I gave a smile of understanding. “Guess this time wasn’t so head-clearing, huh?”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I didn’t even see the body at first since it was still pretty dark. Passed right by him on the way out to the deck. Then on the way back…At first I thought it was just a bunch of trash or clothes that someone had dumped out here. I was all pissed off, and then I saw the guy’s hand. I started to try and turn him over, but he was already stiff.” Roman shot me a troubled look. “I probably messed up evidence, didn’t I?”
“It was a natural reaction,” I assured him. “I doubt you disturbed anything critical.”
He blew out his breath, nodded. “I called nine one one and waited for the cops.” He shrugged. “They told me to wait here. That’s pretty much it.”
“Did you see anyone else around?”
“Nope. It was dead quiet out here this morning.” He winced. “Sorry. No pun intended, I swear.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve heard far worse from cops,” I told him. “The ID on the victim is for a Barry Landrieu. Do you know him?” I watched him carefully.
He thought for a second then shook his head. “Doesn’t ring a bell. Sorry.”
As far as I could tell he was being truthful, but I still intended to run a check on both of them to see if there were any links. That was standard procedure. Sure, we used to date, but that didn’t mean I was going to shirk on my job. Closing my notebook, I stood and so did he. “I appreciate your help. If I have any more questions I’ll be in touch.” I pulled out one of my cards and handed it to him. “And if you think of anything else, please let me know.”
He glanced down at it before pulling out his wallet and tucking the card carefully within. “What happened to him? Was he murdered?”
“We won’t really know anything until the autopsy,” I said, “but right now I’m inclined to think it was natural causes.”
“It was good seeing you again, Kara, despite the circumstances. You look great.” He gave me a warm smile, reminding me why I’d gone out with him as long as I had. He was a smart guy with plenty of charm, and it had been tough to resist when he’d turned his attention to me. It had simply taken me a couple of months to get past the charm and realize that not only did we have nothing in common, but I was also never going to feel comfortable sharing the more private details of my life with him. Like the fact that I had never mastered shaving my legs in the shower and had to take a bath to accomplish the task. Or that I was absolutely addicted to my Water-Pik and actually liked getting my teeth cleaned at the dentist’s office. Oh, yeah, and that whole demon summoning thing.
“Good seeing you too,” I said. “I’m glad to hear you’re doing well.” I really hoped he didn’t have anything to do with the death of Barry Landrieu. Hopefully this case will be the nice, easy natural death it currently appears to be.
He glanced down at my left hand. “Not married yet?”
My lips twitched. “Nope.”
“Seeing anyone?” he asked, eyes on me.
Wow. How to answer that one? “Umm, sort of. Yeah.” Did regular sex with a demonic lord count?
“I’m going to be in town for a couple of weeks,” he said. “Maybe we could have lunch or coffee.”
“I’d like that,” I replied before I could think about whether or not I really would like it. “I, um, hate to chase you off, but I need to tie up the loose ends here and get started on the paperwork.”
“No problem,” he said. He pulled the door open and politely stood back to let me exit first. The cold was a knifing shock after the balmy comfort of the shack, and it took everything I had to force myself out into it and not suck my breath in dramatically or anything like that.
“I’ll be in touch,” Roman said, then surprised me by leaning down and giving me a quick kiss on the cheek before hurrying off to his car.
I watched as he started the BMW and drove off, then yelped at a hard smack on my arm. I turned to glare at Jill.
“Oh my god,” she said, grinning wickedly. “You are a total hunk magnet!”
I thwapped her arm back. “Don’t you start! I am not. Besides, you have a hunk of your own.” Jill was dating Zack. Special Agent Zack Garner—who I’d recently discovered was a lot more than just a special agent.
Jill suddenly reached out and gave my arm—the same one she’d just punched—a comforting squeeze. “Still nothing from Ryan?”
I couldn’t quite suppress the wince as I shook my head. “Nothing worthwhile. I get spam that’s friendlier.” Jill heard from Zack several times a day, while in the past month and a half I’d received a grand total of three emails from Ryan—all oddly terse and almost painfully neutral. It was enough to give a girl a complex. And I was neurotic enough already, thank you very much.
