Vic inhaled a deep breath and barged through the door. She needed to get to work; she was turning sappy. Femme fatale, woman, remember it.
Derrick looked up from behind his desk when she walked in. He attempted a smile, but his face was grave. “Thanks for lunch.”
She raked her eyes over the full office. Derrick’s father, Lyn, and another member of the council, her Uncle Dean, sat on a loveseat at the far right side of the office. Matthew, Derrick’s uncle, sat in a wingback chair angled toward them, and Michael sat at one of the two chairs in front of Derrick’s desk. Vic nodded at the men and turned to Michael. “What’s going on?”
Michael sucked his teeth with an ‘I told you so’ smirk that she wanted to knock right off his face. “Rebecca just called.”
“Wow…missed you that quickly, did she?” Vic said.
Mike ignored her and leaned back in his seat, pulling his leg up on his knee. “Why don’t you have a seat, Vic.”
Now she really wanted to slap him. She turned to Derrick.
“Please have a seat,” Derrick offered before she had a chance to verbally attack his brother. “Dad, Matt, Dean, I’ll follow up with you when I know more.”
The men stood in unison and left the office.
She’d interrupted an important meeting, it seemed. She glared at Michael, but then sat down respectfully, for Derrick. Funny, just yesterday, she hated Derrick, now she hated his brother. Well, Derrick may have broken her heart, but he’d never treated her poorly.
“I’m sorry, Victoria,” Michael said softly. “I’m just ticked.”
“What’s going on?” she asked again.
“As I started to say…when Rebecca got back to the station, she saw a circle of detectives in the break room going on about a Fed in custody, the same guy that their fallen detective Murphy O’Brian had complained about just a few weeks ago. After all, Reece doesn’t blend well inside the department. He may be able to infiltrate gangs in Miami, but here in Boston, his blond hair and six-four height stick out like a sore thumb.”
Vic interrupted Michael with a shake of her head. “We knew that he was going to turn himself in. What’s the problem?”
“According to Rebecca, he walked out after being in there less than an hour. Walked right out of the interrogation room, Agent Frank Cooper right behind him.”
She turned to Derrick. “What do you think?”
Derrick shrugged. “I’m not sure. He said he couldn’t go back, said once he told them he’d been on a binge for the last three weeks that his superior would have to force him into rehab. Or, at minimum, suspend him. It doesn’t really make sense.” He inhaled a deep breath. “On the other hand, the Feds haven’t shown up to arrest us, but I guess we’ll know for sure by tomorrow. If Reece talked, they’ll have a court order in a few hours. Reece has enough info to justify a search warrant.”
Vic sighed, thinking back to what Jonas had said about Reece being at Kristina’s apartment, about the dead detective having a run-in with him. “I have a question, Derrick.”
“Shoot.”
“The day that detective was murdered, what made you think Jonas did it?”
Derrick cocked his head as though he wasn’t sure where the question was coming from. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…what reason would Jonas have to kill the detective?”
“I don’t know that Jonas has to have a reason to kill anyone. His murders have been rather random. In fact, I was just discussing that with Michael yesterday.” He glanced over at Michael, who was still as relaxed as could be across from them. “Did you study those crime-scene reports? Did you find anything odd?”
Michael nodded. “They were all murdered in different ways, and the bodies were pulled apart after their deaths.”
“Exactly, and one of them was with a gun, and the other two were murdered with knives. Since when does a creatus need to use weapons?”
Michael leaned forward, “So, he’s watching, and then using the murders to look like a rogue attack.”
“That’s my guess,” Derrick said.
Vic listened to the exchange, not bothering to offer that Jonas had told her that only an hour earlier. She needed to know more first.
“But what about that murder last night?” Michael added. “No doubt that was a creatus attack from start to finish, and then there’s the one I showed you from this morning.”
“This morning?” Vic cut in.
Derrick shook his head. “The worst yet. Definitely a creatus attack and it was brutal.”
