Page 56 of The Hunted
I cocked an eyebrow. “He’s your date?”
“You sound jealous, Sam,” Layla was quick to say as the smooth skin around her mouth tightened.
“Yeah, man.” Ben agreed with Layla.
“Okay,” Harley piped in. “I need to run and so do you, Ben. Webb is waiting for you in his office.” She gave him a gentle nudge in the ribs. “Come on.” They had started for the exit when Harley glanced over her shoulder. “Layla, if you’re still around here tomorrow, maybe we can hang out.”
A nervous laugh escaped Layla. “Thanks, but my sisters and I are leaving the city.”
Over my dead body.Then again, with the snow piling up, I doubted she would be leaving anytime soon.
“Well, if things change, you know where to find me.” The door squeaked open and then closed with a thud behind Harley and Ben.
Tripp poked his head out from the interrogation room. “Mason, get in here.” His tone was stony.
I placed my hand on Layla’s back, and electrical pulses shot up my arm. “Time for your surprise.”
She shuddered but didn’t budge.
My eyes flashed silver as her anger and lust consumed me. “Don’t worry. You’ll come out alive.”
She puffed out air and stomped ahead of me like a child who hadn’t gotten her way. “Fine. I want my dagger and phone when I come out.”
She was smoking some serious dope if she thought we would give a vampire hunter a weapon while in the company of vampires. Not that she stood a chance in doing any damage with that dagger.
“You must be Layla Aberdeen.” Tripp tried to greet her, but she brushed past him and into the interrogation room like she owned the place.
Tripp’s face twisted as his bronze-colored eyes bugged out.
I laughed. Layla Aberdeen was something else. She tried to put up a wall of toughness, when inside, she was scared shitless. But I wasn’t complaining. I was digging all her personalities.
“What are you doing here?” Her tone rose in pitch.
I strutted in. “Surprise.”
Wyman smiled, showing a crooked bottom tooth. “Nice to see you again, Layla.”
“Do you know this man?” Tripp asked Layla as he came in.
A crease dented her smooth forehead. “He’s the Uber driver who dropped my sisters and me off at the club. I don’t understand.”
Tripp pulled out a chair. “I would like you to meet Dowell. His real name is Agent Wyman, former CIA. Please, have a seat.”
She reared back. “CIA? Why would you hire us, then? You have the skills to capture a vampire. Although it now makes sense how you know so much about Sam and vampires. The CIA must know lots about them and how to deal with them.” She sat on the edge of the chair, pursing her lips.
A chill swept up my arms at the mere thought that the CIA could get wind of us.
“The CIA doesn’t know about them,” he said. His pulse was steady, which indicated he was telling the truth.
He’d mentioned in his apartment that he’d planned on turning me in to his former employer. But I had to be sure. “You never approached the CIA since you left?”
He twined his fingers together on the table. We didn’t have him handcuffed. He would be a fool to try anything with us. “I told you my memory is spotty, and I needed proof anyway. Otherwise, they wouldn’t believe me.” He sighed as he returned his attention to Layla. “To continue, I couldn’t risk Sam recognizing me, and what better way to lure him out than with a beautiful woman. Besides, your father told me you were the best at what you do.”
She gaped. “You knew my father? He never mentioned you.”
“He didn’t want anyone to know he was working with me. His brothers didn’t believe in keeping vampires alive, and he had to be careful. He knew Sam’s father, who tried to recruit him. But he was lured by the money. He thought he could use it to start a better life than hunting vampires. He wanted that for you and your sisters.” Wyman swung his gaze to me. “Maybe your father killed hers.”
I grunted. “Careful, Wyman. You might find yourself walking around not knowing who you are. And I guarantee whatever I do will last forever this time.”
