by Deanna Chase
“My name’s Detective Peters, and I have some questions for you regarding a package your neighbor received.”
Apparently I was just a “neighbor” to Jack, not a friend and definitely not a girlfriend.
I sighed. “Sure, you wanna come in?” I asked less than enthusiastically. Things were not looking good.
“Thank you.” He let his gaze ease from Jennifer for a nanosecond and entered our living room, scanning the space.
“Would you like to sit down?”
“No, thank you,” he said.
“I’m not sure how much information I can give you. I really don’t know much about it.”
“That’s funny, your neighbor says you know who sent it. That would mean you know quite a bit about it. Are you saying he’s not being truthful?”
“You can call him Jack. I do know his name, you know.”
“I’m aware you know his name,” he said with a slight smirk.
What was that supposed to mean? His words were loaded with innuendo.
“It seems you had another incident the other night. Someone broke into your office?”
“Yes. The police didn’t seem concerned about it then. Why don’t you ask the officers who took the report?” I scoffed. My tone wasn’t polite, but I couldn’t help myself.
He paused, searching my eyes. “Believe me, I have. I want your account, please. And, by the way, I’d say whatever the problem is, it’s escalated, considering you’re now getting death threats.” Detective Peters was all business now.
“Well, technically, I didn’t receive the death threat. Jack did. The box came to him. I don’t know if it was intended for me too.”
I felt Jennifer’s gaze.
“Does that mean you know someone wants him dead?” He scowled.
“No, of course not.” Talk about twisting my words. I needed to watch what I said around him. “I didn’t say that.”
“So you have no idea who’s doing this? Or who would want him dead?” His gaze shifted back to my overheated best friend.
Jennifer cleared her throat. I took the hint. “Sorry, this is my roommate, Jennifer Matthews.”
“Hello, Miss Matthews. It is Miss, isn’t it?” He eyed her intently. His blazer fit snugly over the top of his stiff white shirt. The detective’s blond hair was short and precise. He had neat-freak written all over him. It was my impression he tried to be as charming as possible. He had a long way to go as far as I was concerned.
“Yes.” She blushed.
Oh brother. This guy was impressed with one of us, and it sure wasn’t me.
“Do you know anything about this?” He pointed in Jennifer’s direction and displayed another wide grin, showing his gleaming white teeth.
Her eyes sparkled. She loved the attention. I had to remember to ask her if she’d finally had the talk with Todd. By the look on her face, I’d say she was looking for a boyfriend replacement.
“I know she has a customer who’s been harassing her,” Jennifer blurted out.
She would pay for that statement. I lashed out at her silently with my eyes, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“Is that right?” Detective Peters pulled a notebook from his pocket and flipped it open. He clicked his pen and positioned his hand to begin writing. “Do you care to give me the full details, please? I’d like the truth, not the same story you fed the other officers.”
He still didn’t look at me while he spoke. I guess he assumed I wouldn’t give the answers he wanted to hear, anyway, since I didn’t offer them up right away.
“She has a customer who had some problems with a relationship and then blamed Rylie. So the woman protested in front of her office and even attacked her.” The words rushed out so quickly she barely caught her breath. She seemed more than happy to divulge the particulars. Her eyes grew larger and soaked in every ounce of the detective’s rippled muscles.
“She didn’t attack me,” I screeched louder than I had intended to.
“What exactly happened? The truth please.” He narrowed his wide, coffee-colored eyes. I didn’t like the guy. Jennifer might be drooling over him, but I wasn’t. He scowled at me.
“Yes, she picketed me. No, she didn’t attack me.” I shook my head at Jennifer when he turned to look at her. She needed to keep our furry cover-up a secret. As if a light bulb went off—a very dim light bulb—she realized Lily was in werewolf form when she’d attacked me. And if the police asked Jack about an attack, the only attack he would know about would be from a mangy mutt, not a redheaded ball of fire named Lily.
