by R. J. Blain
My boss’s sister matched Luke’s grumpy expression. Muttering curses, she turned to Luke. “Make her stop.”
Luke took a step back to look me over head to toe. “You’re worn out, boss. Isn’t it time for you to go home?”
“There are, at last count, how many victims?” I gave Luke a dose of his own medicine and got into his face. I even grunted, which he echoed.
“Three to four hundred.”
“I don’t have time to go home. I need information about why one of my quads is out of action, and that lawn-mowed moron from the Oakland police department wants to get into a territory dispute over this.”
Luke sighed, and his quad echoed the sound. Eddy reached for her shoe. “Don’t even think about taking off your shoe and hitting me with it.”
“Or what? You’ll drop a bucket of water over my head? That’s about all you’re capable of right now. I could take you out with my shoe.”
I held onto the scraps of my dignity and refrained from informing her I believed a kid with a popsicle stick could take me out. “Please don’t.”
Luke sighed. “Don’t beat Olivia with your shoe however much she deserves it for being stubborn.”
“Fine. But if she puts up a fight leaving, I’m taking her out and making her go home. My brother said I could.”
Damn it. When my boss joined Eddy in her harebrained schemes, I lost. “It’s just as well, as the lawn-mowed moron isn’t cooperating with me anyway.”
Luke sighed. “Lawn-mowed?”
“He needs a new barber. Badly.” I rolled my shoulders and grimaced at the creaking and popping in my neck. “Terrorism is FBI jurisdiction, damn it. Supernatural or otherwise. And when one of my quads is involved, only a lawn-mowed moron gets in my way. They don’t have anyone else with the right ranking or experience in the entire damned state. Fuck, they try to ship me out whenever they get an incident.”
The last time I’d been shipped out, they’d sent me back to the ruins of New York City. Most of the area had been rebuilt following the bombing, except for the detonation point, which remained a decayed husk of its former glory. Some of the buildings still stood, proof of the magic that’d been unleashed during the blast.
Only a water elementalist could take out a fire elementalist of the strength of the one that’d taken up residence in the death zone. He’d terrorized—or incinerated—anyone else who’d gotten too close.
“They’re not going to ship you out anytime soon unless it’s a truly major incident,” Eddy soothed. “And they’re not going to cut in on your turf. You just need to play nice with the police because one of your quads was involved. I know the rules suck, but you’ll still get to work the case. You just have to work the case with Chief Kirkland. You should be grateful you haven’t been kicked off the site yet. Luke? Are you sure I can’t beat her with my shoe? We’d get her home faster that way.”
“You can’t beat her with your shoe. If you want to beat her, you can transform like a sensible dragon, pick her up, and fly off with her. That’d get her home even faster.”
“But then you wouldn’t be able to come with me because I can’t carry her and your entire quad. Your quad would be pushing it. I’m magnificent, but I’m a dragoness of reasonable size, thank you.”
“There’s nothing reasonable about you as a dragon,” Luke muttered.
I had to give credit where credit was due. “While unreasonable, she is magnificent.”
“She’d also destroy half the shopping center if she tried to transform in here,” Luke countered.
“Come on, Luke. Help a woman out,” Eddy whined.
“Why are you asking impossible things of me?” he whined back.
“You’re almost six feet tall, run marathons for fun, and use your magic to subdue rowdy supernaturals. You can even take out death zone survivors.” Eddy pointed at me. “Like her.”
Luke looked me in the eyes and said, “I will call your mother and tell her you flirted with Oakland’s Chief of Police if you don’t cooperate and go home quietly—with an escort. My quad—”
“And me!” Eddy blurted.
“—in case you weren’t certain. Are we clear, boss?”
When the overpowered minions got uppity and threatened to arrange a matchmaking session with my mother at the helm, I had no choice. I surrendered, holding up both hands. “I’ll go quietly.”
“Eddy, where are you parked?”
“South of the cordon.”
