"Definitely." He grinned and a deep dimple formed on one side of his face. "So this isn"t business, but I like it."
So do I, Melissa thought, but couldn"t admit it just yet. "Well, people have friends at work. Friends they talk to about things. So why can"t we be like those kind of friends?"
Sebastian narrowed his eyes. His grin grew broader as he pointed at her. "I"ve been a bad influence on you, haven"t I? Admit it."
She grabbed his finger and gave it a teasing pull. "I"ll admit it on one condition."
"Shoot. What do you want?"
"Why"d you cut your hair?"
A simple enough question, but with an answer too complex to explore right now, Sebastian thought. With a shrug he replied, "Remember those unresolved Dad issues? Just trying to look respectable."
Melissa reached out and ran her fingers through the longer strands at the top of his head. He smelled the clean scent of her, and desire jumped to life. He fought it down, but it wasn"t easy.
"I liked it long and I liked the T-shirts and other stuff."
Sebastian glanced down at the neatly pressed dress shirt he wore, another concession to what he thought would be considered respectable. "Boring much?"
"Boring," she agreed with a small nod.
"So I can go back to being disreputable Sebastian."
"You can go back to being you."
"Me, huh?" Inside there was surprise, confusion and wait...What was that? Was it pride? Maybe even self-confidence and happiness? Grinning broadly so that it almost hurt, he said, "I kind of like this work-friends thing."
There was a slightly confused but happy expression on her face as she admitted, "So do I, only...I guess it"s time I tackled that journal."
Leaning forward, Sebastian snagged the book from the coffee table where he had left it earlier and handed it to her. "Nap time"s over."
She grabbed the book from him. "Slave driver."
Chuckling, he rose and glanced down at her. She looked good enough to kiss, only work friends didn"t kiss, did they? So he forced himself to move away from the sofa and back to Ryder"s desk to start the next book.
While he scanned, he battled the need to look her way. So she liked his longer hair and preferred his T-shirts? But thinking about all they had revealed to each other tonight was dangerous because...
ubera.n.a.l Doctor Melissa didn"t do bad boys. Only, she had already done him and liked it.
She had liked it, he thought with a grin, and while he scanned, he considered which T-shirt he might wear tomorrow. And how long it would take for his hair to grow out " cause maybe Good Girl Melissa might consider a repeat performance with Bad Boy Sebastian.
Sebastian wasn"t feeling quite as positive after three days of scanning with no sign of Melissa. Rumor had it that she was having an exceptionally rough time at the hospital, which slowed her review of the journals. So Ryder had taken over the task for the last few nights.
Sebastian, however, was wondering if Melissa had reconsidered her earlier decision to become work friends. Was that the reason for her absence?
When Ryder strode up to the desk, surprising him, Sebastian bolted upright in his chair. Glaring at the vampire, Sebastian said, "Can"t you wear a bell or something?"
"Spooked?" Ryder challenged. "Ready to call out VLAD and have my membership yanked?"
"Or maybe upgraded, because you have been just way too lurking in the shadows lately." He tried to resume his scanning, only Ryder stilled Sebastian"s hand as he moved the mouse.
"Diana has more news."
Sebastian swiveled around in the chair. "Bad, I guess."
Ryder nodded, but said nothing else.
"And the journals? Anything so far?" Sebastian asked.
"Nothing."
Sebastian had been hoping for something beyond a nod or monosyllabic answer, but it was apparently not forthcoming. Clasping his hands together and adopting what he hoped was a casual stance, Sebastian glanced up at Ryder looming over him. "How"s Melissa?"
"Busy." Anger surged through him. He was struggling to locate a snappy rebuke, when Ryder surprised him by saying, "She"ll be home later tonight. We need to talk about things and I"m hoping you"ll hang around for that."
When he met Ryder"s gaze, he saw a different look there. He couldn"t quite call it welcoming-there was still something about the whole vampire thing that threw off his radar-but it was at least more friendly than before.
Or maybe Ryder was just hungry and eyeballing a prospective snack. Regardless, Sebastian wouldn"t miss seeing Melissa later that night.
"I"ll be here."
Chapter 9.
Q uitting time.
Melissa was dead tired and counting the minutes until she arrived home. Granted, Ryder had called to say a big powwow was planned, but he"d also let her know that Sebastian would be there.
Which brought a smile to her lips.
The smile didn"t last as she pushed through the door of the women"s locker room and encountered Sara. Uneasiness crept through her, even though Sara was a friend and had never given Melissa cause to worry-blood bags and possible theft notwithstanding.
Sara was almost finished dressing. On the small bench was her knapsack.
Melissa wondered if it contained blood bags.
"Hola," her friend said as she noticed Melissa approaching.
"Hola to you," Melissa responded, opening her locker and eyeing Sara"s bag.
Sara seemed as relaxed as always as she pulled on a shirt. Momentary inspiration seized Melissa. While Sara was distracted, Melissa grabbed her bag and swung it onto the bench. Right into Sara"s knapsack.
Sara"s bag tipped over, spilling its contents onto the floor. Both Sara and Melissa rushed to pick up the items.
"Sorry," Melissa said. Then she noticed the two blood bags on the floor along with Sara"s other things.
Sara tossed them back into the bag quickly, but gazed up at Melissa to gauge her reaction. "They were expired and put out for destruction."
Melissa crossed her arms. "People might wonder what you"re doing with them."
"Maybe the same thing you are," Sara responded with a tight edge to her voice.
Nailed, Melissa thought. She"d had more than a year to prepare her excuse. "Experiments? Is that what you"re doing?"
With a harsh laugh, Sara sat down hard on the bench, cradling the knapsack to her midsection while shaking her head. "You might call it that only...My mom"s been sick. Real sick."
