he was focusing on her in a professional, not personal, fashion. And the former was true. He was thinking of her as a witness who might well possess more information than she’d so far shared.
But there was also an undercurrent that he could not deny.
“Like I said,” the Brother stated as he took out a small, spiral-bound notebook, “this will not take long. I’m Detective O’Neal—I mean, the Brother Butch. I’m Butch. And you are?”
“Helania.” She shook her covered head. “But I told him everything I know, and it’s not much.”
Crossing his legs at the knees, Butch stared across at her with hazel eyes that were full of compassion and understanding. “I’ll bet you haven’t been able to sleep or eat since you found her.”
There was a long pause. And then Helania shook her head again. “Not really, no.”
“I’m really sorry you had to see that.” Butch’s eyes stayed steady on the female, even as his pen jotted something down. “I know it’s been tearing you up. My victim really suffered when she died. Can you tell me what her name is?”
“I don’t know her,” Helania said sadly. “I just . . . I was worried because she’d been down there with that male for so long.”
“Of course you were worried about her. Females have to look after each other.”
The hood of the cloak nodded. “That’s how I feel. It could have been me.”
“I know. It’s dangerous here. Dangerous everywhere.” The Brother leaned forward earnestly. “I know it’s hard to trust us. Even with the black daggers I’m wearing, you don’t know him or me from a hole in the wall. But I just want you to know that she’s my victim now. I’m going to take care of her, and the way I do that is by finding out what happened to her and making sure whoever killed her is taken care of. The way you can continue to help her is to tell me whatever you know. No matter how trivial or inconsequential you think it might be. And the sooner you do that, the better for her.”
There was another long silence, and the background thumping of the music rose to fill the void. Meanwhile, Boone tried not to interrupt. Fidget. Be an ass.
“You can trust us to take care of her,” Butch reiterated. “We’re all on the same team.”
“What will you do if you find the killer?” came the soft inquiry.
“When,” Butch corrected. “It’s when I find them. And whether they are a human or one of us, they will get what they deserve, I promise you.”
After a moment, a pair of shaking hands rose to the hood that covered Helania’s head. As she drew the fall of black fabric back, Boone gasped before he could hide his reaction. Her features were fine to the point of being delicate, her yellow eyes rounded, her brows arched, her bow-shaped mouth and her pinpoint nose balanced perfectly in the oval of her face. Her hair was long and wavy, streaked with blond and red, and her skin was darker than his.
She was . . . astounding.
“I can’t stop seeing her,” Helania whispered. “Every time I close my eyes, I . . . I see her hanging from that ceiling. That hook . . .”
“I know.” Butch put a fatherly hand on her knee. “It’s really terrible. But together, we can do something about it.”
Those yellow eyes lifted to the Brother’s. “You won’t let him get away with this.”
“No, I won’t.”
“I’ve been looking for him, you see.” She nodded toward the open area where the club’s members were. “I know he’ll come back here.”
“Because he’s killed before.”
That yellow stare went to the floor. “Yes.”
“How did you know about the other deaths?”
“There was more than one?” she asked with surprise.
“Yes.”
“Oh, God . . . well, I only knew about the one other.” Her lids lowered. “That female’s murder was all over the species’ groups on social media. It made everyone uneasy.”
Boone spoke up. “So that was why you were looking out for the victim last night. Even though you didn’t know her.”
“Everyone’s nervous,” Helania said. “Who’s a vampire, that is.”
“Which is understandable,” Butch murmured. “Now, the male or man you saw with my victim. Had you seen him in the club before?”
“I think I have. I’m not sure, though. It’s dark and there are so many people.”
“What’s he look like?”
“He’s enormous. Black sunglasses. Black skull cap pulled down low. Black leather clothes—although that’s not saying much.”