I opened my eyes looking around, searching for an unknown threat. “Is someone trying to run us off the road, Cade?”
It was a logical question. At least I thought so, and yet I didn't see any cars behind us. The only ones I saw were headed in the opposite direction. “Why did the truck nearly veer off the road?”
“You want to understand how much I respected my partner? Ask. Don't mull it over or worse internalize the pain for me,” he said.
I swallowed, realizing he'd caught me thinking about her. “How does it work? Do you hear my thoughts?”
“More like I read emotions and deep intentions and then I get a flash of a person's want. Like you don't understand why I left the agency, right?”
“It did cross my mind once or twice,” I said.
He reached out with one hand and squeezed my thigh. It was so intimate, yet so casual, and I expected him to move his hand but he kept it there. My heart leaped curiously with a sensation of joy. How much trouble would I get in by starting a relationship with him?
My family had my life mapped out for me. I didn't think doing any of this with Cade was in their plans. If that wasn't bad enough, relations between a shifter and a vampire in my family were off limits.
“She wasn't supposed to be assigned to me, you must understand. I didn't want a partner. Didn't ask for one,” he said.
“I know how that goes.” I was glad it wasn't anything personal about me that had initially made him resist letting me assist him with this case.
“When you've been around as long as I have, solitude isn't so bad. There's no one to watch out for, no one to offend, no one else to lose,” he said keeping one eye on the road and the other on me. “I liked it that way.”
He turned back to watch where he drove.
I stared at his side profile. “Then the agency assigned her to you?”
“Agent Ramsey did. He thought I had a terrible way with people. I kept riling those left behind with my interrogations.”
“You questioned the aggrieved?” I asked.
He shook his head and squeezed my thigh. I got little chills where his hand was and they continued until I got goosebumps.
“I questioned suspects.”
“Now I understand why she was assigned to you,” I said.
“She kept me from hassling them too closely when they clearly had nothing to do with the crime. She knew where to draw the line between their boundaries and my bulldozing.”
I grinned at him. “Which means, you did need a partner, huh?”
He didn't answer for a while and instead, I just felt a breeze pick up in the truck. The air conditioner was blowing on me, not behind me. My hair lifted into my face.
“It’s all right, Cade.” He was causing a small storm inside the vehicle.
“What I needed was for her to follow the lessons I'd taught. I told her to let me handle the rough stuff. I would have kept her safe, but in the end, she died,” Cade said.
“It said in the article I read, she was hailed as a hero,” I said.
“I didn't want her to go after any perps alone. She was young and brash but as long as she remembered her training, the rules would compensate for that.”
“She went after the perp you were chasing by herself?” I asked. Some of the reasons why he’d responded the way he did the night I'd gone after Diana made sense now.
“No, she didn't. I went after the perp. I found him. Cornered him. Released two shots. He fell. Didn't kill him.”
I stared at him confused. “You went without her?”
“He wasn't alone, I got that. I’d left her somewhere safe. While I was busy tying him up, his accomplice had made it to an alley. He was getting away. I couldn't let him. I finished tying up the first guy and took off after the second. I wasn't young. I wasn't a rooky. I knew better. But I'd been chasing them for a long time and the thrill of finally catching them was too much to resist.”
He was silent for a moment.
Then ever so cautiously he said, “And I’d just broken my cardinal rule. I went after a perp alone.”
I hung on every word. And that last statement cut him deep to say, I could tell by the soft regretful tone that seeped into his voice.
“I ran him down. He was fast, a bit older than me and he’d come prepared. There was a missile launcher, Augusta. A real missile launcher. He was standing there with one aimed at me.”
“Wow,” I said. “He was hardcore, huh?”
“He must have been aware that I was old and that fire would possibly kill me. But that wasn’t even the worst of it. The guy with the missile launcher wasn't the guy I was chasing. It was an ambush. He had two other perps with him.”
“What cowards,” I whispered.
His hand moves reflexively against my thigh. “What stupidity. I didn't have time to call back up. And the one person I’d told never to run after perps alone had watched me do the very thing I warned her not to.”
I stared at him.
His voice was even softer. “She wasn't supposed to be my backup. I was supposed to make sure of it.”
Cade kept his eyes on the road.
“Evelyn came after me. The guy fired, I avoided it, and he ran straight for me. We clashed. The missile launcher was still sitting there unmanned. While this guy had me occupied, one of his friends found his way over to the missile launcher, stepped behind it, and took aim. I heard it fire, Augusta.”
“They couldn’t be man enough to fight you one by one? They had to gang up on you?”
“He was fast. The missile was too—nearly impossibly so. It shot from one point to the next instantaneously. No human could have tracked his movements, but these weren't humans. And it all happened in the blink of an eye.”
I watched him intently. “Cade, are you okay to talk about this?”
He ignored me, but I don’t think he meant it rudely. He was just lost in his memories. “Found out later they were all vampires.”
And even Cade couldn't have stopped a bunch of vampires by himself, close to him in age and carrying weapons of catastrophic capabilities.
But he was here. “You survived the missile?”
“No, I was knocked out of its way.” He looked at me briefly. “By Evelyn.”
