Hunting Haven

I pulled out my notepad and plugged Haven’s address into my gps as she took a few deep, calming breaths to steady her cries. Something about her emotional moment tugged at my heartstrings, but I did my best to ignore it. It wasn’t as if encountering crying victims on the job was anything new. Still, there was something extraordinarily sad about her sobs. I didn’t want to pry, not when she was so fragile, but every instinct in my body was telling me she was hiding something major. I wasn’t sure what yet, but I wondered if it had to do with the thing that damaged her car or if she remained in the dark about the creatures that stalked the night.

I pulled out of the parking lot, glancing at her from the corner of my eye. “Map says it’ll be twenty-five minutes until we get there. Why don’t you rest your eyes a bit?”

Haven lifted her head off the window, turning to look at me slowly. The aggression and agitation that had been evident from the moment I arrived on the scene had given way to exhaustion. Her dark brown eyes were bloodshot as she blinked slowly before nodding once. She snuggled down into the seat facing me and made herself comfortable as I stopped at a red light. I slid my jacket off and held it out. “Here.” She took it and threw it over her shoulders as she murmured her thanks. Soft snores fell from her lips before the light turned green again.

I followed the directions on autopilot as my mind raced. There was absolutely no way a human ripped her door open like that, and it was too neat to be a shifter. If it had been one of them, the door wouldn’t have been even partially attached to the car anymore. It had to have been a vampire. It didn’t really matter what type of supernatural had broken into Haven’s car, though. The fact that they had only meant one thing. She was in danger.

Still, I’d bet every dollar I had on the fact that it was a bloodsucker. Whether the vampire wanted her for a mate or a meal, I wasn’t sure. Either way, I’d have to keep an eye on her. Maybe I could get someone from the Hunter’s Association down here to tail her. Not that it’d be easy. I wasn’t exactly an active member anymore. Plus, we were in the middle of nowhere. Would they even believe there was a vampire here? They’d probably think I was having another episode. I couldn’t reach out to them without a solid lead.

“Haven?” I called her name as I shifted the car into park. She didn’t so much as twitch. I felt bad waking her up. She looked so peaceful. Sliding out of the car quietly, I decided to let her sleep while I made a phone call about her car.

I leaned against the trunk as the phone rang. When it went to voicemail, I dialed again. The car needed to be towed before the bar opened again and, more importantly, before people started asking questions.

Her exhaustion had worked in my favor. That or she had no idea how protocol worked, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth either way. I had stretched the truth when I told her that her automotive burglary was linked to an open investigation. And by stretched the truth, I mean I totally fucking lied.

“What?”

“Hey Dane. It’s Gabe.”

“You better have a damn good reason for calling me. It’s early as shit.”

“I need you to tow a car from Callahan’s to my house.”

“You’re fucking joking.” His voice, thick with sleep, turned into an animalistic growl that made my fists clench out of habit. Working with shifters was always a risky business, but I didn’t have a choice in this situation. The Hunter’s Association wouldn’t help without proof that she’d been targeted by a vamp. There was no way I could use the police department’s resources and still keep it off the books. Dane was my only option. While he was generally an aggressive asshole like the rest of his kind, he had a soft spot for humans. It was the only reason we had a tenuous, off the record working relationship.

“I’m not. Sorry. A vamp mangled this woman’s car. I need to do a DNA search. She’s a human.”

I was met with a resigned sigh accompanied by rustling in the background. Well, at least he was up and moving. “You owe me, Macias.” He didn’t wait for my response before hanging up.

“Thanks,” I muttered as I walked around the car and opened the passenger door. “Wake up. We’re here.” I spoke louder this time and felt guilty as she woke with a start. I offered her my hand, and she took it, stumbling from the car as she rubbed at her eyes.

“Thank you.” Her words were broken by a huge yawn as she let go of my hand

“I’m sorry to drag this out longer. I know you want to go to bed, but would you mind checking to see if you brought your gym bag inside or if it was indeed stolen?” I was 99.9% sure that it was stolen and the culprit was a vampire, but I wanted the confirmation, anyway.

She let out an aggravated groan, rubbing her face with both hands. “Yeah, I guess. Come on in. I’m sure as hell not coming back out here to let you know.” I didn’t let her attitude, or the names she called me under her breath, phase me. She was clearly exhausted.

She led the way up the stairs of a modest duplex, unlocking the door. I leaned against the brick pillar that lined the steps as she entered the home. “I can wait out here.”

“Just come in, Deputy.” She used my job title like a curse and, because I was clearly a masochist, I found it hot as hell. I shoved that intrigue down as I followed her inside. This was business. While it wasn’t necessarily police business anymore—no sheriff was going to catch this perp—it was still hunter business. Even if I had been out of the game for the last five years. The desire to keep humans safe from supernatural monsters was impossible to resist.

