Into the Light (The Admiral's Elite Book 2) (9 page)

That he didn’t know about the last kill was a blessing. It didn’t look like his nerves could take any more strain. The details from the last one had been easy to keep from the media due to the nature of the scene. Although the windigo killed and took the heart, the victim was left in the road. A driver coming around the curve ran over the already damaged body, leaving the driver a basket case and unable to see any telling details. The sheer horror and carnage prevented him from seeing that the chest cavity had been ripped apart before his wheels crushed it. Police told him the victim suffered a heart attack while walking alongside the road and hadn’t felt anything when he’d been struck.

“Mr. Nowak,” Becca stepped forward. “I’d like to extend my deepest sympathies to your family. We are going to do everything in our power to catch this guy.” She smelled the adrenaline on the man’s skin through his padded flannel shirt and canvas jacket. He was a big man, at least thirty pounds too many had settled on his middle. That he kept coming at her warned Becca he was going to use all that to try to intimidate her. Spots in her vision told her she was right.

It wasn’t unusual given her age and youthful appearance that, if anything, made her appear even younger. Settling her weight evenly on the balls of her feet, she got ready for whatever he was preparing to do. Her eyes darted sideways to Michael to see his jaw was set but he wasn’t going to interfere unless absolutely necessary. It bothered him with her, but he let his people fight their own battles whenever possible. He knew Becca could handle this, even if he didn’t like it.

Nowak didn’t stop until he was inches from her, his meaty hand curled into a fist with one sausage shaped finger pointed straight at her nose. “You listen to me, little girl. You’re gonna catch this fucker and you’re gonna string him up by his balls. Then I’m gonna gut him and see how
he
likes it.”

Spittle landed on her lip and she kept herself from flinching or wiping at it. This man lost his daughter. He was angry and he was scared. She understood and wasn’t going to let him get himself landed in jail because of it. One move and he was likely to explode. She let him vent, knowing Danny would have been better at handling this. “I understand how you feel, Mr. Nowak.”

Clear blue eyes ignited under bushy blonde and gray brows. His thin lips pulled back to expose large, square tobacco stained teeth. “You come here from some big office where you look at a hundred cases like this one a week, cases that deal with someone
else’s
daughters and husbands. And you’re gonna tell me you understand how I feel? Do you have any idea what it’s like to know someone you love died scared and in pain?” His voice cracked, the corners of his mouth trembled.

Deliberately, Becca nodded her head. “I do know how that feels, sir.” She blinked slowly. “My former partner died on a case a lot like this one not too long ago.” Then she let some of her own heat bleed into her eyes. “I caught that bastard for him just like I’m going to catch this one for you. And for Susan.”

For a tense couple of seconds they gauged each other, then Mr. Nowak blinked and took a step backward. Wiping at his nose with the back of a hand, he offered it to her solemnly and she took it. “I’m holding you to that.”

“Me too.”

On the ride back to the station Michael sat shotgun and Becca slumped in the back with her head resting on the window. His eyes continued to catch her in the rearview when he thought his passenger wasn’t looking. After it became obvious that the girl was asleep, Detective Salvo attempted to discuss the scene he’d just witnessed.

“So, uh, Captain Rossi,” the chief had told him their ranks at the same time he’d informed him he would be cooperating with them fully or his ass would be in the filing room for the next month. “When did you get partnered up with Captain Sauter?” He got the impression he should refrain from using first names with this guy. He was kind of a jackass and more than a little territorial about her. Not old enough to be a fatherly kind of protective, the detective figured if he hadn’t closed the deal yet with his young partner, he wanted to. Too bad, she was cute and he liked the tight look of her body. He bet she ran. She kind of seemed like the type. She seemed kind of sweet too.

Cutting his eyes sideways, he saw Rossi staring out the window at the bleak winter scenery flashing past on the curving road. It was icy in patches where snow had blown over the asphalt and been packed down so he had to cut his speed by half. He’d passed another green mile marker by the time the man answered.

“Captain Sauter and I were assigned to each other almost three months ago.” He continued staring straight ahead. “She wasn’t responsible for her partner’s death.”

That he knew where any cop’s mind would go wasn’t surprising. When it came to loyalty and responsibility, partners were
it
in a cop’s world. Someone who had gotten theirs killed would be a pariah in any station. “Are you saying that because it’s true or because you don’t want anybody leaving her swinging if the shit comes down?” The chief could do what he wanted. Salvo wasn’t trusting his back to this girl until he knew what happened to the last guy who did.

Dark eyes swung around and Salvo felt the temperature in the car drop about twenty degrees. “There was nothing anyone could have done to save him. That same night Becca nearly died saving the rest of our unit. If anyone ‘leaves her swinging,’ they will answer to me.”

“I can’t.” The feminine monotone broke the uncomfortable silence, adding a new layer of awkward to the dynamic. “Wait, what are you doing?”

The girl started thrashing in the back seat, her feet kicking the back of his seat. Alarmed, Salvo checked his rearview mirror again and saw the girl had gone completely white and broken out in a sweat. Her eyes were rolled up in her head. “Shit, she’s not having a fit or something, is she?” He started to slow down, pulling over as he checked Rossi for a reaction. What he saw wasn’t what he expected.

Jaw clenched tight enough to shatter his teeth, the guy was whiter than usual. Weird since he was Italian like him except they were polar opposites on skin tone. That wasn’t what struck him as freaky. It was the way he was watching her. He’d turned around and was staring at her intently, listening like she was some sort of oracle. It was like he was committing everything she said to memory. Did he find her nightmares that fascinating? What kind of weirdo was this guy?

