by Nina Croft
“You said you would come and see me again,” Jess said. “You never came.”
“I’m sorry,” Roz replied. “For a while I thought I was moving away. I didn’t want to call in case I had to leave.”
“And why would you have to leave, Ms. Fairfax?” Faith asked.
Roz smiled, her eyes showing genuine amusement. “Roz. Just the possibility of a job offer, Detective. It didn’t come to anything.” She turned to Jess. “Come with me. We’ll get some coffee and find somewhere to talk.”
“Thank you,” Jess said.
They headed off. Faith made to follow. She really wanted to hear this conversation, but Ryan stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“Let them talk alone,” he said. “It will do Jess good. Besides, we need to talk.”
For a second she thought about arguing, but then she halted and watched as Jess and Roz paused by the reception desk and spoke to the red-haired man, before disappearing through the door behind him.
Faith sighed. Ryan was right and she could only hope Jess would have something new to tell her when they spoke again.
“And I’m going to go find Christian,” Tara said. “Nice to meet you, Faith.” She nodded to Ryan but ignored Ash. Was there something going on between the two of them?
“Let’s go to my place,” Ryan said. “We can talk there.” He turned to Ash. “Haven’t you got something to do?”
“No.”
“So find something,” Ryan snapped.
As Faith followed him to the elevator, she could sense Ash’s gaze on her and the skin on her back prickled. Ryan pressed the button for the fifteenth floor, the doors slid shut, and she relaxed.
“You live here?” she asked.
“Yeah, I got the place with the job. It’s convenient.”
“I bet.” This place was right in the middle of the business district. She didn’t even want to think about how much an apartment would cost to rent here. Faith had a grueling one-hour commute each day from her tiny apartment into Scotland Yard.
Ryan was doing extremely well. While she’d have sworn he wasn’t the type to be swayed by money, maybe everybody had a price and they’d found Ryan’s.
He led her into a spacious living area with huge windows along one wall, which gave a spectacular view of the city of London. “Nice,” she murmured.
“It is. Look, are you really all right?” he asked. “Did they find what was wrong with you that night?”
“I’m having a few tests done, but they think it’s nothing serious.” She hated lying to Ryan, but she hated sympathy more. “Hey, I don’t suppose there’s a chance of a coffee in this posh place.
“Yeah, I’ll go make you one.”
She trailed after him into the luxurious kitchen,
“Wow, they must really like you. This place is…”
“Nice. Yeah, it is. But it was empty.” He shrugged and opened the fridge. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with milk.” He picked up the phone and punched in a number. “Graham, any chance of sending some coffee up to my place. Thanks.”
“Christ, all this and coffee on call. Maybe I can see why you took this job.”
He studied her for a moment, and she knew he was trying to come to a decision. Finally, he shrugged. “They’re still recruiting. I could put in a good word for you.”
His words shocked her. She didn’t know why, but she hadn’t expected it. “Recruiting for what? What is it you do here, Ryan? Your new partner looks like some sort of gang leader.”
Ryan grinned. “Ash has his moments, but he’s basically a good guy.”
“I’ll take your word for it. So…the job, what is it?”
“At the moment, liaison as much as anything. With potential customers. But CR Investigation takes on all sorts of jobs. It could be interesting.”
She’d bet it could. Talk about a whole load of words saying absolutely nothing. “All sorts of jobs” could cover a multitude of sins. Still, even if she had been prepared to leave the force, she was hardly in a position to take a new job right now. She had a time bomb ticking away in her head.
“Maybe once I’ve solved this murder, I’ll think about it.”
“And what if you never solve the murder?”
“I will.” She wished she were so certain.
“You said you had some information for me. What is it and how did you know about Roz being here?”
She’d been planning to tell him everything about the meeting with the colonel. Now, after seeing this setup and meeting his new “partner” she wondered if she should. But Ryan was still the same man and she trusted him. Besides, the colonel hadn’t actually told her not to mention their little talk.
“Come on, Faith, spit it out.”
She took a deep breath. “That wasn’t my first job offer of the day.”
“It wasn’t?”
“No. This morning I was approached by a couple of guys. They said they were working for a government department. They were investigating Christian Roth and—”
“What?” Ryan’s sounded shocked.
She opened her mouth to continue when a hard knock sounded on the door.
“Wait a second,” Ryan said.
She followed him through and waited as he spoke to whoever was on the other side, but she couldn’t hear the words. Finally, he opened the door wider and stood aside.
“You’d better come in.”
Chapter Four
Ash had expected an argument. He’d known Ryan didn’t want him in on this conversation, and he wasn’t sure why he wanted to be here anyway.
But instead of telling him to piss off, Ryan gestured for him to enter. It was unexpected and enough to pique his interest.
As he stepped into the room, he glanced across to where Faith lounged in the open doorway, arms folded across her chest, positively bristling with disapproval. He might think she didn’t like him, except he’d seen her initial reaction.
Oh, she liked him all right.
She just didn’t want to admit it.
