by Unknown
“Our detective is tearing into the driveway right this second.”
“I’m ready,” she said, continuing to sit and enjoy Jacques’s calming strokes. It wasn’t long before the front door slammed open, and she heard Brogan yell out for her, seeking Jolie and her mate.
“We’re in the family room, Flynn,” she whispered into his head. There was no mistaking the string of obscenities that were sent back. It didn’t take long before the detective was standing in front of them, looking like he was ready to kill.
“Where the hell have you two been?” he barked.
“We were right here, enjoying a very nice glass of merlot and each other’s company. Would you care for one?” she asked.
“No. I don’t want any of your damn wine!” he snarled, as he glared at them both. “I thought you were getting away for the night?”
“We changed our minds,” said Jacques, still stroking Jolie’s leg. “Thank you for your concern though. I can’t tell you how much it means to us.” He smiled at the detective. “Were you looking for us this evening?”
“Oh, stop this bullshit! We all know the game that’s being played here!”
“Really?” asked Jolie. “What game are you talking about, Detective?” She closed her eyes, twirling her wine in the goblet as she fought for patience.
“It’s the one where you send me on a wild goose chase to keep me away from you and the council meeting.”
Jolie sat there entertained. It was impossible to stop it from bubbling out. As Jolie wiped the tears from her eyes, her face and mood suddenly went dark and serious. The air in the room got heavy with power as she stood in front of the man.
“Detective, you might want to sit down,” stated Jacques, knowing that the storm was about to break all over him.
“Or what? She’ll deal with me next?” he asked, pushing his finger into Jolie’s chest as they stood toe to toe. At least he was bigger, and that difference may get her to back down.
He certainly wasn’t going to.
Not this time.
“I’m sick of these games.”
“OUR GAMES?” she shouted, causing the floor to shake. Jolie put her hand up and froze Detective Brogan where he stood.
Before the man could open his mouth, he realized that he may have pushed her past her limit.
Jolie’s body shook with anger as she began pacing back and forth. Immediately, she began rambling angrily in French.
Jacques flanked her as she stopped in front of the detective.
“Mon amour, don’t kill him. We do still need his help,” he said, staring at the man.
Jolie couldn’t even think straight.
“She’s had a very trying evening. You might want to tread lightly, mon ami.”
Jolie closed her eyes and leaned against Jacques, as he wrapped his arms around her body. Instantly she felt calmer. When she opened her eyes and stared up into Brogan’s, the fires were banked a little bit.
Fortunately for him.
“Detective, you followed my car, assuming that I was tricking you and going to council didn’t you?” she asked.
“You knew I would.”
“Yes, I did. You couldn’t help but assume that I was lying to you,” she said, getting agitated once more. “What you didn’t realize, Flynn, is that I’ve been alive along time and I understand human nature. I’ll do what I have to do to protect the people I care about. You couldn’t be at council this evening. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth.”
He stared at her.
“Flynn, you matter to me. I have to keep you safe. Please accept that as the truth. I don’t want to discover your remains after a pack of guardians destroy you.” Her voice filled with emotion and her eyes filled with tears. Gently, she placed her hands on his chest. “Please don’t be so mad.”
He calmed down at her touch. “I should have been here. I wanted to be part of this.”
Calmer heads were prevailing as she released her hold on him.
“We’re both guilty of being deceitful. You followed my car, yet again, and I lied about the meeting.” Jolie swallowed her emotion. “You don’t want to face the council. Trust me. I don’t personally like to face them.”
“How scary could it be?” he asked, sitting in a chair.
“There are ten ancient vampyres in a room with a great deal of power. For a human, it can be a bad thing,” she said, returning to the couch before tucking her legs beneath her body. Jacques followed and pulled her up against his side.
He released a pent up sigh. “Fine. What went on tonight?” he asked, picking up Jolie’s unfinished wine to sip from the glass, “or is it all hush-hush?” he asked his temper spiking again.
She let it go, writing his snideness off as him just being a dedicated cop. With that, she could find no fault. “We know which society the woman belongs to, and we’ll be speaking with her tomorrow,” she said, closing her eyes.
“We? Does that include me or just your trusting sidekick?” he asked, smiling bitterly.
“Detective,” Jacques warned, as he noticed the man was treading dangerously.
Jolie glanced over at Jacques and touched his mind. “Do we ask him to stay here for his own protection?”
“Despite his bad attitude, yes.”
“I know you’re both talking about me in your minds. How about we say it all out loud?” Brogan suggested.
“There’s one major condition to having you attend with us tomorrow evening. If you agree to it, then you’re welcome to go. If you don’t, then we’ll keep you in the dark, yet again,” she added sweetly, smiling at him as he leaned forward. “It really wasn’t all that difficult either.”
His only reply was a dirty look, and then finally he quit while he was ahead. “Fine. What is it?”
“First, you must move in here until this is resolved, and then take a mini vacation from work for a couple of days, just until the heat is off us. Call in sick or whatever, but we fear for your safety. You can have Jacques’s old quarters. It’ll give you privacy. I’ll rest better knowing that all of our bases are covered.”
