by Casey Lane
“No, I’m all right.” I waved Fang away. “Get Tina before every grabby hand in the place contaminates the scene.”
“Let’s get you down back downstairs.” Ben gently put his hand around my shoulders and pulled me to my feet.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to bite you right now,” I grumbled. I was surprised how tired I felt. Weakness was not anything a vampire ever admitted. I hoped it wasn’t clear who was leaning on whom as we made our way off the catwalk.
“If you need to feed, Ha . . . Dr. Silverthorne, then you must. It’s my job to support you.” Ben guided me down some stairs and into an office with a couch. It was a nice office but not the boss’s. We sat; I declined to lie down like some virgin in a Victorian melodrama. “Mr. Ryk said we should wait for him here.”
Fuck Leon. Now that I was feeling better I wanted to remain by the body until I had a chance to examine it. It was suicide or murder. I could grant Tina some cunning, but a suicide in that manner was rather beyond her capabilities. Which meant she had help with her suicide or it was murder.
Her helper was most certainly someone at the casino. But who? There were so many beings here, identifying the right one would be like finding a needle in a haystack. And most puzzling of all, how had they gotten out when the door was locked from the inside?
Ben fussed over me while we waited. He massaged my shoulders and clucked over my bloodied palms. His gloves were toast. I wasn’t worried; my wounds would heal during my daytime slumber. But I let him carry on. It was white noise that helped me organize my thoughts.
I should be fine by tomorrow. Which was good—I could see by the clock on Leon’s wall that the night was slipping away quickly. Most likely the autopsy would have to wait until tomorrow. More time gone.
Whoever did this wasn’t a vampire but a daylight creature.
But having a body meant the possibility of answers. I hoped Fang would let me figure out what the hell was going on without interference.
That hope died when the door banged open. Fang entered, carrying Tina’s corpse. So much for him not contaminating the body.
I stood up. “Put her here. Find a tablecloth, sheet, something to cover her with.”
Fang laid her down gently on the couch. He knelt beside her, smoothing her ripped dress.
For fuck’s sake, he might just as well have sex with her and make sure all his DNA was spread over the corpse. God, I missed my fellow death examiners in that instant.
He carefully brushed Tina’s long blond hair, matted with blood, away from her face. He leaned forward as if to kiss her. He sucked in his breath.
“Oh God,” he whispered, his voice breaking.
“What?” Ben and I said at once.
I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until I heard the blood pounding in my ears.
Fang dropped his hand from Tina’s hair and stood. “This is not my wife.”
Well fuck, that was unexpected.
Leon arrived minutes later.
“It’s not Tina,” Fang said.
Her face was so battered it was unrecognizable, but still her torso looked Tina-like. I sniffed. She smelled . . . decayed. We needed dental records and fingerprints to make any positive identification.
“It’s her. That’s her favorite dress.” Leon ran his fingers through his hair, making him look more like a lion with his mane. “That’s her wedding ring.”
“Tina never let her roots show,” Fang said quietly.
We all leaned a bit closer. Ben covered his nose and mouth with his hand. Maybe Sherlock Holmes wasn’t looking quite so glamorous now.
Her roots were dark brown.
“We need to get her to the morgue,” I said.
“I’ll let them know you’re on the way.” Ben was already tapping away at his phone.
One of Leon’s henchmen showed up with a clean tarp. Fang carefully wrapped the body. Behind us, Leon paced. If he hadn’t been having the biggest moment of his professional life, I didn’t doubt he would have changed into a wolf and attacked Fang just on general principles.
As it was, Leon was using all his energy to contain his rage. Shifters were such emotional creatures. It was tiring to be around them. It must be exhausting to be them.
I had a million questions. I was itching to get the autopsy started.
Chapter Six
Silverthorne
On our last night together in the cave, I’d slid into the entrance only to be snatched up and pinned against the wall.
