Up in Smoke

by Alice Brown

  He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and hit speed-dial for his brother. Walter answered on the first ring, “Are you calling me for dating advice, bro?”

  “I wish I was, Walt. No, I’m standing in front of Susan’s house. The word WHORE is spray painted across the front of it. But that’s not all,” he paused for just a second before continuing, “there’s been another vampire around here, very recently.”

  “Keep her safe, I’m on my way.”

  Nathaniel walked around the exterior of the house to make sure that whoever did this wasn’t still lurking around. Finally convinced that whoever did this was long gone, he went back to the truck. He found his mate squinting through the windshield, trying to make out what was on the front of her house.

  He motioned for her to hit the unlock button and opened her door. “I’m so sorry, baby. We’ll find out who did this, I promise.”

  “Did someone paint the word ‘WHORE’ on the front of my house?” she asked incredulously.

  “Yes, I’m afraid so. You don’t by chance know any other vampires, besides the ones at the station, do you?”

  Before she had the chance to respond, two pickup trucks pulled up right behind them. Her breath hitched, not knowing who to expect at such a late hour.

  “Relax, babe. It’s just Walter and Lucas. I called Walter in because this is officially a crime scene.” Only after the doors to both vehicles opened did he realize that Sissy and Meredith had come along, as well.

  “Hey, hon. Are you okay?” Sissy wasted no time in pushing past Nathaniel and enveloping her friend in a hug.

  “Sis, who would do this to me? It’s not like I have any enemies.” Susan shook her head, clearly at a loss as to who could have pulled such an ugly prank.

  “I know, hon. The boys will get it figured out. Just give them a bit of time. You know Walter is going to make sure you stay safe. And with Nathaniel as your mate, you have nothing to fear, hon,” Sissy replied with confidence.

  Meredith was standing behind her. “I’m going to go make sure the guys don’t miss anything.”

  Sissy stayed with Susan as they watched the others comb through everything that was around the outside of her house. She couldn’t believe someone had done this. And why? Just a few short hours ago, she’d been having a wonderful time watching old movies with Nathaniel. It just didn’t make any sense.

  She looked over at Sissy. “Maybe this isn’t about me. Does Nathaniel have any ex-girlfriends that are mad at him?”

  Her friend was already shaking her head before she had even finished the question. “No, hon. Nathaniel hasn’t dated anyone in a really, really long time. The town he was sheriff in was too small, and as far as I know, he never even went out with anyone when he came here to visit. No,” Sissy shook her head with a frown, “this was done by one of our kind. Now, we just have to figure out who and why.”

  “This was done by a vampire?” Susan’s voice shook as a chill went down her spine and the question came tumbling out. What possible reason would a vampire have to do such a thing to her property? Unless this had something to do with the mess regarding Eddie and the trouble her deceased husband got into along with himself. But still, that had been several months ago and she had been living alone ever since with no trouble.

  Sissy seemed to read her mind. “We don’t know if this has something to do with Eddie’s case or not, but I can guarantee you that Walter won’t rest easy until he has turned over every rock to find out who did this.”

  All three men and Meredith walked back over to the truck. It was Nathaniel’s turn to push his sister-in-law out of the way and envelope his mate in a tight hug. He could smell the fear coming off her. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. You know I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he crooned as he gently rubbed her back.

  “Susan, I don’t want you staying here by yourself until we have this situation under control. You are welcome at our house if you need a place to crash,” Walter stated.

  “She’s going home with me,” Nathaniel growled at his brother as his arms tightened around her body.

  Then as if he had just realized how he sounded, he eased up on his hold and leaned back to place a gentle kiss on her forehead.

  “Baby, will you please come home with me so I can protect you? Otherwise, my brother is going to end up with a house full of guests, because I’ll be camping out over there for peace of mind.”

  Susan watched her boss give her a grin and a wink before looking over to his mate. “Sissy, did you hear me extend an invitation to my brother? I could have sworn I said Susan...”

