Nocturnal Revelations

by Amanda S Green

  Tanaka didn’t hesitate. “Glad to, LT. She’s got a solid head on her shoulders and a cop’s instincts. She also doesn’t hesitate to step up and do what’s needed. Hell, LT, after today, I’d do just about anything to help her get ahead in the department. She proved she has balls of steel and I would have given a month’s pay to see her standing up to Wysocki. I bet that chapped the queen rat’s ass.”

  Pat didn’t try to hold back her laugh. Nor did she remind Tanaka she was talking about a senior officer. Why would she when she agreed with everything the detective said?

  “Thanks, Shelly. I’ll let her know.” She checked her watch and grimaced. “I need to brief Culver. Make sure everything about the case is locked up and then get out of here. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Pat stepped off the elevator ten minutes later. As she paused before the door to Culver’s office suite, she breathed deeply. Butterflies took flight in her stomach. It didn’t matter she’d briefed the man a number of times before. It still felt like being called to the principal’s office.

  “Lieutenant,” Chief of Detectives Santiago said as she entered the outer room.

  “Sir.” She didn’t—quite—phrase it as a question.

  “Is Sgt. Lindsay on her way?” he asked, surprising her.

  “She should be in-house, sir. Do you want me to send for her?”

  He nodded. As he did, he glanced to his right. Pat followed his gaze and felt her brows wing up in surprise. Wysocki sat in one of the chairs against the far wall. Even though she tried to give the impression of being relaxed, possibly even bored, Pat saw through it. The woman’s knuckles were white as she held her tablet in a death grip with her right hand. Her always perfectly styled hair looked slightly mussed, as if she’d run her hands through it several times. Remembering Jael telling her Culver had ordered the woman to his office, she wondered if he’d kept Wysocki sitting out there all this time. Part of her hoped he had. After all, she was notorious for doing much the same in an attempt to rattle cops she was investigating.

  Knowing better than to say anything, Pat pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Jael, telling her to get there ASAP. As she slid the phone back inside her pocket, she considered how much she wanted to say about the investigation in front of the IAB captain. She needed to make it clear Jackson wasn’t involved in what happened. But she didn’t want to do or say anything that might give Wysocki reason to have a hand in, much less take over, the investigation.

  Play it carefully, Pat. Wysocki will hang herself if we give her enough rope.

  And Pat was more than happy to supply all the rope the woman needed.

  The door to Culver’s private office opened at the same time Jael stepped through the outer door. Pat nodded and then frowned. Jael looked as exhausted as she felt. But there was more than exhaustion reflected on her expression. Worried, she wished they had time to talk before learning why Culver had sent for them. Instead, the man asked everyone to come inside.

  “Thank you for coming,” Culver said as he motioned Pat and Wysocki to the two chairs in front of the desk. Santiago moved to stand at Culver’s shoulder as the man took his place behind the desk. Jael took her place at behind Pat’s chair. “Before we get to your report, Lt. King, we have another matter to deal with.”

  Pat swallowed hard. His expression might not give anything away but his tone and the look in his eyes did and it did not bode well for one of them. Pat hoped it wasn’t her.

  “Before I decide the best way to proceed, I have a few questions for Lt. King and Sgt. Lindsay. I want to assure you both that you aren’t in any trouble. However, you have first-hand knowledge about the events in question and I need to hear your version of what happened.”

  “Yes, sir.” Pat felt Wysocki’s gaze. Thankfully, looks couldn’t kill. Otherwise, she’d probably be nothing more than a pile of smoldering ashes.

  “We’ll start with you, Lt. King. I understand you were at Captain Santos’ home earlier today when two members of Captain Wysocki’s squad arrived. Is that correct?”

  “It is, sir.”

  “Did you speak with them?”

  “I did. After confirming with Detective Tanaka, who is the lead in the investigation, that she hadn’t asked for assistance from IAB, I spoke with the two detectives. They told me they were there under orders from Captain Wysocki.” She went on to describe what happened, being careful to keep to the facts.

