by Renee George
“Fancy,” I said and blocked the glare with my hand.
“Twin rings from our father for our coming of age when we turned eighteen.” He smiled, his eyes dancing with humor. He squeezed his brother’s shoulder. “Speaking of Dad. He sent me to get you. The Tri-Council is meeting, and he wants us there for support.”
Chance’s eyes darkened. “I really want to see what’s going on by the lake.”
“We can’t,” Randy said. “We agreed to help the old man.” He smiled at his brother. “Come on. You never know. It could prove to be an interesting meeting.”
The exchange between the two brothers wasn’t strange exactly, but I didn’t understand Chance’s reluctance to go. Maybe he and his father were in a bad place. I could sympathize with parental disappointment.
“I’ll catch up with you both,” Dominic said. He held up his phone and flashed the text he’d received. “It looks like we’re all on the clock now.”
I had stopped paying attention to Dom and the Lowry Brothers and started watching the crime scene chaos. Through the small sea of Jubilee attendees, one stood out among the crowd … by several inches. Billy Bob was talking to Connelly now, and I couldn’t help but wonder how he’d gotten to Riverfront so quickly. Then I saw her. Bethany Hilliard. The stupid fox shifter he’d entertained the day before was draped on his side as if he were wearing her. My muscles stiffened at the sight of her. Her face was red and blustery with anxiety. Billy Bob had his arms around her shoulders, patting her gently, and it took everything inside my not to run down to them and beat him and her about the head with my bare fists.
What’s wrong with you? Pay attention to the handsome dude next you and forget Billy Bob.
“Are you okay?” Dominic asked. “Maybe we should get out of here. I’ll walk you back to the courthouse.”
I reined in my anger and…jealousy. Damn it! I had no reason to be jealous. Billy Bob could court whomever he wanted. After all, I was on a kinda-date with Dominic.
I patted his forearm that crossed my upper chest, but I didn’t take my eyes off Billy Bob. “You’re right. We should go.” As if he sensed me watching, Billy Bob’s gaze snapped to mine. His lip curled in a snarl as he glared at me.
I glared right back. Then, maturely, I stuck out my tongue, spun out of Dominic’s arms and headed down the block to Twelfth Street with Dominic on my heels. Before I could turn left to cross to the courthouse, a strong hand gripped me by the arm and spun me around.
“What are you doing here?” Billy Bob demanded. I’d never seen such a look of pure rage on his face before. I could see the hint of his wolf slipping into his eyes.
After a stunned moment, I responded with a confused and slightly angry, “What?”
He growled as he drew closer, both his hands now on my upper arms, his claws digging into my skin. Not enough to hurt, but enough to warn me he was serious.
“Get your hands off her,” Dominic said.
“Leave,” Billy Bob told him. “Leave now.”
To Dominic’s grit, he stood his ground. “I think you’re the one who should leave, Doctor Smith.”
So they knew each other? Of course, they did. Billy Bob had been working with the council since their arrival and Dominic was one of the Arkansas delegates.
Please don’t kill him. Please don’t kill him. I recited the mantra in my head, silently pleading with Billy Bob to let it go. “I’m okay, Dominic. You have business at the courthouse, so you should go.”
“I…Are you sure?”
“Yes,” I said, afraid to look away from the scary-acting werewolf. “I’ll be fine.”
“If you’re sure.”
“Go!” Billy Bob commanded.
I jerked out of his grip. “Christ on a cracker, Doc! Will you calm down?” I thumped his solid, puffed out chest with the back of my hand. “Just chill a second.” I turned to Dominic. “I really am okay. You have business, so you should go do it.”
“Are we still on for lunch Sunday?” he asked, glaring at Billy Bob and not looking at me.
“Yes,” I told him. “I’ll meet you at one o’clock at the Blonde Bear Cafe.”
Unexpectedly, he relaxed and gave me a dazzling smile. He brought my hand to his lips and kissed my fingers. “It’s a date.”
The rumble coming from Billy Bob made my stomach flip.
