I stood up, and not trying to seem like I was making my exit, I said, “Do you mind if I step out for a moment?”
Fifi shook her head. “It’s freezing out there, are you crazy?”
I could stand the cold for a few moments. Anything to clear my head, and to get me thinking straight. It was weird, I was thinking about Cade and the case. That something else tickled the back of my mind and grew stronger. It was something that I felt like I should realize, and yet I couldn't put my finger on it.
As I stood on the porch and the brisk breeze beat against me, I saw a figure in the distance. It looked much like the same person who had scared me from my cabin the first night. Kip? I believed I was looking at him. I blinked and he was gone.
That was the other thing that I was pretty upset about it. Once I left here, that would be it. There would be no more opportunity for me and Cade to get together. My parents would have their claws inside of me, and they would shut me in for the rest of my life.
I didn't want to marry Mark. As I thought about it, I realized that I didn't want anyone... if he wasn't Cade.
Was I crazy?
Cade. Suddenly, I knew it. All of the clues we’d seen began to arrange themselves in my mind and make sense.
Cade wasn’t with the next intended victim—I knew that for certain. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Christie, Fifi, and Diana had said. It was all falling into place. Suddenly, I realized why Cade and I hadn’t been able to find out how the poison had gotten into those chocolates.
Shaking my head, the thing that was bothering me came to the surface. I looked up at the sky. I was pretty certain I knew who had killed Slade and Odra, and how.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
*Cade*
HOW MANY MAGAZINES COULD I sift through about looking the part of a successful man? I groaned. About being and dressing the part. About talking the part.
Dayle must have had dozens of magazines and they all included articles regarding how to win in business. He had just as many magazines concerning how to make a girl putty in your hands.
I was furious with myself for being here. Last night had been much of me waiting around his living room for whoever had been lurking around. Yet I hadn’t smelled anyone but Dayle and maybe someone he’d slept with.
With a grimace, I berated myself for letting Augusta get close—to me and this case. She was a tough tiger shifter, but she was also my fated mate. I was sure she was—or could be. I didn’t want her to get caught in the line of fire like my old partner had.
Evelyn had been the interrogator and I had been the intelligence and the muscle. I should have seen what was going to happen coming and prevented it. I’d keep anything like that from occurring with Augusta, though. She wouldn’t see any of the action.
I turned away from the table in disgust. Dayle was a nine-hundred-year-old vampire. And here I was babysitting him. When I’d come, I’d thought that I would run into someone, but as I got inside, he was sitting there at the kitchen table with the gun in his hand. He’d apologized saying that the person must have left.
When I tried to leave, he ran to me begging me not to leave him alone. He said that he was afraid that if I did, the attacker would come back.
So here we were. I'd been here since yesterday and it was a true feat to keep myself still. How the hell had I been so stupid as to send Augusta away? What had I been thinking?
I knew what I had been thinking. The moment I believed Dayle was in trouble, and that there was the possibility the attacker who had committed the crimes would make an appearance, my one driving thought was to get Augusta away from it all.
It didn't matter that I liked having her around, nor that she had an amazing mind capable of putting together facts in a way that I didn't even see. It made no difference that I loved her.
Why did I just think that?
Intentionally, I put a little distance between myself and Dayle. Was it true? Had Augusta squirmed her way into my heart, found a place there, and managed to stay there for good? I loved Augusta, with every unnatural breath that I took.
In Dayle’s back room, I sat down. Chances were, her being with me was filled with too many hazards, and not enough pay to take care of them. I shook my head. Okay, that jest was in poor taste. My being with her did cloud my mind too much.
I'd honestly forgotten for a moment how much the pain of losing my partner and my mistakes had caused me.
Too many houses and not enough pay to take care of them.
Her being with me was filled with too many hazards, and my being with her clouded my mind too much.
Could I honestly forget for a moment how much the pain of losing my partner because of my mistakes had caused me?
My phone rang, and I picked it up. “Cade here.”
“It's Agent Ramsey. I'm calling to tell you that the agency feels my opening this case as a murder investigation and putting you on it was a misuse of the resources. They don't feel as if anything is amiss.”
But there were all kinds of underhanded dealings taking place.
“Agent Ramsey, we're very close to solving the case. Something did happen to those two. Just give me some time. I can solve it. I can clear Slade’s name, and Odra’s, and also prove that there was a predatory being that committed the crimes.”
Agent Ramsey let out a long, slow breath. “Cade I'm sorry to tell you that we don't have any more time. I thought we did. But I just got the call this morning and you need to drop the case,” he said.
I’d lost my one chance with Augusta because of keeping her safe from this investigation. Now I was losing the case too? It hit me deep, and I sucked in a painful breath. Why had I even started this if Agent Ramsey didn’t think I could solve it? I’d risked getting Augusta involved and it angered me that I had.
Agent Ramsey was quiet. “Cade?”
“What can I do to stop you from taking me off this case? I broke up with Augusta because I want to solve it,” I said.
