“On what charges?” He rasped.
“Murder.”
“You can’t arrest him for killing a shifter, Leah.” Ramirez said quietly as he walked up to me, still swiping dust off his clothes.
“I can hold him for suspicion of carrying an unregistered shotgun and firing it at law enforcement officers.”
“In that case,” Ambrose smiled ruefully at me, “I want my lawyer.” He wheezed.
Ramirez frisked Ambrose then put him in handcuffs while I kept my gun trained on him.
An hour later I stood outside of an interrogation room watching Ambrose as he snored lightly in the chair. The cocky bastard had called his lawyer and then hadn't spoken another word. He just walked into the room and fell asleep.
Time to wake him up.
I put the crime scene photos in a heavy book and slammed them on the table.
Ambrose jerked awake and glared at me.
“Care to tell me what kind of weapon you used to carve this boy up?” I asked as I settled into the chair across from him.
His lip curled into a smile full of hatred.
“No?” I shrugged casually. “Maybe this will refresh your memory.” I tossed the photos of the dead shifter on the table in front of him.
His eyes darted to the pictures then back at me. “I didn’t do this, but I do admire the work.” If he was surprised by the carnage before him he sure as hell didn’t show it.
I stood, knocking my chair behind me, fists clenched at my sides.
“Ehh-hmm.” I heard a throat loudly clear behind me and turned to see a portly man standing in the doorway. His glasses sat askew of his somewhat crooked nose. His graying hair—what was left of it—was combed over an obvious bald spot and it looked like he’d thrown on his suit in haste. “I’m Robert Dearman, Mr. Twofeather’s attorney. I’d like a word alone with my client.”
I gave him one curt nod in greeting as I picked up the photos and made my way out of the room. It wouldn’t do the case any good to kick Ambrose’s ass in front of his attorney. That didn’t mean it wasn’t damned tempting though.
Sam stood by my desk, a sharp contrast to Robert Dearman. Unlike the lawyer, Sam’s hair was perfectly styled and his suit was neatly pressed right down to his shiny shoes. If the man ever slept, I never knew about it.
“In my office, Leah.” He turned, expecting me to follow him. “Join us, won’t you, Officer Ramirez?”
“Shit!” Ramirez muttered under his breath.
Once the door closed, Sam’s calm façade slid off his face. “What the fuck were you doing at Ambrose’s place at one in the morning?” His native New Yorker accent intensified when he was angry.
“We went there to question him on the death of a shape-shifter.”
“And you thought you could accomplish that by kicking his door down and pulling a gun on him?”
“His door was ajar, Sam.” I tried to keep my eyes from giving away my lie—well, partial lie. The door was open slightly after I kicked it in. “I pulled my gun to investigate a suspicious-looking scenario.”
“Bullshit!” Guess my eyes gave me away after all. Oh well.
Sam turned to Ramirez. “What was your role in this?”
“Captain Wilson asked me to accompany Agent Wolfe.” Ramirez tried to keep his tone light.
“And did the premises look suspicious to you, Officer Ramirez?”
“I was not as close to the door as Agent Wolfe. I was merely there as back-up.”
“Uh-huh.” Sam scrubbed his hands across his face. “You can go now, Ramirez.”
Ramirez gave me one sympathetic look and then left the office.
Sam crossed his arms across his chest and rested his ass on the corner of his desk. “Look Leah,” Sam began. “I know how attached you’ve become to some of the Supernaturals in this community.”
“Are you telling me that I can’t have a vampire boyfriend and still do my job?” Sam was one of the few who knew full well what my relationship with Ian was but I’d never thought he would throw it in my face. Dammit! He knew me better than that!
Sam’s shoulder’s dropped a fraction. “No. Of course not.” He ran both hands through his hair. “Leah. I have never seen you so happy before and as your friend, I’m glad to see it.” He smiled and slumped down into his chair, motioning for me to sit as well. “As your boss, however, the law is the law and right now it says that shifters are animals and it’s legal to kill animals.”
“That’s bullshit Sam, and you know it.”
“Unofficially, yes. It’s bullshit. But your job is not to change the law, Leah. It’s just to enforce it.” He held up a hand to stop me from interrupting. “I’m letting him go.”
“Sam!” I protested.
“We have no grounds to hold him, Leah.”
I let out a long sigh. “He can’t get away with this.”
“Unfortunately, he can. For now. But until the law is changed…” Sam closed his lips in a tight line. “There is nothing we can do about it. Twofeather is filing a restraining order on you as we speak.” He held up a finger to stop me from speaking. “You will stay away from him. However…”
I nodded and felt a grin creep across my face. “Got it.”
“Go home, Leah. Get some sleep. You look like shit.” He gave me a weary grin.
“The minute he steps over the line, Sam…”
“Then we bust his ass. I promise.”
Ramirez was long gone by time I got to my car. I took a cursory look in the mirror before I pulled out of my parking spot. Sam was right. I looked like shit.
I drove back to Ian’s place, all the while trying to push the vision of that young man, all carved up like so much meat on the ground, out of my head. I’d told Ian that I would meet him at home as soon as I could, and even though it was nearing sunrise, I knew he’d be waiting for me. I opened the front door to a dark house. Ian had already pulled the blinder shades.
