Fire Within - By Ally Shields Page 0,38

and listened to the rest of Eddie’s retraction. No surprises. He’d simply found the body and jumped to the wrong conclusion.

“When I arrived at the Woodland, the lot was full of cars, so I parked down the street at the curb. I was walking toward the bar when I heard the shots. I ran around the bushes, and Jules was on the ground. I assumed my mother had been there and taken off.”

“But you saw nobody? Not even a weapon?” Ryan was incredulous. “I have trouble believing that.”

Eddie glared at him. “If I’d seen anything, anybody other than my mother, do you think I’d be in here? I would’ve told you right away.”

“Yeah, maybe. But then, you’ve already lied to us. So why were you at the bar?” Ryan wasn’t giving an inch.

Eddie glanced away and looked sheepish. “I came to warn Jules. About Mother. She was so upset, and she had Dad's gun. I wanted him to stay away for a while. I didn’t like the guy, at least not with my sister. But I didn’t want Mother to shoot him.”

Ryan thought about this for a moment. “Assuming I believe you, this would have been a lot easier if you’d told the truth from the beginning.”

Eddie’s face creased with irritation. “No way I’d let my mother go to jail.” He turned to Ari. “How are they? Lorraine? Mother?”

“Not bad.” She turned to Ryan. “Well?”

He didn’t look happy about it, but he said, “OK, I guess you can find out for yourself. You’re free to go, as soon as the jail completes the paperwork. But don’t leave town. You’re still a suspect in Jules’s murder.”

“Leave town? Heck, no. I’ve got a story to write.” Eddie’s tired face broke into a grin.

Ari was satisfied on behalf of both the West kids. Lorraine could use her brother’s support right now. As for their mother, Ari wondered how many other “good citizens” just like her were out there. The woman wasn’t guilty of murder, but she was part of the poisonous hatred that surrounded this case. Mrs. West’s attitude made Ari angry and uneasy, worried they’d only scratched the surface of something much uglier.

* * *

Dark thoughts lingered around her like a black cloud throughout the afternoon. As dusk began to fall, she approached the interviews with the Pure Bloods in an ill-tempered frame of mind.

Her first glimpse of the three male vamps did nothing to dispel her irritation. They swaggered into the police interview room clothed in muscle shirts, jeans, and a smartass attitude. Andreas followed, his controlled energy providing a sharp contrast to their overblown bravado. Ryan took one look at the trio and ordered the two assisting cops to take two of them into another room. Divide and conquer.

Ari studied the remaining vampire, the stated leader of the group. A brawny biker-dude with a full head of spiky black hair. He returned her look, arrogant, dismissive. Even without his buddies, he didn’t lose the attitude, and he glared at everyone in the room. Ari concluded the only thing keeping him halfway civil was the presence of a more powerful vampire. Andreas was making sure the suspect didn’t forget that fact by allowing his energy to hover in the room. Ari’s skin tingled with it, raising her level of discomfort. When Andreas flashed her a brief pointed look, she interpreted it as an apology. Only Ryan, being human, was unaware of the magical tension. Biker-dude’s face froze in a scowl, but his gaze repeatedly flickered toward the vampire leader. In turn, Andreas ignored him.

The gang leader’s name turned out to be Bernard, an unimaginative label that Ari silently shortened to Bernie. Wussy for a vampire. Maybe that was why he acted so tough. He even tried to stare down Ryan, which almost made Ari laugh.

But even the steely-eyed cop didn’t get far with questioning him. Bernie was surly, uncooperative, admitting nothing, except that he knew Patricia.

Ryan finally leaned forward, his voice clipped. “We know you talked to her about dating a human. I want to know exactly what you said.”

Bernie leaned back in his chair, tipping it onto its two back legs. His gaze lay insolently on Ryan’s face. “Why? What’s it to you?”

The chair suddenly fell backward, crashed on the floor and dumped Bernie onto the painted concrete. Without sparing a glance for the fallen vampire, Andreas drew his leg back under the table. Ari struggled to suppress a laugh; Ryan quickly wiped a grin off his face. Andreas remained