The couple rocked back in their seats as if I had bitch-slapped them both at the same time. “What?” Frank stammered while Kelly just stared at me, her mouth hanging open.
“You heard what I said.” Reaching down, I flipped open the folder on the table. Frank’s face stared up at the two of them, his blank look in the photograph mimicking real life. “This is your file. I requested it because during the investigation I was attacked by a Felis with a grey streak down one side of his nose.” I dragged my index finger down my face. “According to Family records there aren’t a whole lot of men with that particular marking. You’re one of them.”
“That p-p-p-proves nothing,” Frank said. “My dad had that and his dad and... and... and...” He waved his hands in the air as if he were trying to fend off a mosquito attack. “There’s got to be a lot of Felis like that. A lot of fellows.” He looked at his wife. “A lot of fellows.”
She glared at him then crossed her arms. I cleared my throat, bringing their full attention back to yours truly.
“That particular scent, not to mention a hair sample, was found at the scene of the murder.” Frank wiped his brow again, patting his eyes dry. “I know it’s not you because it’s not your scent.” Reaching into my pocket, I withdrew the plastic bag filled with the loose fur from my house. “This is what we found at my house.” I offered it to Kelly. “It has the scent of your husband. Partially. Which would indicate that there’s some sort of genetic connection.”
She opened the bag and pressed it to her face, inhaling deeply with eyes closed. Her face went scarlet a second later.
Slamming the bag down on the table, Kelly Langley turned and slapped her husband, hard. I flinched as her fingerprints began to form an angry rash on his pale skin. For his part, Frank sat there in silence, his hands in his lap. He hadn’t tried to fend off the attack.
“I knew it! You told me that it was just a one-night fling, that there was nothing of it! You liar!” She burst into tears, hiding her face in her hands.
Jess appeared with a box of tissues. Kneeling down by Kelly’s side, she offered her one from the box. “It’ll be okay.” She began to rub her back. “It’ll be okay.” She didn’t look at Frank but the hatred was apparent, setting all of us on edge.
Frank sat there, his face growing redder by the second. His eyes went to Jess then to his sobbing wife then to Bran standing behind me, to the kitchen counter and finally to me. His mouth opened and closed again in a long sequence of empty stutters. Finally he stopped, shook himself and spoke.
“It was...she was...” He glanced at Jess, the fear shooting out in frantic pulses. The elder put her hand on Kelly’s shoulder, ignoring Frank. Shunning wasn’t uncommon in Felis society, but right now it wasn’t going to help the situation.
“Who was it?” I walked around the table and sat on it, the wood creaking under my weight. I prayed it wouldn’t break and blow my moment of glory. Leaning in I almost butted noses with the terrified man. “Who was it?” I growled, putting as much Alpha into it as I could. “Who was it?”
Chapter 16
“Her name was Kathy.” His face was now totally wet—the handful of fabric overwhelmed and saturated with the moisture running off his skin. “She said she was okay, that she couldn’t have children. She said that it would be fine.”
“When was this?” Kelly barked, lifting her tear-stained face to face him. “When?”
He flinched at every syllable as if it was a strike with Jess’s claws, his hands twitching and ready to fly up to protect himself.
“Hey!” I snapped my fingers to get Frank’s full attention. “She asked you a question. And we need the answer. When, where and who is she?”
“It... I mean, it’s not possible. That’s why I didn’t say anything, I thought she was lying.” The panda was rambling almost incoherently now, the words running out of his mouth in a brilliant display of verbal diarrhoea.
“Wait a minute,” Bran said from behind me, his voice so low I almost failed to catch it. “You’re saying that you impregnated a woman—a regular human?”
My head snapped back to glare at the intrusion for a second then returned to Frank’s face. “That’s not what you’re saying, is it?” A part of me began to curse Brandon for interfering in the interrogation. You’d think he had never seen any of those legal shows on television.
