“Doctor Skillman. May we come in?” She motioned to the two officers with her.
“Sure,” I answered, stepping back. “It’s late, you’ll understand if I ask to make this quick?”
“Certainly.” She nodded, and looked up the stairs.
I glanced over and saw Lincoln and Wren walking down, fully dressed. Lily raised an eyebrow, and headed into the living room.
Well, she clearly knew what was going on in our bedroom.
Lincoln and Wren sat on either side of me on the couch, across from where Lily had sat. The two officers lurked in the hallway.
“I came to let you know the raid that went down on Maguire’s place in Fishtown found the girl from the auction, alive but not well,” Lily said.
“Do we—” Wren started.
“Hold on. That’s not the only reason we’re here,” she said. “We have a solid lead on Ben’s whereabouts as well. But that’s still not it.” She looked between the three of us. “There’s a crazy rumor that Maguire was in an accident the other night. In Fishtown, about two blocks from where the raid went down. Know anything?”
I shook my head. “Not a clue.” Lincoln shook his head as well, echoing the words.
“Fuck,” she whispered. “We didn’t have a chance to question him. He dropped in the interrogation room, and we got him to UPenn as fast as we could. He was in a coma from a stroke. The doctors were giving him a thirty-five percent survival chance, which usually bolsters the survivors.”
“He’s in a coma?” Lincoln asked, sounding actually shocked.
“No,” Lily said. “He’s dead. His wife pulled the plug. About four hours ago when someone fucking told her what the charges were against him.”
“Someone leaked the charges.” Wren was horrified. So was I, and I could see that Linc was too.
“They weren’t even formal yet, but someone gave her the information. I’m sure it wasn’t his lawyer, but it might have been a doctor or her lawyer. As soon as she heard sex trafficking charges, she marched right up to the hospital president and told him she wanted the machines shut off.”
“Because you can’t charge a dead man, and she gets to keep all the money,” Lincoln supplied. It was quiet a moment before he added, “…and the property.”
“If Frankford had Ben at another location, she still gets to keep him captive,” Wren said. “If she pulled the plug on him after the charges were discovered, she’ll forever deny he had a child captive, and may still have him.”
“And may still keep him,” I said.
“He’s my client,” Lincoln whispered. “I have unprecedented access to his money and accounts.”
Lily looked up. “You do. We can send a forensic accountant to check it all out. Trace the money.”
Lincoln nodded. “Take a few more of those bastards down and out too, perhaps.”
The detective shot a look over to the two officers, and back to us. “This may work out even better than we thought. While he was alive, there would have been warrants. Now, it’s all going to be bound up in estates, and we’ll have access to everything.”
Wren leaned forward. “What happened to him? To his body? You said he was in an accident?”
“Yes, early last week.” She nodded. “The medical examiner and the hospital charts indicate there was a seat belt injury, just two days prior to his stroke. But there is absolutely no record of it. There was no car in his name reported on a violation, or to a tow company. There were no tickets, no footage, there’s nothing about this accident. But it’s distinctly a seat belt contusion.”
“And the ME wants to know for sure that’s where the stroke came from?” Wren asked.
Lily scratched her ear. “He does. The seat belt shouldn’t have done it, but we have nothing else to go on. There was only one unexplained mark that could be explained if there was an accident.”
“What?” Fischer asked.
“There was a cut on his upper thigh, close to his hip. It could be a cut from a piece of glass.” She let out a breath. “The accident is the only logical conclusion for a perfectly health man to suffer a massive clot and stroke. There was no sign of heart or vascular disease.”
She glanced up at me and her eyes tore through me to my soul—she knew what we had done.
She knew the slice on his hip had allowed Lincoln to administer the needle full of apronin without leaving a needle mark.
She knew I had taken that needle and put it in my sharps bin in the office, never to be seen again; that we had crashed into his vehicle, disposed of both of them, and lucked into the fact that the SUV wasn’t registered to Maguire, it had been to his driver. And she knew we had disposed of our car at a questionable scrap yard in South Jersey. It was probably a cube of nothing now.
