“I have my moments.” Eve looked down at the computer and fiddled some more with the girl’s e-mail account.
As she worked, trying to backtrack and find the address of vamploverX’s computer, Caine watched her. She certainly did have her moments. This was one of them, when he saw past her forced bravado and glimpsed the woman behind the crime scene investigator.
A woman he found to be very appealing.
She looked up, caught his gaze and held it. Once again, to Caine it felt like the room disappeared and they were alone in time. He could feel her heat embracing his body, taste her attraction on his lips. He licked them with the tip of his tongue and tasted sugar, sweet and savory.
Her face heated and she glanced back down to the keyboard, breaking the spell.
Sighing, Caine took a step back, and grabbed his kit. “Let’s go. We’ll take the laptop with us and try to get the guy’s address from the ISP.”
She just nodded, shut the top on the computer, slid it under her arm and followed Caine.
He grabbed her kit for her as they went to secure permission from the parents to take the victim’s laptop.
Once they were through the front door and outside, Detective Salinas caught up with them. He put his hand on Eve’s arm and stopped her from walking any farther with Caine.
Caine paused at the end of the walkway and turned around, watching. He didn’t like the way the detective was looking at Eve.
“Why are you doing this?” Aaron asked Eve.
“Doing what?”
“Working with them.” He motioned toward Caine. “When I heard you had volunteered, I couldn’t believe it.”
She shrugged off his hand. “I volunteered to work the case, Aaron, nothing more.”
“How does it feel working around them? I hear they have a wolfman on staff.” He sniffed derisively and glanced over his shoulder at the uniform still standing at the front door to share his joke. “It’s like working with an animal.”
“Well, it’s no different than working with you, now is it?”
Caine could smell the cop’s anger intensify. Colored waves swirled by Salinas’s right hand, indicating motion. Without another thought, Caine rushed toward the cop. To the humans it would seem like he transported there in front of them, his hand circling Salinas’s wrist before he could raise it.
“What the hell?” Salinas took a step back, his eyes wide in shock. And fear, Caine was pleased to see.
“Don’t even think about what you were about to do, Detective.” Caine squeezed the man’s wrist tighter.
Salinas tried to pull away, but Caine held him there. “Let go of me, freak!”
“I will, but only if you turn around and go do your job instead of interfering in Eve’s.”
Eve put her hand on Caine’s shoulder. “Let him go, Caine.”
After another tight squeeze on Salinas’s wrist, Caine released his hold, but didn’t step back. He wanted the detective to know that he wasn’t backing away. It was one thing to insult him, but even to think about hurting Eve—there was only so much he would let slide, and that was not one of them. There were two things he hated most in the world: child abusers and crimes against women.
“Now, go back in there and ask the right questions. Get the phone number and address of this boyfriend, her other friends, then phone it into us at the lab,” Caine demanded.
The detective rubbed his wrist. “I’m reporting this.” He turned and rushed back into the Crawford residence.
Without a word, Caine walked back to the end of the sidewalk, picked up both kits and made his way back to the SUV. Eve ran to catch up with him. Once she was at his side, she grabbed his arm.
“What was that all about?”
“Your Detective Salinas seems to enjoy violence.” Opening the back of the vehicle, he slid both kits in.
Eve set the laptop carefully into the back on a soft cushion. “The only one I saw being unnecessarily violent was you.” Without looking at him, she walked along the SUV and jumped into the passenger side.
Expelling a deep sigh, Caine closed the SUV hatch. He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised at her reaction. She had no idea that Detective Salinas was about to raise his hand to her. She couldn’t see things the way he did. He could explain it to her, but he didn’t think that she would believe him.