Wolves of Haven: Lone (26 page)

Paquette stood back with an amused
look on his face as he drank his coffee, shaking his head. There
was something about the Officer that didn’t feel right to Akia,
something that she needed to investigate.

Connell joined her. “Accounted
for,” he said under his breath. “Kid heavily protected my system
here with some blue-haired electronics hoodoo voodoo so everything
is there and unaffected by this breech.”

Akia nodded, her attention on
Paquette still.

“What are you thinking?” he
pressed.

“Either a leak or someone is trying
to make the others look bad,” she commented, just as quiet. “I’ve
seen that type of petty bullshit before, but never on a case of
this magnitude. I hate to say it, but we’ll need Captain Nikas for
this one. Do you think you can give him something to get him up and
motivated?”

He nodded. “I could.”

“His cheek is already bruised from
the B-12, so refrain from that injection site,” she
said.

“Where’s the fun in that?” he mused
then headed for the door.

“The last person that used my
computer was Paquette,” Leclair said, loudly, causing everyone to
turn to regard the amused Officer by the coffee machine.

Paquette gave him a look. “The
Inspector told me to use your computer because mine broke,” he
reminded him, waving towards the blackened screen on his desk. “And
all I did was type up my report that the American requested on meat
purchases, which was a gigantic waste of time. You can’t blame me
for corrupting your system with porn or whatever it is you look at
when no one is watching, Officer Gold Star.”

Leclair gave him a look. “Gold
Star? Oh, I apologize for wanting to do a good job and to help
catch the person that is killing people. But you are the only one
on the force that apparently doesn’t give a darn if we catch him or
not. Why is that? You’ve done nothing but be defiant and negative
since the first body turned up. You even laughed because of the
second victim.”

“Did you smell her?” Paquette said,
shaking his head. “It was a mercy killing, I hate to say, but it
was.”

Ulrik reached down and jiggled the
power cord on the back of Paquette’s computer and it booted up.
“Fixed it; it was unplugged,” he said with a small smile, trying to
keep from laughing.

Pierre shook his head. “My office,
now,” he said, motioning for Paquette to lead.

“This is bullshit,” the irritated
Officer complained. “I have done nothing but what those ball
breaking, bossy Americans have made me do, and yet Leclair is the
victim as usual. That’s just lovely. This is why I want to transfer
to another district.”

When the office door closed, Akia
looked to Leclair.

“I apologize for that,” he said,
blushing. “He’s not the easiest to work with, and he really liked
the previous Inspector that retired before me and Inspector Pierre
came here.”

She nodded. “You came
together?”

“No, Ma’am. I transferred a few
days after the Inspector was reassigned. It wasn’t… Sorry, Ma’am,
I’m gossiping when I shouldn’t. I’m going to check out the sixth
dumpsite again because I think we missed something.”

“Want company?” Akia asked; she
needed to see the sixth dumpsite anyway.

Leclair blushed and looked away
from her. “I don’t want to impose,” he said. “I’m sure you have
lots to do, as well as go over the report from the sixth
body.”

“I’m the one that’d be imposing on
you,” she assured him. “If it isn’t too much to ask, can we grab
some coffee? There’s an espresso stand not far from here,
right?”

He nodded with a
face-consuming smile. “Melody at
Bean Me
Up Espresso
makes the best lattes. You’ll
have to try a Wake me up Maple Bacon scone with a toasted almond
latte. It’s the perfect way to start the day.”

“A quad I could use,” she said.
“I’ll meet you in the car. I just have to touch base with my
specialist first.” Once the office door closed behind Leclair, she
turned to Ulrik. “I want to know what was deleted from the system.
I’m assuming you can do that.”

Ulrik chuckled. “Yeah, not a
problem. Are you going to be okay with him? I mean, I know you’re a
bad ass and all, but Connie thinks that there might be a second
person involved, a master and student type thing.”

Akia cocked an eyebrow. “When did
you hear that?”

He blushed. “I was
eavesdropping again when I shouldn’t have been. The sixth victim,
from what the others said, lacked any type of correlation to the
others. The heart was removed by something Beowulf called
Iron Claw.”

Her eyes widened.

“I’ve never heard of it before, but
the gasps from the others hinted that it might be really
bad.”

“It is,” she agreed. “It is
forbidden, but I didn’t know any Masters existed that could
execute, let alone teach, the move.”

Ulrik snorted. “Sounds like a
shitty kung fu movie.”

Tenderly she patted his cheek.
“Fist,” she said, holding her clenched hand up in front of him, “is
nearly the same size as a paw. Correct?”

He nodded.

“Iron claw,” she whispered, opening
her hand, “is wolf claw in human hand form.”

His eyes widened.

“Very few can do it, according to
the history books, and usually it takes decades or more of
practice, of having absolute control over their wolf, otherwise it
can leave them disfigured or handicapped, losing the ability to
change or lose the use of their hand all together. The Covenant
have forbidden it because it is a violation of nature and God; you
are either wolf or you are man, but you are not both at
once.”

Ulrik nodded his understanding. “So
there really is a Master and Apprentice,” he surmised, and her eyes
flickered to the closed office door where the two men were loudly
arguing inside. “I’ll keep an eye on the moody two while recovering
the data. Connie should be back within an hour… Are you going to be
okay?” he asked again.

“I need something stronger than
black coffee,” Akia said. “I’ll be back, most likely before the
other two. I’ll check in with you in twenty minutes to see how it’s
going. If Pierre flips you shit, bust out with the techno mumbo
jumbo that’s biting at your tongue.”

