That made her damn glad that that they had a backup plan.
The last thing Elizabeth needed was them bothering her for information. Her best friend had enough shit on her shoulders. No, this time, they would run it without any outside help.
“We have that information coming,” Tori offered.
That surprised all of them.
“How did you pull that off?” Justin asked.
Tori told them about the little rendezvous in the hotel room with the armed cop.
“Detective Woods caught us breaking into the crime scene.”
Vivian laughed.
“Oh, it’s not funny. Your informant tossed us to the wolves, so whoever you called, drop him like a hot potato. You can’t trust him.”
“That weasel,” Vivian muttered. “I’m sorry, Tori. I figured since we were partners at one time, I could trust him not to go running to the lead detective.”
“Don’t stress it. It all worked out, but before we invite the fox into our hen house, let’s run him.”
Roman and Mattie grinned as they both laughed manically. This was their thing.
“His name is Detective Arsen Woods.”
They began typing.
Mattie was the first to find something. As she pulled back her blonde hair, she read aloud what she had found.
“Arsen Woods has plenty of awards. He’s a good cop. When he works a case, he works it until he closes it,” she offered, sending the pictures to the big screen.
There was Arsen Woods, smiling as the mayor handed him awards, the governor handed him one, and even the fraternal order of police.
There were five separate events.
“Okay, so we know he’s a good cop, but what else do we know? Let’s go personal.”
Roman found the next breadcrumb. “He’s adopted.”
“We know that, but give us more.” Tori held back the information that Bethany had given her. She knew there was a mystery surrounding the man, and she didn’t doubt that one day he’d want to know more.
Who wouldn’t?
“Apparently, there was a huge article on him when he was eighteen. He began hunting down his biological parents, and he hit a wall.”
“What kind of wall?” Beckett asked.
His whole body was buzzing, and he needed to burn off some of the energy. Claire was watching him, and he knew she was anticipating the fallout from his little energy walk.
He hoped she was ready.
“It seems that all of his adoption papers were bogus. He figured it out when he went to apply to college. The truth came out.”
“What was the truth?” Julian asked, even though he was privy to some of the information.
Roman continued, “The only thing that was genuine was his birth certificate. The authorities believed he was stolen from his real mother or sold by her, and the fake papers were made to hide the incident.”
Tori was horrified.
If anyone ever stole Veronica, she would search the world for her. That was her baby.
Her legacy.
“He found out, and he’d been working it,” Roman asked. “Maybe he could use our help,” he offered.
“Maybe,” Julian stated.
If the man didn’t burn them, he’d offer it up to him.
“What else?” he asked.
“Other than that, he’s living a silent life. His social media has him as single and NOT looking. He’s married to his job.”
Yeah, hadn’t they all been?
That was basically code for he hadn’t found someone to share his life with, and that was it. Before all their significant others came crashing into their lives, they’d believed bachelorhood was the way to go.
Fate had a plan, and when she wanted you hitched, you were getting your ass to the altar.
“Well, we’re going to learn more about him shortly. He’s on his way here, and we’ll have a séance.”
They all stared at Julian.
Waiting.
Nothing happened.
“What?”
“You’re not going to flip your shit?” Justin asked. “That seems so unlike you. Where’s the anger, the temper, the loss of control?”
He laughed. “Nope. I’m not going to get mad over this, bro.”
“Why?”
“I trust my wife.”
They all waited.
He laughed. “Seriously.”
“Again, why?” asked Justin.
Julian explained, “Okay, she’s not pregnant, and I can calm down a little bit. Is that better?”
That was more like Julian.
“I need to call Beau and Nyx and get them here,” Tori stated.
“When is this going down?” Justin asked.
“In an hour,” she said, glancing down at her watch. “I need Nyx to help me do this, and I need Beau babysat. If we have cops gunning for us, we aren’t giving them the chance of anyone being alone. Welcome to the pack mentality, team.”
That meant they were all on duty.
“And how is this cop going to help us?” Roman asked.
“The detective is bringing phone numbers. What we couldn’t find, he could,” Tori stated.
Well, that was handy.
“Is there any way, that while I’m playing with the dead, the rest of you can work the information? I want some background checks on the people. I need to know what we’re up against.”
“Do you have an angle?” Justin asked.
Tori wasn’t sure. At that moment, anyone, and everyone, was a possible suspect. Until they began weeding through them, it was a crapshoot.
“We’ll work it like it’s drugs,” she offered. “There’s a good chance Shelby was selling.”
They heard the disdain in her voice.
“We can work late,” Roman offered. “We’ll crash in our office. I don’t need a lot of downtime. I’m accustomed to going on very little sleep when I’m chasing a case.”
Besides, this excited him. This was his thing, and when he could play research detective, Roman was in his glory.
