by Shea Balik
“I’m supposed to meet Dr. Mitchel at Judy’s house in an hour. I was hoping to take you home first.” Soren glanced at the time on his phone as if that was going to change something.
“No problem,” Cillian assured him. “I can either get a ride home, or I can come with you.”
That didn’t seem to make Soren any happier about the situation. Not wanting him to be hovering, Cillian asked for a favor. “I’m actually pretty hungry. Can you go get me some food from the cafeteria?”
Soren kissed him again. “Anything for you, brat.”
Cillian tried to scowl at the man, but Soren had already started walking away.
Engrossed in finishing up, Cillian ignored everything around him. It wasn’t until he heard Soren’s panicked voice that he even looked up from his laptop.
“Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” Soren rushed to his side and started running his hands over Cillian as if searching for a wound.
“Huh?” Cillian was confused until he noticed a flash of blue out of the corner of his eye.
Flowers.
“Please tell me those are for a patient and not me?” Cillian pleaded even though he knew it would do no good.
“Fuck,” he heard Brace say. “I’ll call Jamal.”
“Thanks,” Soren told the head of emergency medicine. “And tell him to bring down the recruits. Maybe they’ll be able to come up with ideas we haven’t thought about before.”
Reaching for the box of gloves on the desk, Cillian started to put one on, but Soren took them from him before he could. Caution was there in those grey eyes.
Cillian understood it, but there was no way anyone was going to stop him from knowing what was on that card. He met Soren’s eyes with what he hoped was resolve. “I have to know.”
Those broad shoulders sank as Soren realized he wasn’t going to be able to keep Cillian from finding out what the stalker said. “Fine.” The reluctant resignation could be heard in that one syllable. “But let me do it.”
If there was one thing Cillian was learning about relationships, compromise was one of the things that had to occur. Soren needed to feel as if he was protecting Cillian, he understood that, even appreciated how devoted Soren was to his safety. If Soren needed to believe this was the only way to do that, Cillian was fine with letting him read the note, just so long as he shared it with him.
A knot started to twist and grow in his stomach as he handed his lover the other glove. He was pregnant. Having a stalker after him only added to his already turbulent emotions. He might not have planned to have a baby yet, but now that he was carrying Soren’s child, no way was Cillian going to let the stalker take him or her away.
Placing a hand on his abdomen as if that would stop any harm to his unborn child, Cillian steeled himself for what was to come.
Soren quickly read the card to himself. His eyes widened, then his gaze once more met Cillian’s, this time with genuine fear. It was obvious Soren didn’t want to tell Cillian what was written, but the man had made a promise.
Cillian almost stopped Soren when he started to speak, but he’d be damned if the stalker was going to win by scaring him.
“The snapdragon was chosen for you this time because what you have done was a crime. Omegas like you better learn your place or the flames of hell will encase. More Omegas will be shown where they belong. If you help save them, you will follow them there before long.”
By the time Soren stopped speaking, Cillian was shaking. “The stalker plans to set me on fire.” His voice shook as he said the words.
“Are you kidding me?” Shale said as he walked up to them. “I swear the stalker is getting less and less imaginative. That’s the third time fire was the threat in those notes.”
Every cell in Cillian’s body was quivering in fear. How Shale could treat it so lightly, was insane. Then again, Shale wasn’t exactly normal. He tended to do things his own way.
“I’m actually feeling a bit hurt that I’ve been bunched together with two other Omegas to be burned.” Shale was frowning as he read the card Soren had set on the desk. “I mean, the stalker should know that I’m an original and recycled threats just aren’t going to cut it.”
“Sweetness.” Ronan Hart, who was the Hospital Director, came up to his husband and put his arm around his waist. “You’re making Cillian here think you’re crazy.”
Shale blinked at his husband, then did the same to Cillian, before looking at Ronan again. “I don’t see the problem.”
