Claim the Night. Rachel Lee

make him sound like a superhero.”

      Chloe started to giggle again, but at that moment her eyes widened a shade. “Hi, Jude. Sleep well?”

      Theresa turned to find Jude Messenger standing in the doorway of his office, a study in chiaroscuro, all black and white from his hair to his boots. His eyes were dark again, and she realized the last of the daylight had vanished, leaving only the low light of a couple of small lamps. Her heart thumped, and she felt that magnetic pull once more. How could she have forgotten how good a man could look? Especially in black slacks and a very nicely tailored black shirt.

      “Like the dead,” he answered, sounding almost sarcastic. “Didn’t I tell you to stop trying to turn me into Superman?”

      Chloe sniffed. “I’m just saying I like the kinds of things you do. They make me feel good about our business.”

      He gave a little shake of his head, as if he knew he wasn’t going to win this argument with Chloe. “Did Garner show up?”

      “Not yet. Was he supposed to?”

      “Around sunset.”

      “Well, he’s not that late then.”

      Jude crossed the room, pulled a wooden chair away from the wall and straddled it, facing the two women from a few feet away. He folded his arms across its back. “I need to take care of that guy so Dr. Black here doesn’t have to worry about him. And I have that other case. I was hoping Garner would show up first.”

      “He’ll probably be here any minute. Why? Is he working for us now? You usually groan when you hear his name.”

      “I may groan again before too long.”

      Those dark eyes settled on Theresa, and she felt her skin prickle. Awareness? Or something else? She couldn’t tell.

      “How are you feeling, Dr. Black?”

      “Just call me Terri. I’m fine, thank you. And I doubt you need to do anything about Sam.” Although she had to admit she wasn’t one hundred percent sure of that, given that she had stabbed him. He might well be the kind to want to get even. How would she know? She’d certainly looked at enough women on the autopsy table who had misjudged a man’s thirst for vengeance.

      “Yes, I do.” His tone brooked no argument. “What’s his full name again?”

      “Samuel Carlisle,” Chloe answered promptly. She pulled out a drawer in her desk and retrieved a file. “Everything I could find on him from what Terri told me.”

      Theresa was amazed. She hadn’t expected Chloe to go to all that trouble. After all, even the police had only wanted the basics.

      But Jude opened the file and began reading, and apparently it was more than just name and address. “Hmm,” he said finally.

      “Hmm?” Theresa asked.

      Those dark eyes lifted to her again. Hunter’s eyes, she thought, wondering why she almost felt like a mouse staring down a hawk.

      “Hmm,” he repeated.

      “That means ‘not good,’” Chloe interpreted.

      “Not good how?”

      Jude tossed the file and it landed on Chloe’s desk. “I’m going to have a very interesting talk with Samuel Carlisle.”

      “Why?” Her heart fluttered a little, because she didn’t like the dark tone in his voice.

      “Because he needs one.”

      Theresa looked at Chloe, begging with her eyes for an explanation.

      Chloe glanced at Jude. Jude shrugged, as if he didn’t care. Chloe turned back to her. “Because your friend Sam has been investigated for date rape before. He’s on the street only because the woman withdrew her complaint.”

      “Oh, my God!” Terri’s hand clapped to her mouth, and for an instant she wondered if the remains of her lunch were going to come up. “Oh, my God.”

      “God has nothing to do with it,” Jude said grimly. His eyes seemed to have grown even darker. He pushed himself out of the chair and looked down at Theresa. “You were lucky. Last time the woman claimed he used Rohypnol.”

      The date rape drug. Theresa sat frozen, her stomach churning, remembering last night. He’d bought her a drink. A drink she hadn’t wanted. One he kept insisting she enjoy until finally, when he was distracted, she’d dumped most of it on the floor behind her chair. “Oh, God,” she whispered. “I didn’t drink it. I dumped it.”

      Chloe jumped up from her chair and came around her desk to put a hand on Theresa’s shoulder. “Jude will take care of him. He’ll never dare come near you again.”

      “But … the cops will find out the same thing you did. Won’t they take care of it?”

      Chloe answered, “Not the way Jude will.”

      The words hardly registered, because another feeling washed over her, one of sheer fury. “I wish I’d stabbed that pen into his heart!”

      Surprisingly, a laugh issued from Jude. She looked at him, unable to understand what was so funny. “I mean it!”

      “I know.” The brief laugh disappeared from his face. “Hell.” He sighed.

      “Jude,” Chloe said warningly.

      He glared at her, an expression that Terri was sure would have made her sink to the floor in a quivering puddle. The man looked capable of mur der.

      “I’ll deal with him.”

      “But how?” Terri demanded. “How can you?”

      His dark gaze returned to her, nearly pinning her. “First,” he said slowly, very quietly, “I am going to ensure he never so much as thinks about coming near you again. Unlike the police, I can use threats. Okay?”

      Terri managed a jerky nod.

      Jude’s attention returned to Chloe. “She doesn’t leave here until I get back or call and say it’s okay. Got it?”

      Chloe nodded. “You can count on me.”

      “And if Master Garner ever drags his behind in here, nail his feet to the floor until I say otherwise. I mean it, Chloe. Don’t let him go running out. I swear that kid has a death wish.”

      On that grumpy statement, Jude disappeared into his office only to return a moment later wearing his long leather coat.

      He paused just long enough to pick up Sam’s photo, then look at Terri and say, “Stay. I mean it. This guy is bigger trouble than I originally suspected.”

      She didn’t think she could have moved to save her life.

      And only when he left the room did she feel she could breathe again.

      Once he was in his battered car, Jude took a moment to clear his head, nose and lungs of Terri’s scent. God in heaven, that woman’s scent was like a drug. Being in the same room with her was enough to drive him nuts. In no time flat she pushed him to the edges of self-control in a way he hadn’t experienced in at least fifty or so years.

      The Hunger raged in him, but that alone wouldn’t have put him so much on edge. No, it was the desire he felt for her, pounding and strong, stronger than any he had ever felt as a man, stronger than any he had ever felt as an immortal. The feeling was so powerful that it could have turned him into the kind of creep he was about to go see.

      Breathing deeply, he battered the insanity back into the buried, darkest places of his being. The places he had vowed never to visit again.

      Madness was no longer welcome in his world.

      But certain forms of vengeance were.

       Chapter 3

      As