Bitter Black Kiss (15 page)

Sean gripped her shoulder again. “He lied to you, Angel. Brody’s had the virus even longer than I have. He’s using you to get to me.”

“I’m trying to protect her, damn it!”

Sean’s laugh reverberated through the lot and bounced off the front of the building. “What? Like you protected Frank Dunn? I guess he didn’t mention that he killed his daddy, did he?”

Nicole stopped walking. Sean continued the verbal assault. “Did he tell you that he’s a private investigator? He was kicked off the police force for being dirty.”

Nicole dropped his hand and stared up at him in shock. “Is that right?”

“Please, let me explain.”

“He’s been trying to find something on me for a very long time. It makes sense that he’d pretend to be interested in you.” Sean laughed. “But he doesn’t give a damn about you, Angel. Not like I do.”

“He’s the one responsible for the BST that comes into the city,” Brody shot back. He turned to Nicole with appeal in his eyes. “Nicole, you have to understand. You wouldn’t give me the time of day before I told you about being infected. So, yes I did lie about that to get closer to you.”

Sean shook his head. “See, lies.”

“I had to protect you. I needed to know that you weren’t a part of this.” Brody reached for her but dropped his hand away at the last moment. “I never meant to hurt you.”

Nicole’s mouth fell open. She was so stupid. She let herself believe he cared. The compassion in his eyes that night on the beach, the intimacy of his touch tonight—the idea of being used, of being lied to, made her gut clench. “Involved in what?”

“I wanted to tell you everything. I was going to, tonight.”

Nicole fastened on only one detail. “Involved in what?”

“You were in Amy’s apartment. Hank Alvarez was your dealer.” His eyes broadcast his regret. “You work with Sean, what was I supposed to think?”

Nothing made sense anymore. How could she be so naïve? “Get away from me.”

Brody wasn’t finished yet. He pointed an accusatory finger at Sean. “He knew Aaron James was the one who bit you. Just like he knew the two of you were married. He’s the one who helped Aaron find you. He probably paid him to follow you around and harass you with the phone calls. Aaron’s been on Stone’s payroll for weeks.”

“I don’t know what he’s talking about.” Sean remained calm. “He admitted he lied to you once. Can’t you see the deceit? He’ll say anything to get you to trust him again.”

She didn’t know who to believe. She wanted to believe Brody, but he’d just admitted to lying. Up until now, she had believed he was honest and sincere. Now the world had tilted and threw her on her ass. She didn’t know what was real anymore.

Sean moved closer, and she backed away with wary eyes. “I want the truth, Sean. Did you pay Aaron to stalk me?”

“No, of course not.” He scrubbed a hand across his face. “I know you don't feel the same way, but I care for you. Why would I lie to you? What would I have to gain?"

Tony drew closer. Brody’s gaze danced from Nicole to Sean then back to Tony. “Don’t listen to him, Nicole, he likes to play head games.”

She gritted her teeth and turned her full attention to Brody. “And you don’t? You lied and used me. Why should I listen to anything you say?”

The look in Brody’s eyes implored her to believe him. “I care about you, Nicole.”

“You care so much that you’ll use her to get to me.” Sean shoved him backward. “You make me sick.”

Tony popped the trunk of Sean’s car and retrieved a pile of ragged clothes. He withdrew a manila folder and laid it atop the rags in his arms.

Brody’s expression darkened. “Please, Nicole, don’t let him turn you against me.”

Sean revealed a sly grin. “You left your clothing at my house after you broke in.”

Tony dropped the mess at Brody’s feet. A black and white tennis shoe slapped the pavement next to his left foot.

It all made sense now, Brody and Sean’s scratches and Tony’s gauze covered ear.

Sean straightened his tie. “Unlike you, I’m not a liar and a murderer.”

Nicole backed away. He’d broken into Sean’s house as well? Brody tried to catch her eye, but she looked away. She just wanted to leave. “Will you take me home, Sean?”

“Nicole, wait.” Brody took a step toward them. “He had folders for you and Molly too. He hired someone to look into your past. Sean knew about Aaron!”

Sean smiled. “Of course I have information on them. I have files with a general background on all my employees, Brody. But I knew nothing about Aaron. I dug deeper with you because nothing matched up. It pays to know who you have under your employ.”

Tony thrust the folder in Nicole’s general direction. He said, “So we hired someone to find out why.”

Sean wore a huge grin. “Read all about your lover. I think you’ll be shocked to see who he is and what he’s done.”

Her fingers curled around the folder despite the dread of what was inside. Tony said nothing, just stood with hands clasped in front of him. He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet.

