That didn’t bode well for a nosy human.
If Skye was human.
A bang at the door was followed by Nik’s voice. “Nuala, are you in there?”
Her expression annoyed, she crossed to the door and flung it open. “Is there a problem?”
“Why did you turn off your cell?” Nik asked as he entered.
“I didn’t turn it off.”
“Then something’s wrong with it.” Nik eyed Luc but didn’t greet him. “Mother has been trying to reach you.”
“I am aware of that.”
“You’re not answering? Why not?” When she simply glared at him, Nik said, “Mother sent me to look for you. She wants you to meet an important new guest.”
“Not tonight. Actually, not any night anytime soon. If ever.”
“Nuala—”
Her face rippled as she glared at Nik. “Don’t cross me. Give her my answer or don’t. Just leave me alone.”
Nik glared at Luc. “What’s going on? What did you say to upset her?”
Of course Nik would blame him, Luc thought. “Maybe you should leave, Nik.” Was it possible Nuala didn’t want to work for her mother anymore? The human part of Luc hoped she was rethinking her options. “Tell Beatrix our sister isn’t feeling well tonight.”
“Lie for you?”
“Not for me. And it isn’t a lie.”
“I’m feeling just fine!” Nuala shouted. “Why do you do this?” she demanded. “Why blame Luc when he has nothing to do with my decisions?”
“You’re not thinking clearly.”
Nuala’s eyes glowed copper once more as she glared at their older brother. “What are you saying? That I can’t think for myself?”
Then Nik’s eyes flared with dark heat as they always did when he lost his temper. “You know what crossing Mother would mean.”
Uh-oh. This wasn’t good. Luc had seen his siblings go at each other too many times when they were growing up. When they let loose their anger and frustration, they tended to do damage.
Knowing he was asking for trouble, Luc stepped between them. “Let’s not do this,” he said reasonably.
“Stay out of this, Luc.” Nuala used her mind to keep him from getting closer.
This wasn’t like her—his sister had learned to control herself years ago. Tonight, her emotions were all over the place.
Still, Luc tried to reason with her. “We’re all on edge tonight.”
Nik flared a hand at him, an invisible current zapping off his trademark ring, making Luc stumble backward. Now he was getting open hostility from both siblings.
“What was that for?” he asked Nik.
“Didn’t you hear Nuala tell you to stay out of it?”
Nik’s ire directed itself at him. The sensation shot through Luc like a live wire. He tried to fight it. He always tried to fight it, to keep his beast under control. His fear was that someday his true nature would get the best of him. Again.
“You should both leave,” Nuala said.
Luc didn’t like the catch in her voice. Or the way her face suddenly went pale. The tension drained from her in a heartbeat and she turned and fled the room. The bathroom door slammed behind her and she sounded like she was choking.
Luc beat Nik to the door. “Hey, are you all right?”
“Just leave me alone.”
“Let me in there!” Nik demanded. When the choking sound ripped out of their sister again, he looked ready to beat down the door.
Luc finally realized Nuala wasn’t choking but throwing up. The toilet flushed.
“She is sick.” Nik sounded shocked. “There’s something wrong with that soul of hers. It’s been making her do things she never did before. She needs to get rid of it before it’s too late.”
Not wanting to continue the argument, Luc clenched his jaw and grabbed his brother’s arm. Surprise allowed him to shove Nik toward the door. “Let’s go, give her some space.”
“Take your hand off me if you don’t want it broken.”
Luc clenched his jaw harder and freed Nik. He opened the door to the hallway and waited. For a moment, he thought it would come to an altercation to get his brother out of there. But finally Nik gave in, pushed past him, and kept going.
Halfway down the hall, Luc caught up to Nik. “We need to talk.”
“You may. I don’t.”
Wanting some answers—he obviously wasn’t getting any from Nuala tonight—Luc grabbed Nik again and stopped him. Let his brother try to break his hand. As much as part of him wanted to avoid a fight, Luc was up for it.
He got in Nik’s face. “Who’s running the shifter fights?”
Luc needed to know if they were connected to the attempt on his mother’s life. And Shade Cross’s death. Very likely. And Jez had lost her life because she’d been forced to fight.
“I asked you a question,” he growled at his brother.
Nik’s features stretched slightly and Luc fought his visceral response to the rush of anger surging through his brother. To his credit, Nik got tight hold of himself, allowing Luc to settle down inside.
“What makes you think I’m involved?” Nik asked.
“Are you the one?”
“My duties are confined to the casino complex,” Nik said, avoiding a direct answer.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t have outside interests.”
“I have enough right here to keep me busy. As for you, little brother, you expressly said you didn’t want to know what’s going on outside this complex, so why do you suddenly care?”
Luc knew that what went on would be nothing good. His human half drew the line that he would never cross. The complex was Kindred territory, so anything here went. But anything outside—the shifter fights involving humans, even as an audience—crossed that line.
“Maybe I changed my mind.” Maybe he’d been hiding his head in the sand, Luc thought. “Did you have Jez killed because of me?”
“Is that what you think?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.”
