

“My mother agreed with him.” She moved her hands and looked at him then. His hand still held the back of her head, but she faced him now. “That hurt almost more. I could almost… almost understand my father, but my mother?”

“Sometimes parents do have to stick together,” he told her in a flat voice.

“It was more than that. She was even harsher than my father. Bad enough he told me to leave, she told me never to come back. She said other things too, but I... I can’t repeat them, not even now.”

He let his hand drop. “Lisa, life is too short. She may have said what she did in the heat of the moment. It would be best for you to go back, to make amends while you can.”
She gave him a half smile. “You think I haven’t tried?” She shook her head. “I went back a year or two after it happened, she refused to see me.” She bit her lip.

 “There’s more?”
“Not really much. I told you the father refused to marry. I’m grateful in a way. I loved him, or thought I did, but not the way I thought of really loving someone I wanted to spend my life with.” She couldn’t meet his eyes on that one. It was something too intimate to share with anyone, even or especially, with a stranger.

“That might explain why you are here, but why have you become a nanny with plans to remain as such.”

“The other part was that I lost the baby.”

“You are young enough to have another,” he told her levelly. He spoke as though this was a real possibility. She knew differently.

This time her smile was sad. “I’m young enough,” she agreed, “but the whole birthing process was wrong. The doctor said I should never had gotten pregnant to begin with, wasn’t sure how my body actually did. But since I had, I just wasn’t made for carrying the child. The surgery afterward assured I would not have any children.”

“That was your choice?” He sounded as if he couldn’t fathom such a thing.

“That was Mother Nature’s choice. I didn’t have any say in it.” She shifted in the seat, shrugging as she sat up, putting a minute amount of space between them. She told herself she had gotten over it a long time ago. “Since I can’t have my own children, and I’m not really in the position to adopt one, I decided being a nanny would be the next best thing. I love being with Sandy.”

“I don’t doubt you do. He moved away from her at the sound of approaching footsteps, but touched her arm lightly assuring he had her attention. “We haven’t finished this discussion,” he said softly.

“Alex!” the man greeted him when he walked into the room, hands outstretched.

Lisa wasn’t sure what she had expected, but it wasn’t this vibrant man whose radiating energy belied his sixty-odd years.

“You always bring me the most interesting puzzles. What can I do for your today?”

Alex exchanged greetings, and with his head, nodded to the chair where Lisa sat and quickly introduced them. Alex indicated the priest should sit near Lisa and he addressed him there; he could easily see both of them at the same time. She wondered what he was looking for from the priest.

“I received a message earlier. One that I think you may be able to help me with.”

“And Lisa is also helping?” the priest addressed both of them.

“No. Actually, I’m rather hiding her at the moment.”

Her eyes widened before she dropped her head, breaking eye contact. She had thought he was being kind. “That’s why you hadn’t told them where I had spent the night!”

Phil gave him a crooked smile. “Is this something that’s going to send you to confession?”

Alex gave a snort. “Hardly.” He leaned against the table in the small grouping, his hands braced behind him on the edge. “Lisa gave me a description of someone who may have committed a crime.” He focused his gaze on the priest, and she let out her breath, not even realizing she had been holding it. “I believe Carlos has kidnapped a child.”

If he had a name, or a lead, why was he still here?

Phil nodded. “The one the AMBER Alert was for? The police still haven’t found her. So, what are you waiting for? I have never known you to wait for anything to die down, especially not for one of Carlos’ caliber.”

She swung her head in the priest’s direction, trying not to let her jaw drop. He knew this person too? What weren’t they telling her? Before she could ask, Alex started speaking again.

“Not doing it now either. I need a safe place for Lisa to stay, at least for a few hours. During the day,” he clarified.

“I thought I was to help?” She jutted her chin out.

“You will, and you are. But it’s also my job to make sure you are safe.” It was his turn to shrug. “Goes with the territory.” He ignored her glare.

“That’s no problem. What else do you need?”

Alex fished in his back pants pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “I wrote the message out.” He seemed to hesitate before handing it to the older man. Her eyes narrowed. If it had anything to do with Sandy, why hadn’t he given it to her first?

The priest looked at the paper briefly. “The messenger didn’t waste words,” he said dryly.

Alex nodded in agreement. “I don’t have a lot of time, but I’m sure you can find me what I need quicker than anyone else.”

Lisa looked from one to the other. “Is this something that I need to know about?” They both turned to look at her.

“I know I was at fault –“

“You weren’t,” Alex interrupted her.”There was nothing you could have done to prevent what happened.”

“Regardless, I was the one in charge of her. I feel like I need to do something to help get her back, if it’s possible to get her back.” She ran both hands through her hair. “I don’t know what to do and hoped by being with you I would find out more. But I’m not.”

In one lithe movement, Alex stooped down in front of her after a quick look at Phil. He captured both of her hands, gripping them tightly in his. “You’ve given us a description. That amounts to quite a lot. What’s happening now is out of your control. Out of mine, anyone’s, at the moment. But we will find her. You have to believe that.” He squeezed her hands once more and when she gave a brief nod, he released them and stood.

Did he really think that explanation would suffice? She had to find out more, and she would. White on rice had nothing over how close she planned to stay.

 “I’m going to go out for a bit,” he said, addressing his remark to Phil.

Not without her!
She stood and nearly missed his next words. “By the time I return, perhaps you will have something on the message.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“Not this time,” he told her.

Phil nodded in agreement then stood. “Come with me,” he addressed Lisa. “We’ll get something to eat and drink, and generally see what we can find out until Alex returns.”

“Shouldn’t I go with you?” She appealed to Alex again, turning toward him. She had seen the man, brief though it was. It only made sense to her.

“Not this time. I won’t be long,” he assured them before he made his way through the night.

~*~

It had darkened considerably since he had arrived at Phil’s. Lisa’s words earlier had resurrected memories he thought long buried. When she spoke of her pregnancy he couldn’t help but remember the one so many years earlier. But in his case he
had
wanted to marry Katherine, was desperate to do so, had planned to do so. Then his life changed and became what it was now.

Instinctively, he looked at the increasingly darkening sky. He felt himself growing stronger, as he knew Carlos was. The question remained, where was he? Speculating where the other vampire could be hiding, Alex leaned against his car, pulled his phone of his pocket and checked for any messages. There were none, which struck him as extremely odd on such a case. Calling in to the office, he questioned it.