fire with the tender brushes of his tongue and the demanding power of his kiss. It had been totally unexpected and had caught her completely unawares.
She’d learned something. She would have to be on guard around Xavier from now on. Her life was screwed up enough right now as it was. She didn’t need to get mixed up with a sexy Cajun soldier who would be around only for a short while. She didn’t want to lose her heart to him, only to have him leave.
Sarah knew that about herself. She couldn’t love ’em and leave ’em. She wasn’t that kind of girl. If she got involved with a guy, she got involved. Xavier could easily break her heart, if she allowed herself to get closer to him than she already was. They had to work together. She could do that. Anything more? She’d have to forget about.
She headed for the hallway where she first saw the perp, trying to refocus the situation. Business. They had to stick to business from here on out.
Sarah pulled the flashlight from her utility belt. She’d done this before. Only this time, she had company. The zombies were gone and an even more dangerous male was guarding her back. Fear wanted to sneak up on her, but it didn’t stand a chance with Xavier in the room.
“I heard something over here.” She cleared her throat, well aware that she’d croaked like a frog on her first try. “So I identified myself and approached cautiously. I saw something at the end of the hall. It looked like a person. I asked him to come out but got no response. After about a minute, he began to shuffle forward, toward me. I moved a little closer, expecting it to be a junkie or a drunk. I thought maybe he might need medical help.”
“Oh, yeah,” Xavier whispered, checking out the hallway with his more powerful flashlight as he stood close over her shoulder. “He needed medical help all right, but it was already too late.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, a lump in her throat as she remembered the unnatural gait of the creature as it had approached her. “I called for backup and an ambulance, then went closer to check out the perp. He was moving closer, but not quickly, and he was making that sort of moaning sound.”
“The inhuman groan that sends shivers right down your spine.”
She looked up at him, but Xavier was concentrating on his inspection of the walls and floor. His expression was tight, though. He understood better than anyone that horrible sound.
She cleared her throat again, trying to push the memory of that sound from her mind. “When the perp got close enough that I could see his face—well, what was left of his face—I tried to run.”
“Smart move.”
“Not really. I didn’t hear the second perp come up behind me. He had me before I even knew he was there.” She was still kicking herself for that rookie mistake.
“I imagine you were pretty surprised after what you’d just seen.”
His gentle tone made her look over at him sharply. “Don’t make excuses for me. I know it was a stupid mistake. Nothing should’ve rattled me so badly that I didn’t even notice the second perp sneaking up on me. I’m better than that.”
“Under normal circumstances, I bet you are, Officer Petit. You’re an exemplary officer of the law.” He gave her a solemn nod. “But I think we can both agree, this was far from normal.”
“Look, it could have been a couple of kids in Halloween masks. Those same kids could have been armed. They could have shot me or sexually assaulted me just as easily.”
He turned to face her. “But these weren’t kids in masks. These were zombies. The real deal.”
The moment stretched while in her mind she went over the recriminations that had been playing nearly nonstop since she woke. Then her sense of humor reasserted itself.
“I can’t believe you really call them that. Every time I hear the word I want to giggle. It makes it sound like we’re on the set of some low-budget horror movie.” A smile quirked her lips.
Xavier joined her in a faint grin. “Only thing is, this is real. No cameras. And it’s my job to keep it that way. ‘Reanimated corpses’ is what they are. ‘Zombies’ for short.” He winked at her before heading down the hall, inspecting every square inch of the floor, walls and ceiling.
She watched him for a moment before following behind, doing