Jordan Summers - [Dead World 01] (20 page)

"Hey, you can't do
that." The woman called out be
hind
her. "I said he wasn't in."

Red spun around, her gaze
bulleting on the woman.
"Where in
the hell is he?"

"Sheriff Hunter was called
out early this morning."

"To where?" Red
snapped, not meaning to be rude,
but too
freaked out to care.

The woman glanced around nervously. "I'm not at
liberty to give that information out in the
middle of a
case."

Red's gaze narrowed. "I've had very little sleep,
a
shitty morning, and I'm not the most
patient person on
a normal day. I
would appreciate it if you tell me where I can find him. I don't want to have
to call headquarters
to use the
tactical team's tracking system." The threat
slammed hard like she'd intended, even though it
was a
lie. There was no way in hell she'd contact the team.
Not until she understood what was going on.

The woman's face flushed with color and she began
fumbling through her notes. A moment later Red had the information she needed.
She hopped into her hydrogen car, directions in hand, and headed out of town.
The road into the desert stretched for miles. Red thought she and Morgan had
covered everywhere, yet she knew they'd never come this way. So why did it
look so familiar?

Morgan had been having another erotic dream, involving
the dark-haired woman
. She'd ridden
his body hard, her firm thighs gripping his sides as she rotated her hips,
grinding her wetness onto his erect shaft. Her nipples were rouge-colored and
protruded from her pale flesh like morning blooms at dawn. He'd laved and
suckled them until they'd puckered. He could still taste the sweetness on his
tongue.

It was only when he'd reached for her to pull her into
an embrace that he realized the woman riding him in his dream was Gina
Santiago. He should've known she wouldn't leave his dreams alone. Now she was
haunting his days and his nights. He'd groaned, unable to hold out any longer.
The second his tongue parted her lips the vidcom buzzed, shaking him from ;  
his slumber and the best fuck of his life.

That had been forty-five minutes
ago. Now here he
was standing over Moira
Collins' lifeless body. He hadn't even managed to grab a cup of synth-coffee
before he'd left.

Morgan glanced around the scene. Moira had suffered
like Renee Forrester and at the hands of the same individual. He didn't know
how he knew that to be true, but he did. Morgan still didn't understand why he
couldn't catch the killer's scent. It was almost as if it had been masked,
which was nearly impossible. Not many shifters had the ability, only the ones
who'd been around for a while. That narrowed the list of suspects some, but not
much.

Morgan knew he needed to get the body back to the
dissecting lab before Gina awoke and found out the news. He raised his hand to
the comlink in his ear and put another call into Jim Thornton, reminding him
once again to hurry.

Red found Morgan's vehicle parked right where his
assistant said
he would be
.
She killed the engine and jumped out. Scanning the area, she didn't immediately
spot Morgan. Where was he? She was about to hike down the road when she heard
rustling coming from the other side of a nearby hill.

Thank God,
she
thought. He really was alive.

As she crested the ridge of dirt, the odor of death
hit Red in the face, nearly toppling her backward. Her relief plummeted. Red's
empty stomach gurgled and her mouth watered. She swallowed hard to keep from
vomiting again.

Morgan stood at the bottom of the hill, a woman's body
lying at his feet.
There's been another one.
The thought entered her
head before Red could stop it. After a couple of deep breaths, she carefully
picked her way down the steep incline.

Morgan looked up as she neared. "It didn't take
you long to find her," he said, his voice weary.

Red stared at him for a moment.
He looked as if he
hadn't gotten much
sleep cither. She should be mad, but all she could feel was grateful. "I
wasn't looking for
her,"
she said.

Morgan's gut clenched at Gina's words.
Even with
death
staring him in the face, he still wanted her. Like a smoke stick addict, he
craved her. He couldn't seem
to get enough of her and he hadn't even
touched her yet.

He glanced down at the body at his feet. Morgan had
hoped to have the scene cleaned up before Gina arose. He should've known that
would never happen. Nothing about this woman came easy, which was probably why
he found her so irresistible.

Morgan shifted, trying to catch her scent over the
smell of death. He frowned and inhaled again. His heart thudded as the odor of
blood hit him. And not just any blood—Moira's blood.

His veins filled with ice,
leaving him shaken. There
had to be some
mistake. Perhaps the body tainted his senses. He sniffed. The scent was more
subtle now,
but there nonetheless. Morgan
stilled, his mind in tur
moil.

How had Gina gotten Moira's blood on her?

"Do
you know who she is?" Red covered the remaining
feet
separating her from the body.

Morgan's gold eyes sparked a second before dim
ming. "Her name is Moira Collins. From the
evidence
I've gathered it appears she fell down the hill and broke her
leg. Unfortunately, for Moira, she couldn't
move
when the animals closed in to feed."

Red grimaced as she took in the
gruesome scene.
Blood
was scattered for at least fifteen feet. Bite marks
of various sizes covered the
naked body. The woman's
lifeless eyes stared in horror at the sky. "Animals you
say?" she asked, circling wide to study the
trampled ground.

"Yes, that's what I
said," he snapped, drawing her attention away from the body. "When I
arrived there
were
still scavengers feeding upon her. I had to fire a
shot to scare them away so I
could approach the body."

