Free Deliver Me from Temptation by Tes Hilaire Page A

intent on their conversation. “Well, we know he wasn’t using any of the micro-sized spaces in his own building. And it’s next to impossible to get a spot somewhere you don’t live. You really think it’s going to get us somewhere?”
    “Now that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?”
    ***
    Logan eased his car into the micro-sized spot, cursing as he had to back up and realign, twice. He normally loved the city. Loved the bustle, the vibrant throb of humanity, the reminder of what he fought for day in and day out. But not when he was in such a hurry.
    Probably already lost her , he thought, pushing open the door.
    Why was she out last night? Was it simply coincidence she’d stumbled upon those vampires? That the succubus he and his brothers hunted led them there? And how crazy was it that Jessica was also tied up in Roland’s troubles? Troubles that centered on Thomas Rhodes and whoever, or whatever, had dispatched him to Hell.
    It was the last thought that had a shiver running down Logan’s spine. A vampire had trashed Roland’s penthouse over the summer. Not just any vampire either, but the former head vampire, Christos himself. Roland had moved out—anything to keep Karissa safe. But that break-in occurred the same night Roland’s latest blood-donor redemption project—aka Thomas Rhodes—disappeared. Logan didn’t know all that much about blood ties, but Roland said he could always find someone he drank from through that tie. What if it could be utilized both ways? What if that was how Christos found Roland’s apartment that night? It would certainly explain a lot of unanswered questions, and also made Logan reevaluate the set of coincidences that led to him running into Detective Jessica Waters twice now in less than two days.
    What were the chances Jessica was in that area of town last night for something to do with her Rhodes case? What if those vampires weren’t there as a part of a trap for Logan and his brothers but because they were sent to keep a certain nosy detective from getting too close to any real answers?
    Logan didn’t buy into coincidences. At least not that many. The thought of Jessica being firmly lined up in the vampires’ sights made him uneasy. Which was why he was taking a chunk of his skin off now, trying to squeeze himself through the six-inch gap between his car and the next in a pitiful attempt to catch up to her.
    After mulling on those questions all day, he’d arrived back at the station just in time to see her head out after her shift. But she hadn’t gone home. After a nightmarish cat-and-mouse chase across town to Harlem, he’d followed her to one of the rarely found self-park garages, hanging back until she’d made it past the gate. Then he pulled in after her, taking a spot a level away from her own.
    Now, afraid he might miss her again, he bolted across the cement and hit the nearby stairwell. The numbers were flashing on the elevator, so he went ahead and took the stairs. Easing out into the darkening evening, he caught sight of her all but running down the sidewalk, the streetlights picking up the highlights in her brunette curls as they bounced across her shoulder blades.
    He hung back, his curiosity spiking as he watched her loiter near a parking garage for one of those posh high-rises that always got blamed for gentrification.
    A couple minutes later, when a large SUV pulled up to the steel curtain and flashed his card at the sensor, Jessica dashed up beside it, running half crouched alongside the vehicle past the rising barrier and down into the dim recess of the underground garage.
    Slick. And not exactly legal. And for some reason he wasn’t at all surprised.
    Torn between amusement and worry, Logan waited. Three buses from the nearby stop went by before Jessica emerged, looking frustrated.
    Logan was about to step out to follow when two men beat him to it, folding out of the shadows of a narrow side street, their pace matching hers