One way or another, I had to find a place to crash within a week.
I showed up for school Monday with no intention of going to class. West’s library was newer and more open than Denali’s, which made it harder to hide in, but as long as you kept your face in a book most school librarians were happy to leave you alone.
For a few brief months, I thought my dad was out of my life for good. I should have known that a city of three hundred thousand wasn’t nearly enough to hide in. Anchorage trapped its inhabitants between Cook Inlet and the Chugach Mountains. It was like living inside a snow globe.
For one brief week, Gavin made me feel happy. Really happy, not fake-happy. I mean, when I really thought about it, I wasn’t a happy person. My undercover work for the government gave me job satisfaction. That was something. Marcus’s parties were fun. I had a roof over my head and food in the cupboard. But what did any of that matter if nobody loved me?
When I’d told Fane Aurora was in trouble, he’d dropped everything to come to her rescue. And that was after I told him she was a vampire hunter.
Who would come running if I was ever abducted?
I sunk further into my chair.
I lost track of the number of bells that rang. My stomach rumbled. I ignored it. At some point someone came over, and I tensed, thinking the librarian was about to point out my overextended stay, but it was Aurora with her long black hair hanging over her shoulders as she leaned beside me. Relief and annoyance filled me. I wasn’t really in the mood for conversation.
“I love your hair,” Aurora said.
“Thanks.”
“What are you doing in the library? Get hit by nostalgia?” she asked.
I breathed in and out, not responding.
Aurora frowned. “What’s the matter?”
I might as well tell her. “It’s Valerie.” I scratched at a rough patch of wood on the table with my black painted fingernail.
Aurora slipped into a seat beside me. “What’s she done now?”
“She hooked up with Gavin.”
Aurora straightened up. “What? When?”
“After I dropped you off Friday night I went back to the party and found Valerie in Gavin’s lap... and then they went upstairs.” I dropped my head into my arms.
“I’m so sorry, Noel.” Aurora touched my back gently. “Um, want to get out of here? Grab a sandwich?”
“I’m not hungry,” I said through my arms. I lifted my head. “But I’ll come with you. I just want to get out of here.” I shoved my things into my backpack. I felt like shoving myself inside and being left alone.
As we headed down the hall, the intercom system crackled to life.
“Aurora Sky and Noel Harper, please report to the front office immediately.”
I looked at Aurora. Now what? Whatever. I needed a distraction. We made our way down the hallway, all but empty at lunch hour, and rounded the last corner before we hit the school office. I marched over to the secretary and said, “I’m Noel Harper, and this is Aurora Sky.”
The woman looked around her desk. She handed Aurora and I each a slip of paper. We unfolded them together.
I need you on base now. – Melcher
“Duty calls,” I said sarcastically. Again. “Do you need anything out of your locker?” I asked Aurora. Since getting into a head-on collision, she was too afraid to drive, which made me the default driver. I didn’t mind driving. It made me feel less short, and I liked being in control.
While Aurora went to her locker, I got the car started and pulled into the pick-up lane. Melcher better not have called Valerie in. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel. My vision blurred.
A couple minutes later, Aurora tossed her backpack inside and hopped in. We didn’t talk much on the way to the base. I wasn’t in a talking mood and Aurora wasn’t exactly Miss Chatty Chatterson.
Valerie was the last person I felt like seeing, so low and behold, who walked in after Dante, Aurora, and I got to base—the bitch herself. I thought she’d zero in on me, but she chose to direct her attention on Aurora. Guess she saw Aurora as competition, whereas I was a loser not worth worrying about.
“Don’t tell me I’ve been called in to babysit Aurora again.”
Dante smirked at Valerie and said, “Good thing you came. A call girl’s gone missing, and Melcher needs you to work through her clients until you find the culprit.”
My mood was so dark I couldn’t even crack a smile.
The smug smile on Valerie’s lips turned into a death glare. Melcher walked in, followed by a man in his late twenties. Although he was trim and cleanly shaven, there was something foreboding in his stance and the chilly way he looked around the room. The man took his place behind everyone while Melcher walked around his desk.