  “Sgt. Lindsay, I have a pretty clear picture of what happened at the hospital. Do you have anything else to add?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Captain Wysocki, do you have anything you want to say?”

  “Besides objecting to having been made to wait all afternoon?”

  Pat flinched inwardly. Then, as Culver simply arched one brow, she waited, wondering what Wysocki would say next.

  “I won’t apologize, Captain. I had a funeral to attend, the same one Lt. King attended. Besides, I happen to know you made yourself at home and managed to get some work done.” Anger shone in his eyes. “I will repeat my question. Do you have anything you want to say?”

  “I’ve made my stance clear, Chief Culver. My squad should be running point on the investigation. Not only is the victim a member of the DPD but she is one with what can best be described as a checkered history with the department. This is the second time in little more than two years she’s been attacked and seriously injured while off-duty. I respectfully suggest that there is enough smoke here to warrant a full investigation into the captain to see if she involved in anything that might have led to her shooting.”

  Pat’s hands tightened on the arms of her chair and her cougar pushed for release. How dare Wysocki! She all but said Mac was dirty. If it was the last thing she did, Pat would make her eat those words.

  Before she could say anything. Jael rested a hand on her shoulder. That was enough to remind her she wasn’t Mac’s only champion present. Instead of contradicting Wysocki, Pat leaned back, a slight smile on her lips. Unless she guessed wrong, the IAB commander was about to learn a very important lesson. Whether she took it to heart or not was a different matter.

  “Chief, if I may?” Jael said.

  “Go ahead, sergeant.”

  Jael stepped forward and took her place at the corner of the desk where everyone could see her. The corners of Pat’s mouth twitched, and she laced her fingers around her right knee. After all the stress and fear of the day, seeing Jael carefully taking apart Wysocki would make her feel better, at least for a little while. Petty, she knew, but she didn’t care. The woman brought it on herself.

  “I won’t give Captain Wysocki’s unfounded insinuations against Captain Santos any credence by denying them. Each of us know what kind of cop she is and know Captain King never would have tapped her as his successor if he had the slightest suspicion Captain Santos was dirty.

  “Instead, I will point to Captain Wysocki’s actions today. She violated orders from this office pertaining to the investigation into the attack on Captain Santos. Worse, she put the captain and her family in jeopardy. Not only did she intimidate the uniformed officer standing guard outside the security wing into leaving his post, but she then threatened to arrest Officer Murray who refused to be intimidated into violating orders given her by you and by Lt. King.

  “This is what the head of IAB did. She is supposed to police the police, making sure cops follow orders and obey the law. Yet she has time and again violated orders, ignored procedure and put others in danger when it comes to Captain Santos. During the investigation into Lt. King’s kidnapping, we learned she was not policing her own squad. Even then, she tried shielding her detective by casting doubt on then-Lt. Santos. It seems obvious she cannot conduct an unbiased investigation into what happened this morning.”

  “Chief Culver,” Wysocki protested.

  “The sergeant makes a number of good points, Captain.” Culver leaned back and steepled his fingers in front of him. “Answer me this. What would you do if a member of y
our squad continually ignored your orders?”

  “I-I would find out if he had good reason to.”

  A laugh bubbled up and Pat fought it down. As she did, she turned her head enough to glance at Wysocki. The woman, usually so calm and collected, looked like a cornered animal. She might not be sweating—yet—but she would be soon.

  Unless she believed she had an angle left to play.

  “Really?” Culver’s right brow arched, and he shook his head, giving the impression of a disappointed parent. “I have to admit that’s not the attitude I like hearing from the head of my IAB squad.” He turned his attention to Santiago. “Do you have any concerns about Lt. King and her squad continuing to take lead on the investigation?”

  “None at all, sir,” Santiago replied.

