Sucker Bet (Vegas Vampires #4)(59)
Author: Erin McCarthy

He stepped inside the room, forcing her backward by his bulk. "Who killed your husband, Mrs. Chechikov?"

She grabbed her throat and played with the delicate gold chain hanging there. "I do not know. But it was not me, if that is what you are asking."

"No, that’s not what I was asking. You might have wanted to kill him, but you couldn’t have. He was a big guy, and you’re so skinny you’ll disappear if you turn sideways." Nate pointed to her hands. "And small hands like that could never have choked the life out of a burly guy like your husband."

"You are not really the police, are you?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Actually, I am. Newly switched to the night shift."

Nate saw she was going for a weapon, though he’d have been hard pressed to believe anything could fit in that skin-tight outfit. "I wouldn’t do that if I were you," he said as a dagger emerged from her shirt. That would explain the weird shredded effect to the clingy top. It allowed her to look stylish and hide a weapon at the same time. He was almost impressed with her cunning. But he still yanked it out of her hand before she could so much as arch it.

"You’re a vampire," she said, chest rising and falling rapidly, fear spreading across her exotic features.

"Precisely. And I want answers. Are you on the slayers’ loop?"

She gave a slight nod.

"Do you know who killed those men from the loop?"

Looking away, her hands going into the back pockets of her jeans, she shrugged. "It was not me."

"No one said it was. You’re just a mortal, and again, look like you could use a juicy burger or two to boost you past a size zero. You couldn’t have done to those boys what I saw. But you know who did." That he was convinced of.

Tears flooded her eyes. "You have to protect me. He’ll kill me." She even managed to pull off a lip tremble, her fingers plastered over her chest.

It was decent acting, but Nate wasn’t buying it. "Tell me who did it, and sure, I’ll protect you. I won’t press charges against you for being an accessory to murder either."

Nate expected her to prevaricate. To stall for time. But she just looked him straight in the eye and said, "It was David Foster who killed the boys on the loop. I do not know who killed Gregor, but perhaps it was David as well."

The name was the one Gwenna had mentioned earlier. Something about David Foster warning her not to meet Slash. "Really? And how do you know that?"

"Because he told me. He has been pursuing me, uh, romantically?" She looked like she needed confirmation on her English so Nate nodded.

"Okay, so why did he kill them? And why the hell would he tell you about that?" It didn’t exactly sound like flirt material. Hey, I whacked these guys, let’s go out for pizza and a movie. Nate wasn’t buying it.

But she just shrugged. "How should I know? He is strange. And the more I consider it, the more I am convinced he killed Gregor. To free me, you understand, because he wishes me for himself."

"Sure, I understand." That it was all a load of bullshit. "So where can I find David Foster?"

She blinked, her head tilted down, eyes looking up at him from under those mink-colored eyelashes, her glossy red lips parting slightly. It might move another man, but Nate was way too far into feelings for Gwenna, and too much of a jaded cop to be even the slightest bit impressed. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his handcuffs. "Or we can talk about this at the police station."

The pout drooped. "He is at the club downstairs. The band is having a private party for a hundred vampire friends and fans and several hundred mortals. Five of which are slayers who are planning to use this party to kill as many vampires as they can."

Was she serious? Nate frowned. "How the hell could they manage that at a casino club? And what kind of party starts at one in the morning?"

"A vampire party. And it’s all been planned. Each of the slayers is willing to die to purge the earth of the evil of the vampire."

"Like suicide bombers?"

"Exactly."

And she looked pleased at the thought. Nate could see that. She wanted death. Whether it was for all vampires or one in particular, he wasn’t sure, and didn’t care. "So why would you reveal this little plot to me?" She wasn’t stupid, so she had to have a reason.

"So you will go and try to stop the plan, and you will be killed, too."

Wow. She was one bitter little thing. Quick on her feet. And vicious. Too bad Nate had no intention of dying. Not when he’d just escaped that very fate earlier in the day. Not when Gwenna had risked herself and recrimination from her brother and Donatelli.

"Well, let’s get to it then, shall we?" He gestured to the door.

She brushed past him. "And you might wish to know that the slayers are determined to see Gwenna Carrick die tonight. They know who she is, how important she is in vampire politics. They know how much her death will anger vampires."

That stopped Nate cold. "No one is going to touch Gwenna."

The smile she gave him was smug. "She is probably meeting Slash right now, yes?"

Damn it. That had never even occurred to Nate. But it was exactly something Gwenna would do, to prove her independence.

He went into the hall, dragging Sasha with him. She squawked in protest at the pressure on her arm, but he wasn’t really hurting her and he wasn’t in the mood to care about her sensibilities.

The elevators were closed. And there was no Gwenna in front of them.

Chapter Eighteen

Gwenna found it really irritating that David Foster, the quintessential nice guy, with a wide smile and chewing gum in his mouth, could be a cold-blooded murderer. It just boggled the mind.

It was wrong and she intended to get to the bottom of it. As David ushered her off the elevator on the second floor, she glanced at him. "Why did you do it?"

"Do what?" He looked around—nervously, she suspected.

"Infiltrate the loop and kill those boys. They were just playing around, it was a hobby to them. And you killed them." That distressed her beyond belief. It was never fair to involve some innocent bystander in vampire business and politics. And surely that’s what this was.

She didn’t really expect him to answer but he stopped walking, the knife hidden in his waistband. Gwenna thought she could probably break away from him and run, but lie would catch her. They were in a quiet mirrored hallway with only one other couple twenty feet away, though God knew she didn’t want to involve any more mortals in the mess. Besides, she was curious as to where he was taking her.