Red took a deep breath and let it out. Why was he
suddenly so mad? She dismissed it and decided to
fo
cus on the disturbance around Moira. "If it was a pack of
animals, then how come there's only one set of large prints?" She pointed
to the ground. "For that matter, why are her teeth missing? Animals tend
to like bone that contains a fair amount of marrow. I have never seen one
remove teeth."

"You'll eat anything, if you're hungry
enough," Morgan barked. "I'm not an expert in animal behavior. We'll
know more when we get her back to the dissecting lab."

Red flinched, but didn't back away from the lash of Morgan's
temper. Something about Moira and this place seemed familiar. The blood on her
shirt came back in a rush. What if? Was it even possible?

She blanched, looking at the prints and then down at
her feet. Red felt the color drain from her face a second before her body
swayed.

Morgan reached out to steady her, his fingers gently
clutching her elbow. His warmth crept into her body despite the clothing
between them. "Are you okay?" he asked. "You look ..." His
voice trailed off and he released her suddenly as if he couldn't stand to touch
her. "The scene's pretty bad. You don't have to stay."

"I'm fine," she said, except she wasn't. She
glanced down at Moira. She didn't know this woman. would swear she'd never seen
her before. But some dark place inside of her recognized this scene. She'd been
here before, whether she could recall the events or not.

She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Have you
called it in?"

Morgan nodded. "Jim Thornton will be here any
minute. I suppose you'll call in the tactical team now."

"No." She jerked her head in dissent.
"I don't think that will be necessary unless the evidence contradicts
your theory." That was the last thing she wanted. They'd strip her of her
rank and assign her to desk duty—or worse yet, execute her for murder.

He eyed her cautiously, but Red also noticed the hope
he'd been unable to hide, lingering in his gaze. "Does that mean you trust
me to find the truth?"

Red nodded. She couldn't explain it, but for some
reason she did trust Morgan. On a gut level, Red
real
ized that he was a good man. She refused to acknowledge what else
her gut was telling her.

"What do you plan to do, if you don't mind me
asking?" he asked softly.

Red knew she couldn't leave now. Not without
knowing what really happened, no matter how frightening
it turned out to be. She looked at Morgan, meet
ing his cool amber gaze. She'd have to face what was happening between
them, too. No way could she ig
nore
him, if she stayed in town. Her heart picked up a
notch at the multitude
of possibilities.

"It looks like I'll be extending my leave."

chapter
eleven

Jim Thornton arrived ten minutes later dressed in his
rumpled gray lab coat. His disheveled red hair poked out in all directions as
if he'd just gotten out of bed, which was probably the case. It was still too
early for most people to start their day.

He squinted against the bright morning sun and
swiped a beefy hand across his damp forehead,
leav
ing a streak of sweat glistening on his skin before
glancing their way. The surprise on his face upon
see
ing Red was quickly masked as he
shot a wary glance
at Morgan.

Red watched Morgan frown, but he
didn't say any
thing.

"Not exactly what I like to find first thing in
the morning," Jim said, pressing a button on the small brown box he
carried. There was a ten-second buzz, then a biobag popped out and began to
expand like a portable life raft.

Red watched the clear bag grow larger and larger until
it equaled the size of the woman sprawled on the ground.

"Looks like an animal attack," Jim said
absently as he pulled on thick rubber gloves.

"We thought that was the
case, but we're not posi
tive," Red
replied, before the sheriff could.

The crease in Morgan's brow deepened. "What took
you so long?" he asked. "I had to call twice."

"I got here as soon as I could. I was out doing
my normal morning boundary rounds on the other side of the republic, when I
received the call. I triggered several speed trackers in my rush to get here.
I'm sure your office has already received copies in order to issue the fines."
His lips thinned as he peered down at Moira's body. "Sorry I couldn't get
here sooner," he said, shooting a glance at Red.

She wasn't sure what Jim was referring to since his
presence wouldn't have changed what happened to
Moira Collins. Her gut knotted. Did they want to keep
her death
a secret? The thought didn't sit well with
her,
even though for now, she wanted the same thing. Red was the last tactical team
member anyone would
suspect of skirting the law. Other team members considered
her hard-nosed, completely unbendable. She
may
not always listen to orders, but she respected the
law. Red laughed to
herself at how far she'd fallen from that assessment.

With the biobag fully inflated, Jim hit another button.
The bag flipped, encasing Moira's body like a mummy inside a sarcophagus, then
with a whoosh of air, slowly began to rise off the ground. "I'll get her
back to the lab where I can do a full examination on her. I'm sure I'll find
whatever evidence has been left behind."

Red looked at Morgan. He nodded to Jim.

"I'm going to stick around here for a while
longer. I haven't finished surveying the scene," Morgan said.

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to tag along with
Jim. I've heard stories, but I have never
seen the work
that goes on inside a dissecting lab," she said.

Morgan couldn't hide his surprise. He'd obviously
expected her to stay and help. Normally, she would have, but not today.

Jim's, eyes bulged as if his pants had suddenly
squeezed his privates. He grabbed a rag from his pocket and wiped his sweaty
brow, then glanced at Morgan, silently asking permission. Red thought it was
odd, but decided to wait for the sheriff's response.

"I thought you'd want to stick around and investigate
the scene further. Make sure that I hadn't missed anything," Morgan said.

Red forced a smile. She needed to get back to the
lab and get the blood on her shirt analyzed—not
that she wasn't enjoying Morgan's surprise. "I figured you
could
handle it."