Sugar, Spice, and Shifters: A Touch of Holiday Magic
Page 22
Cooper made his way around to the front of the store again. The young woman was still in the same spot. She’d curled in on herself, hugging her knees against her chest and burying her face into her chest.
He crouched down next to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, opening his mouth to speak.
“Don’t touch me,” she shrilled, scampering away from him like he’d smacked her. She jumped to her feet and quickly put distance between them.
Cooper held up his hands as he took in her tear streaked face and puffy eyes. “Whoa. It’s okay. I was just checking up on you.” He grasped his gun with one hand and pulled his police badge off his clip and showed it up so she could see. “I’m Detective Cooper Reed with the Honolulu PD,” he explained.
She squinted at his badge, but still took another step back. Instead of consoling her, the badge seemed to freak her out even more. Her bottom lip trembled and she looked frantically around the room as if she were contemplating running. Odd.
Sirens wailed in the distance and she covered her mouth with her clean hand and bit back a sob.
“It’s okay, miss…” he trailed off.
She blinked and looked around the store again, her eyes narrowing as she took in the wallowing man on her shop floor. Yeah, I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.
“Amy Green,” she said out of the blue, drawing his attention back to her. In mere seconds, her demeanor had changed. The tears that had pooled in her eyes were gone. Her face was hard and jaw set. “I need to call my business partners.” She spun on her heel and walked behind the counter.
“After that, if you’re up to it, I’ll have some questions for you, too,” he said. Her change in mood was like night and day. She could be in shock.
Amy shook her head and pulled out a phone, quickly typing away at the screen. He would’ve thought the first thing she’d want to do was get cleaned up, but that wasn’t the case. Most people couldn’t stand the thought of having someone else’s blood on them. Maybe it was a good thing. Perhaps they could get some DNA off her hand to help them find at least one of the other suspects.
He narrowed his eyes. Red coated her fingertips, palm, and wrist. She’d cut her captor deep, but from what he could tell, her nails were perfectly trimmed and short. Nowhere near long enough to do that kind of damage. It’d looked like she’d mauled him with her fingers. The man had seemed to be in pain, too. At least from what Cooper remembered.
Blue and red lights danced across the shop, drawing him from his thoughts. Backup was here. Cooper dragged a hand through his russet hair and went out to meet his comrades. He’d no doubt get some shit for going in alone, but at the time there hadn’t been another choice. If he’d waited for backup, Amy Green would be dead.
— — —
Amy dragged a hand through her snarled locks and sighed. How many more questions could the police possibly have? Cooper Reed had already asked her a billion things.
What had he seen earlier? What if their lab found out something about her? Her body tensed and she instinctively flexed her now clean hand.
Detective Reed had insisted on trying to get evidence from the blood on her hand. In the end, she’d agreed. The perpetrators got away. Amy’s stomach twisted and curdled at the thought of the creep fondling, or raping, another woman. Her skin itched and burned like it was on fire just remembering the way he’d touched her. She gagged.
“Are you okay?” Detective Reed asked. His chocolate-colored eyes narrowed with concern. He reached out like he was going to touch her, but then thought better of it.
Amy swallowed, thankful. She hated to be touched by strangers, especially men. Couldn’t stand it. “I’m fine, thanks. Just tired. Are we almost done here?” she questioned. Her eyes drifted to the door and open road. If only I could flee. I could make it to the trees, shift and be long gone before anyone knew what happened.
“Did you have a weapon on your person that we can take into evidence?” Reed asked instead of answering her question.
Amy glowered at him. “No. I’ve already told you that twice.” Darn it. He probably did see something.
“You had a lot of blood on your hand. Your nails don’t seem that sharp,” he pointed out persistently.
Amy shrugged. If she dated, or looked at men, she might find someone like Detective Cooper Reed attractive. He was muscular with his gray tee fitting him in all the right places. His eyes were gorgeous and his russet hair had just enough copper in it to be sexy. Not that she was really looking.
Cooper cleared his throat and she met his gaze, remembering he’d asked her a question. “He was going to hurt me…ra…” the word got stuck in her throat and emotion bubbled up her chest. Tears pricked her eyes as screams from the past filled her ears. “I defended myself.” She showed him her hand. Her nails were short. Too short to do the damage they’d done. And they both knew that.
He studied her for a long moment. Was he going to call her on her story?
“Do you wear contacts?” he blurted.
“No.” What did that have to do with…oh God my eyes were shifted earlier. Did he see that, too? He doesn’t know what he saw, she reasoned. That’s why he was asking so many questions.
“Your eyes were a different color earlier,” he explained. “They were golden instead of cobalt.”
Amy licked her lips. Time to get this interview under wraps. “Detective Reed,” she started surprising herself at how strong her voice sounded. “I’m the victim here. Do you make it a point to pester all of the innocent bystanders during your investigations? Unless you have anything new to ask, I’d really like to leave.” She fixed him with the deathliest glare she could muster. It didn’t seem to faze him. In fact, he continued to stare at her with what she wasn’t sure, and he probably wasn’t either.
“My sister’s in there.” Mason’s voice cut through the chaos like butter.
