by E A Price
“Well then, I’m all you’ve got,” she declared, gleefully.
“But it might be dangerous,” he reiterated for what felt like the fiftieth time, although he doubted she was going to listen to him – why start now?
“Ha! Danger’s my middle name… well, actually it’s Martha but you get my drift. And, what other choice do you have?”
He folded his arms over his chest and almost thrust out his bottom lip like a petulant child. “I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to like it.”
“Well, just stay out of the way.”
“If we’re only going to talk to him, it won’t be an issue. I mean, you’re going to be low-key right? You’re still recovering from your injuries, and you’re a wanted man remember?”
Cutter smirked. “Wanted man? This ain’t the wild west, sweetheart. But don’t worry, I can be subtle.”
*
“I don’t think you’re being very subtle,” said Lucie standing back in the middle of the rooftop. His little hedgehog wasn’t keen on heights. He felt better with her being away from the edge, too. He was already paranoid about her getting hurt, he didn’t need to add tripping and falling off a roof to the list of things he needed to worry about.
Cutter looked back at her over his shoulder. “Really? Huh.”
The coyote shifter in his paws, wriggled, squirmed and squealed again. Cutter gave him another shake and told him to, “Shut the fuck up.”
Okay, maybe dangling the good-for-nothing dickhead upside down from the top of a building wasn’t the subtlest option, but he could be doing something a hell of a lot worse.
Luck was with them – well, a tiny bit of luck in comparison to the events of the past week – and they found Marie’s boyfriend, Max at the Slippery Newt. They followed him back to Sadie’s apartment. It was still a crime scene, but no SEA officer guarded the door, and they caught him breaking in and looking for anything he could steal and sell. It was his belief that everything in that apartment was rightfully his since Marie was dead. He was taking Sadie’s belongings so he could sell them – to make up for future loss of earnings that Marie’s death caused him. On hearing that garbage, Cutter didn’t think twice about dragging the slimy coyote up to the roof and giving him an airing over the side of it.
“Where’s Sadie?” barked Cutter.
“That judgmental bitch? How the fuck should I know?”
“Did you ever meet Nicolas Maroni?”
The coyote stopped struggling against Cutter’s steely grip on his legs. “No.”
His wolf huffed. He didn’t even have to scent him to know that was a lie.
“Try again,” he rumbled, throatily.
“Fine, I may have done a little business with Maroni back when we were in Ursa. But Sadie, she worked for him in one of his clubs. He whored her out to his friends.”
“Give me a reason not to drop you?”
“You can’t kill me,” whimpered the coyote.
“Please, even I’m starting to think he’d be doing the world a favor!” called Lucie.
The coyote let out a grunt of frustration. “I know that Sadie was banging someone from the SEA.”
Cutter pulled him over the ledge and dumped him on the rooftop. He loomed over the shaking coyote. “How do you know?”
He tried to scramble away, but Cutter put a boot on his chest. At least he and Lucie’s ex shared the same show size, even if the clothes he was wearing were baggy.
“She told Marie; Marie told me.”
“Who was it?” demanded Cutter.
“I don’t know.”
“Not helpful.”
Cutter reached down to pick him up again, and the coyote squealed. “I don’t know their name but I saw them.”
“Keep talking.”
The coyote stammered through his speech, “I was thinking I might be able to get some money out of her, so I followed Sadie the other night when she went out to meet him and…”
“And?”
“It wasn’t a him – it was a her.” The coyote imparted the information in a whisper as if it was the most shocking news he had ever told anyone.
“Her?”
“Yeah, some uptight looking blonde hyena, tall and skinny, dressed in a business suit. They met outside the park and got in the hyena’s car; they argued and then they started making out and then Sadie left.”
“What were they arguing about?” asked Lucie from his left elbow. Her curiosity had drawn her closer to them.
“I don’t fucking know; I can’t hear through car doors.”
