by C. D. Hersh
“You brought most of them with you,” Roc said, when Rhys accused him of not coming alone. “Including your own little spy behind the tree over there.”
Rhys sat ramrod stiff. “For all I know, she’s tracking your cronies.”
“Maybe, but she made a beeline for you. Who is she?”
Rhys snorted. “Who are they?”
“I don’t have a clue.” But he had his suspicions. Sylvia hated being in the dark. Ever since he’d made the bargain to meet with Rhys privately, his entourage of tails had grown. He’d have to have a word with her. Her need to know was getting in the way of his relationship with his brother.
“Me either,” Rhys said.
“Let’s forget about them then. They’re all low lives anyway.” Peering around Rhys, Roc stared directly at the shifter peeking out from behind the tree, jerking his thumb at her indicating she should scram. She darted undercover. “Now yours knows we’re on to her. I’ll keep an eye on her. You keep your eyes on the rest. If you can.”
“I can.” Rhys reached into his shirt pocket, unfolded a piece of paper, and handed it to Roc. “Did you get one of these?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you believe it?”
“You didn’t check it out?” Roc held out the document.
Rhys took it and tucked it in his pocket. “Working on it. Why do you suppose she left out your adoptive family info?”
“Guess she doesn’t trust you.”
“Or she doesn’t trust you.” Rhys swung his arm out indicating the shifters around them. “Did she include my information with your papers?”
“No.”
“You’re lying,” Rhys said.
“What makes you say that?”
“I can see it in your aura.”
“You can do that?”
“Can’t you?”
“I’ve had years to practice it. According to Sylvia, you’ve only come into your powers recently.”
Rhys shrugged. “I’m a fast learner.”
Roc stared at him. Fast, my ass. His brother was phenomenal. He’d have his work cut out bringing him to his side and keeping things from him. He weighed his words before speaking again. “Your information was in my papers.”
“Why?”
“Don’t know. But I’ll share my adoptive parentage with you if it will help you trust me.”
“Would be a start.”
“I’m an only child, until you appeared. Son of Cecil and Caroline Decker. Rogue shifters. Mom and Dad adopted me because of my birth mother and the prophesy. You know the prophesy, don’t you?”
“The Turning Stone Savior crap?”
“Not crap, Rhys.” He looked him in the eye. “If you think so, why are you even involved in this?”
“I made a promise to someone.”
“Who?”
“Doesn’t matter.” Anguish crossed Rhys’ face, and his hand, resting on his knee, tightened into a fist. “She’s dead, but I promised her I’d continue what she started. I never break a promise.”
The funeral he’d spied on. Whoever was in the casket must be the woman Rhys meant. Roc thought about Lila, and he instantly identified with the emotion flooding from Rhys. “Lost love sucks.”
“I never said it was someone I loved.”
“You didn’t have to. Shows all over you.”
“Enough about me. Go on with your story,” Rhys said.
“Not much to say. I was groomed for the prophesy. Everything Mom and Dad did was meant to make me stronger, better, and more prepared to rule the world. Best schools, best money could buy, best everything.”
“Best criminal training?”
“My record’s clean. You won’t find anything on me,” Roc said.
“I know. I checked. Guess Daddy had enough money to bribe anyone he needed.”
“Daddy has enough money to hide the dead.” He’d hid Lila, who apparently wasn’t dead.
“You say that as if you’ve had some experience with it.”
“You scanning me again?”
“Don’t have to. I can hear it in your voice.” Rhys stared at him, silent for several minutes. “If you’re trying to convince me you’re a nice guy, it’s not going to fly. Rogue parents. Groomed for the rogue Promised One position. Tight with Sylvia, who is one bad-assed woman. Leopards don’t change spots for stripes. What do you really want from me?”
“Power.” He might as well be honest since Rhys could read him anyway. “You may not like Sylvia, but she’s right about one thing. As Promised One brothers we could rule this world. I know where you came from. What you didn’t have growing up. Don’t you think it would be nice to live in luxury and not have to scrounge on the streets as a cop to make your living?”
“I like being a cop. I had all I needed. A roof over my head, food and clothes, and parents who loved me. Loved me better than our birth mother, apparently.”
“Can’t argue, unless she was trying to protect us, but I don’t figure we’ll know the answer unless we find her. But don’t lie to me and say you never wanted more. If we work together we can have it all. Money-”
“Got all I need.”
