Vampire Wake (Kiera Hudson Series #2) Read Online Free

could see a pretty-looking flowerbed in the earth directly under her window. Kneeling down, I brushed my fingertips over the Lavender that grew there.
    “You’re an excellent gardener,” I said, gently pushing the plants aside so I could inspect the earth.
    “Oh it’s not down to me, a local man comes in twice a week and does it all for me,” she said. “He’s a terrific chap.”
    I had seen enough, so standing straight, I asked, “When was your gardener last here?”
    “Let me see,” she said, and scratched her hair again. “Last week sometime, I think.”
    “Nice is he?” I asked her.
    “He’s a lovely man,” she said.
    “What’s his name?”
    “Dave-something-or-other,” she smiled. “I can’t remember, and I only spoke to him this morning.”
    “How come?”
    “He telephoned to ask if I wanted him to get me some more Fuschias. Apparently they’re on sale at the gardening centre,” she told me.
    “You don’t have an address for him, do you?” I asked.
    “It’s written down somewhere,” she said, shuffling back into the house. “Now let me see…where did I put it?”
    Following her into the kitchen, I watched as she picked up a tatty-looking handbag. Pawing through it she said, “I’m sure it’s in here somewhere – he gave me one of these little card things with his number on it. Oh dear, I can’t seem to find it now.”
    “Don’t worry, Mrs. Lovelace,” I assured her, then walked into the hallway where the telephone sat on a small round table. Anyone else called you today?” I asked over my shoulder.
    “No, I don’t think so,” she said back from the kitchen.
    Lifting the receiver, I pressed the ‘last caller’ button and made a note of the number. Going back into the kitchen, the old woman was still rummaging through her bag.
    “Don’t worry, Mrs. Lovelace. It wasn’t important,” I told her.
    “Why did you want it?” she asked.
    “My garden is a bit overgrown and I could do with a gardener, that was all.” Then changing the subject, I added, “Have you got a picture of your wedding ring?”
    Trundling back into the living room, she took a picture from the mantelpiece and handed it to me.
    “That’s me and Frank,” she said. “One of the last pictures we had taken together,” and I noticed her pale blue eyes begin to water.
    In the picture she had her arms around her husband, both of them frail-looking but happy. Her left hand rested against Frank’s arm, and I could clearly see her missing wedding ring. It was gold, with a yellow transparent-looking stone set into it. I guessed that the stone was citrine. On either side of the stone sat a cluster of tiny diamonds.
    “It certainly is a beautiful ring,” I told her.
    “Will you be able to find it?” she asked, her voice wavering.
    “I’ll do my best,” I said, taking her hand. “Can I hold onto this picture for a couple of days?”
    “Yes, but why?” she asked, giving me that curious stare again.
    “Oh it’s just a hunch.”
    “Ok, if you think it will help, although I don’t see how,” she said, easing herself back down into her arm chair.
    “I’ll be back in a day or two,” I told her, heading for the door. “I’ll see myself out.”
    Climbing into my beat-up old Mini, I headed straight into town. Parking, I went to the local pawnbrokers. With picture in hand, I peered in through the windows, and there sitting on display, was Mrs. Lovelace’s wedding ring. Without my badge, I would never be able to seize the ring from the owner of the shop, so heading across the street to a nearby Starbucks, I called the only person that I had stayed in contact with since being temporarily relieved of my duties – while I was mentally evaluated by Doctor Keats.
    Constable John Miles had joined the police force at the same time as me and not being the brightest of recruits he had soon acquired the nickname ‘Sparky’. But John was a sweet guy, dependable, and a loyal friend. Whereas my other fellow