by Maia Starr
"Thanks, Alfonso," she said as she gave him a hug and then walked back to the hallway to the elevator. “We should hit the lab up with that evidence now," she said as she pushed the button.
Once again in the lead, but I was starting to get used to it. This was her planet, after all. I stood there and then said, “Melinda?"
She looked at me and said, “Yes, that's my name Melinda Katiama."
"My name is Eniv, if you want to be on a first-name basis.
She stepped into the elevator and said, “Call me Detective."
I grinned and walked into the elevator after her. Once again, my senses were bombarded with her overwhelming scent. It was hard to deal with as we went up to the fourteenth floor. She never stopped talking the entire way,
“I have a friend here in the lab that can put a rush on this. He's always doing me favors. Since we leave in two days, he can get us results on that cloth as soon as possible."
"You have a lot of friends here," I said to her.
She looked at me and narrowed her brown eyes in anger as she said, “It's not what you're thinking. They are just friends. It's not like I'm fucking them," she said.
"There's no one like you on Mooreah. You must excuse me for making these assumptions," I said to her. She sighed and stepped out of the elevator and I followed her into the lab.
"Robert, I have a piece of evidence here that I need logged for the Katie Cormick case. I need it analyzed. My acquaintance here says that it is a form of chemical called conmer from Mooreah. It is close to chloroform here on Earth. But could you take a look at it under the microscope and pull any hairs and also check it for DNA samples? Also, test it for this chemical, and be careful not to inhale it," she said in rapid fire that I almost could not keep up with. But the lab attendant knew exactly what she wanted.
"Yes, Detective Katiama, right away. I should have this in a few hours," he said to her.
"Great. I will wait for the ID log number," she said to him as he walked over to a station and began to document the evidence. I was impressed with her. This wasn't helping in trying to keep myself from being attracted to her. She was almost a phenomenon to me as I had not met a female, human or Drackon, that could think so quickly on her feet. I would almost say that she was a match to my own intelligence, but I did not want to take it that far.
"Here you are, Detective Katiama," he said to her, handing her a paper with an identification number.
She filled in the page, giving information about where the evidence was found. I stood silently, hovering over her, watching her fill out the form. She was quick, precise. I had no reason to question her expertise as far as investigation went, but I did not know what she would be like in the field. I didn't know how much experience she had working a case in space and dealing with the enemy. Space was a completely different territory and my home planets of Mooreah and Sala were very different from Earth. I didn't know how it would work with her there, especially because human females were seen as nothing more than an object to own and make into your mate for breeding purposes. I'm not sure any Drackon weredragons would allow a human female to question and interrogate them. If anything, it would piss them off even more, especially the criminal element. Thinking about this only made me want to protect her in that sort of situation. That was dangerous territory, because I would be distracted and wanting to make sure that she was safe above all else. That wouldn't exactly be an equal partnership in the field.
"I'm done. Let's hit the road and retrace Katie's steps," she said, handing the page to Robert and then walking out of the lab.
The next few hours were productive. It was very unusual seeing that she was preparing to move her life to Mooreah and only visit Earth every few years. She was preparing to be a wife, my wife, and it was a very strange thing to investigate that in this way. But as much as we retraced her steps, we turned up nothing. It really didn't give us any more or new information.
"It really does seem like Katie was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Melinda said as she sat across from me eating a hotdog from a street vendor.
I watched her put the long link into her mouth, trying to not think indecent thoughts. I felt my cock growing hard as I watched her eat. Even though she wasn't trying to be seductive and feminine, and kept talking with her mouth full about the case, I was still getting dirty thoughts in my mind.
I looked away from her, around the New York City streets. The modern buildings were so different from the stone fortresses of Cerista. I considered Cerista to be a very beautiful city, one of stone and nature mixed together. I had been excited to go back there with a new bride. I was not expecting this new turn of events, or my alluring partner. It was almost comical to be with her, but there was nothing comical about the vanishing of the human female brides, and I meant to solve and stop it from happening.
Ping! Ping!
"That's Robert in the lab. He's finished; let's head back there," Melinda said, looking at her phone.
"Do you trust your friend to follow that guard?" I asked her. It was something I had been thinking about it ever since she asked him.
"I trust him with my life. He was my partner before I was promoted. He had my life in his hands every time we were out in the field," she said, walking quickly across the courtyard to the department building.
"That is a lot of trust to put in someone. I guess you and I will have to do the same when we are on the mission in space. It can be very dangerous on Sala. You will have to trust me as well," I said to her.
She stopped in her tracks and looked up at me. She was petite and her head barely came to my chest. Still, she was fierce in her presence as she said,” That goes two ways, weredragon."