He remembered the sensation when their hands had touched. His cock twitched in his pants at the memory, taking him totally by surprise. How long since he’d reacted to any woman. Actually, he knew exactly how long. Twenty-three years, four months, and three days. The last time he’d been with Lily, before they’d been separated and he’d lost her forever.
Banishing the memory, he crossed the room, putting the tray on the counter and turning to face them.
“I’d like Ash to hear this,” Ryan said.
She glanced between the two men, uncertain.
“Come on, Faith, trust me. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”
She chewed on her lip while she thought about it. They were nice lips, not full, but wide and perfectly shaped. His gaze ran over the rest of her. She was tall for a woman and slender, her breast small but still visible beneath the shirt she wore and her legs were endless.
She was about as different from Lily as it was possible to get. Lily had looked like Tara, petite and blond. And she’d had a sweet disposition. Ash doubted Faith had ever been called sweet in her life. She was all sharp prickles, and he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to smooth those prickly bits.
Finally, she nodded and headed for the counter with the coffee. “Might as well. You’d tell him anyway once I’d gone. But coffee first.”
After pouring a cup, she added milk and without waiting for them to say anything else, she carried it through into the living area and settled herself on the corner of the couch. She took a sip and grinned at Ryan. “Actually, I know why you took this job. I might sell my soul for coffee like this.”
“Really?” Ash murmured. Though it wasn’t actually her soul he was interested in.
She ignored him. Maybe it was time to test how indifferent she was. He strolled across the room, shrugged out of his coat, and tossed it on to the back of a chair. Her gaze swung around to stare at him, her attention fixed on the shoulder holster he wore and the
Desert Storm pistol slotted in the holster.
She turned to where Ryan still stood in the doorway. “Are you carrying?”
Lifting his jacket, he revealed the shoulder holster. “We are licensed,” he said when she frowned in disapproval.
“Don’t you like guns, Detective?” Ash asked.
“Faith doesn’t think anyone but the police should be allowed to carry weapons,” Ryan answered before she had a chance to speak.
“Really?” he murmured. “Why is that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know why a law-abiding citizen would need a gun.”
He curled his lips into a smile. “Would it make you feel better if I took it off?” He held her gaze as he unbuckled the holster, slowly stripped it off, and dropped it on the chair. “There. Unarmed and at your mercy. Or would you like to…pat me down. Check to see if I have anything…concealed.”
Her gaze dropped. He was quite aware that in his leather pants and T-shirt there was nowhere to conceal anything. “I can promise you there’s nothing but me in here, but I’ll understand if you want to check for yourself.”
As he’d guessed it would, her gaze dropped to his groin. Oh yes, she was interested. Even if she didn’t want to be.
Ryan cleared his throat, loudly. Blinking, she glanced away, but a faint flush tinged the skin of her cheekbones.
Ash couldn’t help but wonder if the two had been more than partners at work. If they’d had a relationship that Ryan had finished when he he’d come to work for the Order. But he didn’t think so. He wasn’t getting any of those vibes from them. At a guess, they’d been nothing more than friends.
He was glad.
After strolling across the floor, he took the chair opposite her, stretching his long legs out in front of him. Ryan gave him a narrow-eyed look but took the place on the sofa next to Faith.
“So,” he said. “Tell me what happened this morning.”
She put her empty cup down next to his feet. “I was leaving the hospital—”
“The hospital?” Ryan asked. “Are you still having problems?”
Annoyance flashed across her face. “No. I told you—it was just a follow-up. I’m fine.”
So had she been ill? He added it to the list of questions to ask Ryan.
“Anyway, as I said, I was leaving the hospital, when I was approached by a priest.”
“A priest?”
She frowned at Ryan. “Will you stop interrupting, and I might get through this. A priest and he asked if they could talk to me. There was a second man and they had what looked like it might have been a government-issue vehicle—you know those black SUVs.”
“Yeah, the sort that screams spooks.”
Ash guessed he wasn’t meaning the ghostly sort of spooks. This was getting interesting. “Was the second man a priest?”
“No, he was ex-military and he introduced himself as Colonel Grant. They wanted to talk to me and mentioned the Julie Foster murder case. Hinted that they might have information. I went along with them, but it became clear that the reason they were interested in me was because I’d worked with Ryan. It turns out they’re part of a government department that’s investigating Christian Roth—”
“What?” Ash wished he could bite back the word as Faith turned her attention on him.
“That was Ryan’s reaction as well,” she said. “Why are you two so shocked that someone might be investigating Roth?”
“Because we know him,” Ash said smoothly.
“Really? He’s a billionaire recluse whose employees look like gang leaders and carry weapons.”
Ash smirked. “I don’t think Ryan looks like a gang leader.”
“Ha-ha. I wasn’t referring to Ryan. But that wasn’t all.” She fidgeted as though uncomfortable with what was coming next.
“Come on, Faith. Spit it out.”
She shrugged still uncomfortable. “You know we had all that weird shit tie-in with Julie’s murder. Well, they were hinting that it wasn’t shit and that Roth is right in the middle of it all. They admitted at the end that they were investigating paranormal incidences and that Julie had been murdered by a real vampire.”
“And I’m betting that was the point where you got up and walked out,” Ryan said.
