“Busy with the usual stuff.” Meaning werewolf pack business. Darren was making a bid to be the next pack Alpha. “But I’m meeting Jack and my grandbaby here. My day will be more fun than my hubby’s, I’m sure.”
As if on cue, the little bell over the entrance rang and Jack walked in, his infant daughter cradled against his chest. He grinned at them as he approached and popped a kiss on his mother’s forehead. “Hey, ladies.”
Erin couldn’t help but notice how much the baby looked like Jack and Angela. Well, and Erin, herself. Same dark hair and blue eyes. She wondered if the munchkin would have her mother’s petite elfish build or grow to the impressive height of this side of the family.
Something had to come from Mom’s genes, right? Erin had inherited her riotous curls and too-generous curves from her own mother. She squelched the small stab of envy that Jack still had his mom. Hers had died before Erin had ever had a chance to know her—it had been just her dad and her when she was growing up. After he’d passed, she’d come to Seattle looking for connections. She’d found them. A whole wolf pack of them.
“Pfft.” Her aunt waved an impatient hand. “Forget the pleasantries, kiddo. Hand over the baby.”
“Oh, that’s nice.” He transferred his daughter into Angela’s arms, casting an aggrieved glance at his cousins. “She used to enjoy seeing me.”
“Sorry, cuz. You’ve been replaced by someone much cuter.” Holly’s dimples flashed and she plopped down at Angela’s table.
“I think we’re going to need some coffee.” Erin turned to get it herself, but found one of her waitresses behind her, a tray loaded down with coffee mugs and a carafe.
“You, sit. Visit with your family. I got this.” Tina jerked her chin toward an empty chair at the table. She’d been with them since they’d opened the bakery four years ago, then had become their head waitress at the bistro, so she felt free to order them around. In under a minute, she’d distributed the cups and dispensed the caffeine. After tucking the tray under her arm, she whipped out a pad of paper and pen. “What can I get you guys?”
“You don’t have to wait on us.” Erin had waited tables through high school, which had gotten her interested in restaurants and cooking in the first place, but it meant she was never quite comfortable being the one sitting and letting others fetch and carry for her.
“I got this.” Tina shot her a quelling look. “Waiting on people is my job, Chef Bates. You guys work too hard as it is.”
Holly lounged back in her chair. “You’re not gonna win this one, E.”
“I’ll have the special.” A dish Erin had created. She sipped her coffee and gave in as gracefully as she could.
“The special sounds good to me.” Jack handed his menu to Tina. “Mom?”
“Sure, the special for me too.” Angela bounced the baby in her arms, who gurgled, her arms flailing.
“Me, too.” Holly leaned in to look at the tiny girl bundled in a purple blanket. “She gets more adorable every time I see her.”
“You should have one of your own.” Angela spoke in a singsong reserved for babies, dangling her granddaughter in the air and making her crow in delight. “There are a lot of eligible men in the pack for you to choose from.” The babble of people in the dining room was loud enough that no one would overhear her mention the pack. If they did, they wouldn’t understand the context anyway. “We’re having Barney Litz to dinner tomorrow, and you’re coming. Just so you know.”
A low whine issued from Holly, and she slumped in her seat, knowing better than to argue with Angela. “Ah, man. Why is it always me? How come you never set Erin up?”
“She’s tried,” Erin muttered. Always with werewolves, too. A little subtle pressure to officially join the pack. Angela and Darren had offered to Change her into a wolf, if she wanted, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to take on the responsibility and craziness of being a Magickal. Sure, the superpowers were nice, but there was a lot of ugly stuff and lying that went along with it. Being on the fringe of that world as a human was complicated enough. She had to be conscious all the time of who she was talking to about what, who knew what, who was allowed to know what. Taking that to the next level and becoming a Magickal herself…she just wasn’t ready to commit. Maybe someday.