Then she walked off. A few minutes later, we were back in the lab with her friend, Robert. He was giving us the lowdown on his results.
"I found blonde hair on this particular cloth it does belong to a female. Since I do not have a sample of Katie Cormick’s DNA, I cannot say whether it is hers or not, but it's definitely human female. The cloth is of Drackon origin, and the chemical is definitely what your friend here said it was, conmer."
"Robert, do you have any record of this chemical being used before on any other case in the profiles?" Melinda asked.
"No, this is the first that we have seen. Everyone here in the lab is nerding out about it. It is unlike any chemical that we have analyzed before," Robert said with a big smile.
"Thanks, Robert. Go home. It's late," Melinda said, patting him on the back.
Ping! She looked down at her phone and looked at me and said, “Lieutenant Kendall wants to see us."
“All right, maybe he's got some new information we can use before we leave," I said as we walked towards the elevator.
"I wonder what he's doing here so late," she said.
As we walked into the lieutenant's office, he was walking out and said, “Come on both of you. I need a drink."
Moments later, we were three blocks away inside a dark bar. It was definitely what the humans called a dive bar.
"What's this about, Lieutenant?" Melinda asked.
"Three shots of tequila and three beers," Lieutenant Kendall said to a female server. Her eyes looked over me and she smiled. Typical. The human females always wanted me, and this one was not hiding it. If I wasn't already promised to another, I would take advantage of her invitation that she gave me with her eyes.
"I've got some information, but it does not leave this table,” the lieutenant said, leaning in close to us.
Melinda furrowed her eyebrows and said, “What is it, Lieutenant Kendall?”
"Have you new information?” I added.
He leaned in and said, “You didn't hear this from me, but I think these vanishings of women have something to do with the department or with the government.”
Melinda gasped and said, “Why do you say that? What did you hear."
"I did not hear anything particular. It is more of a hunch, and if you were to repeat it to another, I wo
uld deny it. But this case has been pushed under the rug for months, and it was only when a high-profile female was taken did everyone suddenly want to take action. There something going on here. I don't know what it is. But I wanted to let you to know what I am noticing since you are assigned to the case.”
"And what is that? What have you been noticing?” I asked him.
"That no one really wants to talk about it inside the department. That is very unusual for such a high-profile case. Usually everyone is jumping all over it and wants to be the hero. Everyone wants to speculate and be part of it. But this has many people turning away from it. It is highly unusual. I'm only telling you this so that when you are trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, you will not rule out that it could be an internal job. That our government or even the department might have something to do with it,” he said as he grabbed a shot of tequila and downed it. Then he started on the beer, chugging it. Then he threw some money on the table and said, “Enjoy. Remember: we didn't have this conversation.” Then he walked out of the bar.
Melinda and I were left staring at each other. She grabbed the shot of tequila and chugged it. Then she grabbed mine and chugged it down as well.
"Fuck," she said. “Can I get two more shots over here!” she shouted at the female server.
"What do you think it means? Do you suspect anyone in your department?” I asked her.
"No, it's news to me. That's why am chugging down this tequila. Well, that and the fact that I will only be on Earth for one more day before leaving into space. I plan on getting wasted. Care to join me?” she said as she drank down her beer. She was going to get hammered, and I suddenly felt the need to watch over her. I took one shot of that tequila and slowly drank my beer. I sat there listening to her rant on about various things about being a woman and the inequality she faced so very often as a female detective, before moving on to talk about the mission.
"I am feeling nervous, I'll tell you that. I know firing a blaster at the gun range is not the same as firing while on a ship or on another planet. I am nervous about it. Shit, I'm nervous just about being in space. I'm excited about it because I've never been, but this isn't exactly a vacation. Who knows what complications will come up that I did not expect."
I looked at her and shock. Was she saying what I think she was saying? She had never left Earth. She had never been on a ship in space, or on another planet. This meant that she had absolutely no experience in the field when that field was space. “Detective Katiama, you have never been in space?"
"No, the bastards would never let me. I'm not exactly rich and can’t afford a vacation on the space station like the elite. My only way was through the I.S.F.A., and I was only just promoted,” she slurred out her words.
"When were you promoted?” I asked her.
"This morning. This is a celebration,” she said as she pushed her beer into the air and it sloshed around the glass, pouring down her hand. She was a sloppy drunk.
"You got promoted this morning? So you have no experience at all as an agent in the Intergalactic Special Forces Agency?” I asked her once again, shocked and angered by this new information.
"No, I have no experience in space. Never been on a ship and never been to another planet. No, that's a lie. I have been inside the ship when it was at the port, but not when it launched. It was more like a tour of the ship as part of training.”
