Once Bitten, Twice Dead - By Bianca D'Arc Page 0,55

truly believe that?”

“I have to.”

He backed off farther, almost to the door as the girl came nearer.

As she drew close to the door, she disintegrated right before their eyes. Xavier turned to check the rest of the house. He did it quickly and efficiently, circling back to Sarah a few minutes later.

“The house is clear. Stay here and poke around while I make sure we got all of the ones in the woods and mark the debris piles.” Xavier opened a pouch on his thigh and clicked a locator transmitter to life, dropping it on the pile of goo just inside the door. She knew he had to do the same to all the others they’d taken down tonight, so the cleanup team could find them and decontaminate the area.

Xavier surprised her, cupping her neck in one strong hand and pulling her into a searing kiss that rocked her world. No warning. No mercy. Just an all-out assault that made her body hum with want and need. Then it was over and he stepped back.

“Be careful, Sarah.”

The look in his eyes said much more than his simple words, warming her down to her soul. Could it be that the big, strong soldier cared? Something led her to believe he just might.

Sarah edged into the house. It had a simple layout for such a large place. It looked almost unfinished inside. There was one massive great room that was open clear up to the ceiling. There was no second floor—just high cathedral ceilings in every room—and very little furniture. Someone had either moved out in a hurry or nobody had ever moved in to begin with.

She began a methodical search of the premises, snapping latex gloves on her hands before she started. It wouldn’t do to contaminate a possible crime scene or any evidence she might have to handle. There wasn’t anything of immediate interest in the great room, so she moved on to the smaller rooms. The kitchen held a few bottles of chemicals the techs might be able to make something of, but Sarah continued her exploration. A bathroom held nothing of interest that she could see.

It was when she hit the corner bedroom that she felt a chill run down her spine. Taped to the wall, just inside the door, where she’d be certain to see it, was an envelope. It was one of those square jobs with a clear plastic cutout in the center to showcase a computer disc. The shiny silver disc had a name scribbled across its face in bold capital letters. It simply read SARAH.

With numb fingers, she reached for the envelope, examining it carefully before removing it from the wall. Thankfully, it wasn’t booby-trapped.

“Sarah, I’m coming in,” Xavier called out as he reentered the house.

“I’m back here,” she yelled back. “You’d better see this.”

“What have you got?” He moved quickly to her side.

“Somebody left this taped to the wall.” She pointed to where the tape hung from the sheetrock, then held up the envelope so he could read the writing.

“Damn.” His lips compressed into a thin, angry line. “Did you find anything else?”

“Not yet. There’s only one room left to check, right next door.”

He led the way to the next room and they quickly discovered it was as empty as the rest of the house. All they’d found on initial inspection was the disc addressed to Sarah. What it might mean, she had no idea, but somebody was definitely playing games with them.

“Another bread crumb?” Sarah asked as they contemplated the disc.

“I have no idea if the other two were left deliberately, but this one sure as hell was. Take anything on there with a grain of salt and an extra ammo clip.”

She smiled at his soldier humor. “So what now?”

“We need to know what’s on the disc.” He shouldered his weapon. “We also need to restock and reload. We used more ammo than I expected. By the time we do that, it’ll be too close to dawn and our quarry will be going to ground for the day. We might as well go back to base.”

“Base?” She shot him an amused glance.

“Your place,” he clarified with a grin. “Our base of operations for now, right?”

“Right.” She smiled back as she headed toward the door.

Chapter Eight

They backtracked off the property. Luckily, there were no more surprises waiting for them. Sarah didn’t think she could take dealing with any more of the creatures just then. Although she’d acquitted herself well and hadn’t lost her