Mandy growled again as I grabbed the flashlight off my belt and clicked it on, eager to see what she’d found. The light bounced off the greenery pressing in all around me. I dropped the leash so I could free my other hand to push the limbs back away from the ground.
When I saw it, I choked back a scream.
The body had been stripped nude. Sickly, gray flesh glowed under the beam of my flashlight, picking out every cut and bruise on the slender, feminine form. Her wrists and ankles were raw, but whatever bindings she’d struggled against were now gone. I pushed more branches out of the way, searching for her face.
The urge to scream hit me again as I found the bloody stump of her neck. She’d been decapitated. Red washed over my vision, reacting to the adrenaline that shot through me, but her skin remained the palest of grays.
Vampire.
I reached for my radio again out of instinct. Mandy whined, and my finger froze over the call button. I wasn’t thinking clearly. Panic had seeped into my bones, and I’d fallen back on my human training. It was no good right now.
My radio buzzed, and I jumped as Patz’s voice crackled in my ear. “You plan on taking all night, Skye?”
“We’re still on the trail,” I answered, consciously lowering my voice an octave so I wouldn’t sound alarmed. The lie wouldn’t hold him off for long.
This dilemma wasn’t one that could be fixed with a fog of pepper spray. I knew what I had to do. I’d just hoped I could avoid it a little longer.
I sighed and glanced down at Mandy’s worried face as I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. Then I dialed Roman’s number.
Chapter Six
Yellow crime scene tape marked off the truck bay, and seven FBI vehicles—including Roman’s unmarked SUV—were parked around the cluster of trees and bushes where I’d found the headless vampire. Blue and red lights flashed through windshields, but no sirens sounded, and the agents themselves were deathly silent as they worked. There were about a dozen of them, all in the same ninja-commando getup that Roman wore. They swarmed the area, pressing the perimeter out so far that no one who dared to get close enough would be able to see anything. Including me.
“Do you have any idea how much hot water you’re in?” Collins asked. We stood in the back parking lot of the hotel, the closest we could get to the scene.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I was prepared to lie my ass off tonight—even to Collins, whose patience had worn thin with me lately. No need to put him in a bad position just because I was in one.
Collins glanced over his shoulder, back to where Patz sat in his cruiser, headlights shining through the sparse tree line. I couldn’t see past his tinted windshield, not without my blood vision, but I imagined he was glaring at me in between squinting through the binoculars he kept stashed in his glovebox.
Collins had moved his cruiser around to the back of the hotel, too. A juvenile corrections officer was on the way to collect the kid in his back seat. Collins was a true friend, not leaving me alone to face the wrath of Patz by myself. It made lying to him that much harder, but even more necessary to protect his job. I would have hugged him if I weren’t so worried about the sergeant taking it out on him afterward.
A faint rustling of leaves drew my attention back to the trees. Two agents were walking up the embankment on the other side. As they neared where we stood, Patz’s car door opened and slammed shut behind me.
“I hope you know you’re interfering with a local investigation,” Patz shouted before they’d completed their ascent.
Roman stepped out of the shadows first, quickly joined by the dark-haired woman I’d seen him with before. I hadn’t gotten a good look at her in the barn when Roman had stopped me from shooting Scarlett as she made her escape. My blood vision had put a haze over everything at the time, and I’d been too focused on how much I wanted to strangle Roman than how beautiful his partner was.
She stood a good four inches taller than me, nearly shoulder-to-shoulder with Roman. A long, black braid hung over the breast pocket of her tactical vest, obscuring an embroidered logo that I couldn’t make out. Her milky skin contrasted strikingly with her features, despite the shadows of the parking lot. Deep red lips, dark brows, thick lashes, and the greenest eyes I’d ever seen. Those eyes settled on me, and a flash of uncertainty shot through her gaze before the neutral expression returned and her attention snapped onto Patz.
The sergeant stopped directly in front of them, his hands going to either side of his belt buckle. He rose up on his toes, but he still came up short and had to tilt his head back to look up into Roman’s face.
“This was my crime scene first,” he shouted. “I have an ongoing investigation, a suspect in custody, and a K9 officer tracking down drugs. You’re interfering wi—”
“Special Agent Roman Knight,” Roman interrupted, holding up the badge that hung from a chain around his neck. His partner did the same.
“Special Agent Vanessa Sorano.” She inclined her head and blinked her sharp eyes at the sergeant. “We’ve shown you ours. Now, you show us yours.”
Patz took a step back. He squinted at their badges even as he lifted his palms. “There’s no need to get your panties in a twist, ma’am. I’m just doing my job.” He knew he was stepping out of line. He might have talked a big game, but he didn’t want to lose his job. Vanessa wasn’t the type to tolerate his arrogance for one minute. I instantly respected that about her.
When Patz didn’t reach for his badge or identify himself, Roman turned his questioning glance in my direction. I blinked at him, my eyes going wide. He expected me to confess to dialing his number, right in front of the sergeant. Patz had probably already guessed that this was my fault, but now he’d have all the proof he needed.