However, part of my wince was guilt-induced. Jill seemed to be getting more and more serious about Zack. And I didn’t have the faintest idea how to tell her—or even if I should tell her—that Zack wasn’t exactly the perfect man she thought he was.
And that he wasn’t a man at all, for that matter.
I was part of an interagency task force that supposedly dealt with financial crimes but actually handled situations that fell outside the definition of “ordinary.” I’d met the other two primary members of the team—FBI Special Agents Ryan Kristoff and Zack Garner—during the investigation of the Symbol man murders, during which I’d confided to Ryan that I was a summoner. Shockingly, he’d known what a summoner was, and I subsequently discovered that he also had a fair amount of sensitivity to the arcane, though not as much as I did.
Or so I thought. But shortly over a month ago our little group began work on a case involving death threats against a local singer, and during the final wrap-up of the case—which turned into an ugly battle against a horde of golems—I discovered that there was a shitload more to Zack and Ryan than met the eye. Turned out that Zack was a demon in human form. And Ryan? Well, the FBI agent who’d become one of my closest friends was very likely an exiled demonic lord, even though he had no memory or awareness of that fact.
The two agents had left for some sort of special training up in Quantico about a week after the battle with the golems. Meanwhile I was left to grapple with information I’d been told, stuff I’d seen, and things I’d deduced. Zack couldn’t come right out and confirm my suspicions about the two of them, but he had repeatedly stressed that Ryan’s safety could be jeopardized if he knew the truth. I still didn’t know if Zack was Ryan’s guard or his guardian, but I had an odd gut feeling that the training was a convenient excuse for Zack to get Ryan away for a while.
Jill’s face twisted into a sympathetic expression. “Men are dicks,” she announced, “and Ryan’s being an emo dick, which is the worst sort.”
I smiled despite my angst. “Ryan’s never really struck me as the emo type.”
She gave a snort. “Please. Zack says that he’s being Mr. Moody—moping around or taking out whatever frustrations he has on anyone silly enough to be willing to train with him.” Then her eyes softened—which wasn’t an expression I was used to seeing on Jill. “Look, it really messed him up when he thought you’d died.”
My stomach tightened again, and I had to work hard to keep a neutral expression on my face while I gave her a nod. The only reason I hadn’t died was because of Ryan. And what he’d somehow been able to do.
… he straightened, expression smoothing to ice, with only his eyes showing a devastating rage. He raised his hands before him, and in the next heartbeat the space between his hands filled with white-blue potency. He lowered his head, lip curling as he unleashed the power at the golem.…
“I know,” I managed to say. “But I didn’t die.” I shrugged, wishing I could shrug off the tension and uncertainty as well. Was that why Zack and Ryan left? Did they need to make sure that Ryan wouldn’t go all demonic-lord-smites-his-enemies again? “Whatever. I’ve been through worse.”
She gave a mock shudder. “Unfortunately, that’s far
too true. You’re such a drama queen!”
I grinned. “And you still hang with me.”
“Makes me look good in comparison!” Then she lifted her chin in the direction the BMW had gone. “So, you and the football star, huh? Spill!”
“There’s nothing to spill,” I insisted. “We were in the same Early Japanese Art class. We found out that we were from the same town. He asked me out. He was nice. We dated for about two months. We parted ways.”
She eyed me. “And… ?”
I laughed. “Okay, he was also my ‘first.’ ”
“Niiiiice,” she said with an approving nod. “That’s how to get off to a good start.” Then she cocked her head, eyes sparkling mischievously. “So was it? A good start?”
“As good as any first time is, I suppose. He’s a decent guy. We just had absolutely nothing in common. And he was a damn sight nicer than my second boyfriend. Complete asshat and sucked in bed.”
Her lips twitched. “And now you date a demon.”
“And now I date a demon.” I shrugged. “Clearly I haven’t learned a damn thing.”
