Insight

by Jennis Slaughter

  “Oh, there was one other thing. He ransacked the office and living room of this house. He just started tearing the place apart and before I could stop him we discovered Jenny had gone missing and since she was the priority I ran with Delaney and Raelin to find her. When we got back we found the office turned upside down and the living room too, but he’d already left to drop Ms. LeBlanc off into protective custody. I made sure to take photos on my phone before we cleaned, in case it came back down on us.”

  Nodding her head at the Agent, Director Jacobs allowed Kasey to leave the room to wake the detective, and then she turned her attention to Jenny.

  “So Miss LeBlanc, you are the one that brought everything to light. How are you feeling after your ordeal?”

  Jenny’s head snapped from where she’d watched Kasey leave the room to the sharp green eyes of the Director. ”I’m not sure. The whole thing happened really quickly and to be honest I’ve been trying not to think about it too much. Del has been working so hard to put an end to what’s going on. Raelin too.”

  “It was scary though, I thought I was going to die. How is someone supposed to come to terms with that? I’m really lucky to have the friends that I have now. They’ve helped me cope with the fear and made me feel safe. I know it’s going to take a while before I can walk down the street and not be looking over my shoulder, but at least I’m on my way. I have someone to help me with it now; someone I know would never let anything happen to me. They make me feel safe and protected and I’d like to think I’m strong, that I can do it on my own, but I’m not sure I could. So, I guess I’m as good as anyone would be after going through what I did. I just want to shut it down, so no one else has to go through what I did,” she finished quietly.

  “I would assume that your boyfriend is quite protective of you after all of this. He’s realized how precious you are to him,” the older woman reassured the girl.

  “I don’t know about any boyfriends, but my girlfriend has certainly shown she’d stand between me and a bullet if needed and God help whoever’s holding the gun.” Jenny grinned.

  The Director’s eyes narrowed. “And who exactly is your girlfriend, if you please?”

  Jenny’s eyes narrowed to match the Directors stare. She knew Kasey could get in serious trouble for being involved with her. “It’s not important to the case at hand. She’s a private person and I’m going to respect that.”

  j

  Kasey knocked on the door lightly before pushing it open and stepping into the darkened room. She looked at the bed and smiled at the sight. Raelin had kept her distance, but even in sleep, they gravitated to each other. Del had rolled to her stomach and had covered the space between them with her arm, her hand fisted into Raelin’s shirt. Raelin had made up for the lack of contact by tangling her fingers in the golden hair sprawled across the pillows. Thinking it would be best to let Raelin wake what she knew would be a disoriented Del; she crossed to her side of the bed first. Rori had plunked himself at the head of the bed between them and looked up at Kasey as she approached. Knowing his humans trusted the agent, he allowed her to wake them as she saw fit.

  “Raelin wake up. It’s time to check on Delaney and I’m waking you like I promised,” she whispered, giving the witch a light nudge.

  Opening her eyes, Raelin was disoriented for a moment, wondering who the young woman was until she remembered and turned her head to look at Del. Untangling her fingers, she groaned as she sat up.

  “Have you…” Her voice was raspy again so she cleared her throat softly, “Have you tried to wake her yet?”

  “Careful now, the adrenaline’s all worn off so you’re probably pretty sore,” Kasey replied, taking Raelin’s chin in her hand and tilting it up a little. She took a look at the bruises she could already see forming around her neck. They looked pretty bad, but she knew that they were going to look even worse later. She poured a glass of juice, handing it to the witch, knowing it would soothe her sore throat. “Take a couple sips of that. Looks like some bruising around your throat. They are mild now, but they will get worse before they get better. You can talk if you want, but it’s going to hurt for a few days. As for Del, I figured it would be easier on her if you woke her. She’s likely to wake up a little disoriented and I didn’t want her panicking when she saw me and not you.”

  Sipping the juice, Raelin nodded her head, and then handed the glass back to the agent as she turned to wake up her lover. “Delaney...Del...come on. Open those beautiful green eyes and let Kasey check you out.” Reaching out, she lightly rubbed the blonde’s back.