“I’m closer. I’ll take the boss and meet you at her place. We’ll order something for dinner, make sure she actually eats it, and do a sweep before we camp out in her living room and watch movies. We can paint our nails and gossip about the boss’s love life as a not-so-subtle warning of what we’ll do if she puts up a fight.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not a target, Luke. You’re going overboard.”
Eddy giggled. “I got a new bottle of nail polish in the car. It’s called ‘The Blood of My Enemies.’ As I’m a kind, generous soul, I’ll even share with you ladies.”
“Hello?” I asked, waving my hand in Luke’s face. “I’m not a target.”
“Maybe not yet, but someone caught a full quad flatfooted fresh off a shift when we tend to be jumpy. Let’s not take any risks.”
My apartment had a cop infestation, and I contemplated murder. “Seriously, it’s like Alameda county doesn’t monitor what it does.”
On days like today, I hated living in Berkeley.
Since delaying would only make matters worse, I got out of the SUV, retrieved my badge, and strolled to the cruiser, tapping on the driver’s side window. “To what do I owe the pleasure, gentlemen?”
I was so tired it took a shameful amount of time to recognize Berkeley’s Chief of Police. “Special Agent Abrams. It’s been a while. Chief Kirkland told me he’d just gotten you out of his hair.”
“Chief Kirkland wasn’t all that eager to get rid of me. He let one of his forensics guys give me a measuring tape.”
“He knew you were tired and didn’t want one of his officers to take an unexpected bath.”
“Your sarcasm is in good form today, Chief Brewer. What can I do for you?”
“We’ve been called in to supplement Oakland, and Kirkland suggested I talk to you and make certain you made it home.”
I turned and pointed at the quartet getting out of Luke’s SUV. “I got a quad plus Eddy. They’re determined to annoy me. Do me a favor and tell them they don’t need to have a sleepover party at my house.”
“No can do. The fastest way to lure you out is to go after one of your quads, so it’s entirely possible you’re a target. We’re here to do a full sweep of your block and make sure you got here all right,” he replied.
Luke strolled over with a grin plastered on his face. “I like this. At the rate we’re doing sweeps of this place, nobody will be able to take a piss without us knowing about it. It’s good to see you again, Chief Brewer.”
“The FBI is still trying to work Abrams to death, I see. Hasn’t anyone told her that she needs to take a break sometimes?” The chief smirked at me before giving Luke his full attention.
“All right. Get it out of your system. I’m woman enough to handle some ribbing from an uppity. Since Luke’s already planning on tattling to my mother, I’ll just have to whine over how mean the cops have been getting to my old man.”
Luke laughed. “It’s a genetic malfunction, Chief Brewer. She’s a chip right off her old man’s block. I’ve never seen a man look so hurt in my life when she told him she was going to work with the FBI rather than join the force in his footsteps. Hey, since you’re here, what do you have on Detective Davis?”
“Detective Davis? From Oakland? If you have an important robbery you need solved, he’s your man. I’ve borrowed him a time or two on a tough case. Why?”
“He’s got the hots for Olivia; he strolled into her office and accused her of stealing a fish statuette because she’s a mix. Add in her status, and a few unfortunate assu
mptions were made,” Luke replied.
Why couldn’t Detective Hunk have the hots for me in other ways? No matter what my father said, sleeping with the enemy was completely legal. I could corrupt as many of his cops as I wanted. Some corruptions would be more enjoyable than others.
I bowed my head and sighed at my idiocy. “He doesn’t have the hots for me, Luke. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Boss, you were posing on your desk and giving him a show of your legs. You probably did it to prove you were the one in control of the situation. It’s ruthless,” Luke complained. “Ray’s a good guy. Usually. Most of the time. Except when he gets a dumbass idea in his head.”
“I see Eddy was tattling on me.”
“Your boss, actually. He called me before I found you in the shopping center and filled me in.”
Chief Brewer chuckled. “I’ll warn Kirkland his detective is skating on thin ice. Let me guess. You were working at the time of the crime?”