"Fuck. Why would they do this?” I asked myself as I waved the female server over for another shot. This one would be for me. I would need it. Now I knew that what the lieutenant was saying was true. There was something going on inside the department. There is no reason to promote a new detective and give that new detective a high-profile case on a first day other than the fact that they would want the detective to fail, or expect them to. Melinda was being set up for failure.
They were setting us both up. They did not know exactly how good of a detective I was, but they had no choice because King Jarith Rykor had set it up so that I would be the one to search for Katie. But the department must have been trying to counter at my ability to investigate by giving me a rookie detective that would not know what the hell she was doing well in the field. This was definitely a set up. There was more going on here, and we needed to get to the bottom of it.
I grabbed the new shot of tequila placed in front of me and threw it back. Then I waved the server over for another. The strong drink of Earthlings was only half as strong as the drinks of Drackon. I could drink forty of these and barely feel anything, but it did give me a good sense of calm in this sudden realization about my partner and why she was assigned to work on the case. I looked at her, ready to tell her that she was being set up to fail, but she was too drunk and would not understand what I was saying.
"Detective Katiama, I think you've had enough. Let's get out of here. We should get an early start on tomorrow,” I said as I put more human money on the table and lifted Detective Katiama out of her seat.
"But I'm just getting started,” she said in a whiny voice.
"No, you're done.”
"You don't tell me what to do," she said leaning on me and looking up at me. Her body so close to mine was giving me a reaction, one that I would have to restrain. I had to use a clever trick here because she was way too stubborn to do anything I asked her simply out of spite.
"But wouldn't you rather drink the wine you have at home?” I said guessing to watch you might have to drink at her own place.
She looked around the bar and then looked at me and said, “Good point.” She stood up straight and then staggered her way out of the bar as I followed.
Once we were on the sidewalk, I grabbed her arm and said, “Allow me to walk you home.”
"I'm perfectly fine on my own, Drackon!” she said angrily to me.
"No, you're not. You are a novice; you have no idea what you're getting yourself into,” I said, moving closer to her, towering over her petite frame. She put her hands on her hips and strained her neck back, looking up at me with narrowed eyes.
"How dare you say that to me. I am a better detective than you will ever be. Take it back,” she said as her hand swung up toward my face as she tried to slap me. I stepped backwards, dodging her sloppy swing and in her momentum, she went crashing down to the sidewalk.
"Oh great,” I said to myself. Not only was she a novice in the field of space, but she also could not hold her drink. This should be entertaining. I knew that she would not willingly let me walk her home or put her in a cab, so I would have to take matters into my own hands. I grabbed her bag and searched through for her identification card.” 862 87th Street, number fifteen twenty-one," I said.
Melinda was sitting on the floor as I put her ID back in her bag and stepped away from her and down the sidewalk a bit, “Stay right there. Don't move,” I said.
"Hey… I told you don't tell me what to do. Where are you going?” she said drunkenly. I moved down the sidewalk and then in a flash, I shifted into dragon form.
"Holy shit,” she whispered as she watched. I stretched out my wings and stretched my arms out above my head, preparing for flight. I swiftly flew over next to her.
"I have never seen that happen before. It is amazing. You are amazing. Wow,” she mumbled in her drunken stupor.
"It's all going to be fine. I'm going to get you safely home so that we can continue to work on the case tomorrow. We don't have much time before we have to leave on the mission and you have a lot to learn,” I said as I placed her bag diagonally across her body and then scooped her up into my arms. Her hands instinctively went around my neck. Her full lips and almond-shaped eyes were so close to my face. I inhaled her scent and closed my eyes with a groan.
"What is it?” she asked me.
I debated telling her the truth, then I realized that she would not remember any of this anyway, so I went ahead and told her the truth. “You smell absolutely ravishing; I've never smelled another like you. It drives me wild with lust."
"Oh," was all
she said, but the way her lips parted slightly and the way she looked up at me through her lashes let me know that my words had an effect on her. I needed to get her home and away from me; she was too much of a distraction. I took flight, shooting straight up into the air and she let out a delightful squeal. I flew high above the buildings and soon she felt comfortable and was looking down with a smile.
"Are we really flying? Or am I just really drunk? Is this a dream?” she asked me.
"We are really flying; you're almost home. You are safe in my arms. I will not let you fall,” I said, squeezing her closer against my body and my metallic scales. Her arms went tighter around my neck and she was no longer looking down at the city; she was looking up into my face. I had to restrain myself from kissing her.
I looked away from her face and straight ahead, concentrating on that direction. I could see her building up ahead with the numbers 862 in white neon light on the side. I landed firmly on the roof, which was an outdoor lounge and garden. I could see doors for an elevator so I knew that we could definitely get into the building this way.