“You’re late,” Fang growled. He pulled my hairpin out, fanning my hair over my shoulders. It was a ritual he enjoyed, so I took pains to remember to put my hair up. The hairpin was the only thing I had left from my human life. My father had made it for my seventeenth-birthday gift using a scrap from a maple-tree project.
“You’d better punish me.”
“In your dreams, Hattie.” He kissed me gently. Tenderly, his tongue flickered over my extended fangs.
We made love. I now knew the difference from all the other partners I’d had before. Vampires are not known for serenity, but that is how I felt with Fang. I felt complete. And at peace. I understood finally the human sentiment of a soul mate.
As we dozed afterward, I reveled in the only truly contented moments I’ll ever know. I’d never envied humans before, but I understood more about the preciousness of their lives now. Having someone you cared about mattered more than anything, even yourself.
“Someone’s outside,” Fang said suddenly. He slid me off his chest.
“I’d protest that you’re paranoid, but it’s rather entertaining.” My words came slowly. “Lie down. Let me relax you.”
Silence. I sat up.
“Fang?”
He was gone.
I got up, not bothering to dress. Disappointment slashed through me over the thought that he was wasting our precious time together prowling around over nothing. I searched fruitlessly for my hairpin. Annoyed, I threw my tangled my hair back over my shoulder before sliding out the exit.
They were waiting for me on the ledge.
The two of them, Ramon and Fang.
Ramon, my vampire supervisor, was dressed in black. He held a Glock aimed at Fang. A pile of rappelling gear looped at his feet. On a good day, Ramon was a sadistic son of a bitch. His maker had died shortly after he was created, and Ramon, too young to be on his own, was immature and weak. Leon’s family, the Ryks, had adopted him. They wanted Nowhere to be a place where all paranormals could live. Having a vampire in a shifter family seemed to be an excellent way to show this.
I worked with Ramon at the local hospital. Something inside him was broken. And yes, I realize that’s quite a statement coming from a vamp. He was scrawny and reminded me of a weasel. I tried very hard not to think about that right now.
Meanwhile, Fang was trying very hard not to hit him. His fists were clenched at his side.
“Hard at work on some case?” Ramon sneered. He needed to be handled carefully. I hoped Fang would do the smart thing and keep his mouth shut. I could deal with Ramon.
“It’s none of your business,” Fang snapped.
Fuck.
Of course, Ramon thought it was his business. Vampires literally lived to keep track of other vampires.
“Quiet.” My brain was whirling thinking about how to deal with Ramon. “Let me get my things, Ramon. We can go somewhere and talk.”
Fang looked at me as though I’d lost my mind.
“Don’t bother getting dressed on my account.” Ramon sneered. “What could we possibly suddenly have to talk about? If I wanted to talk, I’d glamour a human.”
Fang took a step toward him. The ledge was narrow as it was. We were like three points of a triangle, and having Fang and Ramon any closer would only make things worse.
“What do you want?” I asked. I preferred to negotiate out of the situation, but if this was what I had to work with, fine.
Ramon’s black eyes took me in. “For starters, I want you both to suff
er. And it’s not just me.”
“Why?” Fang asked.
“Why?” He repeated.
“Our relationship has nothing to do with this,” I said to Ramon. I hadn’t gone out of my way to tell Fang that Ramon and I had sex on occasion. It didn’t mean anything to me. On the other hand, I was worried that Ramon would wonder at my sudden change in behavior. I couldn’t risk any suspicion falling on me or Fang. Dammit, I thought I’d been very circumspect.
“Oh, I know that, Hattie.” Ramon smirked.
“Don’t call me that.” I crossed my arms over my naked chest.
“Why not? He does. Standing out here, I’ve heard him calling your name. The first couple of times I followed you, I couldn’t believe it. I thought it was the thrill of the forbidden.” He laughed. “I even thought you wanted to me to find you with him. I watched you from down below. But tonight was the test. I asked you to stay with me. You said you had to work. I followed you again. I heard you. You were making love. With a shifter.” He spat out the last part.