I huffed out a perturbed sigh. “Sergeant Brent Patz, 2nd Precinct.” I nodded my head at Collins next. “Officer Max Collins, 2nd Precinct. Neither of them saw or know anything.” That earned me a dirty look from both men.
“Good,” Roman replied, some of the tension leaving his shoulders.
“You can have the drugs,” Vanessa said, holding up the plastic bag of heroin. “We’ve even forwarded pictures of your scene to your superior, Captain Mathis.”
Patz’s mouth dropped open as he took the bag from her. He choked out a surprised sound. “But…but we didn’t see it with our own eyes!”
Vanessa’s impassive expression never changed. “You may direct all further questions about this matter to your superior, Captain Mathis. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we must get back to work. The scene will be cleared within two minutes—if you’d like to check for any additional evidence regarding your investigation.”
As she spoke, I glanced through the trees behind her. Someone was already tearing down the crime scene tape. One agent scrubbed at a spot in the concrete with a deck brush while another poured a bucket of water over the suds, rinsing the area clean. Two of the vehicles pulled away as they finished up.
Roman and Vanessa turned and headed back through the trees without another word. Patz and Collins gawked after them, baffled and fuming. Then their gazes turned at the same time to stare at me.
“Whose fucking side are you on, Skye?” Patz shouted. “What the hell was that about?”
I looked to Collins to back me up, but his face was perfectly blank as if he, too, couldn’t understand what had just happened.
“They’re FBI.” I shrugged. “I’m not going to go down with your dumb ass for interfering with a federal case.”
Patz’s face screwed up, and his chest expanded as he inhaled an enraged breath. “I’m calling this in to Langford. You might as well head back to his office.”
“And what do you plan to tell him?” I folded my arms. “That your panties are in a twist, all because I cooperated with the FBI while you refused to even identify yourself?” I stalked off, not waiting for his reply. Mandy trotted along beside me. The fur down the exposed stretch of her hind end was raised. I tightened my grip on her leash a
s Patz screamed after me.
“Disrespectful insubordination! That’s what I’ll be telling your captain, young lady. Get your ass back to the station!”
“Fuck you,” I grumbled over my shoulder without turning around.
“What the hell did you just say?” I heard the sound of Patz’s boots on the pavement behind me.
I was more concerned about getting Mandy into the police car than I was about the sergeant engaging in a physical altercation with me. Patz might scream or wave around an indignant finger, but I didn’t think he’d ever actually hit a woman. Mandy didn’t know that, but she’d eat his face off either way.
I shouldn’t have egged him on. I knew what a fragile ego he had, but my nerves were still shot from finding the body. And we were late taking lunch. My bloodlust cranked up my irritation and obliterated my tolerance for Patz’s little-man syndrome.
I opened the back door of my cruiser and hustled Mandy inside, ignoring the low growl building in her throat. Her golden eyes were full of wrath. I closed the door just as Patz reached us.
“What the hell did you say to me?” he screamed in my face, spit shooting from his thin lips and trailing down his chin.
“Fuck. You,” I repeated slowly, refusing to raise my voice. When his chest bumped into mine, I narrowed my eyes at him. “Go ahead and put your hands on me. See if you still have a job tomorrow.”
He drew back an inch, his fists clenching at his sides. “We’ll see who’s unemployed tomorrow, young lady.”
I shrugged. “I guess so. Until then, I have a job to do, and you’re standing in my way.”
His grimace stretched deeper into the pits of his jowls, but he sidestepped out of my path as I opened the driver’s side door of the cruiser.
“And to all a goodnight,” I said, more to myself than to him.
Patz looked as if he wanted to throw himself on the ground and have a full-blown tantrum, but just then, an unmarked car turned into the parking lot. I guessed it was the juvenile officer coming to collect the kid from Collins. I didn’t wait around to find out.
Patz was distracted long enough for me to start the cruiser and pull away from the scene. I watched his irate face fade into the distance through my rearview mirror. It brought a small smile to my lips.
I held the steering wheel with one hand and dug a blood bag out of the backpack looped behind the front passenger’s seat. I was going to need the pick-me-up before facing Langford. If Patz had been bluffing about calling my captain, he’d certainly follow through now. Someone would be getting an earful, and since I hadn’t hung around for it, Langford would be next in line.
Did I regret my behavior?
I tried to ask myself the question more honestly after I’d sucked down half of the blood bag.
Nope.
Someone needed to knock the jerk off his high horse. I was as good a candidate as any—maybe even better for the fact that I’d only have to suffer the consequences of my actions for another two weeks. Or less, if I couldn’t keep my mouth shut with Langford either.
I grabbed another blood bag and prayed for endurance as I pulled out onto Page Avenue and headed back toward the station.
* * * * *
An anti-smoking poster adorned the back wall of Langford’s office. The graphic was stylized like pop art, showcasing a revolver loaded with smoking cigarettes. The tiny text to the left of the graphic listed all the horrible things tobacco did to the body, but against the dotted, comic book background, the message was lost. It was about as effective as using a painting of a Porsche to encourage drivers not to go over the speed limit.
The poster had been there long before Langford came along, and I was sure that I wasn’t the only one surprised that he’d left it up. His office reeked of cigarette smoke. The station was Proudly Tobacco-Free according to the sign on the front door. The county had even paid for several officers to have acupuncture treatments to relieve cravings and help them quit.
