by Unknown
“What? I happen to agree. But what’s the man going to say?” Lily said, playing devil’s advocate.
Looking down at his watch, he continued, “There’s no freaking way this is all coincidence. There has to be something the ME is missing. You can’t tell me all these young kids just died in their sleep,” he mumbled, thinking back to his dream with the little bodies floating around him in the river.
Could it be connected?
His heart began pounding as the dream clawed its way back into his mind. Then, Flynn could feel the peace whispering through him as his thoughts were touched by a familiar voice.
“Are you well, mon ami?” asked Jolie.
“Yeah, I just relived my nightmare for a second. I’m okay, Jolie.”
“Be calm, Flynn. We’re right there with you.”
Jolie’s laughter warmly caressed his body. He immediately relaxed at the sensation. It was like a long distance hug, and he was more than grateful.
He looked back up at his partner, who was watching him with a fascinated look. “What?” he asked suspiciously. When she studied him, it definitely made him nervous. It was like she knew his deepest darkest vampyre secrets.
That just couldn’t be,
“Nothing. You disappeared there for a second. I was wondering where you went, and of course if you planned on coming back to finish up your shift,” she replied, laughing at his apparent discomfort.
“I’m tired today, and I’ve been burning the candle at both ends over this case,” he said, glancing at his watch once more. “Anyway, there has to be a connection to the slayings. Maybe we have a serial killer who’s part burglar, because someone is bypassing the security codes at multiple locations to get to these victims.”
Lily pondered it. “Or it could be something so simple that we’re missing it. What if the kids are letting them into the houses?” Lily justified, searching for any answer that made sense.
“Maybe but how is he picking his victims? These are little kids here. They’re not old enough to be online or even reach the security boxes to turn off the alarms,” said Brogan, nervously tapping his fingers.
“Got a date?” his partner asked, smiling. “Going to go home to make up with the girlfriend and give her lots and lots of wet kisses?” The last part was said in a sugary sweet baby voice, just to unmercifully stir him up.
“No, she’s working late. All I want to do is go home, have a damn beer, and forget for a little while, okay?” he snapped.
Lily saw that he was at the end of his magnanimous mood. It was time to knock it off. There was a fine line between teasing and harassing, and she was approaching it fast. “Why don’t you cut out a little early?” she offered sympathetically.
Her kindness caught him off guard. “Maybe,” he replied, glancing over, as he almost expected some sort of snide comment to follow.
When there was none, he relaxed.
“Really. I don’t mind, Flynn.” Lily stared at him with eyes which appeared to see into his soul.
Brogan felt like he was falling. Shaking his head, Flynn tried to ignore the goose bumps and paranoia. Suddenly, he really wanted to get out of there, and fast.
Jolie brushed against his mind. “Come home to me, Flynn. You’re weary. I’ll make you feel better, darling.”
“Yeah.”
His partner looked at him funny. “Yeah, what? Are you talking to yourself again, Brogan?”
He didn’t even realize he said it out loud. “I meant, yeah, I think I will cut out early.”
“Good idea. Besides, we’ve beat this to death. I think we both need a fresh new angle to approach it from.” Lily paused to answer the jangling phone. She watched her partner get out his keys and stand up before she stopped him. “Hold on, Flynn,” she said, holding up a finger until she finished the conversation.
When Lily hung up, he already knew. Flynn could see the same expression she always got on her face whenever they were about to go to a scene and stand over the dead.
“We have another one, and this time the kid was swiped from daycare. It didn't happen that long ago. It looks like our killer is switching it up. We have a daytime victim.”
“What about the teacher?” he asked, hoping it was a mistake.
“She didn’t realize the kid was missing until lunchtime. By then, it was too late.”
Brogan sighed before reaching out to Jolie. “I’ll be late. I have to go stand over another dead child.”
Her heart ached for him. “If you need my help, Flynn, I’ll come to you.”
It was the last thing he wanted. “No, Jolie. I don’t want you touching this.” Already, he was making correlations to the dead in his dream. If this was Genevieve, there was no way he would risk her.
“Hurry home, darling. You need to be near us.”
“I will, Jolie.”
“Be careful, mon flic.”
Brogan smiled to himself at being called her cop. Before their connection was broken, there was wave after wave of warmth and peace sent his way. It touched him even more that he knew it drained her this early in the day.
Glancing over at his partner, with refreshed energy coursing through him, he finally spoke, “Come on. I’ll drive us there.”
“I get to ride in your fancy vehicle? Wow, aren’t I one of the few and the privileged?” she teased, knowing that was a safe topic.
He snorted.
Grabbing her jacket, she slid it over her silk blouse. “I must have died and gone to heaven,” she drawled sarcastically. “I’ll be the talk of the station. Won’t Frenchie be pissed to know you were riding with another woman? We don’t want her to get all worked up.”
He stared at her menacingly. Jolie was off limits, and obviously from his hostility, Lily wasn’t getting that.
“Shut up or you can drive yourself,” he stated, slipping into his tailored suit jacket, before he strode away.
“Testy, testy,” she replied, following him out of the station. Lily knew it was wrong, but she couldn’t help it.
