Fire Born (City of Dragons Book 5)

by Val St. Crowe

  I wondered if I could forward the phones to my cell on the off chance someone called. But then what if someone called when I was in the middle of interviewing someone for the case?

  “Yeah, I watch the news the other day, and suddenly, Dan’s death isn’t a suicide. Instead, he’s been killed by a serial killer.”

  I cringed. I hadn’t told Vivica? What the hell was wrong with me. “Damn it, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I never said anything to you about opening the case. It was what you said to me about Dan that made me look closer at everything. Hearing it on the news like that? Must have been horrible.”

  “Well, it was good news, so it wasn’t so bad,” she said. “But it was a shock.”

  “I bet,” I said. “Seriously, Vivica, I feel terrible.”

  “Don’t,” she said. “I always knew he never committed suicide. I guess it’s not so good to know that he was suffering at the end, and it was a horrible way to die. But I’m glad I don’t have to tell his kid that its father killed himself, you know?”

  “That’s true,” I said. “I guess I didn’t say anything to you right away because I didn’t want to get you worked up for nothing, but when I knew for sure, I should have come to you. I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” She grinned. “I forgive you. After all, it’s not as if you got me kicked out of my childhood home like Gran and Gramps.”

  I laughed. “I don’t even know how they have so much influence over your mom. They aren’t even her parents.”

  Vivica’s mother was my mother’s sister, but their mom and dad, my maternal grandparents, had been dead since before I was born. Gran and Gramps, my Caspian grandparents, were still Vivica’s grandparents, however, because my dad and her dad were brothers.

  That’s right, two sisters marrying two brothers. How crazy is that? Apparently, my parents had met at Vivica’s parents’ wedding, and the rest was history.

  “She’s terrified of them,” said Vivica. “Like everyone is.”

  “Yeah,” I sighed. “Well, it sucks for you. Because they’re being too harsh on you.”

  “They say it’s my own fault,” she said. “They told me that I should have gotten rid of the baby. But I couldn’t do that. I didn’t want to do that.”

  “They’re horrible sometimes,” I said. “Most of the time, actually.”

  “I know.”

  “I guess once in a while they do something that’s almost loving and caring…” I sighed. “I was happy being raised by them. I lived under their roof until I was nearly twenty-two, and I don’t have unpleasant memories.”

  “As long as you weren’t embarrassing them,” said Vivica.

  “That’s it exactly,” I said. “As long as I was being a good little dragon granddaughter, doing what was expected of me, they were good to me. But the minute I stepped out of line…”

  “Yeah, they showed their true colors. They never loved us, not enough anyway. They love their reputations. They love their status. That’s it.”

  “Well, I’m never going to be that way,” I said. “If I get to be a grandparent, I will take care of my grandchildren, no matter what they do. My children too.”

  “Me too,” said Vivica. “In some ways, they’ve taught us a valuable life lesson simply by showing us exactly how not to behave.”

  I laughed.

  “Anyway,” she said, “you’ll let me know if you have any breakthroughs in the case?”

  “Sure,” I said. “We had a guy confess yesterday.”

  “What?”

  “But he was lying,” I said. “He was crazy. He wanted the fame or notoriety or something, but he couldn’t have killed them. Had an ironclad alibi.”

  “Ugh. Why would someone do that?”

  “Like I said, crazy.”

  “So, do you have other suspects?”

  “Not as such,” I said. “We have, um, tips. Lots of tips to go through.” I made a face.

  “Oh, wow. Lots of people have information?”

  “Actually, they’re probably all crazy too. Something about a serial killer case tends to bring out the crazy. Lachlan says we wouldn’t even bother with the tips if we had anything else to go on, but we don’t.”

  “Oh, that sucks.”

  “But don’t worry, we’ll find the killer. We’re good at this, I swear.”

  She smiled a little.

  “Um, there is one thing I wanted to ask?”

  “Sure.”

  “Dan worked for Eaglelinx. Did he like it there?”

  She shrugged. “I guess so. I think it was stressful. He was always going out to get a drink after work with co-workers. Said he needed to wind down. Lots of people who worked there would go out for drinks, so I think everyone was stressed.”

  “Huh,” I said. That seemed to confirm our theory.

  “Is that important?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. But it doesn’t sound like it. Thanks, anyway. Hey, um, have you rescheduled your appointment for your ultrasound?”

  “Not yet.”

  “If you want company, I’d be happy to come along.”

  She brightened. “That would be great. Thanks.”

  Then we both heard the sound of muffled voices coming from outside the lobby door.

  “What is that?” asked Vivica.

  I shook my head.

  Felicity burst through the front doors with Jensen hot on her heels. She spotted me. “Hey, Penny, I’m here. And you do need me here, right?”

  “Well, I told Becky she could have the week off, so…” I licked my lips. “Is there a problem?”

  Jensen’s nostrils flared. “Don’t do that, Felicity,” he said in a low voice. “Don’t pull her into this.”

  Felicity pointed outside. “Why don’t you go get in your car and drive away? You can come get me later at the end of my shift.”

  “Because we are not done talking,” said Jensen through clenched teeth.

  “Yes, we are,” said Felicity, her eyes flashing.