“Team, I have bad news. Agent Crist was found dead over the weekend.”
The room went silent.
Melcher’s seat creaked beneath his wiry figure. “One of our own... gone.”
“Did a vamp get her?” Dante asked, voicing my own question.
Melcher nodded slowly. “I’m afraid so. From what the autopsy report showed it appears that this was a rush job. We believe Crist was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Kind of like Valerie at Marcus’s.
I clenched my teeth. I shouldn’t be thinking like that. This was bad news. Vamps had already gotten another informant a couple weeks ago, but an agent? How the hell did that happen? These killings were hitting way too close to home.
“Any leads on the culprit?” Dante asked.
Melcher nodded toward the back. “That’s what Jared’s here to help us with.”
“Agent?” Dante asked.
The man relaxed his arms and quirked one brow in a way that reminded me of a villainous cartoon. “Just Jared,” he replied smugly.
Melcher cleared his throat. “Jared is our top recruiter. He’s taking out time to help us find Agent Crist’s killer.”
“Where do we start?” Dante asked.
“We found another body beside Crist’s,” Melcher said. “We believe the second body will lead us to the culprit.”
“Who was it?” Dante asked.
Melcher looked directly at Aurora. “It was a boy named Michael Peterson. He went to West High School. Did you know this boy?”
Holy shit! Mike, the boy who followed us to the palace?
The color drained from Aurora’s face. She stared back at Melcher, speechless.
I leaned forward in my seat. “He followed us to Marcus’s party Friday night. The moment Aurora noticed him, she escorted the boy back to his car. That’s the last we saw of him.”
“Marcus,” the Jared guy repeated eagerly behind me.
Melcher’s lips puckered when he frowned. “Marcus doesn’t like to get his clothes wrinkled, let alone his hands bloody.”
“He’s not the only one,” Jared said.
Melcher looked across his desk at me. “Who else was at this party?” He pulled out a notepad and clicked his pen.
Gavin’s name was the first to pop in my head. Suddenly my throat felt dry. My brain kept going blank other than seeing Gavin’s eyes when they’d looked at me warmly. His smile when we’d joked together. I needed to think of other names—to remember who was there. Anyone but Gavin. Even after he’d abandoned me, I felt an insane urge to protect him.
“Um, obviously, Marcus was there,” I said to buy myself more time. I glanced sideways. Aurora, Dante, and Valerie were all staring at me—Aurora and Valerie the most intensely.
“Thomas, Gretchen, Maxine, Roger, Buck, Cole, Stewart, Andre, a couple waiters,” I said, finally regaining my visual memory. I rattled off more names as they came to me, leaving out Fane and Henry, though I still bore Henry’s bite marks. If Melcher asked I’d answer truthfully, but omission wasn’t lying.
My stomach twisted uncomfortably when I remembered Henry calling Mike trouble and Fane’s half-hearted attempt at humor when he suggested they kill then dispose of the body
at the dump.
“Where did you find the bodies?” I asked.
Melcher tapped his desk once. “At the landfill.”
I forced myself not to look at Aurora. That’s where Henry, Gavin, and Fane had disposed of the vamps who’d abducted her.
Fane left the party early on Friday. And who knows when Henry left. I’d passed out pretty quickly and woken up alone.
Melcher sat up in his chair. “I need all of you to wait out in the hall while Jared and I talk. We’ll call you back to deliver your instructions, so don’t go far.”
As soon as we were clear of Melcher’s office, I whispered to Aurora, “I had no choice.”
“I know,” she said.
Before we could say anything more, Dante slipped in between us.
“Poor Agent Crist, who would have dreamed?”
Aurora nodded. “It’s horrific. And Mike.”
Dante slipped an arm around Aurora and me. “What’s with this party I wasn’t invited to?”
“You wouldn’t last five minutes with Marcus,” I said.
