Chapter 6
“Surprise!”
Kat stared at the tiny brunette holding two cups of coffee and standing in her doorway before stumbling forward and wrapping her arms around her. She squeezed tightly as the woman giggled.
“Hello, Kit-Kat. Have you missed me?”
“Have I missed you?” Kat mumbled. “Oh, Bria, you have no idea.”
She hugged her again and the tiger shifter squeaked in pain. “Kat, too tight!”
“Sorry,” Kat eased her grip and smiled at her best friend. “When did you get back?”
“Yesterday,” Bria said.
“I thought you were extending your trip,” Kat said.
“Well, I did technically extend it by about a month and I would have stayed longer but then Raden decided to come back here with me. My parents were a little relieved. They thought I was going to live in the jungle forever.”
“Raden?” Kat asked.
“Jungle hottie with the man bun, remember?’ Bria said. “Raden – my new man.”
Kat blinked before shaking her head. “Right, right. Sorry – the guy you keep posting pictures of on Facebook.”
“Yes, the guy on Facebook,” Bria laughed. “Listen, I know I’ve been gone for a while and we haven’t talked that much but you’ve been getting my messages about Raden right? We’ve been friends for twenty years – there’s no way you’ve found a new bestie to replace me.”
Kat didn’t reply and Bria arched her eyebrow at her. “Have you?”
“What? No, of course not. Come into the house,” Kat said.
Bria collapsed on the couch with a sigh and tucked her legs under her as Kat sipped at her coffee. “I really needed this. Thank you, honey.”
“You’re welcome. Did I wake you up?”
“Um,” Kat hesitated. “She had technically been awake but she was still in bed, nursing the mother of all hangovers and replaying over and over exactly what she had said and did to Ronin last night.
“Kat?” Bria cocked her head at her. “Tell me what’s wrong, honey.”
Kat sighed and took another sip of the steaming coffee. “I fucked a bird shifter, Bria.”
Bria’s mouth dropped open and she leaned forward. “The hell you did.”
“I did,” Kat groaned before covering her face with one hand. “And God help me, it was the best sex of my life.”
Bria squeezed her knee. “Start from the beginning, Kit-Kat. Tell me everything.”
* * *
“Okay, so maybe you didn’t have the best sex of your life with a bird,” Bria said half an hour later. “It was during your heat cycle and we always think sex during our heat cycle is the best sex of our life. You know that, Kat.”
Kat rubbed her aching forehead. “Yeah, maybe.”
“And you were drunk last night. People do stupid things when they’re drunk. Just explain that to this Ronin when you see him at work on Monday.”
“Oh God, I don’t even want to think about seeing him at work tomorrow,” Kat groaned. “Fuck, I am making such a mess of this.”
Bria sipped at her coffee. “Is it really such a big deal that you want to sleep with a bird? It’s not like the guy’s a weakling. He took down Judd.”
“Yes, I’m sure that will make my mother very happy,” Kat said.
Bria flinched. “I forgot about your mom. She’ll freak out if she knows you’re dating a bird. Remember that time in high school when we were hanging out with that – oh, what was she again?”
“Peacock,” Kat said.
“Right, Patty the peacock,” Bria said. “Your mother flipped when she came home and found Patty sitting at the kitchen table with us. Poor Patty. I think she nearly had a heart attack when your mother started hissing and spitting at her. Remember how she shifted and then started dropping feathers everywhere?”
“Yes,” Kat said. “We were finding feathers for weeks afterwards and every time we did, mom made me scrub the entire kitchen from top to bottom to get rid of the life-threatening bird diseases.”
Bria laughed before patting her arm. “It sounds like Ronin’s pretty charming. Maybe he’ll win your mother over.”
“He’s never going to meet my mother. We’re not dating, Bria,” Kat said with a frown.
“Just sleeping together.”
“No, not that either. I made a mistake.
Bria leaned forward and studied her carefully. “Listen, all kidding aside, Kat, why does it bother you so much that he’s a bird? I know there are cat shifters who actually really do hate birds but I also know that you’re not one of them. You’re the most accepting person I know. “
“It’s not because he’s a bird,” Kat admitted. “He’s my employee and it’s inappropriate for me to be sleeping with him.”
“Isn’t Mal dating your receptionist?”
“Yes, but it’s different.”
“Why?”
“Because,” Kat hesitated, “because I’ve worked hard to gain Mal and Bishop’s respect and for the first time in my life, I feel like an equal in my career. It’s what I’ve always wanted, Bria, and I’m not going to throw it all away for some roll in the hay.”
