Stakeout (Aurora Sky (13 page)

Dante smirked at Valerie and said, “Good
thing you came. A call girl’s gone missing, and Melcher needs you
to work through her clients until you find the culprit.”

My mood was so dark I couldn’t even crack a
smile.

The smug smile on Valerie’s lips turned into
a death glare. Melcher walked in, followed by a man in his late
twenties. Although he was trim and cleanly shaven, there was
something foreboding in his stance and the chilly way he looked
around the room. The man took his place behind everyone while
Melcher walked around his desk.

“Team, I have bad news. Agent Crist was found
dead over the weekend.”

The room went silent.

Melcher’s seat creaked beneath his wiry
figure. “One of our own... gone.”

“Did a vamp get her?” Dante asked, voicing my
own question.

Melcher nodded slowly. “I’m afraid so. From
what the autopsy report showed it appears that this was a rush job.
We believe Crist was simply in the wrong place at the wrong
time.”

Kind of like Valerie at Marcus’s.

I clenched my teeth. I shouldn’t be thinking
like that. This was bad news. Vamps had already gotten another
informant a couple weeks ago, but an agent? How the hell did that
happen? These killings were hitting way too close to home.

“Any leads on the culprit?” Dante asked.

Melcher nodded toward the back. “That’s what
Jared’s here to help us with.”

“Agent?” Dante asked.

The man relaxed his arms and quirked one brow
in a way that reminded me of a villainous cartoon. “Just Jared,” he
replied smugly.

Melcher cleared his throat. “Jared is our top
recruiter. He’s taking out time to help us find Agent Crist’s
killer.”

“Where do we start?” Dante asked.

“We found another body beside Crist’s,”
Melcher said. “We believe the second body will lead us to the
culprit.”

“Who was it?” Dante asked.

Melcher looked directly at Aurora. “It was a
boy named Michael Peterson. He went to West High School. Did you
know this boy?”

Holy shit! Mike, the boy who followed us to
the palace?

The color drained from Aurora’s face. She
stared back at Melcher, speechless.

I leaned forward in my seat. “He followed us
to Marcus’s party Friday night. The moment Aurora noticed him, she
escorted the boy back to his car. That’s the last we saw of
him.”

“Marcus,” the Jared guy repeated eagerly
behind me.

Melcher’s lips puckered when he frowned.
“Marcus doesn’t like to get his clothes wrinkled, let alone his
hands bloody.”

“He’s not the only one,” Jared said.

Melcher looked across his desk at me. “Who
else was at this party?” He pulled out a notepad and clicked his
pen.

Gavin’s name was the first to pop in my head.
Suddenly my throat felt dry. My brain kept going blank other than
seeing Gavin’s eyes when they’d looked at me warmly. His smile when
we’d joked together. I needed to think of other names—to remember
who was there. Anyone but Gavin. Even after he’d abandoned me, I
felt an insane urge to protect him.

“Um, obviously, Marcus was there,” I said to
buy myself more time. I glanced sideways. Aurora, Dante, and
Valerie were all staring at me—Aurora and Valerie the most
intensely.

“Thomas, Gretchen, Maxine, Roger, Buck, Cole,
Stewart, Andre, a couple waiters,” I said, finally regaining my
visual memory. I rattled off more names as they came to me, leaving
out Fane and Henry, though I still bore Henry’s bite marks. If
Melcher asked I’d answer truthfully, but omission wasn’t lying.

My stomach twisted uncomfortably when I
remembered Henry calling Mike trouble and Fane’s half-hearted
attempt at humor when he suggested they kill then dispose of the
body at the dump.

“Where did you find the bodies?” I asked.

Melcher tapped his desk once. “At the
landfill.”

I forced myself not to look at Aurora. That’s
where Henry, Gavin, and Fane had disposed of the vamps who’d
abducted her.

Fane left the party early on Friday. And who
knows when Henry left. I’d passed out pretty quickly and woken up
alone.

Melcher sat up in his chair. “I need all of
you to wait out in the hall while Jared and I talk. We’ll call you
back to deliver your instructions, so don’t go far.”

As soon as we were clear of Melcher’s office,
I whispered to Aurora, “I had no choice.”

“I know,” she said.

Before we could say anything more, Dante
slipped in between us.

“Poor Agent Crist, who would have
dreamed?”

Aurora nodded. “It’s horrific. And Mike.”

Dante slipped an arm around Aurora and me.
“What’s with this party I wasn’t invited to?”

“You wouldn’t last five minutes with Marcus,”
I said.

Marcus would eat him up all right—young,
handsome, well-built boy like Dante. He’d probably find his humor a
turn on, too.

Dante chuckled. “So he’s a biter, is he?”

Aurora rolled her eyes. “Only when it comes
to hot younger man.”

Clearly we were thinking the same thing.

“You just admitted you think I’m hot,” Dante
said to Aurora.

I ducked out from under his arm. I wasn’t
sticking around while they played footsie in the hall, especially
not with Valerie headed in our direction.

“I can’t believe you two, flirting when Agent
Crist’s killer is on the loose.”

Valerie’s presence was my cue to leave

I ducked around the corner, but not for long.
The moment I heard the secretary’s phone ring in the hallway, I
returned and followed everyone back inside Melcher’s office.

“All right everyone, let’s get down to
business,” Melcher said before I’d taken a seat.

The new guy sat on the edge of Crist’s desk,
looking slightly less bored now that it was assignment time.

“Two of the guests were from out of town.
We’ll start with them. Andre Morrel lives in Sitka and Buck Jenner
is in Fairbanks.”

