[Draven's Crossing 1] Hidden Diversions (17 page)

Jagger spoke. “Yeah, we’ve got security footage of a man in a trench coat, collar turned up, about medium height and build at the post office dropping off the letter in the
In Town
slot. The postage was bought at Abbott’s place, so was the stationary. We’ve sent people there to do a check of receipts. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say we are dealing with a local. None of the other stationary stores we’ve spoken to have had anyone but out of towners buying that kind of paper. My gut is telling me look to our citizens. The question is do we tell the public or don’t we? Madame Press here says they’re entitled to know. I disagree.”

Torger looked to Urban as he weighed the options. Urban nodded. “I disagree too. We’ll have a
Monsters on Maple Street
situation, everyone reporting their neighbors. That quiet guy is too quiet kind of shit.
So, no.”

Isy sputtered. “But what if someone saw something? What if they have information that we didn’t have before? We wouldn’t be utilizing all of our resources. Torger?” she demanded.

Torger sighed. “I can see both sides of the argument, but I will not have friend against friend. No matter what the danger is. We’d have every Tom, Dick and Harry flooding the tip line to report even the stupidest shit like their neighbor putting out the trash on Thursday when pick up is on Monday. We have to think strategy.
Anything more on the envelope?
On the cologne?”

Jagger looked down at his tablet.
“Local too.
Similar to what you wear, in fact.” He gave Torger a cheeky smile.

Torger sighed.
“And?”

“It’s almost the same brand but with a few modifications. We’re thinking it’s used to mask his natural scent. I’ll look deeper into it. Wolf boy over here has more info about the contests.” Jagger nodded to Urban.

Urban glared at Jagger. “Thanks, Count Dracula.” He proceeded to tell Torger what CyberCat had found about the contests and blood type question. Urban also added the information about the pills found in Evanson’s residence.

Torger stroked his chin. “There’s never been a record of him having any kind of affliction, especially associated with vampires or werewolves or any other shifters. But this has to do with his personal life…for now,” he added before anyone could protest. “Unless it adds to the case before us we have to concentrate on the killer and the new bodies. This blood type thread is interesting and it does speak to intent to lure people into his feeding ground. Those contests need to be shut down. I need to go to Draven with this new information. I will say that this gives us an excuse to poke around. I’ll call in a warrant. Urban you want to do a computer forensics search of their tech? They’ll be pissed, but at least we have this now. All right, people get to work.”

Isy sidled up alongside of him. “What should I do?”

Torger gazed down at her. “What do you mean?”

She blinked. Dark brown eyes filled with impatience. “I missed my show today. I’ve been working with Urban on the pill line. Do you want me to continue that or do something else?”

Her energy crackled around them. He could feel it pushing his lethargy and filling him with the need to be active. He could think of something for her to do, but it would be inappropriate to say aloud much less think about. Torger had to focus on the case at hand. “Yeah, do that, keep looking for information about the pills.”

He wasn’t sure what else he could ask her to do. As much as he wanted to get her to stay out of it, he doubted she would. She’d just had a brush with the killer. There was no evidence of nerves or fear. She seemed to be chomping at the bit to go and dig deeper, follow the trail, find out what Evanson was hiding. Isy beamed up at him. “Thanks.”

His heart melted a bit as a wave of warmth crashed into his chest. He felt his lips tug up into a smile. “No problem. But take it easy, okay?”

A well plucked eyebrow rose in question. “And you too? Last I checked
,
bags under the eyes weren’t sexy. You’re too hot to look like you haven’t slept in a hundred years.” She gave him a cheeky smile before she danced away.

He watched her go as his brain processed what she’d just said. They had always flirted, but she’d never come right out and said she was attracted to him. The tiresome day that he’d had faded away in that light. “Well, fearlessness isn’t exactly the sexiest thing in the world,” he shot back.

She frowned while Urban and Jagger concentrated on trying to look busy. Isy crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you saying I’m not sexy?”

Torger chuckled. “You get me some dirt about that pill and we’ll talk. I’m going to catch some sleep. I need it. It’s been a long day.”

He turned and left the room. Once in his bedroom, he placed a call to Draven on what they’d found. Draven ordered him to get some sleep before he benched him. Torger didn’t want that. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his second in command, Petra Anderson, he just liked to be in control. He stripped out of his sweat pants and T-shirt before sliding into bed, naked. It wasn’t exactly the best thing to do. At any second Jagger or Urban, or even Isy, could come banging through that door with news but he couldn’t sleep otherwise.

Besides that if his wolf decided, during sleep, to take over and go for a run, he wasn’t going to hinder it with clothing that would be ruined and cumbersome. Lately, his wolf had been desperate to break out and feel some freedom. It had nothing to do with the full moon only days away and everything to do with the unspent tension that this case was bringing on them both. There were two options that Torger could see to help ease the stress: sex with some random woman or shifting, using all the energy that the transformation brought on to gain some sense of release. His wolf would have preferred sex, with Isy especially.

But sex was off the table, at least for now. There wasn’t time. At least in his head there wasn’t any. His thoughts came to his duty to Draven’s
Crossing
and his alpha status came first. Any love life he wanted would come later.
Even if his yearning for Isy was growing.