  “And do you put any credence in Captain Wysocki’s insinuations about Captain Santos?”

  “No, sir. In fact, I am insulted both for myself and for Captain Santos. I know one thing for certain: Captain Mackenzie Santos is a dedicated cop who understands the importance in following her orders and in upholding the law. To even suggest she might be dirty is an insult to not only her but to every good cop on the force.”

  “I happen to agree with you.” Culver turned his attention back to Pat and Jael. “Lieutenant King, you and your squad you have the case. I expect you to keep Chief Santiago and myself updated and to contact IAB if you come across anything that falls under their jurisdiction.”

  “Yes, sir,” Pat said as she stood.

  “I also assure you Captain Wysocki and her people will do nothing further to interfere in your investigation. Now go get some rest. Lt. King, I want an update by 0800 tomorrow.”

  “Understood, sir. I’ve called a briefing for 0700 if you and Chief Santiago wish to attend.”

  “Very good, captain. Dismissed.”

  “Well?” Pat asked as they slid into her sedan a few minutes later.

  “I think we’re going to need to watch our six for a while.” Jael leaned back and sighed in exhaustion. “I also think there are a couple of things we need to do to not only protect Mac and Jackson from that bitch but ourselves and Murray.”

  Pat carefully backed out of her parking space and guided the sedan out of the garage. After pulling into traffic, she glanced at Jael, her expression serious. “Flynn?”

  “Yeah.”

  Pat nodded, unsurprised.

  “I think we need to let him know Wysocki seems determined to poke around Mac’s life. You and I both know Mac’s done nothing wrong. But if Wysocki gets even the slightest whiff that something isn’t quite right, she’s going to run with it.”

  “Do it. He’ll make sure everything concerning the unit and her position as liaison with the Feds is airtight.” She waited as Jael sent a text before continuing. “What else?”

  “Mac regained consciousness while Wysocki was trying to get to her.” Jael shook her head, stopping Pat’s protest. “I told you, she didn’t get in and she doesn’t know Mac was awake.”

  Pat heaved a sigh of relief. The last thing any of them needed was the woman trying again to get to Mac.

  “I didn’t have a chance to brief you before. I wanted to make sure Mac’s security was solid before leaving. I also had a long talk with her brother and sister. I wanted to make sure they understood how serious the situation is.”

  Pat nodded. Mac’s younger sister had a habit of acting before thinking and that came close to costing both Abigail and Mac their lives a year ago. Since then, Abbie seemed to have grown up but none of them wanted to take any chances.

  “After Culver ordered Wysocki back to the station, I checked on Mac and the others. Trust me, Liz and Jackson are making sure Wysocki never gets close to any of the family again. Jackson contacted Callie and we both know Liz will be filing every motion and complaint she can.”

  “Good.”

  For much of her life, Mac and her mother had enjoyed what could best be called a strained relationship. That changed over the last year and a half and now they were as close as any mother and daughter could want. But that estrangement meant Elizabeth did everything she could to make up for all those lost years.

  “And?” Pat prompted.

  “Mac said the shooter wasn’t a shifter. She also said he was familiar, but she couldn’t place him, not yet.”

  “Spill it, Jael. Something’s bothering you.” Pat flicked on the turn indicator and pulled into a surface parking lot.

  “Yeah.” Jael scrubbed her face with her hands. “Even though the shooter wasn’t a shifter—and we can’t really rule it out yet. Anything Mac tells us comes while she is still heavily medicated. So her memories aren’t totally reliable.”

  “I know.”

  “But, even if the shooter wasn’t a shifter, he might have been a normal like me.”

  Pat glanced at her and frowned. She knew without asking Jael meant more than just being a “normal”. She meant being one who pledged their lives to helping and protecting shapeshifters. Still, she needed to be sure.

  “Say what you mean.”

  “He might be like John and me.”

  Left unsaid was “but working for the weres.”

