by Rayne Reilly
Julie was surprised at his question. "Uh...well...yes, I am." Oh hell, go with it. "Are you?"
"Yes." Xander smiled.
Both allowed a gulf of silence between them. Julie continued to sip her coffee. They avoided eye contact for several minutes. Julie finished her coffee and picked up the file.
"Are you ready to go and speak to some shifters?" she asked in a cheerful voice.
CHAPTER FIVE
Several weeks later
With the resources available to Julie and Xander through the Shifter Alliance Council and the F.B.I., they were able to track down the two remaining buildings that were housing shifter fight clubs. Finding their locations and sending in undercover humans to gain information helped them close the case once and for all.
Julie had been instrumental in getting a few Shifter Task Force members to help solve the case. Her friendly, approachable style made her very well liked among her colleagues.
For the first time she felt part of a team and was happy about how things were going. She had even begun to develop stronger feelings for Xander because of all the time they were spending together. Often, they had lunch together to discuss the details of the case, or so she told herself.
Nonetheless, as the case was being wrapped up something still bothered Julie about the whole set-up of the fight clubs. While they felt sure that they had the ring leader of the operation, something didn't feel quite right to her.
She was still worried about what it was that she had encountered on the first bust. So much so, that she had taken the lead in bringing down the remaining fight club operations. In each case, she had come across the same sort of unusual and unknown scent as in the first fight club bust.
Now that the remaining ones were shut down and they had investigated the scenes thoroughly, Julie wanted to get Xander's impression of what she had noticed. In spite of seeing a lot of each other while working on the case, neither had asked the other one out or asked any further personal questions.
Instead, the rapport developing between them was one of innocent flirting, playfulness and joking around. She was much more comfortable with that at this stage anyway. Approaching him at his desk, she sat on the edge of it and reached out to give him a gentle punch in the arm. One side of his mouth curled and he winked at her.
"What's up?" he asked.
"I've been troubled by something and wanted to tell you about it and get your opinion on it. Especially since you are an enigma yourself."
He leaned back in his chair and looked up at her. "I'm an enigma? How so?"
Julie raised her brow and tilted her head. "Oh please...we both know you aren't a shifter...or a human," she said in a hushed tone.
Xander's eyes widened slightly, and he leaned toward her. "I don't know what you're talking about." He sat back in his chair.
"Fine...have it your way. Here's the thing...At the first fight club scene, I picked up a scent that was unfamiliar to me and was knocked over by someone or something that was pretty strong. Then at the latest locations, I got a whiff of the same sort of scent. I'm beginning to wonder if there is something else going on out there. Something more dangerous than humans or shifters maybe?"
Xander sat forward quickly. He let out a puff of air and looked down at his desk for a moment.
Without looking at Julie, he said sadly, "Why does it have to be something dangerous?" he slowly turned his head to look at her. She tilted her head and blinked at him. Xander folded his arms and sat back again. This time looking a little cocky.
"If it isn't dangerous, why did it run away when I confronted it?" She demanded.
He shrugged. His face revealed nothing, and it left Julie feeling frustrated. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Why do I get the feeling you don't believe me?" she asked.
"I didn't say that." Xander looked at her with one brow raised.
"I smelled something that wasn't shifter or human...you can't tell me I didn't. There have been traces at each of the three crime scenes. I want to know what they are and why they are there...what if it isn't humans behind any of this?" Her voice rose in pitch and others in the office were turning to stare at her. She stood and smoothed out her clothes.
Looking at Xander, she waited for him to respond.
"You're asking me to respond to something I haven't experienced myself. I don't know what to tell you. I really don't. All I can say for sure is that it looks like we got our criminals. They admitted to setting up the fights and trapping shifters into fighting in them. It's over...okay?"
Julie shook her head. "It isn't Xander...and you, of all people, should see that something else is going on here."
Xander's brow furrowed. "Me? Why me?"
"You know why..." she leaned in close and whispered to him. "Because you aren't like us..." she pointed to the room in general. "You aren't like anyone else here...I don't know what you are."
She stood back up and put her hands on her hips. Xander stood and exhaled. Julie saw a flash of something in his eyes and stepped back.
"Excuse me," he said as he pushed past her and left the room.
***
Xander had to get away from Julie. He needed to have time to think. Going into the men's room was the best way to make sure she didn't follow. He stood in front of the bathroom mirror. Staring at his reflection he laughed. Just when he thought that Julie was warming up to him this had to happen. She had insinuated that he was dangerous...Maybe not directly but still, she was evidently a little concerned about what he was. He wasn't ready to tell her yet.
Why didn't you just admit that you smelled it too?
At the two crime scenes where they had busted the fight clubs, he had noticed a faint smell of turned-vampire. He wasn't convinced that they were part of the crime ring, however. He felt as if they had been attending the event, but he wasn't sure why. Perhaps they were just enjoying a night out?
So what would I tell her? That it was vampires that she smelled? That would go over well, Xander.
