Dying To Be Heard (Book 1): Outcry (20 page)

I love you, Rayne. Always remember that.

With Love,

Grandpa

P.S. – You will find these numbers very helpful.

Rayne could only stare in amazement.
What more could there possibly be to learn
?
Had he known more than he led Camden and the others to believe
?
Why didn’t he tell them
?

Scribbled at the bottom of the page was a combination of letters and number.

WK44872. What does that mean?

She couldn’t recall ever having seen or heard it before. Racking her brain was leading her nowhere. She thought of asking Camden.

But should I tell him? If Grandpa didn’t, then there must be a reason.

Letting the paper fall to the counter, her mind ran over all the possibilities.

He did say to stay close to Camden.

How could he protect her if she didn’t tell him what was going on? She nodded to herself and pulled out her cell phone. She typed in a quick message and hit send.

Within seconds, Camden walked through the door into the kitchen. “What’s up?”

Rayne held out the paper to him and watched as he took it and read.

He gave a questioning look. “Where did this come from?”

She pointed to the book on the counter.

He shook his head and stared at the paper.

“I don’t recognize those numbers. Do you?”

Camden studied it a while longer. “No.” He paused. “We might could do an Internet search on them, though. That might tell us something.”

Rayne nodded and jumped down from the stool, leaving her half-eaten sandwich behind. With all the excitement, she was no longer worried about food.

He led her upstairs to his room and sat at the computer. Typing the phrase into the search engine, they both seemed to hold their breath as they waited for the results.

The first page that appeared was for a bank, Winston-Klein Bank and Trust.

Rayne fondled the key in her hand. “A safe deposit box, maybe?”

Camden shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know what else it could be.”

He looked through the website, found a phone number and address, jotted it down, and handed the paper to Rayne. “It’s on the other side of the city. They’ll likely be closed by the time we get there. We’ll go first thing in the morning.”

She nodded and watched as he stood.

Camden took a few steps closer and wrapped his arms tightly around her.

It was all so surreal. As if everything else hadn’t been enough, obviously there was more. She wasn’t sure how much more she could take. His embrace seemed to last forever, but she found that it was extremely comforting, and she didn’t want it to end.

“We’ll figure this out,” he said quietly and pulled away.

Rayne nodded. She knew they would. One way or another, they would get to the bottom of it all.

“We’ll take it easy tonight, relax a little, and give ourselves time to process,” he said with a smile. “We’ll pick up again tomorrow.”

“Good plan,” she replied with a smile matching his own as she turned to leave his room.

“Hey,” he said, before she made it out the door. “How about a movie?” He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a DVD case. “I’ve got just about every movie you can think of.” He knew that she could use an excuse to get her mind off of the situation at hand, and he wanted to give that to her.

She smiled. A movie definitely sounded like a good idea. “Meet you downstairs at six?”

He winked. “It’s a date.”

Chapter 15

Rayne stood in front of her mirror, applying a small amount of makeup. The butterflies she’d thought she’d gotten rid of had returned with a vengeance.

Just the thought of a “date” with Camden had her heart racing with excitement and her stomach flip-flopping all over the place. Of course, she knew that it wasn’t an actual date, but with the cocky way he’d said it earlier, and their undeniable attraction to one another, maybe it could turn into one.

Running her fingers through her auburn curls, she separated them so that they hung down her back and over her shoulders in a gentle wave. Date or not, she wanted to make sure that she looked decent around him. Well, as decent as one could get in a pair of comfortable sleeping shorts and a tank top, anyway.

Finally approving of her appearance, she left the privacy of her bedroom and made her way downstairs. Camden was already in the living room, rummaging through several stacks of movies. Like her, he’d decided to go the comfortable route and wore a pair of flannel pajama pants and a plain grey T-shirt.

He didn’t turn to look as she entered the harsh black-and-white room. “What kind of movie do you want to watch?” he asked.

She wasn’t sure if she would ever get used to his super-hearing, or his other abilities, for that matter.

She shrugged and plopped down on the black leather sofa. “Doesn’t matter. You pick.”

He nodded. “Ok. Scary it is then.”

Rayne laughed, snorted rather, which made him turn to look at her.

“What’s so funny?”

She tried to hide her smile. “You wouldn’t be trying to pull that whole scary movie so I’ll cuddle up to you thing are you?”

He laughed and shrugged. “What’s so wrong with that?” He took a case from the pile and inserted the DVD into the player. “A guy’s got to do what he’s got to do.”

She couldn’t stop the smile that spread across and then plastered on her face.

Camden crossed the room and sat on the couch next to her, holding his arm up and looking at her expectantly.

“What?”

He gave her a skeptical look. “I’m waiting.”

Rayne rolled her eyes and moved closer to so she could rest her head against his shoulder.

“See, not so bad,” he said, and put his arm around her.

“Not bad at all,” she said. “It’s actually quite comfortable.”

This time, it was him who laughed.

She leaned up enough to look at him. “What’s so funny?”

He shook his head. “Just thinking. Who would have ever imagined a vampire to be a good snuggle-buddy?”

He was right. Who knew?

The movie started and both seemed to be completely relaxed and comfortable in each other’s presence. Neither could guess what had changed to make them feel good around the other, but they weren’t complaining. Something about it just felt right.

Rayne stared at the TV, but she wasn’t sure that she was actually paying attention to it. She was more focused on the fast, steady beat of his heart beneath her head.
Is it always that fast?

It took nearly half the movie for her to let go of the thought and get into the story of it. It was about a girl being possessed by a demon, and every time someone tried to help her, weird, horrible things would happen to them as well.

At one point, something popped out and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She felt Camden’s arm tighten around her, and it was then that she knew she was in trouble. She didn’t care about the consequences or what hurt could happen to her; it felt too good to be wrong.