When wasn’t I working? Oh, right. When I was sleeping, which was not nearly often enough. “Obviously. It looks like whoever stole the koi took it on a walk and did something to those at the Oakland City Center. I’ve got a quad lead likely in a coma, and her team is conscious—barely. We haven’t gotten anything from them yet, or so I’ve been told.”
“And you’re not heading the investigation yet? Sounds like your turf to me.”
“Chief Kirkland likes screwing with me because he can,” I complained. “Their current theory is some form of mundane gas, which will just delay the investigation from landing on my desk. Their mid-range scanner didn’t pick up any radiation signatures.” I shrugged, and since I looked like an idiot holding my badge in my hand, I returned it to my purse. “I suggested Detective Davis should be involved with the investigation to the FBI when I called the incident in myself.”
“Do you like him or hate him?” Chief Brewer asked, canting his head.
“He barged into my office like he owned the place. I figured if he was going to interrupt my work, I might as well have fun with him.”
“What did you do, Olivia?” According to the chief’s tone, he expected the worst, had already resigned himself to a mess, and just waited for me to confirm it.
I relaxed at his use of my first name. “I asked if I’d missed a blind date with him.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised, yet I am. Why would you do that to the poor man?”
“Well, he had just barged into my office thinking I’d stolen some fish just because I’m a death zone survivor.”
“He probably isn’t aware you’re a death zone survivor; you’re just listed as a high-ranked water elementalist in the main files. He doesn’t usually jump to conclusions like that, though. That’s odd. He’s always been the image of professionalism when I’ve worked with him.”
“I’d hope so, or he wouldn’t be a good detective. I figure he wanted to catch me off guard. I was tired, Benjamin. Missing a blind date was the only thing I could think of at the time.”
“He’s incurably single. Married to his work and incapable of talking to a woman who might be a good match for him without making a mess of it. If you want a good time, watch him work with the lady officers. There’s never been a more self-conscious man.”
“What does that even mean? Come on, Ben. I’m tired. You gotta explain this shit to me.”
He laughed. “I better tell him not to waste any chivalry on you. He’s awkward and will go out of his way to be polite and considerate.”
Were we talking about the same Detective Davis? “Huh.”
“You probably intimidate him. Go get some rest, Olivia. I expect you’ll be in the driver’s seat of the investigation in the morning. Luke? Make certain she doesn’t get any urges to meddle until tomorrow. She’ll need the sleep. Despite what she thinks, her magic isn’t a substitute for real rest.”
Like hell it wasn’t.
“You got it, sir. Come on, Olivia. Dinner for you, then bed.”
Any other day, I would’ve been a great deal more offended by being managed by a police chief and one of my quads, but the truth kept me quiet. A wise woman took advantage of the calm before the storm.
Chapter Three
The benefit of rarely being home involved not having to clean to keep my apartment presentable. I should’ve done the little things my mother insisted made guests feel at ease, but I didn’t.
If my guests wanted a proper welcome, they needed to return another day. I flopped onto my couch and groaned. “Do whatever you want, but I’ll drown you if you make me move.”
“Pizza?” Luke asked.
“Bring to me, I’ll eat it.”
He chuckled and sat at my feet. “I’ll try to keep you awake—and order something questionably healthy for you. What’s the deal with Ray?”
“I was tired when he barged in. That’s all.”
The rest of Luke’s quad took over my living room, and Eddy strode in through my front door hot on their heels. “Chief Brewer is sweeping the block, did you know? He had one of his goons pull me over to ask if I knew anything about Detective Hunk. I played dumb.”
“Great,” I muttered. “I tell one person I tangoed with a cop, and everyone gets in on the action. I told Brewer I was tired. It’s not my fault Detective Davis barged into my office.”
“Detective Hunk?” Luke asked, his tone amused. “I’m sorry, but that’s funny. I can’t imagine you stealing anything. Your old man would have a field day with you. Do you even shop?”
I lifted my feet and showed him my shoes. “These are my weakness.”
Luke’s brow rose. “Eddy, closet check.”