“Okay.” I took my hand back. “You better get on now. I’ll see you later.”
He gave Billy Bob one last look. “Count on it.”
Oh, hell. I rolled my eyes as I turned around to face the angry lycan.
“What game are you playing, Chavvah?”
“I’m not playing any game. What the hell is wrong with you?”
His jaw worked back and forth. I shivered remembering this morning’s kiss. Wowza. I’d never seen this man so enraged, and frankly, it made his stupid ass even sexier. Ack!
“Why are you down here on the Riverfront?” he asked.
I shook the giant giraffe at him, its knobby horns flopping forward with its head. “Is this an interrogation? Because the last time I checked you hadn’t been deputized.” It pissed me off that he was making this so personal. There was another murder. It could be a friend or a neighbor for all we knew, and he wanted to know what I was doing? How about if we figured out what the killer was doing instead?
“I don’t want—” He bit off whatever word he was going to say when foxy Bethany caught up to us.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” she said. Her long, thick black eyelashes fluttered.
Billy Bob replaced his angry expression with a placid look of congeniality. “I’m right here.” He gritted out a smile.
I ground my teeth with irritation. He must have noticed a change in my demeanor because he looked smug for a second. “Bethany, can you give Ms. Trimmel and me a moment to converse? It won’t take but a tick.”
Her damsel in distress act faltered for a moment, and I could see the cunning in her eyes as she examined me up and down. Then she filled her face with innocence again and tilted her head back to look at him. “Of course,” she said. She tapped his chin. “Just don’t take too long, you hear?”
“Oh, I hear,” he said.
When she walked away, he didn’t seem near as angry anymore. Crap. He liked Bethany. I pissed him off, and she calmed him down. This was just more proof of how un-right we were for each other, even if he had almost managed to practically give me an orgasm with just a kiss. Okay. Not just a kiss. Damn, why did kissing Billy Bob have to feel so freaking good?
“Did you hear about Ed?”
Well, at least he wasn’t asking me what the hell I was doing anymore. “Yes. I was with Ruth when Ed came home.”
“It’s good.” He nodded, his silver hair falling over his shoulders. “It’s good it wasn’t him.”
I nodded my agreement. A woman walked past us, a jar of chipped sassafras in her hand. “Do you still have the body at your clinic?” I wanted to tell him about what I smelled, see if the new victim carried the same scent.
“Yes,” he said, his expression wary. He took my hand. “Chavvah, promise me you’ll be careful.”
His concern ruffled my calm exterior. “I will,” I said. “You too.”
I don’t know who was more surprised when he leaned down and gently pressed his lips to mine. A zinging tingle zipped up and down my spine, and my sexy bits begged for mercy. My hands pressed against his chest and curled against his pecs. The man tasted like an exotic dessert.
I didn’t want to, but my eyes closed of their own bidding as I leaned into the kiss, my lips parting for him in an invitation to claim. He pulled back, staring down at me, his eyes blazing with intensity.
“I have to go,” he said. His voice was rough and thick. “The body…”
“Yes, yes,” I panted. “The body.” I stepped back to put distance between us. “I…I have to go too.” I turned on my heel, big cumbersome giraffe in hand, and walked away as fast as my jelly legs would carry me.
> Damn it. I hadn’t told him about the sassafras!
Chapter 7
The restaurant was dark, and I left the lights off as I hurried up the steps to the apartment. Surprisingly, my leg had stopped aching since Billy Bob’s kiss. Now that I thought about it, I’d had fewer aches after our morning make-out session as well. I knew lycanthrope saliva had healing properties, but I’d never had it orally before. I smiled and then cursed myself for being a stupid, crushy girl.
Right now, Billy Bob was comforting Bethany Hilliard. She absolutely threw off the “mine” vibes when she’d joined us, and Billy Bob had done nothing to discourage her. Did I really want to be on his list of women pining for him? Nope. Not even a little bit. So why did my hoo-ha jump for joy every time I thought about him. It was a goddamn betrayal!