He gave Lucie a look of derision that was soon wiped off his face as Cutter snarled at him. “Anything else?”
“That’s all I know.”
Cutter stared at him for a good couple of minutes, and when the coyote didn’t add anything, he nodded. “Stay out of trouble, or I will come back and I will drop you next time.”
*
“Are you thinking…?”
“Yes,” he replied curtly. “Primrose.”
After leaving the coyote on the roof, ignoring the urine smell that emanated from them they were returning to Lucie’s house. Cutter fidgeted in the passenger seat. He didn’t know why, but it felt wrong to allow himself to be driven by a woman. He could stomach another man driving, but with a woman, he felt the need to be in the driver’s seat. His wolf concurred – he should be in charge. It was probably his asshole alpha tendencies trying to push forward. The only reason she was driving was that it was her car, and she wouldn’t go anywhere unless she drove. She muttered something about his driving skills being only surpassed by the contestants on Wacky Races.
However, he couldn’t deny that watching her drive definitely had perks. For one thing, she had only thrown a sweater over her outfit and was still wearing her deliciously barely-there shorts. An expanse of creamy leg flesh jiggled every time she worked the pedals. He had to fist his hands to stop them from creeping over to caress her. The last thing they wanted was an accident.
“I know she’s a bit…ummm…”
“Of a total bitch,” he supplied.
“Yes, but I can’t imagine Primrose would be the mole. What he said, it’s a big surprise isn’t it?”
“I know, the idea that she would…”
“Yeah, who knew she was gay? I always envisioned her just not having any girly parts and plugging herself into the mains to power down each night.”
“That’s not what I meant,” he sighed. “I was still talking about her being the mole.”
“Right, but you don’t know for certain she is.”
“No, but I have a theory. Sadie worked for Maroni; she met Primrose; they fell in love or whatever. After the arrest of Maroni, Primrose kept Sadie, and somehow Clayton found out that Primrose was the mole. Clayton was trying to persuade Sadie to testify against her, so Primrose killed Clayton and made it look like Sadie disappeared.”
Lucie pulled into her garage and turned to face him. “Why kill Marie and why would Sadie need to disappear?”
Cutter slumped a little in his seat. “Okay, so my theory doesn’t quite cover everything.”
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked as she chewed on her plump bottom lip.
“Fuck, I hope so,” he said as he ran his hand up her thigh. Hey, they were parked now, where was the harm?
Lucie gave him a mock look of outrage. “Not about that! Well, yes, but later. We need to talk to Primrose.”
She didn’t slap his hand away, so he took that as an invitation to leave it there and started tapping his fingers against her thigh.
“Yeah well, if I turn up at her house I’m as good as in prison.”
“Not me though.”
The rhythm of his fingers stopped as he glared at her. “Oh no, you’re not going to her alone.”
She widened her eyes and licked her bee-stung lips. How can one innocent, little hedgehog disarm him so thoroughly with hardly any effort at all? His wolf moaned impatiently, and his manhoo
d strained his pants. Funny, when he first donned them, he was sure they would be too big for them. He had visions of running around and them falling down, baring his ass to the world. Now they felt like they were fucking strangling him.
“What if I were surrounded by dozens of SEA agents?”
Hmmm. His fingers started moving again, gradually working their way up her leg as they tap-tap-tapped. “You mean at work on Monday?”
“Or sooner, like tomorrow at the softball game.”
Fuck, he’d forgotten about that. He was actually due to play. Lucie attended all the games but was only a reserve player. She was hardly gifted when it came to sports, but she was a team player and always prepared to help. Although, he did have to admit that watching her run was a heavenly, pant tightening experience. It was a wonder she didn’t knock herself out with her magnificent assets. He smiled at his lewd thoughts.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. If she’s the mole, then she will be dangerous.”
“There will be a crowd of people – not just agents, but also their families, the other team and all their families. The place will be heaving. What are you doing to my leg? It feels like morse code.”