Andre Morrel didn’t strike me as the killing
type. I’d only seen him at the palace twice, but he hadn’t taken
anyone upstairs either time. The man looked more socially starved
than blood thirsty.

And laid back, cool dude, Buck Jenner? The
idea of him attacking and murdering two people was laughable.

Jared pushed away from Crist’s desk, looming
over us. “Listen up, rookies. We’re splitting into two teams.”

Please don’t put me with Valerie. Please
don’t put me with Valerie. I’ll kill the bitch if you pair us
together.

My jaw clenched.

Jared glanced at Valerie and Aurora. “Ginger
and Raven, you’re with me.”

Thank God!

“You two,” Jared said, looking from Dante to
me. “Moose and Mouse. You’re a team.”

Mouse? Seriously? My disgust most likely
mirrored everyone else’s.

Jared grabbed a coin off Crist’s desk. “We’ll
flip to see who goes where.” He looked at Dante. “Heads you go
north. Tails, south.”

Dante shrugged. “Sure, whatever.”

Jared flicked the coin at the ceiling,
snatching it mid-air, and smacking it over his arm. “Heads,” he
announced.

All I knew was that Fairbanks was three
hundred and sixty miles away from Clive and that sounded fine to
me. Maybe I wouldn’t come back. Melcher had lost an informant in
Fairbanks. I could take her place. Fairbanks was a great place for
a lonely and unloved girl. I could walk around town all day with my
frozen heart.

“I’ll have three seats booked on Alaska
Airlines leaving tomorrow,” Melcher said addressing Jared, Aurora,
and Valerie.

“What about school?” Aurora demanded.

“Sorry, Aurora.” Melcher said, sounding
anything but. “This takes precedence.”

Aurora stormed out. Valerie got up and
stretched before heading for the door.

“Guess I’ve got some packing to do for the
big trip,” she said.

Dante started out after Valerie.

“Dante, we need to talk to you and Noel
next,” Melcher called after him.

“I’ll be right back,” Dante said.

Probably chasing after Aurora. For some
reason guys got the urge to be superheroes whenever she was
distressed or in trouble. Then there was me, left to fend for
myself. My card had been dealt.

Dante wasn’t gone long. “Give me the word,
boss,” Dante said, smiling as he walked back into Melcher’s office.
“Do you want this guy interrogated?”

I snorted. Being free of Valerie did wonders
for my psyche. “Buck Jenner didn’t do it. The guy likes beer better
than blood. He’s relatively new. Still thinks he’s normal,” I
said.

This time Dante snorted. “No one who lives in
Fairbanks is normal. Take it from a guy who grew up there.” He
grinned.

“Nevertheless, I want you two to check him
out,” Melcher said. “No engaging. Follow, observe, and report back
to me.”

“Got it,” Dante said. “When do we leave?”

Melcher leaned forward on his desk. “You’re
driving, so anytime.”

Jared shot us a dismissive glance.

I got up out of my chair and walked into the
hallway ahead of Dante. As soon as he’d walked out, Jared shut the
door. The guy reminded me of the instructors I’d had at boot camp.
Absolutely zero character or emotion.

Aurora wasn’t a big Melcher fan, but at least
there was something human about him under the surface. Guys like
Jared had even less humanity in them than vampires.

“So, what do you say, Noel? Want to leave
now?”

I glanced sideways at Dante. He obviously
didn’t expect me to agree.

“I’m ready if you’re ready.”

“Really?”

I was ready yesterday. It wasn’t like Clive
would take time off work to follow me to Fairbanks. And good luck
trying to stalk me when I wasn’t in town.

7

I drove home, threw some things in a bag, and headed
for Dante’s place. When I knocked on the door, a dog barked.

“You weren’t kidding about being ready to
split,” Dante said as he let me in.

I shrugged. “I travel light.”

A great big golden retriever tried to ram his
head between my legs. I grabbed him under the jaw and patted him
firmly on the head, pulling it away from my crotch.

“That’s Tommy,” Dante said, retreating via
the living room. “Come on in. I have a few more things to throw
into my bag.” Dante disappeared down a hallway.

I walked into the living room, keeping my
back to Tommy, who followed close behind. A jumbo flat screen took
up one wall. There were three remotes on the coffee table across
from it, a bowl half-filled with pretzels, and stack of
Sports Illustrated
magazines.

Dante returned carrying a duffel bag, which
he dumped on the couch. The bag gaped open. At the top was a
handgun, knife, and roll of duct tape.

I rolled my eyes. “You won’t need any of
that. Buck wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“So, you know this guy really well?”

“Not really.”

Dante raised a brow.

“Fine,” I said. “Bring your weapons if they
make you feel better.”

Dante grinned. “They always make me feel
better.” He turned to his bag and zipped it up. “What time is
it?”

Did I look like the kind of girl who wore a
wristwatch? When I didn’t answer, Dante looked over at a mantle
against the opposite wall. “Two thirteen. The day is young.” He
hoisted his bag over his shoulder. “Come on, Tommy.”

The golden retriever wagged his tail.

“Wait a minute,” I said. “The dog’s coming
with us?”

Dante continued toward the door. “Yeah, my
roommate’s working on the slope this week. Can’t leave the dude
alone all day. Anyway, he’s a great lookout dog. Aren’t you,
Tommy?” Dante’s bag dropped to the floor when he stopped to scratch
the dog behind the ears. “What do you say when you sense a vampire
nearby?” Dante stared into Tommy’s eyes. The dog stared back, went
still, then suddenly let out one shrill bark. “Good boy, Tommy,”
Dante said, ruffling the fur on his head. Tommy’s tail swished from
side to side.