by Tl Reeve
“Ohh,” Ava's voice broke through her thoughts. “You're thinking about them now, aren't you? I can tell.”
“Huh? How?”
“Your eyes.” Ava giggled. “They got all soft and dreamy. I have all the answers I need now.”
The bells over the door chimed, interrupting them. Saved by the bell. “Later. We'll finish this conversation, later.”
“Sure we will, James.” Ava snorted as a delivery man made his way over to Jamie's desk. “Oh, look, seems someone had fun last night.”
Jamie frowned. As much as she knew both men, neither of them seemed inclined to send her flowers, let alone at work. “Hi. Who are you looking for?”
The guy glanced down at his clipboard and seemed a bit nervous. His nametag sat crooked on his shirt, and his pants didn’t appear to fit him well. Maybe this wasn’t his regular route, or he was new. Either way, she tried to be polite. “Jamie Bishop? Is she here?”
“Yes, you're talking to her,” she answered. “First day on the job?”
“Huh? Oh,” he chuckled. “No. My wife did the laundry, and my uniform ended up being in with the regular wash. This is what happened.”
“Tough break,” she said. “So, what can I do for you?”
“Sorry,” he said, handing over the invoice. “If you could sign at the bottom for me, I'll be out of your hair in a jiffy.”
“Sure, no problem.” Jaime accepted the paperwork from him and signed on the dotted line. He laid the long, narrow box on her desk then smiled as he reclaimed his paperwork and strolled out of the office.
“Which one sent them to you?” Ava dashed over to her desk and reclaimed her chair.
“I don't know. Zane is your brother. Do you think he's the flower type?”
“No.” Her friend shook her head. “In fact, neither of them are flower types. They're more inclined to say thank you with a romp in the hay. This is different.”
Yeah, Jamie agreed. Plus, the box felt off. Weird. She kept using the word to describe everything she couldn’t understand. “I don't think I should open these.”
“I'm sure it's harmless,” Ava said. “Besides, my brother and Cian might be turning over a new leaf. Open it.”
Jamie shrugged. Anything was possible, especially after she announced she'd believe their little witch and wolf game. She grabbed the end of the string tied to the box and tugged. The strand unfurled, allowing her access to the contents. Still, it didn’t feel right. A sickening feeling took root in the pit of her stomach. “I have a bad feeling about this. My wrist is burning like hell fire and ice.”
“Really?” Ava glanced down at her arm. “I've never heard of a mark doing anything of the sort. Could be part of the mating or something.”
“But, your brother and Cian didn't bite me.”
Ava shrugged. “Don't ask me. I'm not mated.”
“Maybe I should wait.” Jamie tucked her bottom lip between her teeth.
“Oh, go ahead and open it, ya scaredy cat.” Her friend nudged her. “It's only flowers.”
“Sure, only flowers.” Jamie grabbed the edge of the lid and swallowed a hiss of pain as she pulled it off. There laying on a bed of tissue paper sat twelve red roses covered in blood.
She screamed.
“What the fuck is going on!” Ava pulled Jamie away from the box, but not before she grabbed a card out of the inside. “What does it say?”
She swallowed hard and read it a couple of times, because the words didn’t make sense or perhaps touching it muddled her ability to think. “Every rose has it's thorns.”
“A Poison song?” Ava asked, confusion filled her voice.
“I don't know.” Jamie tossed the card on the desk and pressed her palm to her stomach. “A man was outside my window last night, too. Watching me.”
“Creeper,” Ave whispered. “Are you okay?”
“No, not in the least bit.” She shook with fear. Her heart beat out a rapid tattoo, which made her wonder, could witches have heart attacks?
“You're crying,” Ava said.
Was she? She reached up and dabbed her eye, surprised by the moisture she felt there. “So I am. Um...” Just looking at the box made her sick to her stomach.
“I called Cian,” Alicia said as she rushed into the agency. “I should have stopped him when I saw him outside. I'm sorry, Alpha mate.”
Jamie blinked and shook her head. “It's okay. You didn't know.”
