by A. C. Arthur
“Hi, Kerry,” he said with a smile. “Nick’s expecting me.”
She nodded, her eyes alight with the sincere smile she offered in return. “I know, Mr. Markland. Go right in.”
He did and wasn’t surprised to see Nick wasn’t alone.
“Good afternoon,” he muttered as he closed the door behind him because by the time he’d made it to his place to change clothes, then downtown, it was well after noon.
Following a nod from Nick, X sat in the guest chair closest to Nick’s side of the desk while Wilson and another man he hadn’t met yet sat across from them. X figured the new guy for a cop, probably local and most likely homicide since Wilson really had nothing to do with Diamond’s murder.
Nick made the official introduction: “This is Detective Eric McCoy. Detective McCoy, this is my client Xavier Santos-Markland.”
“Where were you two nights ago between the hours of midnight and five AM?” Detective McCoy asked immediately.
Nick looked at X and nodded again.
“In Sedona,” he said simply.
“Doing what?” Agent Wilson asked.
“Was anyone with you?” McCoy asked simultaneously.
“His alibi is Sedona and we’ll provide you with a list of corroborating witnesses,” Nick interjected. “Is that all, gentleman?”
“No,” Wilson stated. “When was the last time you visited Athena’s?”
“Last week” was X’s reply.
Wilson didn’t believe him. X didn’t give a rat’s ass. McCoy looked like he had more questions, but when he went to speak again Nick held up a hand.
“As I already stated, if you don’t have a warrant for my client’s arrest, we don’t have anything to talk about,” Nick told them.
“So are you saying your client doesn’t plan to be cooperative in this investigation?” Wilson asked.
“In what investigation, Agent Wilson? Because here’s what’s confusing to me. You work for the DEA, correct?” Nick didn’t wait for Wilson’s response. “So you really have no claim to the Diamond Turner case.”
“I’m investigating the Diamond Turner murder,” McCoy put in.
Nick nodded. “Fine. When you get enough evidence to arrest my client, give me a call and we’ll gladly head on down to the station. But until that time, you”—he pointed at Wilson—“stay out of his face or you’ll be slapped with a harassment charge so fast Detective McCoy’s head will spin.”
“I didn’t kill Diamond Turner,” X stated seriously. “If you want to find her killer, you need to take a closer look at what’s going on down at Athena’s.”
McCoy nodded, tapping the pencil he’d been using to write in his notepad against his chin. “Funny you should say that. We picked up two more bodies from Athena’s last night. Both females that worked there, just like Diamond.”
X was instantly alert. “How did they die?”
“You tell us,” Wilson interjected.
“You’re dangerously close to a formal suit being filed against you and your department, Agent Wilson,” Nick said, shaking his head with a smug smile.
McCoy shared a glance with Wilson, who didn’t look terribly intimidated by Nick’s threat.
With a shrug McCoy said, “Coroner thinks it may be a drug overdose, but there’s still some traces of foul play. One’s name was Raven, the other Icy. Those are their stage names, of course. Sound familiar?”
“I’m not a regular at the strip club so no, I don’t know either of those ladies,” X told them.
“You sure?” Wilson asked. “Because here’s where it gets really interesting. Raven was the one who told us about you giving her and a couple of other girls a hard time one night a few months back. And one of those girls was Diamond Turner.”
Inwardly X cursed as he replayed that night in the alley when he’d first met Diamond Turner. Raven had to be the tall one with all that dark curly hair and smart-ass mouth.
“This meeting is over,” Nick said, standing. “You two can see yourselves out. Remember what I said about that warrant.”
McCoy and Wilson both stood, Wilson eyeing X as he rose slowly.
“Just so you know, these new developments officially make you a suspect in not one, but three murders. In light of these circumstances I have no choice but to alert the director of the Bureau immediately.”
X stood as well, rage simmering slowly inside him. It wasn’t just that the man thought he was a murderer, but that now he would attempt to threaten X’s job. He wanted to prove Agent Wilson right and leap across that desk to take a chunk out of his throat. But he remained calm, or as calm as could be expected for a Topètenia.
“You do what you have to do,” he said coolly.
“I’ll caution you, Agent, don’t dig your ass a hole you can’t climb out of,” Nick said.
Wilson cocked his head at Nick. “Is that another threat, counselor?”
Nick shrugged. “Take it as advice from someone who’s not real used to losing in the courtroom. Build your case and find the real killer. In the meantime, leave my client the hell alone. We clear?”
“Get your house in order” was Wilson’s response to X as they moved to leave the office. “I’m coming for your ass.”
“Then you better come correct,” X said, unable to contain another ounce of restraint.
When they were gone and the door to the office was closed, Nick sat down with a huff. “Fuck!”
X echoed that sentiment as he turned to stare out the window. When he awakened this morning it had been after a night with no nightmares, a night when he’d thought light was penetrating the dark that had stalked him for so long. Now, as clouds moved slowly over the sky, he felt as gloomy and dour as the weather. This was his fate; he should have known better than to believe otherwise.
