Luke chuckled. “Right about now.” He faced the crowd and raised his voice so they all could hear. “I saw the half-demon child this morning. He reeks of hell and has the same red eyes; he won’t be hard to find again. With the whole team on the lookout, we’ll find him and track him to his hideout. He’ll lead us straight to his master; I’d put money on it.”
From the whispers he overheard in the crowd, they seemed satisfied…for now. Leave it to Stephen to raise another concern. “What about the cops? That female detective is getting too close.”
“No one needs to worry about the cops. I’m taking care of the detective.” And setting myself up for a major heartbreak.
Stephen turned to Luke. “And just what are you doing about her?”
Luke fisted his hands and gritted his teeth. If the pack knew his true feelings for Macey, he’d lose their respect. “I befriended her. I’m giving her misinformation and guiding her away from the truth.”
“You befriended her? You mean you’re screwing her.” Venom oozed from Stephen’s voice. “You reek of human.”
“It’s strictly business. My relationship with Macey Carpenter goes no further than ensuring our secrets stay safe.” He cringed inwardly. He hated lying to the pack, but what else could he do? Tell them he was in love with a human?
He scanned the crowd for their reactions. Most nodded their approval or whispered amongst themselves, but Alexis furrowed her brow and squirmed in her seat. Was she glaring at him? Surely not. Even rogues knew to respect an alpha. She shifted her gaze to the floor and chewed her bottom lip.
Before dismissing the meeting, he described the halfling in more detail, making sure everyone knew to be on the lookout. When the room cleared, Luke made his way to the bar for a beer. Lord knew he needed one after the week he’d had.
Chase poured him a brew as he plopped down on a stool. Most of the pack had left the bar, but a few people occupied the tables around the room. Alexis leaned against the wall in the back, talking to another female. He caught her gaze and nodded a hello. She responded by pursing her lips and giving him a curt nod in return.
Chase mixed a drink for a customer and turned to Luke. “Look, man. I know it’s none of my business, but…”
Luke raised an eyebrow at his friend. “Then why are you asking?”
“There’s more to the story with you and the detective, isn’t there?”
He closed his eyes for a long blink. When he opened them, Chase stared intently at him.
“I’m asking because you’re my friend. And I’ve seen the way you look at her.”
Luke leaned forward, lowering his voice. “This is between you and me.”
Chase nodded.
“She’s amazing, man. I don’t know what I’m going to do about it, but, yeah. I’m falling for her hard. As far as the pack’s concerned, though, it’s business. That’s probably all it’ll turn out to be anyway.” He swallowed down the sour taste that formed in the back of his throat.
“I never thought I’d see the day you fell for a human.”
Luke downed his beer and slid the glass to Chase. “Me neither. But duty comes first.” Maybe if he said it out loud enough, he could convince himself it was true.
“Right.” Chase clapped him on the shoulder. “Who needs happiness when you’ve got duty?”
The front door swung open, and both men snapped their heads toward the entrance. James barreled through and skidded to a stop in front of Luke. With one hand on the bar, he heaved in a few breaths before straightening his posture. “I got another one. He was already on top of her, but I got him.”
“Damn it!” Luke slammed his fist on the bar and rose to his feet. “Did it rape her?”
James shook his head. “I don’t know. Possibly. Your girl is probably on her way to the scene now.”
“Shit! All right. Let’s go.”
“Hey, Luke.” Alexis’s voice came from just behind his shoulder. How long had she been standing there?
“Make it fast. I have to go.” He stalked toward the door, and Alexis followed.
“Let me go with you. I…want to help.”
He paused to give her a once over. If she had a motive, he couldn’t sense it. And he didn’t have time to argue with her. “Stay in the shadows, and keep up. Don’t let the cops see you.”
He glimpsed a grin curving her lips before he turned and bolted out the door.
Chapter Sixteen
“It’s about time we had another one.” Bryce floored it and sped toward the crime scene. “It’s been so quiet these past few days, I thought our cult had skipped town.”