Faith grinned. “Well, they were the ones who walked out, but I did suggest it was a good idea.”
Ash glanced at Ryan and raised a brow.
“Faith doesn’t believe in all that supernatural stuff. She thinks vampires and demons are a load of old bollocks.”
“Come on, Ryan. Are you telling me that you believe in all that crap?”
“No, but I have more of an open mind than you do.”
Ash studied her and wondered why she was so adamant in her disbelief. There would be a reason for that. Likely, somewhere in her past, she must have encountered something and this was a defense mechanism. Her way of existing in a world that might otherwise be so terrifying she couldn’t continue.
They’d been working under the assumption that they remained a secret. Well, it appeared they’d been wrong there. And now Detective Faith Connelly knew more about them than was safe for her. “Perhaps she needs to meet Christian,” Ash murmured.
“No,” Ryan snapped.
Faith peered from one to the other and lifted one shoulder. “Actually, I don’t want to get in any deeper. I hope I’ve seen the last of these guys, but I don’t want to give them any reason to follow up. For all I know, they could have this place under surveillance.
The idea made Ash a little twitchy. The whole building was warded against any magical intrusion, but he wasn’t sure that would keep out modern technology. Something else to take up with the Order.
But later. Right now, they had to decide what to do about Faith. Maybe Ryan was right and there was no problem. Yet. She knew nothing for certain. They had to make sure things stayed that way.
Of course, the alternative was to recruit her. It would be a whole lot of fun to show Faith Connolly just how real demons could be.
“Anyway, that’s pretty much it,” she said. “I wanted to give you a heads up that these guys are watching you.”
“Thanks, Faith,” Ryan said. “I appreciate it—I know how hard this must have been for you.”
She gave a strained smile. “You’re one of the most honest people I know. Whatever they say, I don’t believe you’d be involved with this Roth character if he wasn’t straight.”
“He’s straight.”
“And while you’re definitely keeping some dodgy company these days”— she cast a glance at Ash— “we can’t always control who we work with.”
“Hey, I’m not dodgy,” Ash said. “I’m as straight as they come.”
“Yeah, right,” she muttered and got to her feet. “I’d better go. Would you call me a cab?”
Ash didn’t want her to go yet.
“Of course, and I’ll walk you out,” Ryan said. At that moment, his phone rang and he picked it up and listened.
“That was Roz,” he said. “Jess is staying over, and she wants to talk to me.”
Faith pursed her lips. “Well, see if you can get her to remember anything else.”
“You go,” Ash murmured. “I’ll see to Faith.”
She gave him a sharp glance. “Faith is actually quite capable of seeing to herself.”
Ryan looked from one to the other, speculation clear in his eyes. Something must have decided him because he nodded to Ash. “You can see Faith out. I mentioned there might be a job for her here. You could explain a little more of what it would be about. And maybe put her mind at rest about Christian.”
How the hell was he supposed to do that? Yeah, Christian Roth is a vampire, but as bloodsuckers go, he’s one of the good guys. Everything was relative he supposed. “I can do that.”
Faith opened her mouth, no doubt to argue, and shut it again. He suspected the opportunity to get some more information swayed her. He should perhaps warn her that curiosity could be a dangerous thing. Then
again, maybe he shouldn’t. Not if he wanted a chance to spend some more time with her.
Which he did.
Maybe to discover if he could make her purr instead of prickle.
He liked a challenge.
“Let’s go,” she said and turned to Ryan. “Keep safe.”
“I will, and think about that offer.”
“Maybe.”
Ash strapped on his gun and pulled his coat over the top, then glanced up to find her watching him. He smiled.
He didn’t actually need a gun. Most things he could take on unarmed but he liked guns. And the Order’s policy was not to use magical methods when newfangled modern ones would be less noticeable.
There was still a lot of minor demon activity about. Part of Andarta’s plan for world domination had been to open the portals between worlds, allowing demons to travel freely from the Abyss to Earth. Though the portals were now closed, many still remained and they had a tendency to gather around this building, drawn to the magic of the wards. That was intentional, the Order was gathering them up and sending them back. Destroying the less willing.
He kept his distance in the elevator not wanting to spook her. Though he guessed she wasn’t easily spooked, not by people anyway. She had to be tough to have reached detective on the Metropolitan force and she must have seen some bad things.
The elevator opened onto the lower-level parking garage. She peered out but didn’t move. “Why are we here?”
“I’ll drive you home?”
“You don’t need to; I can get a cab.”
“I’d like to. And I can answer your questions on the way.”
She took a couple of steps out, but came to a halt, and glanced around. “You know we were talking about those government-issue cars. Well they’re exactly like these. You don’t work for the government, do you?”
“No.” He headed for the nearest vehicle, opening the door for her. The keys were in the ignition and he got in next to her and turned on the engine then sat back while she punched her address into the sat nav.
As he pulled out of the parking garage, he caught the gleam of red eyes in the shadows of the alley opposite. Ash ignored them and they drove on in almost comfortable silence. He cast a sideways glance. She was staring out of the window but turned to him as if she could sense his gaze.