“I know I’ve only met Mal and Bishop a couple of times but they don’t seem like the type of shifters who will judge you on who you sleep with,” Bria said.
“Maybe not on the surface but deep down…”
Kat trailed off before giving Bria a rueful smile. “It’s a bad idea, Bria.”
Bria gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry, Kit-Kat.”
“It’s fine, Bria. It’s for the best. Can you give me a ride to Mal’s brother’s place? He has my purse and my cell phone.”
“Of course,” Bria said. “And I’ll take you for breakfast afterward.”
“Ugh.” Kat shook her head. “I’m too hungover to eat.”
“Nonsense,” Bria said. “It’ll help your stomach. Run and get dressed, Kit-Kat. I’m starving.”
* * *
“Thank you for seeing me, Officer Umbert.”
The officer nodded before taking a sip of his coffee. “You’re welcome, Mr. Haddon.”
“Please, call me Clay.”
“Sorry it took so long to meet but the wife and I were on our annual trip to Mexico. Go every year for six weeks.”
Clay leaned back in his chair and sipped at his own coffee before glancing at the front window of the coffee shop. “That’s no problem. So, you said the coyote shifter looked odd.”
The officer nodded. “Yeah, bigger.”
“Have you seen a lot of shifters in their animal form?” Clay asked.
“Probably more than most humans. Part of the job, you know? And there’s more shifters on the force than you’d think. Where did you say you worked again?”
“Stowe Laboratories,” Clay replied.
“Right,” the officer said before giving him an appraising look. “And Stowe Laboratories does what exactly?”
“We study shifters and their healing abilities,” Clay said briefly. He wasn’t exactly lying but he wasn’t going into detail unless the cop pushed.
“And why is your company interested in what happened at this coffee shop two months ago?”
“You shot the shifter in the chest, is that correct?” Clay asked.
Officer Umbert nodded. “Yes. He went down and I thought it was over. But then he popped back up like some crazed jack-in-the-box so I shot him three times in the head.”
“So you shot him in the chest which maybe wouldn’t be enough to kill him but it would definitely put him down and require a trip to the hospital, don’t you agree?”
The officer shrugged. “Shifters are pretty strong.”
“True, but have you ever heard of a shifter shrugging off a direct shot to the chest?”
He hesitated and then shook his head. “Nah.”
“Exactly. Yet, this shifter did. That’s why we’re interested, Officer Umbert. Our lab wants to know what it was about this shifter that gave him such enhanced healing abilities,” Clay lied. “It would give us new data for our research.”
The officer sipped again at his coffee and Clay scrolled through his phone for a moment. “Was anyone bitten or scratched during the attack?”
“Not that I know of but I just showed up at the end. It was just luck that I was even there.” The cop frowned in thought. “Although an ambulance did show up and I seem to remember them loading someone into it.”
“Do you know who?”
“No but even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. We don’t share details of cases with civilians,” Officer Umbert said.
Clay bit back his grunt of frustration before staring at his phone again. “There was a jaguar shifter and a bear shifter at the scene. Is that correct?”
The cop nodded. “Yeah. They were trying to hold off the coyote shifter. I guess they were in the coffee shop when it went down the way it did.”
“Were they bitten?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Do you know their names? I’d like to speak with them.”
“I don’t but again, even if I did…”
He trailed off and Clay smiled stiffly at him. “Right, no details.”
* * *
Kat smiled at the barista and took her cup of coffee with a nod of thanks. She glanced at her watch. She had nearly half an hour before the office opened and she tried to decide if she wanted to sit in the coffee shop or go to the office. It would be quiet and she could get some work done before the others showed up. Her stomach churned nervously. She had barely slept last night and she was dreading talking to Ronin this morning. It had to be done. Not just because she needed to apologize for Saturday night but she also needed to talk to him about his new assignment.
She took her coffee and headed for the door as a familiar face caught her attention. She slowed to a stop and studied the grey-haired man. She was certain it was the cop who had saved her life and she hesitated only briefly before heading toward him.
She stopped next to the table and he, as well as the dark-haired man with him, stood as she smiled uncertainly at him.
“Hi, I’m not sure if you remember me, but – “
“Jaguar shifter,” the cop said.
“That’s right. We met a couple months ago at this coffee shop when that coyote shifter went crazy. We spoke briefly before I gave my statement to the police but I just realized that I never found out your name or thanked you for saving my life.”