“Power then. Lots of power.”
“Don’t want it.”
“Women. If you’re anything like me, you want them.”
“Got one. Or had one. Don’t want a replacement.”
“You might someday.”
Rhys shook his head. “Never.”
They had that in common, too. He’d never loved any woman like he loved Lila. “Then do it because you want your own flesh and blood at your back. Your brother. Real family has to count for something.” He let the last phrase sink in, hoping Rhys wanted the same thing he’d always wanted. A sibling.
His brother didn’t answer.
“You are my twin, Rhys, and no matter how long we’ve been apart or how different our circumstances, you can’t tell me there’s not a part of you that doesn’t want me as your brother. I can feel your need as clearly as you can read mine. You can’t let this opportunity slip.” Roc leaned in closer. “We’re bound, whether we like it or not. Let’s work together, because if we don’t, the alternative isn’t a happy one.”
Rhys scanned his brother. He was sincere about wanting a relationship. As another only child Roc might understand the deep-seated need he’d fought all his life. Understand the struggle to be a loner when, deep inside, it always felt like something was missing.
Brotherhood wasn’t the only consideration in this deal. The world’s fate potentially hung on his answer. He was probably strong enough to sway Roc to his side, if he had to, but deep down, he would rather his brother came on his own terms. If he didn’t agree, that would never happen.
“Okay. We’ll meet somewhere in the middle on this world rule thing,” Rhys said.
“Benign despot?”
“More like monarchy, with a parliament.”
“Who is king?”
Rhys cocked an eyebrow. “Apparently those fancy schools didn’t teach you history. The eldest will be king.”
“We’re only seconds apart, but it’s not clear who’s firstborn from these papers.”
“The king will be the most powerful one.”
“Guess we’ll duke it out.” Roc clasped Rhys’ forearm in a medieval style handshake. “The crown to the victor, brother, and may the best man win.”
Rhys returned the handshake. The best man had to be him.
Delaney slipped away as the two men shook hands. She’d been made by the rogue, which probably put her on Rhys’ radar, making tailing him risky. Besides, she didn’t like the friendly way their meeting ended.
She ducked into the restaurant bathroom and shifted into her normal form, then headed to
the precinct. Questions, more questions than she could sort out, rattled in her brain. She needed a sounding board to help her figure them out. She couldn’t talk to Harry about shifter business. Alexi was out of the question. She thought the sun rose and set in Rhys. As for Eli, his belief in Rhys as Promised One was blinding him.
Delaney rubbed her temples to ease the killer headache coming on and dug in her purse for a couple of ibuprofen. She had dinner plans, and nothing was going to interfere.
Chapter 26
“More dead bodies,” Harry said as Delaney entered their office.
“Do we know who?”
“One of them is Robert Cross, the desk clerk from your apartment building.”
“How did he die?”
“Gunshot to the chest. The building maintenance man found him in the dumpster.”
“They’re getting sloppy,” Delaney mumbled under her breath.
“Who? Riley’s terrorists?”
“Who’s the other one?”
“We don’t have an ID for him yet, but we’re checking the missing persons’ files.” A tiny frown creased his forehead as he searched her face. “Who’s getting sloppy, Delaney?”
She dropped her purse into her desk and locked the drawer. Another body from Lila’s apartment building was not good, especially after she had just talked to the dead man. Rhys had been there. Did he know she suspected him of Lila’s disappearance? He could be eliminating witnesses, hiring rogue mimics to do his dirty work. The meeting in the park would make sense if that were the case.
“Who’s getting sloppy, Delaney?” Harry asked again, irritation creeping into his voice.
Ignoring him, she flipped through her notes on Lila’s disappearance, and stabbed her finger on a page. George Mann had filled in while the regular desk clerk was in Europe. Gut instinct told her he was the other body.
She jotted his information on a piece of notepaper. “If I’m right, I’m taking these murders over.”
He reached for the paper, but she held it away from him. “Damn it, Delaney. You’re beginning to get as irritating as Riley. Read me in on this.”
She gave him a tight, apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. But I can’t.”
A burgundy flush crept over his neck. “This is my precinct, and I have a right to know.”
“Does Sylvia tell you all her business?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“I’m not. I’m trying to point out you don’t have the right to know everything about our operations.” She unlocked her purse from the desk and slung the straps over her shoulder.
“Where you going?”
“If you must know, to interview the maintenance man who found the body.”