Marcus would eat him up all right—young, handsome, well-built boy like Dante. He’d probably find his humor a turn on, too.
Dante chuckled. “So he’s a biter, is he?”
Aurora rolled her eyes. “Only when it comes to hot younger man.”
Clearly we were thinking the same thing.
“You just admitted you think I’m hot,” Dante said to Aurora.
I ducked out from under his arm. I wasn’t sticking around while they played footsie in the hall, especially not with Valerie headed in our direction.
“I can’t believe you two, flirting when Agent Crist’s killer is on the loose.”
Valerie’s presence was my cue to leave
I ducked around the corner, but not for long. The moment I heard the secretary’s phone ring in the hallway, I returned and followed everyone back inside Melcher’s office.
“All right everyone, let’s get down to business,” Melcher said before I’d taken a seat.
The new guy sat on the edge of Crist’s desk, looking slightly less bored now that it was assignment time.
“Two of the guests were from out of town. We’ll start with them. Andre Morrel lives in Sitka and Buck Jenner is in Fairbanks.”
Andre Morrel didn’t strike me as the killing type. I’d only seen him at the palace twice, but he hadn’t taken anyone upstairs either time. The man looked more socially starved than blood thirsty.
And laid back, cool dude, Buck Jenner? The idea of him attacking and murdering two people was laughable.
Jared pushed away from Crist’s desk, looming over us. “Listen up, rookies. We’re splitting into two teams.”
Please don’t put me with Valerie. Please don’t put me with Valerie. I’ll kill the bitch if you pair us together.
My jaw clenched.
Jared glanced at Valerie and Aurora. “Ginger and Raven, you’re with me.”
Thank God!
“You two,” Jared said, looking from Dante to me. “Moose and Mouse. You’re a team.”
Mouse? Seriously? My disgust most likely mirrored everyone else’s.
Jared grabbed a coin off Crist’s desk. “We’ll flip to see who goes where.” He looked at Dante. “Heads you go north. Tails, south.”
Dante shrugged. “Sure, whatever.”
Jared flicked the coin at the ceiling, snatching it mid-air, and smacking it over his arm. “Heads,” he announced.
All I knew was that Fairbanks was three hundred and sixty miles away from Clive and that sounded fine to me. Maybe I wouldn’t come back. Melcher had lost an informant in Fairbanks. I could take her place. Fairbanks was a great place for a lonely and unloved girl. I could walk around town all day with my frozen heart.
“I’ll have three seats booked on Alaska Airlines leaving tomorrow,” Melcher said addressing Jared, Aurora, and Valerie.
“What about school?” Aurora demanded.
“Sorry, Aurora.” Melcher said, sounding anything but. “This takes precedence.”
Aurora stormed out. Valerie got up and stretched before heading for the door.
“Guess I’ve got some packing to do for the big trip,” she said.
Dante started out after Valerie.
“Dante, we need to talk to you and Noel next,” Melcher called after him.
“I’ll be right back,” Dante said.
Probably chasing after Aurora. For some reason guys got the urge to be superheroes whenever she was distressed or in trouble. Then there was me, left to fend for myself. My card had been dealt.
Dante wasn’t gone long. “Give me the word, boss,” Dante said, smiling as he walked back into Melcher’s office. “Do you want this guy interrogated?”
I snorted. Being free of Valerie did wonders for my psyche. “Buck Jenner didn’t do it. The guy likes beer better than blood. He’s relatively new. Still thinks he’s normal,” I said.
This time Dante snorted. “No one who lives in Fairbanks is normal. Take it from a guy who grew up there.” He grinned.
“Nevertheless, I want you two to check him out,” Melcher said. “No engaging. Follow, observe, and report back to me.”
“Got it,” Dante said. “When do we leave?”
Melcher leaned forward on his desk. “You’re driving, so anytime.”
Jared shot us a dismissive glance.
I got up out of my chair and walked into the hallway ahead of Dante. As soon as he’d walked out, Jared shut the door. The guy reminded me of the instructors I’d had at boot camp. Absolutely zero character or emotion.