  Pat slammed the transmission into park and cursed. That complicated things. It also meant she had a stop to make on her way to the hospital to check on Mac before picking up little Mike and going home.

  “You know what that means, don’t you?”

  Jael looked at her and nodded, her expression grim. “We need to pay a visit to Ferguson.”

  “Yeah.”

  And wouldn’t that be fun? The local pack leader had no love for the pures in general and especially not for the local pride. Relations had always been strained between them. They got worse when one of the pack members attacked Mac, violating shifter law and triggering her latent abilities as a pure. As a result, members of the Conclave could have called for the eradication of the pack. Instead, King, then the pride’s alpha, championed the pack and that won them an uneasy truce with their natural enemies. But with his death, that truce had become even more uneasy. If they didn’t handle this right, war could break out and they would all lose.

  “Are you going to tell Jackson?”

  “After we see what Ferguson has to say.” It was better to beg forgiveness in this situation.

  “All right, but I’m letting John and Mateo know what we’re doing.”

  Pat didn’t argue. John O’Hara, while human like Jael, was married to one of the lone pures in the area who had sworn allegiance to the pride. If anything happened, he would let Jackson know and both he and Moira would make sure they were avenged. As for Mateo, Mac’s cousin probably had eyes and ears on, if not in, the pack leader’s home and office. If not, he would make sure someone from either his squad or Mac’s was on-scene within minutes of their arrival. Since she always believed in having backup, that made Pat feel better.

  “Do it. We’ll try Ferguson’s office first. With this being Monday, he should still be there.” Something she and Mac learned when they first started working together and realized a member of the pack might be involved in one of their cases was that Ferguson was a workaholic.

  Praying they weren’t about to make matters worse, she slid the transmission into drive and headed out of the parking lot. The sooner they found Ferguson, the sooner this part would be over—she hoped.

  13

  “Mr. Ferguson, there’s a Patricia Collins is here to see you.”

  Connor Ferguson, leader of the local lycan pack, muted the phone and cursed. This might not be his worst nightmare, but it was close. Damned cats always thought they were superior. One day, they would learn how wrong they were and he planned to be around to see it.

  Leaning forward, he typed in a quick command. A moment later, the security feed from the outer room of his offices filled his computer monitor. He studied the image in disbelief. One hand fisted on the desktop. His secretary hadn’t told him there were two waiting to see him. Part of him wanted to ignore the w
omen in the waiting room. But he couldn’t. Their very presence meant trouble for him and for his people. No good ever came from any visit by the pures.

  Unfortunately, he could no more ignore them than he could deal with them how he wanted. All he could do was see what they wanted and pray it didn’t come back to bite him—or worse.

  “Give me three minutes and send them in,” he instructed his secretary before ending the call.

  He watched as she told the two he would be with them shortly. Neither woman showed any reaction. Even as he marveled at their control, he also wondered if they knew he was watching. Smart money was that they did.

  He picked up his cellphone and sent a quick text.

  Pride members here. If you haven’t heard from me in 10, you know what to do.

  Feeling a little better, he turned his attention back to the video feed. The taller of the two women he’d seen before, but he didn’t know much about her beyond the fact she was a normal. But the blonde. Oh, the blonde. He knew more about her than he did anyone else in the pride. Just as she knew more about him.

  And that made her very dangerous.

  Memories washed over him of those few but very long days they’d been held and tortured. He still suffered some from what their kidnappers had done to him. He hated the fact King had seen him hurt and begging. Cassandra Wilkinson’s bastards had broken him and she knew it. Yet she never said anything about it, at least not to his people. That allowed him to maintain his role as alpha of the pack. It also meant he owed her. Then there was the fact her people, not his, rescued all those taken, pures and weres alike. They made sure everyone received the best medical care possible. Much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, he owed them. For those reasons alone, he’d see why she was there.

  But he would remind her there were better ways to go about seeing him than showing up at his office unannounced. His mind made up, he signaled his secretary to send them in.