  Del didn’t open her eyes, but squeezed them tighter instead, trying to remain asleep. After a few minutes she realized it was a lost cause and blinked her eyes open slowly, wincing against the little bit of light that was in the room. Her head felt like it was twice its size and all she wanted was to go back to sleep until the pounding went away. She looked up at Raelin, relaxing under the hand rubbing her back.

  “I feel like my head is going to explode,” she murmured; her voice still thick with sleep. ”What the hell happened?”

  “You got on the wrong side of a gun, and got knocked in the head. What exactly do you remember?” The witch smiled at how adorable the blonde looked with sleepy eyes and pouty lips.

  Del’s brows came together as she thought. ”I was in the kitchen and I heard Rori call me so I came running. Sumners, he was choking you and we ended up fighting. The bastard shot me, didn’t he? Then he smashed me in the head, and then I think I heard a second shot and now I’m waking up here,” she frowned deeper, trying to remember who had fired the second round. Her eyes widened when it finally clicked. “Raelin, you fired a gun. You actually picked up a gun and fired it. Are you okay?”

  Nodding her head, Raelin whispered, “I’m okay. The house has a hole in it, but I’m doing good. Now let Kasey check you out,” her hand came up and rubbed her throat, wincing at the soreness.

  Del nodded slightly and slowly sat up closing her eyes against the spinning room. She let Kasey take a look at her shoulder wound, wincing as the agent redressed it. Finally, Kasey moved on to her head and made sure the cut was still clean. She reached into the kit she’d left at the bedside and pulled out the pen light again. Shining it into the detective’s eyes, she apologized, knowing it would worsen the headache the blonde had, but not having much of a choice.

  “Okay. Just going to ask you a few questions. What’s your full name?” Kasey asked, watching Delaney’s eyes as they followed her light.

  “Delaney Delacroix.”

  “How old are you?”

  “I’m twenty-eight; I have blonde hair and green eyes. I like long walks on the beach and romantic candlelight dinners. Can I go back to sleep now? That light of yours is killing me.”

  Kasey turned to Raelin with a grin. ”Looks like your detective is back to her smart-ass self. I’d say that’s a good thing. She doesn’t remember anything after the hit, but that’s normal, she’ll be fine with some rest.”

  Raelin nodded her head, and carefully spoke, “Did your back up arrive?”

  Kasey nodded. “They are downstairs. Probably questioning Sumners as we speak.”

  Del slowly sat up at that swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. “They’ll want to talk to me I bet. I want to find out what they found with Jenny’s pictures anyway.”

  Raelin put her hand on the blonde’s shoulder to keep the blonde right where she was. “Why don’t you ask them to come up here? You don’t need to be up and around yet, and I can talk with Jenny for a bit while you all go over things.”

  “Delaney, I agree. You shouldn’t be wandering around. I’ll have Director Jacobs come up and see you, but only if you keep it short. You need to rest,” agreed Kasey from her perch on the bed.

  “You guys are no fun at all. How am I supposed to shut down a human slave ring from this bed?” She pouted.

  Getting out of bed, Raelin got a button down shirt out of her closet and handed it to the blonde, before she went
into the bathroom to get her brush. Coming out, she waited until Del finished putting on the shirt before she handed her the instrument. “Brush your hair. You don’t want to meet the local Director with bed hair,” she whispered. “Kasey, would you turn that light on over there. It’s behind her so it shouldn’t hurt her eyes too badly.”

  Del squinted when the light bathed the room in a dim light. She reached up with her left arm and began to brush out her long blonde hair. Finishing with the left side, she realized her hair was too long to be able to brush the right side with her left arm. “Raelin, can you help me out?”

  Taking the brush, the witch sat on the bed next to her lover and propped her knee up on the side of the bed to brush the golden hair. “Let me know if I hurt you.”

  Closing her eyes briefly at the first few strokes, she opened them to watch her witch. Raelin shifted slightly and Del’s eyes caught the bruising around her neck. “Oh God, Raelin your neck. Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked, reaching up to run her fingers over Raelin’s neck, being careful not to press too hard.