“Travis Umbert, ma’am. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“I’m Katarina Frost. Thank you for saving my life,” she said before shaking his hand firmly.
“Not sure if that’s entirely accurate – you and your bear friend seemed to be holding your own – but you’re welcome,” the cop said cheerfully.
Kat glanced at the dark-haired man. He was tall with broad shoulders and short dark hair and he was wearing an expensive-looking grey suit with a dark blue tie. The blue in this tie matched his eye colour perfectly.
“This is Clay Haddon,” the cop said.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Haddon,” Kat said before holding out her hand.
He shook it briefly before smiling at her. “Nice to meet you as well. I was actually just speaking with Officer Umbert about the incident with the coyote shifter.”
“Mr. Haddon works for a laboratory that studies shifters and their healing abilities,” Officer Umbert said.
“Do you?” Kat said politely.
“Yes. I was wondering if you had some free time to go over the events of that day with me. It would be very helpful to my company and our research.”
“Why would a coyote shifter who has gone mad be helpful to your company?”
“We believe he had some type of healing ability that hasn’t been seen before,” Clay said smoothly. “I can explain in more detail during our meeting. Would now work?”
Kat checked her watch again. “Unfortunately, no. I have a very busy day. But I could meet with you tomorrow.”
She handed him a business card. “Just call the number on the front and have our receptionist set up an appointment, okay?”
“Absolutely. Thank you, Ms. Frost.”
She nodded to him before turning and holding her hand out to the cop. “Thank you again, Officer Umbert.”
He shook her hand again and she squeezed it lightly before leaving. She walked briskly down the sidewalk toward the office. Already her mind was worrying over what she would say to Ronin and she sighed and shoved the door of the building open before heading to the elevator. She would just keep it simple and straightforward. She would apologize, thank him for giving her a ride home and then keep it strictly professional from now on.
* * *
Clay climbed into his car and watched in the rear view mirror as Kat entered a large building before studying the business card in his hand. The jaguar shifter was a very attractive woman and he wondered briefly if he could coax her into his bed. He’d never slept with a shifter before but her lithe body and light green eyes were extremely tempting. He snorted to himself as his cell phone buzzed. Mixing business with pleasure was a bad idea.
“This is Clay.”
He listened intently before muttering a curse. “Are you sure? Yeah, okay. No, I’m not far from there so I’ll head over and see what I can find out. Tell Wyatt I’ll call him later.”
He threw his cell phone on the seat and rubbed a hand through his dark hair before starting the car. Fuck, he hoped like hell the animal attack at Galloway Park had nothing to do with the fucking mess they were in but he had a sinking feeling in his gut that it did.
* * *
“Morning, Bren.”
“Morning, Jake. What have we got?”
Bren Matthews followed the beat cop down the walking path of the park. An area had been cordoned off by bright yellow police tape and they moved past the crowd of civilians looking on with avid interest, and ducked under it. He could see crime scene investigators, covered from head to toe in white coveralls, milling about and Jake glanced at the coffee Bren held in his hand.
“How much of that have you had to drink?”
“That bad?” Bren asked.
Jake nodded. “That bad.”
The smell hit him first, a combination of rotting meat and dank earth, and he made a low grunt of disgust as his stomach turned over. He studied the body lying just behind the bushes.
“Jesus,” he said. “What the hell happened?”
“So this,” Jake flipped open a small black notepad, “is Brad Swarmson. He’s twenty-seven years old, works for First Credit Bank over on 110 Avenue, and he’s a squirrel shifter.”
Bren, holding his hand over his nose, leaned closer. “Are those quills?”
Jake nodded. “Sure are. Apparently he crossed paths with a porcupine shifter. It’s what tore his throat open and ripped out his insides.”
Bren frowned. “Since when do porcupine shifters go on murderous rampages?” He took another look at the missing chunks of flesh on the squirrel shifter’s face and torso. “Or eat other shifters?”
Jake shrugged. “Hell, I don’t know a damn thing about shifters.”
“What’s the time of death?”
“Well, according to the girlfriend,” Jake flipped over a page, “a Miss Sandra Mickelson, also twenty-seven and also a bank employee, about eleven thirty Saturday night.”
“Saturday night? It’s Monday morning,” Bren said. “Why the hell did she wait until this morning to report it?”
“She was attacked as well and barely escaped with her life. According to her, she spent most of Sunday hiding in that tree just over there.” Jake pointed past the crowd of gawkers at a large oak tree at the edge of the park. “Several residents in the area called 9-1-1 after they heard screaming and a patrol car did a drive-by of the area but didn’t see anything.”