Chapter 24
Nivea Cannon was a twenty-eight-year-old shifter whose parents owned a nonprofit organization that provided aid to underprivileged children—with a good deal of those children being shifters. She was the younger of two sisters and the only sibling to leave New York in search of her own life.
Those were the specifics as Nick had read them from a data file he kept on his laptop. In addition to his duties as a commanding officer, Nick was also head of security for the Eastern Zone. More often than not his security upgrades reached out to the remaining Zones as well. About an hour ago Eli had met with Ezra, Rome, Nick, and X. The topic of discussion was of course Sabar and what they were now calling his gang of Rogues down at Athena’s. It had been decided that at the moment the shadows could not take a more active role in ridding the world of these cretins without bringing more heat on the investigation against X.
“They’re building a circumstantial case against him,” Nick had said from his seat beside Rome. “I can blow holes in every theory they have right now, but more dead bodies will only give them more ammunition.”
To that announcement X had growled, his fists pounding on the table. Eli understood the man’s frustration. There was nothing worse than being wrongly accused—he could so relate to that.
“Agent Wilson seems to be really gunning for you,” Rome said to X. “Any ideas why?”
X shook his head. “Never dealt with the man until I came across his name in Kalina’s files. I think his fixation is with the three of us since he was behind the initial investigation into the firm.”
Rome nodded. “You’re probably right. He couldn’t find anything on me so now he’s connecting the dots.” Rubbing a hand over his chin, smoothing the neatly trimmed goatee, the FL looked like he was in deep concentration. “I want to know what he knows before he tosses it in our faces again,” he said solemnly.
Nick picked right up where Rome left off, which was normally the case between these two.
“We need twenty-four-hour surveillance on him. Two guards, not males. The way he was eyeing me and X, I sensed him putting together similarities. In light of all the suspicions and investigating of our kind, I don’t want this guy piecing anything
together. Females will work better because he won’t suspect them,” Nick said.
“Nivea Cannon’s good,” Ezra said immediately. “She’s been in battle with us twice now and holds her own.”
“I agree,” X commented. “She escorted Caprise down to Athena’s the other night and gave those nosy-ass peeps a fright when she almost toppled them with the Dumpster.”
“Did you find out who they were?” Rome asked with what seemed like an afterthought.
“Nivea found a card on the street right outside the alley. A reporter named Priya Blake,” X said with a frown.
Eli hadn’t been terribly surprised by that revelation. These stripper murders were making headlines. Assumptions were being made about the possible connection to the females who’d died in that apartment building and to Senator Baines and his daughter. It was no wonder the sharks were out with all the blood that had been spilled so far.
“That’s just what we need,” Ezra stated.
“Who else? I don’t want Nivea tailing this guy alone,” Nick said. “Find another female, give them rotating shifts. They’ll report directly to you, Eli.”
Eli nodded, not totally thrilled with the assignment but resigned to take it anyway. He and Nivea had history. Of course that meant it wasn’t good history; that would be too much like right.
“As for the reporter, Ezra, you get somebody to research her. I want to know where she works, eats, and sleeps. And I definitely want to know which paper she’s writing for,” Rome told the guard.
“No problem” was Ezra’s quick and smooth response.
Eli had wanted to elbow his twin. Nothing bothered Ezra, ever. He was the easygoing twin, the suave and totally-in-control one. Eli was the one with the rough edges, the youngest by two and a half minutes, and the one who was always trying to find his place. Lead Guard for the Eastern Zone wasn’t a bad place to be. Personally guarding a commanding officer was just as prestigious but sometimes Eli wanted something that was just about him, based solely on the man he was, not the shifter he became.
He was thinking like that and hating himself for doing so as he walked into Havenway’s gym where he knew he would find Nivea.
And sure enough there she was, tearing up the track on the treadmill, her small feet eating away at the rubber belt as if she was on a mission. Nivea was always on the move, always volunteering for training sessions, always ready to go into battle. She was like the shifter GI Jane with better breasts.
Straight coal-black hair streaked with bronze strands was pulled back into a tight knot. For a moment Eli stood and simply watched. She was dressed in spandex shorts and sports bra, with a significant amount of her pecan-toned skin visible. Eli stared, enjoying the sight, because first and foremost he was a Shadow Shifter and that package came complete with a ferocious sexual appetite. Said appetite never failed to go into overdrive when Nivea Cannon was around.
“You gonna just stand and watch or are you planning to do a little work yourself?”
It took him a second to realize she was not only looking directly at him, but asking him a question.
“I kind of like watching,” he told her with a shrug.
“I’m sure you have better things to do,” she retorted, her arms moving in stride with her feet.
She wasn’t even winded, although the treadmill had to be on the highest speed because Eli had never seen it moving that fast. Admittedly, he didn’t do the treadmill when he came to the gym, stayed pretty much to free weights. He preferred to get his deeper workouts by running. Moving out here to the park had been a godsend, giving him more than enough room to get his daily exercise outside.
“Actually, you’re on my list of things to do.”
The way her head snapped in his direction and the shocked look on her face had him backtracking fast.
“I mean the commanding officer sent me to find you,” he corrected.
She was visibly relieved and he felt only mildly deflated. It brought back memories, ones they both swore never to speak of again.
