by Lesley Davis
Ashley laughed. “They are the bread and butter of my existence. It’s a dirty job and someone has to do it. Some of my earlier cases had heavy religious undertones, so I took it upon myself to learn everything I could about the good and bad side of all beliefs, recognized and otherwise. It pays to know what you’re dealing with. But, as in this case, sometimes I get a call that’s a little more than I can deal with on my own, so here I am. Not everyone wants to talk to the police, Detective Jackson. Call me the go-to girl for those who’d rather not be seen talking to cops.” Ashley ran a finger along the lapel of his jacket coyly. “Does that answer your questions?”
“Glad to have you on board.” He nodded and gave her a small smile, seemingly disarmed. “Where do you hide your crucifix and holy water?”
Rafe’s bark of “Who wants coffee?” was met by a unanimous agreement and effectively stopped Ashley from answering Dean’s question.
“Ms. Scott, you’re with me.” She purposely steered Ashley out of the office, waiting until they were past the doors before asking, “What did you do to him?”
Laughing, Ashley shook her head at Rafe’s bold accusation. “I did nothing, Detective. My glamour doesn’t give me powers of persuasion. I merely wowed him with my charm and beauty.” She looked up at Rafe. “Then I got a little too close for comfort to knock him off-kilter a little. Men are so easy. Their minds are easily distracted.”
“Between your feminine wiles and your glamour, no one stands a chance.”
“Except you. You’ve always seen just me.”
“I’d rather see the real you,” Rafe said. “I don’t want there to be any pretense between us.”
“I can’t seem to pretend where you’re concerned anyway.”
Rafe steered her toward the elevator, recognizing the attraction between them was obviously mutual, no matter how hard she fought against it. “We’re in such an awkward position here. We’re working on a case; we shouldn’t be fraternizing.”
“Fraternizing?” Ashley snorted. “That’s not the word I would have used.”
Resisting the urge to take her by the arm, just to touch her, Rafe stuffed her hands into her pockets. “There’s a Starbucks on the corner. We’ll get the team coffee from there.”
“You sure know how to show a girl a good time.” Ashley bumped Rafe’s hip. “And here I was thinking you just wanted to get me out of the office before I told Dean everything.”
“Where I come from, getting coffee together is almost considered a date.”
“Well, where I come from, a woman expects a meal on a plate and a candle on the table.”
Rafe considered this. “So takeout pizza and one attentive cat doesn’t constitute a first date in your book?”
“Not when one member of the party is out of her skull on demon poison, no.”
“I may need to work on my act, then,” Rafe said.
“I’ll look forward to it.”
“If we happen across any demons in human form will you point them out to me?”
“I won’t have to, Rafe. You’re going to have no trouble picking them out from the crowd yourself now.”
Afraid that was going to be her answer, Rafe let out a disgruntled grumble. “Shit.”
“Welcome to my world.”
Chapter Eleven
Ashley read the coroner’s reports on all three victims until she felt she had the details all but seared into her memory. She’d been quiet for a long time, poring over the paperwork and paying minute attention to the office dynamics playing out around her. She could see why Rafe was so well respected. She never talked down to her colleagues, was always eager to hear their thoughts, and never took credit for anything other than her own work. Ashley was surreptitiously listening to Rafe’s side of a conversation she was having on her cell phone with an owner of a meat-packing factory.
“I merely asked what kind of protective clothing you issued your workers. For the second time, I’m not from the Health and Safety Board. I’ve already told you I’m Detective Rafe Douglas with the Chicago Police Department, and I need this information for an investigation I’m working on.” Rafe was silent, then scribbled on a notebook. “Thank you. No, I’m sure you’re up to code. Yes, I’m sure you follow every regulation to the letter too.” Rolling her eyes, Rafe made Ashley chuckle quietly as she watched her rein in her impatience. “Yes, you’re to be commended. Would you be agreeable to my coming to your factory to gather a sample of the clothes your staff wears?” Rafe paused a moment while the man obviously ran off at the mouth. “That’s very kind of you. I’ll be sure to ask for you myself. Thank you, no, thank you.” She snapped her phone shut. “Geez! Forget the fact there’s a murderer out there. As long as Mr. Canton’s factory is up to spec, he couldn’t care less. I bet he’s running round the place now with a duster making sure I don’t go in wearing white gloves to check how hygienic it is.” She rubbed at her face. “Dean, I’m going to finish up here then head over to Canton’s Meat and Poultry. His guys dress head to toe in protective clothing. If our guy has access to that kind of clothing, then he’s only got to take it off and dispose of it in a Dumpster and he’s clean as a whistle and no one would be any the wiser.”
“Want a tagalong?” Ashley asked as she sat back in her chair and stretched. Not for one moment did she miss the flare of appreciation in Rafe’s eyes before she turned away.
“Sure. You can distract Canton with your charm while I try to get a look at his crew. Maybe I’ll get lucky and the killer will just stand out from the rest.” Only Ashley caught the true meaning behind Rafe’s statement. “But if I can get a sample of the clothing, I can send it to our CSI team and have them check for any fibers that could come loose and hide in the blood our killer seems to like playing in.” She locked down her PC and told Dean and Alona not to work too late. “I’ve got a horrible feeling we’re going to get another body every few weeks until we can stop him. And we’re going to need to be prepared in case he evolves and starts killing more. We need more staff up here.”
