Bad Cop (Entangled Covet) (12 page)

Chapter Sixteen

Alice was grateful her car had been ready this morning because she needed a hiding place. She must’ve been in the parking lot of Zach’s care home for an hour, but she still couldn’t face heading back to her empty apartment with his things waiting for her to sift through.

He was gone.

Benning had been like a rock, though his pain was plain to see. How she’d condemned him all these years over a lie she’d clung to like a beacon of light and justice. Now it seemed more like a weight dragging her through six years of misery. Every time she thought her tears had run out, they rose again to blur her vision.

She cradled her phone, her fingers itching to dial Ian’s number. He was probably asleep, no matter what he’d said. The sun was hard for a vampire to fight, but that wasn’t really why she hesitated to call. She’d begun to rely on him too much. He was in her life in a transient capacity. Eventually, the investigation would close, and she’d go back to her day shift and never see him again.

Just because she’d learned the truth about Zach didn’t mean she’d changed her mind about the way Ian enforced justice. If anything, it’d made her convictions stronger. If Zach had been doing the right thing, he would be with her now, not lying cold on a gurney waiting to be cremated and buried.

A lump formed in her throat. That could be Ian someday. He’d come so close to death once because of his impetuous decisions. If Ander’s men had wanted to kill him, it would have been so very easy for them. All he had to do was keep on the same track. She wouldn’t stick around to watch it. Couldn’t.

So she’d put up her barriers. Nothing said off-limits like the
friend
card, though after her tryst with him, his friend card could go straight through the shredder and into the furnace. No man would ever measure up to what he’d done to her. Her body still ached with the most sensuous pain and in the most intimate places.

Her passenger door swung open. She flinched and then recoiled against her door. Revenant settled into the seat beside her, peeling his cloak and hood away to partially reveal his skeletal appearance. He’d jerked her purse from her hands before she could reach any weapon from inside.

“Now, don’t be frightened, agent.” His voice was extraordinarily deep. The red of his eyes stood out in the midst of his black-and-gray tattoo coloring, making him appear ghoulish rather than vampiric.

Sure
.
Because you’re not scary at all.
She’d never broken a sweat so fast in her life, and she couldn’t find her voice at first.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” Her words were only moderately shaky. She glanced around the parking lot. It was empty of onlookers, not that anyone could get to her fast enough if Revenant intended to do harm.

“I’m here to right a grave injustice.” Cradling her purse in his lap as if their conversation were normal, he sat calmly. “I’ve heard you’re working with Killian McCready on a case.”

“That’s right. It’s no secret.”

“He, among others, tried to kill me last night.”

Her eyes flew wide. “You’re wanted for questioning on this case. Are you turning yourself in?”

“He wasn’t trying to
question
me, human.” Revenant’s bitter sarcasm implied her ignorance and made her bristle in spite of her warp-speed pulse. “He was trying to kill me. He’s not well known for questioning suspects.”

Not liking his tone one bit, she frowned. “What does that mean?”

“Why don’t you ask Killian how Hesperos died? How
did
the Ancient
Dominus
end up chained to a chair while he burned?” His grinning-skull smile unnerved her, making her stomach tightened. “No, agent, I don’t believe I’ll be turning myself in as long as Killian is involved with this investigation. I prefer living to see another twilight.”

“Aren’t you taking a risk being here in the light?” The words came out fast, but she could care less. He wouldn’t murder her if he was talking.
Hopefully
. But it didn’t sound as if murder was his intent, though her frayed nerves didn’t know the difference.

“Daylight would never stand in a Tracker’s way.” He grinned again, his fangs flashing before he secured the edges of his cloak and brought the hood up to obscure his face. “You get rid of Killian, and I might consider answering your questions.”

Swinging out of her rust bucket, he melted into the shrubbery bordering the parking lot. She locked her doors and rolled up her window. Hands shaking, she buckled up and then started the car. That’d teach her to park in the shade again. Even in the shade, the stray sunlight had to have hurt Revenant. What he’d done was bold, maybe even an act of desperation.

She didn’t want to jump to conclusions, didn’t want to believe Revenant’s accusations about Ian. Would rather believe the circus freak was crazy, but she’d noticed Ian holding something back from her about that old case, something important. Was this what he’d been hiding? The worst part was knowing without a doubt Ian could be capable of such a horrific act of violent lawlessness. If Revenant was right, she would have to do something about it, but even the thought made her nauseous.