Camden looked down at the beautiful girl nestled into his side and he couldn’t keep a smile from turning up the corners of his mouth. What made her so much more special than any he’d ever met, he probably would never know. But he did know one thing: Rayne Slade would never be able to get rid of him. He was hooked and wouldn’t be driven away so easily. He’d made up his mind that it didn’t matter how long or slow he had to take it. He was immortal; he had time. He would do whatever it took to make sure she was with him always.

Somewhere in the middle of his thoughts, Rayne’s breathing had slowed and become more even. She snuggled in a little closer, and he knew that she’d fallen asleep. His heart seemed to swell. It was one of the highest compliments a woman could unknowingly give a man, to feel comfortable and safe enough to fall asleep with him.

The credits began to roll on the screen, and he shifted slightly so he could slide from beneath her. Trying his best not to wake her, he easily lifted her from the couch and carried her upstairs to her room. He placed her on the bed and pulled the covers up over her. Rayne stirred slightly as he pulled away.

Camden froze.

Her hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. “Stay,” she mumbled in her half-dazed state.

He was glad she didn’t open her eyes, as she would have seen the smile playing with his lips at her request. Moving around to the other side of the bed, he slid under the covers and melded his body to hers, wrapping his arm around her. She sighed and snuggled against him.

He smiled against her hair and inhaled its sweet scent.

Vampires didn’t have to sleep. Sometimes they did if they were severely injured or hadn’t fed in a while, just to recuperate, but if he did, he could imagine himself getting very used to sleeping like this.

He lay awake all night, listening to her slow, even breathing and the steady beat of her heart in her chest.

He knew that night that he was done for.

Connor sat outside of Madam Laurie’s and waited for Christophe to make his leave. He’d seen the vampire go in a few hours ago, just an hour or so before Paul had arrived.

The large vampire leaned against the brick wall, his massive arms crossed over his chest as he waited patiently. Hopefully, following this guy would give them an idea as to what was going on and who was behind it. There were so many unknowns at that point that any information would help. He looked at his watch. It was nearly dawn, and soon he would have to consume the only bag of treated blood that he’d brought along.

As if on cue, Christophe emerged from the door and began a very brisk walk toward the alley across the street, checking over his shoulder every few steps.

Connor pushed himself away from the wall and waited for him disappear into the darkened corridor before he followed. He stayed as far back as possible without losing sight of the much smaller vampire, and tried to remain as inconspicuous as he could.

They emerged from the other end of the alley onto another street, traveled a few blocks over, and turned down another.

Connor knew where they were. They were somewhere in the downtown district, just near the river.

It seemed like it took forever, but finally, the vampire stopped and checked his surroundings before he entered an old warehouse just off the docks of Red River.

There was no doubt that Christophe was either a new vampire, or just not very good at his job. He’d easily been followed without even a hint of apprehension about him.

Connor considered looking around or sneaking inside, but he knew where they were and he still had some time before dawn. If he hurried, he could get back and not have to use the treated blood. He would have to come back, anyway, but hopefully not alone next time. They had no idea what they were up against, and he didn’t fancy taking his chances on his own when he found out.

Camden lay in the bed next to Rayne, her head on his chest and arm draped across his torso. She looked so peaceful and the faint smile trying to pull at the corner of her mouth made him believe that she was also happy.

He hoped so. For someone so young, she’d been through more than anyone ever should have to.

Whatever this connection was that he had with her, it was deeper than he’d thought. With every beat of her heart, he could feel it pulling on his own. Fate, destiny, whatever it was called, it was there. It had to be. There was no other way to explain the way he felt about her, someone he’d technically just met a week ago.

But I feel like I’ve known her since she was born.

That, he blamed on Martin Slade.

Rayne moaned slightly and stirred, stretching and sighing all at the same time. Her eyes fluttered open and it took a moment for her to register the fact that Camden was in her bed. “I… what…” she stuttered, and quickly removed her arm from around him.

Camden laughed. “Good morning.”

She sat up and pushed her curls from her face. “What are you doing here?” she asked, her heart pounding so hard in her chest that she was afraid he would hear it.

“You asked me to stay,” he shrugged, “so I did.”

She shook her head and tried to form coherent speech through her sleep fogged and nearly panicked state. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…I mean, you didn’t have to.” Her eyes were wide.

He shrugged again. “Don’t apologize. I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t wanted to.”

A blush crept to her cheeks and she turned her head so he wouldn’t see. “Thank you,” she said quietly, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She wanted to punch herself in the face.
What was I thinking?

He leaned forward so that his mouth was very close to her ear. “Just for the record,” he whispered, “you’re adorable when you sleep.” With that, he stood and stretched.

Rayne buried her face in her hands. She was beyond embarrassed.
Idiot!
She stood and nervously glanced to him. Why did those pesky butterflies decide that now was a good time to show back up? She nodded toward the bathroom. “I’m gonna go shower and get ready to go.”

Camden nodded. “Me too.” He ran his hands through his hair and made his way to the door. “We’ll leave in about an hour.”

Rayne nodded and disappeared into her bathroom.

Camden smiled to himself as he turned the corner down the hall to his room. He knew that she was nervous and scared, not just because of the whole situation, but scared of something developing between the two of them. He didn’t blame her, not a bit. He had felt the same until after the movie, when he made up his mind that it didn’t matter. He would do whatever it took to make sure he had her.  He had time to spare. He would wait as long as he had to.

Chapter 16

Rayne sat in the passenger seat of Camden’s Challenger, completely ignoring the scenery as it flew by. She flipped the note over and over in her hands, reading and rereading it several times. There was one part of it that kept throwing her off.