The only person who could have done that, who would have been able to reach him, who saved him…was Evelyn. I wasn't prepared for this—for him to have been the one who’d rushed in.
“She saved you and then what did they do to her?” I asked.
“Nothing. She was standing where I had been. She took the hit meant for me.” He put the hand that had been on me, back on the wheel. I saw why. He was making dents in it. “I screwed up, Augusta. Arrogance, pride, thinking I was invincible. Not listening to my own advice. That was my error.”
I was speechless. No wonder he wanted me to follow his rules. Long ago, he hadn't. When I was at a loss for words, I'd always felt more comfortable turning away. I didn't now. I looked at him.
Carefully, I put my hand just above his knee. Very slowly, he brought his hand down until it rested on top of mine.
“We’re almost here, Augusta,” he said quietly and squeezed my hand.
I think he was talking about our arrival into Badger Town. Signs had cropped up saying we were close.
“We’re not there yet, Cade, but we’re close.” I was talking about us. We rode like that until we reached Badger Town.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
*Cade*
“YOU HUNGRY?” I ASKED. SHE didn't say much about her hunger, but I heard her stomach growl, and the drive had been long. I hadn't wanted to tell her that the only reason that I kept looking in the rearview mirror was because old habits were hard to die. It was something that I’d always done when I was on a case.
“Never fails to astonish me. The moment I think that you're focused on one thing, you completely surprise me with another.”
Shrugging, I said, “Badger Town’s ba
r-b-que is supposed to be delicious. How about we go there?”
Leaning over her, I unbuckled her seatbelt for her and then rushed out before she’d had time to take her next breath. With a flourish, I opened her door. “I’ve dragged you all this way, Augusta, and therefore I was thinking this should be my treat.”
Right then, I had this feeling again of doing something completely against my normal grain. I didn't know exactly where we were with everything, but I did know that I wanted to keep her safe. For some odd reason, I wanted to provide for her.
I wasn't going to lose my heart or my head. But for now, she was staying with me. She was helping me on this case, and last night had been amazing.
I'd even broken my rule of not sleeping with a woman more than once. The next morning, we’d eaten breakfast, then afterward, I’d pulled her right back into bed.
Feeling an uncomfortable hardening after that thought, I shifted and stopped thinking about her beautiful body. We had work to do, and as soon as we ate, we were going into the gift shop.
We walked together towards the barbecue joint, and I felt awkward and uncertain. I wanted to do a whole lot more than walk with her at that moment, but I settled on opening the door for her.
I didn't know if she would take the gesture or reject it. But when I didn't get any complaints, I filed it away for something she'd allow me to do.
She smiled at me. I looked at her and then made an appreciative sweep of her body as she passed in front of me. Especially with that sweet look, there was no way I would ever forget to open the door for her.
After we got our food and sat down, I looked around. This place had twelve different barbecue sauces. The guy at the counter had told us we should try them all.
Augusta’s plate was piled high with food. I'd gotten just as much so that we wouldn’t stand out. I was aware she consumed enormous amounts of food. Not every shifter had the same size appetite, but apparently, an Alpha tiger had a big one. That’s why I’d left early before she’d awakened the morning she’d first come and bought loads of food.
Her eyes glowed as she ate one piece of meat. She was methodical, and each time she brought a piece to her mouth, I grew even harder. Swallowing, I looked down and began moving my food around on my plate. “How is it? Good?”
“Superb,” she said. “Here, try this.”
She squeezed a little barbecue sauce onto my plate. I dabbed at it and tasted it. I could consume most liquids. I just wasn’t too fond of doing so unless it quenched my appetite.
I shrugged. It just had a thick consistency. This didn't taste like anything much to me. “What’s the flavor like to you?”
“Close your eyes, and I'll show you how it tastes to me,” she said mysteriously.
“Why not just tell me?”
She got up and moved her tray to sit beside me. Then she grabbed my hand, and with the other, she put a little dollop of the sauce on her finger and she slowly brought it to her mouth. My breath quickened, and I couldn't take my eyes away from the pulse that thumped in her wrist. “Close your eyes, Cade.”
Carefully, and as though we were just another really affectionate couple, she brought the side of our heads together. I closed my eyes. Augusta had her hand in mine. Intentionally, she opened her thoughts to me as she tasted the sauce.
Augusta’s next thought came to me then. This sauce is amazing. Sensations like joy and ecstasy traveled throughout my body. It aroused me, stunned me and all the while she continued to let me experience exactly what she did when she tasted that sauce. What we were doing was so incredibly intimate. The sauce was tangy, with a little bit of spice, and a lot of zing. So good. I moaned softly.
“Cade, can you taste it? Can you feel how much I like it?” she asked.
Oh yeah, I felt it.
I opened my eyes and looked at her. My own hunger began to awaken. I forced it down, steadied myself, and studied her. It was a long, languid look. The pulse in her neck began to beat rapidly.
“Cade... are you hungry?” she asked.
My breath caught on a smothered moan. I was growing more so, but I wouldn't need to feed until tonight. This small thirst was something I could control. I could get away with feeding less, but when I did get hungry, I normally consumed large amounts. But for now, I would wait a little longer.
