Free Crimson Vengeance by Sheri Lewis Wohl Page A

seconds after the trio passed the guard office, a young man, tall and lean, rounded the corner and nodded to her. Thank goodness. It was Andrew Schneider, the newest of the security crew, and a recent return to the city after a four-year stint in the navy. Things were bound to be easier without Brett. Besides, Andrew seemed like a nice kid. She’d always had a soft spot for sailors.
    “Everything okay, Doc?”
    She smiled and nodded. “Fine, Andrew, thank you.”
    Without pausing, Ivy and Colin pushed past with the gurney.
    “You let me know if you have any problems like last night.
    Heard about the assault on Officer Barton.” His thumbs hooked in his belt, his eyes moved as he surveyed his surroundings and the two people who hurried down the hall to the autopsy suite.
    “You’ll be the first one I call.” She started to follow Ivy and Colin.
    “Doc?”
    She stopped. “Yes, Andrew?” Now wasn’t the time to chit-chat.
    Ivy wasn’t kidding when she said the clock was ticking.
    “You can call me A.J., everybody does.” The corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly.
    She looked at him and the smile vanished as quickly as it appeared. He was a very serious young man. “A.J. it is.”
    He gave her a slight nod and then continued down the corridor in the opposite direction. She rushed to follow Ivy. Inside the autopsy room, she had already transferred Jorge’s body, still inside the sealed black bag, from the gurney to the stainless table. Riah stopped just inside with her back to the door. With her foot, she pushed the door open a crack and took one final glance just to make certain A.J. was gone. The hallway was empty.

    Satisfied they were alone, she snapped the door shut, turned the knob to engage the lock, and stood with her back to it. They wouldn’t have any surprise guests tonight.
    “Somebody want to tell me what’s going on here?”
    Ivy pushed the empty gurney toward the door. “It’s a long story and you won’t believe it. Or even like it, for that matter.”
    “Give me a try.” Riah folded her arms across her chest and stayed in front of the door. Ivy stopped just short of her, the gurney between them.
    “I’m a vampire hunter,” the man announced from across the room.
    Riah turned her gaze away from Ivy to study the man. Her chest tightened. She’d seen his kind before. Not once. Not twice.
    In fact, she’d lost count of the number of zealous vampire hunters she’d dispatched over the years. Each time she took one down, the church sent in another. The resolve of those who waited in the wings never seemed to diminish. It was an old and tiresome battle. Heavy on the tiresome.
    When she stopped taking human blood several centuries ago, she stopped looking over her shoulder for the never-ending hunters.
    She’d hoped that part of her life was over. Not for the first time, she was wrong.
    Things were dangerous enough without this newest complication. She couldn’t deal with a rogue vampire and a hunter at the same time. She looked him square in the eye. “Get out.”
    Ivy jumped in and held up a hand. “Wait, Riah. Listen to what he has to say before you send him away.”
    She didn’t even look at Ivy. “I don’t need anything from his kind. He should be grateful I didn’t kill him the second he stepped out of the van.”
    She might have given up her old way of life, but her memories were a hundred percent intact. Hunters had destroyed too many of her friends through the years. Technically children of the church, these hunters certainly failed to grasp the concept of redemption or forgiveness.
    “Jesus Christ,” Ivy blurted loudly. “You’re as bad as Colin.”

    The hunter had the nerve to smile. “I said get out.” Riah pointed to the door.
    Ivy touched Riah on the arm. “Do you honestly believe, after all this time, I’d bring someone here who might harm you?” Her question was whisper-soft.
    Riah paused. She wanted to disagree with Ivy, yet she couldn’t.
    What she