full cooperation from all employees of the casino and everyone else in our organization.” His face was still severe, but she noticed a slight softening around his dark eyes. “Further, if this is an employee—Luis said no one recognized her, but I will check—her family will be well taken care of.”
It was the best she could hope for; she knew it. “Okay.”
“But if this is what I think it is, we’re not calling the police.” He glanced at her phone. “Don’t even think about it. I’ll lock you up someplace very secure. You know I will.”
Her eyes narrowed and she shoved her phone back in her pocket. “Fine.”
“Now, stay here while I take a look first.”
“Don’t take too long.”
He smiled. “Bossy. And trust me, I’ll be fast.”
Natalie could have sworn he just disappeared. One moment he was standing in front of her, the next he wasn’t.
“That’s so weird.”
“I heard that!” He was standing near the dumpsters, looking at something on the ground behind him. “Stay back for now. I need to… get a sense of things.”
He darted around, a blur that slowed occasionally so she could make out his form. Trailing around the parking lot. Disappearing into the desert only to appear as a flash under a streetlight again. Natalie glanced around nervously. Wasn’t he afraid of others seeing him?
As if he could read her mind, he appeared at her side, straightening the cuff of one black sleeve. “I don’t worry about people around here. They see what they want to see.”
“Is it a vampire? Did a vampire kill her?”
“Yes.” He looked at her with a hint of trepidation. “You’ve seen dead bodies before?”
She walked toward the dumpsters. “I’m not squeamish.”
“Natalie.” He was still standing near the car as she turned to face him. “This was not your fault.”
Her eyes widened and her heart raced as she turned back to the dumpsters. She started running. By the time she’d reached them, he was already there, bending over the girl. Natalie recognized her immediately. It was the waitress from Bar El Ruso, the one who had been so nervous, the one Natalie had pressured to talk.
“Oh, dammit.” The waitress could have been sleeping. There wasn’t a mark on her that Natalie could see. But her lips were blue and her skin was ghostly pale. “Her name was Socorro,” Natalie said hoarsely. “She said her name was Socorro.”
“This was not your fault.”
“Well, we definitely know Ivan has something to do with all this.”
His eyes were grim. “I guess we do. And he left the body on Ernesto’s property for me to find. Which means he knows I’m aware of it, too. I suspect he’s done his own digging into your background, so he’ll have found out what you were working on.”
She shook her head, walking away to stare down into the girl’s lifeless face. “I need to get back to the city. My notes are at the office. I need to—”
“You’re not going back to the city.” His voice was clipped. “Not until this is over.”
Natalie spun around, glaring at him. “Listen, mister. I know you think you’re protecting me, and I know Dez and Matt said you were trustworthy, but you’re not my boss. You’re not my father. And cy ftanding you have no right to tell me what I can and can’t—”
“Look at her,” he said, his iron control slipping. He spun her around again, pointing at the dead girl on the ground. The grip on her arms wasn’t bruising, but it was firm. “You were talking to this girl a little over twenty-four hours ago. Now she is dead. Do you think they would think twice about doing this to you? Do you see what can happen?”
“I knew this story was going to be dangerous when I took it on,” she said. “Don’t lecture me, I’m not a child.” She pulled away and turned to face him.
“No, you’re not.” His voice was low and fierce. “You’re an infuriatingly stubborn woman who has no survival instincts. You need to drop this and let me—”
“You need to not tell me what to do.” She stepped closer, her chin jutting out as she got in his face. “Because trust me, that never goes well.”
“Why won’t you listen to me?” The anger dropped from his voice; it was pure confusion. “I don’t want to have to force you or coerce you. I don’t want to have to use my amnis to keep you safe.”
“Then don’t.”
“I will if I have to.”
His eyes raced over