Michael picked up his iPad.
“No,” Derrick stopped him, “Victoria doesn’t need to see it.”
“Yes, I do, Derrick. I need to know what we’re up against.”
Michael tapped a few keys and then handed Vic his iPad.
She gawked at the first image, then seemingly, without her consent, her fingers swiped at the page, wanting to make it disappear, but one horrifying scene after another took its place. “Oh, my God!” She covered her mouth, finally ripping her eyes away from the blood and gore. “Oh, dear God. I never…no...”
Derrick was at her side in a second, soothing her. “I’m sorry, honey. I knew it was too much.” He pulled the iPad from her deathlike grip and shoved it toward Michael. “I’m sorry. I know Jonas was your friend.”
Vic whipped her gaze to Derrick. “Jonas didn’t do that. He wouldn’t. He told me he had nothing to do with those murders.”
Derrick knelt down beside her. “I’m sorry, Vic, but it has to be Jonas. I know you don’t—”
“No. He told me, and I know he didn’t do it. Besides, he was at the farmhouse this morning.”
“The murder took place ten miles north of the farmhouse, not in Boston,” Michael offered.
She shook her head. “Jonas said he wasn’t in Boston last night, didn’t even know there was another rogue killing.”
“Victoria,” Derrick said, standing. “I thought you didn’t speak with Jonas this morning. I thought he just showed up and tried to kidnap you, and then Reece interfered.”
Vic looked back and forth between Derrick and Michael before answering, knowing they’d be furious with her for not leaving immediately, as soon as she knew he was in her apartment. “He was at my apartment when I got home.”
Michael burst to his feet. “What?”
“He didn’t hurt me, obviously. Didn’t even try. He just wanted me to know that he’d never hurt me, and then swore that he’d only made it look like he was killing humans.”
“He beat Kristina’s best friend until she was black and blue and killed a guide on my honeymoon, not to mention he tried to kill my wife. Did you forget about that?” Derrick shouted. Derrick never yelled, and she’d never seen him so red in the face either. His dark eyes bore into hers. “I’ve told you for years that Jonas is unstable,” he glared at his brother, “both of you! But no one listened to me. And now we have a body count that endangers all of us. Even if Reece Buckley wants to keep our secret, he won’t if he thinks we’re a danger to humans.” Derrick walked back to his chair and sat down. He rubbed his head. “This is completely out of control.”
“What if…” Vic thought about what she wanted to say. “Hear me out, Derrick. What if Jonas really only wanted to reveal that our kind exist to humans, but not actually murder anyone? But then someone else in his group decided to take it to the next level? As you said, none of the other murders matched up, and then suddenly, in the last two days, we have clear creatus murders? What if the real rogue is Ry, their mother, or someone else?”
“Then Jonas is still responsible,” Derrick snapped. “Michael, enough is enough. I want you to find out who’s supporting them. Jonas’ family can’t manage all of this on their own. My guess is that they’ve been planning this a long time. Maybe Margaret and Ry were finding loyal friends who felt as they did while they were still living with us?”
Michael just nodded.
“Start with any cities that have had similar murders. Whicheve
r family is there, start with them.” Derrick glanced at Vic. “And until this is over, Vic, I want you with Michael night and day. You need to stay at his apartment, and he could use your help—”
“No…are you crazy? I’m not moving in with Michael. Forget about the rogue; we’d end up killing each other.”
“I’m not asking, Victoria. I’m ordering you.” He smiled. “At least I’m not asking you to fall for Reece anymore.”
Vic exhaled and closed her eyes. Somehow, falling for Reece didn’t sound like such a bad thing anymore. But living with Michael? What would Reece think if he found out?