After the encounter with the fugitive Tracker, going home to sleep wasn’t a possibility, not unless she drugged herself. She headed to VLO headquarters where she’d be most likely to find answers. Few people lingered in the office this late in the afternoon, and for once, she welcomed the semisolitude.

“‘Sup, stranger?” Piper asked when she caught sight of Alice.

“I’m surprised you’re still here.”

“I told you I don’t know how you kept up. It’s like you have elves or something.”

“There’s not that much work.”

Piper snorted. “What brings you in early?”

“Research.”

Spinning in her chair, she faced Alice. “Spill it. Something’s wrong.”

She sank into the seat in front of the desk. “Piper…” She couldn’t continue. Tears threatened to fall again, and her lower lip trembled.

Piper rose from her seat in an instant and came around the desk to hug her. “What did that sexy Irish leech do to you?”

“Nothing,” Alice mumbled against her friend’s blazer. “Zach died today.”

Loving arms tightened around her. “I’m so sorry. Honey, you shouldn’t be here working.”

“I know.” Alice sniffled and collected herself, swiping a finger under each eye to fix the smudges she knew were there. “I have some research to do, though. It can’t wait.”

Piper perched on the desk. “I’ll help.”

“No.” At her friend’s skeptical expression, she sighed. “I need some
me
time. You don’t need to stay. It’s not like I didn’t know this was a possibility someday.”

“Doesn’t make it hurt less.”

She sent Piper a tight smile. “No, it doesn’t.”

“I’m a phone call away if you need me. Have you called Val yet?” She answered herself with a shake of her head. “Of course not. You’re not alone, you know. I’ll talk to her if you want, but expect her to call.”

“I might answer just so I can hang up on her.”

“Still mad, huh?” Her friend’s shoulders shook with muffled laughter. “By the way, ignore my e-mail about Glenn. You don’t need to deal with his crap about Graham tonight.”

“I might have a solution for that anyway. I’m trying to get him into the Trackers.”

Piper gaped at her. “That’s not possible.”

“Why not?”

“Sweetie, there’s only one way into the Trackers, and it’s not exactly ethical by our standards.”

Alice sat back in her seat and crossed her arms. “First, how do you know about this and second, how does someone get in?”

“My mom told me. She dated a Tracker once, if you could call it dating. Talk about creepy.” She shuddered dramatically. Alice snapped in front of her. “Oh, yeah. It takes a fight to the death with a Tracker. There are a set number of them. To get in, someone would have to kill one of them off.”

Horror struck Alice silent. That couldn’t be. There had to be another way. If that was the only way, Ian wouldn’t have told her he could try to get Graham in. But then, he’d also mentioned he’d have to do some shady dealings. Did that include killing off one of his own? She couldn’t imagine him doing anything like that.

Revenant’s allegations echoed in her thoughts. If Ian could commit the murder of a man without proof of guilt, perhaps he could kill one of his fellow Trackers. He’d had to kill a Tracker to become one if Piper’s mom had the story straight. He had tried to kill Revenant according to the walking skeleton’s version of events. Revenant’s death would have been incredibly convenient, given Ian’s intent to get Graham into the Tracker ranks.
Oh, God
.

“I don’t know him at all.” Alice hid her face in her hands. “Ian’s a bad cop, Piper, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

Piper rubbed Alice’s stooped shoulders. “You don’t know that. Mom could be wrong. You should talk to him first before making assumptions.”

She sat up to meet Piper’s eyes. “I think he may have murdered a suspect.”

Piper’s mouth opened, closed, and then opened. “Well, then. That would change things.”

“You think?”

“Talk to him first anyway.” Piper cocked her head. “Will it be safe? Do you need me to call in security?”

“No.” She sagged in her chair. “And I don’t think they’d be very effective against a Tracker.”

“They would if you had enough of them, but if you think it’ll be okay—”

“It will.”

With Piper adequately assured, Alice stood and hugged her friend again before pushing her pointedly toward the elevators. She breathed a sigh of relief once Piper disappeared behind the sliding doors. She loved her friend, but she needed to be alone. As luck would have it, the rest of the staff on her floor had already made their escape from the office while she’d talked to Piper.

