Shifty Magic (4 page)

Which was why my unrepentant, insanely
fluffy tabby cat sprawled comfortably in the corner of my desk on
top of a pile of papers. She'd showed up early that morning at my
apartment looking satisfied with herself and was now sleeping it
off. I felt a little jealous. It had been a long time since I'd had
been able to blow off steam and have some fun. Brat.

I scrolled through the messages that had
collected in my Inbox and cautiously took another sip of coffee
from my Mickey Mouse head mug. I'd found my office coffee maker at
a garage sale, and the coffee from it never failed to scald the
hell out of the roof of my mouth. But since coffee from a
freeze-dried tablet held no appeal for me, I was glad to have it.
In fact, I'd spent another six months finding a second one for my
apartment.

As I deleted one message after another,
frustration skulked along my nerves. Nothing but a bunch of junk
and one request to spy on a cheating husband. I'd had high hopes
when I graduated high school and started my own business. They'd
soared even higher after the case with Cooper and the resulting
flurry of work. Then, after a few months everyone forgot, and I was
back to nothing.

I eyed Wizard looking so comfortable on the
stack of printed wanted posters. I was getting desperate enough to
pull them out from under her, even at the risk of suffering her
displeasure. Lucky for me, I was saved from such a dangerous act by
the dull thump of someone's knuckles on the other side of my door.
Wizard and I looked up in surprise.

Resting my right hand on my gun, I poked the
red button of the door's remote with my left index finger. My
muscles tightened for action as the thick metal barrier swung
ponderously open with a long-suffering hiss of hydraulics.

Cooper's curious gaze swept over me and
around the room. Wizard's attention swept over Cooper. When the two
of them locked eyes, the Were tensed and the cat started purring.
Wizard rose to her feet and arched her back in a luxurious stretch,
her focused attention never leaving the Were.

He was dressed for work, which in the FBI
world meant black slacks and shoes, crisp white dress shirt, black
jacket and a tie. The tie was bright yellow with a picture of Bugs
Bunny on it.

He narrowed his luminous silver-green gaze
on my cat, and then landed it back on me. "You should check your
video readout before opening the door," he said with that kind of
authoritative sternness that inspired people like me to do the
opposite.

I frowned at him. "What do you want?"

"To hire you." He eyed the cat warily. "But
first I need your alibi."

"It's too early for alibis," I said, taking
a sip of coffee to cover my surprise. As far as I knew, I hadn't
done anything obviously illegal. At least, not lately.

He glided into my office in that graceful,
menacing way Weres had, and I buzzed the door closed. Despite
looking barely old enough to buy a beer, Cooper radiated energy and
purpose like the sun did heat. As the door clicked shut, he filled
the space making the bread-box size of my office feel more like a
matchbox.

His expression sobered as he eased himself
gingerly onto one of the spindly folding chairs. Purring like a
race car without a muffler, Wizard leaped from the pile of notices
and landed lightly in his lap. His jaw hardened, and Cooper pulled
back like people do when a particularly sticky child that isn't
theirs toddles up and offers a sample of her lollypop. Did I
mention my cat loved him and the feeling wasn't mutual?

He eyed my cat with alarm as she rubbed her
cheek against his chest. You'd think he'd be used to that kind of
thing from over-excited females. "Where were you last night between
the hours of eleven and one?" His hand hovered over the animal's
back like he wanted to give her a good shove but was trying to be
polite.

I flicked open the strap that secured my gun
in its holster, then laced my fingers together on the top of the
desk. Something in his tone had sent a spike of alarm shooting up
my spine. Preparing for the worst while giving the impression of
harmlessness seemed like a good direction to take.

"After the station, I went to Ally's Deli
and then Waycorp Market on Crow Street. I buzzed into my apartment
and collapsed in bed just before midnight."

"I hope you can prove that."

I gave him a steady look. "Why are we having
this conversation, Agent Daine? Am I being accused of
something?"

Irritation tightened his mouth, and he
tentatively pushed Wizard's shoulder with one finger. She was
having none of it. In fact, she looked pretty blissed out from
where I was sitting

"Can you get this off of me?" he asked.

