Ash was standing in her kitchen making five grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches with her phone on speaker. “I can’t become some creepy recluse that never leaves her apartment, and - honestly - I’m a little scared the shifting thing will hurt. There. I said it, and I’m a coward.”
There was a long pause, and when Emma finally spoke her voice was soft and consoling. “I know it can be scary, and the last thing I would want is to suggest something that might cause you pain, but I really think-”
Ash hated not being in the same room with her while they had these conversations. The need to be near Emma, to hold her and touch her, was verging on obsessive. “I’ll think about it. Look, I have to go. I’ve nearly burnt my sandwiches.” The two women said their goodbyes, and hung up.
Walking to the sofa with her sandwiches and a glass of Coke, Ash reflected on the past few days. She had spent the better part of her time researching online all the legends and myths around shifters. Over half of the information seemed completely made up to Ash, but there was helpful articles sprinkled throughout the dreck.
She was beginning to get a handle on the eating requirements too. What she had eaten before was fine, but she had to double or triple the portions. She no longer worried about diet soda versus regular soda, and baked versus fried chicken. She was going to have to reassess her food budget, though. A definite downside to being a shifter was going to be allocating funds from her shoe budget to her grocery budget.
She and Emma had talked daily, though Emma - much to Ash’s disappointment - had refused to return to her apartment, for fear she would lose control and hurt Ash. In that time, Ash had learned she now had an exceptionally robust immune system, and would never get another cold or the flu. Injuries would heal at an accelerated rate, and leave little to no scarring. Her eyesight was better than twenty-twenty, and though nowhere near as strong as a vampire, she was ten times stronger and more agile than a human.
Sitting down at her office desk, Ash wiped her forehead with the sleeve of her jacket. Shit, what’s wrong with me? She blamed her nerves on Emma’s cautionary tales about shifters turning at inopportune times, and all hell breaking loose.
“Haines. Nice to see you back.” Lieutenant Edwards stuck his head in the door, and greeted Ash with a smile.
“Thanks, lieutenant.” Ash looked directly at the man, to see if he noticed the change in her eye color. One of the more disturbing aspects of her recent transformation was the loss of pigment in her irises. From what she had read, the absence of color allowed her eyes to take on whatever color was appropriate for the animal she shifted into.
Fortunately, Ash had a pair of brown non-prescription enhancer contacts she had bought for a friend’s wedding a year ago. She hadn’t imagined at the time her vanity over photographing well would serve such an unusual purpose.
“Looks like you’ll be partnering with Lopez until a permanent assignment can be arranged.” Edwards nodded and left the office.
Alfred Lopez was a nice man in his early sixties. Less than a year from retirement after nearly twenty-five years with the department had made him a little less than eager to make a mark. His case load was usually light, and didn’t consist of anything more horrific than an occasional hit-and-run.
It was as good a time as any to reintroduce herself to Lopez. Getting up from her desk, Ash took her suit jacket off and hung it across the back of her chair. The higher body temperature was proving more difficult than anything to deal with. She worried how she would manage the South Texas summers when temperatures could easily reach one hundred and five.
Walking down the hallway, she took a left, and ran right into Alfred Lopez. The man, who was easily three inches taller than Ash, and outweighed her by over fifty pounds, hit Ash with a loud thud, and bounced back several steps. Ash was unfazed. “Christ, Haines. Sorry about that.” The embarrassed man put his hand out and leaned against the wall. “You scared the crap out of me.” His face was red, and he wiped nervously at the back of his neck.
“Sorry. Are you okay?” Ash was surprised the collision had hardly left a hair on her head out of place, but had clearly knocked the breath out of her new partner.
The older man nodded. “Yea.” Taking a deep breath, Lopez stood upright. “I was just coming to see you. Have you talked to Edwards yet?”
Ash nodded. “He just told me we would be partnered, and I was coming to see you.”
The still winded man smiled weakly. “Great minds, I guess.”