“Why didn’t the woman flag down the police?” Bren asked.
Jake shrugged again. “Like I said, she was terrified and stayed in the tree until early this morning. Although, just between you and me, I get a serious ‘I don’t trust the police’ vibe from the woman. You know how some of the shifters are.”
“Yeah, but can you blame them?” Bren said.
“Nah, I guess I can’t but hell, we got enough shifters on the force – you’d think that would create some goodwill.”
“Where is she now?”
“She’s at their apartment. It’s only about five blocks south of the park. I told her a detective would be over to speak with her.”
Bren nodded before turning and scanning the crowd behind them.
“Think the killer might be watching?” Jake murmured.
“Maybe,” Bren said. “It’s happened before.”
He stared at each face. Most of them were dressed in athletic wear – joggers taking advantage of the park’s trails – but there were a few elderly people and more than one mother pushing a stroller. He frowned. There was a man standing in the middle of the crowd. He was tall with dark hair and dressed in a dark grey suit. He stood out from the others like a beacon and Bren was just starting toward him when Jake called his name.
“What?” He stared blankly at the cop.
“I asked if you’re going to go talk to Ms. Mickelson now or wait for the ME report.”
“I’ll talk to her now,” he said before turning back to the crowd. He blinked in surprise. The man was gone and he scanned the park and the street before coming up empty. Even running, there was no way in hell the guy could have disappeared that quickly.
“You see something?” Jake asked.
“Maybe, I don’t know. Listen, I’m going to go talk to the girlfriend. Can you give me her address?”
As Jake recited the woman’s address, he typed it into his phone and filed away the man’s face in his mental bank. It was probably nothing but something about the guy had his instincts on high alert.
* * *
Clay ducked down in the driver’s seat as the detective walked past his car and climbed into a dark blue sedan parked further up the street. He started the car and followed the detective. It had been nearly impossible to catch all of the cop’s and detective’s conversation, the babbling of the crowd had been annoyingly loud, but he had heard enough to know they were speaking to the girlfriend of the victim.
He grunted in surprise when the detective pulled over only a few blocks away. He quickly slipped his car into a spot behind a white SUV. The detective had noticed him in the crowd, he would have to be extremely careful not to attract his attention again. He took a casual look around. The street was empty – he guessed most of the neighbours were either at work or gawking at the dead shifter in the park – and he closed his eyes and concentrated before vanishing.
He materialized exactly where he wanted to - at the side of the building the detective was walking toward – and he pressed his back against the rough brick and took a quick peek around the corner. The detective had climbed the steps and he studied the list of names next to the front door before pressing a buzzer.
After a few seconds a woman’s voice, tinny and slightly muffled, came through the speaker. “Hello?”
“Ms. Mickleson? My name is Detective Bren Matthews. I’m here to speak with you about your boyfriend. May I come in?”
There was a moment of hesitation and then the door buzzed. Clay ducked back behind the building just as the detective’s gaze turned toward him. He waited patiently before taking another quick look. The detective was gone and he walked quickly up the steps and read the names on the list. There was an S. Mickelson listed next to a B. Swarmson in apartment 203. Satisfied, he jogged to his car and drove away.
* * *
“You’re here early.”
Kat looked up from her computer as Bishop entered her office and dropped into the chair across from her desk.
“So are you,” she said.
He shrugged and she studied him carefully. “What’s up with you?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not even eight yet and you’re not only at the office but you’re wide awake and happy. You’re even less than a morning person than I am, Bishop.”
He grinned at her. “Maybe I’m turning over a new leaf.”
“Yeah, maybe,” she snorted. “How’s Ava feeling?”
“Oh, uh, she’s a little better,” he said before looking away evasively.
“Just a touch of the flu then?”
“Uh, yeah, I think so.” She watched as Bishop cracked his knuckles nervously before changing the subject. “Mal talked to you about Ronin’s new assignment?”
“Yes. We’re pulling him off the warehouse detail and moving him to the mall while Boris is on holidays.”
Bishop shook his head. “That was the original plan but Mal’s thinking something different now.”
“What?” She asked.
“You remember Mavina Sorenson?”
