by KH LeMoyne
“If Mamie had other relationships, you must have—well, been able to have your own.”
“Shifters can fuck other people, if that’s what you’re asking.”
A quick blush swept up her neck. “That’s crass.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Annoyed she’d think so little of him, his eyebrows rose. Or perhaps she thought so little of the relationship between the two of them.
“I’m sorry. I’m just processing aloud. That’s never pretty.” She closed her mouth and waited. “So, your wife—I mean, your mate—”
He moved faster than she could flee, his fingers on those soft lips stopping her. “No. We were shifters together. Friends at times. Partners rarely. Never mates. Mates are special. Rare.”
“What’s the difference between mates and two people with an attraction?” she murmured, not pulling away.
“A world of difference. A blizzard versus a sun-baked beach. Dancing on hot coals versus suspension in a sea that buoys your movement. Trust versus doubt.” He leaned closer, his nose grazing the curve of her cheek as he maintained eye contact. “Can you really not feel the difference? Am I just another man to you? Because my connection to you holds promise and an unfamiliar joy for me, not fleeting emptiness. The difference, brilliant sun as opposed to perpetual darkness.” He pressed her palm to his heart.
“I know you think—” She jerked back, shaking her head. “But we’re not— I don’t—”
“So I gathered,” he remarked, unable to hide the wry amusement in his voice. “Being a mate also doesn’t mean being caged. There’s no rush for us.” What a bad liar he was, but her panic cut him to the quick. Yes, he’d been too frank about his feelings—a shifter trait most humans found discomforting. But he rolled that way, and some things he couldn’t change, even for her.
With a sigh, she stood, picked up her purse, and turned toward him. The small leather bag held against her belly like a shield didn’t give him much hope about convincing her they belonged together. “WITSEC is the reason you didn’t want to press charges.”
“The Feds have rules about maintaining low visibility.”
“About sharing this information, too, I would think.”
“Yes.” Enough said. “I’ve never thought twice about withholding the details from you, Dani. You’ve proven herself with Maggie.” He wanted to believe he trusted her with everything he had. “I was the one who insisted on witness protection. Refusing to press charges on Maggie’s behalf was my only option. I can protect Maggie if she’s honest with me about where she is and what she’s doing. More importantly, I’ve trained her to protect herself. I trust her. She could have killed those boys—not that I wanted that—but she knows right from wrong and how to walk the fine line.”
Dani was biting the inside of her cheek, giving him an intense stare. “You’ve done well. And you had no choice about choosing WITSEC.”
“Actually, I did—do. Deacon and his team can provide protection.”
“Chisholm, they’re not like the Feds.”
“Better, I think. We’ve had a try with the normal route, and it hasn’t worked. My main focus is keeping my kids safe.” He stuffed his hands in the pocket of his jeans, and her posture relaxed. “Thank you for telling me about Maggie’s file.”
“I really didn’t have a choice.”
“You always have a choice. I’ll take it as a good sign that you knew me well enough to realize I’d want to know.”
With a nod, she turned toward the door. He pursued her, capturing the scintillating aroma of woman and warmth—and the gun tucked in her waistband. Nothing could hide the scent from his detection. His mate: cordite, steel, and ink, a complex mixture of the cop and scholar. Every facet of her personality appealed to him. Rear view, front view, strength, tenderness—and he could spend days wrapping himself in her hair, silvery-white strands of silk that would tease his skin. Another growl rippled through him as his muscles tightened. Blood pulsing through his body hardened his need into a painful longing between his thighs.
“Come over again. I’d offer to take you out for dinner and a movie, but I hate to leave Maggie alone with the kids right now.”
“Your family is one of my active cases,” she whispered, not meeting his gaze. “I think seeing each other wouldn’t be the best idea.”
Determined, he continued, “I could call the department. Based on today’s talk, I can claim we deserve special police protection. Your people put Maggie in the system.”
She shot him a glance over her shoulder, her mouth tilting with humor. He wiggled his brows in response. “You haven’t told me to back off. I’ll continue pursuing the sexiest woman I’ve ever met until she tells me to stop.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“No secret there.” He leaned forward and brushed a kiss over her lips before she had a chance to turn and dodge him. He took it as a good sign when she held her position, her lashes fluttering down. “Just think about it.”
He watched her walk to her vehicle.
At least no answer is definitely not a no.
A quick cup of professionally brewed dark roast with a hint of nonfat milk from the coffee shop was all Dani had to drag her through the rest of the day. A follow-up with the department’s security tech shed no new light on who had accessed Maggie’s file. He’d reminded her searches could take the better part of a week, if not longer.
She’d called the defense attorney formally to close the case, and informally to remind him of his obligations as a legal representative of the court. He’d blown her off, pretty much as she anticipated. But he knew she’d discovered his actions. He’d never enter this office again to pull another stunt. She’d also mentioned the installation of new security cameras in the office. At his sputtering, she assured him the police provided everyone in their cases with privacy. He hadn’t responded for several long minutes. Then he’d issued a terse good-bye.
