Even though the door to her office was closed, Leona could see out the glass casing. Across the small bullpen was the interrogation room where Homeland questioned Pallas.
That room was empty now and she was waiting for the agents to clear the building. At the moment, they chatted with Murray, who should’ve gone home hours ago. All of her deputies should be tucked in their beds, but murder was a rare occurrence in their neck of the woods. Her crew didn’t want to leave. She couldn’t blame them, but tomorrow would be long for those with no sleep, like herself.
She stretched, kicking her feet off her desk, and for once, wishing she’d placed a couch in her office.
Homeland had questioned the vampire late into the night—she glanced outside at the predawn sky—or early morning, depending on your point of view. She didn’t like the turn of events and how the agents seemed to have lost perspective.
This was a murder case yet they hadn’t examined any of the evidence or the body. What kind of investigators were they? Homeland seemed more interested in securing information from Pallas’ past than his present.
She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t curious about him, but not at the cost of ignoring Bob’s death. In the dark, she waited and watched for her opportunity to speak to Pallas alone.
He claimed he was innocent. Her gut believed him. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? She needed more info and to find the evidence to prove that innocence. He’d been right when he claimed their laws protected only humans. Without irrefutable proof that he hadn’t killed Bob, there was no way he’d walk away from this scot-free. Homeland’s behavior wasn’t what she’d been expecting.
She sighed and rubbed her temples, fighting her growing headache. Coffee… She needed more coffee. Leona reached for the ancient percolator next to her desk and found the pot empty. Nice. She drank enough of the stuff that she probably had pure coffee in her veins.
Agent Thomas and Gillipsie paused by her locked door and she froze like a kid staying up past her bedtime.
“The sheriff left an hour ago,” called Murray from his desk. “She’ll be in early if you want to wait.”
Murray was a good deputy. No delusions of grandeur. He just wanted to keep the town, where he’d raised his family, safe so others could do the same.
“Let’s go,” Gillipsie whispered loud enough that she could hear him through the thin walls.
She counted to thirty after they moved away before rising to her feet. About time, too. Her ass was growing numb. She twisted and cracked her lower back. That was better.
Exiting her office, she came face-to-face with Murray. He held a file under her nose. “I got to tell you something.”
She glanced at the halo of sunlight turning the night sky a deep blue. “It’s got to wait. I need to talk to the vampire before the sun rises and he goes comatose.” She pushed past him and hurried to the basement. The keys were kept with the guard on duty.
Joe sat at the desk, fast asleep.
She ground her teeth. That wasn’t like him. He was one of those guys who had a mission in life to get the bad guy. He should be working in a city instead of a quiet place like Alberg. “Joe!” She shook him.
His head lolled back but no response.
She checked for a pulse. It was strong and steady. She couldn’t say the same for her own. It was like Joe was unconscious but she didn’t see any visible injuries.
“Shit.” She searched his pockets and found the keys.
Murray leaned around her. “What’s wrong with him?”
“I don’t know. Call an ambulance while I check on the vampire.” Mind control my ass. This had Pallas’ name written all over it.
“Yes, boss.” Murray hurried back upstairs.
The cells were divided into general population, female, and isolation for violent criminals. She passed the empty gen-pop cell to the isolation room where they would house a paranormal being. The walls were made of a thick concrete, no windows, and a steel reinforced door.
The lock clicked as Leona twisted the key and pulled the door open. She stood there, on the threshold and blinked. Empty?
She glanced over her shoulder. Where the hell would Joe put Pallas if not here?
Her eyes went wide as realization dawned on her. Sunlight spilled out of the women’s cell area at the other end of the hall.
She growled obscenities under her breath as she ran the short distance. Time seemed to slow and her legs felt made of lead. What would she find inside that cell? A burnt husk of an ancient vampire who liked to drink coffee at the local diner so the townspeople could get used to the way he looked? The vampire who watched over the pack of young werewolves and kept them out of trouble like a sadistic mother hen?