“Oh it is; I’m sending you a message.”
Lucie leaned over, so her lips were inches from his. “What does it say?”
“Lucie, get over here and fuck me,” he murmured against her mouth.
“So romantic!” she whispered playfully. “So it’s settled then; I’ll talk to Primrose tomorrow.”
“No, it’s too dangerous. I forbid you from…”
He forgot his objections as her lips met his.
Chapter Sixteen
“I can’t believe I let her talk me into this,” Cutter grumbled to himself.
With a snort, his wolf – and only company – agreed. Of course, at the time when she was suggesting it, the fact that she was shimmying into her pair of little, white shorts she always wore for softball games didn’t help.
Ugh, that was it, that was his kryptonite – shorts. For some reason seeing her in them sent him wild and turned him into a bumbling idiot. Yeah, seeing her naked was great, too – that was a no-brainer. But there was something about shorts. Maybe it was the hint of her nakedness underneath, the way they barely skimmed her ass cheeks, and the idea that he could just snake a finger inside them and find his prize…
Cutter shook his head. He needed to start dressing her in muumuus.
He had tried railing at her not to go to the game, but that didn’t work. Instead, she had teased him with a saucy wiggle of her hips and asked whether he was afraid she would get hurt or afraid that she would have a good time. Frankly, neither option appealed to him.
As a compromise, Lucie suggested borrowing her neighbor, Malcolm’s van. Since he was still on vacation, he wouldn’t need it, and he wouldn’t mind if she borrowed it. That way Cutter could hide in the back of it and still be near the game in case she needed him.
Grudgingly, he agreed to that plan. He wouldn’t have if Lucie had actually given him all the facts. It wasn’t a van – it was an ice cream truck – and now Cutter was being assailed by numerous, chubby children all demanding ice cream. He was pretty sure that Lucie was going to find the whole thing hilarious.
After sending away another couple of kids with a scowl, he grabbed the binoculars Lucie gave him and spied on the softball game. He easily spotted Lucie; no one filled out that uniform quite like her. What the… That fucking wildebeest shifter just put his arm around her!
Cutter roared and grabbed the door handle but froze before he made it outside. His wolf pushed at him to hurry – punish the shifter who dare touch their female!
No, no he couldn’t. It pained him to do the right thing, but he needed to stay where he was. He tensed, sweated and trembled as he waited for his wolf to back down, but eventually he did.
She only had one stipulation for him coming along – that he didn’t get out of the van. He was going to honor that.
He only had one stipulation – he had to be as close to her as possible. Also, if anyone thought to pat her butt in some kind of sporting fashion, he would be out of the truck and ripping their throats out before she could say nutty fudgkins. Okay, that was two stipulations.
At least the wildebeest had only touched her shoulder; he guessed he could let him live. Now he…
Bang, bang, bang, bang! “Open up and sell us ice cream!” cried a belligerent pre-pubescent voice.
Oh, fuck this! Cutter opened the door to the assembled moppets and let out a mighty snarl.
*
Lucie found herself sat next to Avery and Wayne while munching on a hot dog. Both the lioness and gator shifter were preparing to bat, but since Lucie was only the third reserve, she threw caution to the wind and braved the wares of one of the food trucks that were idling nearby.
“How’s it going?” she asked in between bites, ignoring the hungry look on Wayne’s face.
“Apart from the fact that our Alpha team has practically fallen apart, and our current leader is wanted for murder? Not much,” replied Avery sarcastically.
Lucie waved at Cecile; the swan shifter was holding a bat and flirting outrageously with a very smug looking Rick. She looked around at the assembled SEA agents and frowned as she realized a certain squirrel shifter was conspicuous by her absence.
“No Jessie today?”
Wayne bared his fangs. “That asshole II agent, Harvey Blue is practically trying to work her to death. She can’t even go to the fucking can without him pouncing on her!”
