Tameka's Smile (22 page)

In a lightning fast move, Bull cuffed him upside the head.

“What was that for?”

“My momma’s a bitch. Yours, too, I’d imagine, since you were born a shifter. Show some respect,” he commanded sternly, but there was a twinkle in his eyes.

Chad narrowed his eyes. “What would you call her?” The stunned look on Bull’s face was comical. “Damn, man.

You got me there,” he said with a grin, then grew serious. “You think it’s the same perp who’s after your woman?”

“You suppose it’s someone else?” Chad’s left eyebrow arched in surprised disbelief.

Bull hooked his thumbs into the belt loops of his pants and rocked back on his heels a few times, appearing to give the matter great consideration. “Naw. This definitely feels like the work of psycho-bitch.”

Bull walked around the side of the truck to view the damage. Chad stayed where he was. He had no desire to see it until he absolutely had to.

“Dude, your truck. Your insurance company’s gonna shit a cow when they see this,” Bull exclaimed.

Chad leaned his head back against the truck and closed his 145

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eyes. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.” He knew it was bad.

He was pissed enough without seeing the damage.

“Looks like she tried to take out the gas tank. Good thing it’s on the other side.”

Chad bit back a few choice words, but couldn’t prevent a growl from escaping.

“Dude, I told you when you bought this to install a gun rack. If you’d have listened to me, you’d have been armed and could have fought back,” Bull stated smugly. “But no, you didn’t want to look like a country hick.”

He shot him a bird, feeling marginally better about the situation when Bull laughed.

He rose to his feet as no less than three deputy sheriff’s vehicles came screeching to a halt in front of his truck with Rome in the lead vehicle. He reached inside the truck for his shades and donned them before grabbing his hat. Once he’d shaken all the glass off of it, he slid it on his head. “Time to hunt.”

* * * *

She hurriedly stuffed the coveralls, cap, and wig into a black trash bag, and doused it with disinfectant spray before sealing it and tossing it into the back. Straightening her uniform until it was once more nice and neat, she got back into the driver’s seat and reached over, turning off the police scanner and shoving it under her seat. Once everything was situated to her satisfaction, she got back on the road and turned north towards Refuge.

As she neared the roadblock, she rolled down her window.

“Excuse me, young man. Can you tell me how to get to the Mountain View Emergency Clinic? I’m new on this route.” She smiled pleasantly and waited patiently as the deputy looked her and the van over suspiciously. Finally he said,

“Follow this road until you enter Refuge. About two blocks past Moe’s Diner you’ll come to Newman Street. Hang a left. The road dead ends at the clinic.”

“Thank you so much.” She paused and let an expression of concern cross her face. “Is everything alright? You seem to be 146

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looking for someone.”

“There’s nothing to worry about,” he assured her as his eyes continually scanned the road and surrounding area. “You just go on about your business and don’t pick up any strangers,” he warned.

“Don’t worry, Officer. Nowadays you can’t be too careful.

Why, some of the most horrendous criminals look as innocent as a young child.”
Or a gentle old woman
, she thought. “You be careful and stay safe. We need all of our police officers alive and well.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He was getting a bit impatient for her to move on, but was too respectful to show it. She hid a grin behind her serene façade.

“I’ll let you get back to work now. Thanks again for your assistance.” She let up off the brake and glided past him.
Fool
.

Men are so easy
.
They never look beneath the surface of
anything or anyone.

She hummed a little ditty under her breath as she drove the rest of the way to the clinic. Parking the van near the entrance at the curb, she jumped out and ambled around to the back. She reached past bouquets, plants, and floral arrangements until she found the once she was looking for. As she backed out of the interior, she grabbed the clipboard hanging on the hook and went inside.

The receptionist at the desk was one she recognized from her visits from before. She pasted a huge, friendly smile on her face as she approached the window. “Hi, I have another delivery for a Tameka Jones. My, she must be a very popular woman.

This has to be my fifth time here in as many days.” The young woman, Alice, smiled back at her. “She’s new in town, and you know how small towns are,” she finished with a gamine grin on her face.

“Oh yes, real friendly. I’m sure she’ll appreciate your kindness…if she ever wakes up.” She shook her head sorrowfully. “Such a shame. She’s so young for this to have happened, and with her family so far away…”

“Oh,” Alice said. “She’s doing much better now. She came out of the coma yesterday and the doctors expect a full recovery.”

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“My…well, that’s good news, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. She woke up just in time to see her sister,” Alice continued blithely.

“Did you say sister? I thought she didn’t have any family nearby.” She fought with all of her might to keep the rage she was feeling contained and off of her expression.

“That’s the great part. I heard that the sister was out of the country and came running when she got the call. Wasn’t that nice?” she gushed.

“Great.” She passed the plant through the window, then made a show of glancing at the clipboard. “Oh, dear.”

“What’s wrong?” Alice appeared to be concerned.

“Oh, nothing.” She pasted a vague smile on her face and sighed. “Just having a senior moment, I guess. I just noticed that there were two deliveries, not one. I need to go back outside and get the other one.”

“Is that all? Go right ahead. I’ll just set this to the side until you return, and then deliver them both to her room at the same time.”

“You’re such a nice girl,” she said in a grandmotherly tone that made her want to puke.

Alice, stupid chick that she was, preened at the compliment.

Sap.

She went back out to the van and selected one of the peace lilies she’d prepared for a funeral later today—extremely fitting, under the circumstances. After scribbling a quick note, she hurried back inside. Wouldn’t do to get the twit suspicious. Not now, after all her hard work.

“Here you go, dear. If you’ll just sign here for me, I’ll be on my way.”

“Sure, your flowers are always so beautiful.” Alice signed her name at the appropriate slot and handed the clipboard back, never noticing that the delivery receipt stated one, not two.