  Without thinking about it, Raelin jerked back. “I’m fine. It hurts a bit when I talk,” she grabbed Del’s hand before she could withdraw it, and brought it up to kiss its knuckles. “I love you.”

  Hearing the voice she loved so much sound so scratchy and raw, and seeing Raelin jump away from her touch, brought her anger back to the surface. Completely ignoring the pain in her shoulder and the throbbing in her head, she bolted off the bed intent on finding Sumners and making him suffer. “I’ll destroy him,” she muttered charging through the door and stumbling down the stairs.

  “Oh Goddess...” Raelin ran after the detective, closely followed by the Agent.

  Not seeing Sumners anywhere in the house, she headed outside. Spotting him sitting on the bed of a truck, she stormed over and grabbed him by the collar before anyone could think of stopping her. She slammed him against the side of the truck with her good arm, pressing her arm into his neck with as much force as she could muster. “How does it feel, you bastard! I’m going to destroy you for hurting her and I’m going to enjoy it.”

  Raelin followed her out of the house, but as she tried to get to the blonde, she was held back by Jasper while Ryerson and Fielding’s grabbed Del, pulling her away kicking and screaming. Kasey ran up to them, trying to get them to let go, explaining to the two agents who the blonde was. Finally, they handed Del over to Kasey, hoping the young agent would be able to calm her down.

  “Del, you need to calm down, you’re going to hurt yourself,” she pleaded, holding the struggling blonde.

  “How can you tell me to calm down after what he did? You saw Raelin’s throat. He nearly killed her.”

  “Ms. Delacroix I assume. Would you mind calming down so we can figure out what happened,” Director Jacob’s voice was low and calm and she moved so that she was in the blonde’s line of sight. “I understand why you are upset, but we need to take things slowly.”

  Raelin shrugged out of Jasper’s grasp and went over to the blonde. “I’m all right. Calm down,” she laid her hand on Del’s arm.

  Del felt all of the strength leave her body at the brunette’s touch and sagged against Kasey. “Don’t tell me you understand because you don’t. You don’t understand what I almost lost today. How could you ever send him here? Who was stupid enough to pass him on a psych evaluation in the first place?” She turned to Raelin. “You almost weren’t all right. Don’t tell me to calm down; you know you’d be the same if the situations were reversed.”

  “I did remember, and it almost killed me, but right now, we need to concentrate on something bigger. Okay?” She moved her hand away, shaking it before she put it back on Del’s arm. “We’re okay now, so let’s help who we can.”

  Del took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. “Fine. You’re right, as usual,” she grinned, then sobered up. “I’m sorry, you shouldn’t be chasing me down after today. You should get back to bed.”

  She straightened up from Kasey’s arms, only swaying once as the adrenaline from her anger wore off.

  Reaching out, Raelin didn’t care who was there as she took the blonde into her embrace. Holding her close, she whispered into Del’s ear, “I’m not pulling anything, but I want you to take a deep breath...can you smell the grass?”

  Closing her eyes and pressing closer to the witch, Del nodded. “It’s sweet grass. Like in the glen the other night,” she whispered.

  Kasey watched unsurprised that it was Raelin who managed to calm the blonde down. Jacobs just watched with interest, as she quickly put together little bits of information she’d gathered. It looked like her agent might be getting a little too friendly with the people she was supposed to be protecting.

  “I want you to breathe in that smell while you remember what we did,” the witch’s breath was soft on Del’s ear.

  “Raelin, I’m going to fall asleep if I do that. That or ravage you right here and I don’t think I have the energy to do a proper job of it,” she whispered, taking in the smell of the sweet grass mixed with the comforting smell of Raelin that surrounded her.

  “No, you won’t. You’ll get some energy and you’ll be able to help these people. Remember my eyes, remember what I said.” Raelin held the woman close. Trying to give her what she could.