I found him sitting up in bed with the sheet pooled at his waist. He looked particularly pale with the black sheets all around his sexy body. He smiled slightly as I walked in, taking off my clothes along the way. I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed with Ian and let him wrap his arms around me. I wanted him to kiss me until the things I’d seen tonight were washed from brain, but unfortunately, some things that have been seen, cannot be unseen.
“You’re later than I thought you’d be, my love.”
“I’m sorry,” I sighed as I lay my head on his chest and breathed Ian in deeply.
“Our jobs are not always kind to our social life.” Ian pulled me closer and placed a tender kiss on my lips. “I do not have long before the sun takes me.” He put his finger under my chin and pulled my gaze to him. “There is something I must tell you before I rest.”
I shifted so that I could look up at him and still rest my head on his shoulder.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, praying that it was. I didn’t think I had the strength to deal with one more tragedy today.
“Oh yes, my love. Everything is almost perfect.”
“Almost?”
“The house is finished and it is time to move back in.” He brushed a stray strand of hair from my face.
“It’s a lovely house.” I said, hoping he didn’t hear my voice waver. I'd known this day would come, but…
“That is the problem, my love. It is just a house.”
I looked at him, not knowing what he meant.
“I have been numb for much of my existence. I believed that I had no soul and found no happiness in my extended life. My heart was empty until you arrived. It was as if my heart remembered how to beat again the moment I saw you.” He tensed.
“Ian…”
“Shhh my love, I do not have much time.”
Even though I couldn’t see the light, I knew the sun was rising. It caused Ian pain and I cursed it every day for that. Ian would “die” all over again each sunrise and while he never would tell me, I know it caused him physical pain.
/> Ian kissed me again, more urgently this time. His fingers intertwined with mine under the sheets. He pulled away just a fraction. “I planned on this being much more romantic…”
I felt something cool encircle my finger. The finger. My brain screamed No-No-NO! Do not ask me this. Not now, even while my heart leaped, beating so furiously against my chest I thought it would find a way out.
“Marry me, my love. Make our house a home.” And with that his body jerked as the sun stole him from me yet again.
Chapter 2
I had pulled my hand out of the sheets and stared at the offending finger for a full twenty minutes. The ring was … amazing. A large diamond surrounded by smaller ones creating a heart shape. So elegant that it looked out of place on my finger. Hands that had been used to kill vampires now bore the symbol of unending love from the most powerful vampire in the country.
Thoughts swirled through my mind so quickly that I could barely begin to examine one before another pushed it away.
An hour later I was pacing the kitchen floor in Jessica’s house. I knew she got up a couple of hours early every morning so she had some time to herself before she woke up her young son Oscar and got ready for work.
“His timing sucks!” I ranted while Jess made coffee. “He knew the sun was taking him for a few hours. Why didn’t he wait until he rose?”
“Seems to me his timing was perfect.” Jess smiled as she set a cup of coffee in front of me.
I looked at her with my mouth open, unable to form the words to justify what she’d just said.
“I think he knew you’d need time to think. This is his way of giving it to you.”
“How would he know what I needed time for?” I asked indignantly.
Jess laughed. “You know I love you like a sister, Leah.” She sat down and leaned closer to me. “And I know you love Ian. You’re just pissed off because he knows you better than you know yourself.”
“Things were going so well.” I sighed. “Why did he have to go and screw them up?”
“What are you afraid of Leah? You love him … he loves you. I don’t see the problem here. Engagement is the next step.”
“It's just that. I’ve tried the whole ‘married’ thing before Jess. We all know how well that worked out.”
“No. You have not done the whole ‘married thing’. You thought Joaquin loved you.”
“He did.” I replied, weakly enough to have me wincing at my own words.
“He didn’t love you enough to accept who you are.”
I dropped my head to the table. She was right, of course. Jess is always right.
“You two can’t keep your hands off each other. Whenever you’re in the same room, it’s like you’re drawn to each other. You hold hands, your eyes meet…” she paused for a moment. “There’s a connection between you and Ian, and it’s got nothing to do with supernatural powers.”
“How do I know?” I asked weakly.
“You know. Tell me that you don’t love Ian, that you don’t think he loves you, special abilities and all.”
I lifted my gaze to her. One of the things that makes Jess an outstanding attorney is that she is like a human lie detector. She can pick even the tiniest lie out a barrel of truths.
“Did you love Oscar’s father?”
Jess stiffened. She never talked about Oscar’s father. Ever. I knew I was stepping over her comfort line by asking now but I needed to know. She’d had this beautiful baby boy, on her own, and never even discussed the guy who fathered him. If I’d thought for a moment that Jess was capable of an emotionless fling I would not have brought up the subject. But I’d been her friend for a lot of years and I’ve never known her to do anything that wasn’t calculated down to the last detail. She once said she couldn’t sleep with a man if she felt he only wanted sex. She needed to have him care too. So why did she come home from an extended trip pregnant, with no husband? Like I said, she didn’t talk about it. Ever.
“I’m sorry, Jess…”
“No, it's okay.” She smiled lightly. “That was just … different.”