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

His annoyance redirected to me as he
gingerly lifted his high-tech iC out of his shirt pocket and
touched the screen. "Call Ally's and Waycorp," he said into the
unit. "See if anyone remembers Ms. Kittner during the times in
question."

"Acknowledged," a disembodied voice said
from the iC.

I wondered if anyone had even noticed me at
the deli and hoped the old computer system at the grocery had been
working last night. If not, I'd have to make a run for it. Federal
prison wasn't my style.

Wizard started kneading Cooper's crotch and
his repulsion got the better of him. While he scooped up the cat to
drop her on the floor, I contemplated the strap of his shoulder
holster that the movement revealed. If we went for our weapons, how
would it play out?

We were both fast, but being a Were, he was
just a little faster. If my luck held and I managed to get to my
gun first, I'd have to fire quickly and repeatedly to take him down
long enough to get away. With enough bullets, I could kill him and
assure my escape, but I wouldn't. Cooper was a decent guy and only
doing his job. Besides, I wouldn't want to add murder to whatever
the FBI suspected I'd done.

"Ally's checks from 10:15 to 11:00, credit
unit used again at Waycorp's at 11:22. Apartment log shows 11:51
entry with no exit. Based on apartment location, ascertain
impossible for suspect to have been present at time of incident.
She's clear," said the dispatcher.

Cooper's shoulders relaxed, or maybe I
imagined it. I didn't imagine the thought-melting grin he gave me
though. "Thanks, Tim," he said into the iC. Thumbing off the unit,
he pocketed it.

I raised a brow. "Does this mean I'm not
suspected of...whatever's going on?"

"The FBI would like to hire you, Ms.
Addison, if that would be agreeable. You've proved valuable to us
in the past, and we believe you will be in this case as well."

I kept my surprise to myself. "My rates have
gone up since last year." Why not, right? The FBI had deep
pockets.

"You'll get the standard fee for outsourced
contractors."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Without more
info, I'll pass."

He settled back in his chair and watched my
face with sharp, intelligent eyes. "A vamp with your DNA between
his teeth was found drained in an alley between the Magical Gardens
apartment building and the Bone and Bat pub. The bartender found
the body when he opened up this morning."

"Sounds like a Church hit."

"No sign of a struggle, no indication of
more than one assailant, and the body was left where the sun
wouldn't reach it."

"And you thought I could pull something like
that off? Thanks for the compliment."

He never moved his gaze from my face, but
the fingers of his right hand twitched. "I suspect you have...tools
available to you that might make it feasible."

I decided to ignore the implication that he
knew about my private formulas. As long as he wasn't arresting me,
I was happy to play ignorant. "Still sounds like the work of the
Church to me."

"They officially deny it."

Now that was interesting. I leaned forward.
"It's not like them to be shy about their social policies."

"This victim's not the first," Cooper said.
"I was tracking two more cases like it in New York last month when
the trail went cold."

"I don't know why you're asking me to
help."

His eyes flared with a sudden heat that was
quickly dampened. "When I called the Church requesting information,
they refused to speak to anyone but the human bounty hunter,
Addison Kittner. Direct quote."

A squirmy, run-away-fast feeling crept up my
spine. "Not comforting."

"I'm on my way to the crime scene." Wizard
wove in and out of his legs, and he tried subtly pushing her away
with his foot. "Come with me. Decide when you get there if you want
in."

I studied him warily. We had history—a
potentially dangerous history if I wanted to keep my sanity. But we
worked well together professionally, and I could use the income. On
the other hand, giving the Church any kind of help rubbed me the
wrong way.

I turned back to the string of moronic
messages littering my computer screen. "Sorry. I'm swamped."

He took a deep breath and I glanced at him.
A smile flickered at the corner of his full, frighteningly tempting
mouth. "You're lying," he said.

I hardened my gaze. Stupid Were sense of
smell. "I don't work with institutions anymore, especially the FBI.
Too confining."