“Ava and I should have smelled the blood, but we've... I—I should say, I only smelled your mating. I failed you.”
Dramatic much? “Seriously, it's okay. We all have stuffy noses every once in a while.”
The door slammed open, and a growl of outrage filled the office. Cian. “Jamie!” The ferocious look on his face as he ran toward her left her momentarily stupid.
“I'm here.” The metaphorical emotional flood gates opened, and she became a blubbering mess. Deep gut-wrenching sobs racked her body as she shook uncontrollably. She hadn't cried this hard since Mary died. All this for a box of blood-covered roses.
“What the hell happened?” he snarled, wrapping her in his arms. The warmth of his body seeped into her, chasing away the evil chill consuming her since touching the box.
“We were talking about last night,” Ava said. “Then the delivery guy showed up, and this.”
“Did he smell familiar?” Cian questioned.
“No,” Ava answered. “He didn't smell good or bad. Come to think of it, the only thing Alicia and I smell is you and Zane on Jamie.”
“Jacinda!” he barked. “Call Zane.”
“I... He's... Do you think it's prudent since he is at the scene of a murder?” the quiet officer asked.
“We are her mates, and this is connected,” he snarled. “Call Zane, now!”
“Yes, beta.” The girl hurried from the agency, leaving Jamie in his arms.
“It hurt,” she cried. “I shouldn't have opened it. It's my fault.”
“What hurt, babe? I can't hear you mumbling into my shirt.”
Jamie lifted her chin and stared at Cian. “I said, it's my fault. I knew something was wrong with it, and I still opened it.”
“What do you mean, you knew something was wrong with it?” He quirked one of his red brows.
“It burned my wrist when I touched the box. It felt like hell fire and ice all at once. I should have left it and called you.”
Cian grabbed her wrist. His lip curled. There beside her birthmark was a tiny black mark. “Yeah, I bet hell fire. You've been burned, babe. No worries, though, we'll get you fixed up.” His gaze drifted to Ava, and for a moment, Jamie wondered if they were having a silent conversation.
“I'm going to go,” Ava said. “I'll see you at my brother's later on.”
“O-kay.”
“Don't worry, you'll be just fine.” Ava gave her shoulder a squeeze and hurried out of the travel agency.
“Zane is on his way, beta. He said he'll be here in ten and to have Jamie ready to go,” Jacinda said.
“Thank you,” Cian replied. “Please put the box in a bag so that Zane can take it with him when he returns to the office.”
“Yes, sir,” the girl said before walking away.
“We need to get you cleaned up before the Alpha arrives, or else he'll have both of our asses.”
“We did nothing wrong... I did nothing wrong here, Cian.” Why would Zane be mad at her? It's not like she'd gone off on her own. For fuck’s sake, all she’d done was grab a cinnamon roll, which Ava had eaten and a latte she allowed to go cold.
“When he comes in here, he's going to know you're hurt, and someone is coming at you. It won't matter if it was on purpose or someone trying to prank you. He'll be pissed the fuck off. Got it?” He stood with her in his arms and stormed over to the bathroom. “Keep your burn dry.” He winced. “But you might want to wash your face a little.”
At least he had the courtesy to wince a bit. “Right, because I look like a hideous monster or worse, a deranged tr
ash panda.” Jamie shoved the bathroom door open and glanced over her shoulder. “Wouldn't want the Alpha to see his mate looking like a dainty woman with a case of the vapors or anything.”
Assholes.
Zane didn't want to leave his mates. Though he hadn't marked Jamie yet, it was something he'd rectify soon. A sense of contentment filled him for the first time since she'd shown back up in town. Last night solidified her place in his life and Cian's life. He knew they still had to work on her believing them, and figuring out who took her memories, but they had time. For now, he pushed it aside. They had another body.
He pulled up to the scene and noticed quite a bit of difference this time around. The scent of magic was nowhere to be found. Unlike the other scenes, where everything had been meticulous and tidy, this site had an unorthodox rage to it. Drops of blood dappled the street and grass and were taped off by the officer who’d arrived first on scene. The grass lay flat in a trail leading to the body as though it’d been dragged there. Unlike last time and the other times, he could smell the blood of the victim from where he stood. However, there were similarities. As he cut through the crowd of officers, he found the body lying prone like before.