“It...” Again the handkerchief came up in a vain attempt to dry his face. I could smell the fear, the anxiety...the relief? “It...Her name was Kathy Wright. She worked at the lunch counter.” Another sad glance to his left. “It was only once, when I was on the night shift. She told me that it was fine, that she’d get an abortion and no one would know.” His eyes met Jess’s. “I didn’t tell her that it couldn’t be mine, because, well...” His enormous shoulders rose and sank in a shrug. “I didn’t even think about it until she sent me a letter, years later.”
“She had the baby.” I motioned with my hands for him to continue.
“She had the baby.” A small smirk of pride showed through the fear and anguish. “Told me that she was moving to Toronto to raise him and that she’d not be bothering me again, but she wanted me to know.” His chest filled out, just a bit. “A boy.”
Suddenly Kelly lashed out again, this time with claws showing.
The only thing that saved Frank Langley’s throat was Jess Hammersmythe’s speed. Her hand shot out, grabbing Kelly’s forearm and yanking her back. It wasn’t enough to save Frank’s face, not totally—but it was enough to keep her from ripping his throat out. As it was, the plump man fell to the right, one hand pressed to the deep gouges on his face while he stared at his wife in disbelief.
“Kelly!” Grabbing both hands, Jess spun her around to face her, the Change starting on both their faces. “Stop it!” She roared with full authority. “Stop it!”
The angry spouse took a deep breath then another. The claws on her hands, one set already bloody, began to retract so slowly Bran could watch them slip back under the skin between the knuckles. He let out a low whistle as she reverted to full human. I hadn’t thought about what it’d be like to see a Change from his perspective.
Jess remained in Changed shape, her furred face now aimed at the unfortunate man only a few feet away. “You have a child?” The words reverberated through the apartment with such impact it felt like a yell even though she had whispered the words. “You have an undocumented child?”
Frank nodded, a bloody handkerchief pressed to his face. “She told me that she’d leave me alone, never ask for money.” The words came out in a sad whine. “I never thought it was mine, you know we can’t do that, I didn’t want to insult her by saying so...” The words trailed off when he saw no relief from Jess’s anger.
Turning to me, he began again. “It can’t be mine. You know that.” Frank glanced quickly over my shoulder at Brandon, still staying well out of range. “It’s impossible.”
“Obviously not.” I picked up the bag of loose fur and handed it to him. “Scent this. Tell me if it’s your son.”
Dropping the cloth into his lap, he took the bag from me and pressed his nose to the opening, closing his eyes. The deep cuts across his cheek still oozed blood. He’d definitely need stitches.
Frank’s eyes opened, bloodshot and teary. “It’s her. I can smell her. Kathy, I mean. She’s here, she’s in it. It’s my son.”
Jess reached over and snatched the handful of fur away from him, her teeth bared. Standing, the elder Felis grabbed Frank by his shirt, dragging him to his feet, kicking me away as if I were a kit.
Kelly curled up at the far end of the couch into a foetal position, crying uncontrollably into her hands. Brandon sprang out from behind the marble island and helped me to my feet, keeping a firm grip on my arm as he glared at the angry woman.
“Jess!” I reached out with one hand. “You can’t kill him. We have to know more!” I wasn’t sure if there actually was anything more Frank could offer but I was very sure Brandon would have trouble dispos
ing of a body, not to mention that I wasn’t keen on moving my domicile twice in less than a week.
Hammersmythe snarled into Langley’s face, the saliva dripping from her fangs. “You... you have broken so many rules that I don’t even know where to begin!” Her eyes narrowed. “And you had the nerve, the gall to try and get Davis to help cover for you!”
Frank squirmed in her grip, not daring to even try to Change. It probably wouldn’t have helped him much and would have served to just feed Jess’s anger. “Davis called me when he heard that my name was being bandied about for your investigation.” He swallowed once, the sound bouncing around the silent room. “I didn’t know there was a murder, I just thought of protecting my son, wherever he was.” His eyes drifted to the woman on the sofa, still sobbing into her arms. “I didn’t want to hurt her more than I already had.” The overweight man sighed, his eyes downcast. “I accept the decision of the Board.”