"For some reason the vamps find you
fascinating. We need you on the case."

"Fascinated today, putting a hit out on you
tomorrow. They're like cats. The more you dislike them, the more
they flock around. Give them a little attention and they scratch
you bloody."

"We'll double your fee."

I raised a brow and considered the appeal of
buying groceries every week. I might even be able to install a
cheap security intercom outside my office door. Too bad it was
Cooper offering.

Since when had I become too proud to eat
regularly? Yikes.

"I'll agree to take a look at the body—and
charge you for my time. After that, no promises," I said, reminding
myself that I worked for me and only me. I was not selling out.

Triumph flared across his face so fast, if
I'd blinked I would have missed it. An uncomfortable tension
settled over my shoulders. I had the terrible feeling that I'd just
made some kind of fatal error in a game I had no idea how to
play.

* * *

The Magical Gardens apartments were high class and high end
compared to my neck of the woods. The building boasted nice, vinyl
siding in a soothing cream color, the entrance door was painted
white to match the trim around the numerous windows, and there were
even boxes of red geraniums framing the front steps. My place had
two nice homeless men framing its stoop.

A collection of official vehicles and
personnel cluttered around the apartment building and the gray
stone pub squatting next to it made for snarled traffic. A cop was
doing her best to keep things moving, but it was an uphill battle.
Nothing like a good crime scene to go with your morning coffee, I
always say.

Cooper cruised up to the officer in his
tiny, electric government car and flashed his iC with his badge
displayed on the screen. I was glad he had enough authority to get
us straight through and heading for a parking place. I wasn't sure
I could take much more of the way his moonlight and forest scent
affected me. Between that and the almost irresistible urge to brush
back his hair where it had fallen across his forehead, I felt like
I was boxed up in some kind of torture device.

As soon as Cooper pulled his car up to the
curb across from the apartments, I shot out of it like an ax
murderer was on my tail.

A crowd of police officers, detectives, a
couple coroners and of course the FBI milled around the entrance to
the alley between the buildings looking bored. When they spotted
Cooper, two of the FBI goons broke from the mob and made a beeline
for him.

One of them was a stocky, muscular guy with
thinning brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and intelligent
dark brown eyes. He didn't radiate the aggressive confidence of the
Weres, but instead had a centered self-assurance that pegged him as
a high level practitioner. Since the attacks, government agencies
and the military made sure they kept a certain percentage of each
of the three paranormal types on their payroll.

The other agent was a woman who looked about
my age. She was five-six with a medium build, short bright orange
hair and amber-brown eyes. She moved in that sleek, restrained way
that only a Were can manage and had a thin scar running from under
her left ear to within an inch of her windpipe.

"If you'd been another five minutes, we'd
have had to let them in," the woman said as she cut in between
Coper and me and matched our pace. The other agent trailed a few
feet behind us.

"Everything the way the bartender found it?"
Cooper asked.

"Yes, sir." She gave me the once over,
cataloging my person with an unemotional professionalism. "Why is
she here?"

Cooper stopped to let the practitioner come
up beside him while he gave the woman a cool look. "Agent Stillman,
Agent Miller, let me introduce you to a consultant I've brought in,
Addison Kittner."

Agent Stillman's eyes narrowed. "She's
human. How can she possibly help?"

"Never underestimate a human," Cooper said,
a note of censure in his teasing tone.

The younger agent pressed her mouth into a
hard line and had the grace to look chagrined. How she managed to
do that with the holier-than-thou hostility radiating off of her
was a marvel.

As an orphan in the foster system, I'd
learned not to give a rat's tail what anyone thought of me. I
pointedly ignored Agent Stillman and her imaginary competition and
focused on Cooper. "I haven't agreed to help with the case. First
I'll see the body."

His disapproval of the female Were morphed
into a sparkle of amusement. He gave me a quick smile and jabbed
his thumb toward the alley. Stillman's expression compressed into
resentful lines, but I couldn't have cared less. I was bored with
the interoffice drama the minute she'd wedged herself between
Cooper and me.