“Maybe I was mistaken about that part. She only picketed,” Jennifer added quietly.
He scanned our faces as if he knew we were hiding a secret from him. I attempted my best innocent look. By his frown, I knew it didn’t work.
“Well, we take death threats seriously. I would advise if you’re hiding anything…to not,” he said.
“I wouldn’t think of it. I’d never lie to a police officer.” Jennifer giggled and moved closer to Detective Peters. “I’ve been so scared for Ryle’s safety and my own too. We want to get to the bottom of this, really.”
Whoa. She didn’t waste any time getting right down to the flirting.
His face eased back into a smile. “Well, I need to get as much info on this client of yours as possible, so I can question her.”
So much for ignoring Lily. She’d be furious to think I’d called the police on her. No telling what she’d do next.
“Her name is Lily Friedman.” Frustration crept into my voice.
“Can I get a number and address for her? And possibly a description?” Detective Peters still smiled at Jennifer.
A description? How about “short and feisty”? Kind of like a human firecracker.
“Sure, I guess. Her contact information is in my office downstairs. We can go get it.” I motioned toward the door. His feet didn’t move.
“Would you like some coffee while Rylie gets the info? I have decaf,” Jennifer said coyly.
“Yes, that would be great. Thank you.”
Hmm. Something was definitely going on with her. She never made coffee for anyone. She was the worst hostess ever—even worse than me.
“Yes, I think we still have some instant coffee, and Jennifer would be more than happy to stir you up a cup. Say, Jen, wasn’t the last time you used that coffee when you started dating Todd?” If looks could kill, I’d be on the floor with a knife in my back—perhaps a bullet to the head. “I’ll be right back.” I dashed for the door before she had a chance to catch me with another evil glare.
They’d probably talk about me while I was gone, but where Jennifer was concerned, I was getting used to it. I almost felt my ears burning. Apparently she’d talked to everyone she could about me as of late. No telling what Jack said to her. And I thought she was my best friend. Best friends didn’t do that, did they?
Chapter 17
How to Date a Werewolf Rule # 17:
Ignore other paranormal creatures.
I ran downstairs as fast as my legs would allow and collected the info. I didn’t want to give Jennifer a lot of time with that guy. Something about him rubbed me the wrong way. I didn’t care if he was with the police department. Within seconds, I had the info written on a scrap of paper and trotted back up the stairs. Maybe I shouldn’t have left her alone with him. I could have sworn they were whispering as I made my way back to the apartment. I tiptoed to the door and stealthily opened it. If they didn’t know I was there, maybe I could overhear their conversation.
I peeked in.
Jennifer and Rent-a-Cop stood beside the dining table. She had her tongue tangled with his as he held her in a passionate embrace. Lips moved everywhere.
“What are you doing?” I yelled. At the sound of my voice, they both jumped back and looked at me as if they were teenagers caught making out in the backseat of an old Camero.
“Um…we were…um…” Jennifer stuttered. She backed away from him. Her cheeks flushed. She picked up
her mug from the table and gave it a sip, trying to look casual.
“Did you get the information?” Detective Peters asked in his best professional cop voice, turning away from Jennifer.
“Here it is.” I shoved the paper at him. “She’s a bit high-strung, so be careful,” I mumbled. My eyes were still wide from what I’d seen. I didn’t know what to do. Should I act as if their kiss hadn’t happened, or tell the guy to keep his hands off my friend?
He snorted. “Nothing I can’t handle. I’m in the habit of dealing with a lot worse than that.”
I gave a whatever smirk. He needed to leave pronto.
“Thank you for the coffee, Jennifer.”
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised they were on a first-name basis. After all, they had just tongue-wrestled.
“You’re welcome,” she said. She ogled him. Did she bat her lashes?
“If you think of anything else, call me. Or if you just want to talk.” He handed her his card. After a long gaze into her eyes, he turned and furnished me with a card too. With that, he pivoted on his heel and walked out the door as quickly as he’d entered. Good riddance.
