Bad Cop (Entangled Covet) (10 page)

“Tattoos and vampires don’t mix. The marks heal.
That
was done before he turned.”

He made a call to Dec, giving him the update. His friend didn’t sound too surprised, but he’d never liked Revenant anyway. Neither had Ian, for that matter. Without a speck of enthusiasm, he dialed Izel. A few ear-blistering minutes later, she calmed enough to make sense. And then she hung up on him with only two words of instruction: “Find him.”

“I’m on it,” he said belatedly. He took a deep breath.

“That didn’t sound good.”

“Izel.” That would have been explanation enough if she knew Izel. The Legion Commander was one tough bitch. “She isn’t too happy with me right now. Should have kept her updated.”

“That’s all?”

“It’s enough. Izel makes it her business to know everything that happens around here. Everything.” He sank into his chair. “She says Revenant hasn’t checked in for two days.”

“Is that normal?”

“Hell, no.” Leaning back, he rubbed his eyes, hoping it would ease the headache forming behind them. “It means he’s either dead or gone rogue. Revenant’s one of our best Trackers. Why couldn’t it have been one of the grunts in Accounting?”

“What does that mean?”

“Basically? Shit just got real.”

Chapter Fourteen

Two hours had passed since Alice silenced her multiple alarms. Any minute, Ian would call, demanding to know where she was, and that was okay with her. He was easier to deal with over the phone. Maybe she should feel terrible for staying in bed. Shutting out the world and holing up under the covers in the middle of a murder investigation wasn’t in her job description. Especially after seeing the video last night. Instead of guilt, she felt…nothing. Drained of life.

She’d elected to donate Zach’s organs, and the doctors had taken him into surgery earlier that morning for some of them. The rest would be collected tomorrow after…God, she couldn’t think about it. Why did this feel so much like letting her twin die without a fight?

A knock on the outer door reached faintly to her in the bedroom. She’d swear her landlord’s elderly mother, Mrs. Roberts, had little elfin spies watching for her comings and goings. Lonely old woman. Would she end up the same, living in a dump apartment off social security and canned food distributions?

She didn’t want to face Mrs. Roberts so she pulled the covers over her head and curled back into her ball of gloom. Then she flinched when cold air hit her upper body. With a startled scream, she bolted up against her headboard.

“Shhh. You’re okay,” Ian said.

She clutched a handful of camisole at her chest. “Goddamn you, Ian!”

“What are you doing here?” He wore his worried face. Every time she saw it, her heart turned to mush. Since losing her parents in a car accident not long after Zach’s shooting, she’d been on her own with no one to lean on. No family. It had struck to her core to see his pain at losing Sean and Leah, like looking in a mirror.

“What are
you
doing here? You broke into my house.”

He sat next to her on the edge of the bed. “Seeing as you were supposed to meet me at your office an hour ago, you don’t think I might have worried over you?”

“Okay. Use a phone.” She gestured to her cell phone on the nightstand. “I don’t feel well.”

She didn’t even have the energy to protest as his eyes grazed over her scantily clad self. Only there was nothing lascivious in his eyes, but something more, something that defied description. He said nothing to her before pulling her into his arms, and she said nothing to him as she clung to him. After a moment, she leaned back.

“You’re all damp. Is it raining?”

He smiled. “From the shower. I fit my workout in before night fell.”

She pulled back further, scrunching her nose at him. “You work out?”

With mock outrage, he snorted. “You trying to say something? Do I look soft to you, then?”

Don’t ogle. Don’t ogle. Don’t you dare check him out
. Damn traitorous eyes. “Uhm, no.”

“Of course I work out.
Immortalis
don’t come with bodies like mine.” He curled his arm, pumping his bicep up in front of her. “Have to work for these guns. Care to touch ‘em?” A full-on, dimple-cheeked grin drove a lightning response through her body.

She took a heated, shaky breath and then laughed. “I can’t believe you pulled out the guns. Desperate much?”

A flash of the devil entered his eyes. “Why, yes, Miss Capshaw. I am.”

She squirmed to get free of his arm around her waist, but he held tight. “Lecherous hick.”

“That’s lecherous
Irish
hick to you, turtle.” He caught her and dragged her onto his lap. The fabric of his jeans teased her bare skin. That’s what she got for wearing itty-bitty boyshorts to bed. Her naked face and mussed bedhead couldn’t be attractive.

“You’ve been crying.”

“Nope.” Her traitorous sniffle betrayed her lie.

“Of course not.” He smoothed her hair from her face. “Want to tell me about it?”

