But it wouldn’t happen today.
“It’s a fact. Are we going or not?”
For a moment, he stood still and then he shrugged. “After you.”
I got into the passenger seat. Dubey sat behind me. In contrast to folklore, vampires were actually alive. They breathed, the same way humans did, but their need for oxygen was much lower than ours. Dubey sat like a statue, almost as if he was dead, but I could sense a restless energy around him. I’d once seen him fight a horde of mages. The fight wasn’t pretty, and by the time it was over, they were all dead. He couldn’t use any magic, but he was unbelievably fast and strong.
If we had to rescue Mark, it was good to have him with us.
“Let me do the talking,” I ordered as Aaron settled into the seat and gunned the car down the driveway. “For now, he is innocent. He hasn’t done anything.”
“Maybe you have been off the right track,” said Aaron.
Possible.
Quite possible.
And if indeed that was true then I didn’t have much to go on. The hypnotists were our best bet and one by one, they all fell apart.
“What’s this guy like?” asked Aaron.
“He is confident, seems competent, and comes across as genuine.”
“Comes across as?” he asked.
I bit my lips. By any standards, Smith was an upstanding citizen. He supported charities, he tried to help us, and he was popular and successful. And yet, I hadn’t given up on him. Mark was at his house because I still thought Smith was hiding something. “He is a bit off. Frankly, I pegged him as our guy. That’s why Mark was there.”
“And you trust your instincts?”
“Generally, yes.”
Aaron drove with total concentration. His gaze was on the road, but I knew that he was also aware of every single gesture of mine. He didn’t miss much. “Hmm. I trust your instincts too. We will let you take the lead.”
Let me?
Oh my, thank you, sir.
I bit my tongue. Dubey smothered a snort.
“That’s generous of you.”
“Yeah.”
Really? I mean, he had the audacity of a bull and the nerves of a…
I caught the grin he suppressed.
Damn it.
He was riling me up to get me out of the stupor. It worked. My mind was already clearing up. “Mark’s phone was still on the seat beside him. He didn’t plan to disappear. It was a forced abduction. Whoever did this probably prepared for it but Mark was only there was twelve hours, so it’s likely that he or she acted in haste. Perhaps they moved him somewhere close by. We should search the neighborhood just in case.”
“You have people who can do that?”
“In times like this, we can rely on other paranormal teams in PDI.”
He drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel. “PDI?”
“Paranormal Defense Intelligence,” I answered as I dug out my phone. After typing out my request, I sent it out to Cynthia, our assistant at PDI. She would coordinate with others to ensure we got the best team. We needed discretion and competence.
“They sure give fancy names,” snorted Aaron. “Why FBI?”
I leaned back. “What do you mean?”
“Why do you work with them? With your talent, you could have worked anywhere, and the commune seems financially independent enough. It’s not like you guys really need the money the FBI offers.”
“Money is always helpful,” said Dubey.
I was grateful for his intervention. Aaron had saved my life twice now, and maybe he was an upstanding guy, but I didn’t know him well enough to disclose how crucial it was for me to keep working with the FBI. They were my best bet to find the killers who wiped out my family.
“Money isn’t everything,” argued Aaron.
“That’s rich coming from someone whose net worth is close to five hundred million dollars,” Dubey countered without missing a beat.
I choked. My eyes bugged out. “You’re worth…five hundred million dollars?”
Aaron grimaced as he made eye contact with Dubey in the rear view mirror. “Seems like someone did some digging.”
“Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer,” Dubey’s voice was bland.
“I am not your enemy.”
“Only time will tell that.”
I never thought I would see the day when the Great Aaron would look nonplussed, but he did. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Good for Dubey. He never said much but when he did, it made perfect sense.
I tapped a finger on the side of my seat. “Five hundred million? How does one earn that kind of money? Your parents must have been loaded?”
“They were. I merely doubled the wealth.”
“He owns prime properties all over the country, as well as the best security surveillance company in the world. His brother runs it, but Aaron owns half of it. He has patents on a number of hardware and software that are raking in rolls and rolls of cash,” added Dubey. “But he gives out to charities and also doles out enough money to the White Council for their various ventures.”
The White Council was a like a government on its own. They were kings without a kingdom. Every magical person paid them some tax and in return we got protection from each other. They were the police, the judiciary, and the government all rolled into one.
If Aaron was on good terms with the White Council, perhaps he could request them to aid us in finding Mark. But that aid would come at a price. The White Council didn’t like covens, and as far they were concerned, we were one. A coven represented collective power and they were weary of mages getting together and doing things.
“How does it feel to be so rich?” I asked.
He raised a shoulder. “It’s nice.”
Nice didn’t begin to describe it. If I had all that money…I would still be short of my family and I would still be working with the FBI to find the killers.
“Must be exhausting to look after it,” I observed. He gave me a strange glance. “I mean…you know, taxes and all.”
His lips quirked. “Yeah, it’s a bitch.”
