by AE Jones
Dalton folded his arms over his chest. “Another team member I don’t know about?”
“Not an official team member, but he’s helped on some cases before and saved my butt a while back.”
Misha groaned. “Oh, Kyle. No…”
I smiled. “It’s perfect, and you know it. He can sneak in and check things out for us first. No one will be the wiser.” I turned to Dalton. “Before you kibosh the idea, let me make a phone call.”
* * *
Dalton checked his watch for the tenth time. “When is your guy going to show up?”
“He should be here any minute. Trust me, this is going to work.”
Before Dalton could respond, Dolly opened the door from the receptionist area and walked into the back office with her coffee mug. Behind her pranced Booger. I’d told him he would have some convincing to do with Dalton, but I hadn’t expected him to pull out the big guns. I stifled a giggle when he jumped up on the couch and sat right next to Dalton. He stared up at him with his big yellow eyes and bumped his cat head against Dalton’s thigh.
Dalton frowned for a second and then patted him. “So what makes this Matthew guy so good at undercover work?”
“He’s unassuming and can get into most places without any fuss.”
“Does he have a military background or something?”
“Nope. But his supe abilities are especially well suited for undercover work.”
Dalton frowned. “Well, he’s late. We don’t need someone who is unreliable on this case.”
Booger purred and bumped his head against Dalton’s thigh again, and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. “Actually, he’s right on time. Dalton, meet Matthew. I call him Booger when he’s in his cat form.”
Dalton jerked away from the cat, his eyes as big as saucers. “You’re telling me this is Matthew?”
The little shit held up his paw as if he wanted to shake Dalton’s hand.
Misha growled. “Knock it off, you showoff. Time to shift back to human now.”
“Wait!” I raised my hand. “Please tell me he left clothes in the lobby.”
Dolly smiled. “Yep. I’ll go get them for him.” A minute later, she came in with his clothes and headed down the hall with Booger right behind her.
Dalton appeared to be recovering from the shock, so I sat next to him. “Sorry about that. I never thought he’d show up in his cat form. I should have expected it, though. Matthew can be a bit over the top sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” Misha grumbled. “He’s a menace.”
“He’s good at what he does, Mish, no matter how much he annoys you.” I turned to Dalton. “Now do you see why we should send him in to gather intel for us?”
Dalton nodded. “As long as he can convince someone to let him into the motel.”
“No worries,” Matthew answered as he walked into the room, pulling a T-shirt over his lanky frame and smoothing his blond hair. “I can get someone to let me in.”
Dalton stood and gawked at Matthew. “You’re…”
Matthew smiled. “I’m…the cat who’s here to save the day.”
“Tell me he didn’t really just say that!” Misha groaned.
I laughed as Matthew gathered me in his arms for a hug.
“It’s good to see you Matthew.”
“You too, Kyle. Jean Luc, Talia. Jason”—he shook Jason’s hand—“glad to see you back in the fold.” He grinned wickedly. “It’s nice to see you, too, demon.”
Misha glared without answering him.
Matthew slapped his hands together and rubbed them. “Fill me in so we can get down to business.”
* * *
Two hours later, I chuckled as I watched Matthew worm his way into the motel. It had taken all of ten minutes of his pathetic meowing before someone let him in.
“That didn’t take long.” Dalton announced from the front passenger seat. Misha had parked the van a little way down the street with a view of the front door.
“He suckered me into letting him into my apartment the same way.”
Dalton’s eyebrow rose in question.
“He was hired to watch out for me. Ended up living with me for months before I knew what he was.”
Misha growled. The three of us had taken the first shift for the stakeout. If necessary, Jean Luc, Talia, and Jason would do second shift.
“Oh, Mish. Get over it, already. If he hadn’t been around, that vamp would have finished me off last summer.”
Dalton frowned. “Was this about the Key?”
My heartbeat kicked up in my chest. “Yeah, it’s all related.”