The mention of the cameras had been a lie, but intense satisfaction coursed through her as she disconnected. Not the sign of an unbiased law enforcement officer.
She didn’t care.
The rest of the day she’d spent immersed in older files, sorting new requests for priority and considering the calendar. She’d made a tentative request for leave in the next week to handle the stack of class journals submitted for her students’ midterm grades. Never taking a real vacation, she’d accumulated enough time off for six, maybe eight, weeks out of the office. With no need for time to herself, work on the force and work online for the university used whatever daily hours she had. Not taking time for herself had never bothered her, until now.
Her heart regretted not taking Chisholm up on his offer. The other half of her, her brain, berated herself for wanting involvement with a man who clearly expected more from her than a fling. A gorgeous man with golden eyes who left her wanting new, impractical things. He wanted, not demanded, that she consider changes too life altering and radical to contemplate.
Her cell phone’s vibration pulled her back to reality. Damn, she’d forgotten to turn the ringer back on after she’d talked to the attorney. She brushed her thumb along the surface. Two text messages: Maggie and Chisholm. No surprise. And an incoming call.
She paused and glanced at the clock on the wall. Twelve thirty at night? Had she really been working that long? No wonder the grit in her eyes only got worse as she rubbed them.
Alone in the bull pen, she felt the room suddenly close in with the silence. How had she missed the shift change? Officers had either checked in for the evening shift or bugged out for home—obviously hours ago. The autotimer had turned off half the lights, awaiting a motion-detector notification to reactivate them. She’d been still enough at work not to trigger it anywhere but her small five-by-five foot space.
Quiet and semidarkness turned the fortified room into a supernatural entity with murky shadows reaching toward her like misty claws. She shivered back an uncontrollable chill and tried to shake off the eerie sensation and her
overactive imagination as she answered the call. “Yes, Hank?”
“Leggett, whatever you’ve gotten into with the case on the girls, you need to stop.”
“I don’t—”
“This isn’t a recommendation or a suggestion. As your superior officer in this jurisdiction, I’ve been asked to tell you to step back. You’ll receive notification from your commanding officer as well.” He paused a minute and cleared his throat. “The case is officially closed anyway, right?”
Not once in the ten years she’d known him had Hank used such a brusque, no-nonsense tone with her. Not when he trained her as a rookie. Not when he sat her down and explained she had more skills than he had for her current job and she needed to move up the ranks. Now, he was all business. “Sheriff?”
His sigh echoed over the line, regret evident. “You know I appreciate your dedication, and I trust your instincts. But I’ve gotten calls from high up. Whatever you’re rattling is causing a whole lot of angst at some high level. So officially, the Barduc and Schmidt case is closed.”
Pulse thundering in her ears, she bit back her knee-jerk response. Hank didn’t deserve her wrath. “Even with the break-in to their files, I’m not allowed to pursue evidence and ensure their confidentiality and safety?”
Silence greeted her. He was taking too long, knowing exactly what she was asking. There were no loopholes, no excuses.
“I’ve delivered an official order. You’ll be expected back at the Bismarck office on Monday and reassigned to whatever case needs you next.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good night, Detective Leggett. And thank you for responding to my request on this case. Don’t forget to lock up on your way out.”
Of course, he knew she was still in the office. He knew her better than her own family. Frowning, she slowly set the phone on the desk and stared at the computer screen. Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise. She didn’t need a whack on the head twice from the universe to see new options.
She exited Maggie’s file, then thought a moment. No other pressing cases waited in her docket. If she was off the case and on her own time, who she saw and what she did was her personal business. Especially if she followed the necessary protocols. She didn’t report to Hank, any more than she did to any of the sheriffs who pulled her for special assignments. But if his comments held weight, her direct chief would probably be thrilled if she and the trouble she’d stirred up fell off the radar for a while.
Lips pursed, she typed her request for leave before she could change her mind. E-mail sent to her direct reports, she leaned back in her chair, inhaled, and reached for her phone again to answer the two text messages.
Chisholm: We’re heading to the lake tomorrow. Even police get days off, yes?
Swallowing hard, she bit back a smile. He was as persistent as the sunrise. From anyone else, she’d categorize his refusal to hear the word no as stalker-ish. Yet from him, the determination to capture her attention drew warm and tingly sensations.
Maggie: Dani. The park! Saturday. Please come.
And Maggie was following in her father’s footsteps. With a smile, Dani considered there were worse things for a father to instill in his children than a determination to get what they wanted. She typed back a quick response to each message. More at peace than she’d been before Hank’s call, she shut off her laptop, grabbed her purse, and headed home.
6
Chisholm bolted upright with sheets roped around him, and wiped the sweat from his face. Not even a moonbeam cut through the darkness in his room. If only he’d had a trace of Dani still in the room or, better yet, in his bed, then her scent would comfort him. He glanced out the window, staring toward his studio, and inhaled. Too far a distance for even his keenly developed senses. Not to mention how foolish he’d feel sniffing the couch for her scent. Worse, if the kids caught him prowling around in the night, they’d worry.