After opening the door to leave without saying goodbye, she turned back to look at Derrick. “Oh, by the way, Derrick, I spoke with Kristina downstairs before I came up here. I’m taking her shopping after work.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Jonas smiled into the phone. “Thank you. I’m sure glad you’re on our side. I’ll get right on it.” Jonas hung up the phone and wiggled his eyebrows at his brother sitting across from him. “Got some info on Reece; he’s got a girl in South Carolina.”
“So,” Ryan said. “What does that mean to us?”
“He’s strong, Ry. If you’d seen him this morning, you’d want him to join us too.”
Ry scrunched up his nose as if he smelled something rotten. “I’m strong. We haven’t sparred in a while. I bet I could take Derrick now.”
“I don’t doubt it, little brother. I always told you that when you hit maturity, you’d be stronger than all of us.” Though, forty-two, most creatus didn’t reach their full potential until they were forty to forty-five years of age. Even Derrick, back when they were on the same team, had said that Ryan was strong as an ox, someone he’d want to bring within their inner circle of leaders. Derrick hadn’t known that Ry had been feeding Jonas information for five years after he had supposedly been banished. He’d spent the time traveling from one family to another, finding allies.
His brother beamed. He always liked it when he complimented him. Something their mother didn’t do nearly enough for either of them. After she had to kill their father, she’d pulled herself into a shell. She’d saved them, though, and for that, Jonas would always owe her.
His father had been so proud of him when he saw him jump off the roof. Thought that he had some kind of superkid. Margaret had always hidden what they were from him. Since he’d been overseas for most of their youth, when he had come home, they were old enough to understand to keep their secret.
One mistake. If Ry hadn’t hit the ball up on the roof, or cried after he did it, he never would have jumped up to retrieve it, and his father would still be alive. He’d been so careful. He’d glanced around and made sure no one was nearby, but he hadn’t expected his father to walk into the backyard. He was so used to his father being away that he’d forgotten he was home on leave.
Not even an hour later, his father had picked up the phone to tell his superiors in the army that he was married to some kind of vampire alien. Margaret had begged him to stop, pleaded with him that she loved him, and that their sons were his flesh and blood.
His father had pushed her away and called Ry and him mutants. Freaks of nature.
Margaret launched across the room before he could even finish dialing. In less than two seconds, she’d snapped his father’s neck.
Ten minutes later, they’d left the house with only the clothes on their back. She’d left everything.
She’d carried them all night, running and crying as she stayed within the tree line bordering I-95 from South Carolina to Massachusetts. Even when Jonas insisted that he and his brother could run, she ignored them and ran all night.
That was the love of a creatus parent. His human father wanted to turn them in as lab rats, while his mother had killed the only person she’d ever loved. Even the fact that his father was the only man she’d ever fallen for, the only man she’d ever truly love, it hadn’t stopped her from protecting her children.
Ryan waved his hand in front of his eyes. “You in there, Bro?”
“Yeah…sorry…just thinking. What’d you say?”
“I said… How does Reece having a girl in South Carolina help us?” Ryan said.
“If we want to build an army, little brother, don’t you think it’d be smart to start with the strongest of our kind? If we get to her, maybe we can get him. From what I understand, he’s had to hide his strength his entire life too. Maybe he’s more like us than we think.”
Ry shook his head. “I don’t know. The idea of bringing an agent inside worries me.”
“Ry, you were the one who brought me the list of all the creatus Michael has stationed in top-ranking positions. You understand as well as I do how important that is. If Reece really works within the National Security Council, do you know how invaluable that will be for us?”
His brother just nodded.
“By the way, did you get in touch with any of your classmates from Canada this morning?”
“Nah…I was busy with some other stuff, but I’ll be working on that this afternoon.”
“How’s Mom doing?” Jonas asked.
“The same…sad. She’ll never get over him.”
“Also, I have a question about—” Jonas’ phone rang, cutting him off. Ry stood, as though he needed to get going, so Jonas cupped the phone and waved him off. “I’ll talk to you later. Keep your phone on. I want you to come with me this evening.”
Ry nodded and left.