“What about Revenant?”

“Don’t want to hear about Revenant.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “I want to hear about Alice.”

She groaned dramatically. “You go first.”

“All right.” He cleared his throat just as dramatically. “My team is tracking down the faithless bastard.”

“Team?”

“Nope. No more. It’s classified. Top Secret.” He rubbed her chin with his thumb. She continued her expectant stare. Yep, that was a definite fidget. Nice how well this worked on him. “Need to know only, turtle. The message will self-destruct.”

Slow, steady blink number one, and number twoooo, and…that did it. With a sigh, he pushed her back onto the bed and stretched his lanky body next to her with his head propped on his hand. She struggled to keep a straight face. Smug never looked good on anyone. Except maybe him.

“There are six of us,” he said. “We’ve been after a gang called Slavers, a group of humans who capture adjuvants and force them to turn humans illegally.”

She gasped. “They’ve been making deranged vampires?”

“Yes. Kade discovered them. He and Ezra got together to solve the issue. Over time, they gained a mixed group, two of us Legion Trackers—”

“You and Dec.”

“Yep. And Lucca with the FBI and a state officer named Gunner.”

“Oh, I know Guns. He called me to report the first murder.”

“
He
what
?” An ominous growl rolled from him. “That little shit.”

Her eyes widened. “It’s okay. We’re past that now.”

“Uh-huh.
We
are.”

His glower darkened, but all she could do was smile stupidly at him. Oh, and was she ever stupid. There wasn’t a side to him yet that wasn’t deliciously endearing. No man on Earth but him could pull her so effectively from her misery.

“Ian, why’s this such a big secret? The VLO can help with this. What they’re doing breaks more laws than I care to count.”

Ian’s wide shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Guess it doesn’t matter as much now that Olen and Evangeline are gone.” He played idly with her hair, spreading the strands across her pillow. “But it could cause problems between
Immortalis
and humans.”

“I don’t think it would.”

He grunted his dissent and then traced a trail down her arm. “Now you,” he said softly.

“I don’t want to.” She flopped onto her back. “Please, Ian.” That had always worked before, but not this time.

“
Please, Ian
,” he said in a falsetto. “I showed you mine.”

She rolled toward him, intent on pushing him off the bed, but his free hand delved into her hair, holding her still.

“I’ve never seen you this down.” His thumb slid softly along her jaw. “Did they take Zach off the life support?”

“Not yet, but tomorrow…” She cupped her hand over his, needing the contact. “I started to go through Zach’s things, and I found something.”

She fought the sting of tears but her vision blurred. Her breath caught on the pain that reflashed as if it hadn’t already tortured her all day. Drawing her into his arms, he waited without question for her to calm.

With a load of reluctance, Alice sat up and reached for a book on her nightstand. The dull green ledger was worn on the binding, well used. When she’d first found it, she’d been hesitant to open it, thinking it would contain Zach’s private, innermost thoughts. The stupid book hadn’t contained anything but proof Zach had hidden another life from her, one she had no hope of understanding.

She’d been the one drinking underage, sneaking out, trespassing, and getting arrested by the truancy officer.
The rotten child
. Still she never would have touched what Zach had gotten into, not then and especially not if she’d had everything the way he had.

She handed the book to Ian. He sat cross-legged and then flipped it open, studying it with a frown.

“It’s in code,” he said.

She could barely squeeze the words past her tight throat. “He was dealing drugs.”

There was no other explanation. It contained names, locations, dates, and numbers, most in a poorly disguised cipher. Ian gave a single nod, his eyes downcast at the now-closed book. He tapped it lightly against his thigh and glanced up at her.

“This doesn’t necessarily mean what you’re thinking. You said they never found the weapon.”

She dropped back onto the bed, balling her pillow under her head. “If I was wrong about this—”

“Then you were wrong about this.” He tossed the ledger onto the stand. “There’s no way you could have known.”

“I didn’t even consider the idea.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what happens when you love someone. You trust them to be honest with you. You don’t want to see their flaws.”

“All this time, I thought I knew the truth, but now I have no idea what to believe. Maybe the cop was dirty, but maybe not. I’ll never know.”

He studied her for a long, silent moment. Then his eyes narrowed.

“I’m not sure I like that look.” She pushed up onto her elbow. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m wondering if you’ve ever spoken to that officer.”

She rolled off the bed and raided her closet for clothes. “No.” For extra emphasis, she peered over her shoulder at him. “And by no, I mean
hell
no
.”

“Why not? He’s the only other person who was there.”