  After a few minutes, Del felt far more evened out than she had. She pulled away a little and was about to pull Raelin down for a kiss when she paused, remembering where she was and who was staring at them.

  “Ms. Delacroix, if you have pulled yourself together; there are some girls out there who need our help. Is there somewhere that we can talk?” Director Jacobs asked.

  Raelin took a step back, and offered, “You are welcome to use my home, but I respectfully request that Sumners be taken somewhere else.”

  “Agent Wilkins, would you please take Sumners to the temporary headquarters on Stewart Avenue in Canal City? I ordered a psychologist from DC to come examine him. I want to go by the book in case he has damaged this case more that we already know about. Agent Fielding can accompany you.” The older woman ordered as she headed toward the house.

  Del watched as both men took Sumners and dumped him into the back of a nearby SUV. Turning to Raelin, she gave her a frustrated look. “I really wanted to kiss you.”

  Turning to Kasey, who had waved to her fellow agents as they pulled away, she huffed a little. “I’m not sure I like her very much. What is with you bureau people and being so uptight anyways?”

  “Excuse me? Since when am I so uptight?” Kasey quipped, her eyebrows rose.

  Raelin nodded her head towards her house. “You need to be careful. She’s a sharp woman, and you are a bit too relaxed around us for your own good.”

  Del agreed, “You’ve gotten comfortable with us, and we count you as a friend. Your Director however does not. I don’t mind you using my first name, but you might want to be careful around your Boss. Especially where Jenny is concerned. You know what would happen if they found out about that.”

  The younger woman took a deep breath. “Thanks,” she then turned to the witch. “Could you explain this to Jenny? I don’t want her to think that I’m ignoring her because I don’t care for her.”

  “Not a problem. Jenny’s a smart girl, and I’m sure that she’ll understand.”

  “Wish I did,” Kasey muttered.

  “Kasey, you know it’s just for now. Once this case is over, the problem of conflict of interest is void. She really likes you. She’ll wait,” Del leaned over to whisper in Kasey’s ear with a grin on her face. “Besides, the Director will be heading out to Canal City for the night. All that being restrained all day will surely make your time together at night all the more better yes?” Del joked, wiggling her eyebrows.

  Kasey ducked her head and headed inside.

  Raelin looked down at the blonde in her arms. “Are you up to going inside and helping out?”

  “I am, but I can’t help notice we are all alone now, if only f
or a few minutes.” The blonde grinned, walking her fingers slowly up Raelin’s arms.

  “Yes we are.” The brunette didn’t waste any time. She leaned down and kissed Del. It started as a gentle brush of lips against lips, but it turned hard and hungry in a split second.

  Del moaned into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Raelin’s neck to hold her close. She knew they didn’t have long, but she’d take advantage of the time they did have.

  Sliding her hands down Del’s back, Raelin molded the shorter woman to her body. Moaning, she angled her head and deepened the kiss. Del was an addiction that the witch hoped that she would never kick.

  Matching Rae’s hunger Del let the kiss continue for a few short minutes before she finally pulled away nipping at Raelin’s lower lip as she did. “Now, I feel better. I missed you while I napped. You were so far away.”

  “I couldn’t take the chance that I would drain you while we slept. I was touching your hair, I just couldn’t...” Raelin hung her head.

  Del smiled, taking Raelin’s chin between her fingers so she could catch her eyes. “It’s okay. I understand, I felt you there. I’m just a bit selfish and I want you close all the time. Think we are okay to go in now? This sun is making my head pound.”

  Raelin smiled and whispered, “I’ll fix something up for you once we get inside.”

  “Thank you. Now let’s go face the dragon lady,” she smiled, taking Raelin’s hand with her good arm and leading her to the house. “Oh, do you have anything for my shoulder too? Don’t tell the other’s I said this, but it hurts like hell.”

  “I’ve got some salve that will work wonders on it, and your secret is safe with me.”

  When the two women walked in, they caught the end of a lecture from the Director to Kasey. “You will keep your distance from the people that are involved in this case who are not Bureau employees. I will not have another of my agents to hinder this case.”