“Not all of us want to date wolves,” Jack pointed out, referring to the fact that he had married an elf. But the piercing look he gave Erin made her squirm a bit. Maybe he knew more about her sex life than she’d like. He did work with Luca, after all. She didn’t think Luca would have said anything, but that didn’t mean Jack hadn’t figured it out. She just hoped Angela and Darren didn’t. They wouldn’t be happy with her banging another vampire. Any other Magickal race would be better in their eyes.
Their food arrived and Erin dug in, more than happy not to discuss dating or baby-making. She wasn’t on the market for either right now. The conversation turned to the mundane: family updates from Angela, business plans from Holly, menu ideas from Erin and hilarious parenting mishaps from Jack. Erin let the banter flow around her, relaxing. She loved having her people near, safe and happy, enjoying each other and good food. Nothing was more important than that.
“Ah, damn.” Jack fished a vibrating phone out of his pocket and checked the screen. “It’s Cavalli. I’ve got to go. Mom, you’ll need to unhand my child—she has an appointment with the nanny.”
“No, she does not.” Angela fended him off with a hand. “I’ll babysit for you. Just come by the house when you’re done for the day. I’m getting my quality grandma time, and that’s that.”
Holly frowned. “Where’s Selina, by the way?”
“My wife is at work.” He wiped his mouth on a napkin, a rueful expression on his face. “Some lead panned out in one of her cases and she needed to deal with it.”
How they made that work, Erin never knew. Selina was a cop working for the Seattle PD’s Magickal Task Force and Jack was an agent with the FBI’s Magickal Crimes Unit. Their lives had to be a series of interruptions and emergencies where they were both pulled away. They seemed to be happy with it, and she ignored a teeny twinge of jealousy at the satisfaction that filled the air whenever she saw either of them. Their courtship had been a rough one, and Selina had almost been murdered by a serial killer they were hunting. They’d been through hell and had definitely earned their happy ending.
Erin rose from the table when Jack did. “All right, my lovelies, I have to get some work done in the office before my kitchen shift starts.” The smile she gave Holly wasn’t nice, but she kept her tone as benevolent as possible. “Why don’t you stay with Aunt Angela so she can tell you about your date tomorrow?”
The blonde wolf glared at her. “That’s so thoughtful, cuz.”
Even annoyed, Erin knew her cousin wouldn’t rat her out about Luca, but she’d bet that Holly encouraged her aunt to work harder to set Erin up on more blind dates. That was inevitable anyway. Angela wanted everyone married off and making babies for her to coddle. Erin wiggled her fingers in a wave. “Gotta run or I won’t get the menu for next week done, Holly won’t be able to order the right food and no one eats.”
“We can’t have that.” Holly tossed her hair over her shoulder, took a swig of her coffee and likely plotted revenge against Erin for ditching her.
“I’m off.” Jack kissed his daughter’s head, his mother’s cheek and hugged his cousins. “Stay safe, ladies.”
A standard admonishment from him. He’d grown even more protective than usual since he’d become a father. Holly smirked at him. “But I so enjoy hanging out in dark alleys with bad men. They’re so much fun. They taste like chicken.”
Jack snorted and Angela smothered a guffaw. People thought the delicate werewolf was sweet and waifish, but there’d been a Normal or two who’d had their asses handed to them when they got a little too pushy at a bar. Erin had been there for the show once. It hadn’t been pretty, but the shock on the guy’s face had been damn entertaining.
Being safe reminded Erin that she hadn�
��t felt particularly safe the night before. She opened her mouth to mention something to Jack, but then decided against it. For all she knew, it had just been Balthasar following her around. The cat had a habit of popping up wherever she was, probably hoping for more food. Paranoia, nothing more. She turned and walked toward the office.
The problem was, she’d experienced that being watched feeling before, and it hadn’t been paranoia. It was one of the reasons she’d ended up in her convenient arrangement with Luca. Asher had been the last man she’d dated seriously and he hadn’t taken it well when she’d broken it off. He’d kept coming around and had called for months afterward, until she’d eventually had to change her number and get a restraining order. Her family had known all about it, and the fact that he was a vampire and they were werewolves had done nothing to improve the situation. She’d shied away from dating or even the possibility of getting serious since then.
