I didn’t want to get involved, but it looked like this girl was trying to kill this guy. I looked back at Risa and asked, “Don’t you have any bouncers?”
She simply shrugged, making no move to interfere with the situation. I rolled my eyes, hardly able to believe it. Here we had an apparent tough chick, wearing leather and covered in tattoos, who wouldn’t even defend her own turf. There were no bouncers in sight, and I was an officer of the law. I couldn’t just let some guy get beaten to death right in front of me.
I reached into my purse for my .40 caliber Smith & Wesson semi-automatic and hopped off my stool, sprinting across the empty area of the floor in my heels. I slid to a stop right next to the violent scene, aiming my gun at the petite woman.
“Get off him, lady,” I growled.
The woman looked up at me with equal parts rage and shock. It was clear she couldn’t believe someone had come to challenge her. I wasn’t sure what this chick had been smoking, but she sure was high on some kind of Superwoman shit.
“I said – get off him,” I repeated in a low, careful voice. “I won’t say it again.”
The woman rose slowly to stand and face me. I looked down to see that the guy she’d been beating was twenty different kinds of messed up. His face looked like raw hamburger.
“What’d he do to you?” I asked. “Steal your boyfriend?”
The woman gazed at me coolly, and I admit – I lost it for a minute. For starters, she was utterly magnificent to behold. She was very small, but incredibly lithe, and extremely pale, with silky, blood red hair that fell in a straight curtain down her back. But more than anything, it was her eyes. It was the way she looked at me, as if she wanted to eat me. And not in the way I liked.
Her eyes had me trapped. I stared at her, utterly dumbstruck. I felt as if I couldn’t move.
And then, suddenly – I blinked, and I was fine. What was weird, though, was that she looked surprised that I was fine. As if she’d been trying to make me feel all that wonky crap, which of course I couldn’t explain.
“Would you mind lowering your gun?” she asked pointedly.
I pointed the barrel of my pistol towards the floor, staring daggers at Miss Thang. She sure was full of herself. I glanced down at her victim, wondering if I should call an ambo.
“He’s no concern of yours,” she replied to my mental inquiry. “Stay out of it.”
“I’m SCPD,” I informed her. “And I’m already in it.”
That was when Risa appeared at my side. She’d been so nonchalant before, I was hella surprised she actually came to throw down. I looked at her to communicate as much in my expression.
She smiled softly. It was clear she knew exactly what I was thinking. But then she really shocked the panties right off me when she looked at the petite redhead in front of us (AKA Miss Thang) and offered a subtle inclination of her head. “My lady,” she said politely.
What the eff? Who the hell addresses people like that? What did we do, just hop in a time machine back to eleventh century England?
The redheaded woman looked between me and Risa, back and forth several times, obviously trying to decipher something. I wasn’t sure what her deal was, but it was clear that there was something she didn’t like.
“Risa,” she said in a flat voice. “You know this woman?”
“I just met her,” Risa answered respectfully.
Why is she being so deferential to this cunt? I wondered. I thought she had balls.
“Is that so?” the woman returned. “Hmmm. Well, in any case, you seem to get on together – so do me a favor and please try to explain the gravity of this fool’s situation.”
Wait a second. Did she just call me a fool? I was ready to shoot a bitch.
“Lady Serenity is nobody to mess with, Dani,” Risa said quietly. “Come away.”
I looked at her in disbelief, and then I looked angrily at the redhead. I suddenly wondered where Kent was. Where the fuck was my backup?
“You nearly killed that guy,” I said to the redhead. “I’m going to have to take you in.”
The woman laughed loudly. Right in my face. I wanted to shoot her just for that.
“He angered me,” she said simply. “You won’t be taking me anywhere. You have no idea who I am – and trust me, you have no desire to. Step aside.”
Damn, I really wished Kent were here. This chick was super creepy. But I refused to stand down.
“Afraid not,” I said simply. “You’re going to have to come with me.”
It all happened so fast, I hardly even knew what was going on. I only knew that I was on the floor. Miss Thang was on top of me. And she had fangs.
My gun had flown from my hand, and I had no protection. All I could do was stare at those teeth. What the fuck were those things? That was not normal.
The redhead was coming at me with those unholy fangs, looking like she was about to eat me alive – when someone knocked her off me. I scrambled up off the floor, breathing hard, looking around as if I didn’t know which way was up. And I saw Risa. Fighting with the redhead. And, fucking hell – they both had fangs.
It was a nasty fight. It was clear the redhead was strong – I’d known that much from watching her pummel the guy who was still lying on the floor – but it quickly became obvious that Risa was stronger. With a few hard blows, she drove her opponent back, hissing ferociously. The redhead glared at her with absolute poison in her eyes. It was plain to see that she would have killed Risa if she could. She was that angry.
This was some seriously bizarre shit. I couldn’t believe I’d managed to land myself right in it. Well – I should say, the captain had landed me in it. Damn her and her fine ass.
“You will pay for this, Risa,” the redhead said in a low, venomous voice. “You will pay dearly. I don’t care if you marked her or not.”
My brows knitted in confusion. God, these people were so freaky.