Brody swept a hand through his hair. “Think about it, Nicole. He had information about your personal past and Molly’s. He and Amy Dahl were dating.”

Sean’s smile fell away. “That’s enough lies, Brody. Don’t come to the club and don’t let me catch you near Nicole.”

Tony delivered a surprise punch to Brody’s stomach. The air blasted from his lungs, and he bent at the waist. An elbow to his back forced him to his hands and knees. Tony hauled him up by the back of his hair and threw him against the closest car. An uppercut sent a shock of crimson from Brody’s nose.

He may have lied and used her emotions in some sick game, but Nicole couldn’t stand to watch him get beaten. “Stop it! Just let him go.”

Sean grabbed her as she moved closer to the fight. He hauled her backward by the waist. “He’s getting what he deserves.”

Brody kicked out and caught Tony in the gut. He stumbled backward, allowing Brody enough time to pounce. He delivered a couple punches to Tony’s blocky face then whacked his injured ear. Tony screamed in pain. His thick hands wrapped around Brody's throat and squeezed.

The tips of Brody’s ears were pointed and stuck out from his hair. The thin silver hoops glinted as they caught the security lights. He raked clawed fingers across Tony’s face. The bodyguard screamed and threw a hand up to protect his gouged eye. Falling to the pavement, he cupped his injured face.

A number of things happened to Nicole all at once. Bloodlust overwhelmed her. It was so great that she wanted to leap in and fight too. More than anything she wanted to bite, scratch, and kick both men until they were nothing more than a bleeding mess. The blood was exciting, almost erotic in a way. Her gaze fell upon Brody, and she wanted to do more than just fight him.

“Stop!” Pain seared through Nicole’s chest and burst out her ears. Her fingertips throbbed and pulsed with white-hot pain. She knew the nails had formed wicked claws.

She lurched forward. Brody did the same. He gripped her forearms and a growl bubbled out of his throat. Nicole pressed herself against him and nipped at his bottom lip, tasted his blood. His mouth closed over hers in an exhilarating kiss full of desire, danger, and promise.

She backed him against the nearest car. One of her legs wrapped around his hip. His hands were on her, pulling her down with him.

Nicole just registered the crunch of gravel before she was yanked backward by a rough hand. Sean gripped Brody by the back of the hair and pulled him away. Her lover was tossed over the hood of the car. He lay sprawled on the pavement. Sean seized Nicole’s shoulders with a possessive growl and hauled her toward his car.

Once inside, he pulled a liquid-filled syringe out of the glove box. He managed to grip the arm closest to him and jabbed the needle into her bicep. She palmed his face and pushed him backward, but it was too late. He already emptied the contents into her. “What is that? What did you do?”

“Wolfsbane.” He sat up and ran a hand through his hair. “It also has a sedative in it.”

She lay against the seat. A sense of calm and lethargy coursed through her. The bloodlust began to recede.

Brody scrambled to his feet and stumbled toward the car. He smacked a palm against the window and shouted. Embarrassed and confused, Nicole ducked her head and shut her eyes. She’d been such a fool to trust him and what the hell had she just done?

Sean started the car and backed away from Tony, who was still writhing on the ground. Brody was forced to move or be run over. The nose of Sean’s car would have knocked him down had he not scuttled past a parked car. Nicole searched the darkness for any sign of him. She had to know he was alright. Squinting into the darkness didn’t help. She couldn’t see Brody anywhere.

Sean sat back and watched her. “Pharm-lab supplies it in this form to hospitals and law enforcement for emergencies like this.”

The blood in her mouth was not her own. She wiped it away with the back of a hand.

"Why'd you sleep with him?" Sean asked in a casual tone, but there was a hard expression in his eyes. "I can smell him all over you. Why Brody and not me? Tell me it was just a mistake."

She told herself that she didn’t owe Sean an explanation. She’d done nothing wrong. Her stomach lurched with the memory of Brody’s arms around her. The desire that blossomed within her when his lips pressed against hers left her with gnawing guilt. The memory of how he moved inside her…

She shut her eyes against the images in her head and blurted out the first thing that came to her wounded mind. "I thought he cared."

"He fooled you, Angel."

"My exit is coming up."

“Stay the night with me, Nicole. Let me take care of you.” Sean appeared sincere, honest. “You don’t have to go through this alone.”

“No, I think it’s better if I’m alone. Please take me home, Sean.”

“I know you want to sort through what just happened, but do you think it’s a good idea? Think of Molly. Should she see you like this?”

More in control now, Nicole clenched her hands so tight that the nails bit into the flesh of her palms. “It’ll be okay. Just take me home. Now.”

