by C. D. Hersh
“I told you. I came by to see you, and the door was unlocked.”
“Naturally, you came in and helped yourself to a beer.”
“I had to make sure everything was okay, and then I got thirsty. If you’re worried about the beer, I’ll pay for it.”
“I don’t care about the beer.” She lowered the gun and put the safety on. “What are you doing here? Really?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“I’m staying here, remember?”
A puzzled expression flitted over him. “I meant why aren’t you at work?”
“I am working. I had additional questions on the Forrester case.” She waved her hand in front of her blouse. “The desk clerk spilled coffee on me, and since I was in the building I came here to change.” She motioned toward the door. “Get out of here. We’ll continue this conversation at the precinct. Maybe by then you can come with a better excuse for breaking into my apartment.”
“Lila’s apartment,” he said.
Her mouth angled into a scowl as she waved the gun at him. “Get out, Rhys, before I change my mind and shoot you.”
“Getting,” he said as he moved toward the door.
She slammed the deadbolt into place behind him. What was he doing? She spotted the beer bottle on the table. At least he’d left something usable behind. She retrieved a plastic bag from the kitchen and, using a tissue, carefully placed the bottle in the bag. She’d have Katrina analyze it when she got here. If they didn’t find Lila, maybe it would come in handy.
In the elevator, Roc shifted into the form he’d used to enter the apartment building.
That was close. Too close.
He expected Lila, not an older, redheaded version of her. She could have passed for Lila’s sister, except she didn’t have a sister. Could it be her mother? Whoever she was, she apparently knew Rhys. And she was a shifter. He’d clearly felt the shifter sensations. Had she scanned him? Probably not since she thought he was Rhys. Maybe he lucked out, even if he was no closer to finding Lila.
But then maybe he was. Rhys had taken off toward Lila at the funeral when he’d approached her. Chances are, Rhys had sensed him. The key to finding her had to lie with him, and maybe the woman in her apartment. He couldn’t wait for his brother to come to him. Thumbing his phone on, he dialed the precinct where Rhys worked. He needed to know about what had happened.
“Detective Temple.” Rhys’ voice came over the phone.
“We need to meet.”
“Who is this?”
“It’s Roc.”
“Why the hell are you calling me here?”
“Something’s happened, and I need to talk to you. Now.”
“I can’t get away.”
“Give me half an hour. I’ll come to you, wherever. It’s really important.”
“There’s a coffee shop around the corner from the precinct. I’ll meet you there in twenty minutes.”
“I’ll be there. Shifted.”
Rhys had no trouble finding him in the crowded coffee shop. Roc guessed his brother had scanned for a ring aura. Rhys crossed to the table where he sat.
Sliding a paper coffee cup across the table, Roc said, “I ordered a straight black for you, extra strong. Did I get it right?”
“Surprisingly, yes.” Rhys raked the seat out and sat. He took the lid off the cup, sniffed the contents, then set the cup on the table.
“It’s not drugged.” Roc opened a straw, dropped it into the cup, and took a sip. “See?”
“Nice to know.” Rhys tipped the cup and took a drink. “What’s the emergency?”
“I needed to give you a heads-up. I was in Ramsey’s apartment-” Better to only use the last name in case the woman was Lila’s mother. “-and a woman came in and pointed a gun at me.”
“What were you doing in Delaney Ramsey’s place?”
“Checking things out. Checking you out.”
Rhys’ mouth twisted in disgust.
“What? You aren’t doing the same with me?”
“You bet your life I am.”
“Then get over it. But that’s not the only reason I wanted to see you. She thought I was you. Seemed a little pissed you’d broken into her apartment.”
“I didn’t,” Rhys interjected.
“Moot point, since she thinks you did. She’s planning on grilling you later about what you were doing skulking around in her home. Considering our deal to keep us a secret for a while, I thought you might need to know about this.”
Rhys took off his Stetson and slapped it on his knee. “Exactly what I didn’t need. What did you tell her?”
“I’d come over to see her, found the door unlocked, and came in to check that everything was okay. Don’t think she bought it.”
“That’s a lame excuse. Couldn’t you do better?”
“She caught me off guard, especially when she thought I was you.”
“Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll figure out something besides your stupid excuse.” Sighing, Rhys rose. “Oh, and don’t call me at work again.”
He grinned at his brother. “Maybe next time I’ll drop by instead.”
“I’m not the only shifter in the office. Don’t poke the hornet’s nest, Roc.”