“What the hell are you doing? What was that all about? You’ve known that man for five minutes and you’re making out with him? What are you thinking?”
“Oh, Rylie. We weren’t making out…we were kissing, that’s all. It’s not as if you caught us ripping off each other’s clothing.” She stared at her feet, squirmed and refused to meet my gaze.
“That’s all? That’s all? You don’t even know him. And if I had been a few minutes longer, you would have been unclothed. Is he married? Do you even know or think to ask?”
The red sneaked back into her cheeks. “I don’t think so. He wasn’t wearing a ring.”
“He wasn’t wearing a ring? Jen, Jen, Jen. You can’t always tell by an empty finger. Maybe he doesn’t wear one while working, or he doesn’t wear one so he can fondle pretty women while on the job. Plus you should look for a tan line on his finger. I can’t believe you.” I frowned in disapproval.
“Wait a minute. The way you ogled Jack when you first saw him, I’m pretty sure you would have kissed him on the spot if given the opportunity. So don’t judge me.”
“I didn’t ogle him. You did,” I hissed.
“I did? I did?” She seemed stunned I’d accused her of such an act.
“Yes. You did,” I said matter-of-factly. “You were practically hanging out the window. You left drool streaks on the glass.”
“I did not,” she snorted.
“All right, whatever, you didn’t. Is that what you want to hear? I’m not going to argue with you about something so ridiculous.”
She folded her arms across her waist and regarded me with displeasure.
“If you’d accidentally bumped into his chest like I did, and he looked at you with those smoldering eyes, you would have kissed him too.” She pulled out the chair and plopped down.
“My gosh, Jen. If you need a date, I’ll fix you up.”
“No thanks.”
“What about Todd? You’re still in a committed relationship with him, right? At least you were. But when I walked in, I thought y’all were going to do the down-and-dirty right there on the table.” I tried to speak in a calm tone, so the tension would ease.
“It wasn’t that bad. You exaggerate. Like I told you, my relationship with Todd has been going nowhere for a long time. I don’t know about him anymore.” She stared at her plate. “He was gorgeous, wasn’t he?”
“Who, the fuzz? I guess if you like that type.” I shrugged.
“Oh, I like that type, all right. I like it a lot.”
“Apparently. Considering you flirted with him the minute he walked in the door and then I came back from downstairs to find you lip-locked with him, I’d say you more than like him. That’s lust.”
Jennifer giggled.
I wasn’t going to let her off that easy. “Tell me, what happened to Todd? Did you talk to him? Why aren’t you communicating with me anymore? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
A pained look spread across her face and then said, “You haven’t been communicating with me.”
She had a point.
“We’re still together,” she continued, “but a girl can flirt can’t she? Besides, I’m just about sick of waiting for Todd Christian to take our relationship to the next level. I’m thinking of giving him an ultimatum.”
“Just be prepared for what might happen if you do. And by the way, kissing is more than flirting,” I added.
She didn’t answer.
Apparently it took a good-looking cop to show up to get Jennifer to speak to me again. Although I was still mad at her.
“Oh, by the way, what’s this business about Jack and death threats? What the hell is going on? You care to enlighten me?” She straightened in her chair.
“Oh, it’s only Lily and more of her shenanigans.” I shrugged.
Jennifer crinkled her eyes as if she didn’t believe a word I said.
“More shenanigans, huh? I think if the police are involved it’s serious.”
I drew in a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. “I’d rather not talk about it right now. Okay?”
“Fine, but you have to eventually. You can’t ignore it forever,” she said.
I nodded, glad she didn’t push the subject. “I know.”
“Thanks for the comment about Todd and the coffee, by the way. You embarrassed me in front of Detective Peters.”
Paybacks. Now maybe she knew how I felt.
“Sorry.” I grinned. “By the way, does this detective have a first name? Did you even find out that much before kissing him?”