Lily Haden was fully aware I had killed Scott Woodall, and she knew we had worked together to make sure David Green Maguire died as well.
Her police detective training warred with another, deeper part of her, a part that was one hundred percent in agreement with what we had done.
“If you hear anything about this accident, anything at all, let me know. Lincoln, I’ll be in touch tomorrow to get the forensics set up for your files. Our goal now is to find out where Maguire was hiding Ben Sheehan and get him back.”
She stood and headed for the door, stopping after the two officers were out.
“Watch your asses. Things are going to get very strange from here on out.” She looked at Wren pointedly, and pulled the door closed.
“What was that warning about?” I asked.
Wren looked between us. “Come on, let’s get something to drink. You’re going to need to hear what I have to say.”
Lily
The warmth of home welcomed me again. I’d stolen back a few times, now that I knew my husband was there again.
His tall, lithe figure with his dusky red skin called to me as he leaned against the wall of our massive fortress home.
The center of Hades.
The home of the Prince and Princess of Hell.
I missed this place. It was a bit strange, now that I had been so closely acquainted with humanity for the past two centuries, to think I missed Hell, but our home wasn’t the place of terror mortals thought it was. Hades was comfortable, welcoming. Like a warm blanket.
Yes, my husband was responsible for the punishments of the damned, but he did not carry them out. He, and to some degree I, merely sat in judgment.
I wrapped my arms around his big warm body and let the sense of home flow through me. I could never get warm enough on the Otherside. Only he made me fully warm again.
“I missed you too, wife.” He chuckled.
“She found another,” I whispered.
“Good, that much closer,” he answered.
“We have hope again…” I looked up into his black, black eyes. “I found the versilange the zhadanjir were looking for. We claimed her.”
Once again, Lucifer smiled at me. “Another small victory. Does she have a counterpart?”
“I believe so. An unusual one. We’ll deal with that if the zhadanjir find out what I suspect. I won’t force that Awakening.”
“Cautious and wise, as always, my Lilith.”
“Be with me, husband?” I asked.
“Not yet.” His eyes were suddenly sad, and he pointed to the balcony ledge where a single figure stood, shoulders shaking with wrenching sobs. “You must speak to him.”
“Who…”
“Go. Speak with him.”
Nodding, I stepped away and headed for the lonely figure. As I approached, I could see that he—it was a he—was gazing down to the entrance of Elysium, staring at a few figures who were still lost in the initial confusion of eternity.
I looked up and gasped. “Vancerdireen.” I couldn’t help the step back I instinctively took. “What are you…”
His eyes were watery with tears. “They lie, most of the time. You know that. Zhadanjir. Their name means deception. Layers of lies and half-truths to get
what they want.”
Managing to not shriek and run from him, knowing my husband wanted him to know who I was, I gave him a nod. “Yes. Most of the time.”
He turned back to the entrance below us. “They didn’t this time. I did what I could to keep them from finding each other. I intervened in their meetings, tried to put them off. I even flat out warned him to stay away, that she was nothing but trouble.” Leaning on the railing he shook his head. “I was willing to be a part of them, give zhadanjir everything they needed if they just left him alone. Completely alone. And when Sloth and Greed found her, they weren’t happy with my loyalty alone. They needed to show me how displeased they were.”
Vancerdireen pointed at the woman and two young children there. “My sister-in-law. Her children, my niece and nephew. Angelicci. Two of them. Who will never, ever know what they could have been. The zhadanjir sliced their throats while their mother watched, and then sliced hers and raped her while she died.”
The breath escaped me slowly. “They murdered angelicci.”
“Yes. And they will try to find and turn their versilange, to grow their ranks.” He looked at me, tears streaming down his cheeks. “I tried, but in the end, their love, their need to be together was too strong. They are not hated by El, as I was told. They are not evil or cruel or aberrant. They simply are. They love.”
I felt my husband behind me and looked at him.
