by E A Price
The rhino stopped and glowered at him before a horrible grin spread over his face. “Yes, you did, didn’t you?”
Gerry arched an eyebrow. “If you’ve nothing more to say…”
“Interesting choice,” boomed the rhino. “The agent you chose has only been with us a couple of weeks. What’s her name again? Josie? Jamie?”
His snake stirred. “It’s Ms. Duchamp.” To Barry it was always Ms. Duchamp. “Although really Barry, you should know the members of your department.”
Barry nodded with far too much acquiescence. “True, very true. Pretty little thing, isn’t she?”
Gerry stilled. His beast was snarling, but Gerry froze like a statue. He knew that whatever was coming out of the rhino’s mouth next was going to be bad. It was going to incite him into a rage. He told himself to be calm. He told himself not to overreact. He told himself not to jump over the desk and wring the damn rhino’s neck
The rhino gave him a smug look. “If you want to fuck her, just do it. Don’t mess around with my department. She’s a bit plain for my tastes, but she has a decent set of tits, and her ass would look fucking good gah!”
Barry started choking. It was hard to talk or even breathe with a hand clutching your throat. Yes, in spite of everything he just thought, he couldn’t help himself. It was only when the rhino started turning blue that Gerry managed to soothe his beast and pry his hand away. And that took a hell of a lot of effort on his part.
The rhino fell to the floor and spluttered as he grasped at his neck. “You’re… you’re fucking insane,” he hissed in between gasps.
Yes, Gerry wasn’t going to disagree with that. He’d never liked Barry Sayles. He defied anyone to actually like him. The male made dirty remarks about every female in the building – and that was just the tip of the iceberg. There had been accusations about him forcing female agents to have sex with him. But whenever he tried to take the matter forward, the female in question always changed her story and suddenly decided she must have been mistaken. Gerry really thought they had a chance to get rid of Barry a year ago when a lemur shifter became pregnant with Barry’s child. But, just as suddenly as the other women, she decided she had been mistaken about Barry and even changed her mind about the child being his. But in spite of all that, Gerry had never actually hated Barry enough to try and kill him before. Well, there was a first time for everything thought his beast, almost cheerfully.
Gerry, regaining a little control from his python, sat back down at his desk and opened Jessie’s file. Looking at her picture helped. He took a couple of deep breaths. “I think we’ve finished talking.”
Barry stumbled across the room as quickly as he could. “You fucking lunatic!” wheezed the rhino. “I don’t care who your fucking father-in-law is, I’ll get you fired for this.”
Gerry smiled grimly without looking up from the picture. “Have a nice day, Barry.”
The rhino ran out of the room, almost tripping over his feet. Gerry slowly came to the realization that he probably shouldn’t have done that. On the other hand, his snake was thoroughly satisfied by the encounter. It was probably a feeling that they should both try and enjoy for as long as possible – right up until the moment that he was fired.
Chapter Seven
The crime scene techs scattered out of Gerry’s way. He didn’t have a reputation for being warm and cuddly, quite the opposite in fact. But usually, he didn’t make people run from him. Course they’d never seen a glower quite so fierce, and considering the way he barked at a couple of agents for goofing around at the front of the house, nobody was taking any chances.
He was not having a good day and he didn’t seem to be able to rein it in enough to be his usual calm and collected self. The look Jessie gave him as she left his office still gnawed at him. It was a mixture of anger, hurt and downright disgust. His python was slithering through his mind, trying to force him to do something – to go to her. But what could he say? He already knew she deserved better than him, so what was the point of harassing the poor female. She deserved another male, a younger male, a… His beast growled, and he clenched his fists to stay his shift. Yes, she deserved that, but the plan still was that they would be together eventually, right? Right?!
“Well? What’s going on?” he snapped as he found Gunner.
The huge bear paused. “Ah, murder…”
“And you called me out here why?” he demanded, impatiently. “Can’t you handle anything by yourself?” All he wanted to do was sulk at his desk for the rest of the day – now those plans were shot to hell.