She shut herself into her office and spent the next couple of hours searching every database and article she could find on the Infancy case. There were no conclusive details on the fire that took Hesperos’s life. Without the actual report Ian had promised to send her, she had no information. Frankly, she wasn’t sure it would contain the truth.

The fact remained that nothing would come of her research mission. If Ian had murdered Hesperos, he’d be detained. Then, according to agreements with the
Immortalis
, he’d be handed immediately over to the Trackers. The very rule she’d counted on to save Graham would be the one to get Ian off the hook without consequence.

Her morning coffee threatened to come back up. She swallowed hard and dropped her head onto her crossed arms. She’d been falling fast for Ian. He was sweet and strong and funny. He’d made her laugh and lifted her spirits like no other man. But he was a liar and a murderer, a man who would use his position to kill. She could never live with that. She
would
never live with that. Whatever had been building between them was over.

Chapter Seventeen

After the day’s events, Ian expected Alice to be at home, but her office light radiated from her window. He headed for her door, though a viselike tension gripped him. She hadn’t called him. As he’d expected, he hadn’t been able to sleep knowing what hell she’d be going through that morning. At the time, he’d cursed vampirism in general for keeping him from her side. Now, he wondered if she would have cared if he’d been there, if it would have made any difference to her. She’d made perfectly clear she didn’t need him.

Alice didn’t notice him enter. Her head rested on her desk, and she was fast asleep. A starburst of warmth flashed through him. She was so very beautiful with her dark curls forming a curtain of stark contrast to her peachy skin and fuzzy, pale yellow sweater. He swept a finger along her long, thick lashes and down the softness of her cheek. Not even a flicker of movement. She had to be exhausted. He bent and brushed his lips across her temple.

“Ian?” Her sleepy rasp hooked him in the gut.

“Yeah.” Drawing back, he smiled. “I thought about you all day.”

Her expression softened, but then she sat up and traded the softness for something more guarded. As she motioned for him to sit across the desk from her, his tension ramped up until his spine ached with it.

“Was there another murder?”

“No.” She averted her eyes and then got up to make coffee. Her hands were shaking as she loaded the filter.

“Alice, talk to me.”

“Where did you go last night, Ian?”

He frowned. “I told you where I was going.”

“I want to know what happened.” She met his gaze finally. Her forehead creased and her lips tightened, a determined anger radiating from her. He racked his brain for a reason why she’d be angry with him but came up empty-handed.

“Dec and Ezra tracked Revenant to a rave. I met them there, and we pursued him, but he slipped away from us. There were too many civilians about.”

“That’s it?”

“What more would there be?”

“You didn’t try to kill him?”

He laughed at first but sobered when her expression grew darker. “We were trying to catch him for answers. Killing him would be pointless. We’d never find out who he’s working with.”

Doubt flickered across her face. “Did you shoot at him?”

“Once we were clear of the building, yes.”

Her hands slid to her hips. “Ian, shooting at him constitutes trying to kill him.”

“No, it doesn’t. They weren’t fatal shots to a vampire.”

“Of course they weren’t fatal. If they were, he couldn’t have paid me a visit today.”

“He
what
?” Ian shot out of his seat. “You saw him? Why the fuck didn’t you call me?”

She stood right up to him, a mask of fury firmly in place. “He was gone before you could have done anything about it. And it didn’t matter because he was only there to give me information I should have gotten from you.”

“What information?”

“About the Infancy case. You lied to me about it.”

“I never lied to you.”

“By omission. It’s the same thing.”

His blood pressure spiked and a red film hazed the edges of his vision. “I told you what was relevant. Anything beyond that is not your business.”

Her eyebrows rose, and he got the sense he’d waved a bright cloak in front of a pissed-off bull. “Not my business? Why don’t you tell me about Hesperos? How did he die?”

“I already told you. He died in a fire.”

“Sure. You told me that, but how did the fire start? How was he trapped in it?”

Her questions kicked the door down on his conscience in one sharp strike, the events of that long-ago night shoved in front of his face once again. It didn’t matter what crimes Hes had committed to deserve that deadly fate. Ian would never rid himself of what he’d done to Hesperos. Never.

“Answer me, Ian. Did you kill him?” A touch of fear edged her tone but her expression gave him no leeway. If she wanted him to deny it, he’d have to disappoint her. He couldn’t entertain the idea of lying to her.