There was a hard set to his jaw. “I understand.”

Chapter Thirteen

“You’re dead. Do you hear me?” Tony’s voice boomed. He slammed a fist against the hood of Brody’s car and left a dent. Blood and dirt stained his left cheek and his eyelid drooped. “I’m going to kill you, you rotten bastard!”

Brody watched him stomp through Bitter Black’s doors from two cars down. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to fight him again, he did, but tracking Nicole ranked much higher. He had to be sure she was safe. She’d been dealt a heavy blow tonight. Not to mention she almost lost control of her inner beast. He knew she hadn't been born with the condition. Had she used BST recently? She’d struggled to maintain a sense of control, but he suspected the resurgence of her sordid past coupled with his and Tony’s bloodshed had tipped her over the edge.

He ground his teeth and groaned. Nicole chose Sean. She got into his car and they drove away. Not to mention, the file Tony had given her was crammed full of his trials and tribulations. Now she’d know all he’d told her had been half-truths and outright lies.

Brody hurried toward his car. He slid into the seat and glanced at himself in the rearview mirror. A knot had already formed under his left eye. A scratch ran horizontal across his cheek and his lower lip glistened crimson. Sexuality had cloistered around Nicole like a thick cloud of perfume when she attacked him. Had Sean not pulled her away, he may very well have been torn apart. At least it would have been a pleasurable death, he mused with a bittersweet chuckle.

He drove around for an hour, mindless with worry and guilt. His cell phone buzzed and Vasquez’s name popped up on the readout.

“Where are you?” Her voice was curt and impatient.

A faster car passed him on the left. “Now’s not a good time.”

“I’m at Ira Johansen’s. How soon can you get here?” Her voice sounded strained and nasal.

“Give me ten minutes.” The Mustang blasted through a red light. He couldn’t wait to get a piece of Ira. There were a few things he’d like to discuss with the squirrelly bastard.

Ira’s modest brick bungalow came into view. The garage door was ajar, the house lit like Christmas. The coroner’s wagon and a couple cop cars were parked at the curb. Neighbors stood outside in robes and pajamas. He pulled to a stop behind Vasquez’s unmarked dark sedan and got out.

Vasquez straightened from the car she leaned against. She wound her ponytail into a severe bun atop her head.

She indicated his busted lip and the bruise beneath his eye with a wave of her fingers. “What happened to you?”

“Nothing.” The first scent of death reached him. “Ira’s dead?”

He ignored her grunt of warning and entered the garage. Ira’s body was splayed across the hood of his pride and joy, an emerald green Jaguar. His throat had been torn out, the lower half of his body eviscerated.

Brody noticed two things upon first glance: brown hair entwined in Ira’s right fist and deep scratches on the car’s hood. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had done this. The question was why.

He was no expert, but suspected Ira hadn’t been dead for any considerable length of time. In fact, a faint, familiar scent lingered in the garage. Past the oil, the blood, the bowels, and the cops milling around, Brody detected a hint of wolf. Sean had arrived in record time.

Brody experienced some guilt. Still, he hadn’t known Ira would receive the backlash of anger.

Tendrils of blood had seeped from the car hood and ran across the cement floor. Brody crossed to the chain mechanism that pulled the door up and down. Something black, perhaps fabric, was wedged between the links. He doubted the scrap was enough to stop the motor.

“Did you guys find something here?” he asked.

A uniformed cop nodded, “Yeah, a sneaker.”

Brody circled the car, trying to imagine the killer’s movement through the garage.

The cop took notice and watched with what some might call appreciation. On further observation, Brody decided it was disguised suspicion.
Great.

“What do you think?” The cop sent a timid glance in Vasquez’s direction.

“I think the attacker slipped in as Ira pulled the car inside. He might’ve thrown something up there so the door couldn’t close.” He indicated the chain with a lift of his chin.

“Why?” Vasquez clamped a hand over her nose and mouth to avoid breathing the stench of excrement and entrails.

Brody lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know, maybe whoever did it wanted an easy way out. Did the neighbors see or hear anything?”

The cop shook his head and grimaced. “The neighbors were in bed. They didn’t see anything.”

The scent of Ira’s exposed bowels proved too pungent for Vasquez. She gagged and tugged Brody’s arm until he allowed her to drag him out of the garage.

Once they were outside, in clean air, Vasquez turned angry brown eyes toward him. “Where were you tonight?”

He glanced at the bushes next to the house. They’d been trampled upon. Someone had waited for just the right moment to surprise Ira. “You’ve got to be joking.”