Someone knocked at the apartment door, and I pretty near peed myself. Had I left the restaurant unlocked when I came in? I thought I’d locked the door. How could I be so dumb? Had I left it unlocked last night? What the hell was wrong with me? It was like my brain had moved and hadn’t bothered to leave a forwarding address.
The knock sounded again. “Chavvah?”
A wash of relief flooded me as I recognized Babe’s voice. I opened the door. “How did you get into the restaurant?”
He tucked his chin, surprised at my greeting. He held up his keys. “I used these.”
“Oh, thank heavens. The door was locked. I thought I was losing my mind for a moment.”
He walked past me into the living room. “Too late for that.”
I backhanded his shoulder. “Don’t be such a pain in the ass.”
“It’s my official job as the youngest Trimmel.” He brought me in for a brotherly hug and then gave me a smacking kiss on the cheek. “You all right?”
“Nope. But I’m dealing.”
Babe nodded. “Sheriff Taylor released the crime scene, and Roger Messer is doing the cleanup for us.”
“He’s good people.” Roger was Blondina’s husband. Before coming to Peculiar, he and Blondina had owned a cleaning company. They’d been integrators at the time. When she got pregnant with Selena, they’d decided to raise her in a therian community. They’d wanted her to be proud of her heritage. Totally the opposite of my parents.
Babe wore a tailored blue suit, and his normally messy hair had been styled neatly. Also, he’d managed a shave. This Babe was a stark contrast to the Babe I’d grown up with. I was absurdly proud that my baby bro was the mayor, and I marveled at how much he’d matured over the past year.
I examined his expression with the experience of an older sister. “What is it?”
He hemmed and hawed for a couple of seconds, toed the shag carpet with his fancy shoes, then chewed the inside of his cheek before finally meeting my gaze. “I think you should think about going to Kansas City for a couple of days.”
My hackles rose. “No.” There was no way I would give Mom and Dad the satisfaction by running to them in a crisis.
“You are just as stubborn as Sunny.”
“Did you ask her to go stay with our parents, too?”
His ears turned red, and he managed chagrinned. “Yes.”
“And yet, you’re still breathing.”
“Barely.” Babel sat down on the chocolate brown couch, a new purchase since I’d moved in. The cushions were big, like clouds of pillows, and so much better than the ugly old 70s furniture my older brother Judah had settled on. Though, if I could have Judah back, I’d have gladly lived with his poor taste in couches. “Sunny’s psychic ability hasn’t been right since Jude was born, and with all these strangers in town, it would be dangerous for people to find out she’s human.” He slanted a look at me. “The last thing I need is for my two favorite women to get any more involved in these murders.”
“Hey! It’s not my fault someone put a corpse out back of the restaurant.”
“I know that. But it wasn’t an accident, either.”
Sudden realization flooded me. “You think someone was trying to send a message to us? That maybe someone knows Sunny isn’t a therian?”
“I don’t know. It’s unlikely. But I want to keep my wife and my sister as far away from this investigation as possible.”
I plopped next to him on the couch and took his hand. “You won’t get any argument from me. But I don’t need Mommy and Daddy to protect me, either.”
“Well, at least stay with us. I have to spend a lot of time in town, and it would make me feel better if you are with Sunny and Jude when I can’t be,” he told me. “The Tri-Council just had an emergency meeting because of the deaths.” He shook his head. “It’s too late to move the Jubilee to another town, but they are considering closing off the bridge to keep more folks from coming in—or from leaving. And they want an accounting for everyone in town and our surrounding territory. That’s over a thousand of our citizens, and probably another three or four hundred therians from the surrounding states. It’s going to be a logistics nightmare.”
He looked tired. Babe was in his mid-twenties, but the responsibility of being mayor of our town was taking a weighty toll. I still couldn’t believe that my die-hard integrator brother was in charge of a shifter community. If someone had told me two years ago that we both would have made our homes in Peculiar, and that he would be married to my best friend, I’d have laughed until I cried.
