Page 18 of Immortal By Morning
“Then just take it slow,” Roberts said, obviously having heard his thoughts on the matter. “Let her take the lead.”
Crispin nodded. That seemed a reasonable suggestion to him. Let her take the lead. He could do that. Maybe. It would help if he wasn’t so attracted to the woman. He’d thought she was a cute, perky little thing on first seeing her, but now that he’d touched and kissed her, she was a goddamned goddess. It would be hard to resist that attraction when she was stood in front of him, all soft and sexy. He would try though.
“In the meantime, we should go door to door and question the neighbors. We can take the car.”
When Crispin glanced to him with surprise, Roberts shrugged and said, “I don’t know about you, but I could use a blood break.”
“Oh. Yes. Good idea,” Crispin murmured. Now that Roberts had mentioned it, he was aware that he could use a bag of the red liquid himself and they had a cooler of it in the car. They could grab a quick bag asthey drove to the first house on the block to start their interview with the neighbors.
Abril closed the file she’d been working on for the last couple of hours and glanced at the clock. It was almost 6:00. Close enough, she decided, her workday was done. Despite Gina’s order, she hadn’t curled up on the couch with Lilith and a tea for the rest of the afternoon. First, she had already spent several hours that day not working because of the skeletal remains that she had found. But more importantly, not putting in the time today on work that needed doing, would have just meant working longer hours the next day to do what hadn’t got done. Actually, even with the work she’d done that afternoon, she’d probably be putting in overtime to finish what needed doing.
Deciding that wasn’t something she wanted to think about just then, Abril turned off her computer. She then swiveled her desk chair around to get up, only to find Lilith’s head immediately on her knees, her sad eyes looking up at her and tail slowly wagging.
“Wow, you’re really good with the guilt there, girl,” she said with amusement, but gave in and began to cuddle and pet her. Lilith’s arrival in her office about five minutes after she’d sat down to work had told her that Delacort had returned her. A glance at the security monitor on her desk showed he hadn’t come in with her and was still outside. He must’ve opened the door, let her in, and then gone back to work himself.
Installing the security system, all the cameras, and a magnetic vehicle driveway alarm that sounded anytime a vehicle drove up the driveway was the first thing Gina had done when she’d purchased the house. It had seemed a smart thing to Abril, considering Gina was a woman living alone. She was also often grateful for the cameras and the monitor in her office. Anytime the driveway alarm sounded in the kitchen, all she had to do was look at the monitor to see if it was something that she needed to address. Otherwise, she’d be having to jump up and run to the front of the house every time the alarm went off.
Sometimes, it was just someone pulling in to turn around on the road, or door-to-door salesmen she never bothered to answer the door to. Abril hadn’t even realized there was such a thing as door-to-door sales anymore... until a guy trying to sell frozen meat delivery, and then someone selling solar panels or something had come to the door. The cameras and monitor had come in handy to help her avoid those salesmen, and were helping her at the moment by allowing her to see the activity presently taking place in the yard. The forensics team was still hard at work, but Roberts and Delacort were now nowhere to be seen. Their car was gone too, she noted. Officer Peters, however, was still there.
Abril decided then that it might be a good idea to take Lilith on another trip outside before she had to prepare dinner for them both. Not because she wanted to maybe chat with Peters to see if the two detectives were done for the night and might be back tomorrow. Certainly not! She was only thinking of Lilith’s comfort.
The thought made Abril snort to herself. She so wanted to know if there was a chance that she’d seeDetective Delacort again. Shaking her head at herself, she caught Lilith’s head in both hands, met her gaze and said, “Potty?”
Lilith immediately backed excitedly from her petting hands and hurried out of her office.
“I’d guess that’s a yes,” Abril said with amusement as she stood to follow her to the kitchen.
Unsure what had happened to the leash she’d put on the Lab when Delacort had taken her out, Abril fetched another one from the closet. She then glanced around for Lilith, unsurprised to see she was standing at the sliding doors, watching the activity outside as she waited. They usually let her out that door. It was just easier. Now, however, that wasn’t an option.
“Come on, girl. Outside.” Abril patted her leg and headed in the opposite direction. Lilith hesitated a moment, but then followed. She even sat patiently while Abril pulled on her shoes and her newly cleaned and dried coat. The Lab then stood, but remained still for Abril to clip the leash onto her collar.
Peters was leaning against his car over by the excavation site when Abril and Lilith stepped outside. Spotting her, he smiled and waved. She smiled and waved back, but then headed in the opposite direction, walking Lilith to the grass that stretched out to the right of the driveway. As expected, the Lab was ready for this outing and relieved herself pretty quickly. When Lilith then tried heading toward the other side of the house, Abril let her. But only until they’d reached Officer Peters. Reining her in then, Abril held her in check as she turned to ask him, “All by yourself now?”
“Yeah. Detectives Roberts and Delacort are outquestioning the neighbors. They’ll be back though,” he told her.
Abril just nodded, trying not to look like she cared. She peered toward the people working in the excavation. Officer Peters’s car was much closer to it than it had been. But then she’d heard Roberts telling him earlier to move his car forward and sit in it to keep warm while he watched the site and waited for the forensics team. He’d moved it quite close. Standing at the front of the vehicle as they were, she could see right down into the large hole and the activity taking place. There were only two people now, kneeling around the first body that Lilith had dug up. It had only been a skull then; now the bones that made up the neck, the clavicles, the first couple of ribs, and the upper arms were on display. She could also see that what looked like the bones of the lower half of a foot had been uncovered next to the neck bones and above the left clavicle. Probably not the skull guy’s foot, she thought with a frown and asked, “How late will they be working today?”
“I’m not sure,” Peters admitted, and then grinned and added, “I’m just a lowly patrolman, no one tells me anything.”
Abril smiled in return, but then glanced back to the skeleton and the workers in white overalls, booties, and gloves. “Well, they’ll have to stop when the sun goes down. They won’t be able to see what they’re doing then.”
“Yes,” Peters agreed, and then added, “Unless they have work lights coming to light up the area.”
“Work lights?” she asked with alarm, thinking that would be like a neon sign to the neighbors, rousingtheir curiosity and probably bringing them around en masse.
“But I don’t think they do,” he said quickly on noting her expression. “I think they only requested a tent. At least, that’s all I heard Bill ask for when he called in.”
“What do they need with a tent?” Abril asked at once. “They aren’t sleeping here, are they?”
“They aren’t, but I might be,” Peters said dryly.
Abril raised her eyebrows. “Really?”
“Someone has to guard the site overnight to be sure it isn’t messed with,” he pointed out. “That might be me, at least until my shift ends. Or they might send somebody else out. I don’t know yet.”
Abril glanced back to the area in question. She didn’t think they’d have to worry about human invaders messing with the site. Certainly, she wouldn’t be going near it. However, there were a lot of dogs in the neighborhood, as well as coyotes and other animals in the woods behind the houses that might be interested in the bones. She supposed guarding it wasn’t a bad idea. “But the tent isn’t for you or whoever guards the site, is it? I mean you can hardly guard it if you’re lounging around in a tent.”
“No. The tent is to protect the site in case it rains again.”