Gunner blinked in surprise at his tone. Gerry eventually relented. Before he met a certain squirrel he was determined to keep up to date with every detail of the cases his teams were working on, and even surprised and annoyed them by just turning up at the crime scenes.
“What is it?” he asked more evenly.
“There’s something off about the crime scene,” admitted the bear with just a hint of sheepishness.
Gerry cocked his head on one side, and unease skated over his spine. Something wasn’t quite right. There was some kind of crackle in the air, like some kind of magic was at play. He noted the dead body had already been covered. If he couldn’t see the huge amount of blood, he would have been able to scent it. The coppery tang was an assault on the senses. But he could also scent that the victim was a male wolf shifter. “How did he die?”
“Well, the guy was beaten and tortured and then,” Gunner winced, “he was stabbed in the dic… ah, groin.”
Gerry pursed his lips. Sadly this wasn’t the first time he’d had a murder like this. Last time it was because the male in question was sleeping around on his wife. He was sixty-eight and had a potbelly that Santa would envy, but that didn’t stop him. He was the Don Juan of his retirement village.
“Who found the body?”
“The housekeeper. She came back in the middle of the night because she left her phone here. Our perp probably thought they had all night.”
“Did she see anything?”
“She heard noises in the house, and she thinks she heard the back door, but we haven’t been able to get much out of her. She was pretty freaked out by the body.” Gunner rubbed his head. “I had to call in paramedics to sedate her. I doubt we’ll be able to talk to her for a few hours yet.”
“Understandable,” murmured Gerry. “Have the crime scene techs found anything?”
“I asked them to hold off until you got here – thought you’d want to see it. Although, I did cover up the body - it’s not a pretty sight.”
Gerry nodded. “You can feel it then?”
“There’s some kind of magic here,” agreed Gunner. “Except the way he was killed wasn’t magical, I’m guessing that’s the knife over there.” He inclined his head to a large, sharp, bloody knife lying on the floor.
Gerry’s gaze roved around the room. His phone started ringing. Absently, he answered it, and Norma told him in her gruff, no-nonsense way that Jessie was in his office and wanted to talk to him urgently. Apparently she was upset about something.
His first instinct was to run to her, but he forced himself to overcome that. “I’ll talk to her later,” he said through gritted teeth because his growling snake was making it very hard to speak.
What was he doing with Jessie? What was he going to do? The look in her eyes when his wife turned up… he didn’t want to see that again. What was he thinking? He should never have kissed her… now all he could do is think about doing it again.
“Sir? Gerry!”
He looked up to find Gunner staring at him. “Everything okay, Gerry? You seem a little distracted.”
“Hmmm? Sure. I, ah, found a tech consultant to work with your team full time.”
“Already, that’s great, who?”
“New employee, Jessica Duchamp.”
“You mean the squirrel shifter?” His lips curled in amusement. “Saw her running around the Christmas party with mistletoe and a Rudolph sweater. I think she
cornered Wayne for a kiss.”
“Indeed,” hissed Gerry, darkly.
Gunner looked at him for a moment. “Well, it’s great news anyway.”
As they were looking around the room, Gunner knocked a stone to the ground. It started glowing. “What the…”
“Oh shit!” His python roared as he ran at Gunner, knocking them out the window just as the room exploded.
*
Jessie rearranged the pictures of her family, the pots of pens, the cuddly toys that were her lucky mascots – and definitely worked no matter what some naysayers thought – as well as her usual supply of bags of nuts. Yes, she was a squirrel who loved nuts, although she was careful about saying the fact that she loved nuts out loud – some dirtier creatures found it hilarious.
She spun just as Robbie knocked on the door. “Knock, knock,” he said, and she resisted the urge to tell him he didn’t need to say knock, knock when he was knocking. She really had lost her temper if that kind of thing bothered her – usually, she was so easy going that a swarm of bees could have worked their way into the building, and she wouldn’t complain.