“It’s being looked into,” Dean said. “For now, I’ll check further into staff lists for all the meat places around here to try and see if there is something or someone we’ve missed.”
Alona waved a hand toward her computer. “All the data has been entered and the numbers are being crunched, but we’re kind of screwed when we can’t take into account layoffs, illness, and general shift-swapping between workers. No one has really stood out as always working when the killer has struck. There are too many people on too many shifts to narrow it down.”
“I’ll leave you to it.” Rafe jingled her car keys in her pocket. “Ms. Scott and I are going to check out the clothing at Canton’s.”
Slipping on her leather jacket, Ashley shot back, “Cool. I wonder what their summer line is.” She tossed a wave to Dean and a wink in Alona’s direction, then preceded Rafe out of the office. She waited until they were out of earshot. “When I said I expected a meal out, Rafe, I kind of hoped it would be cooked and served before me. Not still frozen and hung in a freezer.”
Rafe just grinned at her. “Who says the art of romance is dead? How about after I’ve made this stop we go for a meal, a proper meal where we don’t have to see where it comes from?”
“With lots of green leafy things. Something tells me this place isn’t going to make me proud I eat meat.”
“I know a great Italian place near here. Their vegetarian lasagna is wonderful.”
“Sounds perfect.”
“I know the owner. I’ll ask for at least one candle,” Rafe added shyly.
Ashley was warmed by the gentleness that every so often slipped from behind Rafe’s barricades. She moved so that their arms brushed as they got into the elevator. “Why, Detective, you really know how to turn on the charm after all.”
Rafe studied the floors counting down, studiously not looking at Ashley. “I hope so. It’s been a long time since I’ve used it. I might be rusty. Besides, you deserve more in your life t
han just death and demons.”
To her surprise, Ashley felt tears sting her eyes. She swallowed against the tide of emotion that rose through her chest. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone has said to me in a very long time.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You didn’t upset me. You made me very happy. There’s a huge difference.” She tucked her arm through Rafe’s and held on tight for a moment before the elevator reached its last floor. “Let’s get the factory over and done with so we can concentrate on the candle part of this deal.” She let go of Rafe’s arm, immediately missing the warmth from her body. She surreptitiously watched Rafe lead the way, enjoying the view from behind and noticing how people reacted to Rafe’s presence.
“Your department is glad to have you back,” she said as they stepped outside and felt the chill in the air.
“They’re just surprised I’m still functioning after being taken down by Armitage. He was well known around here because of his football career.” Rafe jammed her beanie hat on.
“And to think, they don’t know the half of it. You’d be elevated even higher in their eyes.”
“I’m happy to stay right where I am, thank you. The sooner that incident is ancient history, the better.”
“They might forget it, but you never will.”
“No, I don’t suppose I will. He left his mark on me in more ways than one.” She took her car keys out of her pocket and fidgeted with them nervously. “Now that I’m privy to my own private lightshows, and my world resembles something out of Dante’s Inferno.” At her car she opened the passenger side for Ashley. “Still, it brought you into my life, so I guess it can’t all be bad. Yet.”
“There you go again with that charming attitude. Who’d have thought that you kept that hidden behind your badge?”
Rafe closed the door for her and walked round to her own side of the car. Ashley was amused by the look flickering across Rafe’s face as she settled into the driver’s seat.
“You don’t get told you’re sweet often, do you?” Ashley surmised.
“Not in my line of work, no.”
“Or out of it?”
“Hardly ever.”
Ashley wondered at the kind of women Rafe had been involved with that hadn’t seen just how gentle Rafe could be. Their loss, she thought, as she settled back to let Rafe drive them to their destination. A stray thought struck her.
“Could you really come up with nothing more than saying I deal in the occult?”
“Hey, I gave them your full degree title like you told me. It’s not my fault everyone zooms in on the occult bit. It just seems a safer bet than saying what you really do.”
Ashley couldn’t argue with that line of reasoning.
*
After pushing aside her plate, Rafe reached for her beer and took a deep drink to wash down her food.
“You look like you needed that.” Ashley finished up the remains of her own meal.
“I don’t think I ate anything today,” Rafe said, settling back in her seat and only groaning slightly when her side protested. She was less than happy that she’d had to take pain pills before her meal arrived, but the pain had gotten too much for her to handle with bravado alone.
“How are you feeling?”
Rafe made a face at Ashley’s polite question. “Sore, achy, annoyed that the healing isn’t instantaneous. Being stabbed is a major inconvenience. I don’t recommend it.”
“I’ll bear that in mind. You don’t do patience very well.” Ashley’s smile was without rancor.
“No, I don’t. I’ve got better things to do than wait around for this wound to heal.”
“And what about your head?”
Rafe ran a finger along the healing scar. “Alona told me I looked much better today, so I’m taking that as a good sign. But I’ll be glad when my hair grows back and these stitches are out.” She scratched at her bristly hair. “It’s too damn cold to have a G.I. Jane cut.” She leaned forward across the table and lowered her voice. “Can I mention I could have done with the demon knowledge before going after that guy on my own.”