“Maybe we should have just gone in there and dragged Sylvia out for questioning,” Dalton said.
“What if the realm demon twins are staying there now?” I said. “We don’t want to lose them again. Matthew knows what they look like in both their human and demon forms. Let him poke around a bit. He might find out something about the demon from the art museum, too.”
Misha tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “I wish we could hear what was going on.”
“Our earbuds aren’t made for cats, Mish.”
“Maybe I could create something he can use the next time he goes in.”
I smirked. “You work on that while we wait for him.”
“Good idea. Let me in the back so I can get to my tools.”
I moved to the driver’s seat and smiled at Dalton. “At least I distracted him. Normally, he talks nonstop when we’re on stakeouts. If he isn’t talking about police shows, he tells you crazy stories about past cases, like delivering babies in elevators.”
Dalton’s mouth actually tipped up a bit on one corner, as if he wanted to smile but was out of practice. “Stakeouts can be extremely stressful and boring at the same time.”
“I know what you mean.”
We sat in silence for a while. Finally, Dalton cleared his throat.
“McKinley…Kyle. I uh, wanted to thank you for your help in the demon realm. I’m sorry that I have been somewhat—”
“Of a jerk,” I supplied.
The corner of his mouth quirked up again. “I don’t know if I would have gone with that exact word. I was going to say overbearing.”
“Overbearing jerk works for me too,” I said with a smile.
“Okay. I get it. Anyway, I apologize. I should have given you guys the benefit of the doubt instead of taking over. But this case is important, and the last thing you need is to have the government come in here and find out about the supernatural.”
I stared at him for a moment. “Aren’t you the government?”
“Partly. I’m a cop on loan to the Feds. If I can prove myself, then I’ll become a permanent member of the task force. This case could help me achieve that.”
I took a breath. “And that’s what you want? To leave Cleveland?”
He stared out the window for so long I didn’t think he was going to answer. Finally, he nodded. “I don’t have anything holding me here. So yeah, working on an FBI taskforce could jumpstart my career.”
My stomach twisted. “Well, let’s see what we can do about that.”
Chapter 29
Booger scrambled into the van and jumped onto the backseat next to Misha. I pulled the van away from the curb. A few seconds later, a glow emanated from the back, shining in the rearview mirror and almost blinding me.
Dalton sat in the passenger seat next to me, his face turned to the backseat with his mouth gaping open. “That was…”
“Amazing,” Matthew completed his sentence. “I know.”
“Damn, Matthew, couldn’t you wait until we got to the office to do that?” I stopped at a light and turned to give him the stink eye, until I saw he was still naked. “Put some clothes on!” I squeaked, turning back to make sure the light hadn’t turned green yet.
Matthew chuckled. “You’ve seen me in my naked glory, sweetheart, why so squeamish?”
“I seem to remember I almost shot your naked glory off.”
M
atthew’s chuckle exploded into a laugh as he pulled a shirt on over his head. “So you did!”
I glanced back over at Dalton in the passenger seat. He was frowning again. So much for him lightening up a bit.
“What did you find out?” Dalton asked.
“Sylvia is a hoot. She’s like a little general, ordering the tenants around.”
“Are they all demons?” Misha asked.
“Not all. There are humans, too.”
“Did you see the twins?” I asked while I turned at an intersection.
“Nope. But a couple of the demons didn’t smell like any clan here on earth, so I’m guessing they came from the realm.”
“What about Sylvia? Is she from the realm?” Dalton asked.
“Sylvia’s human.”
I jerked the wheel at the news. “What!”
“Keep it on the road, Kyle! Sylvia’s human. No doubt about it.”
“Why would she be mixed up with demon trafficking?”
“Sylvia’s a certified hippie. She fights against injustice based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and what she calls supe-bashing. She believes the realm demons have been unfairly incarcerated.”
I pulled into the office parking garage. “Holy shit. And here I thought I’d heard everything.”
