“Why? It would have slowed him down. He wouldn’t bother. Unless he wasn’t dead.” Valerie frowned at the possibility. She’d never thought that she’d want to hurt anyone, let alone take their life. But after her experiences in the house of horrors, she was coming to think there just might be some people that didn’t deserve to live. Was that horrible?
“Perhaps this Igor was dead and was taken because his identity would reveal his boss’s identity,” Leigh suggested.
“How did you kill him?” Anders asked and for some reason the question made Leigh glance at him sharply.
“I stake—stabbed him with one of the legs from a broken bench,” she answered and then added, “I’m pretty sure I got him in the heart.”
“You made the 911 call right afterward?” Anders asked and when she nodded, added, “And his master returned during the call. That couldn’t have been more than five minutes later.”
Valerie’s eyebrows rose at the use of the word master, but she nodded again.
Leigh and Anders exchanged another glance and then Leigh said, “Then I’m sure he was dead.”
The woman was a rotten liar. It seemed obvious that she wasn’t sure at all, but Valerie didn’t know how that could be. Unless everything she’d witnessed, and all the suspicions the other women had spoken were true. A vampire? But that was ridiculous. Wasn’t it?
“The other women said you arrived ten days before the 911 call,” Anders said now, distracting her from pursuing that line of thought . . . which was probably good. She was pretty sure that way lay madness.
Nodding in response to his question, Valerie peered down at her soup, staring at the bits of beef and potato half submerged in the thick broth. “That’s my count too. Ten days.”
“Where and when did he grab you?” Anders asked.
“Ten o’clock on Wednesday night. I was walking Roxy before bed and . . .” She paused at the thought of her dog. Despite her own situation, she’d worried repeatedly about Roxy while in the house of horrors, but this was the first time she’d given a thought to the German shepherd since waking up here. That realization roused some guilt in her. Had anyone found Roxy or fed her these past two weeks?
“I’d better go look for her,” Valerie said, pushing back her chair.
“For who?” Anders asked.
“Roxy,” Leigh explained as he stood and stepped in front of Valerie as she got to her feet.
Valerie stared at the wall that was Anders’s chest, noting with some distraction that he smelled rather lovely, and that his chest was incredibly wide, his tight T-shirt seeming to highlight the curve of his muscles and—why was it so warm all of a sudden? She wondered as a wave of heat slid over her. Perhaps her fever hadn’t completely passed, she worried, unaware that Leigh had stood up too and moved around the table until she touched her arm, saying, “You can’t.”
Relieved by the distraction, Valerie turned to Leigh, but asked with confusion. “Can’t what?”
“Go searching for Roxy. You’re in no shape to go anywhere just yet. You need to rest and recover,” Leigh said.
Roxy, Valerie remembered. How could she forget Roxy? Frowning, she gave her head a shake and said, “She’s been out there for two weeks, Leigh. Anything could have happened to her. She might be at the pound. What if they put her to sleep or something?”
“They won’t put her to sleep,” Leigh assured her firmly, urging her back into her chair. “She has a license, doesn’t she? Maybe even a name tag with your number on it? They’d know she has a home and have probably been looking for you.”
“And haven’t been able to find me. I should go—”
“You haven’t got any clothes, Valerie,” Leigh pointed out patiently. “And you’re taller than me. None of my clothes would fit you. The best thing you can do right now is sit down and eat and rebuild your strength. I’ll call around to the animal shelters myself while you eat. Go on,” she added firmly when Valerie didn’t pick up her spoon right away. She didn’t wait for her to start, but turned away, saying, “Anders, make sure she eats while I make the calls.”
Three
Anders watched Valerie as Leigh left the room. The woman’s expression was full of concern and dissatisfaction. She obviously cared for, and wasn’t pleased not to be looking for, her pet. His gaze slid over Valerie, noting that her hair was nearly dry and now fell in soft, golden waves around her face. Her clean face, he noted. Anders hadn’t seen Valerie since delivering her to the Enforcer house. The dirt that had covered her then had hidden what he now saw were very fine features.