Chapter 3
The car heater did its best to pump out something resembling heat, but there was only so much that the poor Taurus could do for me. I could hardly blame it. It wasn’t often that it was called upon to perform this sort of service. To its credit, it had a quite efficient air conditioner, which was usually far more important, since the summers were insanely brutal. Hell, I’d probably be needing the air conditioner again in less than a week. Weather in this area tended to be rather inconsistent.
After a few minutes of driving, though, I gave up and pulled into the parking lot of the first non-outrageously priced clothing store I could find that was open. Yes, I had real jackets and warm clothing at home, but that was more than a half hour away. I was freezing my ass off now.
My plan was to buy the cheapest, warmest jacket I could find and maybe a pair of gloves. But when I walked into the store the first thing that caught my eye was the mannequin by the door. Or rather, what was on the mannequin.
“Oh, sweetie,” I murmured. “You belong on me.” I looked to the sales girl behind the counter. “I’d like to try that on, please.”
I slid the coat on while the sales girl looked on approvingly.
“It’s on sale, you know,” she said slyly.
I ran my hands over it, inhaled deeply of the rich scent of the black leather. “Would it be wrong for me to say I don’t care?” This mid-thigh length beauty fit snugly up top and skimmed over my hips, flaring out just enough to allow me to move and sit in comfort, with the side benefit of giving me something resembling a real figure. I didn’t usually have anything close to a defined waist, and my bust was far from exceptional, but the cut of this coat gave me actual curves without making me look chunky. A stand-up collar blocked the cold without giving me the sense I was choking, and also looked satisfyingly tough. I swung my arms, pleased to see that even though it fit me like a second skin, I could still move freely in it. Fucking hell, yes. I was buying this coat. Who needed savings? At the rate I was going, I wouldn’t live to see retirement anyway.
I ignored the whining of my credit card and my conscience. I bought black leather gloves as well, because what’s a badass coat without badass gloves? It was a good thing the store didn’t sell boots, because I had no doubt I’d have bought some. I had the brief urge to hand my Members Only jacket to the girl to dispose of, but my frugal side made a last-ditch rally and managed to slap a bit of sense into me.
Ten minutes later I was back in my car—and feeling not only warm but tough, because there’s nothing like leather to make one feel invincible.
* * *
I didn’t have any pressing need to go to the station since the report on the death of Barry Landrieu could certainly wait until Monday. However, two weeks ago the gods had decided that I was a good and just person and deserved to be compensated for the selfless works I had performed, and Grounds For Arrest had opened directly across the street from the Beaulac Police Department.
It was like Mecca and Nirvana and Valhalla all rolled into one. It was my Shangri La. They served coffee with chicory. And it was Good.
I parked in the detective’s parking lot of the PD since the café lot was being converted into a drive-through. A gust of wind caught me as soon as I stepped out of my car, and I bared my teeth in a grin. This wasn’t the icy wind from a possible summoning. This was simply winter. But I’m dressed for it now, bitches.
The clouds had successfully choked off the sun’s pathetic attempt to infiltrate the day, and the sky was back to being grey and ugly. A battered pickup chugged desultorily down the street, while a cherry red Camaro following it blasted a heavy bass beat from behind tinted windows. Grill smoke from a hamburger shack down the street whipped past me, stirring my appetite, but in the next heartbeat the wind shifted, bringing with it the sour smell of the Dumpster behind the PD. A couple hunched against the wind as they made their way down the street, surprising me when they stopped to admire the display in the window of an antique shop. I didn’t think this was the sort of weather anyone would want to go window-shopping in.
Squaring my shoulders in my kickass new coat, I crossed the street and ducked into the café. I pulled the door shut behind me and inhaled with pleasure as the scent wrapped me in its warm, pillowy embrace. Tugging my gloves off, I approached the counter.
The barista smiled as he passed a tall cup to me. “Morning, Kara. A pound of sugar, a gallon of cream, and a splash of coffee, right?”
“You’re a very smart man, David,” I replied with a grin as I handed over money.