Brogan tried to ignore her as Lily’s laughter filled the air. It struck him as odd that it somehow reminded him of something that Jolie could do.
But how?
He let it go.
For now, Flynn needed his focus to be on two things. Primarily, watching his back in case Genevieve struck while he was awake, and going to stare at a dead child.
Flynn wasn’t sure which was worse, since both options really sucked.
∞ ∞ ∞
Wasting no time getting to his vehicle, Flynn wanted to get to the scene, then get it over with. No one liked standing over a dead body, especially that of a child.
It stirred up so many emotions in all the cops.
A dead child was unnatural and wrong.
While his partner struggled to climb up into his H2, he offered no help. Had she not been riding his ass all day about Jolie, he might have at least been a gentleman. He honestly hoped his mother wasn’t watching him from wherever she was.
She would be pissed at his behavior.
As he put his sunglasses on, he waited for Lily to pull her tiny frame into the passenger seat. Flynn nearly laughed, finally getting some well-deserved vindication.
Yeah, he was a total dick today, despite Lily deserving it.
In his head, this was karma. No one picked on Jolie. She was his…
Flynn paused.
Yeah, he didn't know what she was. How the hell was he supposed to classify all of this? Some days, she was his roommate, and then when night fell, Jolie was his bedmate. At council, he was her guardian.
What he wanted was to be able to lay some claim to her, despite her heart already belonging to someone else. It was a dangerous thing to even contemplate, since both vampyres could pop in and out of his head at any minute.
In fact, if Jacques didn't already know his feelings, he’d be surprised.
Lily’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Holy shit! I need a ladder to get up in here,” she offered, trying to light
en the mood. Obviously, her last comments pissed him off.
“This is why we take your car,” he replied, starting the H2 when she closed the door.
“Don’t you own a smaller vehicle than this monstrosity?”
Brogan pondered the arsenal of cars housed in the monster sized garage. There was Jolie’s Jaguar, a few motorcycles, and then there were trucks and H2’s. He could make it easier, but pulling up in a Jag or Mercedes was a million times worse in his mind. They already called him a kept man. There was no point in adding fuel to the fire.
“Nope.” he said, programming the directions into the navigational system. “We really aren’t the economy car kind of family,” he offered, as he listened to the navigational system chirp out directions.
Lily shrugged.
What he wasn’t saying was, like the cross around his neck, this vehicle had been a gift from Jolie. It was precious to him and mattered. When he used it every day, it reminded him of her.
He loved it.
Flynn was man enough to admit the truth. This vehicle was a part of him, and just the mere idea of letting any woman in it but Jolie, pissed him off.
There was only room for her in his life.
Wait.
Where had that thought come from?
Flynn liked women. No, in fact, he loved them, but since meeting Jolie, there could be no other substitution. The sun and moon rose and set around her. Too add to that, even the rest of the family had become important to him. He pondered the possibility that it was the bonding, and its affects that he was feeling.
Yeah, that had to be it.
Forcing himself to focus, he tried to pay attention to what his very irritating partner was saying.
“I could have told you how to get there,” she added, matter-of-factly.
“No thanks. I like to put the directions in so that the vehicle can store them for later reference for me.”
He looked over and saw her watching him, and it made him nervous.
“What?”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” She reached out and touched his arm, causing him to tense.
Brogan didn't reply.
Lily knew something was bothering him lately, and today seemed to be the tip of the ‘trouble’ iceberg. “You seem completely off. If you need some down time, I can do this myself. There’s no shame in admitting you’ve had enough of this mess.”
Despite the emotional turmoil, Flynn refused to give up. “No, I’m fine. The whole idea of dead kids bothers me,” he said, watching the road, as he drove them to the scene.
“Yeah, it bugs me too.” Lily felt like she needed to change the subject. “So, how did you meet the model?” she asked, guessing at Jolie’s profession.
He glanced over, confused. “Pardon? What model?”
“The woman you live with. How did you meet her?” Lily elaborated.
He finally got it. “You think Jolie’s a model?”
“Yeah, everything about her says she is. The woman is tall and thin, plus she dresses out of Vogue.” Lily almost wanted to call her princess, but she didn’t want to piss him off even more. It would just cause him to clam up.
Flynn could picture Jolie walking a runway.
“No offense, but she doesn’t look like your type. In fact, she definitely doesn’t look like the type of woman who would even be seen with a lowly cop. Again, I mean no offense.” She watched Brogan lift an eyebrow, right before a boyish grin crossed his face. Whew, she was relieved that her questions weren’t pissing him off.
He thought about the ramifications of talking about Jolie. Deep down, he dreaded feeding Lily more information, but then he figured maybe she was just trying to be friendly.
“Jolie isn’t a model. She’s a doctor.”
Lily stared at him. “Are you shitting me?”
Brogan laughed. “No, she’s a criminal psychologist who specializes in deviant behaviors.” He looked over. “Go ahead and google her.”
He spelled her name.
Lily couldn’t help herself. She pulled out her phone and did just that. When the woman’s face appeared and she scanned the articles, Lily couldn’t believe it.
“Well, holy shit! You were telling the truth.”