Langford refused the offer, denying he smoked as if we couldn’t smell him coming from a mile away. Even as I sat waiting in his office, I detected his menthol aura as he lumbered down the hallway, closing in on our inevitable confrontation.
Mandy lay on the floor at my feet, pretending to doze. Her ears remained perked, and I could hear the steady thrum of her heartbeat. It was too hot outside to leave her in the cruiser, even in the dead of night, though I’d cautioned her not to react while Langford lectured me on respecting my superiors. It was better for everyone if I just took my lumps.
Since Patz had roused the captain early from bed, he was bound to be in a hostile mood. It probably wasn’t ideal timing, but I decided to go ahead and put in my two-week notice myself, rather than risk Laura taking the opportunity to practice her soap opera drama.
My anxiety tinged everything in shades of pink, but I kept my cool, lifting my hand to examine my nails once I sensed Langford’s rotund presence in the doorway at my back. I’d let him run off at the mouth, but I was not the actor in the family. I would not be begging and pleading for mercy. I did not cower before anyone. It just wasn’t how I was raised. The fact that I was a royal vampire scion now probably didn’t help in the humility department either.
“Well,” Langford said, louder than necessary as if he hoped to startle me. “What do you have to say for yourself?” He circled his desk and paused to yank up his pants before sitting down in the ratty leather chair he referred to as his throne. His salt-and-pepper mullet was no crown, and it was a struggle not to stare—or laugh—every time I looked at him. I was sure the hairstyle violated the department dress code, but no one had been brave enough to demand he cut it.
“Obstruction of justice is a felony.” I lifted my chin.
“What are you talking about?”
“There was a deputy down south, just a few years back, who did hard time for lying to the FBI.” I shook my head. “If Patz is okay taking that sort of gamble, that’s his problem. Not mine.”
Langford sighed and folded his hands over his desk as if he were disappointed by my answer. He tipped his chin down to give me a patronizing scowl, causing his thick neck to puddle under his jawline. He’d only been a pencil pusher for a couple of years, but he’d gone soft. Captain Mathis spent an hour in the gym every morning. Man, I missed working under someone who knew what they were doing, someone who was a professional.
“Insubordination with a superior officer is still a serious offense in this department—even for someone as pretty as you,” Langford said, giving me a creepy wink. Then he clicked his tongue and fingered through a stack of papers on his desk. “But, pretty or not, I don’t think Sergeant Patz is going to be satisfied unless I suspend you without pay for a week.”
I shrugged. “How about you do us both a favor and make it two weeks?”
His hands froze on his desk, and his head jerked up. “Excuse me?”
“I was planning on putting in my two-week notice today.”
Langford’s cheeks flushed. His words garbled over his tongue a minute before he found his voice again. “You’ll have to turn in an official resignation letter.” He didn’t even ask why I was leaving. Mathis would have cared enough to get to the heart of the matter.
“Already typed.” I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and found the document in my cloud drive. I attached it to a blank email and sent it on its way. “It should be in your inbox any second now.”
Langford looked beside himself. This was clearly not how he’d expected our conversation to go. His confusion and surprise quickly molded into resentment.
“I want your badge—” I slapped it on his desk before the sentence had left his mouth, along with my service weapon.
“Anything else?” I asked, standing.
“You’ll have to return all the K9 training equipment in your possession, and your new cruiser.”
“I’ll have it all delivered to you by the end of the day.” I patted my leg, rousing Mandy from her pretend nap.
“Star, to
o. In fact, you can leave her now.” His mouth pinched into a cruel smile when he realized he’d finally gotten under my skin.
“I paid her purchase price. She’s leaving with me,” I said, forcing the words past the acid burning its way through my chest.
“Star is property of the St. Louis County Police Department,” Langford insisted, giving me a jeering smile. “While we appreciate your generous donation, her most recent training has been at our expense, and we still have quite a few years left to earn back our investment.”
Mandy’s ears flattened, and a growl rumbled in the back of her throat. Langford’s menacing gaze dropped to her, and he swallowed before rubbing a hand over the stubble on his chin.
“You can leave her in one of the kennels in back,” he said in a softer voice as if afraid his tone had agitated her. When she bared her teeth at him and took a step toward the desk, he wheezed out a startled breath.
“That’s not happening.” I gave him a sympathetic frown. “I’m afraid that Star won’t listen to anyone else. Why do you think I got such a good deal on her?”
Langford scoffed, his laughter coming out as nothing more than a whisper. “I’m really sorry, Skye. That’s just the way it is.” He gave Mandy an anxious frown as her growl grew more intense. “Command her to stop that.”
“I would,” I said, holding one hand out in a helpless gesture, “but I’ve already resigned, so you’re not actually my boss anymore. I guess that’s just the way it is.”
I turned and left his office, ignoring his shouts of protest. Mandy stayed glued to my side, her eyes darting around the quiet lobby as if she expected officers to jump out of the shadows and dogpile her any moment. Most of the day shift that stuck closer to the station wouldn’t be in for another few hours. It was only four in the morning.
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