“They were judged innocent,” he said, his voice smoky and familiar in its ages-old role. “They are safe and cared for in Elysium. Once this is over, he will be able to visit them all there without penalty.”
“He will not forgive me for this.”
Lucifer reached a hand out and placed it on Vancerdireen’s shoulder. “He will. The only person who must forgive you is you. El is kind, forgiving. Do not condemn yourself to Tartarus for something we have fought against.”
He turned and fell to one knee. “I am yours, my Lord Morningstar. I renounce anything, everything to do with the zhadanjir and their cruelty. Keep my child safe, my Lord.”
This time, I smiled. “She is. She is claimed for us.”
He crumbled to the floor, weeping.
Lucifer knelt down and touched his forehead. “Take rest in our home, Vancerdireen. Proper rest. I know you were forced the ten years before returning. Take another year. My wife has matters in hand.”
Vancerdireen grabbed my hand. “My Lady Hades, will you see to their father? Will you handle their murders yourself?”
“I will, Vance.” I nodded.
He bowed his head, hiding more tears. My husband stood, taking my hand. “You are the first of our new home, Vance. There are rooms to choose from, and rest to be had. Come in when you are ready, and know you are welcome.”
Lucifer led me away from the shaking and shaken form of Lincoln Foster’s former manservant. He needed his time to recover from everything, so we would not force him to the fortress. He would come in time.
And in that time, I would enjoy my husband’s company.
There was much yet to do.
...Greed has found his Temperance...
The Sins are gathering.
FILTHY
Saints and Sinners 3
Available for Preorder on Amazon
Armed with a pen name, Katherine Rhodes has gird her loins and set her mind to writing erotic romances which are kinky, dirty, and fun. As a lackadaisical laundry goddess, and an expert in the profundities of bad music and awful literature-thanks to her husband-Katherine strives to find balance in the universe and time to cook dinner. An East Coast dweller, currently located in the Philadelphia Tristate area, she is the proud servants of three cats and would take a vacation in Prague over a day at the beach any time…
www.katherinerhodes.com
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PARANORMAL ROMANCE
VAMPIRE CROWN
Queen of Gods
King of Gods
Death of Gods
Blood of Gods
THE JUNEAU PACKS
Taming Alaska
Frozen Alaska
Exploring Alaska
Uncovering Alaska
SAINTS AND SINNERS
Sleeper
Exchange
Filthy
THE COMPLEX
Balance Point
One Thousand Wishes, One Thousand Stars
THE NIGHTSHIFT IN NEW YORK
Moonlight Calling
THE ELEMENTAL DRAGONS (Pine Valley)
Darkwater
Skydance
Fireborn (coming 2020)
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
CLUB IMPERIAL
Consensual
Broken Bonds
Knots
Untied
Lessons
Now. Forever.
Inevitable
SILVER SOUL
Not Quite Juliet
CITY OF STEEL
Innuendo
Double Entendre
THE REALM
Half-Soul
THE CLUB SERIES
The Darkest Corners
Anything for Her
Teach Me To Sin
Come Fly with Me
with Isobelle Cate
Sweet Pain
with Emily Walker and Jenni Moen
THE DA SILVA HEIRS
All the King’s Horses
Princess of the Plains
Empire of Dirt
STANDALONES
Captain
Acts of Contrition
Obsidian Escape
Discover Katherine’s Other books under
J. Rose Alexander
Chatter box, compulsive writer, bon vivant, stunt commuter, and a ninja in her dreams, J. Rose enjoys losing herself in the capes and masks of her superheroes, finding new trouble for her witches and werewolves-- and is always on the look-out for a new adventure, on the page or in real life. J. Rose write sweet, clean(ish) stories that are suited to readers 13 and up, unless she warns you otherwise...
www.jrosealexander.com
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THE ORIGIN STORIES
Penumbra: Equinox
Penumbra: Solstice
The Art of Dying
The Art of Living
Second Moon (Coming 2020)
THE FACTION STORIES
Apathetic Avengers
The Natural Order of Things
Better Living Through Chemistry (Coming 2020)
Exchange Page 18