There was no way they were talking about Shale’s mental stability when the stalker just threatened to set Cillian on fire. “How can you talk about this as if it doesn’t matter?” he asked Shale.
“I was trying to lighten the mood,” Shale told him.
No way was that going to happen. Cillian might refuse to hide in fear, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t scared shitless.
When the ER became crowded with Jamal’s recruits for the police department, Cillian wanted to get out of there. They might have a job to do, but Cillian didn’t need to be a part of it. “I’m going to call for a ride home,” he told Soren.
But the overbearing Alpha side of the man took hold. “No way are you leaving my sight.”
Cillian wanted to roll his eyes at Soren but once more, he found himself liking the fact that Soren was being overprotective. That didn’t mean he was going to meekly do as Soren said. “That might be hard when I’m working.”
Soren had his arm around Cillian as he led them out of the hospital and to his truck. “I’ll start working from the hospital if I have to.”
Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. “You and I both know that’s not possible. First, you’d be in the way and second, you are needed at the station.”
Soren scowled at Cillian as he opened the passenger door, practically lifted Cillian onto the seat and even went so far as to buckle his seatbelt. It wasn’t until the door shut that Cillian let out a small smile of satisfaction. He’d never imagined he would be an Omega that wanted to be taken care of, and in a way, he still didn’t; but it was nice to know that Soren cared as much as he did.
“Why are we going to Judy’s house anyway? I thought the police already searched it.” Cillian wasn’t sure what Soren hoped to find, or why Judy’s ex-husband was meeting them there.
“We did, but Dr. Mitchel just informed me that Judy had a saferoom,” Soren bit out, clearly annoyed that Dr. Mitchel hadn’t informed him of this sooner. “He won’t tell me how to get in it, but he will show me.”
Cillian frowned. “Wait, what? Why? I thought he and his ex didn’t really get along. And why would he want to be there anyway?”
Soren shook his head. “I have no idea. He claims he can find information as to where Judy went. But I’m fairly sure he’s up to something.”
“Like what?” Cillian had been working at the hospital enough to have picked up on gossip about Dr. Mitchel. First and foremost, the guy was an ass.
The man thought he was better than everyone else and was always trying to prove it. Thankfully, Cillian rarely had to deal with the obnoxious jerk, but he’d heard others talk about him. But his divorce from Judy, who came from very old money, was something that, despite it happening years ago, was still talked about with glee. Probably in retribution for how the doctor was such a dick.
“Maybe I’ll just wait in the car,” Cillian said as the pulled up to Judy’s home.
“Not happening,” Soren told him. “I told you, you’re not leaving my sight.”
Sighing, Cillian got out of the truck.
“What’s he doing here?” Disdain oozed out of Dr. Mitchel as he looked at Cillian like he was a bug.
Fucking great. First his shift had been long and tedious. Then the stalker sent him another note. Now he had to put up with this asshole.
When he got home, Cillian was going to climb into bed, pull the covers over his head and pray his shitty luck would change when he woke up.
CHAPTER 10
Anger crashed int
o Soren with the force of a tsunami. Without once thinking about what he was doing, Soren strode over to Marley, wrapped a hand around the man’s neck and slammed him up against the door.
“Don’t you dare say another word about Cillian, you pathetic jerk. He is ten times the man you will ever be and if you dare to insinuate otherwise, I will throw you in jail for obstruction of justice.” The fear that was in Marley’s eyes helped to dispel some of the anger flowing in his veins. It wasn’t gone, but at least Soren wasn’t as likely to punch the ass in the face.
“Now apologize,” Soren growled out before releasing Marley.
He couldn’t help but smile slightly when Marley coughed and rubbed at his throat. As the Police Chief, he should be appalled by his behavior. As Cillian’s Alpha, he was highly satisfied.
Marley glanced over at Cillian. “Sorry. I just didn’t expect anyone else to be here.”