  Jensen folded his arms over his chest. “Come outside with me.”

  “It’s colder than the North Pole out there,” she said. “You have anything to say, you can say it in here.”

  Jensen eyed Vivica and me. Then he stepped close to Felicity and lowered his voice. I couldn’t make out what he was saying.

  “That is crazy, and you know it,” said Felicity, backing up. “I do not let her walk all over me. She is my boss, for God’s sake, Jensen. She pays my salary. If she needs me to come to work—”

  “Look, if you can’t work right now, Felicity,” I said, “then I’ll figure something out.”

  “I can work,” said Felicity. “I’m here.”

  “Because I drove you here,” said Jensen. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. And when we made the appointment for your car to go into the shop, we specifically chose these dates because you were off work. But now, I’ve got to leave my job early to come pick you up—”

  “That’s because you picked up that stupid shift that you don’t normally work,” said Felicity.

  “Oh, when I pick up a new shift, it’s stupid, but when you work extra—” He threw his hands up in the air. “Forget it.”

  “Um,” I said. “I can drive Felicity home later.”

  “There,” said Felicity. “Now you don’t have to leave work early. You can work your precious shift. Okay?”

  “Fine,” said Jensen. “Great, in fact. Absolutely great.”

  Felicity lifted her chin. “Then I’ll see you later.”

  He nodded. “Yeah.” Stiffly, he turned to go. Then he turned back around. “I love you,” he bit out.

  “Love you too,” said Felicity through gritted teeth.

  He stalked out of the lobby.

  It was quiet.

  * * *

  “Um, did that have anything to do with Scott?” I said to Felicity later, when we were alone.

  She was sitting behind the front desk, glaring at the computer screen. “Scott? What?”
r />   “Your fight with Jensen,” I said. “The one that I witnessed?”

  She looked up at me. “He was being a total dick.”

  “That may be true,” I said. “But if you two had an agreement that you wouldn’t be working because your car was in the shop—”

  “You’re taking his side?”

  “No,” I said. “No, I’m definitely not. He was being a total dick.” Because it was true that strictly speaking, I wasn’t exactly a Jensen fan. But the guy was starting to grow on me, I guessed. He’d been around for a while now. If Felicity dumped him and started dating that Scott guy, I might sort of miss Jensen. Sort of.

  Felicity sighed. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I overreacted. It’s only that every time I have a conversation with Jensen these days, it’s like he deliberately pushes all my buttons.”

  I nodded. “He knows you, so he’s able to get under your skin. You guys are close, now you’re really good at hurting each other.”

  She gave me a sad look. “That’s a terrible thought. Jensen and I are in love. We shouldn’t hurt each other at all.”

  I spread my hands. “You always hurt the one you love.”

  She laughed a little. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “So, nothing between you and Scott?”

  “No, I haven’t even spoken to him.” She sighed again. “But I guess I’ve been thinking about him. A lot. I don’t even know how it could even work. What would I do? I live with Jensen. If I wanted to pursue something with Scott, I’d have to move out of my apartment, and end this whole relationship, and… that’s so huge, right?”

  “Yes, that’s huge,” I said. “Do you want that?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m happy with Jensen right now. It feels like all we do is argue. But I don’t think uprooting my entire life would make me happy. It seems ridiculous to do that, all because I can’t get some guy from my past out of my head.”

  “Yeah, I mean, the grass is always greener, right?”

  “You ever find yourself attracted to someone besides Lachlan?”

  “Well… I mean, I think people are attractive, but in terms of leaving Lachlan, that would never happen.”

  “And you’re sure of that?”

  “Completely,” I said. “You don’t feel that way about Jensen?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “Well, that doesn’t mean…” I trailed off. What did that mean?

  “There was a point in time when I did feel that way about him,” she said. “Not lately, though. Can that happen? Can you fall out of love with someone?”

  “Sure,” I said. “But maybe it’s a phase.”

  “What do you mean, ‘a phase’?”

  “Maybe it doesn’t always feel like rainbows and unicorns in a relationship, but that doesn’t mean you throw in the towel. Because if you felt like that about Jensen before, then maybe you’ll feel that way again.”

  “You think?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “My only other longterm relationship was with a psychopath.”

  She laughed. “I think you’re right. Jensen and I are going through a rough patch. And Scott showed up in the middle of it, but that doesn’t mean that I actually want to be with Scott.”

  “Exactly,” I said.

  “Although it is too bad that Scott and I never got a chance to see if we would even work.” She bit down on her bottom lip. But then she squared her shoulders. “I’ve got to stop thinking about Scott. I’ve got to.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “Another gay tip,” I said, sticking it in the “gay pile” that Lachlan and I had made.

  “Geez, this is starting to make me sick,” said Lachlan.

  “It’s like half of the tips,” I said. “Did they overemphasize the homosexual angle on the news or something?”

  “No, I think there’s a subset of people who still think gay people are evil,” said Lachlan. “Stuff like this confirms it for them.”

  “What time is it?” I said.

  “Oh, are you and Connor going out to lunch today?” said Lachlan.

  “Yup, that was the plan. He’s supposed to pick me up.” I checked the clock on my phone. “He’s late.”