He flopped back on the bed as sleep weighed down his eyelids, prepared to do whatever it took to keep from dozing off again—and failed. He fought crisp, vivid memories, one image overlaying the next. Thick black tree limbs eclipsed the sky and held back the sun. Claustrophobic jungle vines competed for the sparse light, providing him protection but sucking the air from his lungs and life from his pores.
Wide sweeps of grass and plains with one sparse umbrella tree breaking the horizon followed on the heels of those memories.
Both images fled before the dark of night and onset of hunters, guns, and the acrid taste of copper in his mouth. His mother’s blood. Precious blood of a glorious lioness brought down with her pride by hunters who had no conscience for beasts or humans.
He hadn’t been able to save his mother, or himself, a shifter still trapped in a child’s body, unable to change and defend himself. But disgustingly, to the hunters he still had value. Slave labor filled the killers’ purses. He’d joined other young nameless faces surviving from one military camp to the next. Africa was no longer wide and plentiful, but a land covered in darkness that carved holes in his hungry belly and stirred his contempt for humanity. The day he’d matured enough to shift, he’d bitten through his cheek against the first-time pain of breaking bones and tearing muscles, and killed for freedom. He never looked back.
His kids didn’t cleanse away the nightmares, but they absorbed his thoughts and built hopes as caring for and nurturing his children claimed his life. The past receded with their active lives, but what you cherished enough to live for had the potential to destroy you with its loss.
He knew that hard lesson. He guarded against it.
Until Dani. With the gift of a mate, a complex weave of desires and psyche all wrapped in a body he would crave until the day he died, he had added one more beautiful link to the chain of potential loss locked inside his chest. He was as helpless to resist her as he was at holding out against his children.
A lifetime wouldn’t be long enough to learn all her secrets and share every want. It was unlikely he’d get that long.
For her, their connection might be transient. For him, she was everything he’d never dared ask for. A common man, a drifter, a shifter without a clan—he’d killed to survive, without regret, without conscience. He didn’t deserve a gifted mate and a family. But whether he deserved them or not, he’d fought like hell to get them and he wasn’t letting go.
He scrubbed his face and glanced at the clock. Five in the morning. In another hour, he’d have to get everyone ready for school. Halfway to the bathroom, he remembered it was Saturday. Damn, he had hours before the kids would be awake. No luck with distraction from them.
However, Dani was an early riser, and there was no time like the present to consider another alternative to entice her. Even the independent island she prided herself in being could use the companionship of his young pride’s energy. She’d enjoyed the barbeque. In a way he couldn’t quite grasp, she accepted the shifter intrusion beyond just companionable camaraderie. He’d detected wonder from her that day. Maybe she’d eventually trust him enough to share what had crossed her mind. For now, her happiness with him and the kids was enough. Not that she’d admit such a bold emotion as happiness.
He grabbed his cell phone from the dresser and noticed the incoming message icons across the top. Scanning the texts, he held his breath.
DBLeggett: I’d love to join you guys at the lake. See you there. Dani
Maybe there was a higher power. He hoped it was on his side. But since he couldn’t count on luck, he dialed the next person on his list.
“Don’t you sleep, Chisholm?”
“Not as much as I’d like, Deacon.” A quick tap of computer keys in the background signaled he hadn’t woken the alpha. “Police let me know someone accessed Maggie’s file. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
“I have a specialist working on the issue. Our access was only one of several.”
Chisholm ran a hand down the back of his neck, not certain if it was relief he felt, knowing Deacon’s team see
med to be ahead of the game, or irritation at the loss of his family’s privacy. He let out a harsh breath. He’d be a bastard to give a shit about their privacy if the clan had his back. Without even a pledge, they’d exerted more effort than he’d expected. “I appreciate that.”
“Good to know. I’m surprised your lady cop briefed you, since the problem originated in their system.”
He remained silent. Dani wasn’t a topic up for discussion. Not even with the alpha.
“Look, it’s your call how you deal with her. But we’ve also managed to track the two men who came asking questions at Maggie’s school.”
Chisholm pushed away from the doorframe. “And?”
“One of my lieutenants in Portland is following them.”
“Oregon? That’s nowhere near the Gambelli stronghold on the east coast.”
“I imagine that’s the point. They haven’t stopped moving yet. They think they’re being clever, as if humans don’t leave trails. Once we trace them back to their nest, I’m heading there to handle the interrogation. While I’m gone, I’d prefer Trim and Wharton keep a tighter presence with you and your family.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. We’re heading out to the lake today. It should be easier to detect strangers there than if we’re stuck in the house.”
“Good thinking. I’ll have them meet you there.”
“Right.” He clutched the silent phone and walked to the bed for another contest with the endless black of the ceiling. Deacon could probably handle the local issues. He might even stem the tide of Gambelli assassins. But he’d never be able to wipe interest in the Barduc family off Al Gambelli’s radar so they could live freely again.
He scrunched his eyes tight. Making a pledge to the alpha wouldn’t be any more painful than wearing a leash for the rest of his life. Although, Deacon didn’t seem the type to put the screws to his people.