Risa bowed her head, looking submissive now. She backed away from the redhead.
The petite woman lifted her nose in the air, as if she were the queen of the entire earth, and then swept right out of the club. Everyone made way for her, careful not to even let her get caught on their coat sleeves. Jeez, these people must have really been drinking the Kool-Aid.
After the redhead had disappeared, everyone started glancing towards Risa with varying levels of disapproval. I even saw Jed glaring at her from behind the bar. What the fuck?! She was his damned boss!
Risa’s head was lowered in shame. I had zero idea what was going on, but I felt an instinctive need to comfort her. I walked over to her and laid my hand gently on her arm. I felt that strange static from before, though not so strong this time. I dropped my hand in surprise.
She looked up with a faint smile. “Hey,” she said softly.
“Look,” I said, trying to keep my voice light (though I think I probably failed at that). “I can’t thank you enough for helping me – but what the hell just happened?”
She looked at me with hollow eyes. “It would be better if you didn’t know,” she answered.
“That’s it?” I said in disbelief. “That’s all I’m going to get? Some crazy woman with monster teeth just about bit my head off – and you’re not even going to tell me what’s going on?”
She smiled wryly. “Didn’t you see my monster teeth, too?”
Okay – fair point. But she’d still saved me.
“Just tell me,” I repeated, a note of pleading in my voice.
She looked directly in my eyes. I found myself falling into them again, head over heels. I moved closer to her without thinking.
“I can’t,” she murmured. “You should go, Dani.”
And then I was pissed. I had opened myself up to this woman more than once tonight – and that was something I never did. I’d expected her to return the gesture. But she tells me to go? Well, fuck it, then. I was gone.
“This may not be over,” I said stiffly. “There’s something shady going on around here, and I
’m going to get to the bottom of it. If I have questions for you, I’ll be back. And you sure as hell better answer them, or I’ll arrest you.”
She stared at me wordlessly. Her expression was impossible to read. I was severely raging, because I was torn between wanting to storm off, and longing to throw my arms around her and kiss her.
Goddamn women.
I stuck with the first option and walked away. I suddenly remembered I’d left my purse on the bar, and I quickened my pace in that direction. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw it sitting there, exactly the way I’d left it.
“Whew,” I said, stuffing my pistol back into it. “At least one thing went right.”
Jed stared daggers at me when I appeared at the bar. But I had no further use for him, so I saw no need to play nice.
“What the fuck is your problem?” I asked. “Did your boyfriend forget to give you your enema this morning?”
He narrowed his beady little eyes at me, but he didn’t say anything. I scooped up my purse and turned away. I didn’t have time to be letting jokers steal my thunder.
This night had gone so much worse than expected. I needed to get home and have a drink. But then I remembered the guy lying on the floor in the club, and I figured I should call that ambo. I was just walking out the door, and I pulled out my phone to make the call – when I literally ran into Kent.
“Jesus, bro!” I shouted. “Where the hell were you?”
“Sorry, Dani,” he said. “I was a little busy.”
That’s when I noticed he wasn’t alone. Not by a long shot. The first person I noticed was the young, terrified-looking girl wearing pajamas and shivering in the chilly night. She stood close to Kent’s side, clearly looking to him for protection.
But there was someone else, too. A middle-aged guy, tall and fit, wearing handcuffs that Kent must have slapped on him. His expression was perfectly blank. Kent had his gun aimed at him.
“What the fuck is going on?” I asked in wonder.
“I slipped out to check around back,” Kent answered. “I saw a van loading girls into it. There were two guys – obviously this is one of them. I managed to pull one of the girls away from him and get her behind me, and then me and him got into it, but the driver got away with the rest of the girls.”
I nodded. All right, we were in work mode. After the confusion of what had taken place inside the club, it was almost comforting to have a sudden sense of purpose.
Not that I was pleased to hear some creep had just stolen a van full of young girls.
I looked at the girl in front of me. “You okay, hon?” I asked her.
She nodded shakily, a few tears spilling down her cheeks. “I – I think so,” she replied. “I was getting ready for bed, and they just came into my room and took me. There was nothing I could – nothing I could do . . .”
“It’s going to be all right,” I assured her in a calm voice. “You’re safe now.”
I could tell something wasn’t right when she kept looking at me with those big Bambi eyes. “But,” she said breathlessly, “they have my little sister.”
Chapter 3
We brought the girl and the scumbag down to the station. The girl’s parents were there within ten minutes, and I have to admit, the sight of them hugging and fawning over her managed to warm even my cold black heart.
It made me think of my own parents, if only for a brief moment. I didn’t indulge in many episodes of childhood nostalgia – the past was the past, in my own reckoning – but for a few seconds, I did find myself remembering my mother and father.
They’d been your average parents; good parents. They died when I was sixteen. I recalled snippets from my early youth, but my teenage years were blurred by the effects of weed I got from a girl named Amy. I still remember the name of her strain: Chica Cherry Cola.
I had spent a lot of time fighting with my mother over my reckless habits. I knew now, of course, that she’d only wanted what was best for me, but at the time I didn’t see it that way.