Because of the lack of spell work, the scene hadn't been preserved. The woman's organs had been destroyed and her body ravaged. But her eyes were closed. Her face slack. The victim looked peaceful. Which fucked with the MO they had on their perp. Matilda wrote something down in her notebook as she talked to one of her employees. Zane scented the air again. Human. The girl hadn't been one of them. So, how the hell had she gotten here?
He drew closer to the body and frowned. Why did she look like Jamie? “What have we got?” he asked, still staring at the body.
“Jane Doe,” Matilda said. “Somewhere between twenty-three and twenty-six. She died from massive trauma to the body and evisceration of her internal organs. No detection of magic.”
“I didn't smell any, either. It's sloppy work,” he said glancing over at the medical examiner.
“From the knife marks, he did it to extract the maximum amount of pain. My guess, the girl didn't even have a chance to scream.”
Zane agreed. “Hey, do you notice something about this victim?”
“You're going to have to be more specific,” she said. “You see one dead body, you've seen them all.”
“She looks like Jamie.”
Matilda stepped over to him and crouched down. “Hmm.”
“Her hair color is a shade different, and her eye-shape is a little bit smaller, but her face shape and mouth are pretty spot on.” Maybe he was grasping for straws. Or maybe he had mate-brain, and she was the only person he wanted to see right now. Nonetheless, it freaked him the fuck out.
“She does,” Matilda said. “I noticed it as well when I arrived on scene. I didn't think anything of it because I was busy processing everything with my team. What are you thinking?”
What was he thinking? “I think I have a motive, and I don't like it.”
“Don't keep me in suspense, wolf.”
“I believe every kill including this one, are buildup murders. I think every time our suspect kills, he's preparing to go after Jamie.” Saying it out loud sounded a little crazy. But, if he could prove it... “I'm going to need everything on all the victim’s photographs, and I'll have to make a phone call to Rosewood.”
Matilda nodded. “I'll get you what I can on all the victims by this afternoon. If what you're thinking is correct, Jamie is his main target, and the rest of these are just for sport.”
“Practice. He learns from all of these kills.” He turned away from the body as two members of the forensic team knelt beside the woman. “Maybe he's working up the courage to approach her?”
“This one is different, though,” Matilda said. “This was done in pure rage without magic to keep her from feeling it. He wanted to torture her. Why? What could have changed his M.O.?”
“I’d say it’s because Cian and I were with her last night, but I can’t be sure,” Zane answered.
The medical examiner frowned. “It would make sense why he was so angry. Why he tore this person apart. But, it would also mean he’d have had to watch you as well and I’m not sure he did.”
“Why?”
“This victim died somewhere between nine forty-five at night and midnight,” she replied. “If my calculation is correct. I can’t take an organ temperature or check the contents of her stomach for obvious reasons; however, the coolness of her skin and the fact rigor mortis has set in, gives me a base guesstimate.”
None of it made sense. If he wanted Jamie, the guy could have taken her. He’d proven how close he could get to her without her knowing. The binoculars Blake found on the tree outside her bathroom hadn't had any prints on them, but he suspected as much. Not even a hint of magic. However, in the grand scheme of things, he'd proved his magic was second to none, so masking it wouldn't have been a big deal. What are you waiting for? Why haven't you tried something else? Zane's mind spun with questions as he stepped away from the scene. The only thing he knew for sure had been the fact they needed to get Jamie's memories back. Maybe if she remembered, she could tell them more about what happened to her parents.
His phone rang, drawing him out of his thoughts. When he glanced at the screen, he'd been surprised to see Jacinda's name. “Yeah?”
“You need to get to Freedom Travel. There's been an incident.”
“Got it,” Zane snarled as he disconnected the phone.