“I’m still surprised every day, Kyle, and I have two hundred-plus years on you,” Misha said. “Sylvia might not be the enemy in this scenario. Which could work to our advantage.”
Dalton turned to Misha. “How so?”
“We go in there, not as Big Brother, but as a group concerned about a few of the demons who are giving the rest a bad name.”
I parked and turned off the van. “You might have the right idea, Mish. Who’s going to go in there and convince her to be buddy-buddy with us? It can’t be Dalton. Sorry, but you don’t come across as buddy-buddy.”
Dalton nodded. “Fine, but I’m not sure you’re the ideal candidate either. You don’t strike me as the Kumbaya type.”
“Agreed. Let’s get Jason, Jean Luc, and Talia up to speed on this, and we’ll decide next steps.”
Forty-five minutes later, the consensus was that Misha and Talia would run the interrogation with Sylvia tomorrow. But first, we’d have Matthew go in again to scope things out.
In the meantime, Jason, Talia, and Jean Luc left to stake out the motel overnight, in case the twins or the demon from the museum showed their faces.
I went back to my office and sat in front of my laptop to deal with my neglected email box. As I cleared out the junk, Matthew walked in and sat across from me. He stared at me for a moment, and I stared right back at him.
“What’s up?”
“Sorry about you and Griffin.”
I jerked at his words, my stomach bottoming out. “Well that news didn’t take long to spread. Did he post it on the shifter Facebook page, or something?”
Matthew held up his hands. “Wow. Displaced aggression, much? You know Griffin better than that. I saw him yesterday. He didn’t say a word.” He touched his nose. “I could sense something was wrong, and now that I’ve been around you for a while, I can tell you’re sad, too. I just put two and two together.”
I nodded, my throat tightening a bit. “Now, I’m sorry.”
“No worries. How’s it going with Joe?”
I glanced toward the open door.
“It’s okay. He left. He went to brief Captain Morrison about the case and where we stand with everything.”
I blew out a hard breath. “It’s been a bitch. I’m scared one of us is going to let something slip and Dalton will remember.”
“Did you give him that shiner?”
“No! Why does everyone keep asking me that?”
Matthew smirked at me. “The Fates are using you as a plaything right now.”
I rubbed the back of my neck and snorted. “Ya think?” Just as quickly, the humor left me. “I’m worried about him. He’s not the same.”
Matthew leaned forward. “Do you want me to tell you?” He tapped his nose again. “The truth?”
“Yes.”
“He’s wound very tight. He’s got this anger simmering just below the surface, all the time. I also sense he’s conflicted about you. Not full-blown attraction, but he sure wasn’t happy when I mentioned you’d seen me naked before. There’s something there, Kyle, but he’s way too closed off to read much.”
“You’re just reinforcing what I already know.”
Matthew reached across the desk and placed his hand over mine. “Hang in there. I’m a firm believer that things work out for the best.”
“A closet optimist, huh?”
“Absolutely. Why look for trouble ahead of time? You spend your life waiting for the other shoe to drop, and you don’t enjoy the good things that happen along the way.”
I shrugged. “I see your point to a certain extent, but you have to admit my life has been a little crazy lately.”
Matthew smiled, which made his lean face even younger-looking. “Yes. But what if all of this hadn’t happened? You wouldn’t have met Joe or Griffin. Heck, you wouldn’t have met me, either, and that would have been a crying shame.”
I chuckled and stood up. “That’s for sure, Morris.”
Matthew stood too. “Oh, boy, you’re dragging out the cat jokes. It’s time to call it a night.”
We walked into the main office and found Misha working on his laptop.
“See you tomorrow, demon.” Matthew winked at me and left.
“That cat is shifty,” Misha mumbled.
I sat down across from him. “Mish. You need to let it go. Even you have to admit Matthew’s been a great help.”
Misha shut his laptop and stared at me, hard. “How are you really doing, little one?”
