Worth Dying For by Luxie Ryder

realised the hands on her shoulders belonged to the police officers she’d been trying so desperately to reach. Her legs buckled as relief coursed through her, forcing the officer to support her weight and stop her sinking to her knees in the street. The policeman almost lifted her onto the back seat of the cruiser.
    “A man…down there…” She pointed towards the apartment.
      “Did someone hurt you?” the other officer asked, unclipping the holster at his belt and putting his hand over the revolver.
    Her ragged breathing frustrated her attempts to tell them what had happened. “Two men. In the bedroom. David. He’s dead.” The last word came out in a barely audible moan as a sob stole her voice.
    “You’re safe now. Which apartment, ma’am? You stay here while we check it out.”
    She told them, still crying and shivering when they locked her in the car. Amber looked past them through the windows and out into the darkness—sure she could feel Bane’s predatory gaze on her.

Chapter Five
     
     
     
    Bane peered in through the window of the one storey building again. The police were still interrogating Amber, three hours after they’d first taken her in for questioning.
    He’d let things slip badly out of control. Hiding David’s body should have been his first priority after killing the assassin Katerina had sent. His concern for Amber’s safety had made him sloppy. Had he learnt nothing in the two hundred years since he’d failed to save Mary’s life?
    And now, Amber was a suspect in David’s murder. She hadn’t yet been charged, but he could hear the detectives in an adjacent room, discussing her implausible tale. They didn’t believe the fantastic tale she’d spun about the two intruders, neither of whom left any evidence proving their existence. Bane knew they would soon look for fingerprints and that all they would find were David’s and hers.
    Tracking her to the police station had been easy. Watching and waiting while she sat in the middle of the dark street had proven harder. He’d seen Amber looking out of the car window and she’d all but stared right at him on the roof of David’s apartment building.
    The detectives strolled back into the room where she waited for them. “Mrs. Kirkwood, we’ve got a problem.”
    “Look, I know my description of the guy sounds insane, but he really was that big.” Tired and besieged, she seemed to no longer care whether they believed her or not.
      “The thing is,” one of them said as if she hadn’t spoken at all, “nobody saw anyone going in or out of the building. And the film we got from the security camera confirms you and David were the only ones to enter his apartment.”
    “But that’s impossible. I told you—”
    “I know what you told us Ms. Kirkwood and, frankly, you need a lawyer.”
    Bane weighed the new information. Night was already giving way to dawn and he didn’t have time to act. Amber would be going nowhere for the foreseeable future. Daylight would guarantee her safety for at least a few more hours and he needed to use the remaining darkness to hunt and find a place to sleep.
    The semi-rural location made finding food easy. Within minutes, he’d taken down a deer, satiating his thirst. Chasing stupid herbivores wasn’t exactly his favourite sport and did nothing to release his pent up frustrations, but it would have to do. Returning to the station within minutes, he found the detectives putting Amber in a holding cell while they waited for a public defender to drive over from Augusta.
    “It’ll be a while. Do you want something to eat?” one of them offered.
    Amber shook her head and turned her back on them to lie down on the tiny bed pushed against the only brick wall. Bane heard her breathing become erratic as soon as the men left her alone, and he didn’t have to wait for the gentle sob that tore from her to know she was crying.
    The urge to smash through the wall and get her out of the situation almost