Ash smiled. “Guess so.”
Lopez looked at her for a second as if he wasn’t sure what to say. “Ah, look. I’m really sorry about Cris. He was a good cop, and I know the two of you were friends outside of work.”
A quick stab of grief shot through Ash, but she squelched it for fear she would start crying. “I appreciate that.” The two looked at each other for a few awkward seconds. Finally Ash cleared her throat. “So, do you want to meet and go over the case load?”
“Perfect, just let me use the men’s room, and I’ll come over to your office.” Not waiting for Ash to respond, Lopez walked down the hall, and disappeared around the corner.
Exhaling, Ash rolled her eyes. Excellent first impression, Haines.
“How are you doing, detective?” Emma’s melodic voice came from behind Ash.
Turning around, Ash couldn’t help but smile. Emma was standing in the hall wearing a black pencil skirt that hit just above her knees, with a fitted gray silk blouse hugging every one of her perfectly proportioned curves. The image of Emma naked on top of her from their one night together flashed through Ash’s mind, and she felt a surge of blood to her abdomen.
Emma frowned and lowered her voice. “Are you okay? You’re heart sounds like it’s about to come out of your chest.”
Ash swallowed hard, and felt a slight tickle in the back of her throat. “Yes, I was just-” She was embarrassed to tell the woman why her blood felt like it was boiling.
Emma put her hand on Ash’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s go into your office and you can sit down.” A moment later, Emma was guiding Ash to her chair and closing the door behind her. “I warned you it was too soon.” Emma sat on the edge of Ash’s desk, looking at the dark haired woman closely.
Ash shook her head. “Man, I did not want to tell you this, but any embarrassment I might experience beats the hell out of your ‘I told you so’ speech.” She took a deep breath. “I haven’t seen you in a while, and you look really good.”
Exhaling through pursed lips, Ash forced herself to make eye contact with the beautiful blonde. “So - my mind jumped to - well to the other night and how incredibly hot you were.” Ash spoke the last part at record speed. “And that is why my heart was beating out of my chest.” She looked down at her desk, and began to move folders from left to right, and then back again. “For the love of God, please say something.”
Emma’s hands were on Ash’s shoulders, pulling her up out of the chair. The coolness of her lips pressed to the heat of Ash’s caused both women to moan simultaneously. Emma’s tongue pushed into Ash’s mouth, as her hand cupped the woman’s flushed cheek. The tips of her incisors scraped along Ash’s lower lip as the kiss deepened. After several seconds, Emma pulled her head back, but continued to hold Ash tightly to her. “Dinner tonight?”
Ash managed to nod, her perfect sight blurred by desire. “Eight?”
Emma grinned. “Perfect. My house.” She turned and walked out of the office. Her resolve to stay away from Ash was gone. The tether she had tried so desperately to sever with Ash, was tugging at her heart and mind to a point of pain. She could no longer repress the constant need to touch Ash, and she would not stifle the words of love and longing held captive in her throat.
***
Ash had muddled her way through the meeting with Lopez. She felt she had managed to sound reasonably intelligent, in spite of her mind constantly wandering to the kiss she and Emma had shared earlier.
Just as they were finishing the file review, E
dwards quickly walked into the office as the two officers looked over files. “Lopez, Haines, make sure your vests are on. Reynolds and Douglas need a second team for a house raid. Suspect from that double homicide off of Flores Street this past summer. Uniforms are in route as well. No heroics, kids, just back-up.” He looked at Ash and winked as he handed over a slip of paper with the bust’s information on it.
Smiling, Ash stood up. “Ready? I can drive.” She stretched her arms over her head, her back popping loudly.
“You sound older than me, Haines.” Alfred walked to the coat rack in the corner of his office, and pulled the black Kevlar vest off its hanger. “I haven’t had this thing on in ages. I hope it still fits.”
The man began unbuttoning his white dress shirt, exposing a thick mat of graying chest hair. Ash turned her head. “I’ll meet you near the east entrance.” She quickly left the office, an amused expression on her face.