“We’re getting better at this,” I said.
“What, you being able to feel through other people's emotions?” she asked.
I shook my head with a half-grin. “Me being able to feel strongly through yours.” It was said in jest, but it was wholly the truth.
I'd always been able to grasp other people's emotions, and thereby know what they intended. But I'd never been able to feel others’ emotions as if they were mine as strongly as I was able to do with Augusta.
This was definitely something different, and something new. And in my life, I’d realize that when I gained another talent, it normally meant a big change was about to occur.
She finished up eating, and we got to-go boxes to take the rest of the food with us and then went to pay at the register.
“Do you have any kind of containers for travel? Anything like a cooler that you sell for those traveling through? I just need some ice and a plastic bag, if you don’t,” I said.
The guy that stood at the register’s name was Cody. He was big and jovial looking. He had gaps between his teeth, pale blonde hair, and watery brown eyes. “I’ll do you one better, my friend.”
He turned around, went to the back, and returned with a large brown box. It was plain, no markings on it at all. And it was familiar. It looked just like the box that had been inside Odra’s cabin right beside the box of chocolates.
I looked at it closely, and Augusta was right beside me. She must have realized the same thing that I did.
“This box here, is special, sir.” He opened it to show us inside. “We pack it with dry ice, and sometimes we ship them off to places all over the United States. We have an online store and we get customers from everywhere.”
He placed our to-go containers inside the box and closed it up. “Here you go, sir. Tell your friends about us, we welcome all.”
As Augusta and I walked out, I was beginning to see that this barbecue joint and the gift shop had more in common than just being on the same corner. I wondered why a bar-b-que box just like this one was used to deliver the chocolates. We hopped back inside the truck to drive across the way to get to the gift shop and find out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
*Augusta*
THE BURNING QUESTION I HAD was how the poison got into the chocolate. I kept twisting the thought around as we made our way to the gift shop. Seeing those brown boxes made me wonder about those chocolates. I wished we’d had just one left so we could test it and find out the fatal ingredient.
With a scowl, I wondered if the poison was still lurking around that box somewhere. Maybe we didn’t need the chocolates, though. I sighed. Once we figured out what poison killed them, I’d be able to determine where it came from.
The little town was quaint and quiet. I could see how the stores held appeal for those visiting from neighboring communities. There were actually painted signs in the windows. These were the ones like I’d seen driving through country towns. If I'd had my camera, I would have taken pictures.
Who knew, maybe I could have used a country store theme for my proposal. I wasn't giving up on it. I just had to find another way in. But now, we needed to get to the bottom of Betty's Cookies, Chocolate, Cakes, and Caramel. We'd figure out how a box of chocolates from this gift shop had ended up being used as part of the murder weapon.
As the car stopped, I looked at Cade, still remembering the sensuality of eating lunch with him. I colored slightly and cleared my throat. “How do you think we should do this? Should we go over a list of questions that we want to ask her?”
We’d parked on the side of the small parking lot. It was one of those smooth dirt lots wher
e everyone just found a place to put their vehicle. Across the street, the barbecue joint had the entire area smelling like hickory smoke. In front of the chocolate shop was a big old papier-mâché Bourbon Whiskey on a stick.
And right beside the chocolate shop was an old mom and pop clothing store inside of a brown brick building with a mannequin that I was fairly certain was from the seventies, in the window.
Cade shrugged. “I’d like to ask the questions and for you to take notes.”
But I hadn't brought a pen and paper, I thought dejectedly. I perked up. I’d just use my phone. “Or we could just ask questions together?”
“Follow my lead.”
“I still don't understand one thing, Cade. How come chocolate? Wouldn't it have been easier to get poison inside of a sandwich, or anything else?”
“Don’t know, but it’s a good question. I can only suppose maybe they knew a vampire would be less inclined to eat an entire sandwich.” He shrugged. “While we’re in there, we'll look around, we'll see how easy it is to get a box of chocolates and tamper with them.”
I nodded and grabbed the door handle. There was a small stirring of air and the next thing I knew, Cade who'd been sitting right next to me, had opened it for me.
Again, I was stunned and this time I was a little perplexed. No one usually opened doors for me. At least not this many times in a row. It was different. I had no doubt, though, it didn't mean we were a couple or even close to dating.
He extended his hand and when I took it, he lifted me out. A small bolt, not unlike the shock I sometimes received flipping a light switch traveled through me. I glanced at him wondering if he felt it too.
He didn't move, blink, or give any indication anything out of the ordinary had just occurred. Maybe it was my imagination or the long drive, but whatever it was, I should have wanted to let go of his hand. Instead, I laced my fingers through his. And when he began to walk, I glided to catch up with the man who held my hand.
At the door, he let me go ahead, releasing me only then.
Cade hadn’t mentioned he wanted to take us to the next step. And truthfully, I wasn't certain I was ready with the way things had ended with Mark to jump into another emotional relationship.
The Vampire's Alpha Mate: A BBW Tiger-Shifter Romance (Arcane Affairs Agency) Page 15
