Page 48 of Soul Sucker

“That’s not constructive?” Ella said. “If we’ve established we have some kind of serial killer, how is he picking his victims? Where is he getting his information from?”

“All good questions and ones we should discuss at length tomorrow when the preliminary reports come in. Do you intend to speak to Laney’s parents when they arrive, or do you want the department to handle it?”

“They won’t come,” Ella said. “They haven’t visited her since she left college.”

“But—”

She stood up. “They won’t come. They’ll probably be glad she’s dead and that they don’t have to deal with her anymore,okay?”

Vadim touched her shoulder. “I think Ms. Walsh has had enough. Perhaps we should reconvene tomorrow?”

“Sure.” Feehan went out and straight into his office, closing the door behind him. Alexei moved across to talk to Vadim and Liz drew Ella into a hug.

“I’m so sorry, honey. Every way you look at this, it sucks.”

“I know.”

Liz searched her face. “You’re holding up real good. Laney would be proud of you.”

“Laney would…” She couldn’t even finish that sentence without starting to cry and she would be damned if she’d ever cry on government property again. “Do you want to come and have a drink?”

Liz’s face fell. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I have to go with Doug to this local pack thing tonight. He’s waiting downstairs for me. Will you be okay?” She hesitated. “I can call him and skip it. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Ella stepped back from Liz’s obvious concern. “I’m a big girl.”

She waited until Liz said goodbye to Alexei and Vadim and then picked up her purse and keys.

“I’m going home now, guys. I’ll see you both in the morning.”

Alexei looked up as she passed, then enfolded her in a brief hug. “I’m sorry for your loss. Laney was an exceptionally nice human being.”

“She was.”

The tears she’d been holding back threatened to crawl up her throat. Her smile was already tight with them. She ducked her head and kept going, ignoring Vadim’s soft question and heading determinedly to the stairs.

The dimly lit parking lot was almost deserted. She stood there for a moment, savoring the sour smell of old oil and burned rubber. What if the killer was watching her now? Would she be lured into his web just as Laney and Christa had been, or was she stronger? What did the Siren offer that made trained empaths let down their guards so easily?

She found her keys and opened her car door, sinking down onto the worn leather seat with a sense of relief. For a moment, she rested her forehead against the steering wheel and then turned the key. Nothing happened and she tried again. The engine coughed to life, rolled over and died again. She glared at the hood.

“Not now, you fucker. Can’t you see I’m having a bad day?”

An episode of an ancient British comedy show her dad loved flashed into her mind, featuring an irate car owner giving his broken-down car a good thrashing. She wassotempted to imitate him. A shadow moved beside the car. She immediately dug in her open purse for her gun, cursing her lack of attention.

“Do you need a hand?”

Vadim bent down to the open window and hardly blinked as she shoved a gun in his face. She wondered if he’d had anything to do with her car not starting, but he’d claimed not to have the power to interfere with engines. But who was she kidding? She had no idea what he was capable of. Ignoring him, she turned the key again and the engine stuttered and died.

He walked around the car and got in beside her. “We can do this one of two ways. You can sit here and call for a mechanic and hope he’ll be able to get this rust bucket on the road for you.”

“Or?”

“I can fix this little problem for you.”

“And why would you do that?”

“To gain the opportunity to see you safely home.”

“Why?”

---