Kat groaned inwardly. Mavina Sorenson was a two hundred and fifteen year old vampire who would forever look and act like a twenty year old. At the beginning of the year, her father had hired the firm to keep track of her after she began sneaking out of the house and fell in with a bad crowd of vamps. Like most vampires, she radiated charm and sexuality and they’d been forced to fire one of their employees, a bear shifter named Peter, when he’d started sleeping with the sexy vampire. Garth had replaced the bear shifter and, according to him, he spent most of the security detail fending off the vampire’s wandering hands. He had been more than relieved when Mavina had started to bend to her father’s wishes and the security contract had ended.
“I remember her,” she said as Bishop stared expectantly at her. “Did she join up with that gang of vampires again?”
He shook his head. “Nah. Apparently she took up with some other vampire for a few months. Some old school dude, super powerful and rich, and he didn’t take it very well when she broke it off. He’s been following her, making some threatening remarks, and her parents are worried he’s going to kidnap her or something. Anyway, Mal thought it would be a good idea to assign Ronin to her security detail.”
“We should use Garth,” Kat said. “He’s dealt with her before and – “
“Garth flat-out refused,” Bishop said with a small grin. “He basically said he doesn’t have the willpower to resist her again.”
Kat sighed loudly. “Seriously? Garth needs to learn to keep it in his pants or maybe he should find employment with someone else.”
Bishop frowned at her. “Garth’s a good employee, Kat, and I appreciate his honesty. Besides, vampires are damn hard to resist when they set out to seduce someone and you know that.”
“Yeah, I know,” she muttered. “What about Fenton? He’s got a thing for Ginger so it’ll be easier for him to resist Mavina’s charms.”
“Mal thinks Ronin would be best and I agree with him. The guy’s an ex-cop, he’s good with guns and he knows kung-fu. If this vampire is as dangerous as Mavina’s parents think he is, we want someone like Ronin watching over her.”
“He hasn’t been with us long enough to put him into this type of security detail,” Kat continued to protest doggedly. “We should keep him at the warehouse until we know we can trust him.”
“Mal and I do trust him, Kat. He saved Ava’s life, remember?”
“I remember,” she said quietly.
“Are you more concerned that he won’t be able to protect Mavina or that he won’t be able to resist sleeping with her?”
She glared at him. “What do I care who Ronin sleeps with? I would think since you and Mal seem to love him so much you wouldn’t want to assign him to Mavina. If he does sleep with her, we’ll have to fire him, remember?”
“Ronin’s going to get bored if we keep him on the warehouse detail much longer,” Bishop said. “We need to keep someone like him around, he’s a valuable asset and we’re damn lucky to have him, and we can’t stick him on night security at a warehouse where nothing happens.”
She didn’t reply and Bishop leaned forward. “Kat, I know you like him.”
Her face flushed and she stared out the window. “Jesus, Bishop, we’re not in high school.”
He laughed a little. “Yeah, I know.”
“And I don’t like him. He’s arrogant and sarcastic and – and stupid.”
Bishop roared laughter and she hissed loudly at him before crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t like him, Bishop.”
“That night that Ava and Ronin were attacked by the dragon, I saw the look on your face when you thought he was dead, Kat,” Bishop said.
“Yeah, because it’s a hell of a lot of paperwork when an employee dies on the job,” she snapped.
“Right, of course,” Bishop said. “And the way you hugged him and ran your hands over his naked ass was because you were thankful you wouldn’t have to do paperwork.”
“I did not run my hands over his naked ass!” Her fangs popped out and she growled at Bishop as her fingernails lengthened into sharp claws.
“Okay, okay,” Bishop held his hands up, “I’m sorry. Listen, Ronin is our best guy for Mavina security detail, you know that. And unless you can come up with a better reason for not wanting him on this assignment, Mal’s not going to budge.”
She scowled at her computer as Bishop heaved his large body out of the chair. “You’ll talk to Ronin about his new assignment? Or do you want me to do it?”
“I’ll talk to him,” she said.
“Perfect. Tell him I’ll take him to meet Mavina and her family tonight.”
Her scowl deepened and Bishop grinned at her. “Want to tag along?”
She opened her mouth to say absolutely not and instead said, “Yes.”
“Sounds good. We’ll meet here at the office at ten tonight.”
Bishop left her office and Kat sank back in her chair. She stared at the ceiling and rubbed her forehead. She didn’t care if Ronin slept with Mavina, she didn’t. Hell, if he did, they’d have to fire him and she would no longer be tormented by his sarcastic attitude and stupid dimple and tattoos. In fact, she should be thrilled that he would be guarding Mavina. Vampires were extremely hard to resist and sooner or later Ronin would succumb to Mavina’s charms. This was probably a good thing. So why did she have such a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach?