by C. D. Hersh
The tone of her voice slit Rhys’ heart like a paper cut. “I thought she was you, Lexi. You know I wouldn’t do that with her.”
Alexi flushed. “I know, but it still irks me when I think about it. You may not want her, but she wants you.”
“I’ll bet for more than sex,” Delaney said.
Remembering their embarrassing incident, he ignored Delaney. He hadn’t told Alexi yet. As jealous as she’d become, he wondered if he should.
Alexi’s gaze swung between Delaney and him. “What do you mean?”
“She eyed him rather strangely at the morgue. I think she knows Rhys has a Turning Stone ring. Your ring aura is very obvious, Rhys, to high-level shifters who check. After what you did with her, she’d be checking.”
“Guess I didn’t run fast enough,” he said.
“If the cow ’tis oot o’ the barn, there’s nae need tae be hiding it,” Eli said. “If she knows he’s got a ring, we’ll havetae use that tae our advantage.”
“How?” Alexi asked.
“We’ll let her catch him, on our time table, and find oot what she’s really up tae.”
“I don’t like that one bit,” Alexi said.
“Me either,” Rhys added. “Besides, the minute she finds out Alexi is alive she’ll come after her again.”
“Then ye’ll havetae stay dead, lassie.”
“I don’t like that at all,” Alexi said.
But it would keep Alexi out of danger. Rhys sat on the edge of the bed. “Perfect idea, old man. We’ll fake a funeral and hide you in your house. I’ll move in. Pretend to close the place. Keep watch over you.”
“And she’ll move right in on you.” Alexi shook her head. “No. I won’t do it.”
“The idea makes sense, lassie. ’Tis the best way tae protect ye.”
“What if she wants to look into my casket?”
“We’ll have you cremated.” A startled expression crossed Alexi’s face at his suggestion. Did she object to cremation?
“You mean you’ll say I was cremated.”
“It’s the most logical reason for no casket,” Rhys said. “But if you don’t like it-”
“I don’t like any of this. Sitting around pretending to be dead while Sylvia makes her moves on Rhys.” Alexi scrubbed at her forehead. “How long will we continue the charade?”
He shrugged. “Until we find your killer?”
“Might never happen.” She moaned.
“’Tis not going tae be forever, lassie. After all, we havetae present ye tae the council next Samhain as a Promised One.”
“A year? You plan to keep me hidden away for a year?”
“Look at it this way,” Delaney said. “We’ll have lots of uninterrupted time to get you ready for your presentation. If you get cabin fever, we’ll all go out as mimics for a night on the town.”
“I’d nae be promising,” Eli said. “But I’m certain we can keep ye from going stir crazy.”
Alexi focused on Eli, then Delaney, and finally Rhys. He held his breath waiting for her answer. If she didn’t agree he couldn’t protect her. He had to protect her. Without her he didn’t want to be in this magical shifter world. But he’d promised. He didn’t break promises. No matter how circumstances changed.
“Lexi, sweetheart. Please do this for me. I love you. If you don’t agree I can’t keep you safe.” The seconds dragged on like long nights on patrol in Iraq.
Finally she answered, “On one condition.”
“Name it.”
“Marry me. Now.”
Chapter 6
Delaney had expected a bigger demand from Alexi than marriage since she and Rhys were already secretly engaged. A ring on a man’s finger wouldn’t stop him, especially if a beautiful woman was involved. She knew.
But then what more could Alexi have demanded? Retirement from the force? A move to another country? If Sylvia experienced the same thing she had when Rhys tried to bring out her alter ego, she’d pursue him to the ends of the earth.
“Where’s the preacher?” he asked. He leaned over and kissed Alexi.
The pheromones running amok in the room made her uncomfortable, and Delaney moved away as their passion heated. Tugging on Eli’s sleeve, she drew him to the other side of the room and yanked the ceiling curtain closed between the beds. “How are we going to manage this?”
“Yer the FBI expert. Come up with something.”
“Killing her off is a pretty big cover-up. There’s the nurses, the doctors, coroner, security-since we’ve summoned them-and the hospital grapevine. A lot of people to keep quiet.”
“We havetae use them all tae our advantage.”
“Medical records should be able to falsify a file showing Alexi died of complications from her wounds. Suggest a rampant infection affected her heart. Giving her a massive heart attack would explain the flat lining. A Mersa infection? A doctor might be able to give us some help with the story.
“We’ll have to let security, and staff involved in her revival, know she had an attempt on her life, and we’ve planned a sting to try and catch the killer.”
“Guid. What else do we need?”
“A lot of luck.”
“Yer Irish. Do ye ken a leprechaun or two?”