“A girl? From the sound of it, you really like her.” He sighed. “Cade, you’re a wonderful lumberjack. People look up to you. Got a lot going for you, too. Quit being such a stubborn, selfish asshole and go get your girl. Don’t worry about the murder-suicide.”
I listened as some voices had come into the room where he was, and then they left. As soon as they did, he got back on the phone.
Back to me, now, his voice was urgent. “Cade, you have until tomorrow to crack this case. Unofficially, I’m not taking you off of it. But I had to make the guys around here who don’t believe in you think that I was. Do it,” he said.
“‘Til tomorrow?” I wanted to make sure I wasn’t hearing things.
“Please, Cade, for the sake of both our careers and for the confidence that I have that you will actually get this done, go get your girl. And find a way to bring me the murderer. I'm counting on you.”
The phone went silent. I snapped my eyes to where Dayle was. Agent Ramsey, whom I didn't owe anything to had gone out on a limb to get me involved again with the agency.
And now I was making Agent Ramsey look bad. That didn’t sit well with me. I was in danger of losing probably the best thing that ever happened to my life, Augusta. I was bringing everyone else down with me. I had to finish what I’d started—had to solve this case.
I could let Augusta walk out of my life for good and live a miserable and lonely life. She’d be safer that way. Or I could open my heart and stand up and fight for her. I would protect her, and we could do this together—as long as I communicated with her. I wasn’t letting Augusta go.
Taking a deep breath, I walked into the kitchen and found Dayle sitting on a chair and blubbering.
“What is it now, Dayle?” I asked.
He held up one finger and took some deep breaths trying to get it out, but the more he tried to talk, the more he blubbered. The thing about vampires was that some of them as they got older, got better.
Then there was the
other group that whatever they’d been in life, was magnified the older that they got. They got worse. For instance, I was beginning to think that Dayle must have been some kind of lothario before he’d been sired and now his womanizing had grown to huge proportions.
What he had was good looks and a lot of years of experience manipulating women out of their clothes.
“What is it, Dayle?” I asked. I was picking up on him that he had been lying about something. And I was getting very antsy.
Here I was over here trying to protect him from an attacker when I should have been out there looking for the person who possibly was making a getaway as we spoke.
Dayle continued to sit. “No one came to the door the night I called you. I wanted you here. Assurance, you know, that if someone did come for me, you were here to protect me.”
I looked at him without pity. “You wasted my time?”
He began moaning and the soft keening was getting on my nerves.
“What is the matter with you, Dayle?”
“It’s you,” he said. “I've just been thinking about every woman that has been in my life, and when you came over, whatever you’d just done must have affected you a lot because I feel horrible. I slept with Diana, Christie, Fifi, and I did it all while they thought that they were the only ones that I was with.”
I moved fast to stand in front of him. “We know that you did. Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because I feel awful. I just wanted to know what love could be like, but I'm unable to.”
Dayle thought he couldn't understand what love was, but that was only something that he believed and it was limiting him. Was this what I would have become at some point?
I stood before him, a little annoyed, feeling a little bit used, and extremely anxious for some reason. All of sudden, it was as if every nerve in my body was on alert. Like I was ready to charge into battle and destroy any and everything that was looking at Augusta the wrong way or ever had.
Trying to focus, I had an intense thought. It was as if Augusta needed me. It must have been the bite I’d given her that allowed me to feel what she was feeling from this distance. For a moment, I wondered if it was possible if we ever bonded as true mates if this would grow even stronger.
I shook my head and bolted to the door. Dayle moved just as fast. He was in front of me. What was he doing?
“You can't leave me here. Someone is after me.”
“They haven't come yet. No one's coming at all. You got me here thinking that you were in trouble and it turns out you are just trouble,” I said. “Get out of my way.”
His face cleared of all the blubbery emotion, and the old vampire that he was suddenly appeared. He’d been acting? “Wherever you're trying to go, it's not as important as you being here and watching after me. You are supposed to protect me. Nothing better injure me. Try walking out that door, and something will happen to you.”
Had this womanizing, two-timing, faker just threatened me? The air in the room began to stir, and I looked at him directly.
“This whole time, we've been concentrating on you, Dayle.”
“I am in danger,” he said.
Whatever Augusta must have been feeling was amplified to such an extent, I believed we must have been thinking similarly.
On an experiment, I tried to reach her from a distance. Augusta?
Cade, it’s not Dayle we should worry about. It’s Diana.
I growled low. I see that now. Where are you?
With her at her cabin. I’m watching out for her, Cade.
Someone else there?
Her words were earnest and insistent. Don’t be angry, Cade. Christie and Fifi are here. I saw Kip in the woods as well.
Something sharp gouged at my heart at her words. Augusta, don’t rush in.
I’ll wait for you as long as I can, Cade.
Then I didn’t hear anything else from her. I thought of her sweet smile when I’d given her the candy, the way she’d always taken care to fix me food right with her, and I was livid. Augusta was in danger. And I was sure I knew who’d committed the crime.
