by Roxie Spears
“Took you long enough,” Jack murmured.
Arching an eyebrow, Emilie looked down to see that she was two minutes early.
“Right,” Jack sighed. “Do you want to tell me what happened? And is this why you never came back to the office yesterday?”
Warmth rushed to Emilie’s cheeks. After the bouncer – the man Logan referred to as Damien – had helped her move Logan into her car, she called the office to tell Jack she was feeling ill. It wasn’t as though she could explain everything over the phone. Besides, she had an injured naked man in her backseat at the time. She was a little distracted.
“I’ll take that as a yes. You’ve got my attention.”
“Yesterday, I tracked down Logan Bane in one of his regular hangouts. It’s a bar downtown.”
“Yeah,” Jack interrupted. “I know the place. You shouldn’t have gone down there alone, Hartford. It’s dangerous.”
“I found that out the hard way.” Emilie recalled the events with some horror. It was hard to remember the beginning and how she’d been so worried about her car. Her world seemed to have doubled in size. “I confronted Logan and he got upset with me, took me into an alleyway outside the bar where people couldn’t hear us. That was when we got attacked.”
“You were attacked? Are you okay?”
Emilie winced. “Logan took the brunt of the damage right after he turned into a wolf.”
At this, Jack’s eyes narrowed to slits. He took a deep breath and gave a low whistle. That clearly wasn’t what he was expecting to hear, but this wasn’t the reaction of someone finding out the Banes could turn into wolves. “You’ve really put yourself in it now, haven’t you, Hartford?”
“You knew.”
It wasn’t a question, merely a statement. Jack nodded his head.
“And you never told me.”
Jack gave a chuckle, but it lacked humor. “How do you tell someone that, Hartford? Would you have believed me?”
She thought about it for a moment, remembering the state of their John Doe. A bear could have done that kind of damage, but there was too much that didn’t make sense. Bears didn’t burn people for a start. Still, she’d been pretty sure that the victims killed one another. She just didn’t know how.
“I suppose it doesn’t matter now,” Jack eventually said. “You know the truth about the Banes. So, what else do you know?”
“We were attacked by two dragon shifters. Logan didn’t tell me who they were, only that they were fighting for territory. And it was one of them that killed Krystal.”
“Dragon shifters would explain a lot.”
“Do you know who they are?”
Jack turned to grab a file off of one of the rickety metal shelves in the small space. “This is a file on the Makinen family. They arrived in Quafin some time ago or at least, their name did. As far as we know, they’re behind the organized crime in the city.”
Organized crime? What did that have to do with the Banes?
“Yeah, I pulled that face too.” Jack opened the file.
Emilie took a step closer, careful not to cast a shadow over the first page. It was a black and white newspaper cutout of three suited men standing before a ship. In the background was Quafin Lumbers, the city’s very own Sawmill. The men were smiling brightly at the camera. One of them, oddly, wore a pair of Elton John sunglasses.
The headline read; Makinen Family to take over Sawmill.
Her partner didn’t interrupt her as she read through the small cutting, stating that the Makinens had bought the Sawmill out from the Banes. Emilie didn’t think anyone would be able to buy out the Banes, so this information caused her eyes to grow wider with each line she read.
“This happened around the same time that Krystal Bane went missing,” Jack said. “I didn’t make the connection until recently, but I’ve been following the Makinens for some time.”
“Why do you think they’re behind the city’s organized crime?”
Jack turned the page. Behind it was several photos and in them, Emilie recognized two of the men from the Sawmill newspaper cutout. There were others who she didn’t recognize. The pictures were clearly taken at the lumber mill. There were logs in the background, along with men dressed in overalls carrying heavy crates into one of the buildings.
“What is in those crates?” Emilie asked.
“Drugs, arms, you name it. We haven’t been able to prove it yet, but everything points back to the Makinens and Quafin Lumbers.”
Emilie felt a pang of guilt as she took in what Jack was telling her. There was an inexplicable feeling of betrayal swelling within her belly. She’d hoped Quafin would be different from whence she came, but the sound of organized crime was all too familiar. It seemed as though it were an ever-present thing when it came to city life. For the first time, Emilie wished Quafin were the small town she’d initially expected it to be. Everyone knew everyone, but that didn’t mean it had the same sense of community.
He turned the page and there, side by side, were two images. One was of the Banes and the other was of the Makinens. The images were taken in the same place; the mayor’s garden. Emilie only knew it because she recognized the location of the Anniversary Dinner, an event for the elite to celebrate the founding of Quafin. The mayor held it every year.
The Banes and the Makinens were at their own table, but Logan and his brothers were glaring over at the Makinens. There were one or two people at the Makinen family who looked just as angry, if not angrier.
“Those don’t look like friendly faces,” Emilie commented.
“No, they don’t. I’ve been to three events where both families were seen and I can safely say they hate one another. It seems as though the Makinens were fighting for territory in more than one way.”
“Business,” Emilie muttered. “Logan told me that his family has run Quafin for centuries, but that they’ve stood back to handle business.”
“Well, the Makinens are the first people to ever buy out the Banes in anything. Sawmill is one of the biggest moneymakers in the city. Throw in the organized crime and well, we’ve got ourselves an illegal goldmine.”