Delaney laughed. “I wish. I’ve always had to make my own luck, Eli. A few prayers wouldn’t hurt.”
The room door opened and a burly hospital security officer entered. “Someone wanted to see me? What’s the problem?”
She scanned his aura. Soft blue with hints of pink. He radiated honesty and loyalty. Nothing unusual or dark about him. She retrieved her badge and flipped it open. “Delaney Ramsey. FBI.”
The officer whistled. “Holy crap! What’s going on here?”
“Attempted murder of a cop,” she said. “We need the cooperation of the hospital and the staff to keep the fact she survived a secret.”
The officer blinked at Delaney. “You want us to say someone killed a patient in our hospital?” His voice rose in disbelief. “That’s going to give us some pretty bad press. I’m not sure the head honchos are going to agree.”
“No, we want the records fixed to show she died of what the hospital believes to be natural causes or an infection. We don’t want the murderer to know we’re on to her, or him.”
Recognition shone in his eyes. “I get it. A sting. Like in the movies.”
“Exactly,” she said.
“I’ll have to talk to some people before I can give you an answer.”
She handed him her business card. “Let me know as soon as you know. In the meantime, we need to move this patient out of here.”
“Better wait until we’ve got the files created,” the officer said. “You need some security posted?”
“We’ve got it covered. But we’ll need another room for our patient in case the murderer returns to check on her, and we need to get the story for the staff in place ASAP.”
“I’ll take care of it. You going to be here for a while?”
“One of us will.” She tapped on the curtain surrounding Alexi’s bed. “Rhys, could you come out here for a minute?”
After a moment, he appeared from behind the striped fabric. “Yes?”
“This is Officer?”
“Derrick,” he said, pointing to his badge.
“Detective Rhys Temple,” Delaney said. “This is Eli McCraigen. One of us will be here with Alexi until she leaves the hospital. We are the only three you can trust. When you speak to us be sure to use the code word ‘Gregory.’ If you don’t, we might kill you. If we don’t respond with the words ‘watchful vigilant’ you run like hell and call me at the number on my card.”
Derrick gulped hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his pudgy neck. “What the heck is going
on here?”
Leaning in close, she whispered, “Are you a patriot?”
His head dipped in affirmation.
“Then consider this your contribution to your country’s safety. You can’t breathe a word of this to anyone outside of those it takes to arrange the sting. Understand?”
He gave her a snappy salute. “You can count on me, Agent Ramsey.” Then he left the room.
“Nice work, Delaney,” Rhys said. “You nearly scared the poor sucker to death.”
She shrugged. “Worked, didn’t it?”
“What’s with the code words?”
“We’re dealing with shifters, Rhys. The other guys aren’t as nice as us. They would as soon kill us and mimic us as they would look at us. Merely a precaution until we get Alexi home safe.”
The room door opened again, and a young nurse entered. “Where’s Mrs. Brothers?”
“Who?” Delaney asked.
The nurse pointed at the empty bed. “The patient who belongs in that bed.”
Eli shook his shaggy head. “We’ve havenae seen her.”
The nurse punched a number into her hospital cell phone. “Was Mrs. Brothers scheduled for tests? She’s not in her room.”
A sliver of fear ran through Delaney. Were they going to find the woman crammed in some closet, dead? A casualty of the attempted murder of Alexi? That would certainly destroy their sting.
The nurse whispered an expletive under her breath. “How long have you all been in here?”
Delaney checked her watch. “About fifteen minutes.”
“You’re sure you haven’t seen Mrs. Brothers?”
“Absolutely. She wasn’t in her bed when I arrived.”
“Nor when I came in,” Eli added. “Mayhaps she took herself off for a little walk.”
“She has a broken hip. She can’t even get out of bed without help.”
“Check your closets and bathrooms,” Delaney suggested.
The nurse looked askance at her. “Why?”
“Simply a feeling,” she replied. “And not a good one.”
Blotchy red spots dotted the nurse’s cheeks, and she clutched her chest, eyes rounded with panic. “Her son’s a pain-in-the-ass big shot lawyer who’s been complaining about every little thing. If anything happened to his mother on my watch, he’ll have my job.”
“Then I’d start doing what the lassie suggested.”
The nurse bolted out of the room.
“She looks as if the woods are full of thieves,” Eli said to Delaney. “Did ye havetae scare her sae bad?”
“What did you mean by ‘simply a feeling’?” Rhys asked.
“Like I said before, the rogues aren’t as nice as us. Whoever tried to kill Alexi might have bumped off Mrs. Brothers if she saw anything.”
He groaned. “Not good. Should we do something?”
