Accidentally Wolf (36 page)

“
That
’
s the problem with you guys,
”
I growled, narrowing my eyes
at him
.
“
Instead of being happy you got a cookie
,
you want the whole box and a gallon of milk as well. You enjoyed it as much as I did and I proved a point. Don
’
t act like the ignored prom date.
”

“
Sera,
”
Tristan whispered, anguish in his voice. I shook my head and hit the fob on the keys Vlad gave me. When I heard the beep of the car and the locks disengaging
,
I headed in that direction, leaving
behind
the two men who wanted me.

Does that make me a bitch? Oh yeah. But right then, I just didn
’
t give a shit.

Chapter 13

A half an hour later I was pulling up at the crime scene. I was glad it was late on a Monday night
,
or the drive from the Loop to Elmhurst would have taken forever even if it was a straight shot on 290. I parked and slid
in to the smooth, comfortable fabric of
the coat, tying it up
with a few swift motions
as I got out of the car.

I saw Harris and made my way over to him, pulling out my badge and flashing it when I got to the taped
-
off area. The officer gave me a nod and lifted it for me. Well, I guess we were playing nice with the locals then. Harris answered my question about that the moment I fell in step with him, heading to the front door of the house.

“
They were pissed Feebies were needed but backed off when they found out we already had a case going that matched this vic
,
”
h
e explained, reading
the
scribbling on his note pad.
“
They could give two shits that we
’
re from the MNSTR squad though. No one
’
s given us any problems. The crime lab guys are waiting but we held the scene for you. Turns out Jennings knows one of the guys from high school
,
so they
’
re all becoming fast friends.
”

“
Well that
’
s the best news I
’
ve heard all day,
”
I said with a snort.

“
Nice heels, Chief,
”
he whispered as he leaned in
,
getting too close for comfort,
and I got images of how he was now going to fantasize about me wearing them in bed… With him.
“
And no, I won
’
t apologize. I can barely control myself given you smell of sex and other men.
”
I noticed that his blue eyes did have that lustful look about them.

“
Harris, I
’
ve had a shit night,
”
I hissed under my breath.
“
You do
not
want to get on my bad side right now. What I do on my own time is none of your business.
”

“
You
’
re right, but
,
when you come around us, your power rippling over my skin
,
you have to understand how it will affect everyone
.
”
H
is voice
was
low and seductive.
“
And while today is fuzzy
,
the only thing I keep thinking about is you
.
I need to know why and what
’
s under that coat.
”
His tone held a demanding quality that I really wasn
’
t a fan of.

Oh, he would be a nice addition to our lives.
My
s
iren told me. Great. Any mention of sex or anything even remotely lustful and she jumped in
to the mix. Just fucking great. I reminded her of her promise and she backed off while I focused on Harris.

“
I
’
m sorry for the power flare,
”
I whispered, focusing on
my power
and pulling it back.
“
But the rest you will just have to deal with because I don
’
t answer to you, Agent Harris.
”

“
Right, shit, sorry, Chief,
”
he mumbled, shaking his head. Yeah, I really,
really
needed to watch this power thing, especially around other shifters.

“
You good now?
”
I asked, giving him a moment as we stood on the porch with my hand on the front door knob.

“
Yeah, I got this.
”
He nodded and we went inside. The house was nothing fancy, a small Georgian that had two bedrooms and probably only one bath. I followed the scent of blood to the downstairs
,
which had been converted from a normal basement to a finished family room.

The room seemed as though it would have been a comfortable place to curl up in
under other circumstances
with its overstuffed furniture and
huge bookshelves
.

“
Give me a rundown,
”
I
ordered
my team after making my way down the
slightly slippery
wooden
stairs
very carefully
. Fucking heels.

I needed to start carrying real clothes when I went out in case this happened again. Being a Special Agent in Charge for the normal FBI didn
’
t have me being called in at all ho
urs like a Police
Detective
. But the MNST
R squad was different since federal law didn
’
t allow local police
to
handle crimes of supernatural beings since none of them were trained for it. I needed to learn how to roll with the changes.