He could smell her in his
house,
track her progress by where her perfume drifted. The imprint of her nearness weighed against his body. He could see the mischief light up her eyes as she teased him. He knew that once she left, Urban and Jagger would give him no end of grief. Not to mention that Jagger would tell Draven and Draven would try and play matchmaker, even going so far as to get Rose in on it. They would then have to insist on double dates that would end in discomfort. Draven and Rose would act like they were the only people in the world and end up almost having sex.

How Isy would take it he didn’t know, but his wolf would want to fuck and if Isy was near, it would be a disaster. Torger focused on trying to get some sleep. It would be the only thing he could do right that day.

* * * *

Torger’s cologne trailed after him leaving a teasing cloud around Isy. She tried to concentrate but her dragon wouldn’t leave her alone. Images of a naked Torger flooded her brain. Pearls of sweat formed at her hairline. Isy wanted to bury her nose in his neck and inhale, lick and nip his skin and search out if he smelled like that all over. The words on the computer screen meant nothing to her. They were gibberish in the face of him being home.

His presence was all over the house, but it wasn’t until he came home that things coalesced and it became
his
place. The cabin felt empty without him. It lacked the warmth and presence that he brought. Every nook and cranny now made sense from the handmade wool quilted throw on the arm chair near the fireplace to the howling
wolves
salt and pepper shakers, to the huge hunting locker filled with meat he’d hunted, killed and cleaned himself.

There were pictures on the wall of nature scenes and books about Zen and calm and relaxation as well as animals. At least those were the books on display in the more open places, not in his room. While Urban had been snooping online, he hadn’t paid her much attention. She’d slipped into Torger’s room and found some interesting things. Items that she’d only dreamed about him having an interest in. There were books with bondage scenes on his private shelves and sex toys in a chest at the foot of his bed. The thought of him using those implements of pleasure on other women had her and her dragon seeing red.

Envy colored her emotions until she was forced to close her eyes and breathe until she calmed down. Then her curiosity had been piqued, and she couldn’t help but search for more. There was no evidence of another female presence, which went a long way to keeping her relaxed.
But barely.
The urge to mark him shuddered through her body in a hot tide that filled every pore and saturated every limb until she was left shaking and needed to sit down.

As she sat on his bed, the mattress sank beneath her as if welcoming her weight. She had laid back and rolled onto her stomach, burying her face into the covers and inhaling deeply. Isy wanted to strip naked and climb under the sheets. But that wasn’t all. She wanted to strap him down to the bed, explore every inch of his body until he couldn’t take it anymore and then she wanted to give him release.

Isy felt the tension from him. It radiated off of him in waves and turned her stomach into knots. The stress made her dragon jumpy. The beast wanted to come out and end whatever it was that was making her nervous. Rather than kill it, she would just do what needed to be done. Seduce! Besides that, she was tired of denying her attraction to him. It was tedious.

With a glance at Jagger and Urban, she saw that they were both ensconced in whatever it was they were searching for. She was pretty sure that they wouldn’t notice her disappearance. In fact they’d probably be grateful that she left them alone. No questions and no reporter presence to worry them that she might feature whatever they said in an article or blog post, or report. Isy stood up and smoothed her hair. “I’m going to go take a nap. I need to recharge. I’ll be back.”

Urban waved her off without saying anything, and Jagger just grunted. With those lovely parting sounds and ministrations, she walked off to have her wicked way with Torger, and she wasn’t taking no for answer. Besides, he needed it and her.

Chapter Nine

NO PROGRESS. NO BODIES.

Is ‘no bodies’ good news or bad?
- Isadora Jones, DC News Blast

Torger tossed and turned in his bed. He could smell her on his covers. Her scent drifted around the room like an enticing trail he wanted to follow. His skin burned as his muscles contracted. Blood flowed straight to his cock, thickening the shaft. His balls hardened and throbbed with the need for release. With a groan, he rolled onto his stomach. His mind was split into two parts: one half didn’t think it was right to want sex much less have it with so many bodies piling up, and the other didn’t give a shit and needed to feel something good in a world full of crap. He didn’t want to think about anything. He had the All Packs meeting that was coming up after the full moon. His mind was abuzz with thoughts and lists. There were things he had to do and things he had to discuss. Torger hadn’t met with his Beta yet, nor had he met the new leader of the Branson pack after the old one had been ousted. Then he had to make sure that Draven would get the old ones to meet with him about the killer. There was Evanson to deal with, and he didn’t want to think about the shit storm that could come out of accusing him of anything, especially not with the man’s wife dead. Whether he had anything to do with it or not, the public wouldn’t be happy. Muffy Evanson was a beloved figure in the community. If the Representative had anything to do with her death, there would be chaos. He needed to be sure, to dig deeper. Torger knew he’d have to ask Isy to dive into the archives and see what she came up with.

The sweetest perfume drifted under his door. He snorted and sat up. She was near. His eyes had already adjusted to the darkness. He saw a shadow move in front of his door but it didn’t go to the guest room across the hall. He waited; the seconds ticked by. Each moment like a drip of water on his face, it seemed to last forever and there was no end in sight. He swallowed. His lips became dry as his heartbeat sped up. The jangle of a hand on the door handle rang in his ears. The delicate shells prickled at the musical sound. He waited. His heart stuttered and then crashed against his ribcage in a heavy drum beat. His body heat spiked as his wolf waited. Need coiled in the pit of his stomach. He licked his lips again, hoping, praying for what, he didn’t know. All he saw was that if she didn’t do something soon, he would. And then there would be no turning back. Everything would change for them, and he wasn’t sure how everyone would react or how everything would land.