“Stephen.” She swooned. “Anyway…” She stood. “I’m not very hungry now. I think I’ll go run those errands.”
“I guess making out ruins your appetite.” I shook my head. “I’ll see you later.”
As she waltzed out the door, I trekked off to the task at hand. Whatever the heck a cleansing bath was, I’d find out soon enough. I relished the silence as I walked through the apartment. It would be nice to have the place to myself for a while. I’d take a long bath, do some waxing maintenance and then test out my voodoo spell. I’d get rid of the curse and then contact my mother to set Jennifer straight with the truth.
Slipping out of my clothes, I added bath salts to the warm water and eased my tense body in. The warm water helped melt away the stress from the last few chaotic days. My thoughts raced. Things were so crazy, I didn’t know where to turn or what to do. I couldn’t begin to imagine why my mother had told Jennifer there wasn’t a curse. Every time I had a date, she reminded me about it, for heaven’s sake. Now she acted as if it didn’t exist. Maybe Jennifer had lied and my mother didn’t say that at all. Possibly she hadn’t even really called her. She could’ve just wanted to see my reaction.
The hot water soothed my knotted muscles and I closed my eyes. My thoughts turned to Jack. What an awful opinion he must have of me. How the heck could I change his impression of me? I just needed to be myself—fur, fangs and all. If he liked me in spite of everything, then fine. If not, still fine. In the end, we’d only just be friends anyway when the curse took hold. Yes, I should come out and tell him about being a werewolf. I’d let him know about all the other supernatural beings around him too. Let the werewolf out of the bag, so to speak. How bad could it be? All right, so it could turn out horribly, but it might be worth it. The flames from the candles around my tub flickered wildly. I didn’t know if that was a sign that my voodoo cleansing was complete, but I decided my soak had been long enough.
I slipped out of the foamy bubbles and wrapped myself in a fluffy towel. I pulled out my favorite pajamas, the ones Jennifer always made fun of with the silly-looking puppies across them. After quickly dressing, I sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed the phone from my nightstand. I would give my mother one last opportunity to explain before I worked the magic. Not that I’d be able to concentrate on voodoo with me
mories of the last few days racing through my mind. I punched in her number and waited. One ring, no answer. Two rings, no answer. After the sixth, I hung up. Where could she be? Maybe she was avoiding my calls. But she never avoided my calls. She was always more than happy to answer and play twenty questions.
It was dark out and a perfect spooky setting to work magic. The items glared at me as if saying Try me. Dashing across the room, I grabbed the stuff and jumped back onto the bed with all the voodoo ingredients. The use of these items wouldn’t technically reverse a curse, but they’d help protect me from it, at least according to the priestess. Whatever. Protection would work for me. I’d take what I could get.
With the items laid out on the bed, I read the directions carefully. The powder smelled a lot like cinnamon when I popped open the container. Which, when I read the contents, made sense because one of the ingredients listed was cinnamon. Mint and basil also appeared on the list. The oil would add extra strength. By the sound of this thing, I would have more protection than Fort Knox, certainly more than a Trojan condom. I gathered up the small bag, poured in the powder and the oil and then bound it with a piece of red ribbon. Focusing on the bag, I thought about protection from evil. I envisioned it and repeated the words offer me protection aloud several times. The phone rang just as I finished securing the knot, pulling me out of my trance-like state. That voodoo stuff was pretty powerful. I’d been so focused I’d almost felt detached from my body.
Perhaps I did need voodoo for good luck, because when I answered the phone and realized who it was, I knew I had the worst luck of any person, ever.
“How about that drink you promised me, sexy?” Martin tried to make his voice smooth and sultry. Instead, it sounded as if he had gravel stuck in his throat.
“Martin, I appreciate the offer, really, I do. But I would prefer that we keep our relationship purely professional. And I’m pretty sure calling me sexy is not professional. Plus I’m extremely tired.”
