Fire Within (12 page)

“Thank you.” Andreas leaned forward. “This is the second vampire murder, and both victims were clients of your agency. I think we have to ask if there is anyone among your staff or other clientele who might be involved. Any arguments, someone with a grudge?”

Shale’s face tightened. “I would have told Ms. Calin if there was.” He smoothed out his features. “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound so defensive, but you hit a nerve. As I listened to the interview, I started worrying about the same thing. But I don’t think the victims even knew one another.” He shook his head slowly. “I haven’t heard of any trouble among the clients, and I can vouch for my staff. Perhaps the connection is merely the ethnicity of our clientele. A hate crime, if you will.”

“Have you received threats?”

“From time to time we do. Nothing I remember within the past month. Ms. Binderman could be more specific. She’d know of crank letters or calls. I want to help, but that’s all I know. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get home now. It’s very late, and tomorrow will be busy.”

Ari noted Shale’s annoyance. Although he hadn’t liked Andreas bringing up the agency connection, she was glad the issue was out in the open. She’d hesitated to alienate Shale so early in the investigation, but she was aware the agency was the only known link between the deaths. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t uncover something else, but for now, they would keep a close eye on Shale & Associates.

Ari had almost reached the front door in her second attempt to leave, when Andreas spoke from close behind her. She nearly jumped.

“Arianna, I would like to see you home.”

Taken aback, she looked over her shoulder and frowned. “That’s not necessary. It’s not far.”

“We need to talk.”

Ari was shaking her head before he finished. “No, we don’t. Let it go, Andreas. I’m tired. I just want to go home.”

“Not about the past, the present.”

She glanced at his face, suddenly curious. What was on his mind? He’d joined the investigation—what more could he want? Aware Ryan and Shale were listening, she wanted to end this quickly. She considered refusing. Almost did. But Andreas’s raised brow told her he wouldn’t give up easy.

“Make it quick,” she said, facing him squarely.

He reached past her. “In private,” he insisted, holding the door.

Ryan cleared his throat, as if he might intervene, then shrugged. Ari was relieved. If she had to have this awkward conversation, she preferred to do it without witnesses. As they stepped outside, she was aware of the speculation following them. Ari started up the street toward home. Andreas fell into step beside her. His magical energy seeped along her skin, making her jittery. She wasn’t sure if it was deliberate or a sign that he was nervous, too.

“My presence is not comfortable for you. Nor yours for me. Regardless, we must find a way to work together.” Andreas’s voice was controlled, easing but not eliminating the flow of magic between them.

“Not if you’d let Ryan and me handle this.” Ari tried not to sound bitchy, but she wasn’t good at hiding her moods. He’d forced this situation on her. She didn’t want to be around him, didn’t want to have this or any other conversation with him—and definitely didn’t want to feel the way he made her feel.

“You know I cannot back off from this. Prince Daron is responsible for what happens to his people. To ignore these murders would cost him their respect. The vampire court is making an effort to cooperate with local authorities. If you refuse, we will be forced to proceed on our own.”

“How? By ripping someone’s head off?” The blurted words were harsher than intended. And unfair. Ari heard his sharp intake of breath. He didn’t answer for several agonizing heartbeats.

“You knew what I was. I never tried to hide it from you.”

She sighed. “I know.” The conversation had quickly slipped to where they had agreed it wouldn’t go. The past. To that night last fall when Ari had seen him snap a woman’s neck with one twist, not tearing it off, as she had implied, but bad just the same. A werewolf who more than deserved killing. Still, when Andreas’s vampiric nature had been thrown in her face, when she’d seen what lurked under his charming exterior, Ari hadn’t handled it well. In fact, she hadn’t handled it at all. She had run like hell. Yeah, real cop-like.

“I guess…for a while I forgot what you were.” The same excuse she’d used for months, as she’d tried to understand her reaction. It had sounded lame then, still did.

They had come to a standstill in front of her apartment building. Too aware to look at him, Ari watched a beetle crawl across the sidewalk and disappear into the grass.

“You did not forget, little witch.” Andreas’s voice was softer now. “You chose to ignore it, as long as I let you. It is the one thing you could not accept and the one I cannot change. I am what I am.”

