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He strained to decide if he recognized the particular engine, but he couldn’t tell for sure on that, either. Morley drove a pool car out here. Rob and Rick drove a pool car. Nick wasn’t familiar enough with either one to be able to ID one of them, or to know the differences between them.

He wanted to believe it was Morley’s.

Itsoundeda lot like Morley’s.

But Nick couldn’t tell for sure.

He strained, listening as the car backed up, then pulled around the driveway.

He decided it was Morley’s car.

He had no way of knowing who drove it right now, but it sounded roughly like the amount Morley’s car would have needed to back up and continue going around the circular driveway. Rick and Rob’s car had been closer to the end of the circle.

Nick strained to listen even as the car continued down the lane.

He wished desperately he could hear Rick or Rob or both of them on the circular driveway outside, if only to know they hadn’t been the ones to drive away. He got a faint whiff of gunshot and blood, but it was too far away to ID.

Either way, Nick had to keep the vamp here until the car was well and truly gone.

He had to buy Morley time.

He had to buy Wynter time.

Nick knew Morley would contact whoever had Wynter.

If that had been Morley, he likely would have called Acharya as soon as he got in the police car. He would call Charlie and the rest of homicide after that, let them know a lookalike to Nick Midnight was running around murdering people in the richest, most private part of the New York Protected Area, and had likely just turned a human homicide detective into a vampire.

Jesus, Jordan.

Nick needed to kill this piece of shit quick, before Jordan died for real. There might still be time to save him. There might still be some way to save him without turning him.

The doppelganger laughed again.

That time, Nick barely paid attention.

He noticed the vampire smelled like human though.

More specifically, he smelled like Damon Jordan.

Nick realized that must be why he hadn’t smelled him on the other side of the door. He was absolutely swimming in human pheromones. He must have somehow duplicated Jordan’s scent so he could hide that he was in the room with him. He must have some kind of genetic printing machine with him, something that could duplicate scents.

Nick shoved that from his mind too.

Morley was all right. He had to be.

Morley was one of the smartest people Nick had ever known.

He would call whoever had Wynter.

He would call for backup first, make sure everyone in the precinct and the boss knew the score, but he’d call Wynter right after that. Whoever was keeping Wynter under wraps right now, they would find a way to move her and the kid to a new, safer location.

Lara had to have her.

Lara St. Maarten, CEO and controlling shareholder of Archangel Enterprises, was the only person they could have called. It was the only place Nick could think of where Wynter would run to get this kind of help. It’s the only place Tai would run, too.

Nick frowned at the thought.

Then someone opened the door to Nick’s right.