She had to admit that the feeling last night had felt a lot like when Asher had hung around waiting for her at the restaurant, “accidentally” running into her at the grocery store or the park or the movies. She’d felt his gaze on her then, and it pissed her off to even think about it now. That dickhead better never come near her again or she would tell Jack or her uncle. It was only because she’d pleaded with Darren to stay out of it before that her uncle hadn’t ripped the vamp limb from limb.
Right. As if an incident like that wouldn’t reignite the always-seething hostility between those two Magickal races. No one had ever been willing or able to explain to her why they hated each other so much, but they did. She didn’t want to have anything to do with kicking off another war. Her insides tightened at the very thought. There was a time and a place for violence, but she’d rather not be the cause of it.
She plopped down behind her desk to open up her recipe files. No, she was just oversensitive because of what Asher had put her through before. The only being watching her last night had been Balthasar. She had no evidence of anything else, and she wasn’t about to make any wild speculations. Time to get to more productive matters. She immersed herself in her work, compiling a list of specials for every meal for the café, Emerald Bistro, and an exotic pastry to be featured at the bakery, Sugar Rush. There were a few gaps in her menu when she sat back an hour later and stretched. She sighed, scrolled through her recipes again, and wrinkled her nose. Nope. Nothing she wanted to cook. She drummed her fingernails against the desktop. Making a quick decision, she rose to her feet and headed for the kitchen.
A bustling staff moved in synchronized chaos, and the scent of cooking filled the air. She glanced around her domain by habit, making sure everything was as it should be. It was. She headed for the back.
“Hey, Jordie.”
Three heads popped up. These people were trained to respond if she said something, no matter who she was addressing. She bit her lip to hide a grin. Maybe that indoctrination into the laws of the kitchen had been a little too effective.
“Sandy, Juanita, good work.” Her two line cooks grinned and got back to what they were doing while Erin scooted around them to approach her new sous-chef.
“What can I do for you, Chef?” He gave her a wink, his hands moving at lightning speed over the five pans cooking on the stovetop. Werewolf. One who’d had some issues holding down a job at restaurants owned by Normals because of his tendency to need to take off work for unexplained reasons every time the full moon rolled around.
“Jordie, I’ve told you a million times we’re not that formal here. Call me Erin.” She watched him add just the right amount of spice to a curry recipe she had on this week’s menu. Excellent. In the handful of months he’d worked here, she’d been impressed by his attention to detail. She’d been right to give him a chance. “I was wondering if you’d like to pick up some extra hours and work a double shift today.”
Gratitude gleamed in his gaze and the corners of his eyes crinkled. “You know I would, Chef—uh, Erin. Thank you.”
“Great.” She patted him on the shoulder and then got out of his way.
It took her a few minutes to hunt down Holly, who was in an animated discussion with Tina. Aunt Angela was nowhere to be seen. Erin waved to get her cousin’s attention and then waited until the conversation was done.
Holly bounced her petite self over. “What’s up, hon?”
“I’m not happy with the menu for next week. I need to think of a few new items. I have some recipes I’ve been experimenting with lately that are almost ready, and I think I’m going to take the rest of the day off to finish them.” Erin stuck out her tongue when her cousin rolled her eyes. “Jordie’s willing to take my shift, so I’m covered.”
“All right, go be an artiste.” Holly sighed dramatically, pressing the back of her hand to her forehead. “But keep your phone on in case I need you, and make sure you have my ordering list ready by tomorrow morning.”
Erin resisted the urge to boot her cousin in the shins. “I will. I need the menu to be right and it’s not. New dishes are never a bad thing.”
“You’re right. Our regulars would love some new dishes, invented by the premier chef in Seattle.” The wolf rubbed her hands together, the businesswoman in her taking over. “I’ll send out an email and social networking blast as soon as you’ve got everything ready.”
“You do that.” Erin headed back to the office to grab her stuff. The premier chef label was an exaggeration, but their restaurants were doing very well, and her dishes had received rave reviews from food critics, so she couldn’t complain. But part of it came from her being a perfectionist about her work.