“She stares at them through the window and drools. She wouldn’t steal any shoes, but she definitely sighs sadly on the pairs she likes but won’t buy.”
I was surrounded by traitorous minions. “Thanks, Eddy. See if I take you shoe shopping with me again.”
“I’m the only one who’ll put up with you refusing to go inside the stores.”
Luke grinned and patted my feet. “I’ll take you shopping,” he promised. “Ethan likes shoes.”
The medium grunted. “Just order dinner, Luke.”
“I already did. I was doing it while Chief Brewer was talking to the boss. I asked if she wanted pizza to look nice.”
“Well played, Luke.”
“You’re tired enough I could order you something vile. You wouldn’t notice.” Grabbing my ankle, Luke removed my shoe. “Is this an expensive shoe?”
“Ten dollars,” I admitted. “They’re comfortable, thank you very much.”
Luke chucked it towards the front door. The second one joined the first a moment later. “Go take a cold shower and get ready for bed. The pizza should be here by the time you’re done. We’ll talk about the shopping center case while we eat; you’ll get your marching orders when the cops bat it our way.”
“When I’d signed up for the FBI, nobody told me emergency situations would result in sleepover parties.” I sighed and lurched off my couch. “I feel so betrayed by the lack of disclosure.”
“I bet nobody told you that you’d be shortlisted for management, either,” Ethan added. The medium grinned at me. “Thank you for being shortlisted for management, boss.”
“You’re welcome,” I replied, well aware of how many bosses they’d churned through before I’d taken over the show. “All right. I’ll be back soon. Don’t burn down my apartment or do anything destructive. This is a destruction-free zone tonight.”
Leaving the five to gossip, probably about my meeting with Detective Davis, I retreated to the privacy of my bathroom, grateful for my habit of leaving my pajamas hanging on the hook beside my bathrobe.
Ignoring Luke’s advice, I filled my tub with steaming water and bubbles.
Someone knocked at the bathroom door. “That’s not a shower, Olivia,” Luke scolded.
“Fuck you and your stupid rules!”
Silence. Then the bastard minion laughed. “Okay. I’m sorry. Please don�
��t drown me. And don’t you drown, either. I’ll send Eddy in to check on you if I must.”
Asshole. “I’m not that tired, Luke.”
“Don’t make me send Eddy in there,” he warned.
“Luke, I’m a water elementalist. I’m not going to drown.”
“One can never be too careful, and I don’t want a new boss. Do you know how hard it is to keep a half-decent boss?”
I did. I’d spent the first week of my employment untangling the mess a long chain of temporaries had made of my quads’ careers. “Just because there were a few temporaries—”
“Twenty-six in six months!”
“Just leave me alone so I can enjoy my bath!”
“Okay, okay. Don’t be long. The pizza should be here in ten minutes.”
“Then in ten minutes, Eddy can bring me pizza.”
“Luke, leave her alone,” Eddy ordered. A moment later, Luke yelped. “Enjoy your bath, boss lady.”
I intended to, and I wasted no time ditching my clothes and easing into the water. Nothing beat soaking in bubbles, and the extra hundred a month I paid to have a tub deeper than eight inches was worth it after a long day—or few days. The lavender scented bubbles ensured it’d take a crowbar to get me out before the water turned icy.
Luke and his quad wouldn’t care much, and Eddy had no shame. Nudity didn’t bother her. She went through outfits and gave strangers a show every time she used her magic. While I thought being able to transform into a dragon was worth the clothing bill, she got cranky with me whenever I expressed interest in having her ability.
It wasn’t her fault the clothing bill usually came with a destruction of property fine.
I stretched out and wiggled my toes in the bubbles. After I scarfed a few slices of pizza, I’d play host, turn on a movie, and promptly fall asleep. The noise from the movie would mitigate the usual sounds the quad and Eddy made when insisting on playing bodyguard. I still wasn’t sure why everyone was worried. Nothing indicated I was targeted. While Adrianna had been hit during the incident, if someone had been after me, they would’ve taken out the rest of her quad, too.