The faraway look in her eyes showed the sorrow hanging there like a cloud. It wasn’t the first time that I’d imagined finding the bastard and killing him for causing my best friend that kind of pain.
“This is about you, Leah.” Jess leaned over and held up my hand, openly admiring my ring. “He loves you, Leah. I see the truth of it every time he is near.” Her smile brightened with an almost arrogant gleam. “And you love him.”
I left Jess with a promise to meet up for dinner later in the week and reassurances that if there were going to be a wedding, she would most definitely be my maid-of-honor.
Next stop was Alli’s. Her eyes zeroed in on my ring the moment I walked in the door. Maybe it was mother’s intuition; I didn’t know and never would—I can’t have children—but Alli squealed excitedly, leaving no doubt as to how she felt about it.
“I didn’t say yes, Alli.”
Her smile slipped a little and she raised her eyebrow.
“I didn’t say no either. Hell, I didn’t get to say anything at all. He…” I swallowed, looking for the right words to explain it to Alli. Both she and Wilson knew that Ian was a vampire but saying your boyfriend died at sunrise still didn’t sound right. “He went to sleep right after he proposed. I didn’t get to answer.”
Alli led me to the kitchen and sat me down at the table. “What would you have answered?” She asked while she poured two cups of coffee.
“I wish I knew.”
“You love him, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“And you believe he loves you?”
“Yes again.”
“And you’re worried that it will end like it did with Joaquin?”
I sighed. “No … I don’t know. There are a lot of issues attached to both of us. I kill vampires … he is one.” I spoke the last in a sing song voice, bouncing my head from side to side.
Alli sat and pushed a cup toward me. “Do you think that I’ve never wanted to kill Wilson before?” She laughed.
“The difference is, you wouldn’t.”
She bobbed her head as if contemplating that.
“Alli!” I laughed.
She sipped her coffee. “Would you, Leah? Would you kill Ian if you had to?”
I sighed deeply and took a drink of my coffee. “If he went rogue?” I shrugged. “I just don’t know.”
She nodded her head once. “Well, there.” She said as if that explained everything. “How would being married to him change that?”
I stood and began to pace, frustration and lack of sleep gnawing at me. “Marriage is for other people. People who want the white picket fence life complete with minivan and kids.” My voice cracked just a little and I wondered for the millionth time if I would ever truly accept that I couldn’t have children. “The gunshot wound caused too much internal damage to make childbearing possible…” The doctor’s words echoed through my memory until I shook them away.
“Do you see a minivan in my driveway? Leah, come sit.”
I did as I was told.
“I thought I would marry a doctor, settle down, raise a house full of kids … but I didn’t. I married Wilson and he brought you into my life. I have never regretted it for moment.”
“But you married a cop, not a doctor.”
“Do you think I wanted to marry a cop?” She blew out a breath. “I’m a nurse, I see what a bullet does to the human body. You think I wanted to spend my life worrying that my husband wouldn’t come home from work?” She took another drink of coffee. “But I do. Every single day I worry that something’s going to happen to him. That’s how I knew.”
What? That didn’t make any sense. “You knew you wanted to marry him because you were afraid?”
“Exactly!” She smiled brightly at me before she realized that I still didn’t get it. “Oh honey.” She patted my hand. “I realized that I wasn’t afraid of marrying Wilson. I was afraid that I’d lose
him. I was afraid to be without him.”
“I’ve been alone most of my life. I’m not afraid of it.” I argued. “Besides, I didn’t realize that you liked Ian so much.”
Alli shook her head. “He makes you happy. It’s like he lifted a shroud from you, chased all the dark clouds away so you could see the sun. I see it every time you two are together.”
I didn’t know what to say to that so we put the subject aside. I made her promise she wouldn’t tell a soul until I made my decision. She agreed and after another cup of coffee catching up with each other’s lives, I left.
Chapter 3
My head was no clearer now than when I’d left. I didn’t know if my world would accept him or if his would accept me. We had not made our relationship public, but hell, why did we have to?
Because he is the Marquis of the vampire world, and I am a federal agent for SINS whose job involves killing supernatural criminals, including vampires.
My head spun with the consequences of what would happen if we got married as I drove up the driveway to Ian’s house. I stopped at the gargoyle, pressed in the keys and let it scan my hand.
I parked Ian’s car in the garage and left the keys in the ignition. With the type of security he had in place and the number of cars he owned, it was just easier to leave the keys in the car.
I walked in, my eyes sweeping over the house, still illuminated by the few candles that hadn’t yet burnt out, rose petals still floating in the swimming pool. Was he planning on proposing the entire time that the house was under construction? Had he given this a lot of thought or just plunged right in?
I pushed open the door to his room. Ian lay across the bed, his hair splayed across the sheets like dark rivers. I took one look at him, lying there helpless and knowing that a vampire killer would be back, yet trusting me completely to be with him during his most vulnerable time.
Me. I was the vampire killer and without a shred of doubt I was in love with the Marquis of the vampire world.
I crawled in beside him and tenderly kissed his lips.
Justified (A Leah Wolfe SINS Novel) Page 4