“Dayle, you back off, go back into your kitchen, and sit down,” I said. “You think you're selfish thoughts without me, or you won't have to worry about some mysterious attacker who's not even interested in harming you—and likely never has been.”
“Someone’s trying to murder me. You said so yourself,” he said.
“I thought so. I don’t anymore. Now, I think you just saw an opportunity to make yourself a nuisance.”
His handsome face morphed into one of complete cruelty as he dissolved into the biggest tantrum I'd ever seen. “You're not leaving. I said you're going to stay and that's the end of it. You do what I say. Everyone does what I say.”
Something inside of me snapped. The ground shook with Dayle’s anger. He must have had a form of telekinesis a little different than mine. No bother. If he wanted to do this then we would. Because nothing was stopping me from getting to Augusta.
He rammed me into the wall. As fast as the sound barrier, I twisted him around and threw him into the opposite wall. The cabin shook. He hadn't seen me move. And he came at me with the same amount of speed. We both threw blows rapidly. I’d anticipate him. He’d block me and then would attack.
Dayle threw me into the ceiling. I hit it hard. It'd been a long time since I'd battled anyone with this much strength. And it shocked me that someone so old and so powerful would greedily hog the agency's protective resources. He’d tricked me, thinking only of himself, when someone who may be less able to truly defend herself was left vulnerable.
The ceiling tumbled down. His single-minded selfishness was more than I could bear at the moment. As we burst out of the wreckage, he threw me to the ground outside and descended on me triumphantly.
I closed my eyes and let the full force of my power rear up. The fallen cabin was blasted with the wind that was on the same scale as a mini tornado. I’d told Dayle to stay away from me, and as he was flying, I raced to catch him before he got too far away.
As I did, I whipped him to the ground and landed on top of him. I aimed the blade of my hand straight for his throat. “I will be certain to tell the agency that you've been up to no good where women are concerned. It's vampires who are the strong, Dayle. But not when they are as weak-willed as you.”
He lay there gasping—defeated.
I pushed his head to the side and stood up, then raced to find Augusta. I knew that I had to go fast, faster than I'd ever gone before. But I also knew that wherever she was, I would find her, and all she needed to do was just hold on until I got there.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
*Augusta*
I STOOD ON THE PORCH, knowing that these next few moments were going to be crucial. I kept an eye on the inside of the cabin to make certain that everyone in there was doing alright. But I knew that nothing was going to be all right especially since what I had to say would affect them all.
The leaves began to flutter, the air around me began to shift and turn slightly cooler if that was even possible. And I knew without a doubt that Cade was on his way. Mere moments later, the wind brushed my cheeks and lifted my hair. The next thing I knew, Cade was right beside me. He put his arms around me and pulled me close.
I was still fighting the devastation of knowing that he was willing to complete the case alone and that he’d told me to leave the cabin. But this was more important than my feelings and what we were going through.
Cade and I would have to work through that. Right now, I needed him and he needed me so that we could work through this case.
“I think I know what happened to Slade and Odra,” I said.
He stepped away from me, and his gaze appeared shadowed and bereft. “I shouldn't have left you, Augusta,” he said.
I shook my head. I didn't want to talk about it now. We really needed to get in there to Diana.
“Right before I came over her
e, Augusta, everything began to click inside my mind. I'm sorry for everything that I did to you. I'm sorry for not trusting you. I do trust you now. And if you're thinking what I'm thinking, then we do need to get in there.”
I nodded and we went inside the cabin. As we did, I noticed Christie stood by the counter scowling at us. Instinctively, I stepped in front of Cade in an instinct to protect him.
He moved me back to his side, and we continued walking in. Diana looked up a little confused and her eyes went back and forth between the two of us. She didn't say anything.
Fifi turned to him and me and groaned. “Don’t tell me you two made up.”
We hadn't. I think it would take a bit before I was able to get over that Cade didn't want me working with him, but I knew he had more to say. I just hoped we got the chance to talk later. Right now, we had a murderer to catch.
And she was standing in the room with us.
I turned to Cade. “Cade, please let me do this?”
Emotions flickered across his face but at the same time understanding. I think he wanted to take care of it, but I wanted him to prove to me that he knew that I was able to handle this. That I had waited for him for a reason because we needed to do this together. He’d asked me not to be impetuous—and I’d followed his advice.
He nodded his consent, and I turned to Fifi. “As you all have probably figured out, Slade and Odra’s deaths were no murder-suicide.”
“What are you doing?” Christie asked.
“There were two boxes, one brown and one that had held the chocolates. Cade and I pieced together that somehow whoever purchased the chocolate must have tried to scratch off the tracking sticker, but they couldn’t.”
“Yeah, I remember you guys thought I’d sent them somehow,” Diana said.
“Right. We also figured out four boxes had to have been delivered, but there was only one that came to your office, Diana. So where were the other three?”
The Vampire's Alpha Mate: A BBW Tiger-Shifter Romance (Arcane Affairs Agency) Page 18