Amy didn’t spare the detective another glance. She leapt from behind the counter and dashed through the police occupying her shop. “Mason,” she called out.
“Amy,” he yelled as he forced his way through the police tape.
Amy dashed to her brother, falling into his open arms and holding onto him for dear life. Mason was her rock. He’d always been there for her. Protected her. Unfortunately, she was going to have to ask for his help again.
“It’s okay. I got you,” he soothed, running his hand over her hair.
“Are you okay?” Rhea asked hugging Amy from behind.
Amy nodded. If she spoke her voice would betray her. Mason knew she had issues, but he didn’t know how deep they were. She wanted to keep it that way. He already blamed himself enough for the bad things that had happened to her.
“You’re shaking,” Mason said squeezing her tighter.
Amy grimaced realizing he was right. She pulled back and swallowed. “The first responder, he saw me…he saw…” she stumbled over her words. Instead, she pointed to her eyes. Mason nodded in understanding. “I hurt one of the guys with my…” she paused lowering her voice to a whisper. “Claws. They took DNA evidence. What if…” she trailed off nibbling her lip.
Mason cupped her face with his hands. “It’s okay. We’ll figure this out. I promise.” He kissed the top of her head and then seemed to have a silent conversation with Rhea.
“Who’s in charge?” he asked turning his attention back to her.
Amy turned and pointed to Detective Reed. He stood leaning against the counter, staring at them with a look that she couldn’t quite decipher.
“Come on, sweetie, we’re taking you home. Let’s go to the car,” Rhea offered, wrapping her arm around Amy tighter as she ushered her to Mason’s truck.
“I messed Hawaii up for us, didn’t I?” she mumbled.
“None of this is your fault,” Rhea whispered. “You did what any of us would’ve. You protected yourself.”
“He was going to…they wanted to…” Amy choked on the words again.
Rhea paused and hugged her a litt
le tighter. “Are you okay? Do you want to talk later?”
Amy nodded and leaned on Rhea for support. Rhea was a wonderful friend—sister, but Amy never talked to her about her issues. Mainly because she didn’t want Rhea to feel like she had to keep things from Mason. There were some things she didn’t want her brother to know and she didn’t want to put Rhea in an awkward position. She just hoped Astrid or Marcia were home tonight.
— — —
Cooper pushed up from his perch on the counter as the brawny man who had embraced Amy Green approached. Who was he? A jealous tremor that he had no right to feel coursed through him. Amy had let this guy comfort her without hesitation when she’d all but had melted down over his simple gesture. She’d just been attacked you dweeb. You’re a stranger.
“My sister has been through enough for the night. I’m taking her home,” the man said as a way of greeting.
Sister. So he’s not a lover. He fought the urge to smile, instead forcing his brain to think.
He didn’t have any more questions for Amy, other than the eye and hand trick she’d done, which he’d seemed to be pestering her earlier with. If he pushed too hard, he might never find out. But there was definitely something weird there. At least curiosity gave him a reason to see her again. “Of course. I have her number and address and will follow up with anymore questions I might have.”
“Did you catch the men who did this?” the man asked, looking around the shop. His eyes glazed over in obvious anger as he took in the blood smears on the carpet.
“One of them. We’re running facial recognition from a camera across the street and Ms. Green had DNA evidence from the robbers that we were able to gather.” That was another thing that bothered him. Why didn’t a shop this nice have a camera in it?
“Be sure to get them. I know my sister will sleep better knowing they are behind bars where they belong,” the man muttered.
Cooper nodded. His eyes darted to the spot where Amy had disappeared. Part of him wanted to discover her mysterious secret, the other part wanted to protect the fragile, yet strong woman. “We’ll find them and make sure they’re punished,” he promised.
THREE
Cooper blinked at the offensively bright computer screen. His vision doubled and he rubbed a hand over his face; he’d been staring at the monitor too long.
Amy Green and her mysterious eyes…and claws…were at the forefront of his mind. He couldn’t shake it. There was something odd about her. Something… something more. The pull to find it out was unnerving and unrelenting.
The information he’d gathered told him a little about her background. It was strange to put it lightly. Amy Green was a runaway at the age of sixteen. Emancipated at seventeen when she’d moved to live with her brother here in Hawaii. Mason Green wasn’t quite as interesting. Career Navy. Highly decorated, too. Then he’d resigned shortly before Amy’s emancipation. Oddly enough, there was nearly a ten-year age gap between them. From what he’d seen last night, the siblings couldn’t be more than a year or two apart.
“Hey.”
Cooper jumped, lurching to attention at the loud knock on his door.
“You okay?” his sister, Mindy asked with a giggle.
“Yeah,” Cooper said, spinning in his chair and leaning back. “What’s up?”
Mindy rolled her eyes and shook her head. “All work and no play. Have you forgotten?”
Cooper frowned. Forgotten? Was I supposed to do something today? He glanced at the calendar on the wall. Neither of his parents had appointments today.
“You must be working something important,” Mindy said, pointing to the computer when he didn’t answer. “We’re going with Mom and Dad to get the Christmas tree today,” she reminded. Mindy took a step into the office and stared at the picture of Amy Green on his computer screen. “She doesn’t look like a creep. What’d she do?”