The car came to a halt on the side of the road and Rossi was out his door and into the back before Salvo looked up from putting it in Park. That guy was fast. He’d gotten in back with the girl but on the other side and, as much as he looked like he wanted to, he didn’t touch her.

Salvo didn’t like the way the girl’s face was contorted. She was seriously scared. “Shouldn’t we wake her up?”

The captain’s focus remained trained on the girl. “No, we can’t interrupt,” he said softly, offering no further explanation.

“Hey man, my grandmother was into that whole bad juju thing and she figured you couldn’t wake somebody up without their soul getting lost or whatever, but that’s bullshit. The girl’s having a nightmare, it’s pretty shitty to let her be that freaked out.” He twisted in his seat and extended a hand toward her knee.

Rossi’s hand caught his mid-reach. “Don’t touch her,” he growled.

“Please,” she pleaded in a whisper, “don’t make me do this.” Tears ran down her face. “I can’t.”

Detective Salvo was pissed. “Dude if you won’t wake her up, I will.” He tried freeing his arm to no avail. The guy was about the same size and build but his hand was like a steel clamp and just as warm. There was no moving it. “Let me go.” These people were weirding him out. He was going to be asking the chief again where they were from. And when they were going back.

With a whimper, the girl’s body went limp and his hand was released. Making no sound at all, Captain Rossi slid over until he was almost on top of the little thing and he wrapped an arm under her shoulders, tucking her in against his side. Her head flopped onto his chest.

Yep, he was totally into this girl. Part of Salvo was disappointed. He’d hoped she was a free agent. She was cute and there was something about her, that quiet confidence that usually had him chasing older women. The way this one carried herself said she’d seen some shit and she could handle it. That and the tight little ass in those snug pants turned him on.

“Is she okay?” Salvo glanced back at them again, not liking the whiteness of the girl’s skin or the dark shade of her partner’s glare he turned his way.

“Drive us to our motel,” he ordered.

“What about your car? It’s at the station.” Did this girl have some sort of medical condition? “Why’s she so pale? Is she sick?” he wondered aloud. “Maybe we should take her to the hospital.”

“Screw the car, get us to the motel now,” Rossi barked. “She’ll be fine.”

Glancing up again at the strain in the man’s voice, he was sure there was something more to this nightmare the captain wasn’t sharing. “Alright.” Irritated, Salvo turned himself back around and put it in drive. The motel was closer anyway and he was going to be more than okay with getting rid of these two. Then he was going to see what he could dig up on the mysterious Captains Rossi and Sauter. He was positive they weren’t Feds. At least not the normal kind. He had a quick mental listen to the X-Files theme music. “Shit,” he muttered under his breath.

Chapter 10

She was still sleeping when a gentle knock rattled the metal door. Michael hurried to unlock it and step outside, holding it mostly closed behind him.

“Is she okay?” Ryan’s concern was written plainly on his face. “It’s been hours.”

Taking one hand off the door handle to rub his knuckles over his jaw. “No, she hasn’t moved.”

Putting a hand on Michael’s arm, Ryan gave him a quick pat. “Sorry Mike. What do you need us to do?”

Glad to have something else to talk about, Michael focused on the other issue he’d encountered when he called Ryan to tell him they were back and what state Becca was in. “Have you heard from Gabrielle?”

It was Ryan’s turn to be the stressed out boyfriend. “No. She just up and disappeared after I came to bed.” He rolled his huge shoulders looking oddly helpless. “I don’t know what’s going on. All night she was fine until we cut through that farmer’s place. Then, she just sort of stopped and changed to human. We never do that when we’re tracking.” He reinforced his statement with a direct stare. “Seriously, I mean most of the time she’s kinda sad to change back when it’s time to come home. This time though,” his big head wagged from side to side. “It was like she was so shaken up she couldn’t hold to her wolf form. And then, when I tried to talk to her, she ignored me. It was eerie, she completely zoned me out. She just followed the trail back into a section of woods for about a mile. I changed so I could talk to her and then as soon as I did, she changed back until I got the message and left her alone. She went back to human and I stayed wolf. Figured if I was furry I could protect her better if anything happened. Funny thing was,
I
didn’t smell anything different at the farmer’s place than anywhere else. I have no idea what spooked her.”

Michael heard his pain and offered him a tight smile. “You know her Ryan, she needs her space.”

“This is more than space.” He crossed his thick arms in front of him. “She’s avoiding me.  Something shook her up man, and now she’s gone.”

“I can help you look for her.”

Ryan held up a hand. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m sure she’ll come back when she’s ready.” He aimed his chin toward the door behind Michael. “Besides,
she
needs you in there when she wakes up.” He backed up. “I’m going out to look for her now that the sun’s going down and I can do it my way. I’ll check in when I get back.”

“Right.” Michael nodded, tight lipped. “Give a shout if you need me, I’ll hear you.”

“Thanks.” Ryan backed away and jogged into the woods. Seconds later a cinnamon-colored wolf trotted out and looked both ways before crossing the road to disappear into the trees beyond. He would howl if he needed help. Michael could hear it from miles away.

Stepping back into their room, he breathed a sigh from habit, not need. His unit was under fire from within and he didn’t know how to fix it. The admiral would want an update and he couldn’t put it off any longer.