“Do I look like I’m kidding?” Vasquez guided him toward her car. Her nails pinched his arm. “Let’s get some coffee, huh?”

He dropped into the passenger’s seat and she slid behind the wheel. She didn’t speak until she’d pulled away from the curb and the macabre scene was in her rearview.

“Tell me you didn’t do this.” She said the few words through clenched teeth.

“Jesus, Vasquez! How could you even think that?”

She gripped the steering wheel.

“What’s going on? Talk to me.”

“His liver was gone.” Her whispered words caught on a sob. She pulled into a vacant lot and killed the lights. “Whoever did this ate his goddamned liver, Brody. There’s only one thing I can think of that would do that.”

He drew his shoulders up and looked out the side window. “Jesus, Vasquez. That doesn't mean I did it."

She stared at him in the semi-darkness. “I found something else at Ira’s—something that led me to question whether I know you or not.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” A lump of dread settled in his gut. Could tonight get any worse?

“You were in a scuffle at Sean Stone’s club tonight. You hurt the bodyguard and left in a hurry. Did Ira find something out about you that you didn’t want him to know?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Brody kept his voice neutral.

“Sean Stone gave me a call. He was concerned about his bodyguard. You roughed him up pretty good. They don’t know if he’ll see out of his left eye again.”

“Give me a break, Vasquez. You can’t be serious.”

“You weren’t scheduled to be there. The club was closed.”

This could get out of hand and fast. “Nicole asked me to bartend for Sean's party. The band they had playing upset her and she ran to the parking lot. Tony attacked me while I was with her. I had to protect myself.”

“Didn’t you see what was in his hand?”

Brody narrowed his eyes. She didn’t believe him. “What are you talking about? The hair?”

Vasquez started the car. “Did you notice what color it was?”

“Brown, so what?” The back of his scalp stung with the memory of his hair being yanked. A sense of unease crept over him. Had Sean or Tony put it in the dead man’s hand? “You can’t be serious! How the hell would I have had time to do this?”

She reached between the seat and door to withdraw a clear, zippered bag. The plastic clad evidence smacked against his chest then fell into his lap.

“Recognize it?”

“For fuck’s sake, Vasquez.” The first ripple of fear crawled down his spine. Of course, he recognized it. The black and white tennis shoe was one of the pair he’d left the night he’d broken into Sean’s house. Tony must have given only one back. His car was parked at the crime scene and he was positive they'd search it and find its match.

She glared at him. “You’d better explain and fast.”

He didn’t see her gun on her hip but knew it was where she could reach it in a hurry. “I was at Stone’s house a few nights ago.”

Vasquez slammed the car into gear, throwing gravel as she backed out. She turned the wheel with an angry twist and guided the sedan onto the road. “It was you who broke in? What the hell Brody?”

“I just need to find that link. The one clue that would prove he’s the one bringing Beast into the city.” He experienced some hesitance at admitting his misdeed. “He was supposed to be out of town. We got into a fight and I had to change quickly. The cops showed up and I ran for it. End of story.”

“You just left everything behind?”

“Yeah, I left it on the beach." He huffed with irritation. "Tony gave it back tonight."

“We found your tennis shoe in the garage, Brody. It’s what stopped the door from closing.” She sounded sickened by the idea.

“It’s a setup." Why couldn’t she understand this? Why wouldn’t she believe him? “Besides, I don’t wear shoes while in wolf form.”

She ignored his joke. "Why would they set you up?”

"I don’t know. I fucked the girl he's interested in? Or maybe because I got in his way?"

“Got in the way of what? Drug smuggling? Give it a rest.”

“That’s right, Vasquez, keep looking the other way.”

Her dark brows knit in fury. “I have enough to haul your ass in. Give me one reason why I shouldn’t.”

“You know I didn’t do this.”

She accelerated through a yellow light. A few moments later, they parked in front of Ira’s house. The coroner’s van had already taken the body away and the police cruisers were gone.

Brody reached for the door handle and Vasquez engaged the locks. “Ira had defensive wounds and we’ve taken what we could from beneath his nails. Let’s just hope none of it comes back to you. I’m cutting you a break, Brody. This is the last time I do you a favor.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, partner.”

“I’ll check your story.” She refused to look at him and stared at the dark houses instead.

He jerked the door open and threw a leg out. “Yeah, you do that.”

“Maybe you should leave town. Just get out while you still can.”

He slunk to his car and flopped inside. He cast one last look at the now dark house before he drove away.

Not for the first time, he wished he had a secret stock of wolfsbane. Right now, the wolf inside wanted to engage in a mindless hunt. It wouldn’t end well, either for him or his quarry.