Brimstone Burglar (Riley Cruz Book 2) by L.A. McBride

Author:L.A. McBride [McBride, L.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: One Tree Press
Published: 2024-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

Kali sat on her couch, while a furious gargoyle pressed a bag of frozen blueberries to her head. She swatted Craig’s hand away. “My head is fine.” Reluctantly, he tossed the blueberries to the coffee table, but he didn’t take his eyes off her. Kali was wearing champagne colored silk pajamas that belted at the waist, her dark hair curling around her shoulders. Even after taking a blow to the head, she managed to look glamorous.

I shuffled past Craig and sat beside her, pulling her in for a hug. Craig let me pass but crossed his big arms over his chest and stood sentinel. “What happened?” I asked her.

Kali shrugged. “I don’t know. I was here alone. One minute I was in the kitchen setting up the coffee maker for morning and the next thing I knew, I woke up with a bump.” She pointed to a spot on the crown of her head.

“I found her on the floor unconscious.” Craig’s voice was rough, a muscle working in his jaw.

“Someone hit you from behind, then?” Volkov clarified.

Kali frowned. “Maybe. I don’t know.”

I squeezed her hand. “What is the last thing you remember?”

She rubbed her temples. “There was a cloying sweet smell, almost floral.” Kali touched her lips. “And I had this sudden bitter taste on my tongue. That’s the last thing I remember before waking up on the kitchen floor with Craig crouched down beside me.”

“Was anything taken?” Volkov asked.

She shook her head. “No. Nothing. It doesn’t make any sense. Why would someone break in, knock me out, and then just leave?”

Craig’s whole body tensed, like he was ready to go to battle. His frustration at feeling powerless wasn’t hard to read. Volkov clapped a hand onto his shoulder. “We’ll find whoever did this.”

“Is there anything else?” I asked. “Anything you saw or heard that could give us a clue?”

While there were plenty of people gunning for me, I couldn’t think of anyone with a grudge against Kali—at least no one still alive. Although Kali looked like a pinup girl, she’d been training hardcore for a year and could handle herself. Between her new fighting skills and her overprotective gargoyle boyfriend, most people would leave her alone. Whoever this was either was familiar enough with her skill set to recognize the need to knock her out from behind or they got lucky. But why go to all that trouble, and then take nothing? The attacker had to be after something.

Kali closed her eyes as if replaying the moments leading up to the attack. She tilted her head. “Right before I passed out, there was this brief flash of something gold. That’s the last thing I recall before waking up.”

Something heavy settled in my stomach. “Something gold?” I had assumed whatever happened here was unrelated to the trouble we were stirring up, but now I wasn’t so sure. “Like a watch?”

“Could be. It was just a flash.” Kali sagged against the couch cushions. “I’m sorry. That’s not very helpful.”

Craig sat on the other side of her and tucked her under his arm.

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