Detective Brady Lindstrom deals in death, and not just because he's a homicide cop with the slaughter of a century to solve. Ten years ago, vampires murdered his lover. Ever since, he's looked over his shoulder, ready for vampires to strike again. Or maybe just the one he loved.<br><br>Exhausted and angry about the needless deaths he has to investigate, Brady worries the killers he's looking for aren't even human. Those fears are compounded by an unexpected visitor, the battered and nearly broken Cole Singer, the lover he'd long ago given up for dead.<br><br>When Cole offers to trade information on the killers in exchange for sanctuary, Brady realizes he doesn't have a choice. It isn't about justice. He simply can't turn his back on the face of the only man he's ever loved. Even if he's a vampire.

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Yellow police tape cordoned off the front of the house. Brady bypassed it by ducking beneath, but he paused before going inside. When he looked back over his shoulder, Cole knew what he was waiting for. It didn’t make him feel any better.


“I want you to walk me through everything that happened last night,” Brady said when Cole came up the stairs of the porch. “What time did you get here?”


“Just after midnight.” He came to a stop next to Brady, but his gaze was pulled by the broken locks on the door. He frowned. “Did you guys have to bust open to get in last night?”


Brady followed his line of sight. “No, it was like that when we arrived. Why?”


Cole crouched down to peer at the mechanism more closely. The plate was a dull copper, the wood splintered where someone had forced the door open. Chemicals had been sprayed over the metal, probably to gather whatever physical evidence remained, and there was a little bit of putty left where someone had made an impression.


Chapter 15