Aurora wasn’t a big Melcher fan, but at least there was something human about him under the surface. Guys like Jared had even less humanity in them than vampires.
“So, what do you say, Noel? Want to leave now?”
I glanced sideways at Dante. He obviously didn’t expect me to agree.
“I’m ready if you’re ready.”
“Really?”
I was ready yesterday. It wasn’t like Clive would take time off work to follow me to Fairbanks. And good luck trying to stalk me when I wasn’t in town.
7
Moose and Mouse
I drove home, threw some things in a bag, and headed for Dante’s place. When I knocked on the door, a dog barked.
“You weren’t kidding about being ready to split,” Dante said as he let me in.
I shrugged. “I travel light.”
A great big golden retriever tried to ram his head between my legs. I grabbed him under the jaw and patted him firmly on the head, pulling it away from my crotch.
“That’s Tommy,” Dante said, retreating via the living room. “Come on in. I have a few more things to throw into my bag.” Dante disappeared down a hallway.
I walked into the living room, keeping my back to Tommy, who followed close behind. A jumbo flat screen took up one wall. There were three remotes on the coffee table across from it, a bowl half-filled with pretzels, and stack of Sports Illustrated magazines.
Dante returned carrying a duffel bag, which he dumped on the couch. The bag gaped open. At the top was a handgun, knife, and roll of duct tape.
I rolled my eyes. “You won’t need any of that. Buck wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“So, you know this guy really well?”
“Not really.”
Dante raised a brow.
“Fine,” I said. “Bring your weapons if they make you feel better.”
Dante grinned. “They always make me feel better.” He turned to his bag and zipped it up. “What time is it?”
Did I look like the kind of girl who wore a wristwatch? When I didn’t answer, Dante looked over at a mantle against the opposite wall. “Two thirteen. The day is young.” He hoisted his bag over his shoulder. “Come on, Tommy.”
The golden retriever wagged his tail.
“Wait a minute,” I said. “The dog’s coming with us?”
Dante continued toward the door. “Yeah, my roommate’s working on
the slope this week. Can’t leave the dude alone all day. Anyway, he’s a great lookout dog. Aren’t you, Tommy?” Dante’s bag dropped to the floor when he stopped to scratch the dog behind the ears. “What do you say when you sense a vampire nearby?” Dante stared into Tommy’s eyes. The dog stared back, went still, then suddenly let out one shrill bark. “Good boy, Tommy,” Dante said, ruffling the fur on his head. Tommy’s tail swished from side to side.
“Okay.”
“That’s not all.” Dante crouched beside the dog. “Tommy, what do you say when a hot chick walks by?” Dante grinned and winked. Tommy howled in response. Dante gave him more pats, laughing all the while. He straightened up, smiling proudly. “He’s such a hound dog.”
“Just so long as he doesn’t do any howling at night,” I said.
“Depends if a hot chick walks by.”
Did that mean I should be offended when I walked past both Dante and his dog without hearing so much as a “woof”?
Once I’d gotten my pack out of my car and chucked it into Dante’s Jeep, we were on our way north.
“I’ve actually never been to Fairbanks,” I said.
Dante glanced at me as he headed toward the Chugiak Mountains. “Never been to Fairbanks... how is that possible?”
“What reason would I have to go?”
“What reason would you have not to?” Dante countered.
He sped down Tudor, passing business areas followed by subdivisions. We curved left, following the final stretch before hitting the Glen Highway.
“I need fuel,” Dante said.
Five seconds later, he cranked the wheel and took an abrupt turn into a Taco Bell parking lot, roaring up to the drive -through electronic board. Not the kind of fuel I’d thought he meant.
“Welcome to Taco Bell. May I take your order?”
Dante poked his head out of the window. “Yeah, I’ll have a seven layer burrito, a churro, and a medium Mountain Dew.”
“Will that be all?”
Stakeout (Aurora Sky Page 8