“Yes, I did.”

Her jaw went slack, her face blank. He felt as if he’d slapped her. She moved away from him, putting the desk between them. Might as well have been the Grand Canyon.

He came toward her and leaned on the desk in front of her. “Alice, he was a murderer, and he was getting away with it. He had all the right connections. He thought he was untouchable, and he was right. It had to stop.”

“But he wasn’t the murderer because the killings are still happening. What made you decide he was guilty? You were wrong.”

“I had no doubts. Not one.”

“But you did a few days ago, didn’t you?”

Inside, he cringed. A few moments of doubt had ravaged him, but thanks to Declan, those doubts had been wiped away. He’d definitely killed the right guy, though that didn’t keep him from suffering guilt at what he’d done.

“I was wrong to doubt myself. Everything was plain to see in the journal Hes kept. He detailed what he’d done to the victims.”

“And I have no way of knowing that.”

“You saw the journal in the video.”

“Yes, I saw a journal, but I don’t know what’s in it. Maybe it’s not as incriminating as you think. Maybe someone planted that journal. Maybe Hes didn’t write it. Why didn’t anyone detain Hes over what was in it?”

“It wasn’t reviewed. There was a…technicality.”

She scowled at him. “Right. Probably obtained illegally which makes your story even less credible.”

“You think I’m lying to you?” He recoiled as if her words had been a physical attack. “He confessed.”

“Of course.” Her sarcasm bit deep into him, the ragged teeth of it leaving a crater-sized wound. “And you’re the only witness to his confession made while he was under duress. I have no reason to trust you. This wouldn’t be the first time you’ve lied to me, and I’ve already seen how you bend the law to suit you. You’re trying to justify killing an innocent man.”

He’d lost his family in one swoop because of Hesperos, and she judged him for bringing justice to his loved ones, for putting an end to the murders. He should have seen this coming. He should have known she’d never understand his choices.

“I don’t want you anywhere near this case. If the
Immortalis
needs to be part of this, send a different Tracker.” She sat and flipped through files, effectively dismissing him. Then she gave him a direct, emotionless command. “Not Declan.”

“Aren’t you reporting this?”

She sighed, and then her eyes narrowed on him. “Why? You’ll use your position to get away with it, same as you do with everything else.” She turned back to her files without a care that she was breaking his heart.

“Do you
want
me to turn myself in?”

She didn’t even glance up. “Do whatever you want. I won’t know or care either way.”

He closed his eyes. He couldn’t stand the sight of her so closed off from him, so far out of his reach. The rift between them opened wider by the second, and the desolation of it ripped him open just as wide. He couldn’t change what he’d done to Hes. He had no idea what she wanted from him. To suffer? Well, he was suffering as surely as if he were broken and bleeding at her feet. But she didn’t care.

“Fuck you, Alice.” His voice had gone hoarse with the pain. Her eyes jerked up to meet his, her shock plain to see. “Hes murdered my family. I’d kill him all over again if I could. I’d kill Revenant, too, if he lifted a finger to harm you. Yes, I killed Hes. I hate that I had to do it, but it was the right thing to do no matter what you think. So fuck you and your self-righteous idealism. And just so we’re clear, Alice, the sentence for murdering a
Dominus
is execution, Tracker or not. I won’t lie about it to Izel, so do what you will. Turn it in.”

That said, he left before she could gut him further.

He walked the streets nearly an hour before he remembered he’d left his car near Alice’s building. His legs had automatically taken him toward Pioneer Square. Screw the car. He was nearly in Ezra’s neighborhood. Part of him wanted to hole up somewhere alone to drink himself into oblivion. Too bad no one had invented a way for a vampire to get drunk. He missed that aspect of humanity.

But it wasn’t in him to curl up into a ball of self-pity, and he had work to do and murderers to find. The team would help, regardless of Alice’s decision to cut him out of the case. They didn’t answer to her. As his fury lost momentum, a pulverizing ache filled his chest like an eighteen-wheeler had rolled over him. Why the fuck hadn’t he just told her the cases weren’t the same? She thought he’d killed an innocent man and lied to cover his tracks. If she’d known they were dealing with different murderers, maybe their conversation wouldn’t have ended with him in hell.