“So, I can go if I move in here. That’s it?”
“Yes.”
“Really? So, let me get this straight. I move into the mansion fortress, live in a big suite, and have my every need taken care of, and you let me go with you.”
Jacques raised his eyebrow. “I believe that covers it. What do you have that needs to be taken care of exactly?”
“Food, Jacques. Lots of food and luxury will just about cover it. I’m a cop, and we’re civil servants. What did you think I was referring to?” he asked, grinning, mischievously.
Jacques was well aware of what tasty morsels both men meant.
“Do you agree, Flynn?”
He looked back and forth between the two of them and couldn’t figure out if they were pulling something, or if it was a serious thing that was bothering them. “Sure. I agree to it,” he said, sipping the wine. “This is a definite upgrade from my place.”
Jolie stood up and held out her hand to him. “Jacques will show you to your quarters, and then I’ll have your car moved into the garage.”
When he allowed her to pull him up, he was more at ease. This was like an adventure and wasn’t that why he loved being a cop?
Jacques followed his mate from the room, looking over his shoulder.
“Are you coming, Detective?”
“Yeah,” he said, catching up to him. “Is she doing okay?” Brogan whispered.
“Yes,” Jacques answered, as he watched Jolie head to their room to be alone. “She needs to think for a while. Like I said, it was a difficult council meeting.”
Stopping in front of the door, Jacques opened it and stepped back. “Here you go, Detective.”
Flynn entered the huge suite and wasn’t shocked that it was done in black leather and chrome. It screamed of Jacques and his quiet masculinity. “This place looks like you,” he stated, as he continued to look around. The quarters were the same
size as Jolie’s, but it had a cold distant element to it.
He glanced over his shoulder and into Jacques’s eyes. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Yes.”
“Is there a problem between us?” he asked, sitting on the couch.
“Why do you ask, Detective?”
“Well, if that wasn’t evading a question, I don’t know what it was.”
“Detective, I have nothing against you,” said Jacques, sitting across from him in a chair. On the outside, he looked as cool and emotionless as the room that was once his, but on the inside, he was full of turmoil. It was hard to not notice that his mate was attracted to the man in front of him.
If anything, it made him jealous.
He unbuttoned his suit jacket and Brogan once again thought that he looked like an underwear model.
“I just get the impression that you don’t like me. You’re always watching me as if I plan on pouncing on Jolie.”
Jacques steepled his long fingers in front of his mouth as he pondered his reply. “Aren’t you thinking just that?” he asked, wondering if the man would admit it or not.
“Man to man, it’s hard not to want to pounce on her, Jacques,” he said honestly.
“I agree, since I do it often myself.”
“Unfortunately, I know that she loves you, and that’s just how it has to be,” he paused. “But let me assure you, that if she ever dumps your suave ass, I’ll be the first one in line with a dozen roses and a ring.”
His honesty caught him off guard. Jacques threw back his head and roared with laughter, breaking through the iceberg that had once been between them. He could appreciate that the man was making an effort to fit in.
“I guess that I’ll have to be on my best behavior then, Flynn.” Jacques finally knew that he could trust him. “I don’t want to give you the opportunity to go ring shopping.”
Brogan was prepared to ask for more of a tour, when his phone started ringing. He looked at the display and answered it on the third ring. When he hung up again, he suspected his host already knew what was coming. He had a sympathetic look on his face.
“We have another body. I have to get Jolie and drag her out tonight. It looks like the vampyre club is definitely part of this after all.”
Jacques headed toward the door. “Let’s get her then,” he said.
The two men headed to the other suite, and when Jacques opened the door, Jolie was sitting in the dark, looking out the window.
“Mon amour, there is another murder. You need to go with Flynn.”
She glanced over at him, surprised at the ease in which he used the man’s name. Apparently, she had missed something monumental.
It had to be huge.
“Okay, let me get changed.”
Flynn began backing out to give her privacy.
“You can stay, Detective. My closet is like another room. I’ll get ready in there,” she said, following Jacques into the space. Jolie was grateful when he began efficiently pulling clothing off hangers. “I don’t deserve you, Jacques.”
He smiled. “I love you, Jolie, but you’re not wearing that skirt to a crime scene. You’ll be bending over and starting a riot,” he stated teasingly. Then, his face went blank. “Please be careful. I have a bad feeling.”
“Me too, Jacques. I was just sitting here and thinking how something is coming. I’m feeling nervous, and I don’t know why.”
To offer her reassurance, he kissed her lavishly before heading out of the closet to rejoin the detective.
“She’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
“No problem. We’ll be on time since I didn't have to drive over here from my place. This might just be handy after all.”
Jacques lowered his voice. “Guard her with your life, Flynn. She’s my everything, and I’m putting her in your hands, trusting you with my heart.”
When he walked away, Flynn was oddly touched at the vampyre’s words.
Jolie would be safe.
One way or another, he’d make sure of it.
It was less than eight minutes later, when Jolie and Flynn were in the H2 and on the way to the crime scene. Flynn could definitely get accustomed to the luxury, which Jolie and Jacques were used to surrounding themselves with, on a daily basis.