“Arggghh,” she groaned. “Nick or X? They probably want to chew me out for not trying to stop Caprise from leaving the other night.”
He shrugged. “Caprise is not easy to stop,” he said. “X actually backed you up in that regard.”
She looked surprised. “So it’s Nick that wants to lecture me.” She sighed. “I swear I’ve heard enough lectures to last me a lifetime.”
“People are trying to guide you in the right direction,” he said simply.
“I know what the right direction is for me, thank you very much.” She switched off the machine and did a running step to climb off. “I’ll get a shower. Where does he want to meet?”
“Actually, you’re meeting with me, and it’s not about the whole Caprise thing. You stay dressed and I’ll change, meet you by the back entrance in fifteen.”
He was batting a thousand with her today because she looked as if what he’d just said was not what she expected from him. When she opened her mouth like she was going to question him he shook his head.
“In fifteen, Nivea.”
She nodded in agreement. When Eli walked out of the gym it was with the feeling that this assignment wasn’t going to go as smoothly as he planned.
* * *
Two days later the headline in the news was the raid on Athena’s, with Priya Blake reporting.
In addition to the raid, two guard jeeps had been found on the outskirts of the city, deserted. Things were changing and not for the better.
Rome called a meeting of all Faction Leaders, and this time Elder Umberto Alamar had also been included. The conference room table in Rome’s suite was almost full with Kalina, Nick, X, Ary, and Caprise. Each of their guards was also in attendance—Eli, Jax, Ezra, Zach, and Leo. X had assumed responsibility as Caprise’s guard for the moment. Nick wanted to assign her someone else but X had been adamant that Caprise stay with him at all times. Nick, wisely, hadn’t argued the matter further.
Out of the corner of his eye X saw Baxter standing off to one corner. He’d already set glasses of water in front of everyone seated. He’d pulled the small shutters down on the slim windows in the room and rechecked the locks on the door. Baxter had also been the one to get Alamar on the phone, as if Rome wasn’t privy to the Elder’s telephone number. Again, X wondered about the older man and his protectiveness of Rome and the Topètenia as a whole. There was definitely something there, something he doubted any of them knew about specifically.
“There were a lot of drugs found on the premises,” Cole Linden, Central Zone Faction Leader, said through the speakers centered on the conference room table. “Enough that CNN picked up the story; that’s how I knew what happened before you called.”
Rome sat at the head of the table, his face grim.
“There were pictures of the plastic bags with the symbol on it. So we can breathe a sigh of relief that some of the savior drug is off the streets,” he said.
“What if there’s more?” Ezra asked. “I can’t see that Sabar would be stupid enough to keep all his drugs in one place.”
Nick nodded. “He’s right. There’s got to be a stash house somewhere.”
“Most likely outside the city,” Eli added.
“The more pressing question is, were any Rogues arrested in the raid?” X asked.
“Right. That would not be good if they were being jailed. Who knows how they’d act under those circumstances,” Kalina said.
“They would have scented the cops coming,” Rome said with quiet authority.
It still amazed X how easily his friend had migrated into the role of leading all the stateside shadows. As he sat with squared shoulders, nondescript facial expression, hands clasped in front of him in all seriousness, he oozed power and control.
“I doubt anyone of importance was still in there by the time the raid was executed. Which means our guy is still out there.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Bas asked. “My team has killed a total
of twelve Rogues in the last week. They seem to be growing in the trees here, making their appearance known throughout the night, pacing around the resort like they’re planning a feast. We shut them down quick and without question because I’m not willing to risk one of my guests being hurt.”
“You’re all but secluded out there,” X told him. “We can’t make kills like that in the city.”
“X is right,” Nick said, sending a closed look at X. “We’re already under a microscope here. We can’t afford any slipups.”
“They are settling in,” Elder Alamar said in his quiet, raspy voice. “We knew this time would come.”
From the corner, Baxter took a step forward as if the Elder was speaking specifically to him. “Yes, we knew.”
Everyone else in the room and on the extended lines went absolutely quiet. Until finally Rome spoke.
“There seems to be an outside conversation going on here. You two want to tell us what’s going on?” he told them.
Baxter looked at Rome with somber eyes, his usual glare.
“Now or later, it will eventually come out,” Baxter said.
“As we knew it would” was Alamar’s reply.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Nick roared. “If you two have something to say—”
His words were cut off by Rome, who raised a hand and gave Nick a level look.
“Now is the time to tell us everything. Humans are dying. Shadows are dying. Rogues are multiplying. If either of you gives a damn about this tribe you will tell me what we’re dealing with so I can counteract.”
Again with that cold power, that ominous tone Rome possessed naturally that fell like a thousand boulders in the center of the room.
“We were all as one hundreds of years ago. Our existence remained a secret because we remained together in the forest, in solitude. There were five tribes, all living as one because there was no choice,” Alamar said clearly.
“After a while there became turmoil. Lions wanted to lead. Cheetahs wanted to run. Tigers wanted to feast. Cougars and jaguars wanted to kill. The peace once harbored came apart. The separation would come tarde o temprano.”