Control. He needed to find it and find it quickly as a haze of red filled his line of vision and the hairs on his arms began to prickle. His wolf attempting to push to the surface, demanding to be let out. The beast wanted to run to his mate and protect her from any and all dangers. Zane fought to keep his wolf down and tempered as he took several deep breaths. He hadn’t had such a visceral reaction like he was at the moment, since he’d mated Cian and the guy got hit with a beer bottle during a fight in the bar.
“Zane?” Matilda’s tone had been filled with concern while she kept her distance.
Zane cut his gaze toward the woman, and she gasped. The wolf was winning control over him. If he didn’t get his shit under control, he’d shift in broad daylight. Jacinda didn't outright say it, but he knew the incident involved Jamie, his mate. He’d do whatever was necessary to protect his mate.
Both of them.
“I need to leave,” Zane growled. “Send me everything electronically before the end of today. If my hunch is correct, we’re already behind on this.”
“Yes, Alpha.” Matilda lowered her gaze.
Zane strode toward his vehicle. Each step he took away from the scene and closer to Jamie, the wolf relented, seeping back into his sub-consciousness. Behind him, Matilda ordered the remaining officers and forensic team around. The severity of the scene and the fact the girl looked like Jamie changed the whole game for him. Before, he wouldn’t have even thought twice about comparing the victims to her, but now, he had to. If the person had a pattern besides the obvious, it might put them a step closer to figuring out who the killer was. It’d also been why he wanted to speak to the lead detective in Rosewood. Jamie might not talk about it, but when she moved to Salem in the dead of night begging Mr. Unkle for a place to stay—the rat bastard, he knew something was amiss. He’d done a little snooping of his own and found out about Mary and the incident at their place of employment. It’d been a brutal killing. One that went from accidental death to homicide within a week’s time.
He wanted to get his hands on the crime scene photos. Whoever was behind these attacks and subsequent killings, had gotten sloppy, and he’d bet a year’s salary, this wasn’t the first time he’d fucked up. Zane slid into his vehicle and started it up. He glanced over at the site as he pulled away. The evidence was there. He knew it like he knew all of the killings were connected. It was the same pattern from when Jamie was a kid. Whether or not it was the same person, or a copycat was yet to be determined.
By th
e time he arrived at Freedom Travel, there were several patrol cars parked out in front of it and his deputies had already started to work. Two stood guard by the door, while others wrapped caution tape around the power poles and lamp posts to secure the perimeter. He parked on the opposite side of the road then jogged across the street. No one stopped him or said a word as he pulled open the door and stepped into the scene.
Ava stood beside Cian, wringing her hands. Her face was pale and tense, while Jamie huddled in Cian's arms. He caught Cian's gaze immediately and watched as he nudged Jamie. Tear-filled brown eyes lifted and held his gaze as she moved out of Cian's arms and into his.
“Shh...” Zane stroked her long auburn hair, while wrapping his other arm around her shoulders.
“Alpha?” Jacinda approached him from his left, and he shook his head at her.
He needed these few moments to calm himself, to assure himself and his wolf that Jamie was okay. Cian came up behind Jamie and wrapped his arms around her as well. Zane released the pent-up worry in a sigh at the warm comfort of his lover’s hands on his lower back. His wolf who had fought to break free the entire drive over, finally settled down now that it saw its mates safe. Or as safe as they could be after whatever happened.
“We've got you.” She had a death grip of his shirt as she shook in his arms. “She's going home with us tonight.” After what he’d seen at the scene and this, there was no way he’d allow her to be alone any longer.
“Thank fuck,” Cian whispered.
“Jamie?” Zane tipped her chin up, so she looked at him. The fear he saw in those beautiful brown eyes of hers felt like a gut punch. If they lost her, they would never survive. The pack would never survive, either. “I need to work the scene. Do you want to stay or go home with Cian?” Protocol dictated he let someone else take the lead, but instinct told him no one else but he could do the job. He was too close to Jamie to be impartial, still he had to try. As Alpha it was his responsibility to protect them all—including his mates.
“S-stay,” Jamie stammered as she wobbled on her feet.
“Okay.” Zane leaned down and placed a gentle kiss to her lips. “Stay with Cian.”