Soren didn’t buy that as the reason for his putting Cillian down for a minute. Not that it mattered. All Soren wanted was to find this saferoom, search it, and get Cillian home where he’d be safe.
He was considering calling Jamal and the recruits over to his house once Cillian was settled to find out what they’d discovered. It still pissed him off that the first bouquet Cillian had received hadn’t been picked up on all the cameras that were placed all over the hospital.
There weren’t as many in the ER, since there was patient confidentiality to consider, but there were still enough that whoever put the flowers on the desk should have been seen. Yet, once again, the cameras had been manipulated to either turn off completely or run a loop of the same scene for several minutes.
There was also the fact that the emergency room had been busy when the flowers were delivered, yet no one noticed anybody bringing them in. Okay, so not exactly true. Every person that had seen someone walk in with them, was sure it had been a nurse, but as she didn’t work in the ER, they weren’t sure who she was.
In all, ten people remembered and of the five who claimed to know who she was, he’d gotten the names of five different people. None of whom they could prove did it. Two hadn’t been at the hospital at the time and the other three were working on completely different floors with their coworkers claiming they hadn’t left.
It was frustrating Soren to the point that he considered putting in cameras to watch all the entrances from across the street. The only reason he hadn’t, was because there already were cameras at many of the businesses and none of them picked up this mystery flower delivery, either.
He wasn’t sure how the stalker could control all those cameras, but it was scaring the crap out of him when the stalker, assuming that was who was delivering the flowers, could get that close to Cillian. It meant Cillian could easily die and that just didn’t sit well with Soren.
Opening the door, Soren went in first to make sure no one was lying in wait. Judy hadn’t been found and if Marley was right about the saferoom, it was entirely possible she was there in the house. Once he was reasonably sure the front room was secure, he let both Marley and Cillian in.
“Wait here while I check the rest of the house,” Soren told them. Then he glared at Marley. “And you keep your mouth shut.”
One would think with what he’d already done to the man, plus the hardness of his voice, Marley would do as he said, but Soren had hardly gotten the words out when Marley started talking. “Look, I don’t think Judy’s here. From what her creditors have told me, several bills weren’t paid, and she wouldn’t risk having electric and water shut off if she were here.”
That might be true, but with Cillian there, Soren would rather be safe than sorry. “Like I said, first I check the rest of the house, while you keep from speaking, got it?”
There was an annoyed sigh as well as a roll of his eyes, but thankfully Marley just nodded his agreement.
Judy’s home was fairly large, and it took Soren several minutes to check all the rooms. When he was satisfied no one was there, he went back to the front room. “Okay, show me where this saferoom is,” he told Marley.
They were led upstairs to Judy’s room. As they approached her closet, Cillian suddenly put a hand on Soren’s to stop him.
There was something in Cillian’s eyes that Soren didn’t like. He wasn’t sure but he thought it was a bit of fear, resignation, and sadness. Concerned, Soren asked, “What is it?”
“Don’t you smell that?” Cillian asked.
Soren sniffed the air. It was a bit stale and musty, but that was to be expected after the house had been closed for as long as it had. “No.”
“There’s a body nearby.” Cillian placed a hand over his abdomen. Soren wasn’t sure if it was because Cillian was going to be sick, or he was trying to protect their baby. Either way, they’d both noticed that Cillian had highly attuned senses since he’d become pregnant.
If Cillian could smell death Soren had little doubt his lover was right. Since Soren couldn’t catch a whiff, he assumed it was coming from the saferoom, which was nearly airtight and not allowing much of the odor to escape.
Unfortunately, Marley hadn’t been paying attention to their conversation as he went into the closet and triggered the saferoom to open. The stench was overpowering the moment the air from inside was allowed free. He heard Cillian gag and run from the room.
Soren nearly followed as the decay had his own stomach clenching with the need to throw up. The only thing that saved him from joining his lover was that this wasn’t the first, or even hundredth, time Soren had to deal with rotting corpses. He wasn’t entirely immune from the revolting smell, but he’d learned to control his reactions enough not to go running.
