by C. C. Hunter
“She’s lying through her teeth,” Shawn said. “At first she claimed she was just going away for a few days. Oh, and she was dropping the deposit by the bank on her way. Then I checked her phone, I found a text to her landlord saying she was moving out.”
Everyone looked back at the two-way mirror.
Burnett sighed. “Let’s go get to the bottom of this.”
“Hey,” Chase said, as Shawn started out. “Don’t worry, Burnett won’t let her hurt you again.”
Shawn shot the young vampire agent the third-finger salute.
Chase returned the favor.
Lucas let go of a hoarse chuckle.
Burnett continued out of the room, leaving a parting jab in his wake. “Ya’ll make me so proud.”
* * *
Ten minutes later, Perry, his attitude adjusted to the best of his ability, walked into the FRU headquarters.
The receptionist on duty, who always reminded Perry of a Mrs. Claus, let out a squeal, jumped from her chair, and grabbed him around his middle. Her head, covered in coarse gray hair, barely came to his chest.
He’d met Mrs. Conner eight years ago. Burnett, who’d been Perry’s older foster brother and the only one Perry had ever gotten close to, had already moved out of the foster home, but he’d regularly pick up Perry and bring him to work with him. It was one of the safe places a shifter, who might morph accidently, could go. Hell, it was practically his second home.
Considering how much affection Mrs. Conner doled out, Perry was pretty sure that Burnett had told her about his past. Not that Perry minded. He’d been ten and had pretended she was his grandmother. It didn’t matter that she was 100 percent were.
When the rounder-than-she-was-tall woman released him, she stepped back and took inventory. “Just look at you. When did you turn into a man? Oh, my, if I were seventy years younger you’d have to beat me off of you.”
Perry laughed. “I could never beat you. How’s your family?”
“Always causing drama.”
Perry just laughed. “I think Burnett’s waiting for me.”
“Okay, I’ll let you go.” She walked to her desk and pushed a button allowing him to enter. “But don’t you dare leave without giving me another hug. And you’re coming to my house for dinner soon.”
“Deal.” He almost left, then remembered. “Oh, I brought you a little something.” He pulled out one of those miniature spoons. The word “Dallas” was engraved in the handle. She’d asked him to bring her one from Paris, and he had. A couple of weeks ago, he saw this one at a gas station and picked it up.
“You brought me a gift?” She clutched the spoon to her chest like it was some prized possession. Who’d have guessed five dollars could make someone so happy?
She waved to the door. “Go before you see me cry.”
* * *
“You take the lead,” Burnett said to Shawn.
Shawn nodded, and sensed this was a test. If he was weak in any area as an agent, interrogation was it. Burnett followed him into the small room where Lily Chambers waited.
Her gaze found Shawn’s first then shot to Burnett. “Tell me you’re not as big of an idiot as this dirt bag. I’ve seen opossums with more intelligence.”
Okay, maybe Shawn should have let Burnett take the lead on this one?
Shawn looked at Burnett. “Told you she had a mouth on her.” And for one second his gaze went to her mouth. It would be pretty if it didn’t spout so many lies.
Burnett dropped into the chair across from the little spitfire. “You know the thing with my agents is that when they’re attacked, they don’t seem to show their best sides.”
His calm voice and relaxed posture struck Shawn as odd. Usually at the first sign of disrespect Burnett came back all barrels loaded. Then again, this was the first time he’d seen his boss interrogate a girl. How many times had he heard Della complain that he was a male chauvinist? Maybe Della wasn’t just whistling Dixie.
“That’s just it,” Lily said. “I wouldn’t have attacked him if he hadn’t snuck up on me.”
“I didn’t sneak up on you,” Shawn said, proud his voice sounded calm.
“Pleeeease! You’re lying because you know you were wrong. Your exact words were, ‘Going somewhere?’ You didn’t say, ‘I’m the FRU,’ or anything official. I turned and found you holding a gun on me. I panicked.”
“I was about to tell you I was FRU when you tossed your suitcase at me.” His tone came out edgy, but still controlled.