Delaney tapped Rhys on the shoulder as she passed his desk. “My office. Now.”
He followed her into the office and shut the door. The latch barely clicked shut before she verbally assaulted him.
“What were you doing in my apartment? Don’t give me that unlocked business again.”
“I don’t have any other explanation,” he said, steeling for her certain auric scanning. The unlocked door scenario was the truth as he knew it.
After a couple of intense moments staring at him, she said, “Assuming that’s true-”
“You didn’t scan me to find out?”
“I did.”
Some of his tension melted. He’d got away with that one. “Don’t assume. Believe.”
“Why were you there?”
He’d thought about how to skirt this question and decided the best way was to connect it to something he knew to be true. “Remember how I said there was a shifter going after Alexi’s Lila shift at the cemetery?”
“Yes.” The single word was more of a question than an agreement.
“Thought I might find a clue at the apartment as to who would come after Lila.” That was true. “I meant to suggest we search the apartment, but with the wedding it slipped my mind.”
After another session of eyeballing him, Delaney visibly relaxed. “Okay, I’ll buy that. For the moment. But you should have asked me before going to my apartment.”
“Because I might find the captain there? In bed? Waiting for you?” He shifted the conversation to keep her off guard about Roc’s intrusion.
She groaned, her cheeks flushing bright pink. “Alexi promised she wouldn’t say anything.”
“She didn’t. You did.”
“How did you guess?”
“Your aura changes when you’re with him.”
“You’ve been scanning me?” She sounded indignant.
“Eli said I should practice. You’re the only shifter I know besides Alexi, Eli, and Sylvia.” He deliberately omitted Roc. “Doesn’t seem kosher to scan my wife. The old man is really hard to read. And I’d rather not have anything to do with Sylvia.
“But a blind man could see the sparks flying between the two of you.” He paused and stared at her intently. “You’re not planning on screwing with his affections are you? Because if you are-”
“That’s not my intention, but sometimes things simply run their course and they’re over, whether you want it to happen or not.”
“Trust me, Delaney. He doesn’t think
it’s over.”
“Really?”
“Really. Unless I’m reading you wrong, neither do you.” He waited, hoping he’d given her enough stuff to keep her mind off of Roc’s intrusion, until he could almost see her mind mulling things over. After a couple of minutes he spoke. “Are we done here? Because I’ve got a job to do.”
“Sure. We’ll talk about your theory later.”
As soon as he’d cleared the office door, he exhaled. That was close. He dialed the number Roc had given him. This little escapade accelerated the timetable. He had to get to know his brother, and fast.
“Crisis averted,” he said when Roc answered. “But if you pull another stunt like that we’re done. Got it?”
“As I said before, she surprised me. I don’t make the same mistakes twice.”
“Good. I think, considering what has happened here, we need to get together.”
“When and where?”
“Public Square, the quadrant opposite the Old Stone Church. This afternoon about two o’clock. You know where it is?”
“Yeah. See you there.”
“Come shifted and scan for my aura.”
“Afraid to be seen with me, Rhys?”
“It’s you who should be afraid to be seen with me. I’m a cop, remember? If your cronies see you with me they might think you’re singing.” Rhys’ shifter sense tingled and the click of high heels echoed on the tile floor behind him. “Gotta go.” Before Roc had the chance to reply or the shifter approaching got near enough to eavesdrop, he hung up the phone.
Sylvia came striding down the aisle, a smug, self-satisfied grin on her lips. She plopped a folder onto his desk blotter then sat on the corner of his desk and crossed her legs.
“Get your ass off my desk,” he growled.
Flattening her palms against the metal, Sylvia pushed off. “Touchy, aren’t we?”
“We aren’t anything.” He scowled at her. “You got a reason for visiting?”
She tapped the folder. “I’ve been doing some research. I think you’ll find it a bit more convincing than my previous reasoning for your familial connection.”
Rhys slid the folder into a desk drawer.
“You aren’t going to check it out?”
“Later.” He didn’t want her scanning him when he read her lies.
“Too bad. I wanted to know what you thought of it.”
“I bet you did. I’ll let you know what I think after I’ve checked it out.”
“Don’t take long, Rhys. Your father is very anxious to meet you, or he will be when I tell him.”
Rhys’ heart banged hard enough in his chest he thought his shirt trembled. “My father is dead.”
“Your and your brother’s biological father.”
“Does Roc know?”
“I’m on my way to tell him.” She gave him another satisfied smile and sashayed toward the front door.
