Bloody Vows (Lilah Love 5)

“Logically, yes, but my gut keeps telling me that this is just a sick fuck who killed for the sport. Which means he’ll kill again.”

He scrubs a hand through his hair and settles his hands on his hips. “I came here to talk. Emma’s fiancé is flying in at noon. I’ll set the interview up for tonight. Can you make seven?”

“I’ll be here.” I tilt my head. “You came all the way here just to talk to me?”

“There are some things better not discussed by phone.”

“Good to see you growing a brain. The Society is monstrously large and powerful. Don’t underestimate them. And don’t trust anyone. And that means Samantha, Andrew.” I glance at my watch to discover it’s eight-fifteen. “I have to go.” I grab his arm. “Don’t go trying to play Captain America on your own. There’s a way to deal with the Society. Leave this to me and Kane.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Then you work with us. Promise me.”

“I can’t do nothing, Lilah.”

“Work this case. Just work the case. And come by the house tonight.”

His lashes lower, but he nods before he takes a step backward. “I’ll leave this to you.” He turns and heads for the elevator. He punches the call button and disappears inside the car, leaving me kicking myself. I should not have told him about Pocher killing Mom. He’s not going to let this go or wait on me. And he’s going to get himself killed.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

When I die, I want to be cremated. I don’t want a stranger pumping me with formaldehyde, painting my face, and prettying up my hair, all so I can be shoved into a silk-lined casket. Not a lot of things bother me. This does. The entire process of people crying over the top of the shell of what was once a human being is just creepy. The autopsy process isn’t much different. Strangers stand around and examine what is left of a human being. It’s actually morbid but necessary, and today is no different, nor is it my first rodeo.

As I’ve done too many times before, I walk to a reception area of the medical examiner’s office, where I show my credentials to gain entry into the offices. After which, I’m allowed to travel onward to the office marked Room B as DD directed in her text. I enter a small office and then stop at a second door, where I hit a buzzer. The door pops open and I walk into the lab where a covered body rests on one of the four steel tables, the other three empty.

DD steps out of an office directly at the center rear of the lab. Today she’s wearing a lab coat over some sort of dress, I assume, since her legs are bare.

“I was just about to call and check on you, Agent Love,” she greets.

“Well, thanks,” I say. “My mom is dead and she’s the only one who ever did that for me.”

She blinks, looking confused. I’d remind myself she’s not a suspect I’m trying to throw off in some way, but I’m not so sure about anything with DD, the model who might be connected to the Society.

DD presses past her confusion and says, “I came in early and got a jumpstart on the examination but there’s something I want to show you before I go further.” She motions to the body and then walks to a station between tables, grabbing gloves from a box and sliding them into place. I don’t bother. I don’t plan on touching anything.

DD and I meet on either side of the table and she pulls back the sheet to Emma’s shoulder blades. “She was too bloody to make this out on the scene,” she says, using her finger to indicate jagged marks on Emma’s neck that look like cuts. “As I expected and stated, this wasn’t a poisoning.”

My brows dip at the strange injuries I continue to study as I ask, “Did someone try to cut her throat?”

“Those cuts originate from the inside.”

My gaze jerks to hers. “As in, she swallowed sharp objects?”

“Exactly.”

Inside a pill, I think. “Do we have a toxicology report?” I ask.

“It’s not poison,” she insists.

“I understand that, DD, but our job is to find out how that happened. Whatever cut her ended up in her body through some method of transport. Food or a pill. Do we have a toxicology report?” I repeat.

“Right. Yes. Of course.” She clears her throat and straightens. “We do, and obviously, as you know, I’ll have to send off for the more extensive testing, which will take time. But for now, this is what we know. She had a few expected prescribed drugs in her system as well as ibuprofen.”

“Was there a bottle of ibuprofen found?”

“Not that I know of but she could have easily had a pill bottle or case in a kitchen drawer that was discovered after I left. Or maybe she grabbed it upstairs and then walked downstairs.”