“But when you came in the store earlier you neglected to tell me you were FRU. So I thought you were some freak following me.”
He stepped closer. “I wasn’t on FRU business when I was at the store.”
“You expect me to believe that?” she snapped.
“It’s the truth,” he replied.
“Right.” She focused back on Burnett. “He shocked the piss out of me with these!” She held up her hands.
Her words struck a nerve. “I didn’t shock you! They go off if a perp runs! You ran.”
“You hadn’t informed me you were the FRU! As far as I knew I was running from a serial killer!”
“I said it when you were running away.” Her accusation hit another nerve and bruised his conscience.
He tightened his shoulders to come across as the aggressor, but purposely kept his expression from showing tension. He’d seen Burnett do it a thousand times. “I was telling you again when you kicked me in the mouth.”
She glared up at him with her maple-brown eyes. “Then you need to learn to talk faster!” Her gaze shot back to a very silent Burnett.
She started again. “I want to go to the hospital to check on Mr. Crow! Release me now and I won’t file charges against him.”
“Charges against me?” Shawn spilled out, his calm façade slipping.
“Give me the key?” Burnett held out his hand to Shawn.
He instantly realized this was probably Burnett playing good cop bad cop. Normally, Shawn played the good cop better than the bad. But he’d give it a shot.
“Tell me you aren’t releasing her.”
“Nope.” Burnett plucked the key from his hand. “Just removing the cuffs so we can talk calmly.”
“Remember she did this!” He pointed to his face.
Burnett nodded. Lily held out her hands. The handcuffs clanked against the table.
Shawn saw the red burn marks on her wrists and had to remind himself again that he’d done his job. Nothing more. Nothing less.
“Now,” Burnett said. “I want you to answer some questions, in a calm manner. Got it?”
She settled back in her chair, evidence of the flies-to-honey theory. One Shawn might have tried if she hadn’t beat the shit out of him.
Burnett rested his hand on the table, close to hers, and adjusted his posture to resemble hers. Nothing Burnett did was accidental. The man could get a rock to talk.
He leaned forward ever so slightly. “Yes or no. Did you have anything to do with the robbery at the jewelry store?”
The girl, her dark hair curling against her slim shoulders, didn’t flinch. “No.” After two beats of silence, she continued, “I would never do that to the Crows. They’ve been like parents to me. And I need to see Mr. Crow.” She bit down on her lip, her soft brown eyes sparkling with gumption. “I heard one of the paramedics say he was going to be fine. But this … brute here,” she pointed to Shawn, “said he might die.”
“No,” Shawn corrected her in a tone a smidgen too tense. “I said you’d better hope he doesn’t die.”
“Same thing!” She looked back at Burnett. “Any more questions before I walk out of here? Ask me. Ask me anything. I know you can tell if I’m lying.”
Burnett cut his eyes to Shawn. He read the look to mean the girl wasn’t lying. And yeah, he’d already figured out she was a good liar—maybe better than good if she could control her heart. Few people could control their heart rate. Chase Tallman being one of them, but for the most part, only soc
iopaths or truly crazy people mastered it. Like really crazy.
“What about the evidence?” Shawn asked. Making the point to Burnett as well as her.
“What evidence?” She looked up at him as innocent as a Girl Scout selling Thin Mints. And that lead him to the inevitable conclusion.
Lily Chambers was as looney as Saturday morning cartoons.
* * *
Perry was greeted by about five more people before he was told Burnett was interviewing someone. Then he was told Lucas and Chase were watching the interview now.
Eager to see Lucas, and even Chase, he hurried down the hall.
The room, just like the interrogation room, was all white and held only a metal table and chairs. The large two-way mirror gave a nice view of the ongoing interrogation. Speakers piped in the voices. Air from the interrogation room flowed through the vents, carrying with it the scents of the suspect, helpful to some supernaturals when identifying a suspect.