“
Kevin Michaels, forty-nine years old, divorced, father of one
.
A
nd while ex-wife
alibis
out
,
she actually laughed and said she was glad he was dead.
”
Cooper rolled his eyes at that pa
rt.
“
Claw marks look the same
,
bu
t the lab guys will take another cast.
”

He moved closer to me then as I stepped up by the body and the sheet was pulled back for me.
I was met with the gruesome, bloody sight of the man
’
s mangled body, the pain he had felt upon death preserved on his ashen face.

“
Gold sword found in his hand and there
’
s a bunch of religious stuff all over the house.
”

“
Wait, Kevin Michaels, the preacher or whatever?
”
I asked
,
glancing down at the body. There was too much blood to tell
,
but it kinda looked like him.
“
The nut-job who swears Jesus told him that vamps and all paranormals had no souls and would burn in hell?
”

“
Yup, that
’
s the guy. So I
’
m sure there
’
s probably a long list of people who want him dead,
”
Harris answered.
“
We bagged the sword and got it out of here before too many people asked questions about it
.
B
ut how did this guy know?
”

“
Forced entry? I doubt he
’
d invite his killer in if it was a shifter, but he did have enough time to grab a weapon. So he probably heard the break
-
in.
”
I wanted them to hear my thought process, even if it was basic or boring just so they got a feel for all of this.

“
Yes,
the
back sliding door was practically ripped off the tracks,
”
Davis answered for me.
“
The sword had blood on it
,
so we
’
re making sure every sp
l
atter and drop is tested to see if we
’
ve got anything different than our vic. Hopefully we can get enough to at least tell us if we
’
ve got wolf or cat or what.
”

I nodded
,
and
,
after having checked out the body, I gestured for Remington to move the sheet back
over the man
. I glanced around the room, wondering what felt off to me. It was almost as if someone was watching me and not just one of my team to see how I handled the scene. I moved along the massive bookshelves and found my answer.

Right between the two
shelves
, no more than a few centimeters between where they were touching, a brief change in the lighting stopped me. I realized it was because I hadn
’
t just seen the lights from the ceiling but some
kind of light was being emitted from
behind the shelf
and
was coming out from a small crack. I slid my hands along one bookshelf and then another, smiling when I heard a small click of a latch. I pulled the bookcase toward me.

“
Oh, I love paranoid
people
.
”
I chuckled when the secret doorway opened to show a small surveillance room. It was complete with several monitors recording the many hidden cameras around the house, inside and out.
“
Jennings, get whatever help you need to review this right away. All the cameras seem to be working
,
so I doubt the killer knew about them. All we need is one clean shot of him.
”

I could feel my team
’
s excitement at the break in the case
as they all eagerly gathered to take a closer look at the room I had discovered
. I outlined a few more things
that needed
to get done before heading back up the stairs. Jennings and the techies were on the tapes while Davis was staying to oversee the lab guys and locals. The rest of us were heading home to catch some sleep until Jennings came up with a face for us. Then we
’
d all be back down at the office.

By the time I was back to my car
,
my feet hurt so bad from the heels I wanted to cry and throw them in the Chicago River. I undid my coat and unlocked the door.
It really was too warm tonight to be wearing a coat. Then
I heard a gasp as I opened it, glancing up to see Harris standing there.

He was looking at me as if he
’
d just found dinner. I glanced down and swore. When I had turned to open the door
,
my coat had pulled to the side so he could see the entire left side of my now uncovered body. The dress didn
’
t cover shit.

“
Harris, would you like to take a picture or something?
”
I asked, annoyance clear in my tone at the way he just stood there and gaped
without saying a single word
. You
would
think he
’
d never seen a woman dressed in club attire. He moved around the door and crow
d
ed me until my butt was against the car
, the coolness of the metal becoming apparent with only the thin material of my dress
and jacket
providing a barrier
.
“
Harris?
”

“
I knew you
’
d be just a beautiful on the outside as you are on the inside,
”
he whispered,
finally tearing his gaze away from my body and
meeting my eyes.
“
But suits or running shorts just don
’
t show the potential as
much as
this dress does.
”