Emilie sighed. “Okay, so we’re basically in the middle of some kind of war and the opponents can shift into deadly creatures. That sounds great.”
“I told you to back off, Hartford,” Jack said gently, closing the file. His face was full of concern. “There’s more history behind this than you realize. I’m not even sure I should have told you their names.”
“Names aren’t history, Jack. There’s a lot more to this and I think we both know that.”
“Emilie,” Harford’s voice carried a warning.
“We should probably head back,” Emilie interrupted him. “They’ll notice our absence.”
Without giving him a chance to say anything more, Emilie walked out of the storage room. She felt lightheaded from the smell of all the chemicals, but that wasn’t the only thing making her thoughts hazy. She was overwhelmed with information and instead of turning her away from the case, which she was certain was Jack’s intention, it only made her want to solve it more.
If there was a chance that she could prevent a war between the two families, she had to try and find it. She already knew the key, but she didn’t feel much closer to finding it. Why did the Makinens kill Krystal?
In The Know
The path was quiet on this side of the city. The longer she stayed on it, the wilder it grew. Buildings gradually turned into pine trees that became denser and denser. The road beneath her tires became bumpier as tarmac turned into gravel. Around her, the familiar sound of a city faded away, from the cars speeding through the streets to the alarms going off to the random sound of someone yelling in the background. That was one Emilie had never understood. She rather preferred the sounds of nature she could hear around her now; the trees seemed to block out everything on the outside, but she swore she could hear the rustling of leaves as she drove through them, could hear the occasional chirp of a bird, could e
ven hear something unfamiliar on occasion.
It wasn’t with a sense of urgency that Emilie found herself pulling up to the wrought iron gates outside the Bane Mansion. That wasn’t why her hands were sticking to the steering wheel with sweat. Truthfully, Emilie didn’t really know why she was so anxious. A part of her thought it was because she was going to the Bane Mansion on her own and since she’d found out what the family was and how strong they were, she could believe it. Her partner didn’t even know she was there. In fact, no one did.
However, another part of Emilie thought it might be because she hadn’t seen Logan since the day of the fight. She tried to shake that thought off, telling herself that it would be okay. The dynamic between them had changed, but that meant nothing. She had a job to do.
Yeah, she thought begrudgingly. But that doesn’t keep him out of your thoughts outside of the job.
The gates opened, giving her the chance to shake off the thought of Logan again. She drove through the gates and up the gravelly driveway. The fountain drowned out all other sounds. It brought her a small sense of peace as she walked up to the door. This time, it was up to her to raise knock on the door.
Emilie paused at the sight of the silver knocker. It was almost like the wolf was the family crest for the Banes. There was one on the iron gates to the property too, but Emilie didn’t pay it as much mind as she did this knocker. She remembered thinking it was detailed intricately, the fur seemed to have been carved with a great deal of detail and effort.
The door opened before Emilie ever got the chance to knock. She’d taken too long in her fascination with the knocker. Brian Bane was one of the shorter brothers. His chubby cheeks gave him a baby face that made him appear friendlier than the rest of his family. He was handsome in a good old Southern way.
It was with a Southern drawl that didn’t belong in the city that he spoke too, his voice a lot deeper than expected. Emilie thought perhaps the accent came from travel. The Banes struck her as the type of people to travel often.
He grinned down at Emilie and dimples appeared in his cheeks. “Well, well, well,” he crossed his arms over a beefy chest. “Detective Hartford, right? I’ll be damned if you don’t got the look of someone who just found out what we are.”
Emilie’s eyes widened. What was the look? She was under the impression she looked normal, but Brian’s comment made her feel like a deer caught in the headlights.
“Who do you wanna talk to? My dad?”
“Uh, actually, I was wondering if I could see Logan.”
Brian’s thick eyebrows shot upward and Emilie could see the corners of his mouth twitching with amusement. He stepped aside. “He’s in the back. C’mon, I’ll take you to him.”
“Thank you.”
Emilie wasn’t sure how she’d find Logan if Brian didn’t take her to him. The mansion was big enough to get lost twice within the hour, but she dare not say that. Now that she knew about them, she found that she was somewhat frightened of the Banes. Although Logan was taller than him, Brian was brawny and his shoulders were broader. Emilie didn’t want to see how powerful his wolf form was. The thought alone was intimidating.
The further into the house one got, the fewer the luxuries. It was almost as though the true nature of the Banes was earthy and the front of the house was exactly that; a front. The marble floor turned into hardwood in a natural way. The tapestries gave way to the imagery of the forest. Much like the painting in the living room, there were others honoring nature hanging on the walls.
“Wow,” Emilie gasped, stopping to marvel over one particular painting.
It was a huge portrait, taking up the majority of one of the hallways Brian led her through. The painting depicted a pack of wolves standing at the very edge of the woods. There was so much detail in every soft brushstroke that the detective felt as though she were on the edge of the woods. The density of the trees was such that it almost suffocated her, so she turned her eyes instead to the pack. Emilie counted them and found that there were seven wolves, two of which seemed smaller. The smaller wolves had a feminine quality to them and Emilie wondered if this was meant to be some kind of family portrait. Were the two smaller wolves Kathleen and Krystal Bane? Emilie didn’t know how to ask.