I nudged his shoulder with mine. “You know I’d do anything for you and Sunny, except run off to the city, of course. We’re going to make it through this, like always.”
He nudged me back. “I know. I’ve got to get back to the courthouse. The Tri-Council should be wrapping up their business.”
“How come you weren’t in on this meeting?”
“They wanted members only for the first hour.”
“Hmm.”
“There’s no conspiracies, sis. It’s standard business. They want to figure out what they really want before they ask. Frankly, it will save a lot of debate.”
“Okay.” I shrugged. “Have fun with your grown-up stuff.” I winked at him, and he kissed my cheek before jumping up from the couch.
At the door, he turned and gave me one last look. “Don’t take any risks, Chavvah. I’d really appreciate it if you and Sunny would keep out of the investigation. At least as much as possible. I can’t risk you. Either of you.”
“I promise I’ll avoid danger at every turn. And I’ll try to keep Sunny from digging too much.”
He put his index finger up. I stood up and walked over to him. I touched the tip of his finger with mine. “Heart-light swear,” I said.
He smiled. “Thanks. You’re the best.”
“Damn straight. Now get the hell out.”
He held up his hands. “Going.”
I closed the apartment door and locked it. Just in case. I was paranoid. Not without cause, but I hated feeling scared and vulnerable.
After a quick shower, I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. Another knock on the door had me jumping out of my skin. Who now?
“Babe?” I asked. I really needed to get a door with a peephole.
“It’s me. Sunny.”
Well, shitty-shitty bang-bang. I unlocked the door and opened it. “Why are you here and not home?”
“I need a reason?” With her big boobs, she appeared perkier than usual. I was looking forward to when she finally weaned Jude off the milk train. Those taters were distracting.
“You shouldn’t be here, Sunny. Especially not with all that blood around.”
“I didn’t go out back. No worries.” She waved off my concern and strolled in taking the exact spot on the couch where Babe had been sitting. She sighed unhappily. “Besides, I haven’t had a vision in weeks. I used to wish they’d go away, and now… I can’t believe I miss them.”
I smirked and sat down next to her. “Why are you here?”
Her lower lip jutted into a pout. “You’re a terrible best friend.”
“Am not.”
“Are so.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Are we going to be sticking out our tongues soon and calling each other doo-dee heads?”
“Maybe.” She giggled.
I giggled too. Not something I normally did, but Sunny knew how to bring out the girl in me. She hugged me and, as usual, it made me feel better. “You give the best hugs, honey.”
“I know.” I could hear the smile in her voice. When she leaned back, she frowned at me. “Are you okay, Chav? I am really worried about you. You should be packed and at the cabin, not sitting alone in this apartment. What if the killer came back?”
“If he’d wanted me dead, he had every opportunity last night.” I shivered as goose bumps rose on my arms. “I had my earphones in, so I didn’t hear anything. Nothing at all.”
“Oh, Chav. That so awful.”
“And I smelled something strange, and I keep forgetting to tell…well, anyone, about it.”
“Tell me.”
“It smelled like sassafras. I thought it might be root beer last night, but it had a more pungently spicy aroma than soda. And at Ruth’s this morning, she had a jar on her shelf.”
“So happy it wasn’t Ed,” Sunny said. Her relief echoed my own.
“Gosh, yes. Me too.”
Sunny put her hand on mine, and I took it, glad for the comfort.
“Anyways, it turns out one of the street vendors is using it as a prize or selling it or something. Ruth’s middle boy, Butch, brought it home from Riverfront Street. I was going to try and find where he got it from, but then…”
“The other body floated in.”
“Exactly!” I pulled at the hem of my tank top with my free hand. “I tried to tell Billy Bob.”
“Billy Bob, huh?” Sunny smirked.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“And what were you doing with Billy Bob down on Riverfront?”
“Nothing,” I said. “I was down there with one of the Tri-Council guys—”
“Which one?”
“Dominic Tartan.”