He parked the car as we reached Smith’s office. We walked in, resolute in our desire to find something substantial. “Take it easy,” I told Aaron. It was impossible to forget that he was a bundle of coiled energy and when it unleashed it could create destruction on an unimaginable level. I could never forgot the ease with which he killed people. There was no afterthought, no pangs of guilt.
It was work, and he did it with precise efficiency.
“I will,” he assured me.
“You too,” I admonished Dubey.
“Yes.”
Great. I was walking in to interview the main suspect in Mark’s disappearance with two killing machines. If Smith had anything to do with the kidnapping, I doubt he would survive this experience. The woman at the reception did a double take as she took in our appearance. Yeah, we were intimidating as hell with one guy who looked like a walking corpse with dark, piercing eyes and pale, white skin and the other who looked as if he might just produce a hammer and start breaking things.
“We are here to see Mr. Smith?”
“Do you have an appointment?” Her gaze darted from Aaron to Dubey and then back to me, and then back to Aaron. I saw a gleam of interest in her eyes.
Yes, yes, he was handsome.
And no, he wasn’t available.
What the hell was that? A lance of jealousy?
I sure didn’t need it this time.
“We don’t. Please tell Mr. Smith that Cleo Mathews is here, and it’s urgent.”
“It would be extremely helpful,” added Aaron.
His words and tone appeared to have an immediate effect on her; she galvanized into action but only after giving him a smile that practically lit the room. “Sure, sir. Please take a seat.”
As she opened a door and walked inside, I marched to the couch. “What the hell was that?”
“What?”
“
That!” I pointed at the reception, righteous anger sizzling into my words. “You just…dazzled her.”
He surveyed me as if I was an alien from another planet.
“Dazzled?”
“Yes, you just…talked to her and she…”
“She did what needed to be done.” He shrugged. “It didn’t cost me anything.”
She would probably have wet dreams about him for weeks. “You shouldn’t talk to women like that.”
“I was polite.”
“Yes, you were…but….”
His eyes narrowed and a self-satisfied smirk stretched his lips. “So you have an objection because I talked to a woman?”
“You didn’t just talk to her…you…you…”
He didn’t exactly flirt with her. He didn’t even try to impress her. It wasn’t really his fault. Aaron had that kind of effect on women; he bewitched them without making any visible effort.
“So let me just get this clear; you would prefer if I didn’t talk to other women if you were around or would you prefer if you didn’t talk to them at all?”
I huffed. What the hell had I gotten into? And why?
“Oh, never mind. Shut up. Do what you want.”
He chuckled. “No, I think it’s important for all the rules to be clear. I’ve heard communication is the key to a successful relationship.”
“We don’t have a relationship.”
“One date and counting,” he said.
He annoyed me on so many levels.
“That wasn’t a date. It was a business meeting.”
“Was it? I recall wine and good food and enticing conversation and then of course the spectacular end.”
“He is talking about the assassins attacking us,” I told Dubey who was once again sitting as quiet as a corpse. But he was all ears. I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea about my so-called date with Aaron. Word would spread fast in the commune and my reputation as a hard-ass would be in tatters. None of us was allowed much privacy in the commune. We lived in a dog eat dog farmhouse. “We didn’t do anything.”
“I sense a note of regret in your tone. Don’t you worry, darling,” he drawled. “There will be other dates.”
If looks could kill, he would be so dead right now. “You…”
“Children, children. She is calling us,” intervened Dubey before I jumped off the couch and strangled the annoying man.
Much to my embarrassment I hadn’t even noticed the woman when she came back. “Mr. Smith will see you now,” she addressed Aaron in a honeyed voice.
Yeah, right. We were both invisible as far as she was concerned.
Oh, shut up.
I just couldn’t feel this way about Aaron. No way. He so wasn’t my type. I liked men who were strong, confident, cool, and packed a good punch.
Yeah, he ticked all those boxes.
Damn it.
I hated the man.
“Thank you,” said Aaron.
We walked into the inner sanctum. Smith appeared unperturbed to see me. He glanced at Dubey and Aaron. “You seem to be keeping different company this time, Ms….sorry, I forgot your name.”
“Mathews. Cleo Mathews. Thank you for seeing us on such short notice. These are my associates. Mr. Dubey and Mr. Aaron Fine.”
“It’s a pleasure. Unfortunately I’m a bit busy so I hope we can make it quick.”
Pulling a chair, I sat. Aaron sat beside me and Dubey chose to hover near the window. Smith’s gaze wandered to him and then moved back to us. “You weren’t with her last time?” he told Aaron.
“I’m with her now.”
There was a finality in his words that struck me as resolute. His tone was soft, quiet but it was so confident. Goosebumps rose up on my arms. I glanced at him and he smiled as if he and I were in on the joke of what he meant.
No, he didn’t mean that.
He didn’t.
And I so wasn’t with him.
“Ms. Mathews?” said Smith, and I realized that he was talking to me.
“Yeah, sure. So…hmm…I wanted to know if you saw Mark?”
“Who’s Mark?”
Genuine?
Or fake?
It was hard to decide.
