More than that, she was too tired.
But even as she thought that, Angie's beautiful face hovered in her mind. She could see Angie and Jimmy on their wedding day, laughing as they waved good-bye to her from the limo before they headed off on their honeymoon. They were supposed to grow old together and make her a fabulous aunt to their whole brood of raucous children.
They had been her family.
This time there was no stopping the tears that flowed from her eyes. They-the only family she had-were gone and they would never have those kids to mooch off them. There would never be another call from Angie complaining about Jimmy watching football games on TV. No more Jimmy teasing Susan that he'd recently arrested a man who would be perfect for her.
No more late-night movies or laughter. No more Christmas dinners...
They were gone and those bastards had killed them for no reason.
Fierce, unadulterated anger swelled deep from her soul to crawl all the way through her body. She couldn't let the people responsible for their deaths get away with it. Not to mention that every night they were still out there, ending other people's dreams. Other people's lives. Taking away the family someone else loved.
She had to stop them. Somehow. She couldn't just sit by and let someone else lose their loved one. Not if she could stop it.
Susan paused in her mental tirade as an idea struck her.
"Jimmy's journal..." As far back as she could remember, Jimmy had kept anal notes in his journal. Both she and Angie had teased him about it endlessly. That incessant need to put everything in writing was what had made him such a great investigator.
Whatever evidence or leads he'd uncovered would be in that notebook. She knew it. There was no chance he didn't leave clues for her to follow.
But how could she get to his house while the police were looking for her? Not to mention they most likely had it staked out.
It didn't matter. She was going to find some way over there, and get those notes no matter what it took, and finish this investigation. Even if it killed her.
Ravyn woke up with his vision hazy and the scent of Susan heavy in the air. It was a delicate, warm smell. Unique and inviting. He felt like total shit and yet something about her scent soothed him.
It also set him on fire.
His right shoulder was so sore that he could barely move it. Not that he could anyway, since Susan was lying on it, facing away from him, sound asleep. At first he couldn't figure out where he was or why on earth she was on top of him. Then suddenly, the earlier events of the night came rushing back.
He'd been hit with a trank outside of the Happy Hunting Ground. Images of their flight and return to the Serengeti shuffled around him as he remembered bits and pieces of being sick... of Susan helping him.
She'd held him while the whole world had fallen apart.
Amazed by that, he rose up to look down at her and brushed a strand of blond hair off her silken cheek. She had the prettiest skin. Fair and unblemished, it was softer than silk. He laid his fingers over her cheekbone and marveled at the texture that was so different from his.
There was something lovely about her. Something that called out to the animal in him and lured it forward. He'd never felt such a pull toward anyone before. Not even Isabeau, and she had been his chosen mate.
He dipped his head down so that he could inhale the scent of her hair. The soft strands tickled his cheek even as the warmth of her body calmed him. He laid his other arm over her and held her close in the darkness. Like a lover. This moment awoke a long forgotten dream inside him. A dream of family. Of love. Of having someone he could love, who would love him, too.
God, it'd been way too long since he'd just held someone...
"If you don't stop groping on me, Puss in Boots, I don't care if you are out of it, I'm going to hurt you."
He laughed in spite of himself.
Susan opened those striking blue eyes to stare up at him.
"I'm over it," he said softly to her.
Still she looked suspicious. "Uh-huh, that's what you said last time, right before you made a head dive for my boobs."
"No, I didn't... did I?" He frowned as he tried to remember, but the last few hours were all hazy and vague. And he certainly didn't recall that happening, but then given how much she appealed to him, he couldn't deny it, either. If he had a chance and a reason to get away with such a thing, he'd have probably taken it.
She narrowed her eyes on him. "You really are back, aren't you?"
He put the heel of his hand to his right eye in an effort to ease some of the pain that felt like it was cleaving his skull in two. "Yeah, and with a vicious headache."