“What the…?” Marley gagged but managed to remain as he stared at the body of his ex-wife lying in a pool of her own blood.
Soren ordered Marley back down to the front room and told him in no uncertain terms to stay there. Then he took out his phone and made several calls to his forensic team, which unfortunately still was without Levan, to come and search for clues as to who had killed Judy.
When he hung up, he made one more call. “Jamal,” he said when the man picked up his phone. “I need you and the recruits at Judy Mitchel’s house. We’ve found her body.”
“Body?” Jamal asked. “As in she’s dead?”
“Yes,” Soren admitted. “Apparently she had a saferoom we didn’t know about.”
He heard a sigh over the line. “Okay. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
Hanging up, Soren went in search of Cillian. Judy wasn’t going anywhere, but his lover needed him.
He was down the hall in a gaudy looking bathroom. The whole décor was pink, including the tub, sink, and toilet. Soren hadn’t even known they made pink toilets. Then again, he knew, with enough money, anything could be made.
Grabbing a washcloth from under the sink, he soaked it with cold water and placed it on Cillian’s neck. Kneeling, he gently rubbed his lover’s back. “Are you okay?”
Cillian shuttered. “No. I’m far from okay. I’m not even in the same realm as okay. I mean, it’s not like I don’t deal with death all the time, but to know that someone stuffed her in that saferoom and left her there to rot, is just…”
Unable to continue, Cillian leaned back against Soren. As much as he hated that Cillian had to be a part of this, Soren couldn’t deny that he loved the fact his stubborn lover turned to him for comfort. If only he had time to spend all day holding the man he loved, but Soren had a job to do. That was especially true, since this had something to do with the stalker that was after the man carrying his child, as well as his heart.
“Are you going to be okay here while I deal with this?” Soren asked.
He felt Cillian shutter once more in his arms. “No. But I know you need to do your job. Maybe I could find a bedroom and lie down for a while. Between the long night, the stalker, and now this, I could use some sleep.”
Soren could understand that. Since they had already searched the house after Judy disappeared, he didn
’t think it would be a problem to put him in one of the spare bedrooms. “Are you able to stand up?” Soren asked him.
Cillian nodded.
Together they found a room that was far enough away the smell wasn’t bothering Cillian enough to stop him from sleeping, yet close enough that Soren could check on him. Pulling back the covers, he helped Cillian get comfortable.
Leaning down, he kissed his lover’s forehead. “Sleep, my love.”
There was a slight upturn of Cillian’s lips into a half smile. “That’s a much better nickname.”
That caused Soren to chuckle lightly. “Brat fits you much better.” Not that he considered Cillian to be an actual brat, but he had a way of challenging people that was adorable. At least to Soren’s mind it was. Although not everyone would have agreed with him.
Shutting the door, he left Cillian to sleep and went back to study the scene for clues. There couldn’t have been many people who had known about the saferoom. The stalker made a huge mistake with that one. It meant the stalker had to be close to Judy.
If she were anything like Marley, that pool of people couldn’t be very large. The only problem would be to find out who they were. But Soren was fully prepared to throw Marley in jail until he started talking.
It would cross a few lines legally that Soren never imagined himself crossing, but if it meant finding the stalker and keeping Cillian safe, Soren was willing to do anything.
CHAPTER 11
“Sorry that took so long,” Soren said for the fifth time since he’d woken Cillian up after six hours.
What they could have been doing for six hours, Cillian had no clue, nor did it really matter. He’d slept, so it wasn’t like he’d noticed. “I told you, it was fine. I slept the whole time. I swear I could probably sleep until my shift tonight.”
He’d noticed a few days ago that he was requiring more sleep than usual. Brace had told him it was normal and not to worry. They could either shorten his shifts or allow Cillian to take a nap during a lull in the ER. It sounded great, but that wasn’t always possible.