He scowled at the reflection in the mirror. He knew nothing about the fight ring before he was handed the file.
Surely if vampires were taking part in such illicit activity, he would have been warned? The F.B.I. had employees that were allied to the Vampire High Council just as it appeared to have S.A.C. allies. It was too dangerous to reveal that vampires existed. It wasn't the time to stir up trouble and Xander had to be careful what he did or said.
He liked Julie very much. The attraction made no sense though. His kind were mortal enemies of shifters and had been for hundreds if not thousands of years. His father had tried to drill into him the fact that shifters were the enemy. Xander didn't agree with his father on most things, especially where shifters were concerned. Xander could see that Julie was attracted to him; it showed in her eyes when she looked at him. Xander hated that he had to keep secrets from her. It tortured him when he heard the hurt in her voice at his denial that he was anything other than human.
Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea working so closely. He would have to keep his distance for a while.
Give her some space.
Xander left the men's room and headed toward the office. Julie was sitting back at her desk and didn't look up when he entered the room. He strode across the room to his desk and sat down.
***
When Xander pushed past Julie to leave the room, she knew she had made him angry. They had only known one another for a few weeks, and she had been her usual outspoken self and pushed him away. Julie scratched her forehead as she walked back to her desk. Slinking into her chair, she sighed in frustration.
Why did I say those things? I wish I had thought things through before I spoke. She chuckled out loud and looked around self-consciously. No one seemed to take any notice of her.
Julie's growing curiosity around Xander had made her overstep and upset him. It was clear that what she had picked up on at the crime scenes was not exactly the same as the scent of Xander.
It was the
fact that she didn't know what these things were that fed her desire to know more. She didn't mind that Xander wasn't a shifter; it didn't change the way she felt about him. She only wanted to understand more about him. She made up her mind to give him some space and hopefully they could be friends again. Next time, she would keep her mouth shut until he was ready to tell her more about himself.
CHAPTER SIX
A Month Later- F.B.I. Special Task Force Office.
Julie strode to her desk and pulled out her chair, ready to begin her work day. She glanced up when she heard her name being called. Jake poked his head out of his office and was looking directly at her.
"Can I see you in my office, please?"
Julie pushed her chair back toward her desk and walked up the stairs to Jake's office. She closed the door quietly behind her.
"Good morning," she said with a friendly smile as she took a seat in front of his desk. Julie placed her hands on her lap and sat up tall.
"We have an unfortunate development in the shifter abduction cases we've been working on." Jake's brow furrowed,and he rubbed his chin as he sat up straight in his chair. He pulled open a file folder and turned it to face Julie.
Jake frowned as he pointed at the file. "This shifter male was found a couple of days ago down by the docks.According to the medical examiner, there was no apparent cause of death."
Julie reached across the desk and pulled the file toward her. She studied the 8" x 10" photo of a dark-haired young man. He was dressed in casual clothing. His body had been tossed carelessly to the side of a road. He was a crumpled mess. There was no blood, and it almost looked as if he were curled up asleep. Julie pressed her lips together.
"Do we know for certain that he's a shifter?" she asked.
"We have a witness to his abduction. His girlfriend. She has just identified him at the morgue. She's also shifter. They were at a shifters-only night club. These clubs have been cropping up in different spots around Portland. You have to be a shifter to get in."
Julie nodded and scratched her forehead. Jake tilted his head slightly as he looked at the file and then at Julie,his face grave. "So far we only have the one body...but with the rash of shifter abductions numbering in the double digits,we now have to assume-"
A chill raced up Julie's spine. She finished Jake's thought.
"You think someone is targeting shifters?" she asked.
Jake nodded. "I want to know who is taking them and why. I am putting you on the case because you have great instincts and are good with people. I want you to work with Xander on this one. Someone out there knows something. We need to get to the bottom of this before more shifters turn up dead."
Julie put her hands on the arms of the chair, preparing to stand.
"Got it. I'll get started with interviewing the witness first."
Jake put his hands palm down on his desk and exhaled. "Julie, be careful on this one. The Shifter Alliance Council is already jumping to all kinds of conclusions, and we don't need any public attention in this case. Keep this investigation quiet. There is no reason to panic the community."
"What do you mean? What is the S.A.C saying?"
"They also think shifters are being targeted and that they are being held somewhere. I don't know why they think this; they won't say. It sounds bad and I don't want the shifter community up in arms. We just need to tread carefully."
Julie nodded and stood. Closing the file, she took it and headed out of the office. This case troubled her and she wished she had been brought in on it sooner. Still, she was happy that she would be working with Xander again. She missed being close to him. They had only recently begun to chat again. She wished he would ask her out so that they could see if their feelings were more than infatuation.
Xander was approaching his desk when Julie emerged from Jake's office. She padded over to him and smiled.
"Just getting to work?" she grinned.
"What's the matter, Jules? Can't live without me?" Xander joked.
"Hardly, Bachman." She rolled her eyes. "We've got a new case. Jake wants us working together on it."