Macey groaned and gripped the door handle as the car lurched over the bumps on the narrow French Quarter road. He weaved around parked cars, blasting the siren to alert pedestrians to get out of their way. These streets weren’t made for Bryce’s kind of driving. Next shift, she’d have to be sure she was behind the wheel. “Do you think it’s one group doing all this? That they’re organized?”
Her partner shrugged. “Beats me. But they always seem to happen the same way.”
“What about the animal that saves them? How do you explain that? And the body? And the ash? It doesn’t add up.”
Bryce turned left on St. Louise and headed toward Dauphine. “You’re not still hung up on all that paranormal crap are you? Monsters don’t exist, Mace. Not the supernatural kind anyway.”
Macey crossed her arms and let out a long sigh. A month ago, she would’ve agreed with him, but that was before a mysterious animal started attacking rapists and turning them into ash. Ghosts were real, weren’t they? So, why couldn’t there be some kind of monster or spirit out there wreaking havoc? Why not werewolves, like the barista suggested? That would explain the strange wolf she’d encountered twice now. And why Roberta didn’t seem the least bit scared of it.
What am I thinking? Monsters? Werewolves? She needed to focus on the facts. The answers had to be there in the evidence. But the evidence kept disappearing: first the attackers themselves, then the body from the morgue, and now the ash from the lab. Looking at facts and thinking like a detective was getting them nowhere in this case. Maybe it was time she opened her mind to other possibilities.
Could she convince her partner? “How do you know monsters don’t exist?”
He chuckled. “Because I’ve never seen one.”
“You’ve never seen God, and you believe He exists.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“Because He’s God. If monsters and vampires and werewolves were real, we’d know about them, Mace. C’mon. You have to think logically.” He parked against a curb and unlatched his seatbelt.
Macey put her hand on his shoulder. “Thinking logically isn’t helping solve this case. All I’m saying is that maybe we need to be a little more open-minded.”
“Right. You crack open your mind. I’m going to look at the evidence.” He got out of the car and slammed the door.
Great. Now he thinks I’m crazy. If she couldn’t get her own partner to consider the possibility, she certainly couldn’t expect anyone else to believe her. Except, maybe Luke. The way he’d asked if she believed in magic made it sound like he believed. And he was so accepting of her ability when she’d told him about it. It didn’t even faze him that she might be able to talk to spirits. Did he know something?
She laughed at herself and got out of the car. Maybe she really was going crazy. Even if Luke did believe in monsters and magic, she couldn’t discuss the case with him…no matter how close the two of them were getting. No, she needed to get him out of her mind for the time being and focus on the evidence. Bryce was right.
They were the first to arrive on the scene, and Macey rushed to the woman who cowered in the corner of the alley. With her knees pulled up to her chest, her matted brown hair swinging forward to cover her face as she buried it in her arms, the woman looked more like a terrified child. Macey’s chest tightened as she approached the victim.
“M
a’am, are you okay?” Of course she wasn’t okay. What a stupid question. “An ambulance is on its way. I’m Detective Macey Carpenter.”
The woman scuttled away as Macey stepped closer, curling into an even tighter ball.
Macey squatted to her level. “I’m not going to hurt you. Can you tell me your name?” She glanced at her partner, who pointed to a pile of ash a few feet away. Macey nodded and returned her attention to the victim.
“Jessica.” The woman wiped her face with the back of her hand and loosened her posture tentatively.
“Okay, Jessica. Can you please tell me what happened? Were you raped?”
Jessica sucked in a shaky breath. “No, thank God. He just beat me up pretty bad.” She burst into tears and hid her face in her hands.
Macey put her arm around the victim, who shivered in the August heat. Sirens in the distance blared, getting louder as the ambulance approached the scene. She didn’t have much time to talk to the woman privately. “What happened after he beat you?”
“He was trying to get my panties off when…” Jessica rubbed her face and shook her head. “It’s crazy, but a big dog or something attacked him.”
