Page 16 of Blood Magic

Chapter Six

I left my car and walked across his yard, then settled myself into one of the chairs on the porch. Maybe he was asleep. I didn’t want to wake him if he was. I knew he didn’t get a lot of sleep.

Ten minutes later, he opened his door and stepped out onto the porch. He sat down beside me and for a few minutes, we just stared out into the darkness, neither of us speaking.

He was dressed in a white t-shirt and worn jeans, no shoes. I found it hard not to stare at him, as I’d never seen him wearing anything but a suit. His hair had grown out a bit and was slightly messy, as though he’d tried the sleep thing and it hadn’t taken.

Truthfully, Rick Moreno was a good-looking man—both in a suit and in jeans. In his suit, he looked like a detective. Like a cop. In his jeans with his fitted t-shirt and his bare feet, he looked…sweet, sort of. Sexy, definitely.

“You’re hot,” I said.

He looked at me then, and finally, he laughed. It was rusty and quick, but it was a laugh. “Thanks. Back at you.”

We grinned at each other for a few seconds, then our smiles dwindled, and we went back to staring out into the darkness.

I cleared my throat. “How’s Beth?”

“She’s doing better.”

“Good. I’m happy to hear that. Will she be home soon?”

He hesitated. “Yeah.”

Detective Moreno wasn’t the talkative sort.

“I called and left a message a couple of times,” I said. “You never returned my calls.”

“I meant to.” He moved restlessly in his chair. “Louis said you were doing well with your new office.”

I nodded. “He’s a very generous man.” I half reclined back in my chair and turned my head to look at him. “Demon’s been quiet. I’m hoping he faded.”

“With any luck.”

“What’s been going on, Rick?”

He sighed and met my stare. “I caught a hard case. Serial killer.”

I sat up. “I saw the news a couple of weeks ago. You were talking about him. You said he was a mama’s boy, that he needed but never got her approval, that when he killed those women, he was essentially killing her.”

“I was baiting him,” he said dryly. “It worked. He’s angry. He’s going to make a mistake and when he does, I’ll be there.”

“Serial killers are fascinating,” I said, causing him to lift an eyebrow. “Oh, I don’t mean I like them. It’s just…interesting, you know? What they do, why they do it, who they were. What twisted them up and made them want to kill people…” I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t want a glimpse into their heads.” He gave me a displeased look. “They’re sociopathic assholes who get fucked up when they’re kids and grow up to torture and kill innocent people.”

“They’re not born killers, though,” I said. “There’s evil dormant in all of us, right? Theirs gets activated through the abuse of a horrific childhood. I just think—”

“They start on animals, Ms. Silver. Did you know that? Some of the things I’ve seen these killers do to—”

“Stop.” I glared at him. “They’re monsters. I’m aware.”

He was silent for a few minutes, then, “Beth knows nothing happened between us, Kait.”

I shook my head. “I’m so fucking sorry for that. I wish I could tell her.”

“She knows. And it wasn’t your fault.”

“Are you doing okay, Detective? You’re not sleeping, are you?”