“What do you want?” I asked again.
“I want to punish you. I’d love to do the same to him, but I’m trying to resist. Big dog here has caught someone’s eye.” He wagged his gun at Fang before addressing me. “You’ve been holding out on me. There’s some activities you’re more enthusiastic for than I realized.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. Ramon was a sleazy bastard. He was going to light Fang up like tinder.
“You can start by going down on me with our shifter sheriff as the audience. Then maybe something else will come to mind—depending, of course, on whether you’re really as talented at it as good old Fang here thinks.”
“Take off your pants,” I commanded dispassionately.
“Hattie, no,” Fang said.
I held up my hand to stop him. I loved him, but he had no idea what Ramon was capable of doing. Ramon was stupid and vain. I could make him pay for this later. But for now our options were limited. There was no way a fight on a cliff was going to end well. Too much risk.
“No,” Fang said again. “Don’t go near him.”
“Or what?” Ramon’s eyes glinted.
“We need to go back inside,” I said.
“No.” Both males spoke at once.
“Ask him.” I jerked my thumb to Fang. “I’m as good as you think. So do you really want to be on a ledge and not paying attention to your surroundings during this particular activity?”
“Point taken,” Ramon said.
Once inside the cave, he pointed his Glock at Fang. ”Move over there. I want you to hear and see every little detail but not be slobbering all over us.”
“Don’t do it.” Fang’s voice was tight. “He’ll still report us to the review board.”
“Of course I will, but how all that comes about doesn’t have to be quite so unpleasant for dear Hattie here.” Ramon smiled.
I knelt before Ramon.
Irrationally, I felt a flash of anger at Fang. Ramon’s demands were childish, but I knew my shifter lover would never allow it. He’d do something heroic and get killed. I was half surprised he’d not tried already.
Damn him, before us, I’d have handled Ramon without a second thought. What did it matter? But now I was caught.
Couldn’t he just pretend it was nothing? Couldn’t I?
I glanced at Fang. His eyes were molten amber. He wasn’t about to pretend anything.
I unbuckled and unzipped Ramon’s belt and pants. I slid them down his legs, along with his briefs. As always, his desire was fueled by the possibility of violence. Stalling was not going to be an option.
He still held the gun trained on Fang. With his other hand, he fisted my hair.
Fang charged, knocking me away from Ramon before staking him with my hairpin.
It’d been a while since I’d seen a vampire staked. The first thing that hits you is the smell, somewhat similar to when the helium rushes out of a balloon. The rapidly dissolving corpse smells like burning rubber.
Pretty soon Ramon was just a smoldering pile of hair and bone.
Fang stood breathing hard over the remains of my former boss. “You OK?”
Not a simple question. Yes, we were both still alive, but Ramon’s death would change things for me and Fang. Ramon had noticed. He’d mentioned that someone else, too, was watching Fang. Hell, that could’ve been half the female shifter population in Nowhere.
I officially reported Ramon missing to Fang the following Monday. It felt silly to go through all this when we both knew not only where he was but also that he wasn’t coming back. Leon took his brother’s disappearance in stride. Tina appeared more interested in Ramon after he went missing than she had when he was around. She also used it as an excuse to hang around Fang.
If I allowed myself to think about it, I was shaken. The unfamiliarity and depth of my feelings for Fang frightened me. It had to stop. I would make it stop.
I left Nowhere as soon as possible. I rationalized that I didn’t want to be stuck filling in for Ramon at work. But I knew it was much more than that.
It wasn’t that Ramon’s death bothered me. As soon as I saw him there on that ledge, I knew one of us was going to die.
What bothered me was that Fang killed him. Fang. A lawman not just in name but in spirit. I became a US Marshal because I was bored and liked finding people. If organized crime had made me a compelling offer, I might have taken that path.
But Fang was made to be sheriff. Even in wolf form, he was a loner. So now I had a debt to him and a secret. He never said it, but he didn’t have to: Fang killed Ramon because he loved me.
