“You are from the Fennigan Pack, correct?” Bently asked Margo, and she nodded her head.
He got that from sniffing her? What a crazy wild sense of smell wolves have.
“She is of the magic healing kind. One of the gifted.” Miele smiled at her. “Do not be afraid of us. We don’t intend any harm to your friend. In fact, we are here to protect her from harm.”
“Even more so since it seems she is meant for us,” Bently added then winked, and Margo smiled wide.
“She is of importance.” Margo began to say.
“Margo! That’s enough.” Dani interrupted then walked toward her friend. She grabbed her arm.
“Will you two excuse us, please? You can leave or you can make yourselves at home, since you did that earlier without an invite.” Margo gasped and the two wolves chuckled as they stood watching her drag Margo into the other room.
“Can they hear me if I whisper?” she asked Margo.
“Not all the way in here. What is your problem? You just hit the jackpot in hot men for life. Those two are part of the Fagan Pack. They’re big shots and there are five of them. Holy shit, Dani, you are going to be their healer and perhaps protector or something just as grand as soon as we figure it out. We have to explain what’s going on.”
“No!” Dani interrupted. “You are not going to tell them anything. I am not destined for anything with them. I am destined to be independent, single, and working on catching killers, one in particular at the moment.”
“Dani, you can’t deny your destiny.”
“I am in charge of my destiny. I will make the decisions in my life and not be forced to bow my head and walk behind a bunch of men who can change into wolves. That is not for me.”
Margo looked insulted, Dani realized, and she tried to back step.
She placed her hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Margo. I know this all means so much to you, but I’m human and I have worked hard for my independence and for the life I lead. I am not a submissive person.”
Margo smiled. “You do not understand but soon you will. I will respect your wishes, Dani, because we are great friends and I love you. But know that those men are meant to be yours and not to control you or make demands upon you but to protect and love you.”
“Whatever. I don’t have time for this mumbo jumbo stuff. I’m wasting time. I’m going down the fire escape. Keep them busy for me.”
Dani opened the window and looked down. It was only four floors high. The fire escape was sturdy enough, so she made her descent down the metal steps.
Margo would ensure she got the time needed to get to her car.
* * * *
Margo reentered the living room to find both Alphas pacing.
“Where is she?” Miele Fagan asked abruptly. She winced at his tone. His brother Bently walked closer.
“Margo, you know why we are here. She is important to us. She is our mate.”
Margo covered her mouth and her eyes widened. This wasn’t good. Dani was going to flip out. Shit! They were going to flip out when they realize she ran.
“Um, that is amazing,” she began to say when Miele jumped up and grabbed her arm.
“Where is she?” he demanded to know. She knew Alphas and the Fagan Pack had seriously intense reputations. They had killed many wolves before to protect the circle of elders.
She bowed her head.
“I am sorry, Alpha, but she is gone.”
“What?” Bently ran toward the bedroom and returned a moment later.
“She went down the fire escape.”
“The fire escape? She could have broken her freaking neck,” Miele reprimanded, and Bently shook his head.
“If she returns before we find her, you call us and you do not warn her first, Margo, or there will be consequences. One phone call, or your Alpha will step in.”
Margo gasped at Miele’s threat.
“Yes, Alphas.” She bowed her head and they hurried out the door.
* * * *
Dani jumped into her Mustang, started it up, and took off down the main street. She caught the red light at the intersection and kept looking in the rearview mirror to see if they were pursuing her. No sign of them yet. She released an uneasy breath and swallowed the lump of guilt she felt.
Why should I feel guilty? I didn’t do anything wrong. They kissed me. They wanted to have sex with me because they’re wolves! Fuck if any of this makes sense.
She jumped as she heard her cell phone ringing.
Answering it, she heard Jack’s voice and another string of guilt hit her belly. But why. It wasn’t like they were dating or boyfriend and girlfriend. They hadn’t even had sex in nearly a year. The thought that he wasn’t her booty call anymore made her feel crappy. They’d drifted apart, too. She just wasn’t good at relationships.
“What’s up, stranger?” she asked, trying to pretend normalcy and ignore the negative feeling she had. She stepped on the gas and caught the next light a block up from her place.
“Nothing, sweetheart. Just, I heard about you getting taken off the case.”
“I’m not off the case. The brass made me take a few days off to clear my head. I was covered in human blood. It was shitty.”
“I know. I fucking heard. I did call you. You should answer those voice mails.”
“I know. I did but didn’t get a chance to respond. I appreciate the call, though.”
“Well, I just heard that some guys from a Special Investigations Unit are being assigned to the case.”
“What? Were their names Miele and Bently?”
“No, some other guys. Big fucking dudes, too, Dani. I mean, like, over six feet, big muscles, tattoos, and total military types.”
“Shoot. I guess our paths will cross eventually.”
“Yeah, I’m sure they will. You won’t miss them. All the chicks around the department were practically drooling. Something about the guys’ good looks and shit.”
She swallowed hard.
“Got a last name?”