The sight of the roses Luca had sent drew her up short. She vacillated for an embarrassing amount of time before she decided to leave them at the restaurant. Carting them around with her felt a little too emotionally invested, and that wasn’t how things were between her and Luca.
The second she got in her car, her cell phone rang. It was a number she didn’t recognize, but had a Seattle area code. Business call, probably. She punched the button to take the call. “Erin Bates speaking.”
Silence answered her.
“Hello? Anybody there?”
Nothing. She looked at the screen, but the line was still open, the timer on the call still ticking away.
“Okay, whoever you are. We’ve got a bad connection because I can’t hear anything you’re saying.”
More silence.
No, not silence. There was the subtle sound of someone breathing on the other end of the line. Goose bumps erupted down her arms, and that same creeped-out feeling she’d had the night before hit her again.
“Asher, this is you, isn’t it?” Her grip tightened on the phone, anger punching through her fear. “It’s not funny, and this violates the restraining order I have against you.”
The line clicked. Dead.
Luca felt a muscle twitch in his jaw. He didn’t let any other reaction show, but walking in the door of this crime scene had been enough to show him this was going to be a bitch of a case.
A small boy lay crumpled at his feet. Four, maybe five years old. Still chubby with baby fat. He’d never have a chance to lose it.
His eyes stared up at Luca, blank and glazed with death.
Old bruises showed on the child’s arms and the back of his neck, as if he’d been grabbed or shoved a little too roughly more than once. This time that shove had taken him down a set of stairs, though the parents were claiming it was an accident. The boy had tripped.
Unfortunately for them, Luca knew a pile of bullshit when he smelled it. Unfortunately for him, Luca had been stuck with this case because the boy’s father was a very high-ranking member of the Vampire Conclave. So was Luca’s father. The political entanglements were going to fuck up what should be an open and shut case. Oh yeah, this one would be a real bitch.
“What was his name?” His voice sounded like gravel in a blender, and he didn’t care. Sad that that hadn’t been the first piece of information he’d been given. Even in death, t
he kid’s father mattered more. Robert Hammond, who stood in his office two meters away, speaking far too calmly and confidently to the officers and agents on the scene.
“Dillon Hammond. His friends called him Dilly.” The medical examiner assigned to the case, Tess Jones, stepped past Luca and knelt beside the body. There was a barely perceptible tremor in her hand when she opened her kit and pulled on a pair of gloves.
“Are you okay to handle this?” He sent the question telepathically so no one else could hear.
She stiffened, shot him a resentful glance, and flashed a bit of werewolf fang at him for good measure. “I can handle anything, Cavalli. Without your help.”
Ah, their past coming back to bite him in the ass. As usual. He hadn’t asked the question because they’d once been lovers, because there had once been the possibility for far more than that between them, but because she was on his team for this case. It was as simple as that. If you were on his team, he had your back, no matter what. Always. Somehow that message never got across to Tess. She was simply determined to hate him, and he couldn’t even say that he blamed her. But she was the best at what she did, so she was assigned to his team’s cases more often than not.
“Of course, you can, Dr. Jones. I had no doubts.” He kept his voice cool and managed to resist baring his fangs at her in return. It wasn’t worth it, and he was damn tired of dealing with her attitude. Something he’d have to confront her on at some point, but now was neither the time nor the place. He refocused on the dead body. “Why would a vampire child have fading bruises? Those should have healed within minutes.”
She shook her head, her hands moving efficiently over the boy. “I don’t think he’s a vampire. No fangs, wrong smell.” Her brows drew together. “Is his mother a witch, elf or Fae?”
“Not sure yet.” But something worth looking into. Vampires and werewolves had amazing self-healing abilities, but the other three Magickal races—witches, elves and Fae—should have been able to cast a simple healing spell. The boy was probably too young for that, but why hadn’t his mother done it for him? Why leave the damning evidence? Questions that had no answers. Yet. Luca nodded, encouraging Tess to continue her examination. “Let me know when you have something.”
Edge of the Night (Night #3) Page 3