He jogged up the last set of steps and tapped the buzzer. The lock clicked open right away. Good. Ezra was home, and if Ian was lucky, they’d head out for a round of rogue hunting. Or even better—Slaver hunting. He was in the mood to take off a few heads. When the door to the penthouse loft swung open, Declan greeted him, if you could call a scowl a greeting.

“What happened to you? You look like hell.” Dec stood back to let him in. “It’s like I’m looking in a mirror.”

“Aren’t you cheerful as ever?” Ian glanced around the loft, but it was only the two of them. “Ezra gave you free rein of his loft? Has he lost his mind?”

“So he looks like roadkill, but he jokes,” Dec mumbled.

Ian settled onto one of the couches and stared expectantly at his surly partner without speaking.

With a sigh to make Eeyore green with envy, Dec sat across from him. “Ezra left to meet Alice. She got a call from Otsana with a lead on your case. Or what
was
your case. Which leads me to question why the fuck you’re here and not there.”

Ian’s body went hot and tight with something painful, a jolt through his system. Alice really had cut him out. His mind went in so many directions, he couldn’t speak. She’d called Ezra. That bit into him hardest. The two had spent time together when Val had been hospitalized after getting shot with a crossbow a few months back. And Ezra didn’t just like humans; he
loved
humans. He got touchy-feely and flirty, and the bastard could be pretty damned charming and irresistible when he wanted. He’d put his hands on her. Touch her hair. Her soft skin.

“Damn, Ian, the look on your face, I—” Dec shook his head, his expression about as somber as Ian had ever seen it. “I’m sorry. Something happened, obviously.”

“Yeah, you could say that.” Ian’s voice sounded like someone had taken sandpaper to it. “She found out about Hes.”

Dec rocked back into his seat. “Shit.”

“Don’t go overboard or anything. It’s just my life we’re talking about.”

“So she’s going to turn you in?”

Ian rubbed his hands over his face as a mass of instant exhaustion pressed down. “Worse. She’s left it up to me. Dec, if I don’t turn myself in, I’m just like every other dirty cop bucking the system. If I turn myself in…”

“You’re actually thinking about it, aren’t you? You crazy motherfucker.” Dec threw his arms out in exasperation. “Her opinion of you isn’t worth your life, Ian.”

“One of these days, Dec, you’re going to care about someone, and you’ll be surprised how far you’re willing to go for her.”

Dec leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. His eyes darkened to nearly black. “Been there,” he growled. “Done that. It doesn’t make a goddamn bit of difference what you do for her if she doesn’t care whether you live or die or whether you get treated like a fucking animal that needs to be put down.”

“Whoa, stand fast.” Ian held his hands up. “Okay, you’re right. Turning myself in might be going too far, but what was all this about? Who screwed you over, Dec?”

Dec groaned in response and shook off his moment of vitriol. “Not important. I just don’t want you jumping through flaming little hoops for someone who isn’t willing to do the same for you.”

Ian frowned, his eyes narrowing as he studied his friend. “And you’d miss me. That’s what’s really going on here.”

Almost a smile. There was a definite twitch of Dec’s lips. “What? You want a hug or something, you mick bastard?”

“If you’re not careful, I’ll call on you for that. It’s not gay if there’s no eye contact.”

“But you have such pretty—” Dec’s pocket buzzed. He flinched and then reached in for his phone. “Wait one.”

The phone conversation didn’t last long, and it didn’t bode well either from the sound of it.

“Hell, Ian. Another one of Ander’s infants went missing.”

“Was that Alice?” Ian’s pulse leaped into a seismic tumult.

“No, and you’re not going to guess who it was.”

Ian cocked an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t bet on that if I were you. Who was it?”

“That, my friend, was Kenji.”

If Ian hadn’t been sitting, he would have ended up on the floor. He never thought in a million years Kenji would lower himself to seek a conversation of any kind with a Legion. He was one of those kinds of
Dominorum
, the ones who bought into the whole lower-caste concept the Legion fought against on a daily basis. Vampires like Kenji were the entire reason the castes were in unrest. It didn’t help that the
Dominus
was an adjuvant.

With Kenji reporting the crime and Otsana calling in leads, there was only one other person on Ian’s list who could be working with Revenant.

“What are you thinking over there?” Dec asked.

Ian’s gaze met Dec’s. “The only one left on the playground.”

“Ander.”