Ashley leaned forward too. “Something tells me you’d still have done it anyway, forewarned or not.”
“Probably.” Rafe took another drink from her glass and relaxed in the familiar sights and sounds of the restaurant.
“How often do you come here?” Ashley asked, picking up her glass of wine and savoring it slowly.
“Not often enough. The owner’s son was a cop I used to work with.”
“Used to?”
“He was killed in the line of duty, shot by a gangbanger. I come by here as much as I can to make sure his old man’s okay, just to touch base with him.”
“That’s nice of you.”
Rafe brushed her words aside. “Yeah, well, he also makes the best food in the neighborhood, so it’s no hardship.” Rafe looked across the table at her. “So tell me, why are you living in a building that should be condemned as unfit for human habitation?” Rafe’s eyes widened as a thought struck her. “Unless you’re the token human in an otherwise demonic high-rise?”
Ashley stared at her a moment in silence. Rafe wondered what was going through Ashley’s head and if she’d even answer.
“It was the quickest place Eli could find for me on such short notice.”
“Short notice?”
“I was called here the minute the second woman was killed. The pattern had been established, so I was brought in.”
“That explains why you have no pictures from the first scene. You hadn’t been to that one.” Rafe considered this. “What was it about these killings that set off Eli’s alarm bells?” Ashley’s hesitation made Rafe smile. “Oh, come on. You’ve let me in on your strange world of demons and people who shape-shift. You’re really going to tread warily around what you can and can’t tell me now?” She took another mouthful of her beer and waited for Ashley to speak. “Unless there’s something even more mind-blowing to impart that you don’t think I could handle.”
Ashley seemed to be considering her words. “Do you believe in God, Rafe?”
Rafe shrugged. “As much as anyone does, I suppose.” She wondered at the turn in the conversation. “Though, when I was lying in the alley with Armitage crushing my head, I saw the most amazing white light.” She caught the startled look on Ashley’s face. “What?”
“You saw a white light?”
“Not the white light. There was no tunnel and endless reams of dead relatives beckoning me home. Just the most intensive white light I have ever seen and—” Rafe stopped suddenly as her mind raced on. “Actually, that was the first time I saw it. I’ve seen it again since.” Rafe’s brain scrambled for the clue. “Eli. Eli and his damn bright light show. That was the same kind of light.”
“You were kind of out of it the first time,” Ashley said.
“Yes, I was, but not the second time. I was in your shabby apartment being blinded by his rays of light. He’s not just a glamour man like you, is he?”
“No.”
“Then what is he that I could see him too? And then there’s the fact he’s a healer like you, only different. Retooling the brain different.”
“You know we asked your team not to ask questions?” Ashley said, squirming in her seat.
“Questions about you. I’m asking about Eli. Mr. All Dressed in White, the man who is as straight-backed as an English butler.” Rafe thought for a moment, her head filled with memories and flashes she vaguely recalled. She tried to remember the light without bringing to mind all the pain that was associated with that moment in time. “Could Eli have been in the alley that night I was demon bait?”
“Rafe, please…”
“It was the same light. You forget, Ashley, he’s been in my head; he re-jigged my brain to turn down the brightness. And yet I never felt threatened, just like I didn’t with you. I just lay there and let you do whatever you wanted.”
“I wish,” Ashley muttered.
<
br /> “I felt safe and protected and at peace with you. The same with Eli.” She stared at her empty plate, trying desperately to piece the clues together. Her head shot up. “Fuck me! He’s a goddamned angel!”
Ashley grimaced at her choice of words. “Not so much of the damned, Rafe.”
Rafe’s jaw dropped open. “Seriously? He’s an angel?”
“One kind, yes.”
“One kind? Like different degrees of demons?” Rafe couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “So angels really do walk among us?”
“Some do, some just pop in and out at specific occasions.”
“Like when a detective is getting her head caved in by a demon? Could that be a specific enough occasion?”
“Maybe,” Ashley hedged. “You’d have to ask Eli.”
Rafe didn’t know whether to be angry or elated. “Oh, you bet I will.” Her mind was spinning trying to control all the new evidence swarming inside it. “Angels and demons, eh?” She waved over the waitress. “I think that calls for another beer.” She added under her breath as the realization of her discovery hit her, “Or five.”
Chapter Twelve
Ashley had to admit she was impressed by how calm Rafe was, considering how her safe world had been turned upside down and inside out over the course of dinner. They’d walked back to Rafe’s house in a strangely companionable silence. “You’re taking this incredibly well.”
“I’m figuring it can’t get any bigger than this, right? There’s nothing that can top it for the most fantastical state of how this planet runs.” Rafe opened her front door and ushered Ashley inside. “I’ve had too many beers to drive you home, so I am either calling you a taxi or I can gallantly offer to sleep on the couch while you take my bed.”
“Why can’t we sleep together?” Ashley enjoyed seeing Rafe’s forehead pucker as she thought this over.
“Because I have had too many beers and I don’t put out on the first date. I need to get to know someone first.”