  Susan rested her head on Nathaniel’s shoulder. Whenever she was near him, she felt at peace. She felt at home. She felt...loved. Knowing it was way too soon for these feelings, but yearning for them nonetheless, she took a leap of faith and hoped she didn’t come crashing down.

  She turned her head up to meet his eyes. “I’ll come home with you, but if you get tired of me, just say so and I’ll stay with Sissy and Walter.”

  “Tired of you...as if that were possible,” Nathaniel growled out before leaning down and snatching a kiss.

  She heard Walter chuckling off to her side. “Well, I’m going to call a cleaning crew and see if we can’t get this taken care of before the neighbors wake up in the morning.”

  Nathaniel broke off the kiss. “Let’s go inside and pack you a bag or two. Then we’ll head home.”

  Home, she liked the sound of that. Even though she knew it wasn’t her home, she could always wish. He had such a beautiful home and she knew it would take no time at all for her to become accustomed to living there. She just had to be careful enough to guard her heart, because she didn’t think she would survive if she allowed her heart to fall for him completely, only to have him reject her. Oh sure, she had heard all about vampire mates and how they were supposed to be forever and all that. But really, what did someone like her have to offer to a big, strong, powerful man such as Nathaniel?

  *****

  Nathaniel helped a subdued Susan back into his truck. She was sad, but he couldn’t figure out why. He knew she was upset about the damage to her house, but it had been after he had mentioned her packing a couple of bags that her scent had changed.

  They rode back to his place in silence. He carried her bags in for her, and then wrapped his arms around her and cradled her against his body. “Welcome home, baby.”

  She looked up at him with a perplexed look on her face. Frowning, she shook her head. “This isn’t my home, it’s yours.”

  “Yes, it is mine. I can only hope that someday it will become yours, actually ours, as well.” He stopped and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Baby, you are my mate. I know I said I would take things slow. I’m trying my very best to do just that.”

  She relaxed in his arms, the events of the evening quickly wearing her down. Closing her eyes with a sigh, she murmured, “I know Nathaniel. I’m... ” he heard her swallow hard and sigh again. He wrapped his arms around her a bit tighter. “I’m just scared. I still don’t understand what you see in me. I have nothing to offer to someone like you.”

  He replied with a sigh of his own. “I guess my second priority after figuring out who vandalized your house is to prove to you that you are my mate. The fact that you are my mate means fate has matched us up, and honey, fate doesn’t make mistakes. And for the record, you have plenty to offer. You are a strong, independent woman and I admire those traits. You’ve been dealt a rough hand and you’ve made the best of it for many years. You stuck by your first husband, even though you were clearly unhappy. That shows me you are dedicated. Now,” he stopped and placed a finger over her lips when she tried to argue, “it’s getting late and you’re getting tired. How about we get some sleep. Walter is going to expect us in the office first thing in the morning and I want to drive by your house on the way in and make sure the cleanup crew took care of everything.”

  “Okay,” she mumbled as she buried her nose into his neck a bit more.
When she didn’t move a few moments later, he chuckled and bent down, hooking his arm under her knees and bringing her up to his chest. She brought her arms around his neck and sighed as he carried her to his bed. Gently laying her down, she almost looked frantic when he went to take a step back.

  “Nathaniel, I know we agreed to go slow, but...could you please just hold me tonight? I could really use the comfort.” She seemed to curl in on herself in his huge bed as she made the request.

  He leaned back down and gave her a gentle kiss, brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face. “Baby, I would love nothing better. Just give me a moment to go turn off lights and bring your bags in, then I’ll have you in my arms.”

  *****

  Susan stayed in the bed waiting for Nathaniel to return. He had left the bedside lamp on, so she took a quick glance around the room she was in. As with the rest of his house, his bedroom was large and had large pieces of furniture in it, but it was all done very tastefully. The walls were a medium shade of green that went well with the jade green comforter on the bed.

