Their Vampire Legacy (Complete)

Chapter 33: Holding out for Hope

AJanae's POV:

"You?" I ask with an eyebrow raised. This time it is me who takes a step forward, gathering courage from with inside me. "Who exactly are you Tamarind Seda?"

"I am a lot of things AJanae, but I am no murderer." she insists.

"The blood on your hands and clothes?" I gesture toward her shirt suspiciously.

"I tried to help her AJanae. I really did, but it was too late. She bled out. I had to leave before the cops arrived." she explains and sounds sincere in her words that it's hard not to believe her. 

She stands frozen in place as she stares behind me at commotion going on. I turn around cautiously only to see that Mitch, Falcon and the rest of the cops were slowly approaching the scene. It would be a matter of seconds before they'd catch Tamarind in sight.

I have to make a quick decision and hopefully it's the right one, "We're not done here Tamarind. I need more answers. I am choosing to trust you. Don't make me regret it because I promise you that if you are part of this I will hunt you down and give you away regardless if we're friends or not. Understand?" She nods in submission. "Go! Get out of here before they see you! I'll cover for you this time but you need to leave and you need to leave now. Go!" I motion to an escape path to our right.

She obeys and runs down the path whilst I take on Mitch and Falcon who have just now spotted me and to say they do not look impressed would be an understatement.

I watch her leave into the shadows before turning around to face the Falcons. “You just never listen, do you?” Fourie asks, clearly anxious about something most likely something Mitch said yet again.

Before Fourie can continue on lecturing me Mitch steps in, “Miss Nova a word please.” He says in a formal manner as not to give away anything. He gestures for me to follow him aside from the others and I obey. As soon as we are out of hearing distance he starts to complain and point out my flaws, “What is wrong with you? You can’t just go and survey the crime scene on your own without my permission. Anyone could have seen you and become suspicious. The last thing I need is people taking you for the killer. I do not permit you to view a crime scene without me being there. Do you understand that?”

“Yes. I’m sorry. It was unethical of me. I just…never mind. It’s not important.” I explain, careful not to mention the details or I’d be giving away Tamarind. I was keeping my word to her. I wasn’t ratting her out. I just hope she keeps her promise in return and gives me answers.

Maybe it was naïve of me to believe her but something inside me told me to trust her and so I did. I went with my instincts.

Mitch glances at me with a peculiar gaze as if trying to decipher something about me, “AJanae did you see someone. Is that what brought you about to investigate? I know you and I know you only do things for a good reason. Someone drew you out here. I need the truth. We’re partners now…somewhat. Tell me, am I correct in my theory?”

I know Mitch is excellent at reading people and I know he’ll try diverge the information out of me unless I put on the best poker face that I possibly could, “No Mitch.” I begin casually. “You were all so busy and I was keen on seeing the scene, hoping that something would click into place and I would get answers of course that never happened. Then yes I honestly did think I saw someone so I rushed over here but by the time I got here the form I spotted vanished. I think it was just my mind playing tricks on me.” I conclude with reason, hoping he wouldn’t see through it. To some extent it was the truth. I just left out the ‘Tamarind’ section.

Mitch nods, seeming to believe my story, “Okay but next time call me before entering the closed off area. If people see that I authorized only you to enter they’ll become suspicious and I am sure you’ll agree that that is the very last thing we want at a time like this.”