“Could it have been some random hair?”
“It had both victims’ blood on it,” he said matter-of-factly. “So it’s unlikely. But still possible.”
She almost shivered at the thought. “So a male with short, dark hair.”
Burnett nodded. “Perhaps a fresh turn.” He hesitated. “We’re hoping if you and Chase hang out with a few gang members you will hear something that could help. And since both you and Chase got a trace of the killer, if he’s there, you’ll know. That said, my main concern is that if you got his trace, he might have gotten both of yours.”
“I don’t think so,” Della said, having already thought about it. “He was escaping, running. I don’t think his senses were on alert. The only reason I got his scent was because it was late and I knew he had to be an intruder.”
“Maybe,” he said. “But I still want you to be on high alert. And while you’re out in the field, under no circumstances are you to leave Chase’s side.” He pointed a finger at her, and his expression went stern. “If you disobey this rule, your chances of ever working another case for the FRU are nil. Is that clear?”
Oh, it was clear, but she didn’t like it. The last thing she wanted was to be attached to the hip of the panty perv. But if that’s what it took to find the dirty vamp who’d killed Lorraine and her boyfriend, her hip had better just get used to the idea of having company.
“Is that clear, Della?”
“Crystal,” she said. Like it or not, she and Chase were a team. And in the back of her mind, she thought about how Steve was going to feel when he heard about it.
Not that she should worry. Whatever they had was history. She had to accept that.
When Della walked into the cabin, Miranda and Kylie were sitting at the kitchen table with three unopened Diet Cokes out. A sure sign someone had a problem and they needed to hold a powwow. In the back of her mind, she recalled Miranda asking questions about to do the deed or not to do the deed with Perry. Were there problems in paradise?
“What’s wrong?” Della asked, looking at the little witch, hoping that she and her shape-shifter weren’t having issues. The last time they’d broken up, Miranda had cried constantly, and ate a truckload of ice cream. It drove Della nuts.
“This is an intervention,” Miranda said. “Sit down.” She picked up a pencil and pulled over a pad.
“An intervention? Whose intervention?”
Miranda continued to stare at her.
Double damn! “My intervention? What, do you want me to pee on drug-test and pregnancy sticks like my parents now?”
“It’s not that kind of intervention,” Miranda said, all serious like.
Della made a face and looked at Kylie, the reasonable friend. “What’s going on?”
“Miranda’s dramatizing it,” Kylie said. “But … Perry told her that Steve told him that you two had a fight.”
“A big fight and it involved that girl at the vet’s office,” Miranda added.
Della dropped down in her chair. “Oh, hell! Isn’t anything private around this place?”
“It shouldn’t be private,” Miranda said. “We’re your best friends and we’re supposed to tell each other everything. You needed us and didn’t even let us help you. So we need to come up with a list of things that will help you deal with this.” She pulled the paper closer. “I’ve already come up with a few ideas.”
Della groaned. “Right now, Steve’s the least of my problems.” She’d told herself this ever since he walked out her door, and maybe if she said it enough times it would feel like the truth. Sure, it didn’t compare to Chan’s death, or the murderer she wanted to hunt down and teach a lesson, but it still hurt like the devil.
“That’s why we’re concerned,” Kylie said. “You’ve had a tough time lately. The FRU case, your dad, Chan, trying to find your aunt and uncle, and now Steve. We just want to help.”
“Help how?” Della asked. “There’s nothing you can do. Nothing anyone can do.” Her chest instantly felt heavy. “Besides, the break up’s probably best. We weren’t really together. I didn’t want to be together. I don’t even know why I let it go as far as it did.”
“You like him, that’s why,” Miranda said. “You should see your eyes light up when you see him. He makes you happy. Now you’re not happy. And for the last week, your aura has been really dark. It’s a weird murky color, too. I told Kylie a couple of days ago that something was wrong. Now, it looks even worse.”
“My aura is always kind of dark. I’m vampire, remember? You told me that once,” Della remarked.
“Yeah, but not this dark. It’s scary-looking.”
“Then do some magic mojo and paint it a different color,” Della said. And while the witch was at it, maybe she could fix her hearing problems. Della had tried to tune in to the distant sounds on the way here and couldn’t.
“If I could fix your aura I would. Only you can fix it. But we can come up with ideas. Things you can do to make yourself happy and that are aura-cleansing. I’ve already listed several.” She started reading from the list: “Enjoy a sunset. Take a slow walk in nature. And the best one, bird watching. Something about birds always lightens up an aura.” Miranda smiled as if so proud of herself.
Della snagged the pen and paper from Miranda. “Here, I’ve got a few better ones.” She started scribbling and reading it off as she did: “Find my uncle and aunt, find a killer, get my cousin buried, forget that my dad hates me, stop missing Steve. Damn, it looks as if I won’t have time to watch any friggin’ birds!” Della tossed down the pencil and shot across the kitchen to her bedroom.
Ten minutes later the knock came at Della’s door. Ten entire slow minutes that Della had used to realize she was taking her problems out on her friends.
“Come in.” She sat up, ready to take the blame.
Kylie stepped in. “Hey.”
“Let me save you the trouble. I know I was a bitch and I’ll apologize to the witch.” She made a face. “But bird watching?”
Kylie chuckled. “Personally, I thought watching the sunset would have set you off. But…” Kylie’s smile faded. “Miranda’s seriously worried. This aura thing has her freaked out.”