“Well, you’re my most regular regular so far,” he said, then frowned. “That could be taken the wrong way.”
Laughing, I took the change and dropped it into the tip jar. “If you ever start serving chocolate donuts,” I said, “I’d probably never leave.”
“Then for the safety of our fine community, I’ll be sure to avoid ordering any.”
“For the safety of my waistline as well!”
“Y’know, I actually had donuts here when we first opened,” he said, picking up a towel and wiping down the counter as he spoke. “Had to stop carrying them because they didn’t sell.”
I nodded. “The stereotype.”
“Exactly,” he said, eyes flashing in amusement. “None of the cops who came in wanted to be seen eating donuts in public.”
“It’s my private shame,” I said with a parting wink. I turned around and barely caught myself before spilling my precious coffee all over the front of Officer Gordon’s jacket and my own. “Yikes! Sorry!”
Tracy gave me an engaging smile. “If I didn’t know better I’d say you were stalking me.”
“It’s true,” I replied. “I have a thing for men who keep me from freezing to death. Oh, and speaking of,” I said as I tugged off the scarf and handed it back to him, “I can give this back to you now.”
“Well, I knew that if you did freeze I’d be the one stuck writing the report about finding your body.”
“I’m on call. I wonder if I’d have to investigate my own death?”
His mouth curved in amusement. “It’s a bureaucracy. Of course you would.” He looked to the patiently waiting David. “Sorry. Hot chocolate, please. Whole milk, with whipped cream.”
Damn, that sounded good. I briefly regretted my addiction to coffee. But only briefly.
He returned his attention to me as David went off to make his drink. “New purchase? Surely you didn’t have time to go back home.”
It took me a second to figure out what he was talking about. “Oh, the coat!” I grinned. “Yep, just bought it. I couldn’t resist.”
“It’s badass,” he said with an approving nod.
I preened a bit, about to respond when a screech of tires on pavement pulled our attention. An instant later we heard the distinct crash of a car meeting something immoveable.
“That can’t be good,” I murmur
ed as we both quickly moved to the broad windows at the front. The street and the detective’s parking lot were in full view. My vehicle was the only one in the lot. Or rather, it had been. Now there was a dark blue Toyota Camry with its front end embedded in my car’s driver’s side.
I probably stared in disbelief for several seconds while the scene registered in my brain. “That’s my car,” I heard myself say. Then I shook myself out of my stupor. “That’s my fucking car!” Okay, so technically it was the PD’s car, but still, it was assigned to me.
I spun and hit the door at a run, glancing up and down the street just long enough to make sure I wasn’t about to get plowed by an oncoming vehicle. I was still holding my coffee, and the hot liquid splashed my hand through the little hole in the lid. I slowed to a brisk and angry walk as a blond woman made her stumbling way out of her driver’s side of the Camry. She wasn’t going anywhere fast. Not dressed in a pencil skirt and sky-high heels. She had the figure for it, I thought absently despite my current rage. Tall and slim and model perfect, even though she looked like she was in her late forties or so. Terrific genes. The bitch.
“Hey! You crazy, drunk bitch!” I shouted. “You just ran into the wrong car!”
She didn’t seem to hear me. Blood streamed from her nose onto her white blouse. Clearly the airbag hadn’t been very kind to her. Her unfocused gaze skimmed over me before she turned away from me and staggered to the middle of the parking lot. She stopped and looked up, spreading her arms as if she was waiting for aliens to snatch her up.
“Hey, lady!” I called out to her. “You need to get back over here right now.”
The woman suddenly let out a scream of pain and grabbed her head. She turned to focus on me for the first time, her eyes wild and wide.
“Help me!” she whimpered.
Drunk or high? I thought sourly. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you plenty of help,” I told her. “Now, step back over to the car, please.”
She didn’t move. Her eyes stayed locked on mine. I could see her fingers digging into her hair as if she was trying to hold her skull together. “Make it stop.” Her voice cracked as if speech was an incredible effort. “Please!”
Sins of the Demon Page 4