“A friend of mine…he has disappeared.”
His brow winkled. “I’m sorry to hear that, but what has that to do with me?”
“What indeed?” said Aaron.
“All the names you gave us didn’t pan out. One of them is a dead, and the other is not even in the city. That only leaves you.”
“Me?”
I held his gaze. “As the prime suspect in two murder cases.”
He coughed, gaped, and then recovered his composure. “You think I murdered someone? Come on. You got to be joking.” He glanced at Dubey as if he was asking for assistance but our favorite vampire merely stared back with his arms folded across his chest. “I wouldn’t even…how dare you accuse me of something so horrendous?”
“Murder is indeed horrendous,” said Aaron. “Gruesome.”
I leaned forward and put my hands on the desk. “If you are the one who had anything to do with this whole mess, believe me, I’ll drag you to the court myself.”
He stood. His entire body quivered with indignation. “Ms. Mathews, I must ask you to leave at once. And don’t you dare come back.”
There was so much more I wanted to say. Damn it. I needed to know if Mark was alright – but we didn’t have a choice. We weren’t here in any official capacity and I didn’t have a shred of proof against him or anyone else for that.
Great.
Job well done, indeed.
I walked out and so did my entourage.
“That went well,” said Aaron in a voice that dripped with acid.
He was as mad as I was.
The sunlight was too bright, and the wind was brisk. I stomped my feet and did a kick in the air. That didn’t alleviate my anger so I punched out with my fist. “Damn it. Shit. What the hell?”
“What do you think?” Dubey asked in his calm voice. “Was he lying or telling the truth?”
It was an interesting question.
“I really don’t know.”
“He was lying his ass off,” declared Aaron as if he was a liar detector machine. “The man is up to his eyeballs in this shit.”
“What makes you say that?” asked Dubey.
“He was…” Aaron shrugged. “He was all over the place.”
“No proof. No confession. No case,” I said before Dubey could articulate the mantra. “We need to give something to FBI or else we won’t even get a chance to tail him.”
“But you put Mark on him?”
The pain was intense, brutal. “It was my decision and he honored it because he cares for me. Jones wouldn’t have allowed me to ask someone from FBI to follow him around.”
My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was Jeremy. Maybe he had something good. Please, let him have something good. “Yes, Jeremy.”
I moved away as Dubey and Aaron talked about Smith’s behavior. Maybe we wanted him to be guilty because he was an easier option, but hey, we couldn’t do jackshit until we had some hard data.
“I’ve got something.”
“Tell me we are going to nail the bastard.”
“We just might,” he said. “Of course, there is more work to do. But it’s a thread and I am pulling it. He was involved with the girl.”
“He was?”
“I’ve got it on tape. CCTV footage. Them coming out of his office, going on, arguing, stuff like that. I am now trying to corroborate it with other footage from other cameras around his house. But guess what?”
My heart was pounding so hard I thought he might be able to hear it over the phone. Finally, we were in luck.
We had something.
Smith was cooked and booked.
I would nail the bastard.
“What?” Engrossed in my thoughts, I missed something he said.
“He knew the second victim also. I’ve got that guy
walking into his office once in the past one month and I’m going backwards now to see if he came in more than once. But we definitely have a link to both victims and that’s more that we have had for anyone else – so yeah, I think we got our man.”
That smug jerk.
And he just kicked us out of his office as if he was innocent as a bird. I did have strange vibes around him. He was definitely guilty.
Oh yeah.
And we got him good.
“Thanks, Jeremy. Email it all to Jones and ask him to give us permission to put a team on him. Get a warrant. We want his house searched, his office, and any other property he owns. Do it quietly as I don’t want him to get a whiff of it or else he might run or he might…he might hurt Mark.”
“I’ll get it done,” said Jeremy. “But you be careful. You can’t let him know that we’re on to him.”
“Don’t you worry.” I raised my thumb to Dubey and Aaron and did a victory dance. They both stared at me as if I’d lost my marbles. “We’ve got this in the bag.”
“When are you coming back?”
“Just now.”
“I’ll see you then.”
“Thanks, Jeremy. You did good.” My finger hovered on the button. “Smith is all but done now.”
“Smith? It’s not…Cleo. I was talking about Aaron Fine.”
The bottom fell out of my world and there I was, spinning in the air, falling down and down and there was no damn end in sight.
Chapter Fourteen
I was good in crises. Put me in the middle of a raging battle with pissed off mages, shape-shifters, or killers and I would kick my way out without breaking into sweat.
But Jeremy’s words broke my heart.
It just couldn’t be.
But it was.
Aaron Fine.
No way.
Yes way.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
I could only stare at his beautiful face. What the hell was I supposed to say? “Jeremy found something…its Smith. Some evidence against him.”
“The man is guilty,” he said.
“Yes, and I…” I shoved the phone in my pocket. Dubey came to my side as if he sensed my turmoil. For a vampire, he was awfully sensitive. “They…That is, Jeremy, he found a connection.”
01 Serial Killer (FBI Paranormal Casefiles) Page 14