Xander grinned. "Any excuse to be close to me, huh?"
Julie teased. "You wish!"
Maybe this time she would finally have the chance to get to know more about the mysterious Xander Bachman.
"A shifter has been found dead. No cause of death but there is a witness. I was just on my way to interview her, want to come with me?"
He winked flirtatiously. "Sure do."
***
The address of the witness was on a nice side of town. The neighborhood was upscale and relatively quiet.
"Nice neighborhood," Julie said.
Xander cleared his throat. "Yes," he said evenly.
Something about being alone with Julie made him feel less self-assured than he usually was. He was glad to be alone with her, just the same. She was the only woman to whom he had ever felt this drawn. The only shifter woman, a voice in his mind said.
They approached the townhouse and Julie knocked on the door. They waited for about five minutes. There was no answer. Xander watched with amusement as Julie walked to a front window and put her hands against the glass to allow her to see inside.
"What are you doing? We can come back," Xander laughed.
Julie hurried back to the front door, motioning toward it with her hand.
"She's coming."
The door opened and a petite young woman stood looking back at them. Xander smiled and introduced them both.
"Are you Melody?" he asked.
She nodded and welcomed them inside. Julie and Melody looked one another up and down before speaking. The agents sat on a love-seat across from the witness. Xander noticed the woman looking at him with an expression of confusion on her face. He held his breath for a moment and released it slowly. Maybe I should have stayed in the car.
"We would like to ask you about your boyfriend, Joe," Julie said looking at the notepaper she had in her hand.
Melody put her hand to her mouth. Her puffy red eyes filled with tears.
"I'm sorry...I know this is hard," Julie said, her voice soft and gentle. "I need to ask what you saw when your boyfriend was abducted?"
Xander sat in silence studying his colleague's beautiful profile. Her face showed sincere compassion as she spoke to the sorrowful young woman. She looked a bit like a sexy Barbie doll, but it was evident to him that she was intelligent and great at her job.
From working with her, he knew how passionate and driven she was. He had heard their bosses praising her investigation skills and she was clearly also excellent when dealing with victims of crime. Julie had an incredible sixth sense about things, and he hoped he would have the chance to show her that he wasn't a bad guy. Their temporary avoidance of one another had been very hard to take.
He missed the closeness that came with working together on a case. He feared that if she knew what he was, his chance to act on his feelings for her would be gone. He wanted to gain her trust before he revealed his true self. He wanted her to know that he meant her no harm. Even if she was a shifter.
Xander felt his cell phone buzz in his pocket, bringing him back to the room. He turned his attention to the witness in front of them.
Melody sat with her hands in her lap, wringing a tissue between her long slender fingers. With eyes downcast, she spoke. "We were...at a shifter club and we were headed outside...for some air...I realized I had forgotten my phone...I went back to get it." She looked up at Xander and Julie, her face filled with emotion. "It only took me a few seconds...when I headed back toward the door...I saw a couple of people...they were wearing ski masks...they came up behind Joe."
Pausing, she put a hand on her face. Looking at Julie, she shook her head as she spoke, "I didn't have time to warn him. They jumped him and must have done something to knock him out before he could shift...he hit the ground, and they pulled him away before I got outside. It all happened so quickly..." She inhaled sharply, and her eyes began to tea
r up. "I've never seen humans move that fast."
She began to sob quietly. She looked up at Xander. Biting her lip, she paused a moment.
"Do you think it was shifters that took him?" Julie asked.
Melody shook her head vigorously as tears ran down her cheeks.
"Why not? What leads you to believe they weren't shifters?" Xander asked a little too anxiously. He held his breath.
Melody looked at Xander as she spoke. "Because they weren't. I had shifted by the time I got outside and the only scent I picked up was one I have never come across before."
She eyed Xander suspiciously for a moment. Xander wiped his brow and let out the breath he was holding. He cleared his throat but didn't respond.
"What do you mean?" Julie asked.
Melody wrapped her arms around herself and shivered noticeably. She rubbed her arms.
"Joe's kidnappers were not quite human...they had to be something more than human...but not shifter."
She inhaled and looked at Xander. "You're not human either, are you? But you're not the same as the two men that took Joe. I can't place what you are."
She pushed her hair back behind both ears and turned her gaze to Julie. "They were at least as strong as Joe. He tried to fight them off, but they were too quick."
Julie looked at Xander with a puzzled expression. He tried to remain calm but could feel the panic rising in his chest. A part of him threatened to lose control if these shifter women pushed things. He swallowed hard, driving down the part of him that he tried so hard to ignore. He and Julie exchanged a brief glance, and both looked back at the tiny woman in front of them. Her thin face and small body gave her a frail, delicate look.
Xander wanted so badly to change the direction of the conversation.
"So he just stepped out the back door of the club, and they took him? Did you see where they went?" Xander asked. Julie's brow furrowed; she turned to Xander looking a little surprised. Xander felt his body tense. Julie turned her attention back to Melody. She waited for a response to Xander's question.