  She closed her eyes as she snuggled into one of the pillows. A moment later, she felt the bed dip and then a pair of arms surrounded her, bringing her up tight against a rock hard body. She yawned as she buried her nose into his chest.

  “Sleep, my precious one. I’ll not let anything happen.”

  He lay there with her curled up in his arms, more content than he had ever remembered being. He had found his mate. The fact that she still wasn’t too sure of him and that she seemed to have a deranged vampire with a death wish writing graffiti on her house would have to wait until tomorrow. Tonight, he was going to watch his mate sleep in his arms and enjoy the inner peace that had descended upon him.

  *****

  The next morning, they left early for work, so Nathaniel could drive by Susan’s house. He drove by slowly and she noticed he rolled his window down and sniffed the morning air. He then looked up in a nearby tree, gave a short wave, and drove off.

  Susan looked at her now empty house as they drove by. All remnants of lasts night’s event had been washed away, leaving no trace that anything had ever happened. But she knew better. It still bugged her that someone would do something like that.

  The little house that she had made her own over the past few months now held no joy. No comfort. It just seemed…cold, empty, and lonely. She sighed with a frown.

  “You okay, babe?” Nathaniel’s voice broke her out of her gloomy thoughts.

  She gave him what she hoped was a convincing smile. “Sure! I’m just glad whomever Walter had come clean up last night did such a wonderful job. It doesn’t look like anything ever happened.”

  “You want to try that one again, doll?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. When she just looked over at him for a second, he continued, “I can smell when you’re lying. What’s got you worried?”

  She glanced over to him, biting down on her lower lip. “This is just happening so fast. I could easily see myself moving right on in with you, and then you’d be saddled with me.”

  Nathaniel stopped the truck so fast she flew forward, her seatbelt restricting over her chest, his arm flying over to hold her back.

  “What are you doing? You’ve stopped in the middle of the road!?” she asked in a panic.

  “I don’t give a shit. We need to get a few things straight. You are my mate. I want you in my life, in my bed, in my home. Got it? Fate doesn’t make mistakes. And I am so damn sick of hearing you put yourself down.”

  He shook his finger at her. “One more time. Put yourself down one more time and I will put you over my knee and spank that beautiful ass of yours until you can’t sit down!”

  She stared at him for a moment and knew he was dead serious. He would turn her over and spank her. Now, why in the world would the idea of being spanked turn her on? She didn’t understand her body these days. She should be upset that he was manhandling her and treating her like a child, but the more her mind pictured her over his knee, skirt up around her arms, bare ass sticking up in the air, the more moisture leaked out of her. Just freaking great! At the rate she was going, she would end up throwing yet another pair of panties away for being soaked.

  His chuckle brought her out of her musings. “I think somebody wants a spanking,” he stated as he shifted the truck into drive and started back down the road. He gave her a quick glance. “And don’t even bother trying to lie about it.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Men,” she huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest and decided the scenery outside the passenger side window was way more interesting.

  He started whistling an irritatingly playful tune, incredibly too happy with himself. “Don’t worry, babe. This man knows how to take care of his woman. I’ll make damn sure you never forget it.”

  *****

  As soon as they walked in the front door of the Ranger Headquarters, Walter announced that everyone needed to meet in the conference room for a morning briefing. Nathaniel watched Susan walk over to her desk and set her purse aside, sitting down in her seat as if she were going to be there awhile. He had other plans. There was no way in hell he was walking into a closed-door meeting. The room was in the back of the building and he couldn’t leave her sitting up front by herself after what happened last night. Nope. Wasn’t going to happen.

  “Sweetheart, come on. We don’t want to keep Walter waiting.”

  She looked up at him as if he had grown two heads. “Oh, go ahead. He didn’t mean me. I’m never part of the meetings.”