“Yeah it was Fagan or Fagarn and they’re brothers or cousins. Some crazy shit. Anyway, watch your ass. I hear this killer is really bad. He must be for the brass to be calling in reinforcements like military personnel.”
“I appreciate the heads-up. I’ll be by in a few hours. I’m checking out my own leads,” she told him.
“I can come over tonight if you don’t have plans?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Hey, I didn’t mean to not call you. I kind of met someone and then things didn’t work out. I wouldn’t do that to you. You know, call you for one reason while I’m interested in someone else, even though we had an agreement.”
“No sweat, Jack. It’s cool and you don’t owe me any explanations. It’s been, like, a year.”
“I know it’s crazy. I’m sorry to assume that you would be interested. A hot babe like you has to be seeing someone.”
She chuckled.
“I’ll call you if I’m free.” She disconnected the call and felt a little better about clearing the air between her and Jack, but she also felt shitty. She just wasn’t good with opening up her heart and connecting with a man on an intimate level. It was complicated and involved too much energy and giving too much of herself. She liked being alone. Well, at least most of the time, and she didn’t want to just have sex to have sex anymore. But damn did the two wolves back there know how to kiss a woman. She felt it to her fucking toes. That was wild because right now she should be freaking out knowing that there were wolves living among humans. She swallowed hard. In her mind, she knew that she believed it back then. Back when Margo had told her they existed. Dani kept a watchful eye out at the precinct. She could tell that private meetings were taking place, and also she believed there were even private meeting rooms. This was like some off-the-wall spy movie meets sci-fi craziness.
She shook her head and continued down the road. As she glanced at her reflection in the mirror, she noticed a blush to her cheeks. The reality wa
s, wolf or not, she was definitely attracted to Miele and Bently. She’d have to be dead not to be and her pussy sure the hell wasn’t dead. In fact, her panties were wet from thinking about them. She tried to adjust her ass in the seat and her holster rubbed along the side of the seat belt.
The sound of her cell phone chiming took her mind off of the hotties and back to reality.
She pressed the button on the hands-free device so she could answer the call.
“Hello, I’m looking for Detective Lynch.”
“This is Detective Lynch. Who is this please?”
“My name is Baily May. I’ve been watching the television about the murders taking place around the city. My cousin April was one of the women killed last month.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that. How can I help you, Baily?” It wasn’t uncommon for members of a victim’s family to call the detectives in charge of their cases. It sometimes helped the victims bring closure of some degree to their family member’s death.
“Well, I don’t know if it’s anything to be concerned about, but the detectives at your precinct said you wouldn’t mind if I called you.”
“Go on, Baily, it’s okay. Tell me what’s bothering you.”
“I was sitting at the coffee shop. I hadn’t gone since before April was killed, but we used to go there together often. She mentioned a club on Chester Street that she had gone to a few times. Anyway, while I was sitting there, I saw some weird-looking guy talking to two young women. One of the women got up and walked outside with him. They talked a bit and anyway, he handed her a card. I think I saw him at the coffee shop before. In fact, a few days before my sister disappeared, the man was talking with her by the table but then I arrived. Well, today when I saw him, I didn’t know what to do or whether or not to approach him, and then he happened to turn and look right at me. It was so strange. I swear you’re probably going to think I’m crazy, Detective Lynch, but I think I saw his eyes glowing.”
Dani nearly crashed her car. She pulled over to the side of the road and asked Baily to repeat the last part. She then took down a description of the man and the time of day Baily saw him when she was with her sister and then she wrote down today’s time. It was a good hour difference.
“Do you think it could be the killer?” Baily asked.
“I’m not sure, Baily, but believe me, I’ll do my best to figure this out. I may need you to sit down and do a composite sketch. I’ll need something to go by when I stake out that coffee shop.”
“Okay. I’ll cooperate. I want April’s killer to be caught. I don’t want to hear another story about another innocent person murdered.”
“I understand. Can you meet me at the department or would you like me to have an artist meet you somewhere else?”
“I’m a little scared now. I don’t want him to find me.”
“Give me your address. I’ll personally come along with the sketch artist, okay?”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
Dani got off the phone and took an unsteady breath. Could this be the lead she’d been waiting for? She also needed to check out that club on Chester. She knew the one. It was a big place. If her memory served her correctly, there had been a few strange incidents over the years there, and usually one of the special task forces was called in. She punched in the number to someone in the department that did sketch work. He would meet her at Baily’s.
Chapter 4
“You let her, a human, get the slip on you?” Van asked as they all stood around the meeting room at the department. No one had seen Dani anywhere and Miele and Bently just arrived.
They looked upset and Van had the feeling that something was up. As soon as the brass left the room, Van demanded answers.
“What the fuck really happened?” Van asked.
“She’s our fucking mate,” Miele stated and they all stood up from their lounging positions.
“Say that again.” Baher took a step toward Miele and Bently.
“You heard him. We were shocked, too. First that Dani was a she, not a he, and second that she’s our mate,” Bently stated.
“What is she like?” Baher asked.
“Here’s a picture of her,” Van stated as he clicked a button on the laptop and Dani’s face came up on the full-screen board in the front of the room.