I desperately wanted to do a search to make sure our mystery vamp wasn’t there, but refrained to avoid freaking her out. Besides, the sun was up. She was safe for now, at least.

“You sure unpack fast,” I commented, mostly because I didn’t even kind of buy that she’d moved here a week ago.

“What?” she asked, clearly confused, before she remembered her lie. “Oh. Yeah. I always unpack immediately. Don’t like clutter.”

“Clearly. You even hung up pictures.” I gestured to a photo that was the star of her gallery. It was of a younger Haven with a woman who could only be her mother. The resemblance in their dark eyes and sharp cheekbones, even their pointed chins, was striking. I looked at her over my shoulder, still facing the frame. My voice dripped with sarcasm as I cocked an eyebrow at her. “Impressive.”

She ignored my comments and gestured towards the doorway that led into a kitchen. “You can have a seat in there. I’ll go check my bedroom.” I followed her directions, taking in the bright yellow paint job and white cabinets. For someone who didn’t exactly have the perkiest disposition, her house sure was sunshiney.

I noticed two things simultaneously, the bottle of bleach on the counter and the screenless window that was left open above her sink. Peering through the opening, I tried to see if there was a discarded screen or if she just didn’t have one. My stomach clenched as I spotted nail marks on the outside of the windowsill. The lock was intact, but the vamp clearly pried it open, which made me think that the fucker was old. A newer vamp would have pushed the window up without a trace. The really old leeches didn’t have a grasp on how modern designs worked and always left traces behind.

“Looking for something?” Haven asked from behind me.

I turned around to face her, ignoring her question. “You always leave your window open when you go to work?” She leaned casually against the doorframe. Her tight jeans and long legs looked entirely too appealing. I forced my gaze back to her face in time to notice her confused frown.

“What?” She asked as she straightened and walked into the room, stopping next to me. She glared at the window as if it had somehow offended her before answering. “I must have left it open when I was airing out the bleach. So weird. I could have swore I closed it before I left for work. Can’t believe I forgot.”

I believed her. She didn’t leave that window open. The scratch marks were more than enough proof of that. It was the vampire. It knew where she lived.

My jaw clenched as she spoke. I had to force myself to appear relaxed as I tried to lighten the mood. “Maybe the bleach got to your brain. What d’you need that much for, anyway? Trying to get rid of blood evidence?” I winced internally at my murder joke.

After a lifetime as a hunter and four years as a cop, you developed a morbid sense of humor. Thankfully, she found it funny. She snorted out a laugh as she grabbed the bottle and bent to put it under the sink. I definitely didn’t check her out. Okay, fine. I definitely tried not to.

“Nah, I just had to clean up some nasty ass germs.” The way she emphasized the word ass made me think she’d busted me looking, but when she turned around again her eyes were shiny. “All part of my mental breakdown earlier. Caught my boyfriend—well, ex now—nailing my neighbor on my kitchen table. I bleached the entire room. I didn’t want their nastiness where I make my dinner.”

I grimaced at her words. “That sucks. Sorry.” There were a lot of situations in life where I just couldn’t find the right words, and this was definitely one of them. Give me a vicious vamp any day, but a crying woman? No, thank you.

She shrugged her shoulder nonchalantly. “They’re both irrelevant. It wasn’t a serious relationship or anything. Just felt extra disrespected and felt the need to disinfect. Anyway, my duffle bag isn’t here. Maybe I left it at the gym. I really can’t see someone leaving all my expensive shit and taking that junk. It’s not even a nice bag. It was like $2 on sale.”

I could tell she was prattling on because she felt uncomfortable, so I nodded along as she spoke.

When she finished, I pulled out my wallet and handed her a business card. “That’s my personal number. You can give me a call or shoot me a text when you need a ride to work. I’ll get your car back to you as soon as possible, I promise.”

She shuffled uncomfortably from foot to foot. “I start tomorrow at 7:30. Well, tonight, I guess.”

“Alright. I’ll be here at seven.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Deputy Macias.” That was the first time she’d said my title and my name without malice in her tone. I couldn’t help but smile.

“You can call me Gabriel—Gabe, I mean. If you’d like.” I stumbled over the words, mentally kicking myself. Smooth, I was not. Not that I had any business even trying to be smooth with a vampire’s future victim.

The grin she gave as she walked me out was worth making myself look like an idiot though. “You got it, Gabriel. Have a good day. Thanks.”

I’d be a liar if I said that smile didn’t do a little something to my heart.