“The Director and Harvey had a screaming match over it,” Avery told her confidentially. “And now, the Director has been advised to take a paid vacation while Harvey handles the case.”
“Jiminy crickets!”
“Harvey has completely taken over the investigation; Diaz is just there for the ride. Apparently he was putting too much effort into actually interviewing witnesses and not chasing Cutter, so Harvey went to his boss and persuaded him that Diaz wasn’t capable of handling the case on his own.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I got Diaz drunk last night and gave him a booby hug.”
“A booby hug?”
Avery grinned. “Sure, let me show you.”
The lioness pulled her to her feet and wrapped her arms around the little hedgehog shifter, she pressed out her boobs and rubbed them against her in a circular motion, softly but firmly. Wayne and a few other agents were virtually salivating when they parted.
“Oh! A Booby hug.”
“You should try it, with your endowments the guy would probably give you his kidney.”
Lucie’s cheeks pinked under her friend’s frank gaze. She was hardly shy about sex, but Avery was always so blunt and unabashed about carnal matters that even she blushed. Isis, on the other hand, was downright filthy when she wanted to be, and almost made Lucie melt with embarrassment.
“What are people saying about Cutter?” mumbled Lucie, trying to change the subject.
Wayne barked a laugh. “Honestly, nothing worse than usual.”
Mental phew!
“Just in case Cutter is interested, wherever he may be,” Avery gave her a significant look that made her blush from the prickles of her hedgehog right down to her baby pink painted toenails, “we have made a little headway with our hedgehog case.”
Avery explained that they found a homeless man who witnessed a wolf shifter searching through their victim’s makeshift home. They believe it was their killer coming back to find something; he scared the shit out of the homeless guy, who was too afraid to return. And, after Avery flirted mercilessly with the lead technician, he did a more thorough workup on all their evidence, and the DNA on the toothpick they found was a match to someone called Bruce Knightley. Unhelpfully, he was apparently already dead.
Lucie eyed Primrose sitting apart from other agents and decided to make her move. “Well, thanks for the info.”
Avery winked. “Sure, I hope wh
erever Cutter is he’s hanging in there.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Her eyes flicked over to the ice cream truck, and she actually felt the blood draining out of her face when she saw Cutter outside of the truck, jamming his finger in the chest of a tough looking male. Not as tough as Cutter, of course. Even with the distance between them, she could sense Cutter’s rage. Her hedgehog snuffled and decided that no doubt the other male deserved it. Lucie was a little less certain but decided just to let him handle it. But she would have plenty to say about him getting out of the truck later.
Instead, she steeled herself and approached Primrose. Was it her imagination or was the air colder around the aloof hyena shifter?
“May I sit here?” asked Lucie brightly without waiting for an answer.
Primrose pursed her lips. “Why would you want to?”
“Well, I, we don’t really know each other, I thought we could be friends.”
The hyena shifter sneered. “Have you heard from Cutter?”
Lucie licked her lips as her hedgehog growled at the other female. “Uh, not recently, why do you ask?”
Primrose glared. “Like you haven’t heard.”
“I’ve heard rumors, but I don’t give them any credence,” she said, hotly.
“Look, you seem like a nice if gullible, woman. If you know where he’s hiding, give him up. He’s a sly bastard, and smarter than he appears. People thought he was dirty back in Ursa, and all this just goes to show that things haven’t changed.”
Primrose stood up to leave, clearly bored with the conversation. Lucie wanted to scream at the hyena that she had no idea what she was talking about. Her beast was all for shifting and pricking her without mercy. However, she was actually trying to get information. “So you knew Cutter back in Ursa, right?”
“Sure, everyone did,” snorted Primrose.
“So do you really think he killed Clayton?”
She hesitated for a moment. “It doesn’t matter what I think; it’s the evidence that matters.”
With that, Primrose stalked away, viciously grabbing a bat from Lake. The normally calm Lake muttered curse words after the frosty hyena shifter.