“Hey, Robbie.”
Robbie gave her a stilted smile. “Hey, uh, nice office.”
Jessie looked around. Yes, it was. It was a little big, even with all the computer screens, and a little lonely compared to the bullpen downstairs, but she quite liked it.
He looked at her with obvious interest. “I was surprised at you being transferred up here. Actually, everyone’s a little surprised. We’re all kind of curious about why.”
If he was looking to her for an answer, he was out of luck. The only explanation she had was going to be taken the grave. “I’m not sure,” she said, lamely.
He didn’t look like he believed her, but he tried to look happy. “Well, congrats, I’m sure you’ll do great.”
“Thanks.” Her squirrel chirruped. She would do great. No matter how she got the job, she was going to ace it.
“Hey, listen, there’s a special showing of Raider’s of the Lost Ark down at the old cemetery. They put up a screen and everyone finds a headstone to lean against – it’s a lot of fun. Some of us from downstairs are going if you want to join us.” Robbie couldn’t hide the hopefulness in his eyes.
She tried not to grimace as her tiny beast bared her fangs. Not interested, cat, growled the little squirrel. Oh, but wouldn’t it be so much easier if she were? They’d make such a cute couple. What would people think if they saw her and Gerry together? Not that she was suggesting that anyone ever would, but she wondered if other people would think they looked odd.
“Thanks, but I think I’m going to get my new office in order. Maybe another time.” Her squirrel scowled; she shouldn’t have said that. She should have just said no. Now he’d probably ask her out again.
Robbie was disappointed, but he tried to shrug it off. “Yeah, no problem, so I guess I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah, night, Robbie.”
He waved and disappeared. Great. Stupid director, what was he thinking? He was alienating her from the rest of the department. And for what? Some dumb sense of guilt because he kissed her. The kiss didn’t mean anything to him – she got it! No big deal! But did he really have to rub it in her face by giving her a promotion? How dare he? How dare he do this to her? Maybe she wasn’t thinking logically, but she was just so damned steamed. How dare he kiss her and not feel the same way about the kiss as she did? How dare he ignore her all day?! How dare he be married? added her animal.
That’s it. Enough was enough.
Jessie strode down the corridor to his office. He was there; she could see the light under his door. She considered waiting and knocking but… no, she was going to march right on in there and give him a piece of her mind. Which is what she did. Well, partly.
She walked in, planted her fists on her hips and said, “How dare… ah…”
Gerry was standing in front of his desk, shirtless. Cohesive thoughts fled her for the moment. He turned to look at her and a grimace flashed across his face. Her squirrel whimpered as she took in the cuts and bruises all over his body. A deliciously taut and ripped body it must be noted.
“What the hell happened to you?” she breathed.
One side of his mouth curled up. “I jumped out of a window.”
Her heart clenched as the thought of him dying gripped her. “Jeez, I was disappointed too when they ran out of tacos in the cafeteria but killing yourself seems a little drastic.” She laughed nervously.
He chuckled but gasped. “Don’t make me laugh.”
He swiped some cotton pad over some cuts on his torso.
Jessie shook her head. “You’re doing that all wrong.” She strode forward and grasped the cotton out of his hands and gently pushed him down to perch on the edge of his desk. Her nose wrinkled as she gave the cotton pad an experimental sniff. “What is this?”
Gerry passed her a bottle. “Iodine.”
“Iodine? Really? Have we gone back in time?”
He tried to shrug and then thought better of it. “It was all I could find in Norma’s desk.”
“Yeah, she strikes me as the merciless type when it comes to injuries. Shouldn’t you be in the hospital?”
He held his breath as she carefully dabbed at his cuts. He breathed out. “You’ve done this before?”
“I have a ton of younger siblings who enjoy jumping out of trees. Yes, I’ve done this once or twice. Don’t avoid the question.” She gave him a look of disapproval, and she swore he was trying not to laugh.