Now, he was really laughing. “I told you so. When I first met Jolie, she was asked to help me find and stop a serial killer.”
All of this was so hard to believe. “Does she still practice, or is she planning on retiring to buy all the leather in New Orleans?” Lily teased, once more taking a chance. When he grinned, she finally figured that this was safe ground.
“She’s planning on starting up a new practice here, and possibly in a few other locations. Honestly, I don’t get involved in her professional life, and she stays out of mine. I think it’s how we both make it work. Our differences bring us together in the end. Know what I mean?”
“She’s quite beautiful.” It was a statement that spoke volumes. Lily wasn’t sure how she meant it to come out, or how her new partner would even interpret it.
Brogan nodded, looking over at her with what he assumed was a puzzled look on his face. He didn’t get it at all, especially since it was an odd comment coming from another beautiful woman. Was this what the tension was all about? He could feel the aggression that Lily had toward Jolie.
If anything, it was uncomfortable.
Oh, and not needed.
At one time, Lily would have been the type he chased after. He was a serial blonde stalker, until Jolie Harcourte rolled right over him and changed his life. Now, he liked his bedmates to be more…
Dead.
“Yeah, she really is, inside and outside. Jolie means everything to me.” It was the absolute truth. Now, if he could only say that to her.
Out loud.
In bed.
Oh yeah, and in front of Jacques.
“So, why did you come here?” No matter how much she tried to get any details about his past, he always seemed to close up at this point. It was like he was hiding something.
It was frustrating.
Brogan tossed around the options, and ultimately decided to go with the facts. Well, the semi truth, anyway.
“I needed a change, and Jolie decided to join me on a new adventure. Besides, she wanted out of the cold weather.” Lately, lying came so damn easy. Still, it bothered him to his core. Your partner was someone you needed to trust in order to survive. He wanted to be honest, and just say ‘She had to leave or be killed,’ but Flynn knew that he couldn’t trust anyone outside the family.
Hell, he didn't trust anyone IN the family.
His discomfort proved one thing. It appeared to be time for a change of subject. “Are you seeing anyone?” he asked, not knowing why he had gone there when he really didn’t care. Maybe it was time to ease up and be a lot less hostile.
“Are you asking me out?” she teased, winking at him.
Brogan wasn’t amused in the least.
Yeah, why did he even let his guard down?
“You’re not my type, Lily.”
“Okay, wow! You’re a tough audience today. Take a deep breath. I was just teasing you, Flynn. To answer your question, yes I am involved with someone. We’ve been seeing each other for a while now,” she replied, turning on the CD player. “His name is Mal.” She listened to the music before looking over at him. “What’s this playing? I don’t think I have ever heard it before.”
Brogan glanced over, grateful to have been saved from the personal discussion. At least this was a safer topic.
Music would keep him calm.
“Jolie likes a little heavier melody. The loudness helps her relax when she’s thinking. I think it helps her clear her mind. This morning, I thought maybe it might help me too.”
What he didn't mention, was that they were in the front seat of his H2 the other day, making out, and this music had been playing. The kissing wasn’t intentional.
Okay, that was a big fat lie.
When Jolie entered the garage, she found him
sitting there listening to music. It was time to feed, and he escaped to find his control. Once inside his vehicle, she climbed into his lap and the making out began.
It started as sharing energy, but it ended with his shirt open, her mouth all over his neck, and then her fangs buried in his throat. Just thinking about it made him want to overheat.
That moment was the closest he had gotten to intimacy with her. In fact, it was burned into his mind. There was something so sexy about Jolie in a suit, pressed against his body. If he closed his eyes, he could see the way the skirt rode up her hips, giving him a glimpse of the black silk beneath.
God, he was horny as hell.
It was so hard not to notice that his H2 still smelled like her perfume.
Yeah, he wanted her in the worst way.
“Clear her mind, huh? I think it would do more to blow out her eardrums and dull her senses.”
He shrugged. If only Lily knew how attuned her senses were for a hunter.
“Uh huh. You yanks have an interesting taste in music, which we southerners will never quite understand.” Lily stared out the tinted windows in anticipation of what was coming. “Here we are. This is St. Louis Cemetery. It’s one of the landmarks of this town. I hope to be buried here one day.”
Since he was immortal, thanks to Jolie and Jacques, he didn't need to ever think about that. When they died, he’d be nothing more than a pile of ash.
“Are you ready?” she asked.
It was time.
Both detectives took out their badges, hanging them around their necks as they exited the H2.
It was time to get down to business.
As usual, Brogan got the normal jokes about his vehicle and being on the take. Today, he was edgy enough to not joke back. Sometimes, it was best to just ignore it all. The sooner he was home with Jolie and the family, the better.
It was that kind of day.
“Over here, Detectives!” called an officer, pointing to a large crypt. They followed him into the tomb, only to find a little body on the floor.
Everything in him swam in anger and sickness. There was nothing more perverse than the death of an innocent child.
“Shit,” said Brogan, rubbing his temples, as he closed his eyes to block out the scene before him. If he wanted to remain in control, he needed to hold onto that last thread of strength.