I sighed. “I’m doing okay. Or I will be. I miss Griffin. But he deserves better.”
“Don’t talk that way about yourself.”
“I’m not. I only mean that he deserves someone who’ll love him and isn’t carrying all the ridiculous baggage I have. Especially when my baggage carries a badge and tries to boss everyone around.”
“I heard Joe apologize to you in the van today.”
“If you heard that, then you also heard he’s using this case to further his career. He can’t wait to leave Cleveland since, and I quote, ‘there’s nothing holding him here.’”
Misha got up, walked around the table, and pulled me up from my seat. “So give him a reason to stick around.”
I squeezed his hand. “I want to help him, Mish. But all the lies have turned this into a convoluted mess right now. Let’s get through the case and we can talk about it then. Now let’s go get something to eat. You pick.”
Misha rubbed his hands together, and his eyes lit up. “Oh, boy.”
I laughed at the glee on his face. I felt a little guilty for using food as a distraction, but I couldn’t bear another discussion about Dalton. I had already surpassed my quota for the day.
Chapter 30
I should have known better than to let Misha choose dinner.
I dropped my keys and cell phone on my entry table and pulled off my jacket before sprawling on my couch. The Indian restaurant had been phenomenal, and Misha had ordered way too much food, which meant I had eaten way too much food. I groaned. I’d learned years ago not to try and keep up with him. Maybe it was nervous energy that made me reach for the naan multiple times. I was a sucker for bread, no matter the culture.
Misha had wanted to come back to my place and watch over me. But I talked him out of it. I refused to live scared again. I rubbed my belly and stretched my legs out, letting myself settle into the cushions. Peace and quiet.
“Whatcha doin’, Kyle?”
My head banged against the couch arm, and I bit my lip to stop the expletive from erupting. Maybe if I ignored her she would go away.
Marie floated into my line of sight. “Are you asleep?”
I scowled at her. “No.”
“So how’s the cas
e going? Is Joe feeling better?”
“Dalton’s feeling fine. He’s back to his closed-off self.”
“And the case?” Marie asked.
“We’re interviewing someone tomorrow who’s been helping realm demons acclimate to living on earth.”
“Why do they want to live on earth?”
“I don’t know about all of them. The one we’re chasing is after the Key.”
Marie’s eyes widened. “You mean they’re after you?”
I sat up, the Indian food rioting in my stomach. “Yeah. Have you heard any chatter in heaven about the Key lately?”
“Nothing much. The angels keep mumbling about it, but no one knows where it is.”
“Have you heard them talk about other Keys?”
Marie floated higher in front of me. “No! Why would you ask me that?”
“Because I think there’s more than one Key, and if that’s the case, then someone else in this psycho world may be like me. Carrying a Key inside them. And maybe they’ve learned how to control it better than I do.”
“I’ll dig around some and see what I can find out.”
“Thanks. I’ve got another question for you. How is it that you’re allowed to spend so much time out of heaven?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, it looks to me like you have carte blanche when it comes to traveling back and forth between heaven and earth. Why is that?”
“I don’t have any special privileges, Kyle.” Marie answered, her eyes darting away from me.
“Now that I think about it, Marie, I believe you have a lot of pull. Why don’t you talk to your angel buddies and see if one of them will tell you the truth about the Key? No more subterfuge. Just ask them, straight out.”
“Ah. I’ll see what I can do, Kyle. As a matter of fact, I actually have to get going. I’ll talk to you later.”
Marie disappeared so quickly papers lifted up off my coffee table into a small whirlwind that lost its momentum moments later, scattering the pieces across the floor.
That was the fastest I had seen Marie leave in…well, ever.
I’d definitely touched on a sore spot, and she was lying about not having privileges. But why? I rubbed my forehead with my palm. I wouldn’t hold my breath about getting the truth out of her any time soon. I leaned back again on the couch. Deep breath in. Peace and quiet.