“The hospital would want to keep me in and subject me to a lot of unnecessary tests. My shifter genes will heal me. I just need time.”
“And iodine, apparently. Why don’t you go home?” To your perfect wife, her beast added nastily.
“I’d rather be here.”
“Won’t your wife want to look after you?” She couldn’t help that one slipping out.
Gerry smiled wryly and not just because she was causing him pain. “I wouldn’t bank on my wife braking if she saw me lying in the street.”
Jessie said nothing and continued dabbing. Her squirrel was intrigued by what he said, but Jessie was not prepared to go there. Instead, she concentrated on her task. She traced her fingers over his ribs. He breathed in sharply. She felt bad at how much pain he was in, but she couldn’t help a little bit of guilty pleasure at how much she was enjoying touching him. Was it wrong to say that a man had a lovely body? Because his was really lovely.
“My marriage is…” he began.
“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” she said as she pressed a cloth against him with just a little too much pressure. He winced, and she decided to change the subject. “Why did you jump out of a window?”
“I was at a crime scene. There was a… bomb.”
“A bomb?” she repeated, faintly while busying herself with his injuries so he couldn’t see the horror on her face. He didn’t need to know just how affected she’d be if anything happened to him. She didn’t even want to know. They’d barely even met and she felt like her world would grind to a halt if he wasn’t in it. It was happening crazy fast.
“Technically, it was a magical totem, rigged to explode. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time I’d dealt with one. Thankfully, this time no one got seriously hurt. But, it was jump out the window or explode. It really wasn’t much of a choice.”
“Second floor?”
“Third.”
“Ouch.”
Amusement danced on his lips. “I landed on a fairly soft polar bear shifter, so it could have been worse. He did have go to the hospital.”
“You could have been killed,” she whispered as her squirrel whimpered, fearing he wasn’t taking this seriously enough.
Gerry grasped her hands, which had started shaking. She looked at them. His long, pale fingers curled around her small, pink hands. “But I wasn’t,” he said, softly. “Was there a reason you burst into my office?”
She gave hi
m a watery smile. “Seems to be a habit for me.”
“You don’t have the excuse of snow this time.”
“Well, this time, I was mad at you for giving me a promotion.” Some of her former wrath returned. It was a welcome break from worry.
“Not something I’ve encountered before,” he chuckled. “Most people like getting promotions.”
Jessie pouted at him, but that only made him grin wider. “You only gave me that promotion because you felt guilty over the kiss.”
The smile disappeared. “That wasn’t the reason.”
“No?” she scoffed.
Gerry sighed. “I’m not a total monster who throws around promotions. I did check that you were suitable for the role, and I figured that given you were new, you would be the best choice for the Alpha Team. One of the members of the team already pissed off all the tech consultants.”
“Really? Would that be Cutter the wolf shifter?”
“His reputation precedes him,” he said, dryly.
“I heard he actually dangled one of the tech consultants out the window by his feet.”
Gerry groaned. “No, he just threatened to do that, and then threw the guys shoes out the window for some reason.”
“Oh?”
“I don’t bother asking anymore. I did consider Cora for the role, too, but I feared that there might be a clash of personalities that would just result in a lot of headaches for me. I figure you’d be the best person to work with Cutter. Not to mention Zane – the bear shifter almost has Cutter beat on most people in the building pissed off by asshole-like behavior.”
“Oh, I see.”
He sighed. “I shouldn’t have kissed you.”
“Yes, you’ve made it clear you regret it,” she huffed, only a touch bitterly.
Abruptly he stood up, despite the pain the sudden movement caused him. He cupped her face. “That’s not it. It was… inappropriate.”
“Your wife,” she hissed, ignoring the whiny chittering from within.
“No, my marriage is in name only. My wife’s current boyfriend is called Bruno I think. Although I’d rather you didn’t repeat that to anyone.”