A sob hiccupped in her throat as she paused outside the cell. She’d watched him heal in minutes after a car crash that would have killed a human. There was no healing from the amount of sunlight flooding the room.
The sunrise shone directly through the window just over the horizon. She shielded her gaze and searched the room. She must be losing her mind. How could it be empty, too? Her vision adjusted and she noticed the window no longer had bars.
Unlocking the cell, she listened to the distant sound of the ambulance approaching. She crossed the room and ran her fingers over the rough edge of the hole.
He’d not only broken the barred window—Pallas had smashed the foundation so he could squeeze through.
The tight knot of fear loosened in her chest and she could breathe again.
“Sheriff?”
She spun around. “Joe? You all right?” She supported his elbow to steady his stance.
He rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, I think so. Where’s the vampire?”
“Escaped.” She pointed with her thumb over her shoulder. “Joe, how did he end up in the cell with a window close to sunrise instead of in the isolation room?”
He couldn’t meet her glare.
“I see.” The law concerning killing vampires was still undecided in Congress. Was it murder when they technically didn’t have a heartbeat? She couldn’t book Joe on criminal intent. “Go home, Joe. I can’t look at you today.” She shoved past him and met Murray with the EMTs on the stairs.
“Sheriff, I still need to show you something,” Murray whispered as he pulled her against the wall to make room for the EMTs to reach Joe.
“Not now. We’ve got bigger fish to fry. Pallas escaped.” She waited until the stairs were clear before finishing her climb. Inside the small bullpen were two fresh deputies coming on shift. “We’ve got an escaped convict. Call in reinforcements and notify Agent Gillipsie from Homeland Security.”
She pulled on her jacket. No matter what her personal feelings were for Pallas, she couldn’t ignore that her only suspect was no longer in her custody and that Homeland Security would blame her office.
She had to find the vampire before someone else did. Convince him to turn himself in again. Running from the law only made him appear guiltier.
Shit. She punched the wall in her office. If he hadn’t run, he would be a pile of ash. Fucking Joe. Pallas hadn’t a choice in the matter, but no one would care.
A timid knock on her office door cleared her head. She brushed off the drywall dust from her knuckles and checked her bun for loose hair.
Murray cracked the door open. “Sheriff, I insist you look at this before you go on this man…vampire-hunt.” He set the file on her desk and opened it.
Pictures of the bite mark on Bob’s neck in the autopsy report laid in front of her. “What am I looking for?”
He pointed at the puncture marks. “Something is off with these marks. I compared them with other files on record and the coloring isn’t right.”
She gave him the side eye. “We have vampire bites on record?”
“National databank.” He pulled out printed photos. “See, these have bruising.”
She looked closer. “And Bob doesn’t. What is this supposed to mean?”
“The bite was done after the body was drained of blood. I—I think Pallas didn’t kill him.”
She rested her hand on his shoulder. “Me, too. Keep this between us until we catch him. We can’t afford Homeland burying the evidence.”
“You think they would?” His eyebrows rose, his mouth slightly agape.
“I don’t know. If yesterday you would have asked me if I thought Joe capable of killing a suspect, I would have said no.”
“Is that what happened downstairs?”
“I’m not one hundred percent sure, but Pallas was placed in the woman’s cell that has a window, which let sunlight inside. Last I remember, vampires can’t sunbathe.”
Murray’s lips thinned. “Joe was pretty upset after delivering the bad news to Bob’s wife. I didn’t think he would go vigilante.” He shook his head. “I’ll keep this file safe and test Bob’s body for other signs of foul play. Make sure I didn’t miss anything the first time.”
“Can you run some kind of tox screen without blood?” Finally, they had something to work with. Something she could use to convince the vampire to return with her. If she could find him.
Murray rubbed his chin. “It’s more difficult, but I can take tissue samples and send it to the state lab.”
“Drive them there yourself.”