“I’m curious. What if I am the one?” Nik’s voice lowered an octave and his nostrils flared. “What if I run the shifter fights and have Kindred who annoy me punished in a very open, very final way. What would you do about it?”
Was he admitting it, then?
Imagining Jez after she’d been torn apart in his mind’s eye, Luc felt his blood pumping double time. “I would have to stop you.”
Nik grinned. “Amusing that you think you could.”
In Iraq, Luc had quickly learned the things he could do—things he had done in anger and frustration. If he lost control and shifted in mindless fury as he had there, he would become Nik’s worst nightmare.
Chapter Fifteen
Now that he could leave his apartment courtesy of being joined with Boomer, Shade spent the night in Skye’s apartment, sleeping on her couch. The cats watched him with distrustful eyes, but they didn’t let him out of their sight. After he awoke, it took him a good part of the morning, but he finally convinced Skye to take him to see Ethan. His old partner needed to be part of this, and Shade hoped that perhaps Ethan’s involvement would bring back his memory.
When Skye brought him in to the Area office on a leash, coppers he’d known and worked with for years turned to look. Not one of them recognized Boomer or told Skye she couldn’t bring a dog inside. She didn’t hurry, undoubtedly because this could be the last time he would ever see their faces again. He stopped and looked around. Dad wasn’t at his desk. Regret washed through him so that he felt hollow inside. Shade had thought he’d see Dad one last time. Then again, Dad would probably tell Skye to “get that dog out of here,” and that would be the end of that.
“C’mon,” she murmured, tugging at the leash to get his attention. “We need to get to Ethan before someone stops us.”
Ethan was at his desk, chipping away at a stack of files. Shade glanced around at the nearly empty inner office. Detectives were either at lunch or out on a cas
e as Shade wished he could be. This is where he should be. Ethan appeared distracted and impatient dealing with paperwork. That feeling he did remember. And so many other details of being a copper.
Having to accept his own life being over hit him harder than any fist could.
To his shock, he could hear Ethan’s thoughts: So the blood thing—how could that be? Must be some logical explanation.
It was the first time he’d been able to hear anyone’s thoughts since he’d taken the bullet. It seemed the connection with Boomer had brought back his psychic ability.
He’s thinking about the case, Skye. Some weird shit.
Ethan suddenly spun around in his chair to face them standing a few yards away. He seemed uncomfortable, and he frowned when his gaze lit on him at Skye’s side.
“How long have you been watching me?” he asked.
“Just for a minute.” Skye smiled at him. “You looked busy and I didn’t want to disturb your thoughts.”
“What’s with bringing Boomer here?”
She quickly glanced around the office as if to make sure no one else could hear. “I have something important to tell you.”
Ethan gave him a wary look. “Hey, Shade didn’t leave the pooch to me?”
“No. But I need to tell you about the dog and Shade being—”
“You know you shouldn’t be here,” Ethan interrupted. “Well, the dog shouldn’t be here.”
“What about Shade?” Skye asked. “What if he was here?”
Ethan leaned back in his chair. “The ghost story again? Sorry, I don’t see him.”
“Actually, you do. We, uh, figured out a way for him to get out of the apartment.” She nodded to him. “Boomer. Sort of inside Boomer. They’re bound together, so to speak.”
Ethan groaned. “I know how upset you’ve been over Shade’s death, and I wish I could magically make it better for you. I’m sorry. I wish I could help you.”
“You can help me. A lot has happened in the last few days, starting with what we thought was a dogfight.” She shook her head. “But if you can’t believe that part of Shade is still with us, you’ll never believe the rest.”
The challenge seemed to set Ethan further on edge, Shade thought. Skye’s gaze seared Ethan, making him soften until he raised his hands in mock surrender.
“Try me.”
“The other night at the raid,” she said, “I picked up on the images the wild dog showed me. I used the images as kind of a mental map and found my way in to a very unusual casino—”
Since Ethan was his best friend, Shade had long ago told him about his and Skye’s psychic abilities.
“You’re talking about that casino boat docked at Northerly Island?”
“The Ark, yes, run by the Lazare family. I’m sure there’s a connection with the animal fights. And with the murders you and Shade were investigating. And with his death.”
Ethan stiffened. “How do you know about the Lazares?”
“I met Luc and his sister, Nuala. Luc told me Shade died saving his mother’s life.”
“Yes, I know the Elizabeth Reyes connection.”
“There’s more to the casino than meets the eye. There’s a hidden area below decks not open to the general public.”
He’s not buying it.
Skye glanced from Shade/Boomer back to Ethan, who was frowning at the dog in disbelief.
She rushed on. “You need an invitation to get in. Actually, it’s a whole complex, and—”
“Skye, you need professional help. Like a counselor who can talk you through your grief. Thinking Shade is still around, then telling me he’s inside the pooch.” He shook his head. “And that there’s some kind of underground casino under the casino boat. It’s all too much.”
He’s never going to believe any of it. Maybe if you tell him what he’s been thinking about since we came in. Something wrong with the blood tests of the three victims. Something about two kinds of proteins and extra blood types, as if their blood was as much animal as human.
