Blood Secrets by Jeannie Holmes Read Free Book Online

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    “The last murders were two days before my father’s?”
    “Yes.”
    She rose and faced him, a question embedded within her emerald eyes.
    “No,” he answered before she gave it a voice. “I don’t think there is a connection between the Dollmaker and Bernard’s death.”
    Alex’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t believe you.”
    “Believe me or not, but I’m telling you what I know.”
    Her barely controlled anger vibrated the bond and made his head pound. “You know more than you’re telling me.”
    His own anger heated his words. “You’re reading too much into things and jumping to conclusions. Why can’t you just trust me and leave it at that?”
    “Because I know you, Varik. You always have an ulterior motive. You convinced Damian to reverse my suspension. You dragged me out here. You asked for my help. Why?”
    “I want your help to catch this freak.” He pointed to the doll lying on the seat. “Before another girl goes missing.”
    “Why was the Dollmaker in Louisville?”
    “I don’t fucking know but I’ll be sure to ask him as soon as I catch his ass.”
    She folded her arms in front of her and looked away.
    “Damn it, Alex, I don’t want to fight with you. I need your help with
this
investigation. Not something that happened forty goddamn years ago! If you can’t do that, then you can go back on suspension.”
    “You want my help? You’ve got it.” Alex ripped away one of her protective gloves.
    “Wait—”
    She seized the doll. Her body went rigid, and her head snapped back, eyes wide and staring.
    “Alex?” Varik reached for her and stopped, uncertain.
    She began to shake.
    “Baby, can you hear me?”
    She screamed.
    “Fuck,” Varik hissed and batted the doll out of her hands.
    The doll landed on the car’s seat. Alex collapsed into his arms, clawing at her eyes. She continued to cry out in pain as Damian and other Enforcers converged on the scene.
    “Alex!” Varik seized her wrists in an effort to keep her from damaging her eyes.
    “Get off!” She fought against him and whatever vision she’d seen.
    “Stop!” Varik tightened his grip and pulled her closer to him. “You’re safe, baby. Nothing can hurt you.”
    She screamed again, arched her back, and convulsed.
    “Alexandra!”
    Finally, she fell limp in his arms, motionless, eyes closed, but breathing rapidly.
    “Alex?” He shook her gently. “Talk to me.”
    She remained unresponsive.
    He dropped the mental shields that kept his mind separate from hers and opened the bond. The familiar warmth of her mind washed over him, but it seemed to come from a great distance. She was alive but lost in whatever vision she’d tapped into by touching the doll.
    Damian knelt across from him, careful not to touch either him or Alex. “Damn.”
    Varik held her close and glanced at Damian over her shoulder. “So you believe me now?”
    He nodded slowly.
    It was little consolation to Varik. He brushed the hair from her face, reaching out to her over the bond.
Come back to me, baby
.
    Minutes passed before she groaned. Her lids parted into thin slits. “Varik?”
    Relief washed over him. “It’s okay. I’m right here.”
    She reached for him and he caught her hand. Fear, pain, and anger surged through the blood-bond. Tears slipped over her temples to mingle with the murky puddle beneath her. Her arms slipped around his neck and she clung to him as she sobbed.
    “You’re safe, baby,” Varik murmured in her ear. “What did you see? Tell me.”
    “Death,” Alex whispered between sobs. “I saw death.”
    The FBPI’s mobile lab was a forty-foot-long converted recreational vehicle. Tasha kept her eyes on the smoked windows as she approached it.
    Alex had called her earlier to tell her to inform Mindy Johnson’s parents that the Enforcers had recovered their daughter’s car and to ask the Johnsons some follow-up questions. Tasha asked if a forensics team was present—a natural enough question—and was told both