The two guys turned around when he opened the door. Lucas stepped forward and gave him a man hug, a thump on his shoulder. Men didn’t hug. Well, not each other. Girls? That was another matter. It hit him then that Miranda, who’d been dubbed a serial hugger, hadn’t embraced him. He pushed the thought away, reminding himself to take things slow.
“Burnett’s been worried about you,” Lucas said. “What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into?”
“Nothing I can’t handle,” Perry said. “Della and Kylie said you two are working on Miranda’s case. You got anything?”
“Not much,” Lucas said.
“Just some leads that we’re following in a couple of hours,” Chase said.
Perry turned toward Chase and offered his hand. He’d never disliked the vampire. And he seemed to make Della happy. Perry hoped they could be friends.
Chase pumped his hand. “Good to see you again.” His tone rang honest.
“You, too.” Perry’s gaze went to the two-way mirror.
He saw Burnett talking to a young woman. He squinted to see what she was. A mixed-breed. “What’s going on?” Perry’s attention shifted away from the girl to Shawn. The guy looked uncomfortable and a little roughed up.
“A jewelry store robbery,” Chase said. “The chick works there. Shawn thinks she’s behind it.”
“What happened to his face?” Perry asked.
“She kicked him.” A touch of humor sounded in Chase’s voice.
Perry let out a chuckle. “He got beat up by a girl?”
Lucas grinned. “We said the same thing.”
“Stop!” the girl being interrogated said loud enough to pull Perry’s eyes back to the window. “I’m going to say this one more time. I had the money because I was making a deposit!” She glared up at Shawn.
Shawn moved closer to the table. “You were leaving town. You told your landlord you were moving out. Give it up.”
The girl slapped both hands on the table. “What does moving have to do with making the deposit?”
“Do you think we’re that stupid?” Shawn growled.
She tilted up her chin and met his eyes directly. “This guy?” She pointed to Burnett. “No, I don’t think he’s stupid. You, however … The Almighty obviously gave you a double dose of looks because you are dumber than dirt.”
Chase, Lucas, and Perry all laughed. “She doesn’t like him!” Perry said.
“Actually”—Chase lifted a nose in the air—“she does.”
Lucas took a sniff of air. Perry didn’t bother, shape-shifters didn’t have the gift of scent.
“You’re right,” Lucas said.
“And that’s not just her pheromones,” Chase said.
Lucas chuckled. “That girl better watch out. Miranda will get jealous and might turn her into a kangaroo with…” Lucas’s words dropped short. He gazed at Perry. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
“No problem.” But the heaviness in Perry’s chest implied it was. How serious had Miranda and Shawn gotten? Had she ever skinny-dipped with him? Perry swallowed the thought down, but it tasted like sour milk.
He studied Shawn again and realized the guy being attracted to someone might be a good thing. Maybe he wasn’t so in love with Miranda as Perry feared.
Perry glanced back at the possible jewelry thief. The brunette with long hair and big brown eyes was hot enough that most guys might let out a little pheromone. It didn’t mean Shawn would act on it. And it didn’t mean he was a jerk—just a normal guy.
Still Perry couldn’t help but find a little comfort in it. When he’d been with Miranda he’d barely noticed other girls.
“Enough!” Burnett’s voice echoed over the sound system. Perry watched as Burnett stood up. “Look, Miss Chambers, if you could take a break from tossing out insults and explain what was really going on, then maybe you could be on your way.”
She drummed her fingers on the table as if finally nervous. “What is it you want me to say?”
“See,” Shawn spoke up. “That look, that’s what I saw earlier. She’s lying.”
Yeah, she was, Perry thought. Being able to cue in so close to emotional shifts wasn’t as reliable as hearing someone’s heartbeat, but it was close.
“He’s right,” Burnett said. “What are you not telling us?”
Perry and the other two in the room stood silent, watching this play out.
“I’m not lying.”
“But you are hiding something. What is it?” Burnett cleared his throat. A small sound that sounded big. Tension filled the room. “If you expect us to believe you weren’t stealing the money, explain why the sudden rush out of town?”