“What’s wrong?” Ethan asked, seeming concerned.
Skye blinked and got herself together. “What you were thinking. About the victims.”
He blanched a little, but he kept his straight face. “Of course I was thinking about the victims. That’s my job.”
“About the blood tests. Blood that turned out to be as much animal as human.”
Now Ethan looked shaken. “You know that’s impossible.”
“But it’s what you were thinking. Shade’s the one who heard you.”
Ethan went silent for a moment, looked from her to the dog. Shade sensed his old partner was beginning to believe, though he didn’t seem ready to admit it.
“How did you hear about that?” he asked instead.
“I told you,” Skye said. “You have to believe me about what’s been happening. We can help you close this case.”
“What you can do is go home and get some rest.” With tense hands, he picked up a file. “I have a shitload of work to do.”
At least he didn’t tell Skye to get professional help a second time.
You’re not going to get anywhere with him. Yet. Let him think about it for a day before you start in on him again. Trust me, he won’t be thinking about much else. He needs to believe you, because we need his help.
What in the world am I going to do on my own in the meantime?
It suddenly came to Shade. My casebook.
Skye immediately picked up on that. “Ethan, before we go, what about Shade’s casebook? If you’re through copying it, can I have it now?”
Ethan couldn’t keep it from her forever, despite Dad’s feelings on the matter.
“Yeah, I have everything.” Appearing reluctant, Ethan pulled it from a drawer and handed it over.
“What about his cell phone?” she asked. “Anyone ever find it?
Ethan shook his head. “Skye, if you need anything—”
“Don’t say it unless you mean it.”
She turned her back on him and walked straight toward the entry until a familiar voice stopped them.
“Skye, what are you doing here?” their father asked. He lowered his voice. “And with that dog?”
“Dad, nice to see you, too. I dropped in on Ethan for a few minutes. I wanted to know how the investigation was going.”
“I’ll let you know when there’s a break in the case.”
The censure in his tone saddened Shade, as did the disapproving expression when Dad’s gaze focused on him.
“Right,” Skye muttered, tugging on the leash as she headed for the door. “We’ll be going now.”
Shade glanced back once and thought he caught a little sadness in Dad, too, but he was probably imagining it. Too bad. Dad was the only family Skye had left. He’d never been easy on her. Or loving. Shade had always gotten the feeling that Skye reminded him of their mother, and because of that, he distanced himself from her. Shade only wished his death could have changed things between them.
A wave of emotion from Skye enveloped him, but she somehow blocked her thoughts from him. She didn’t want him to know how much Dad hurt her.
He was glad to get to the car. Well, at least that wasn’t a complete bust.
Skye got the door for him.
Once they were settled in the car, she opened the casebook. “What should I be looking for?”
If I could remember, you wouldn’t have to look.
“Right.”
Shade/Boomer snuggled against her arm to stare at the casebook as she perused his latest notes about the murder. Her responding smile made him melt inside. He had no idea if he could make sense of the notes while in the dog’s body, but he would try to help Skye any way he could. If he had figured out what had been going on to cause his death, he still didn’t remember. Weird about the cell phone being missing, he thought. How had that happened? His short-term memory might be affected, but his obsession with keeping that damn phone handy was clear in his mind.
Turning a page
, Skye made a sound indicating she’d found something she could use. “The letters ER and an address with the letters. Elizabeth Reyes,” she guessed. Luc’s mother. “The woman whose life you saved the night you died.”
If you say so.
“My talking to her might jog your memory.”
Then what are we waiting for?
“For you to move over. Better yet, get in back.”
Why?
“Because I can’t buckle you in.”
Jeez. He leaped into the backseat. You didn’t make me do this before.
Grinning at him, she said, “I know.” And started the car. Then she sobered. “In addition to giving me information about the night you were murdered, maybe the Reyes woman could give me some important insight into her son.”
Good.
The more she knew about Luc Lazare, the more tools she would have in her arsenal to resist him.
Shade didn’t know why exactly that was important, but he was convinced that Luc Lazare was someone his sister should avoid at all costs.
Chapter Sixteen
Twenty minutes later, I exited Lake Shore Drive and forced my mind to the investigation. Elizabeth Reyes lived off Marine Drive on Hutchinson. I knew the street was part of a historic district. What I wasn’t prepared for was the size of her estate. And an estate it was, like something you’d see in a North Shore suburb, with a circular drive in front of the two-story red brick building, the yard professionally landscaped, all behind a black wrought iron fence.
“Elizabeth Reyes is a retired social worker. How does one afford a mini-mansion this close to the lake on a social worker’s pension?”
Ask her.
“Oh, right.”
She probably comes from money.
“Or maybe the father of her child supports her in style. If that’s it, I can’t see her telling me anything that would ruin that situation for her.”
I found a parking spot a few houses down.
I’m going with you this time, Shade told me, then whistled through his doggy nose.
Wanting him to be with me, I let him out of the car. “Just be prepared to stay outside.”
Nah, I’ll win her over, and she’ll let me in.
Animal Instincts (Entangled Ignite) Page 10