She lifted her lashes. “If that’s what you think, why did you flaunt it and force the issue by killing her? I’ve had plenty of time to think about this, and I know you have better control. So, tell me, why did you kill her?”

“Is that the question you really want to ask? Or is it why did I not let
you
kill her?”

Ari looked away, confused. Why had she let this conversation get started? It was so complicated. And he was at least partly right. She’d been angry that he’d denied her personal vengeance. Or at least robbed her of the right to make the decision.

When she didn’t answer, he asked, “Would knowing the answer make a difference?”

She thought about it. He deserved an honest answer. “Probably not. I just want to know.”

Andreas cut off a harsh laugh. “Then I have no reason to enlighten you. I did not come here to satisfy your curiosity.” He sounded pissed now. “What I did is done. Over. But we still have to cooperate on these murders and end the threat. If you prefer, I will contact Lt. Foster whenever possible, but I must remain involved.” He paused, and she sensed his anger fade. “Arianna, I never meant to…”

He reached a hand toward her arm, and she jerked away, cutting off his words. “Don’t touch me.” The last thing she wanted was for him to be nice. Anger she could take. But he was too close. She didn’t want that compelling magic to spill over her. She didn’t trust her response.

Andreas dropped his hand. “I would not harm you.” His voice was sharp with disbelief.

“Harm me?” Ari exclaimed, stepping toward her door. “As in attack me? I never thought you would.” At least, not recently. Not for a long time, in fact.

“Then, what frightens you?”

“Nothing,” she lied. And everything. She didn’t want to care about a creature capable of unleashing such violence. She had her own demons to deal with. And neither of them had mentioned the really scary stuff. The strange mystical link their magics shared. Or the dreams. The unexplained bond. Andreas was way too dangerous to ever make a comfortable boyfriend.

His eyes darkened into unfathomable depths. Ari shifted her gaze, avoiding direct contact, and clamped down her defenses. No magical stuff tonight. But her precautions were unnecessary. Andreas cut off his magic, leaving the space around her strangely empty.

“I am delighted to hear that,” he said, once more the aloof vampire. “If you have no legitimate concerns, I assume we can work the case without difficulty. Are we agreed?”

“Yeah, fine.” Anything was better than continuing this discussion. “But call Ryan, not me.”

“As you wish.”

He sounded exasperated, but Ari’s quick glance at his face caught a hint of something else. Satisfaction? Now that she thought about it, he’d gotten his way. Again.

Chapter Seven

Thursday was busy but totally worthless as far as the murder investigations. Before Ari left her apartment, her cell phone was already ringing. Every Otherworlder in Olde Town had chosen that day to have issues. Nothing serious, just time consuming. A pregnant dwarf needing a mid-wife, complaints against landlords, neighbors, spouses. Even a con-artist, masquerading as a palm reader. It took Ari almost four hours to track the palmist and prove she was a fraud. In the end, Ari left it to Gillian and OFR to confiscate the equipment and arrange for the culprit’s appearance before the Magic Council. The calls she didn’t get were the ones she wanted: OFR’s sensory report from the latest crime scene and word that Andreas had located the vampire bullies.

The forty permanent members of the Magic Council held their weekly meeting on Friday morning. Ari attended, submitted her written reports on the two vampire deaths, and answered a handful of questions from the representatives. Most of the Council members were professional and friendly, including Steffan, of course. Definitely not Lucien, the vamp rep and her nemesis. They’d had words more than once. She was surprised to learn that Andreas’s presence on the investigative team had a plus side. It kept Lucien from grilling her at length. While Lucien made it sound like Andreas was conducting a one-man inquiry, that was no big deal to Ari. Maybe Andreas would be the one to solve the murders. She’d never said he wasn’t skilled.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the council president, an elderly wizard, stopped her in the hallway. “These vampire murders trouble me very much, Ari. If they continue, the vampire community may demand revenge and take matters into their own hands. That would indeed be a serious development.”

“Especially if they draw the obvious conclusion—that a human is hunting them.”

He peered at her over his reading glasses. “Do you disagree?”

“Not sure yet. It doesn’t feel right. I’m hoping a report from the lab will point us in the right direction.” She wasn’t ready to discuss the eerie feeling she’d had at the second crime scene. It might be nothing.