That was too much for me. The situation was impossible, and it could only be solved by me leaving. I didn’t worry about Fang following me. He belonged in these mountains like he belonged to the badge.
I avoided seeing him alone after that night at the cave. There was nothing to say. It was over.
I still wear that hairpin.
Chapter Seven
Silverthorne
The evening after the casino fiasco, I was wrist deep in the corpse and happy to be doing an autopsy again. The morgue’s artificial environment put me in a familiar calm state of mind and made me miss my life in LA.
Ben set up a makeshift office in the corner, catching up on all my emails. “The smell!” he said for the countless time. “I don’t know how you do it.”
“How’s the mask?” I asked, studying the female’s fingertips under the bright light.
“Useless.”
I smiled. That was true. Nothing but desensitization helped to adjust to the odor of decay.
I was so absorbed in my work that I wasn’t even aware Ben had answered my phone for me until I heard his “wow.” All he said after that was “OK, thanks for calling.”
“Dr. Silverthorne, that’s not Tina Fang.” Ben came to stand by me and gagged.
“What are you talking about?” I said irritably. I’d just discovered that some thorough person had removed the pads of her fingers. This was in addition to her teeth having been badly broken. Identification was going to be a bitch.
“That was the sheriff. He said Tina Fang is standing in his kitchen.”
“Fuck me,” I breathed. I did not see that coming. She was his wife. It must be her. I typically considered myself above paranormal gossip, but I’d have given a lot to witness Tina’s return. I had plenty of questions for her. Depending on what time I finished here, perhaps I could see her tonight.
Presumably she was unharmed if she was back at home. How was Fang? Of course he’d be relieved for her safe return. And to be free of suspicion.
I stared down at the body on the slab. Then who in the hell was this? And what was she doing dangling from the casino ceiling?
“Ben, what time did you last eat?”
“Lunchtime.”
“Good.”
“Why?” he asked warily.
“Suit up. You’re going to assist me. I need to take a look at this female’s brains.”<
br />
In the end, Ben held Jane Doe’s head while I sawed into her skull. I was forced to bribe him with a return trip to the casino before we left and a promise that I would not make any more groomers cry. Even in LA, we were running out of options to keep Mr. Figgles dapper. I was pretty sure that after this trip Ben would be off Sherlock no matter how much he lusted after Benedict Cumberbatch.
After some extensive sawing, I removed part of the skull bone. I wasn’t surprised to find that the familiar black goop I’d seen in Los Angeles coated this female’s brain. Whoever and whatever this victim was, REAP had clearly made its way here from LA. Between her and Fang’s dead troll female, that made two cases of REAP in sleepy little Nowhere.
I felt a frisson of excitement at the thought of talking to Tina Fang. She had a lot of explaining to do.
Chapter Eight
Fang
After the night at the casino, I woke up late the following afternoon in my truck, surrounded by empty beer cans. My mouth tasted like something had died inside. On the plus side, I was in my own driveway. My rearview mirror confirmed that even for me I was pushing the bounds of scruffiness.
I entered the house, bracing myself as I always did. Tina had wanted a log cabin home, and Leon had given it to us as a wedding present. I’d lived in it for close to eight years and still didn’t feel at home.
The inside was full of Tina’s half-finished projects—exercise equipment she was testing and craft projects, mostly. Pictures of us as a couple were plastered everywhere. It was like living on a cluttered set in a play.
I staggered past them with half-closed eyes. Too bright. Too much.
Our cat, Tom, stalked over to the cupboard that held cat food.
The cat had one green eye. The other had gone missing before he arrived on our doorstep. He was also missing the tip of one ear. I liked his scrappy appearance, the slow way he moved when he woke up, the stealth with which he stalked prey.
His food dish and water bowl were empty. And judging by the smell, the litter box needed changing too. I took care of the first two but avoided the third in favor of a shower.