“Right, babe?” he asked his wife.
Mattie kissed her husband on the cheek in confirmation. “I like camping at the work place. Then I don’t have to worry about a commute.”
Tori was glad they were so easy going.
“Let’s get ready,” Tori said. “I’ll call Nyx and Beau, and everyone finish your dinner. It’s going to be one hell of a long night.”
No one doubted it.
But for one of their own, they’d pull out all of the stops.
* * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *
Nyx and Beau’s
Place
He was edgy.
More so now than before. The woman he loved was hiding something, but he wasn’t sure what that could be.
She’d been avoiding him all night, and he was about ready to shake her and ask what the hell was going on with her.
Was she trying to find a way out of their relationship without breaking his heart?
Did she not want to get married?
Was she in love with someone else?
That last bout of sex was so impersonal, cold, and calculating that he couldn’t help but worry.
His gut was screaming. After his mother’s death, and the circumstances he’d gotten caught up in, he was starting to take his sister’s advice.
Always listen to your gut.
This was hard. Beau was a nervous wreck, and he didn’t know how much more he could take.
All of this was killing him.
The murder and the idea of losing the woman he loved was enough to rattle his cage.
Just as he was about to ask her what was wrong, his cell began ringing. It was odd that anyone would be calling at this time of the night, so he grabbed it and answered fast.
“Yes?”
“It’s me,” Tori offered. “We need you both to head here as soon as possible.”
“Uh, okay.”
Tori could hear something in his voice. “Wha
t’s wrong?” she asked.
“Tori, something is up with Nyx. She’s acting weird. I can’t put my finger on it, but she’s not right.”
That surprised her.
“Really?”
He went to say more, but when he turned his head, she was there. She was standing so damn close that it made him jump.
“Jesus! Nyx! You scared the shit out of me!”
“Who’s on the phone?” she asked calmly. “Who are you talking to?” she asked.
He could hear the ice in her voice. This was exactly what he was talking about. It was Nyx, but with a whole different personality.
If he didn’t know any better…he’d swear she was…someone else.
“It’s Tori.”
“Let me talk to her.”
He handed the phone over and moved away from the woman he loved. That was a first. At that moment, he didn’t want to be anywhere near her.
The opposite was true.
Beau was freaked out, and he didn’t know why. He shouldn’t be afraid of his fiancée.
Right?
It wasn’t like she was some ax murderer that he picked up hitch hiking.
She was watching him and not blinking.
Shit!
That was weird.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Nyx, it’s me! I need to do a séance, are you in?” asked Tori.
“You know it. We’ll be right there. I just need to get Beau ready to go. He’s always a handful.”
Tori didn’t understand. Her brother was easy going.
“Nyx, are you okay?” she asked. Her voice didn’t sound right. “If tonight is a bad night, we can skip it.”
“Oh, no, I wouldn’t miss this for the world. I’ll be right there. I’ll be ready to show you what I have.”
“Um…”
Nyx handed the phone back to Beau. “It was your sister. I’ll go get ready.”
She walked out of the room, the door closing behind her. Beau put the cell to his ear. “See?” he whispered. “This isn’t right. The hair on the back of my neck is standing up, Tor. What the hell is going on?”
Tori did see, and she wished she could answer that question. She had no idea what was happening.
It was all weird.
“Maybe it’s Shelby,” she admitted. “There have been some weird things going on here too.”
He swallowed.
Now he was grossed out.
“Beau, what’s wrong?” she asked, hearing the hesitation.
He didn’t know how to even broach this with his sister. This was all kinds of wrong, and on so many damn levels.
“Talk to me, Beau. I got you.”
“Before,” he began, trying to figure out how to say what he was thinking. “Before, when we were having sex, she was way off. She was rough, she was void of emotion, and it wasn’t like it normally is.”
There.
He said it.
“Uh oh.”
Tori thought back to the time she’d had sex with Julian and didn’t even know it. She’d been possessed by Bethany, and she’d jumped her husband by using her body.
That was…worrisome.
“You think it was Mom?” he whispered. “Please say, no, because that’s all kinds of cheesy television talk show. I may need to bathe in bleach.”
She wasn’t sure. “I don’t know, Beau. If it was, that’s a whole other level of creepy. If Shelby is haunting Nyx, we have to find a way to get her out.”
He agreed.
This was beyond creepy.
“Beau! We need to go!” Nyx yelled.
“Tori, she’s coming. We’ll see you at the office,” he said, hanging up the phone.
The last thing he wanted was to let ‘whatever’ was hanging out in his woman in on the conversation.
When the bedroom door opened, Nyx stood there. She was dressed, her hair was pulled back, and she looked…occupied.
As in she had a tenant who wasn’t paying rent to borrow her body.
“Are you ready?”