“A dog? What did it look like?”
“I don’t know. It happened so fast. It was like…I heard a growl. No, it was more like a snarl, you know?” She looked at Macey, who nodded her head. “And one minute the guy was on me, but the next he was rolling on the ground with the dog. Then the dog took off, and I guess it dragged the guy with it. I don’t know.”
She’d heard the story what, seven or eight times now? It was the same as the other victims, but they’d never described the animal as a dog. Could it have been the wolf she’d seen before? What on Earth would an animal like that be doing in the French Quarter? Absolutely nothing about this case made sense.
The woman sobbed uncontrollably, and Macey gently rubbed her back. The ambulance doors opened and closed. She had to hurry. “I know this is hard, Jessica. But can you tell me what the dog looked like? Could it have been a wolf?”
“I guess so. It was gray, I think. Or black, maybe. But it was big. Way bigger than any dog I’ve seen. If it was a wolf, it was a monster of one.”
“And you didn’t see what happened to the man who attacked you?”
“No. I think the animal carried him off.”
Macey smiled sympathetically and stood as the EMTs scurried over to check Jessica’s vitals. “Thank you. That’s exactly what I needed to know.”
Luke, James, and Alexis watched from the shadows as Macey scooped up the demon ash and sealed it in an evidence bag. She handed the bag to an officer, slipped off her blue latex gloves and placed her hand against the wall. She must’ve been trying to pick up the energy of the scene from the building. Hopefully she wouldn’t get anything useful.
“Looks like I’ll be breaking into the lab again,” James said.
Luke tore his gaze away from the beautiful detective to look at his friend. “At least you know your way around now. I’ve got it from here; you can go patrol. Alexis, you can head back too.”
James nodded and took off up the alley. Alexis hesitated, her gaze shifting from the scene to Luke. “I’d like to stick around, if that’s okay. I really want to help.”
Luke furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes at her. What was she up to? He preferred to be alone so he wouldn’t feel the need to hide his feelings for Macey. But getting to know Alexis better was probably a good idea. If his old man really didn’t send her, she must’ve had some other motive for wanting to be involved in the demon issue.
“Why are you taking all this interest in the pack? You thinking of joining?”
As she watched the detectives gather evidence, a look of sadness fell across her face. “I don’t know. I like it here. I just figured you could use all the help you could get with your demon problem.”
“Have you fought demons before?”
“No. But I’d like to learn.” She turned to him and smiled. “If you need another person on the team, I’ll volunteer.”
“Let me think about it.” What would the rest of the team think about working with a rogue? They’d accepted her on the job site, but carpentry wasn’t demon hunting. He doubted they’d approve. Rogues didn’t care about anything but themselves, but Alexis wasn’t like any rogue he’d ever met. As he watched her watching the scene, she seemed to take a genuine interest in what happened. If only he could get inside her head and figure out why she cared so much. “What’s your story?”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “I don’t have a story. Why?”
“You’re holding something back.”
Her gaze landed on the detective. “I’ve told you everything you need to know.” She looked at Luke, glanced back at the scene, and stepped away. “Well, it looks like you’ve got this under control. I’m going to jet.”
“Okay…” Before he could say goodbye, she trotted down the street.
“Hey, Mace.” Bryce paused before opening the car door.
Macey dropped her bag in the trunk, slammed it shut, and stepped to the passenger side. “Yeah?”
“Listen, I’m sorry about the way I acted in the car earlier.”
She gave him a tight grin and slid into her seat.
Bryce got in the car and started the engine. “I don’t believe in that stuff, and to hear you talking about it like it’s real… It scares me.”
Macey scoffed. “Nothing scares you, Bryce. You’re a big, bad detective, remember?” She grinned, hoping to ease the tension that filled the car like static electricity.
“Now, hear me out.” He gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. “I was thinking about what you said, and…Well, what if you’re right? What then?”