“The decision? The decision?” Jess lifted Frank until his toes dangled just free of the floor. “Now you want us to make a decision when you made yours without any consultation?” She bellowed, her spittle landing on the terrified man’s face.
The older woman spun around, tossing the hapless Langley across the room. The overweight man bounced across the hardwood floor once, twice, landing against a set of bookshelves. A handful of paperbacks fluttered down onto his unconscious body, the fresh gashes on his cheek still oozing blood.
Breathing hard, Hammersmythe spun around to face Bran and myself, still fully Changed. I stepped out in front, fighting the urge to cower in front of a stronger foe. In the back of my mind a young girl curled up in a foetal position, terrified at having to face Jess again.
“I’ll be able to track her down, given time.” Taking a deep breath, I forced the fear back down, my voice as steady as I could make it. “A last name, my police contacts—I’ll have a name and an address of this woman soon enough.”
“And then?” Jess whirled around, pointing at the hysterical woman on the couch. “What do we do? You know that kits have to be helped, tutored, trained. If there’s a rogue out there or worse, a rogue male...” She shook her head, letting me fill in the blanks.
“Wait a minute.” Bran’s steady voice snapped the tension in the room. “You said that a human can’t breed with a Felis, right?”
Jess stared at him as if he had materialised out of thin air. “Yes.”
“Right.” He pointed at Frank. “So how did he get her pregnant?”
“The obvious way.” Jess’s tongue flicked out over her teeth. “Reb, did you have to get a stupid one too?”
Brandon put up one hand, at just the right level to not challenge her authority. “If that’s true then this ‘Kathy’ has to be a Felis as well. Or you’re dealing with a genetic mutation that hasn’t happened before. Or...” His eyes narrowed. “Exactly where did you hear that our kind can’t breed with yours?”
Wrinkles appeared on Jess’s forehead. “We’ve just always known.”
Bran moved closer, his head down slightly. The bastard knew just how to work in front of Jess so not to push her buttons. “Have you done genetic testing?” His gaze flashed to one side to meet mine. “Exactly how many Felis have married outside the Family?”
“Ah...” I glanced at Jess. “Two? Three? I don’t know.”
“In how many years? How many generations?” Bran shook his head. “You don’t even want to date outside the Pride, it’s not surprising that so few of you consider marrying humans.” His stare went past Jess and myself, focusing on the far wall. “How can you pull any sort of data from that sampling that can be reliable? When it’s all based on legends and sayings?”
“Hmrph.” Jess didn’t encourage him but she didn’t stop him.
“Right.” Bran turned back to the Board member. “You can’t make that sort of decision based on a handful of people. It’s likely that we are alike on some level but there hasn’t been a plethora of half-breeds because of this.” He waved over the weeping woman. “I couldn’t blame someone for not volunteering to be beaten senseless because they fell in love with the wrong woman or man!”
His tone had crept up dangerously. Jess moved into his personal space, almost nose-to-nose. Her lips curled back, showing way more teeth than I was comfortable with.
I moved closer, reaching out to see if I could call my claws up again. Still it’d be an uneven fight if it came to it and I knew there was no way I’d win.
Bran stood his ground, lifting his head to stare straight into Jess’s eyes. “You could have others out there, lost boys and girls without a family because you decided that they can’t exist.” His voice rose again. “You abandon them and decide they aren’t real and then wonder what happens when something horrible happens?”
Jess’s right cheek twitched, the scarlet mark dancing up and down on her thin fur. “We always assumed that it was impossible because it hadn’t ever happened.” She shot a glance at me over his shoulder. “We may have... misjudged the depth of that belief.”
To his credit Bran moved back into submissive pose, letting his knees buckle just enough to lower himself. “A mistake is one thing. Not correcting that mistake when you have the chance is another.”
A smile tugged at her lips as she nodded. “Point taken.” Another look my way. “This one’s smarter than he looks.” She drew a deep breath. “And if there’s more of them out there...” A pained look crossed her face. “Oh, Reb... if there’s more...” Her voice cracked, showing a side of the old broad I didn’t know existed.