Lily shrank back into her chair. “Can’t a person decide to move?”
“Sure you can. But not with four thousand dollars of cash that doesn’t belong to you,” Shawn added.
“How many times do I have to tell you? I was going to deposit that money! I would never steal from the Crows.”
She didn’t show any outward signs of lying that time, Perry realized.
“Why were you running out of town?” Impatience deepened Burnett’s voice.
Her fingers started dancing on the table again. Even through the speakers, Perry heard them tap-tapping on the metal top.
“Come on,” Chase said. “Just spill it.”
Perry waited.
She finally lifted her eyes. Her fingers stopped dancing. Silence hung for a good thirty seconds.
“Did you see the people who robbed the store?” Burnett asked.
She blinked. Dark, almost black lashes, fluttered against the pale skin beneath her eyes. “Barely. And they … they were wearing masks.”
Her voice lacked the ring of confidence she’d had earlier.
“But you’re part vampire,” Burnett said. “Don’t have the gift of scent?”
“No,” she said, then her lips shut tightly as if regretting it.
“Now she’s lying,” Chase said. And Perry concluded he was right.
“See, she’s lying,” Shawn said to Burnett. Then the warlock moved closer to the table. “You caught my scent before you ever saw me tonight.”
Lily folded her arms on the table and dropped her head down.
“Start talking,” Lucas said at the same time Burnett did, but Burnett’s came out as a severe warning.
Lily raised her head. Her eyes said she was about to spill.
“I had nothing to do with the robbery.”
The girl’s lips quivered ever so slightly.
“Then why didn’t you try to stop them from hurting him?” Shawn put out there.
The girl twisted her head, fury showed in her eyes. “I was in the back, by the time I got up to help they’d stopped.”
Burnett leaned back in his chair. “You aren’t guilty,” he said. “But you know who is. Don’t you?”
She didn’t say anything and the chair seemed bigger as she shrank down deeper.
“Jax,” Shawn said. “It was Jax?”
Jax? Perry edged closer to the mirror. A coin
cidence. But Jax wasn’t a common name.
“Who’s Jax?” Burnett asked Shawn.
“I don’t know,” the warlock answered, “but I just remembered she asked me if Jax had sent me. I think that’s why she was afraid.” He faced the girl again. “Who is he, Lily? Why are you afraid of him?”
Perry looked back at Lucas and Chase. “Are there shape-shifters involved in this?”
Chase nodded. “Yeah, that’s why they were called out there. The three guys who robbed the place ran into the back and somehow escaped through a locked door. Why?”
Perry’s mind still tried to deny it, but …
Shit. It really could be the same Jax!
“Who is Jax?” Burnett demanded.
“I’ll tell you who he is!” Lily spurted out. “He’s someone I never want to see again!”
Chapter Ten
“It’s just a broken arm, Mom,” Miranda repeated into the phone for the fifth time. Her parents’ plane had landed in Houston, and they were on their way to the hospital. Her mom sounded like a mess, all nerves.
Sort of how Miranda felt. Between a growing tattoo, a sister who might be in love with a French scoundrel, a possible drug conviction, and now the whole Perry problem, Miranda could use a break. And that wasn’t even mentioning her school problems, or rather her dyslexia problems.
She’d studied ten times more than Kylie and Della for the SAT test and even had an assistant read the test to help her. Both her roommates had scored high. Miranda hadn’t met the school’s score requirements.
Holiday knew someone who knew someone who knew the dean of the school, and they were allowing her time to retest, in spite of it being past the cut-off date. The thought that she might not make it into the school of her choice was a life changer. She had plans with Della and Kylie. They were all going to the same college.
She had to pass!
“Are you listening?” her mom asked.
No. “Yes.”
Her mom let out a deep gulping sigh. “So I guess you’ll have some answers for us when we get there.”
“Answers?” Miranda asked, noting her mom’s voice had gone from worried mom to disciplinarian mom.
Had Holiday told her mom she’d failed to get the school’s required score?