"You"ve brought her here for treatment, right?" What could tie Sara"s mom"s illness to the blood?
Closing her eyes, Sara whispered, "She"s terminal. That"s what they said." Having lived with her own mother"s illness, Melissa understood what Sara was going through. She sat down on the bench next to her friend and wrapped an arm around Sara"s shoulders. "I"m sorry. Is there anything I can do?"
Tears slipped down Sara"s face, but she wiped them away. "No. Some women in the neighborhood were talking about a man they visit to cure their ills-a santero. They claimed he helped them get better."
"So you went to him? To a voodoo doctor?" Melissa was surprised that someone with Sara"s training would fall for the antics of a charlatan.
"Not voodoo. Santeria," Sara explained as if that would make all the difference in the world. "The santero said helping my mother would take a big offering. That a normal sacrifice wouldn"t do and he needed human blood."
For feeding? Melissa wondered if this santero was actually a vampire like Ryder. And if he was, Sara was in for a world of hurt when her mother"s cure failed-or worse if his cure was to turn her mother. Melissa gave Sara a rea.s.suring hug. "You know it may not work. Why don"t you bring your mom back here? I can talk to her doctors. See what else-"
Sara pulled away from Melissa and rose, clutching the knapsack as if it were a lifeline. "I need to try this. Even if it fails. Just like you and your dad have to do your little experiments."
Her dad"s experiments? Had he used the same ruse she had when caught taking blood for Ryder? "My father? What was he working on?"
Sara shrugged. "Don"t know. One day during rounds, he made a mistake. Luckily I caught it, but he was totally distracted. Said your mother was really sick again and he had to finish up his work so he could help her."
"When was this?"
Sara slipped one strap of the bag over her shoulder as she considered Melissa"s question. "I"m not really sure, but I"d say a few months before the accident."
Melissa sat down heavily on the bench. Those last few months had she noticed anything different about her father? She came up blank.
"You okay?"
Sara"s concern was evident on her face. Melissa had no doubt it was genuine; she could take Sara off the list of suspects. Rising, Melissa hugged the other woman. "Promise me that if your santero turns out to be a quack, you"ll bring your mom in to see me."
"Promise," Sara replied. Then she walked out of the room, leaving Melissa to wonder just what her father had been up to and whether it had anything to do with Ryder.
Melissa"s head ached from all the a.s.sorted facts and questions Diana had raised during their little briefing. "So bottom-line it," she said curtly, eager to add the information she had gleaned today from her friend.
"There"s a gap of a few hours between when your parents ga.s.sed up the car an hour from home and when they died. Where were they?" Diana tossed the question out for consideration to everyone as they sat around the kitchen table once more.
"Dinner?" Sebastian leaned his arm across the back of Melissa"s chair. Surprisingly there was something comforting about that gesture, Melissa thought.
"No credit card receipts, although they could have paid cash. Only, they had taken a break for lunch right before they stopped for gas. We were able to trace that credit card charge," Diana explained. "A friend"s house?" Ryder said, and glanced at Melissa.
"They didn"t mention stopping anywhere and as for friends, there are a few in the area."
"I"ll need the names," Diana said, and pa.s.sed her pad and pen to Melissa.
Rubbing her forehead, Melissa asked, "What about the other names?"
Diana shook her head. "Nothing really, except Edward Sloan has something funny in his history. I have one of my people checking it out further."
As Melissa wrote down the names of her parents" friends, she wondered what could be so odd about Edward"s past. Her father and Sloan had known each for as long as Melissa could remember. Since the deaths of her parents, Edward had been a mentor of sorts. He had been one of the first people by her office after the break-in.
Diana sneaked a peek at the names Melissa had written before continuing, "All new people, so no possible connection with those at the hospital. Seems like we"re running into a bunch of dead ends here."
"Not really," Melissa blurted out.
Everyone looked at her and she told them about her discussion with Sara. About the possibility that her father had been conducting experiments of some sort in an effort to help her mother.
Sebastian rubbed her back in a comforting gesture and Melissa shot him a grateful smile before her gaze settled on Ryder.
"Anything in the-"
"Nothing in the journals so far. Although I think you should read them for yourself. Maybe there"s something there that I"m missing."
"Or maybe the information is in a later journal. Maybe Melissa should take a look at one of those," Sebastian suggested.
Ryder nodded and Diana echoed his agreement. "That makes the most sense. If your dad was conducting experiments of some kind, maybe they had something to do with his murder."
"But why kill my mother, too?" The pitch of Melissa"s voice rose with her agitation. "Why her? Or was it just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time?"
Sebastian laid his hand over hers and continued to rub her back. "We"ll know soon, Melissa. And whoever did it will pay for what they did."
Melissa didn"t feel quite as confident. The killer had managed to hide his original crime for more than a year. They were only a little closer today to finding out who it was than they had been days ago. Dejection threatened to overwhelm her. The stress of not knowing was taking its toll. Physically and mentally.
She had to do more. She rose from the table and said, "So what do we do next?"
Sebastian watched as Diana and Ryder exchanged an uneasy glance. Finally Diana said, "We keep investigating. Eventually we"ll get a break."
"Right," Melissa replied, and Sebastian suspected she wasn"t convinced by his sister"s optimism. "I guess I should tackle the more recent journals. I"m going to dig them out so Sebastian can scan them first."
She hurried from the kitchen, which in the past week had become command central. After she had gone, Sebastian said, "How long before we get a break? It doesn"t seem like she can take much more." "She can handle it as long as she has us," Ryder said. "As long as she knows she"s not alone in this."
Diana placed her hand on Ryder"s shoulder. "It"s a lot for her to deal with."
Ryder twined his fingers with hers. "She"ll deal."
He surprised Sebastian by looking his way and asking, "Right?"