He smiled wide.

“I’ll be back. If anything of the
wolf nature shows up, don’t announce it. Captain Nikas will be able
to twist it into something that points towards human in nature.
Okay?”

“Understood, Sir,” he said,
saluting, getting an eye roll in return.

Once the door closed behind her,
Ulrik slipped out of his jacket and took a seat at Leclair’s
computer then went to work.

“Help me get his pants off,”
Connell said, struggling to free the unconscious man’s snake skin
belt that most likely cost more than he made in a month.

Varg gave him a look from the
doorway where he stood watching. “Did you mistake me for Ginger
Bear?” he asked.

“Shut up and help me,” he groaned.
“Akia said that she needs his ass back at the precinct, and I have
to agree that this has taken a seriously bad turn for the worse
with files disappearing and an apparent leak in the department
that’s trying to cover their tracks. Apparently Leclair might have
come across something that the Stray wants covered up. I wouldn’t
be surprised if Leclair was the next victim; the man doesn’t have a
mean bone in his body and is so optimistic and keep the peace
minded that it’s sickening.”

Varg growled. “And you left Akia
and Kid there alone?!” he shouted, storming into the room to
throttle his little brother.

“She’s armed and a cop,” Connell
reminded him. “She wouldn’t do something stupid like run off with
the Stray in order to take care of it on her own… Shit, she isn’t
going to do that, is she?” he asked.

A loud whistle pulled their
attention to the doorway where Faelan stood with a smile. “You
know, this would be so much hotter if I was invited and three of
the four weren’t straight,” he said.

Connell shook his head, filling a
syringe with Vitamin B-12 mixed with adrenaline. He hoped that
Damian wouldn’t attack them after being rudely woken up, but the
man was completely useless at the moment, and Akia needed
him.

“I think his pants need to come off
even more,” Faelan said before biting his little finger.

Varg growled at him.

“Fine, but that is an impressive
cock that I wouldn’t mind impaling myself on,” he teasingly sang
before heading down the hall.

Connell ignored his singing at the
top of his lungs brother in the bathroom down the hall. “I mean,
Leclair isn’t a bad guy, and a decent cop. She’s thinking the same,
I could tell, about him being the next on the victim list in order
to tie up all loose ends.”

When he finally got Damian’s pants
down far enough that he could inject the wakeup cocktail into his
thigh, he paused and looked at the man’s muscular thigh
curiously.

“What are you waiting for?” Varg
complained. “Do I need to get Fae because you’ve decided to help
him rape your sister’s boyfriend?”

“Shut up,” Connell absently said as
he caressed over the white scars littering Damian’s thigh. “Little
Sister has really done a number on him over the years,” he
whispered, in shock and awe that Damian would put up with such
physical abuse, and yet he did without complaint. “Huh, he really
does love her,” he said with a soft chuckle. He hadn’t questioned
it, but the others had, a few times.

Varg scoffed. “She gets physical
when in the sack. It isn’t worthy of idol worship of a man simply
because he can take it. Hurry it up and get your ass back to the
precinct so you can keep an eye on her.”

“You really need to get over this
jealousy thing,” Connell scolded, jamming the syringe into Damian’s
thigh and massaged the site with his free hand as he pushed on the
plunger with his thumb, not rushing the process in order to get
proper delivery. “Never did you look at Akia as a sister, which I
guess is a good thing since you have this phantom hard on for her,
and Adam has for Eve, but she just isn’t that into you. You need to
accept it. Sis didn’t abandon us. She simply left for a little
while. She has a job, life, career, and a healthy relationship with
a werewolf. That is more than any of us have ever been able to
boast, so cut her and him some slack.”

Again, Varg growled but bit his
tongue.

“Time for a second one,” Connell
said but a hand snapped out and grabbed his wrist before the needle
could pierce his skin for a second time.

“Ow,” Damian said, his eyes rolling
around. “What happened…why are my pants off? Oh man, did Fae try to
cuddle?” he groaned then sniffed to determine who was in the room
with him and his eyes snapped open and a deep, menacing growl
rolled from his chest.

“It’s just B-12,” Connell assured
him, confused by his reaction.

“Where is he?” Damian demanded,
getting off of the bed, fastening his pants as he went, following
the smell down the hall and stairs to the laundry room.

Connell and Varg followed, not sure
what he was talking about.

“What are you doing?” Connell asked
when Damian started rummaging through the hamper, sniffing wildly,
following a scent to the washing machine. He pulled wet articles of
clothing out, one by one, sniffing each before dropping it to the
floor before finding the shirt that Connell had worn when called to
the sixth body.

“Whose shirt is this?” Damian
demanded, holding it up.

“Mine,” Connell said. “I wore it
when I collected the latest body, but the stench of the Stray was
too much for me to handle, so I cleaned up in here. Apparently Fae
started the laundry. Why, what’s wrong?”

“This isn’t the Stray!” Damian
snarled. “Where is Akia?”

“At the precinct,” he guardedly
admitted. “Whose stench is that?”

Damian pushed past them and hurried
for the door. The other two followed and were barely able to get in
his rental car before he took off, racing down the driveway. Never
did he think he’d smell it again, the embodiment of pure evil and
all that was wrong with werewolf kind, but his scent was
unmistakable. Damian was kicking himself in the ass for not picking
it up last night, but he was consumed with Akia and her infliction
and wolf. He punched the steering wheel in frustration, fighting
the urge to yell.