“Yeah?” Jonas said into the phone.
“Reece is back on the street,” the voice on the other end said.
“That was fast,” Jonas offered.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too.”
“All right…I’m on him. I’ll know more tonight.”
The line went dead, and Jonas frowned at the dead air.
Sometimes he wondered who was actually in charge. Sometimes he felt like a pawn in his own war.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Vic pushed past Derrick and got to Kristina before he did. “Ready, Kristina? I already told Derrick about our shopping trip.”
Her eyes grew round and large, her pupils erasing all signs of her hazel coloring. “You did? Now?”
“Sure, why not? I know a perfect store to take you.” She winked and Kristina almost jumped out of her shoes. She hoped that she remembered that she’d requested her to teach her to fight and that they weren’t actually going to the mall. She despised the mall. Vic turned to Derrick. “You do trust me to protect your wife, don’t you, Derrick?”
Derrick skirted her and folded Kristina into his arms. He wasn’t normally so open with public displays of affection, but she could see the nervousness in his gaze. He loved Kristina, she knew he did, and thankfully, letting him go was getting easier every day.
She certainly didn’t have time to wonder about one more guy in her life. That’s for sure. A few weeks ago, she was struggling to hold one relationship together. Even though they’d never been a couple, she’d always just assumed they’d end up together. Now she had three men vying for her attention. Of course, one was a possible serial killer, one was about as star-crossed as you could get—how would they ever see each other without exposing themselves to the government, and the other was her best friend…who Derrick now wanted her to work and live with.
She blew out a breath as the lovely couple cooed at each other. “All right…I don’t have all night. She’ll be safe with me for a few hours. I promise I’ll have her home by midnight—”
“Midnight?” Derrick interjected, shaking his head. “What are you going to do for six hours?”
Kristina reached up on her tippy toes and touched him on the nose. “She’s just messing with you, babe. We’ll only be a few hours.” But Kristina glanced around his arm as if to say, ‘you are kidding, right?’
“Let’s go!” Vic said, taking Kris by the arm and leading her out the front door.
“Be careful,” Derrick called.
The door closed
and Kristina immediately started yapping, “Are we really—”
“Going shopping,” Vic quickly filled in her words, glaring at her.
Kris smacked her hand over her mouth, dropped it sheepishly, then mouthed, “Sorry. I forget.”
Vic clicked the remote and they both hopped in. A few blocks down the road, she finally spoke, “We are going shopping, Kris, so I didn’t lie. Before we do anything, we need to get you protective gear. I can’t have you going home all bruised up. But don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you, I’m going to train you. I don’t need to hit you to teach you; the pads are just for precaution.”
“Squee! I’m so excited. Thank you.”
“Knock off the girly college stuff or I turn around right here.”
“Okay…but I am a college girl again. Did Derrick tell you I signed up for online courses? I’m going to start nursing school after I finish my associate’s degree. I only have a couple of classes left. I wasn’t a total burnout, thank goodness. Money just got tight.”
Vic smiled. “That’s wonderful, Kris. I’m proud of you.” She really was. She’d hoped that Derrick was right when he’d said there was more to her than just a naïve, drug-abusing college dropout. Derrick had said that he’d seen the part of her that she hid from the world. Vic had always known that he was crazy about her. He’d been nothing but honorable her entire life, just made sure she was safe, but when she turned into a woman, Derrick disappeared nightly making sure she wasn’t in danger.
When she’d turned twenty-one, he was ready to approach her, but the family insisted he wait, even though his human mother had married his father when she was twenty-two.
Kristina must have had other plans too, because even though he swore she hadn’t seen him in six years, she jumped off a bridge to force his hand. From there, there was no turning back. Vic knew the first time he brought her to meet their family, her relationship with Derrick would never be the same.
Vic parallel parked outside a row of stores in Back Bay. The sports store was small, but all she really needed was protective gear. Michael had everything else she needed in his loft.
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