“There’s naught tae do but draw in yer stool and sit, laddie.” Eli settled himself in the vinyl-covered chair at the end of Alexi’s bed. “The news ’twill come tae us soon enough, and we’ve a lot more planning tae do.”
Rhys partially opened the curtain from around her bed so they could see out into the hallway. “Then let’s get to it.”
Officer Derrick reappeared within the hour, followed by a nurse pushing a complaining Mrs. Brothers in a wheel chair. “Gregory,” he said to Delaney.
“Watchful vigilant,” she replied.
Relief flooded his face. “She hasn’t shut up since we found her locked in a bathroom and took off her gag,” he said. “Claims she was taken there by a nurse, knocked out, and tied up, but no one admits to it.” He leaned in toward Delaney. “I figure it’s got something to do with you-know-what.”
“Then she’s lucky she’s alive.”
He stepped away, his shock evident at her comment. “It’s all set,” Officer Derrick said. “Once the nurse has the old lady settled, we’ll move Ms. Jordan out. Then we’ve got some papers to sign, and you can take the corpse.”
Alexi paled at the word corpse, and Delaney patted her on the leg. “Thank you for all your help, Officer Derrick.”
“Glad to be of service to my country.” He motioned toward Alexi. “Best lie down and play dead,” he whispered. She complied and he drew the sheet over her head. She stiffened visibly beneath the fabric. “In case anyone peeks in.”
The nurse appeared around the curtain. “Ready?”
Sweeping the curtain against the wall, Officer Derrick unlocked the bed wheels and pushed the bed toward the door. Mrs. Brothers stopped her litany of complaints when she saw the sheet-covered body.
“Oh my, goodness gracious! What happened to the lovely young lady? Is she dead?”
Delaney sniffled a response. “Yes.”
Mrs. Brothers drew her own sheet over her jaw. “Was it contagious? I’m on old woman, I can’t afford contagious.”
“She had a hirt attack,” Eli said.
The sheet lowered to Mrs. Brothers’ chest. “Heart attack? And so young.”
With a sad frown, Rhys laid a loving hand on Alexi’s sheet-covered arm. “We’re going to miss her.”
Reaching out a gnarled hand, Mrs. Brothers grabbed his forearm as he passed. “Such a lovely girl. I’m sorry for your loss.” Then she released him. “Would you hand me my telephone. I must tell my sister about this.”
He set the phone beside her on the bed. “Thank you, ma’am.” Then he moved toward Delaney, his eyes crinkling as a small smile raised the corners of his mouth.
She pressed her own smile into a thin line. No need to worry about the hospital grapevine. Mrs. Brothers has that covered.
Before they left the room Officer Derrick provided, Delaney, Eli, and Rhys surrounded Alexi as she shifted. Delaney had shown Alexi a photo of Lila to use for her mimic. She thought using Lila’s form might throw Eli off track and show him he had nothing to worry about on that front.
In retrospect, it hadn’t been such a good idea. Seeing her daughter standing in front of her, when she had no idea where she was, nearly broke her heart. Delaney closed off her emotions before they bubbled to the surface where he could readily see them.
As Alexi changed forms, she watched Rhys. He had the same gape of wonder and terror she’d seen on her daughter when she introduced her to the Turning Stone Society’s secret. Lila balked at first, refusing to accept the shifter world. Eventually, she’d come around after many long nights of discussion.
Rhys didn’t have time on his side. Alexi lured him into the shifter life, Eli was pushing him, and Sylvia was in all likelihood after him. For him, and possibly everyone involved with him, Rhys’ embracing of the shifter life was do or die.
When he tried to make Alexi sit in the middle of the seat, she jostled for the window in the back of Delaney’s car. “If I’m going to be a prisoner in the house for who knows how long, I will sit by this window. Beside, I’m mimicked. No one will know it’s me.”
Muttering under his breath, he harrumphed and gave in.
“Might as well not fight her, Rhys,” Delaney said. “She not only looks like my daughter, but she’s acting like her. Stubborn and more stubborn.”
“She didn’t get that from your daughter. That’s Alexi through and through. But since you mentioned it, I’ve got a question about mimic shifting.”
“Shoot,” Delaney said.
“If she stays this way very long, will she keep any of Lila’s characteristics?”
“Only if she does something evil. If you mimic shift and do something evil, everyone runs the risk of retaining the mimic characteristics in life and in death. The more evil you do the greater the chances are. That’s why we only fight battles as ourselves or our alter egos.”
“Who determines what’s evil?”
“The
ring, laddie. It knows.”
Glancing in the rearview mirror, Delaney saw Rhys studying his ring, uncertainty clouding his features. He hasn’t fully committed to this. The thought startled her. Did Eli know?