Cooper grimaced at the reminder. Amy Green wasn’t a creep. She was a victim. And instead of searching for the two robbers who got away, he’d spent last night and this morning digging into all the gory details of her life. It was messed up, but he still wanted to know more.
“Nothing,” he sighed as he spun and exited out of the webpage. “She was a victim of a robbery. I was just trying to see if there was maybe a reason they would’ve targeted her.”
Mindy nodded, the smile slipping from her face. “I hope she’s okay. And I hope you catch the scumbags who did that.”
“She’s fine and I will,” he assured. The dirt bag he’d shot last night had squealed like a pig when they’d offered him a plea bargain for information on his friends. The two men wouldn’t be free for much longer. The department had been ready to make arrests as he was clocking out for the night. Maybe he could see Amy again and tell her they’d captured the other two intruders. That’d go over better than following up with more questions. Anything to see her again.
“Earth to Cooper,” his sister’s voice sliced through his thoughts. “This case, or cute girl, must be messing with your head. It’s not like you to be so forgetful. Anyway, everyone’s here and waiting for you to go get a tree so get your butt together.”
Cooper blew out a breath. Christmas tree. Right. Family tradition. Every year the family gathered, picked out a tree, decorated it, and then had a large dinner.
“And hurry up. I don’t want Mom to help out with dinner and you know she will if it gets to be late,” Mindy warned.
Cooper hopped out of his chair. Mindy was right. The last thing either of his parents needed was additional chores or stress. “Let’s go.” He said clapping his hands together as he followed his older sister out the door.
— — —
Amy padded into the kitchen and made a beeline for the fridge. She was starved. Not only had she skipped breakfast, but it was getting late for lunch, too. Her stomach rumbled loudly in agreement. She’d been up for hours, but had fought to muster the strength to leave her bed.
“Morning,” Astrid said as she entered through the garage with large tote bags covering her arms. “You just now getting up for the day?” she asked narrowing her eyes as she took in Amy’s pajamas.
Amy shrugged as Astrid set the bags on the counter. She reached into the bags and started putting the items away.
“I got Egg Nog. Mason says you love it,” Astrid broke the silence.
A smile tugged at her lips and she nodded. “I do.”
“You doing okay?” Astrid asked quietly.
“Yeah.”
“You sure?” Astrid inquired.
“Where is everyone?” Amy asked.
“Kendrick is installing a new security system. He’s been working on it all morning. Everyone else is at the shop, cleaning up,” Astrid informed her.
Amy groaned and covered her face. “I’m sorry. It’s probably a mess.”
“Don’t be sorry. Last night wasn’t your fault,” Astrid assured.
Warm arms wrapped around Amy, causing her to stiffen before she relaxed into her sister’s embrace.
“I’m here if you need to talk,” Astrid offered.
Though they weren’t blood related, Astrid had become a quick friend, mentor, and sister. The elder wolf never pushed, but was always a good shoulder to lean on.
“I’ll be okay,” she answered honestly. Nothing had happened to her last night. It had just triggered nightmares from the past. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the wolves that had abducted her and turned her into the creature she was today. She cleared her throat. Her dreams had been plagued by the past. No sense thinking about it now. “I’m more worried about Officer Reed. He saw me, Astrid. He was asking questions.”
Astrid pulled back and placed her hands on each of Amy’s shoulders. “He doesn’t know what he saw, sweetie. The human mind has a way of filling in the blanks for things that can’t be explained. It will be fine,” she promised.
“And if it isn’t?” He’d been pretty insistent last night. Would he simply just forget? It didn’t seem likely.
In the decade they’d been here, Amy was the only one who had visually aged at all. But she’d been a teenager. From the way she understood it, once a wolf hit the age of twenty the aging process slowed remarkably. It would have to if the average life expectancy were a thousand plus.
“Where will we go? Our safe spot or somewhere else?” Amy asked quietly. Hawaii was wonderful—aside from last night’s events and the lack of winter weather. She didn’t want to leave. What if we can’t find another nice, safe home?
“Probably proceed to Germany,” Astrid said. “Kendrick has a safe house there already and he knows the area. It probably wouldn’t hurt to brush up on your German. I’m sure it will be a few years, but learning another language isn’t easy.”
“I’ll get right on that,” Amy said as she helped put the stuff away.
“I should probably brush up on it, too,” Astrid joked.
“How many languages do you speak?” Amy wondered. Astrid, Kendrick, and Marcia were quite a bit older than the rest of their family. They definitely had more worldly experience.
“Eight. Though I’m not sure I could call myself fluent in them anymore.”
“Wow. That’s pretty cool.” To think she’d just about flunked out of Spanish class in high school. Who would’ve thought learning multiple languages would come in handy?
“New security system is all set up. Any creeps—human or other—try to get in here, they are going to be sorry,” Kendrick announced as he ventured into the kitchen from the garage. He went to one of the still full bags and plucked a bag of Doritos from it. “You get these for me?” he grinned as he leaned in and kissed Astrid.