“I’ll be sure to tell the owner you said so,” she stated as she ambled back to the van, mind already working overtime as she developed a plan to overcome this latest development.

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Chapter Ten

Chad looked at the others gathered around the small conference table with him. They’d spent hours searching the woods for clues before Rome commanded that they return to the station for a briefing. Rome, Bull, Leo the evidence tech, and he were present. Hernandez and Casanova had given their reports to Rome and were back on the streets, including the officers who’d manned the roadblocks.

“What do we have?” Rome questioned.

“Zip. No clue who the perp is or the motive,” Chad said in disgust.

“We know she’s one sick bitch,” Bull added.

“How do we know it’s a female,” Leo asked.

“According to Tameka and The Markham Group, the person that contacted them both was female,” Chad stated. “Speaking of The Markham Group, we get a nibble on the bait?”

“Not yet,” Rome answered.

“But whoever was out there shooting today handled themselves like a pro,” Leo countered, like a dog with a bone, unwilling to let it go. “Are we sure it’s the same person?”

“Maybe she has an accomplice,” Bull offered.

“Or today’s attack could be totally unrelated,” Leo proposed.

“Highly doubtful,” Chad stated. “That road gets a lot of traffic. Whoever shot at me was clearly waiting for me.”

“I’m not saying it was random. I believe you were the intended target. I’m just saying this may have nothing to do with your mate,” Leo continued in his usual role as devil’s advocate.

“Let’s not get so focused on this mystery person that we overlook the obvious.”

“Your concern is duly noted. Now give us your report,” Rome ordered.

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“We have the flowers that were left at the target’s home. No prints. They were in a Flora’s Flower’s box. We don’t know if the assailant works there or if she picked the box out of the trash,” Leo stated.

“Or she could have simply reused a box from a personal delivery,” Rome added.

“Correct. We have the phone call made to the target…”

“Tameka,” Chad corrected. Hearing Tameka referred to as the target was starting to get to him.

Leo nodded. “Tameka. We have her phone records. All of the calls were made with prepaid cell phones or calling cards.

Completely untraceable. We know nails were used to flatten the tires, but those can be purchased from any hardware store.”

“Or Wal-Mart. Is there anything they don’t sell?” Bull asked.

“There were no prints on the knife, nothing special about the paper the note was left on or the newspaper letters used to form the words. As near as we can tell, the dog may have been a stray. We called around to the local shelters and found no animals fitting its description recently adopted. Or it might have been a personal pet,” Leo said with a shrug.

Bull whistled through his teeth. “That’s just creepy. Killing your own pet to make a point.”

“No, it’s dangerous. It means we may be dealing with a sociopath,” Rome stated grimly.

Chad just sat quietly and listened.

“The pictures were most likely taken with a digital camera and printed out on a home computer. No help there. The shells we found today were your garden variety twelve-gauge ammo, available at any store that sells hunting supplies, like Wal-Mart,” Leo acknowledged with a grin.

“Like I said, we got nothing,” Chad stated in disgust.

“Not quite. The markings on the shells match those found at the scene of Ned’s death. We have a killer on our hands,” Rome informed them quietly.

He waited a while for that to sink in and then added, “I think Tameka was right on target with the motive. I spoke with some of the elders. Lulu remembers a human woman that Ned was seriously involved with. He broke things off when she 150

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turned up pregnant. The woman swore the baby was his. Told it to anyone who would listen.”

“He abandoned his child? Wait, I thought you said Ned didn’t have any children?” Chad was confused.

“He didn’t. Shifters and humans can’t procreate, unless the human’s your One. We’re not biologically compatible. That’s what makes human women so much fun,” Bull told him, wagging his eyebrows. “All the fun, with none of the consequences.”

“I take it she didn’t know this?” Chad asked Rome.

“She either didn’t know or didn’t believe it. Lulu thinks it was the latter. The woman was convinced Ned was her mate and was pissed that he wasn’t living up to his responsibilities.”

“So what’s this woman’s name?” Chad asked, impatient to hunt her down.

“That’s the problem. No one remembers. They all remember the incident, but she moved away once it was clear that Ned had no intention of marrying her. That was over forty years ago, maybe longer,” Rome finished on a sigh.

“So based on Tameka’s theory, we have the woman’s daughter who believes that Ned was her father and therefore, the land should rightfully belong to her,” Chad concluded.

“It fits. If the woman was convinced Ned was the dad, and she convinced the daughter, then the kid grew up believing her father rejected her. Revenge is definitely a motive for murder, especially if she grew up in less than ideal surroundings and feels ‘dear old dad’ should have been there making life a little easier. It would also explain why she’s fixated on Tameka’s property,” Bull supposed.

“As well as her dislike of shifter/human relationships, considering what she believes happened between her mother and Ned,” Leo threw in.

“We know she’s a threat to Chad. Today’s incident proves that,” Rome stated.

Chad didn’t think some crazy bitch trying to kill him qualified as only an ‘incident,’ but he let it go.

“The question is, is she a threat to Tameka? So far she’s only tried to buy her off and scare her away.” Rome looked at each of them, waiting for their opinion.

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“Right now she sees Meka as an obstacle to getting what she wants,” Chad said slowly, thinking out loud. “She may even see her as a victim, like her mother. Hence the pictures and the dog. Meka thinks she was trying to warn her off, embarrass her into ending the relationship. She may not even realize Meka knows what I am.”

“What concerns me is that she’s already killed once to get what she wanted,” Leo said.

“What was the trigger?” They all gazed inquiringly at Bull.

“I mean, this chick’s how old? Why now? Why wait? Why not approach Ned when she was younger if she knew about him and blamed him for the way she was raised.”