Lopez had insisted on driving, and Ash was in such a good mood about her date with Emma later that night, she decided to have the gender neutral talk with the man later. The man parked the car on a side street that ran parallel to the drug house. Andrew Reynolds and John Douglas were sitting in their parked Ford Crown Victoria, the passenger window rolled down because in spite of trying to quit no less than six times, Douglas still smoked like a chimney. “You know you can be written up for that, John?” Lopez smirked as he and Ash approached the car.
“Piss off Alfred.” The two men had worked together for over ten years, and their love, hate relationship was the stuff of legends. “How’d your last physical go there, buddy?” John opened the car door, and flicked the lit butt to Ash and Alfred’s right.
Ash immediately reached over with her foot, and crushed the butt into the concrete. Alfred tisked. “Nice John, littering to boot.”
Reynolds got out of the car and looked back and forth between Lopez and Douglas. “Have your monthlies finally synced up ladies? Because you’re both being bitches.” He caught Ash’s glare and his face turned a bright red. “Sorry Haines, I’m not-”
“Used to walking upright?” Ash jabbed. She had learned a long time ago this male bantering was fine to a point. She would give her colleagues a couple passes, but if it continued she’d report them to human resources without hesitation.
“Shit, Reynolds, she took care of that.” Douglas laughed, and reached into his jacket pocket for another cigarette. Looking at his watch, he swore under his breath. “No time for that.” The four officers congregated near the trunk of the vehicle, and clearly Douglas was in charge.
“Parole violator gave up a street dealer by the name of Javier Sanchez in exchange for a light sentence. We’ve been looking for this guy since the summer for questioning about a double homicide. The guy was last seen going into this house by a patrol car about an hour ago. At most there’s one other person in there with him, and we aren’t sure if there are weapons, so assume there are.” Douglas pulled a piece of paper from his back pocket. “Warrant is in place.” He looked at Lopez. “Does someone need to read it to you?”
Lopez rolled his eyes. “Such an asshole.”
Ash was getting irritated with the men, and wanted to get this over with. “Where are the uniformed officers?” Just as she asked the question, a patrol car pulled up.
Douglas smiled. “Ask and you shall receive.” After several more minutes of back and forth, it was agreed one uniformed officer would execute the tactical entry with the battering ram through the front door. Reynolds and Douglas would be first in, followed by Lopez and then Ash. The remaining uniformed officers would be stationed in the front and rear of the house.
Making their way along the wooden privacy fence to the right of the house, Ash was last in the line of officers as they came around to the front of the house, guns in hand. It was the middle of the afternoon, and the residential street was nearly deserted. Flanking either side of the cracked concrete walkway leading up to the small, bungalow style house, Ash fell in behind Douglas as they stood to the side of the front door.
Douglas pounded on the front door with his right fist. “Police! Javier Sanchez, we have a warrant for your arrest. Come out with your hands so we can see them!” The man paused the standard ten seconds, and when no response came, he nodded to the uniformed officer on the other side of the door. Immediately, the man stepped in front of the door. Battering ram in hand, he shifted his weight back, and then forward as the twenty-five pound ram slammed into the wooden front door.
Rushing into the house behind the other three officers, Ash felt a surge of heat course through her body, and something akin to static electricity work its way down from her head to her feet. She was trained to recognize surges of adrenaline and control her reactions to them, but this felt different and more intense. The dimly lit room looked as if it were expanding and contracting around her. She was having to work hard to regulate her breathing, and focus on putting one foot in front of the other.
A tickling started in the back of her throat, and worked its way into her inner ear. She opened and closed her jaw trying to abate the annoyance. Turning the corner into a small living room, a large black crowbar was being leveled directly at her. Ash watched in amazement as the bar and the short Hispanic man wielding it were moving in slow motion. She easily leaned back and avoided being struck.