“Whatever you do, you must do it swiftly. I do not want a couple of tragedies to turn into a bloodbath.” The ancient sorcerer retraced his way toward the meeting chambers, his head of snowy hair bent forward as if today he felt the full weight of his duties.

* * *

Much as Ari wanted to relieve the old wizard’s anxiety by jumping in and solving the murders, she didn’t have a single lead to follow. She listened eagerly when she found a message from Ryan waiting on her cell phone. He wanted her to stop by the station. Good news or bad, at least something was happening.

Knowing the second murder had placed Eddie’s guilt in question, she entered the PD building in a hopeful mood. Ryan looked harried when she arrived at his door. His disordered curls were proof that he’d run his fingers through them repeatedly, a sure indication of stress.

“Bad day?” she said, plunking her butt onto a well-worn wooden chair.

“You think?” He threw down his pen, heaved a long-suffering sigh, and leaned back. “This case is driving me nuts. And I thought it was a shoo-in.” He fidgeted with a paperclip on his desk. “With this second murder,
The
Clarion’
s lawyers are putting pressure on the district attorney to release Eddie, and the DA’s been all over me. I was resisting, until this.” He handed her a report. “ME’s findings on our second victim. Homicide by traumatic injury. Weapon unknown.” He frowned. “Might be a gun, might not, but I can’t prove it one way or the other. Inconclusive at best. Off the record, he thought it was the same cause of death as victim one. Oh, and the report on Mrs. West’s gun is underneath. Hasn’t been fired,” he added as an obvious afterthought. Having delivered what he considered bad news, he sank into glum silence.

“Eddie’s confession was a lie,” she said.

Ryan grimaced as if she’d stuck him with a pin. “Maybe. The park murder doesn’t clear him, but it muddies the case. Of course, we could have two killers. Maybe Eddie’s accomplice committed the second murder alone.” His suggestion was half-hearted.

Ari bit her tongue, saying nothing, and Ryan went back to brooding. He was having a hard time ditching his ironclad theory, but he’d come around. She was relieved on Eddie’s behalf, but Ryan wasn’t in the mood to share the sentiment. Ari was already thinking ahead, wondering if clearing Eddie had actually been the easiest of her tasks. The investigation was back at square one, starting over.

“We have to question everything again,” she concluded. “Gillian didn’t find evidence of gun fire at the first crime scene. No residue, nothing in the air. I don’t have last night’s report from her yet, but what if it’s the same? I was at the scene quickly. I didn’t notice any odor of gunfire. But there was something. Something creepy.” Ari saw Ryan’s instant frown. He hated the vague, magical stuff. “Sorry. Wish I could be more precise.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s something Andreas said. About a strange feel to the park last night. Had no idea what he was talking about.”

Ari straightened in her chair. “So, Andreas noticed it too. He didn’t explain? Or suggest what it was?”

“I got the impression he didn’t know. Or that he wasn’t sure.” Ryan gave her his cop stare. “I take it you two didn’t get anything settled on the walk home. Sure would help if you’d talk to one another, figure this out. These supernatural elements are beyond me.” He stood, gave himself a visible shake, and gestured for her to follow him. “Come on. Your buddy should be in Interview by now. I told the jail to bring him up as soon as you arrived. Thought you’d want to be in on his release. Let’s go do this.”

Before she could respond with more than a big grin, her cell rang. She stopped to answer, while Ryan waited. “Yes, Mr. Shale.”

“Really wish you’d call me Harold.”

“Okay, Harold. How can I help you?”

“Carl asked that I call and see if you’ve made any progress. Anything I could tell him might help.”

Ari wondered if this was going to be a daily annoyance. She gave him the standard line. “It’s early in the investigation. We’re still pursuing leads.”

“Good. I’m sure you and the lieutenant know what you’re doing.” There was a short pause. “The, ah, other man, the vampire with you, is he a cop, too?”

“You mean Andreas?” She frowned at the phone. “Why do you ask?”

“He practically accused someone on my staff of being a killer.”

“It wasn’t personal. It’s routine to consider everyone. Andreas isn’t a cop, but he’s our liaison with the vampire community. We’ve worked with him before.”