She tugged on her bottom lip as Bryce kneaded the steering wheel like dough. “I don’t know,” she said. “But I did get a little more info out of the victim this time. She described the animal as a wolf.”
“A wolf? Like the one you saw in the woods?”
“The coloring was different, but yeah. I think there might be a pack of wolves attacking people.”
Bryce raised an eyebrow at her. “But—”
“I haven’t figured out what they have to do with the case, but it’s a start. Maybe they can sense the victims’ fear, and they’re attracted to it. Or maybe all the women have something in common. I don’t know, but it’s something to look into.”
He let out a long breath. “So it’s not a monster. Just a wolf. I’ll give animal control a call.”
As if on cue, Macey’s cell phone rang. Another detective on the scene of another assault outside the Quarter. “Looks like our night is just getting started. Head over to the Hilton on Canal.”
“Another one?”
When they arrived at the hotel, they took the elevator up to the fifteenth floor. “This doesn’t seem right,” she said to Bryce. “All the others have been in the alley or on a small street. Our guys don’t operate in hotel rooms.”
The elevator door slid open, and they stepped into a deserted hallway. A pair of guards stood outside the victim’s door. Macey nodded to the men and stepped through the threshold. The basic hotel room held a king-sized bed in the center, a flat screen TV on a table, and a small desk in the corner. The twisted bed sheets lay half-pulled to the floor. Pens, a notepad, and a lamp lay scattered about the room. Obvious signs of a struggle.
The victim sat on a chair near the window. A sketch artist’s pencil flew fervently across the page as she described the attacker. Her face was a mask of blankness, her shuddering breaths the only clue to the earthquake that must have been crumbling inside her.
Macey spotted the detective who’d called and motioned for him to talk to her. “What happened here?” she asked.
The man shoved a small notepad into his jacket pocket. “Sexual assault. Victim said she met the guy in a bar. He followed her and forced his way into her room. Did his thing and left.”
“Why did you call me? This d
oesn’t sound anything like the other cases.”
The detective cut his gaze toward the victim and lowered his voice. “She said the attacker had red eyes.”
Jimmy peeled the blood-stained T-shirt over his head, used it to wipe the clammy sweat from his face, and hung it on the arm of the futon to dry. His whole body felt raw, like he’d been dragged naked across the asphalt while tied to the back of a truck. He hadn’t, of course. But that’s what he felt like. Was it from Ross’s spirit ripping its way in and out of his body? Or was it because of what Ross had made him do?
The back of his mouth tasted sour like vomit, and his muscles ached from the explosion of excitement he’d just experienced. Did he enjoy it?
A little.
He didn’t want to hurt that girl. But Ross was controlling his body, so he couldn’t help it. He could feel it, though. And it felt good. Jimmy had never made love to a woman before. He’d wanted to make love to her. When Ross had used Jimmy’s body to talk to the girl, it was exciting. He said some clever things and made her laugh. Jimmy could never say such clever things on his own because he was a stupid idiot. But Ross was smart, and he made smart words come out of Jimmy’s stupid mouth.
The girl liked Jimmy. Well, she liked Ross inside Jimmy’s body, but that was close enough. When it was time to leave, Jimmy was sure the girl was going to say yes to sex. But when Ross made him ask if he could walk her to her hotel room, she said no.
“That’s okay,” Ross had said in Jimmy’s mind. “We’re still gonna screw her.”
But she had said no, so Jimmy didn’t want to do it anymore. Ross made him follow her and push his way into her room. Jimmy was strong on his own, but Ross made him stronger. The girl tried to put up a fight, but Ross made Jimmy smack her in the face. She screamed and stumbled backwards into the room, falling on top of the bed…right where Ross wanted her. She kicked and bit, but Jimmy’s body was too strong.
Jimmy squeezed his eyes shut and curled up in a ball on the futon. “Why did you make me do that, Ross? She said no.”
Werewolves Only: Crescent City Wolf Pack Book One Page 12