  “You are now,” Nathaniel growled back at her. “There is no way I am leaving you by yourself, even a little while. So you might as well come on.”

  “Nathaniel, I’m never included in these things. We’ll make a scene,” she protested.

  “We’re going to make even more of a scene if I pick you up and carry you in over my shoulder, which I’m sure you would protest to.”

  “You wouldn’t!”

  Nathaniel raised an eyebrow up at her. “Wanna bet?”

  She huffed out an exasperated breath. “Okay, fine. I’ll go in there. And when Walter asks why I am there and not out here answering phones, you can explain it to him.”

  “With pleasure, sweetheart. Let’s go, they’re waiting on us.”

  They walked in the conference room hand in hand while Susan was worrying her bottom lip over what she was sure was going to be an embarrassing situation. Turned out she was wrong. Other than a few ‘good mornings’, no one even questioned her being there. Nathaniel kept her hand locked in his the entire time as if he were afraid she would bolt out the door if she had half a chance. Smart man.

  He walked over to a pair of empty seats and sat down, pulling her into the seat beside him. On her other side, Meredith sat.

  “Hey, Susan. You doing okay today?” her friend asked her with concern.

  “Besides the fact that I seem to have picked up a magnet somewhere I can’t shake,” Susan rolled her eyes theatrically at her friend. “I’m doing fine.”

  Both women heard the responding growl from deep within Nathaniel’s chest.

  Meredith leaned over to her friend. “I don’t think you picked up a magnet, hon. Seems more like a grizzly bear.”

  Susan smiled and nodded her head in agreement as she turned her attention to the front of the room where Walter was waiting for everyone to settle.

  “Alright, gentlemen,” Walter began, his eyes scanning the room and landing on both Susan and Meredith, “and ladies,” he added with a wide smile. “For those of you who might not know, we had an incident last night involving one of our own. Someone vandalized Susan’s house, spray-painting a rather vulgar, derogatory comment between the hours of seven and eleven p.m. I can confirm that it was one of our kind that did the crime, but we have very little else to go on.” He stopped there and braced his hands on the podium. “I want to know who did this and I want to know why.”

  He took a moment to shuffle through some paperwork in front of him. “Zack, I
want you to start doing some digging around to see if this is possibly linked to one of our ongoing cases. Donte and Kade, you two help Zack dig into the current, and even recent, prior cases. Ethan, check into Susan’s financial records. Dig back and see if there is something we missed from when Joe was around. Specifically look to see if he had any hidden debts or anything of that nature. Lucas, I want you to work with Nathaniel to track down any old friends of Susan and Joe’s, especially Joe, and see if you can uncover anything. We also need to check with the neighbors. Make sure you do it subtly to make sure that no one saw anything suspicious last night. If we get lucky, maybe the idiot was clumsy enough to let someone catch a glimpse of him. Let’s do some digging and shake some trees, people. Someone knows something. My gut is telling me that this is not just some random incident. It is not acceptable that this is happening to one of our own.”

  Susan just barely held back her gasp. Had she just heard Walter correctly? Had he just announced that she was part of the Elite Ranger family? Nathaniel wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gave her a light squeeze, pulling her a bit closer to him in the process.

  “Until we can nail this bastard, Susan will be staying at my place with me. Just in case anyone needs to get ahold of her after hours, you know where to find her,” Nathaniel added.

  *****

  Soon after the meeting had adjourned, Nathaniel and Lucas left to check out some leads. Meredith stayed in the office, and at lunchtime, Sissy and her sister, Betty, came by. The four women went to lunch together. Susan was glad she wouldn’t have to worry about Nathaniel carting her out of the restaurant, caveman style, like he did the last time she went out to lunch with the girls.

  As soon as their food arrived, Sissy wasted no time in digging for details. “So, what do you think of Nathaniel’s home, Susan?”

  “Oh, it is gorgeous!” she exclaimed. “I love the wrap around porch. And that pool! It looks to die for.”