As soon as she left the office, Rhys took the file from the drawer and read the pages. The father’s name in the birth certificate was blacked out as well as the location information and time of birth. He held the paper to his nose and sniffed. Markers. The information had been blotted out recently. It figured she would keep secrets. Something to tease him with or keep him in line was right up her alley.
Surprisingly, she hadn’t blacked out the mother’s name. Kayla McCraigen. He blinked and cleared his vision, then read again. As in Eli McCraigen? His mother-no, his alleged mother-was related to shape shifter Eli? Was she a shape shifter?
He read the rest of the documentation. Two boys, identical twins, born on his birth date, his and Roc’s birth dates. Given away for adoption, by two different agencies, shortly after birth. No mention of what happened to the mother, but Sylvia followed the trail of adoption right to his parents. Appeared her research had been thorough, although she had omitted Roc’s adoption information.
As Rhys closed the folder and locked it in his desk, he couldn’t shake the burning questions her documents ignited. Had he come by his Promised One abilities through his mother or his father, and were they rogues or the good guys?
How was he going to break this news to Alexi?
Chapter 25
Delaney stepped out of police headquarters to wait for Harry to meet her for their late lunch. As soon as she cleared the door, her shifter senses went on alert. The street crawled with shifters. Rogue shifters. What were so many doing on the street in front of the police station? If she hadn’t known Sylvia’s terrorist claims to be false, she might have believed them.
From the broken, flickering auras in the crowds flowing past the building, the shifters appeared to be mostly low-level mimics. Relieved, she eased out her breath. They wouldn’t be able to see her aura. Stepping forward, she slipped against the corner of the concrete abutment beside the glass doors, her back against the building.
“Harry,” she called as he came out and walked past. “Over here.”
“I almost missed you.” He motioned toward the sidewalk. “Ready?”
“Sure.” The sooner she got out of the press of shifters, the better she’d feel.
“Your invitation to lunch surprised me. I didn’t think we were on lunch terms, or any other terms.”
“I said we had things to work out, Laney, not we were over.”
Bumblebees jostled in her stomach. Not over was good. Maybe she’d been a bit hasty offering to host Katrina. But, if Harry was still interested, they could always go to his place.
They walked across the street and settled into the restaurant at a table next to the huge picture window. Delaney scanned the room and found several low-level shifters. One sat right by the window staring out as if he was searching for something or someone. She couldn’t shake the bad feeling all these roaming rogues gave her. Something was wrong.
“Delaney,” Harry said, snapping his fingers in front of her. “I’m over here.” He followed her gaze to the window. “What’s so interesting out there?”
“Nothing,” she lied. “I was looking at-” She stopped mid-sentence as a blond man wearing a Stetson, and the same clothes Rhys had been wearing this morning, came into view through the window.
Quickly, she scanned the man. His aura, mostly green with a touch of red, throbbed through the glass like summer heat off a sidewalk. Stopping, his head rotated toward her. She shoved her napkin onto the floor and bent to retrieve it, hiding.
Harry’s head appeared beside the table next to hers. “Need some help?”
Retrieving the napkin, she straightened, casting a sideways glance at the window. The man was gone, along with her appetite. Only one person she knew had such a green aura and wore a Stetson. Rhys.
What was he doing, and why was he doing it mimic shifted? She was beginning to trust him less and less. “I’m sorry, Harry, I just remembered an appointment. FBI business.” She glanced at her watch. “I’m late. Can we reschedule?” His obvious disappointment made her feel even worse. “Dinner?”
“I thought you couldn’t make dinner.”
“I’ll cancel my plans.” She shoved her chair away from the table. “Seven, at my place,” she said as she scooped her purse off the floor and headed out of the restaurant.
“Don’t cancel again,” he called after her.
As soon as she could do it safely, she mimic shifted and continued to trail Rhys. Shifters weaved in and out of the crowd behind him, not as many as had been at the precinct, but enough Delaney felt safe following him. Hopefully, she was only one more signature on his radar.
Rhys sat on a bench beside a shape shifter with a very dark aura, a rogue, and started chatting almost immediately, as if he knew the person well. She slipped in behind a thick tree and leaned against it, not daring to get closer. While Rhys might not be able to pick her out from the rest of t
he shifters roaming around, if she made any move toward them he would pin her down in a second.
She peered around the tree trying to get some hint of the conversation from the facial expressions on the men. Rhys seemed angry. The other man cavalier.
Where was a listening device when she needed one? She took cover behind the tree again. Until she figured out what was going on, she’d have to follow Rhys.
