Part 17 (1/2)
My memory stirred and I recognized her as the rookie who'd been with Remy Tremaine a few nights ago on my parents'
doorstep. Not a good thing to recall since I also remembered that Remy had vamped her. Which meant she was straight. Which meant I was F-U-C-K-E-D.
I forced a smile. ”What's your first name?”
”I don't think that's relevant right now,” Officer Morris told me, wagging her free hand at me. ”Hand over some identification.”
”I didn't know your middle name was Bambi.” Mandy nudged me as I reached into my purse. ”Jack said it was some French thing.”
”Bambi's French.” I rummaged in my bag.
”Bambi is not French,” she said beneath her breath.
”Sure, it is. It comes from the word bambino.”
”That's Italian.”
”It sounds French.” I pulled out my ID and reached over the seat to hand it to Officer Morris. Her gaze collided with mine and I smiled again-ultra s.e.xy this time. ”Here you go.”
”This doesn't say Bambi,” she said after s.h.i.+ning her light on the laminated card.
”Bambi is my, um, stage name. I'm a dancer. Yeah, that's what I am. A female dancer. That is, I dance for females. Males, too, but they tend to get much too loud and rowdy, and most of them couldn't spot a pair of Kenneth Coles if their life depended on it...” Yikes, I was sinking fast. ”But I bet you would. I bet you have excellent taste in clothes.” Here goes nothing...
And I bet you like dancers, too, I added mentally. In fact, you love them. You think they're hot, particularly me. I'm the hottest you've ever seen-especially wearing my new lip gloss-and you can't wait to see me peel off my clothes one piece at a time. You're picturing it right now because you want me. You want me B-A-D.
”I need you to step out of the car...” she started, but then her words faded. A bright gleam lit her eyes and a look of pure rapture slid across her face.
I reached across and plucked my ID from her hands. She didn't budge. She simply stood there, frozen. Enamored.
What can I say? I totally rock.
”Actually, I'm the one who rocks.” The deep, familiar voice slid into my ears as I stuffed my ID back into my purse. My head swiveled and I found myself staring through the gla.s.s at Remy Tremaine.
Relief swept through me, followed by a mega dose of ”Oh, no!” when he motioned for me to step out of the car.
My fingers went to the unlock b.u.t.ton, but I couldn't make myself press it.
”Come on, Lil.”
”No.” What if Remy had changed his mind about me? What if he now believed the mounting evidence? What if he'd gambled away all of his earnings and desperately needed my bounty to bail his own a.s.s out of a difficult situation?
”I don't gamble and my a.s.s is perfectly fine, and I don't just think you're innocent. I know it.”
My gaze snapped up and collided with his. He grinned. ”You were thinking out loud. Now open up.”
I stabbed the b.u.t.ton, opened the door and climbed from the car.
”Give us a sec,” he said to Mandy as he closed the door behind me.
I followed him up onto the sidewalk. The nearest house sat a half mile up the winding, shrub-lined street. Moonlight spilled down around us and lit up the darkness.
Remy wore a white dress s.h.i.+rt, his tie undone, his collar unb.u.t.toned. He had on navy slacks and inexpensive shoes. His badge hung on his belt near a very dangerous looking gun.
He crossed his arms and eyed me for several long moments before I finally broke the uncomfortable silence.
”So how's it going?” I tried to sound nonchalant.
”It would be better if I didn't have wanted felons prancing around Fairfield's most affluent neighborhood in the middle of the night.”
”I'm not prancing. I'm riding. Back to the city with Jack's fiancee.”
His gaze slid past me to Mandy, who leaned forward in her seat and pa.s.sed a hand in front of Officer Morris's transfixed stare.
”A human?”
I shrugged. ”They're in love.” I braced myself for the expected ”Vampires don't believe in love” speech so popular with most of my kind.”I bet your parents are really upset.”
”They don't actually know, not about the fiancee part. They think Mandy's a phase.”
”What do you think?”
”I think it's none of our business. What's up with the roadblock?”
”It's not a roadblock. It's a checkpoint. To monitor activity in and out of the area. See, if I don't keep an eye on things here, NYPD will move in and do it for me, and I'm not going to let that happen. They've been back and forth, stepping on toes as it is.
They're determined to find you.” He eyed me. ”And they intend to be first in line.”
”I guess you heard about the bounty.”
”Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money.”
”It's one hundred thousand,” I clarified. ”They just raised it on account of some really incriminating evidence that makes me look extremely dangerous.” He didn't look the least bit impressed. Rather, he looked worried.
Remy was a family friend. It only stood to reason that he would be worried about a huge bounty. That would mean more people looking for me. Questioning my parents. Disrupting his town.
”Don't worry, they won't find me. I'm keeping a low profile.”
”By showing up at your parents' on a Sat.u.r.day night?”
”The hunt was tonight.” 'Nuff said.
Remy nodded. ”Still, you shouldn't be riding around in a cab. It's too risky. There are too many people looking for you.”
”Not for long.”
”You're not planning on turning yourself in, are you? Because that wouldn't be a good idea. This case is really stacked against you and unless you know something that we don't-”