He grabbed his boots. “Yes.”
Beau was alone, and he didn’t want to provoke her. From what he’d seen, he couldn’t do battle with a spirit. He’d left his holy water in his jacket—at the office.
“Good. I love a séance. I can’t wait to see what pops up,” she said, laughing maniacally.
It sent chills down Beau’s body.
Yeah, something was definitely not right.
It looked like Tori wasn’t the only one who needed a séance.
He needed one too.
For Nyx.
* * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *
Littlemoon Investigations
Beckett managed to get his wife back to their office. It wasn’t easy to pull her away, but when he did, he could only think of one thing.
He needed her.
Badly.
His whole body ached with a tension that often appeared after he touched something and took a psychic trip.
The buildup of adrenaline would stick with him, unless he found a way to burn it off.
Sex was the ONLY thing he’d found that worked.
In that moment, he wanted to do truly wicked things with his wife. While he preferred they not be there, in the office, he was helpless to stop it.
If they were pulling an all-nighter, he knew, realistically, he couldn’t wait to get her home.
God!
He was going to die if he didn’t get his hands on her, and soon.
As they walked calmly down the hallway, Beckett was counting the steps to the door. It was the only way he could keep from tearing Claire’s clothes off and copulating against the wall where the whole office could watch.
It wasn’t easy.
He wanted her in the worst way.
Beckett could smell her perfume, the lovely scent of her hair, and it was driving him insane. What he wanted was to bury his hands in it until he could forget everything he’d seen in his trip.
Only she could purge that nightmare.
He could feel the soft kiss of her skin against his, as her arm was around his waist and tucked beneath the back of his shirt. That slight brush of flesh on flesh had a dual effect on him.
It anchored.
It tormented.
Beckett saw her lick her lips, and he wanted them on him. No, he wanted them on his rock-hard dick, and all over the rest of his body.
If he didn’t get her now, he’d die.
That’s all he could focus on the entire trip back from the crime scene. From the second he’d touched that bloodstain, to the second he had been forced to feel all the energy in that room, he knew this was coming.
He was going to take his wife.
In their office, he was infinitely grateful for two things.
They had a couch.
And the room was the furthest from anyone.
They’d have privacy, and he was going to need it. From what was brewing in his body, to the need bubbling up from his lust, this was going to be a wild one.
Claire pushed the door open and headed inside. Once in the confines of their office, Beckett shoved her roughly against the wall as he struggled to contain the energy.
“Claire,” he begged. “Save me.”
She knew what he was living.
This wasn’t the first time he’d had this reaction to a little energy trip. Since they’d been in the cheap motel, Claire assumed they were going to be taking a little trip on the sex side of Beckett’s gift.
And she was glad.
How could she not like that when he was lost in this frenzy he came to her in need of something only she could offer him? Claire was his lifeline, and she reaped all the benefits.
Someone was going to get their world rocked, and that ‘someone’ was her.
“It’s okay,” she whispered as she heard the click of their office door. Beckett’s mouth was all over her throat, neck, and when she felt the bite to her shoulder, she moaned.
“I have to have you.”
/> Claire loved those words.
They were music to her ears.
“Then have me.”
That was all the permission he needed.
Dragging her toward their desks, he cleared them with one arm as he tossed his wife onto them. His body was over hers before she could even say a word. He held her pinned to the mahogany as his rock-hard dick was pressed against her.
She moaned.
“I’m lost,” he muttered. “Jesus, Claire! I’m going under. Save me!”
“Beck, I love you. Do your worst. God! Do you worst,” she begged as the wetness began pooling in her panties.
She needed him as much as he needed her.
Somehow, Beckett managed to pull away from her. He stripped off his shirt, and his hands went to the belt at his waist.
Claire watched him.
“I need you to blow me. Take the edge off, Claire, or I’ll be too rough and hurt you,” he muttered, trying to hold on. His body was tingling with little needles of anticipation, and if he didn’t get some relief, he was going to take his wife harder than he ever had before.
Claire got it.
She dropped to her knees and waited for him to free himself. The second he did, she saw how wild he really was. Beckett was beyond hard.
He was forged in steel, pulsing, and wet at the tip.
“Hurry,” he muttered, grabbing her by the back of the hair to guide her mouth toward his erection.
When her lips encased him, he sighed in relief. He would survive this. Claire would get him through.
Like always.
She worked him hard.
His legs shook as his wife nearly sucked him inside out. There was never a more amazing feeling than his wife helping him come down off the energy high.
“I’m going to cum,” he muttered, as he furiously drove himself down her throat.
Claire held on, as she gazed up at him.
Their eyes locked, and in them, Claire saw so much love, appreciation, and need.
Beckett threw his head back, moaned her name, and then poured down her throat in wave after wave of pleasure.
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