Blake's Pursuit (Scanguards Vampires, #11)(11)

She nodded.

“So let me get this straight. We have a missing person, a missing dog, a burglary, an assault, and a stolen phone. Were there any witnesses to any of these alleged crimes?”

“Alleged?” She huffed. Did this man not believe her? But before she could say anything else, she felt Blake’s reassuring hand on her forearm.

“I witnessed the assault,” Blake said calmly. “I can give a description of the burglar who broke into Miss Bergdorf’s flat and attacked Miss Schroeder.”

She nodded, thankful for Blake’s presence, and added, “And I also think I know who might be behind Hannah’s disappearance.”

Both Officer Donnelly and Blake stared at her.

“You know?” Blake asked.

“Ronny, her loser boyfriend. I think she wanted to leave him.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about him earlier?”

She looked at Blake. “There wasn’t exactly time for that. I mean, between the break-in, the assault…”

“Miss Schroeder, can you elaborate on this Ronny? What’s his full name?” the police officer asked.

“I don’t know. Hannah never talked much about him. But from the few things she did tell me, I can tell what kind of person he is.” And that he wasn’t the kind of man who was good for a sweet and generous woman like Hannah, a woman who believed that everybody deserved help.

The police officer raised an eyebrow, but Lilo continued undeterred.

“He didn’t seem to have a regular job. And he was very possessive and jealous.” Something she abhorred in a man. It was a character trait that only led to trouble.

“Jealousy is not a crime, Miss Schroeder.”

“But it can lead to one. I’m telling you, you have to find Ronny. If anybody knows where Hannah is, it’s him.”

The police officer sighed. “Fine, Miss Schroeder. But let’s start with details about your friend, Miss Bergdorf.”

For the next few minutes, Lilo answered questions about Hannah’s appearance and habits, which the officer took down diligently.

“You wouldn’t have a photo of Miss Bergdorf, would you?”

“Not on me. I have some on my cell phone. But it’s gone.”

“Not to worry,” Blake interrupted. “Hannah works for the same company as I. I can get HR to send over a photo from her personnel file.”

Lilo gave Blake a grateful smile. It was lucky that he’d shown up—in more ways than one. Not only had he physically saved her, he was also here to support her in her search for Hannah. And right now she could use all the help she could get.

“Good,” Officer Donnelly said. “Now about the break-in and assault. Did you get a good look at the intruder?”

“I did. He was tall.”

“How tall?”

Lilo pointed to Blake. “About as tall as him.”

“Six foot two,” Blake offered.

“But heavier.”

Blake nodded. “About two-hundred-ten pounds.”

“Any identifying marks? Tattoos? Scars?”

Lilo shook her head. “None. He looked pretty average. Brown hair.”

“Brown eyes,” Blake continued. “Pretty ordinary.”

Ordinary? Lilo clamped her hand over Blake’s forearm. “Brown eyes? You didn’t see?”

Blake’s forehead furrowed. “See what?”

“His eyes were red. As if he had an infection like—”

“You mean like conjunctivitis?” the officer interrupted.

She looked straight at him. “No. It wasn’t the white part of the eye that was red; his irises were.”

“I’ve never heard of an illness like that,” Blake threw in, making her turn to him. “Maybe it was just a reflection.”

“That’s what I thought at first, too, but there wasn’t a lot of light in the living room that could have reflected off his eyes.”

The officer cleared his throat, making her look back at him. “So it was pretty dark then, Miss? I’m surprised you were able to describe the man as well as you did.” He made a note on his form. “Well, let’s talk about anything that’s missing. Your phone, right?”

She wanted to protest, but what if she’d seen wrong? She couldn’t swear to it. Maybe it had been a reflection after all, or fear had made her see things that weren’t there. After all, he’d been attacking her, and her only thought had been to save herself.

Her mind had played a trick on her.





7


Half an hour later, Blake guided Lilo back to the car.

Donnelly had done his job well. He’d taken down the report and pretended to give the case his utmost attention, when Blake knew all too well that Donnelly would shred the report the minute they left the police station.

Crimes involving vampires were dealt with by Scanguards. That was the deal they had with the city. Only a few people in the city government knew about this arrangement: the police chief and several police officers, who were spread around the various precincts, so they could alert Scanguards when a vampire-related crime crossed their desks.

While Lilo had gotten dressed, Blake had quickly alerted Donnelly by text message that they were coming and told him to pretend that they didn’t know each other. All had gone as planned.