Then again, who couldn’t?
“I love this vehicle,” he said, smiling over at her. “It’s like driving a tank.”
“It’s been reinforced and tinted to protect me in the case of an incident,” she answered, smiling at him. “Unless someone drops a nuclear bomb on us, we are pretty safe. Jacques insists on going above and beyond.”
“I don’t blame him. He does it because he loves you. I can see him standing in front of just about anything to protect you.”
Jolie beamed. “Yes, I’m pretty lucky. I have to warn you, Flynn, both Jacques and I have a bad feeling, so watch your back.”
“Don’t worry, Jolie. I’ll watch mine and yours. Although, I have to say I get more excitement out of watching yours,” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows at her until she laughed.
“I hear everything you’re saying,” Jacques whispered through both of their minds.
“Yes, Dad,” laughed Brogan. “It figures that I’m driving a nice car with a hot woman, and I have a seven hundred year old chaperone.”
“Keep that in mind, Detective.”
This time Jolie laughed.
“Je t’aime, Jacques,” she replied.
Their humor was short lived. As they pulled up to the crime scene, Jolie tensed before touching Brogan’s arm.
“The killers are near, Jacques. Someone just tried to push into my head. They knew we’d be here.”
“Where’s he at, Jolie?”
“You’re perceptive, Flynn. He’s about a mile behind us. Jacques is our back up plan.”
“I didn’t see him,” he said, glancing into the rearview mirror.
“That’s called following someone unobserved, Detective.” There was more laughter from Jacques. “You should try it sometime, and maybe you’ll be a little more successful.”
“Oh, you’re funny, for a dead guy,” he replied. Suddenly, he looked at Jolie “Do you expect trouble right now? I know you said you felt off, but here at the crime scene?”
“No, I think we’re safe here. We have some individuals that are really angry at us. I don’t doubt that they’re looking at me as prey, and to get their hands on you and Jacques would only be an added benefit.”
“Never my love,” he whispered through their heads.
Flynn and Jolie hopped out of the H2 and headed toward the police officers guarding the scene.
“Nice ride, Detective. Are you on the take?” one taunted.
It was followed by snorts and laughter from the other officers, along with a few cat calls directed at Jolie. If they wanted to make comments about him, they could, but Jolie was off limits.
“Laugh it up, boys. I get to drive that fabulous vehicle and be accompanied by a beautiful woman. Who’s really laughing now?”
It shut them up.
As they arrived at the tape, he dropped his badge around his neck before they ducked below it.
“Hey!” Gress called, looking up at both of them as they approached.
“Hey, partner. What do we have?”
The man glanced over at Jolie.
“Don’t stress it, Tommy. She can handle the gore.
Jolie reassured him, “I can, and I’m assuming that it’s really bad this time.”
“It’s not pretty. I’m sorry that you need to see this, Doctor, but the chief ordered you here.”
“I’ll be fine, Detective. Let’s get this over with so we can all head home.” Jolie scanned the area and whispered into their minds.
“We’re still being observed. I feel like I’m being watched.”
“Where are they?” asked Brogan, also allowing his eyes to wander over the crowd that had gathered to gawk.
“They’re near. I’m trying to get close
r,” replied Jacques.
“Be careful, mon amour.”
Jacques found that entertaining. “Jolie, I’m your guardian. I think I can manage.”
His laughter touched her skin, wrapping her in his comfort and love.
Jolie trusted him with her back and went back to work. Kneeling down beside the dead woman, she examined the wounds. There was no doubt that she had struggled. The wound on her neck was a jagged tear, exposing everything below the skin, all the way to her spine. “She certainly didn’t die slowly, and it looks like she bled out here in the alley from a torn artery.”
“This is different than the previous ones,” said Gress. “It looks like they’re getting more violent and caring even less about what they’re leaving behind.”
“Yeah, or they know we’re close and they just don’t give a shit,” she whispered into the men’s minds.
“Or someone interrupted them, and they had to move fast so no one could identify them,” said Brogan, looking over at Jolie to acknowledge what she just said to him.
Heading to that society was going to be key.
He could feel it.
“You may be correct. Were there any witnesses?” asked Jolie doubtfully.
“No.”
She reached for Jacques and Brogan’s minds. “Jacques, are there any vampyres around us on a blood high?”
“I’m searching, Mistress.”
“Oh wow, ‘mistress’. Can I call you that, too?” laughed Brogan silently, between the three of them. “It sounds sexy.”
“Flynn, do I have to hurt you?” echoed Jacques
“No, but Jolie can if she wants to,” he teased.
“And I was just beginning to like you, Flynn.”
Jolie ignored their teasing as she scanned the crowd. She kept her back to Brogan, so that she could make sure that no one could sneak up behind her while she was focused on the bystanders.
Almost instinctually, Brogan dropped his big hand to her hip.
“Jolie, they were here but I think that they’ve already left. “
“Jacques, I don’t feel them watching anymore.”
“I want to get Jolie out of here,” said Brogan to Jacques. “Give me a minute to wrap it up with my partner.”
It made the vampyre happy to know that the man was taking what he said serious.