Something else caught her attention though. In the center of the pack were a doe and her fawn. The wolves weren’t attacking the two animals. On the contrary, it seemed as though they were protecting them.
“Magnificent, isn’t it?” Brian’s voice broke into her thoughts. He was looking at the painting too.
“It is,” Emilie agreed.
When she looked up at him, Emilie was surprised to see a pained expression on Brian’s face. She was filled with a desperate curiosity, wanting to know the history behind the painting, but she knew this wasn’t the time. As they continued walking, she couldn’t help but think that perhaps she could ask Logan about it.
She didn’t think that would ever happen though.
They finally came to a stop outside a sliding door. It was wooden too and when Brian pulled it open, all thoughts faded away and Emilie gulped the lump that formed in her throat, though not at the sight of the gym, which was impressive in itself. The gym was huge, but then, everything in the Bane Mansion seemed to be. It had a swimming pool, a weight area, and several contraptions including two treadmills, bicycles, and spinning bikes. One wall was dedicated to a mirror and in it, Emilie saw double.
Logan was at the weigh station in front of the mirror and he looked up when they entered, but he didn’t stop what he was doing. Each time he lifted the weights to his shoulder, his biceps bulged. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and all the wounds seemed to have disappeared. Emilie squinted at his back, not caring what it might look like to the two men, but she couldn’t even see a hint of the red burns and claw marks she’d tended to only a few days earlier.
“It’s a perk,” Logan said. At the sight of her furrowed brow, he elaborated. “The wounds heal faster. Everything heals faster. We don’t even get hit by the common cold.”
“Lucky you,” Emilie murmured, still watching his rippling biceps as he raised and lowered the weights.
Without the wounds, Emilie couldn’t help but stare. Logan was built like a brick wall and her belly tightened at the sight of the rippling muscles. The mirror allowed her to see both sides of his body and Emilie’s mouth watered just the smallest bit.
Logan grinned. “Thanks, brother.”
Emilie turned to find that Brian was still behind her. She hadn’t realized. He had a grin that mirrored his brother’s as he nodded.
“You two kids be nice to each other, okay?”
“Thanks,” Emilie said with a blush.
She thought that she probably looked so obvious and wanted to kick herself for it. Nevertheless, Brian gave her a wink before he turned to leave, closing the sliding door behind him.
Once left alone with Logan, Emilie didn’t know what to say. She walked over to where he was standing, but the only thing that came with was the sigh of the droplets of sweat that covered his tan skin. Emilie found that it was difficult to force her eyes up to Logan’s face rather than ogling over his body, not that he seemed to notice. He was too busy doing his reps.
“How are you doing?” Emilie asked. “Do they hurt at all? The… where the wounds were?”
“Nope. There’s hardly ever a residual feeling or scar. It’s like it never happened at all.”
“Hardly ever? So it can happen?”
Logan tilted his head. “Yeah, sometimes. It’s never happened to me, but my mom has a scar that she can still feel sometimes. It never fully healed.”
Emilie didn’t feel it was her place to ask where or what the scar was. If he wanted her to know, she was pretty sure Logan would have said.
“What can I do for you, Detective? I assume you’re here on police business.”
How was he doing that without a hitch in his breath?
“Uh, sort of. I uhm…”
Emilie looked up a
t his face, but that didn’t help much. His eyes were bright and Emilie noticed that they seemed to change color based on his mood. They were always blue, but they were darker when he was angry, duller when he was hurt, and at that moment they were the brightest she’d ever seen them. They almost looked like the pool in the gym, dancing with reflections.
“Cat got your tongue?” Logan smiled. He continued without pause. “I wanted to apologize for leaving so abruptly. You were asleep and I didn’t want to wake you, but it was time for me to get home.”
“I kinda figured. Besides, I had work and stuff,” she tucked her hair behind her ear, glancing around the room in an effort to look anywhere but at Logan. “Speaking of which…”
“Ah, there it is,” Logan interrupted. Emilie spun on her heel, expecting him to be upset, but he was smiling. “Go on.”
Once again, the sight of him left her feeling breathless and Emilie forgot what it was that she wanted to ask. Her core tightened and she knew how pink the tips of her ears must be. As far as she knew, Logan didn’t have any more information for her or if he did, he didn’t want to share it – at least not yet. She wanted to know more about him, more about Krystal, and more about their family. It could help the case, but there was a possibility it might do nothing more than appease her inquisitiveness.
The truth was, she really wanted to see him, but she couldn’t admit that.
“How about you ask me over dinner?” Logan murmured.
To her surprise, he put his weight down and took a step closer, towering over her. Emilie had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes. There was an unfamiliar look in those eyes, one that made her take a step back. It was almost animalistic, like a predator looking at its prey.
“Okay,” Emilie finally said, her heart thudding in her ears.
“Excellent,” Logan gave her a dazzling smile even as Emilie swore to herself it was only to get more information out of him.
It’s Not A Date