Stepping forward and pivoting, Ash grabbed the weapon before the man could swing at her a second time. She kicked him in the back of his knee, bending his leg forward at an unnatural angle. Crying out in pain, the man crumpled to the floor. Ash reached for the plastic ties she carried in her back pocket, and quickly restrained the man’s wrists and ankles.
Hearing voices coming from the back of the house, she made her way down a short hall and into the kitchen. The room smelled of cooked meat and spoiled milk. “Haines!” Lopez’ voice came from the adjacent doorway in the kitchen.
“I’m here.” Her throat felt tight, and she was having trouble catching her breath. The static from earlier was more intense, and it was making her dizzy.
Lopez came around the corner, his gun holstered. “We got Sanchez.”
Ash swallowed several times before she could speak. “There’s another one in the front living room. I’ve restrained him.”
Lopez walked toward Ash and hesitantly put his hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay? You look really red.”
Ash shook her head. The tickle in her throat was moving into her chest. “I need some fresh air. You have this?”
The man nodded. “Of course.”
Ash turned, and walking through the utility room, found the back door. Before she opened the door, she announced her presence to the uniformed officer. The last thing she needed was to be mistaken for a perpetrator and shot. Stumbling to the side of the house, Ash was trying desperately not to panic. The excitement and anxiety of entering the house had pushed her to the edge of shifting. She reached into her back pocket, and pulled her phone out. Her hands were shaking so badly she couldn’t dial Emma’s number, though, and she stuffed the phone back in her pocket.
Sliding down the side of the house, Ash leaned her head back and took deep gulps of air. She saw something move to her right, and turning her head saw a large brown and black German Shepard staring at her through the chain link fence of the neighboring yard. A metallic taste coated her tongue, and her mouth went dry. She was suddenly on fire, and her skin felt like a thousand hot needles were pricking at her skin. Not caring who saw her at that point, Ash got to her knees and ripped and pulled at her clothes. The Kevlar vest and her bra were the last items to be flung to the ground, and then Ash stood up completely naked.
A series of pops echoed from her shoulders and hips. Looking down, Ash saw the ground drawing nearing even though she was certain she wasn’t falling. She heard her ribs and spine snapping, but couldn’t reconcile the sound to the fact she was experiencing no pain. Her vision blurred for a split second, and then she stood, not on two legs, but on four furry legs.
; Meaning to cry out in shock, Ash was startled by the barking sound that emanated from her mouth. Turning her head, she looked behind her to see the long body of a dog covered in thick, coarse brown and black hair. Her head ached a little, and she was a dog, but otherwise she was unharmed by the shift. A faint whimper came from the other yard. The neighboring German Shepard backed away from the fence, and ran to hide in plastic igloo shaped dog house.
Taking a tentative step forward, Ash was surprised at how easily she coordinated four legs. Besides the physical changes, her hearing and sense of smell were incredibly astute. She could hear Douglas moving around in the house, but could also smell him. The odor of cigarettes and cheap cologne wafted over her. She lifted her head and sniffed at the air. Car exhaust and mowed grass were two of the many scents inundating her.
It occurred to her she needed to get out of there. She had no idea how to shift back. Did she need to see a human, and like when she spotted the dog, the rest would happen naturally? Was this something that had to run its course? The only person she knew could help her was Emma, but the vampire’s house was on the other side of the city, and Ash was in no condition to drive. She pawed at her discarded slacks until her cell phone slid out.
She looked around for a place to hide her clothes. She was going to have a difficult enough time explaining her sudden absence. She didn’t need the added burden of explaining a pile of her discarded clothing. There was a narrow crawlspace under the house, and Ash spotted a small latched wooden door. She pushed the latch with her right-front paw, the door sprung open, and Ash picked up each item of clothing and stashed them in the crawlspace. Pushing the door shut with her forehead, she latched the door with her paw, and picked the cell phone up in her mouth.
Becoming Forever (Waking Forever Series) Page 29
