Blake, Holiday's ex-fiance and the suspected murderer, stood there. "I heard you were looking for me."

Kylie jumped to her feet and stood beside Burnett, ready to defend Holiday.

But Holiday acted as though she didn't need protecting. She jumped up and met Blake's glare. "Did you do it?" she asked, fury pouring out of her.

"Did I do what?" he asked.

"Did you kill Hannah?"

Chapter Thirty-one

"What?" His gaze cut to Burnett and Kylie and then back to Holiday. Disbelief filled his eyes and rolled off of him in waves. "Hannah's dead?"

Kylie tried to listen to his heartbeat, but not being vampire anymore, all she could do was read his emotions. They came off sincere, but could she trust that?

"Answer me, damn it!" Holiday slammed her palms down on his chest. Her emotions were a whole bag of raw pain, betrayal at its worst.

Burnett moved to Holiday's side and gently pulled her back, but his eyes were bright green and on Blake with warning.

Blake exhaled, his frustration sounding in the released air. "You are so biting on the wrong vampire! This is meritless."

"Not so meritless," Holiday said. "She told me you were furious with her when she told you that she planned on telling me the truth."

"Of course I was furious. We were getting married. I loved you. She told me if I showed up at my own wedding, she'd stop the ceremony."

"Did you kill her?" Holiday demanded, her anguish filling the air Kylie breathed.

Blake stared at Holiday, hurt radiating from him. "Of all the people in the world, you know me better than that. Do you really think I could murder Hannah?"

"What I think doesn't mean shit," Holiday seethed. "I didn't think you'd sleep with my sister, but you did."

"We were drunk and ... I'd just started dating you. It was a damn mistake. And then the next thing I know, I'm in love with you. I'm still in love with you. And yes, I wanted to tell you then, but I was scared. At first, Hannah acted as if it never happened, so I convinced myself-"

"That you could get away with it?" Tears pooled in Holiday's eyes.

"No, I convinced myself that one mistake wasn't enough to stop two people who loved each other from finding happiness."

"That's enough." Burnett walked over and grabbed Blake by the arm. "You're coming with me."

Blake pulled away and the two men stared each other right in the eyes.

"Not yet." Holiday looked at Burnett. "I want to talk to him."

"You did," Burnett countered.

"Alone. I want to talk to him alone," she said.

Burnett's body turned into one knotted muscle. Jealousy oozed from his pores. "He's a suspected serial killer, Holiday, who illegally entered Shadow Falls. I need to get him to the FRU office."

"Serial killer?" Blake's eyes turned defensive. "I didn't harm Hannah or anyone else."

"That's what they all say," Burnett clipped, and reached for Blake again. The man moved back, his eyes growing hot.

"What's wrong?" Blake baited Burnett. "Worried she might still feel something for me?"

Holiday moved in and rested her hand on Burnett's arm and spoke with honesty. "Burnett has no reason to worry. I want the truth from you, Blake, that's all. And then I want you to climb right back under whatever rock you've been hiding under." She motioned with a firm hand for Burnett and Kylie to leave.

Burnett's body language and emotions said what he thought of that idea. But something told Kylie that Holiday needed this time alone with Blake, and Burnett needed to give it to her.

Kylie touched Burnett's arm, felt the warmth flow from her touch, and saw his expression soften. He looked back at Holiday right before he walked out. Kylie looked at Blake. And right then, her gut told her that he wasn't Hannah's killer.

But if it wasn't him, who was it? Then Kylie again remembered Hannah saying the killer was here. Here at Shadow Falls. Kylie couldn't help but think again of Hayden Yates. It didn't even matter that Burnett's check had come back clean; she didn't trust that guy. And by God, she wasn't going to lower her guard where he was concerned, either.

* * *

Burnett didn't move more than a foot away from the door. Kylie figured he was listening to every word spoken in the other room. For Holiday's safety, of course, so it wasn't really an evasion of privacy. At least that's what Kylie wanted to believe.

She couldn't hear the conversation, and as slightly uncomfortable as it made her listening in on private conversations, her own need to protect Holiday had her wishing she could.

"Was Blake telling the truth?" Kylie asked, wondering if the emotions she'd read from Blake were as telling as his heartbeat.

Burnett glanced over at her. "About what?"

"About not killing Hannah?"

"It doesn't matter," he said gruffly, and looked back at the door.

"Doesn't it?" she asked.

He shook his head. "The heart can lie. People, evil people with no conscience, have no problem lying."

Kylie remembered Della telling her that in the beginning. But as much as Kylie wanted to believe Blake was their man, what she'd felt from him wasn't evil. "For what it's worth, his emotions felt real."

"You mean when he said he still loved her?" Burnett's jealousy practically bounded out of him and bounced off the walls.