A long, slow whistle went through the room.
“Fucking beautiful,” Baher whispered.
Van knew she was beautiful and highly intelligent. The current picture showed her wearing tapered black dress pants that hugged her shapely figure. The holster and gun, badge, and other paraphernalia sat against her waist. She had long brown hair that was pulled back and into a braid down her back. From the picture, she appeared to have light-green eyes.
“It states that she’s twenty-six years old and has been a detective for five years now with more than sixty closed cases under her belt. That’s impressive,” Van stated.
“She’s top notch. Received numerous awards in the police academy, graduating top in her class. She has a high success rate of closed cases in her file, and hey, Randolph, she’s got a thing for guns,” Van teased their quiet, very serious brother.
“Interesting,” Randolph stated. His eyes never left the screen.
“She smells incredible, too, and her lips, damn,” Bently added.
“Her lips? You fucking kissed her?” Van asked.
“We both did. Couldn’t resist doing it. Nor would you if you were there,” Miele added.
“No wonder she fucking ran. You two playboys probably scared her.” Baher ran his hand through his hair.
“She knows that wolves exist,” Bently told them, and they all looked right at him.
“What? How can she?” Van asked, now really concerned for their well-being.
“She’s best friends with a magic healer,” Miele informed his brothers.
“Yeah, from the Fennigan Pack,” Bently added.
“The Fennigan Pack? What the heck is she doing living in New York? The Fennigan Pack’s been busy in Ireland helping to restore the Order along with Ava and the Declan brothers,” Van replied.
“There’s a reason for everything, Van. We all realize that. My main concern is this rogue wolf. I’m not certain that he’s working alone. I’m not even sure why he’s killing these people,” Miele stated.
“We haven’t come up with any connections between the victims. Over at the crime scene, in the warehouse, we came up with shit,” Van explained.
“The one thing we know for sure is that this wolf or whatever kills violently. It has no control over its anger. It is wild, nearly causing complete destruction to the human body. That in itself has raised so many red flags in the departments that we have to take over the investigation,” Baher stated.
“The pictures from the crime scene were that bad, Van?” Bently asked, and Van nodded his head.
“We had to call in a few wolves to get rid of more than half the bodies and replace them with human ones from the morgue. Otherwise, the coroner’s office could have realized something was different about the bodies, their blood type, organs, et cetera. It was a fucking close call. We also got lucky and Sarah from Tolga pack was the coroner on duty. She got rid of the human and covered for us.”
“We need to find Dani. If she were to stumble upon this killer…” Miele began to say then turned toward Bently.
“We do this together. Baher, make the call. Get her cell phone number and accounts open. See if she made any calls since leaving the apartment. Bently, you call in to our men and have them locate her vehicle. We’ll track her down and take her to our place and explain to her that she can’t run from us and she can’t continue with the investigation,” Van ordered and everyone moved about the room, pulling out cell phones and making calls.
Van looked at Randolph.
“What, Randolph?”
“She may know about wolves, but she doesn’t know what she’s dealing with. This thing is not like us.”
/> Randolph looked away from Van and out toward the window and the city skyline.
His brother was a man of few words. He was always deep in thought or silent. He had been like that for so many years, never showing emotion or an effect from even the heaviest of violence around him. Van had the same fears that Randolph did. They were together when they saw the massive amount of blood, the pictures of the torn flesh and violence. They were worried that this killer could blow their covers and make the humans aware of the existence of their kind. It needed to be stopped, and they would be the ones to stop it.
Chapter 5
He knew that he should have killed the brunette. In his sane mind, he was aware that what he was doing needed to be controlled better, but he was losing that control too quickly now. He glanced around him, being sure to avoid the cameras by the front entrance to the apartment building. He needed to find more of that special blood, that scent that was all consuming. Detective Dani Lynch had it. The moment her fear wafted through the air in the warehouse, he knew that she was special. The smoke, the blood from the other worthless bodies couldn’t hide her scent. He needed to find her. Dani would first serve him and then his master. Although everything about her yelled “human,” there was something inside him that wanted her, needed her in every respect. It was strong enough to grab his full attention, and even now, just thinking about her made his hunger grow stronger.
He entered the apartment building, knowing that Baily’s blood could hold him over a bit longer. It wasn’t like he was a vampire that needed to feast on blood to survive. It was a side effect of the transformation Dr. Evans had conducted. The doctor should have known better than to try to trick a vamp into giving him blood. The vamp he chose probably tainted it with something. Perhaps just the incredible urge to get blood, drink it, and kill for it.
He didn’t want to think about it. The need was far beyond his control unless the doctor’s idea was correct. A healer, with powers strong enough to fight even vampires existed, and he prayed that Dani was the one with such powers. He had no idea what that scent was until he felt that urge to kill and take more blood eased in her presence. He was almost hypnotized by her powers, but it seemed she hadn’t a clue what she was doing. That was perfect. She was pure, untouched, and he would use that once she was in his possession and under his control.
Dwyer, Dixie Lynn- Task Force One: Dani's Got a Gun [The Men of Five-0 #4] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) Page 4