Harry tossed a file on her desk. “Homicide already did. Had you not bailed on lunch with me you would know.”
She slid the file off of the desk and hugged it to her chest. “I’m sorry. I said we’d have dinner.”
“Don’t bother. I’ve lost my appetite.”
Delaney fought the rush of emotions his words brought. “Harry, I’m-”
Waving his hand in dismissal, he said, “I know. FBI, and you have secrets. Go. Get out of my office and interview your witness and whatever else you have to do.”
His voice held a finality she recognized all too well. The dismissal wasn’t only professional.
Helplessly, her hand fluttered toward him, and he presented his back to her. She rushed out of the office before he saw her tears.
As soon as Delaney was out of sight, Harry slammed his fist on the desk. Women! He’d been an idiot to think this one would be any different. But damned if he’d let her crawl all over his office without including him. One fed doing that was enough.
Retrieving the file where he’d kept her information, he dialed her home office number. If she wouldn’t read him in, he’d climb her chain of command until he found someone who would force her to comply. Unlike his failed attempt with Riley’s superiors, he wouldn’t stop until she read him in or was out of his office.
“I’m sorry,” Delaney’s boss said. “Ramsey is on extended personal leave. I haven’t heard from her since she left.”
The news hit him in the stomach like a prizefighter’s punch. “When did she leave?”
“About a month ago. What did you say she was doing in your precinct?”
“She’s working with Homeland Security on some problems in our area.” And screwing with me and my staff.
“Then she’s doing it on her own time. If you need extra help from our people I don’t have the authority, but I could take it up the chain for you.”
“No, we’re fine. I’ve got enough feds crawling around in my precinct. Thanks for the information.”
“Would you ask her to get in touch with me? I’ve been leaving messages for weeks. She’s been off the grid and I was beginning to worry. I could use her here.”
“Sure. I’ll let her know.”
Harry hung up the phone. What the hell was she doing? He rolled his chair away from the desk, went to the office door, and bellowed. “Gladys!”
Her head appeared over the cubby divider. “Yes, Captain?”
“Come in here, please.”
“Am I in trouble?” she asked when he instructed her to shut the door.
“No. I need some information.”
“What?”
“From now on, no matter what Agent Ramsey or Agent Riley ask you to do, you clear it with me first. I want to know when those two take a piss and how much paper they use to wipe their butts. Got it?”
“Only from now on?”
Her expression clearly told him she had something to say. “Spill whatever you know. Now!”
With a deep breath, she said, “I would have told you sooner, Captain, but she pulled the Fed rank stuff on me.”
“I’m not blaming you. Just spit it out.”
“She wanted street video from around the apartment building where she lives, and I saw Rhys on it. Wouldn’t tell me what it was about and said I was to tell no one what I saw.” Gladys paused and leaned closer, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I saw her messing with the personnel files. I think she’s spying on Rhys. Every time I ask her about something I get the same answer. FBI business, and I’ve got no need to know.”
Harry snorted. He was all too familiar with that line.
Her cheeks reddened, her brows drawing together in a frown. “If she’s messing with Rhys, I’ve got every reason to know.”
He heard his heart beating in his ears. Spying on Rhys? Lying about her assignment? Was anything the woman said true? Was she using him as well? He scrubbed his hand over his chin and willed his heart to quit pounding. What was Delaney doing?
“Thanks for telling me, Gladys, and amend the last order. Do whatever she asks then inform me.”
“I knew she wasn’t trustworthy, Captain. What are you searching for?”
“I don’t know, but I sure as hell want to know what she’s after and why she’s investigating Rhys. I know you’re the office busybody, but it’s important you keep this quiet. Really important. Can you do that?”
She gave him a fierce glower. “To protect Rhys, I can do anything.”
He didn’t doubt that for a minute. Feeling a bit guilty, he dismissed her. Gladys carried a torch for Rhys that had been fueled after Alexi’s death. When she discovered her favorite detective was married to a dead woman, Gladys was going to be crushed.
He dialed the coroner after she left. Might as well bring him on board.
“Glad you called, Captain,” the coroner said. “Does Agent Ramsey have an idea on the last John Doe they brought in? She was right on the money about Forrester.”
“She was?” Harry asked.
“She
gave me the lead on Forrester.”
“Hmm. Don’t think I knew that,” Harry said. One more secret to add to the growing list he was keeping on Delaney. “Remember, you didn’t tell me this.”