“I couldn’t stand the thought of listening to any of his lies.”

Cupping her shoulders, he turned her to face him. She hadn’t even heard him leave the bed. “And now?”

Now? She couldn’t even think for all the turmoil rolling through her. The cop had probably told the truth about catching Zach dealing.

“You think I owe him a chance to explain?” She turned back to her closet. “He probably doesn’t give it a second thought.”

“For one, I bet he thinks about it all the time. LEOs torment themselves over killing, even when the perp deserved it.” There was a dark bitterness in his words. After over six hundred years of life, he’d likely dealt with those feelings more than a few times. “And two, I think you owe yourself an explanation from him.”

Motionless, she stood with her sweater dangling from her cold fingers. She couldn’t deny that she’d needed answers only the officer could give her, but six years ago, his words couldn’t be trusted. Could they now?

“Can you just—” He blew out a breath. “Give me his name, and I’ll call Guns. If anyone knows where to find this guy, it’ll be him.” He rubbed heat back into her arms. “I’ll go with you.”

“Tonight?” A panicky sensation twisted her stomach.

“Tonight. Get dressed.” He turned his back and got on his cell phone. After a moment, he called over his shoulder, “The name, Alice.”

“Scott Benning.”

Shivering from nerves, she threw on her clothes. It wasn’t that she was afraid of the officer, more that she wasn’t sure of her feelings. Chaos ruled her thoughts, making her numb.

When she turned, Ian was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her.

“Did you get a nice view?” she snapped.

He grinned. “The best. You always sleep without underwear under your pajamas?”

Heat burned her cheeks. “If I hadn’t fallen asleep on top of the covers, I would have been naked. I sleep in the nude, Ian.”

He coughed. Yes, she’d definitely put thoughts into his head. “That’s, uh, good to know.” Clearing his throat, he stood and offered his arm.

“You know where we’re going?” she asked as she tucked her arm through his.

“Yeah. Guns said Benning’s a detective in Drug Enforcement. He’s teamed up a few times on assignments with Guns over the last couple years.”

“State police?”

“With Guns on Gang Intervention, makes sense they’d run into each other.”

She’d half hoped Ian wouldn’t be able to find the officer, but she should have known the odds of that would be slim. Legion Trackers were specialists in locating anyone, not just stray vampires. When they reached the lobby, he opened the door for her, and she stared at the car waiting curbside.

“Corvette.” She arched an eyebrow.

“Oh, so she thinks she knows cars now.”

“You’re talking to yourself again,” she said as she crossed to his silver beauty.

“Okay, wiseass. What kind of Corvette?”

With a contented sigh, she slid into the buttery seat. “Does it matter? It looks old.”

He only shook his head in feigned disgust. From his lingering smile, it was obvious he enjoyed showing off his collection. “Linginfelter. Zero to sixty in less than two seconds.”

“Trying to make up for something?”

“My tiny pecker. What else?”

She snorted. It definitely wasn’t tiny. He just had to make her mind go
there
.

Classic Ian distraction tactic
. It worked so well.

He got in and in no time, they arrived in front of a modest, well-lit suburban home that embodied middle-class family life, painted yellow with white trim, a white picket fence, and groomed lawn. Her nerves percolated again, but Ian’s hand covered hers where they fidgeted in her lap.

“Guns called him. He’s expecting us.” He lifted her chin. “I’m with you.”

She gathered her willpower and got out. After Ian’s knock, the few seconds for the door to open were excruciating. She might never have recognized the man who answered if she hadn’t already known who he was. He’d had dark hair and a smooth, youthful face when she’d seen pictures of him. He couldn’t have been much older than her twenty-six years, but his hair had gone gray in spots and lines bracketed his eyes and mouth.

“Detective Benning,” Ian said. His hand braced her lower back, making her realize she’d begun to back away.

“Scott,” the detective said. He motioned them in and led them to a sitting area. Though the interior was spotless, it was quite unlike the exterior. No evidence of warm family life adorned the walls. No toys cluttered the living room or the hall. No voices from other parts of the house. Instead the sparse room held a couch, a well-worn recliner, and a modest TV. A few small pictures in frames sat on the mantle of an unused fireplace, and a stack of files occupied the coffee table.

“Gunner said you’d come by. Killian, right?” Ian nodded, and then the detective sat in the chair facing her. “And Alice.” The detective said nothing else, his expression blank.

“I need to know what happened the night you shot my brother.” Shock stung beneath her skin. She didn’t expect to blurt it out like that, but out it came like a heat-seeking missile.