Midnight Lover

Nora's POV "It's too cold for this, let's go back to the car," Brock huffed out. I laughed silently to myself while I glanced over at my partner of four years. "Just a while longer, they should be here any minute," I whispered. Just as he started to protest, three men appeared from the shadows. Bingo. I've waited five years for this opportunity and I wasn't about to let a little snow stop me. "Remember the plan. No weapons unless necessary. I want them alive," I said with a touch of desperation that I hoped Brock didn't pick up on. As we moved through the trees, the men started down the trail to the community building in the park. We followed behind, making sure to stay out of sight. At 2 AM the building is closed, but these guys aren't the type to be stopped by a locked door. Zane Romano, Zhaeden Romano, and Zuther Francis were initially suspects in the murder of my father, Roscoe McCall. Due to lack of evidence, we could never stick them with it, no matter how obvious it was that they were involved. I guess it's easy to get away with murder when you're elite members of one of the biggest crime networks in the Midwest. Anytime somebody gets close to busting them, evidence magically disappears right along with any eyewitness testimony. I've had to shred at least a dozen statements due to witnesses not being able to repeat their statements. Most of them acted as though they had never met me, which is extremely infuriating. I don't know how these guys do it but I'm going to make sure something sticks this time. Before I could get any deeper into my thoughts, I heard metal creaking. "Looks like breaking and entering to me," Brock said. We watched as they went into the building, getting ready to follow them inside. I took a deep breath and said, "Now or never, let's do this." Brock replied with a sarcastic, "Yes, sarge" and we made our way out of the trees. I'm not sure what I was expecting when we entered the building, but it sure as hell wasn't what I was seeing right now. The three suspects were all circling a large man that didn't quite look human. Knives drawn, watching the unknown man with calculated coldness, they hadn't noticed us yet. Brock was standing there, gun in hand, waiting for my signal. Zane spotted him first, then shifted his gaze to me. I swear I saw a brief flash of panic, probably him wondering how he was going to explain this one. Before I can even blink, much less tell them all to get on the ground, Zane is in front of me shielding my body. Gunshots ring out and I feel myself getting pushed to the ground. I quickly crawled behind the bookshelf next to me and looked around for Brock, who was nowhere. I waited for a break in the shooting and checked again. The three men are fighting the fourth, still no sign of Brock. Damnit! Just as I'm about to call in for backup, I realized things were too quiet. As soon as I turned to look out from behind the bookshelf I feel a set hands lifting me up. Good Lord, I knew these men were bigger than average but being up close and personal to them was a different story. I stand 5'11" and they all absolutely tower over me. They have to be at least 6'8" of solid muscle. I noticed that Zane, the one who picked me up, was a couple of inches taller than the others. I looked around and saw the man they were fighting laying in a puddle of blood. The night lighting must be playing tricks on my eyes because I could swear the blood is almost glowing with a blue tint. Before I can analyze any further I hear Zuther say, "This has gone far enough, we need to wipe her before she gets hurt. This isn't what Roscoe wanted." At the sound of my father's name, I had a million questions running through my head. None of which managed to escape my lips before Zane gently grabbed my face and locked eyes with me. I felt a shocking calm staring at this murderer. Once again, those damn lights are messing with my vision. Eyes don't glow, that is impossible. Yet somehow, Zane's eyes are glowing. He says something to the other two in a language I've never heard and then turns back to me. "You are too close to this, Nora," he says in a low, almost pained voice. He continues, "Don't worry, I'm going to protect you." Just as I was about to ask him what the hell he was talking about, he locked eyes with me again and I couldn't stop the sleep that overcame me. My last thoughts were hoping they would kill me quickly.