And then, poof, one day both she and my father were gone. I lived with my grandmother, long since passed, until I was eighteen, and after that life simply . . . went on. But in this moment, watching those parents with their daughter – especially the mother, who kept running her fingers through the girl’s hair and kissing her little tear-stained face – I did think of Mom and Dad. And I smiled.
What didn’t please me, though, were the tears these parents were shedding over their daughter who was still missing. That part made me rage. I wished we could have saved all those girls.
We put the scumbag from the club in an interview room and grilled him mercilessly. For hours. I’d been up since six, and it was approaching three A.M., but I was wired on adrenaline. I was desperate to find some clue that would lead us to those missing girls. I couldn’t imagine how scared they were. I wanted to save them all – but I felt powerless.
Scumbag was uncrackable. He just sat there, staring at the wall. He didn’t ask for water or coffee. He didn’t ask to use the bathroom. He just sat there with his hands on the table – staring at the wall.
“You think you’re pretty slick, don’t you?” I inquired. I’d had like half a dozen cups of coffee, and I might have been getting a little manic. “You think you’re hot shit? Well, let me tell you something, dirt bag – you’re nothing but a fucking piss ant. People like you should be put in gas chambers. You disgust me.”
His expression didn’t so much as twitch. He just tapped his handcuffs on the metal table. Once, twice, three times. Not loudly – just tapped them. But he kept doing it, tap tap tap. Over and over. As if he knew if would drive me nuts.
“Stop that,” I snapped.
Tap tap tap.
“I said knock it off,” I growled.
Tap tap tap.
“You motherfucker –” I bellowed, practically flying across the table at him. Kent caught me by my waist and pulled me out of the room.
“Okay,” he said slowly. “I think that’s enough for tonight. It’s obvious he’s not going to talk – so we might as well go home and get some sleep.”
I could tell that this suggestion was mostly meant for me, but since he was my bro and all, I chose to let it drop.
“All right,” I said with a sigh. “Maybe you’re right. See you tomorrow, man.”
“It’s late,” he said. “Captain said come in whenever.”
I clapped him on the shoulder and turned to take off. I had to admit, I was beat. My plans involved knocking back a little whiskey and passing out without setting the alarm.
I went into the locker room to get my purse, and was surprised to see the captain there, putting on her coat. I was tired and a little shaky, but damn, she looked hot even at three A.M.
“Whatcha doing here so late, Cap’n?” I asked, opening my locker to pull out my purse.
She looked at me and smiled wearily. She looked about as bad as I felt – or, to put it mildly, as if she’d been run over by a Mack truck.
“Somebody’s got to stick around and oversee this shit,” she answered. “There’s no rest for the wicked, kid.”
“Kid?” I repeated with a chuckle. “I turned thirty in August.”
“Hell, Dani,” she said. “What I wouldn’t give to be thirty again! Being forty-five ain’t so much fun.”
“Awww,” I said, elbowing her gently in the ribs. “You’re still gorgeous, Cap’n.”
She looked into my face, and I gulped. I knew, in that instant, that she remembered our night on the floor of her office. She remembered it perfectly.
“You think so, Dani?” she asked.
“Hell yes,” I breathed, staring at her dumbly.
She took me by surprise when she pushed me back against the lockers. I dropped my purse, and she took hold of my hands, pinning my arms above my head. She fastened her mouth over mine, kissing me hard. I practically squirted into my panties, too confused and worn out to exercise any semblance of control.
I pushed myself
against her, really hoping that she was about to reach up under my dress – but she pulled away. “Better call it a night,” she said in a business-like tone. “Someone might come in.”
She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. “Although,” she added with a devilish grin, “that Christmas party was the best sex of my life.”
With that, she turned on her heel and walked out of the room. And there I was, leaning against the lockers with smeared lipstick and soaked panties, wondering what in the hell had just happened.
***
My head was too full as I walked home in the pitch darkness. I should have been leery of walking alone down the sidewalk in a city like mine, especially dressed as provocatively as I was, but my brain was way too busy to be worried about something like that.
As I walked out of the station, I expected my thoughts to settle on Donna Briggs and the strange, passionate kiss she’d just given me, but I was surprised to find them veering back to Bloody Teeth instead. And directly to Risa.
I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Now that I was away from work, and my mind was free to wander, she was what it wandered towards. I thought of the way she’d protected me from the little redhead. I’d been angry with her at the time for not answering my questions, but my anger had faded now. I wished I could see her.
This strange longing was interrupted when I arrived at my apartment. I knew right away something wasn’t right. The angle of the door looked off, and I saw when I came abreast with it that it wasn’t even closed. I’d locked it when I left that morning. What the eff?
I pulled my pistol out of my purse, holding it in position. I nudged the door open with my foot, looking around carefully. My apartment was an open layout, so there wasn’t really anywhere to hide except the bedroom and the bathroom. I didn’t see anyone. However – the place was completely trashed.
And I mean trashed. There was shit everywhere. It looked as if someone had been searching for something maybe, but there really wasn’t all that much stuff in there, so I was inclined to think that some of this mess had just been made for shock value. They’d even ripped the cushions on my buttery soft leather sofa. I loved that goddamn thing.
Marked (Shadow City Book 1) Page 2