  “Who’s late?” said a voice behind me.

  I turned and twisted to see Connor standing behind me. “Hey, how’d you get back there?”

  “I came in that way.” He pointed. “Was I supposed to come in another way?”

  “People usually come in through the front,” I said.

  Connor shrugged. He peered over my shoulder. “What are you guys doing? Why are you talking about evil gay people?”

  “It’s nothing,” I said, getting up. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Connor looked back and forth between me and Lachlan. “You guys trying to hide something from me? Because you know I can keep my mouth shut, so even if it’s official police business or something, you can tell me. I swear.”

  “It’s people being horrible,” I said, fishing my purse off the back of the chair I’d been sitting in. “There are all these tips that we’re getting, and they basically say the same thing. ‘So-and-so is a gay man, so he’s the killer.’ Nothing besides that. Just the idea that homosexuality is driving a person to be a killer.”

  Connor wrinkled up his nose. “That’s kind of shitty.”

  “I know,” I said.

  “This is not the job to have if you want to keep your faith in humanity,” said Lachlan. “You two have fun at lunch.”

  I slung my purse over my shoulder. “Where do you want to go, Connor?”

  Connor was still staring at the desk. “You know, there are a lot of homosexual serial killers, aren’t there? I seem to remember reading some study that like sixty percent of serial killers were gay.”

  Lachlan arched an eyebrow.“I don’t know about that.”

  “You don’t?” said Connor.

  Lachlan shrugged.

  Connor fidgeted. “I mean, the actual percentage of homosexuals in the population is way lower than that, and after I read that study, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I wonder if maybe all that persecution and prejudice gets to some people. Makes them snap or something.”

  “No,” said Lachlan, picking up the next slip of paper on the stack of tips.

  “Just like that? No?” I said.

  “Serial killing is not something a person does because he snaps,” said Lachlan. “It’s not a crime of passion. It’s not walking in on your girlfriend in the arms of another man and shooting them both in the head. A serial killer is a dreamer. A planner. He puts a lot of thought into it. He selects the proper environment, the proper victim. He kills in a precise way. It’s a pattern, and he repeats it. So, there’s no ‘snapping.’”

  “So, what are you saying? You saying that more gay people are twisted than straight people?” said Connor.

  “Not at all,” said Lachlan. “Honestly, I don’t know if there are more homosexual serial killers than straight serial killers. I do know that there are more white male serial killers than people of other races. And yet, most violent crime in this country, anyway, seems to be perpetrated by African Americans. And even with all that data, I still don’t think that either white people or black people are more violent than the other. I don’t think you can draw those kinds of conclusions. There’s too many factors.”

  “Huh.” Connor nodded. “Yeah, I guess I see what you’re saying.”

  “It’s a mental defect,” said Lachlan. “Nothing more than that. I think it can affect people of all races and sexual orientations.”

  * * *

  That afternoon, after lunch with Connor, I couldn’t stomach going back to the office and sorting through more tips, so I called Lachlan and begged off, saying I was tired.

  He was fine with it. Of course he was. Everyone wanted me to act more pregnant, and I knew I wasn’t living up to their expectations.

  I was being an idiot, and I knew it. I was going to have to face the fact t
hat this baby was coming. Maybe I wasn’t ready for it. Maybe I was so terrified of losing him that I was sabotaging his arrival into the world. But it was happening. Really happening.

  I went into the guest room, where Lachlan was sleeping, and looked around.

  The place was kind of a wreck. There were a bunch of boxes stacked up in one corner and a bed in the other corner. It had been Felicity’s when she lived here. Right now, it was unmade, blankets sliding down onto the floor.

  I opened up the closet. Lachlan’s clothes were all over in our bedroom, so I was hoping that the closet was relatively empty. I was in luck. It was bare, only a few stray hangers dangling from the closet rod.

  I eyed the stack of boxes. I thought they might all fit in the top of the closet.

  Well, maybe not. But I could probably stack some on the floor at one end of the closet, and that would practically leave the whole thing open for baby stuff. Then I guessed I could move the crib in here like Lachlan was saying I should. Maybe we could even get some stuff for the walls in here.

  Another corner of the guest room was jammed full of gift bags and boxes from the baby shower. All my baby stuff was in a big pile there. I needed to unpack it, put the baby stuff in the closet. Maybe I needed a dresser…

  Damn.

  I really should have started this earlier.

  I gulped. I hurried over to the stack of boxes and tugged the top one down.

  Ooo. That was heavy, and there was no way to balance it with my stupid belly… I grunted my way across the room to the closet, and then I realized I would never be able to get it up to the top of the closet.

  Oh my God, I couldn’t do this. It was going to be too much work. I should probably wait for Lachlan to come home.

  Wait. What was I thinking? I had magic.

  I pointed at the boxes and they all floated into the air. I chuckled.

  I imagined Lachlan’s face if he came home to find the room all nice and pretty.

  I pointed at the closet, and all the boxes slid into place there.

  And then, panting, I collapsed on the bed. Using magic really took it out of me. Maybe I wasn’t going to be able to get the room all nice and pretty. Ugh.