“Let’s take this one step at a time.” I nodded toward Kelly who had curled up with her eyes closed. “First, you take care of her. She’s going to need some quiet time and I don’t mean just a few hours.” Bran walked behind me, retreating from Jess. He placed his hand on my shoulder, squeezing lightly. “We’ll track down the woman and the son and take it from there.”
“If you can.” Jess exhaled, her teeth beginning to retract ever so slowly. “I’m not sure if this shouldn’t return to the Board’s control.”
Brandon frowned. “Wait a minute. You’re going to take the case away from Rebecca?”
“This is beyond what we first thought.” Jess let out her breath slowly as she began to return to human form, the fur disappearing from sight. “Now we’re dealing with a much more dangerous situation.”
I pulled myself up to my full height of five foot four inches, crossed my arms and stared at Jess. “You hired me to find out who killed Janey Winters and I’m going to do that. With or without the Board’s approval.” Leaning forward, I rose on my tiptoes. “With. Or. Without.”
Hammersmythe stared at me for a minute, her tongue flicking out to wet her lips, fangs still drawing back. “If he’s a rogue male you’re dealing with an unknown quality. And he’s already tasted blood.” She looked over my shoulder at Brandon. “If he’s killed once, he’ll kill again, like any wild animal.” A sudden softness appeared on her face as she returned her attention to me. “He’ll have to be killed, and I don’t think you’ve got the spirit to do it.” Jess put up her hand before I could answer. “Don’t start. At least, not right now.”
“Not right now.” I looked around the apartment. “Because right now you’ve got two people to take care of. If Frank meets with a sudden ‘accident’...” I drew in a sharp breath, choosing my words carefully. “I’ll make sure that all the major media outlets find out more about the Felis and our Pride than you ever thought.” I tilted my head toward Brandon. “I can make a lot more noise than you can make quiet.”
Jess looked down at me. “You’ve developed quite an attitude in the past few years.” A smile twitched at the edges of her mouth. “Your parents would be proud of you.”
I smiled back, resisting the urge to stomp on her foot in a childish rage. “Get them out of here and let me do my job, and tell Dennis that I’ll have a full report for him as soon as I can. Including a bill.”
The tall woman chuckled. “Understood.” She no
dded to Brandon. “Thanks for the coffee.”
Bran answered her with a brusque nod then looked over to where Frank was slowly regaining consciousness. “If I get complaints from the neighbours...”
Jess shrugged and walked to the precariously leaning bookcase and the man at the bottom of it. A single shove pushed the shelves back into place and another brought the portly man to his feet. “Send me the bill if you need to.”
“I...” Frank stammered as the older woman pushed him toward the front door. “I’m sorry. It was just a fling, so many years ago... I had no idea...”
“Men usually don’t.” I muttered. Bran shot me a nasty glance, helping Kelly to her feet.
“We’re going back to the Farm.” Hammersmythe put her arm across Kelly’s shoulders. “The Board will have to decide how to deal with this, and I think everyone needs a bit of a time out.”
A few minutes later there was only the two of us, and Jazz, who hopped up on the couch and curled up at one end to begin the lengthy routine of cleaning her snow-white fur, tail-tip to ear-tip. Ignoring the destruction around her the feline let out a loud and lengthy yawn before returning to the task at hand.
“Dang.” Bran shook his head. “That girl knows how to relax.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” Pouring myself a fresh cup of coffee, I added a healthy spoonful of sugar and a dash of milk. “But at least we have a suspect now.”
“A hybrid.” Bran rolled his tongue around his mouth, pushing out his cheeks. “Never thought I’d be dealing with a story that makes the crap I write look realistic?” A wild look came into his eye. “Wonder what sort of bling I could get for this...” The sentence trailed off when he caught my vicious glare.
“Do. Not. Even. Go. There.” I took a sip, trying to force my pulse down to a decent level. “You’re lucky we didn’t have a bloodbath here.”
What God and Cats Know Page 19