Up in Smoke (10 page)

“What?!” This bit of information snapped Susan’s head up like a whip. “You mean he’s a vampire?” She turned her head to look at Walter. “Are half the people in Texas vampires and did someone just forget to tell me?”

Walter chuckled as he shook his head. At least he wasn’t looking into tear filled, lost eyes anymore. This firecracker of a secretary was what he was used to. “No, although, I can see why you’d think that sometimes. I take it you had no idea that Parker was a vampire?”

She shook her head. “No…
I wonder if Joe even knew?”

“I have wondered the same thing about him when I found out he was working with Eddie. I wondered if he knew he was working with a group of rogue vampires or if he just thought that he had fallen in with the wrong crowd.” Walter stopped for a moment. “I think in light of this new information, we may want to dig some more into Eddie’s case. It still feels like we are missing something.
We already know Eddie wasn’t the head honcho of the operations.
There’s at least one other vampire that was the leader of the entire mess, and they are still very much at large.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t help but wonder about that,” Nathaniel stated to his brother. “After talking with Lucas today and Susan yesterday, it seems like Parker took off about the same time as you all busted Eddie. Only it gets better.” Nathaniel stopped and tightened his hold on Susan a bit more. “We also have reason to believe Parker was the one who
vandalized Susan’s house.”

“Tell me what you found,” Walter growled.

“There were traces of blood in the refrigerator at Parker’s house with one bag in the very back, hidden away. But I recognized the scent in the house immediately, as did Lucas.
The scent matched the lingering scent that was around Susan’s house the night it was vandalized.”

“Okay, so we have a positive ID on who vandalized Susan’s house.
Now the question is
why? Obviously, he is still in the area, even if he isn’t staying at his house. Susan, you told Ethan yesterday that Parker didn’t like you. Do you know why? Did you two ever have a fight or is there any chance that he wanted you for himself and you choose Joe instead?” Walter watched his brother’s arms wrap even more possessively around his mate. “I’m just trying to cover all angles here, so we can get to the bottom of this.”

Susan shook her head. “No, I didn’t even know Parker until after Joe and I were married. From the very first time I met him, he just leered at me and was never nice.”

“Baby, you said yesterday that Joe was not close to his family. Do you know for a fact that Joe and Parker were true brothers?” Nathaniel inquired.

“Well, no, not exactly.
That’s just how he was introduced to me and that’s
what Joe always referred to him as. Why?”

“Did Joe ever tell you any childhood stories involving Parker?” Nathaniel pressed.

“Umm…
Come to think about it, I don’t think he did. He rarely ever talked about his family. It was as if they didn’t exist, and hadn’t for a long time.”

“Okay then.
Now, dear brother,
do you think you can stop overreacting toward your mate and scaring the shit out of her? And, Susan, you are not leaving. Got it? I’ll throw your numbskull of a mate out on his ear before I see you leave us,” Walter stated in his ‘don’t bother to argue with me, I’ll just override you’ voice.

She smiled at her employer. She had no intention of arguing with him. She loved being part of the team and she loved the fact her boss considered her an asset that he didn’t want to lose.

As Nathaniel stood, taking Susan with him, Walter called out, “I’m scheduling another meeting for first thing tomorrow morning. I want everyone on the same page regarding this matter.” Neither Susan nor Nathaniel acknowledged him, but then again, he didn’t expect them to. If he knew his brother, he would be walking over to Susan’s desk only long enough to grab her purse.
After that, the two of them wouldn’t be seen for the remainder of the day.

When he heard some of his staff teasing Nathaniel about wearing a purse, Walter chuckled.
Damn, he knew his brother well.

*****

Nathaniel kept Susan’s head buried in his neck while he retrieved her purse and then walked out the door. Only after he had hit the unlock button to his truck did he release his hold on her long enough that she could get into the truck.

“Nathaniel, maybe it would be best if I stayed at my house tonight,” Susan suggested with resignation in her voice.

“No, I’m taking you out to dinner as an apology for acting like an ass.
Then, we’re going home where I plan to spend the remainder of the night showing you how much I truly love you.” He stopped after he had her buckled into her seatbelt. Tenderly brushing his fingertips down the side of her face, he continued, “Look, I was an ass. I freely admit it. I’m so sorry for upsetting you. It’s just that after we found all of that information regarding Parker, I couldn’t wait to get back to the base and see for myself that you were alright. Had you left before I got back, I probably would have lost my mind.”

Susan reached up and grabbed the big hand that was currently sending goose bumps up and down her spine. It’s amazing what a caress from him could do to her.
She brought his hand to her lips and placed a light kiss to his palm. “Okay, you just scared me. You came in looking like a huge thundercloud and I just wasn’t sure what I had done to piss you off.”

“You did nothing baby, I promise. Will you forgive me for being an ass?”

“If I say yes now, are we still going out for dinner?
Because I have to tell you, I’m starved!”

Nathaniel chuckled as he leaned down to steal one last kiss. “Yes, let’s go get you something to eat.”

*****

First thing the next morning, Walter had everyone gathered in the conference room. Lucas stood and filled everyone in on what he and Nathaniel had found the day before.

“Susan, could you work with me after this meeting and give me a detailed description of what Parker looks like?” Donte inquired.

Susan looked over her shoulder from her spot in Nathaniel’s lap. “Sure, if you think it will help.”

“I think that if I can get a sketch of what this guy looks like out to the community, then everyone will know who we are looking for and we might have a chance at catching him off guard.”

“Good idea!” Walter interjected. “By the way, Susan’s house got hit again last night.”

Both Nathaniel and Susan could be heard talking at the same time. “What? When? How bad? What happened?”

Holding his hands out in front of him, Walter shook his head and chuckled. “Calm down, you two. It was another act of vandalism.
This time with the word ‘bitch’ was
spray
painted on the front of the house. As for when, as far as we can tell, it was between 2 and 4 a.m. this morning.”

Walter stopped and looked at Susan. “Starting tonight, I’ll have someone watching over the house all night long. I had thought the occasional drive by would be enough of a deterrent, but obviously it’s not.”

“Was there any other damage besides the spray
paint?” Nathaniel inquired.

“No, there didn’t seem to be. I managed to get a cleaning crew out there and they finished right before dawn. I’m hoping nobody saw anything,” Walter replied.
He then glanced at his entire staff. “Okay, my gut is telling me we’re missing something, something that ties everything in with Eddie’s case. I want this to be top priority and I want everyone working together. Our goal is to get questions answered and mete out justice to a certain vampire before this escalates any further.”

Susan spent almost the entire day working with Donte to work up a sketch of Parker. She was impressed with the final result. She looked at the sketch and it suddenly hit her.
She was looking at a killer. She didn’t know how she knew this, but she felt something tug at the back of her mind. A shiver ran down her spine as she handed the sketch back to Donte.

“You couldn’t have drawn him any better, even if he was sitting in front of you, Donte. I had no idea you were such a talented artist.”

If it were possible for a vampire to look embarrassed, Donte would’ve won a metal. “Let’s just keep that little tidbit between us, shall we? I really don’t want to get ribbed by these guys just because I like to draw.”

Susan reached over and placed her hand on top of his. “You know, you have nothing to be ashamed of.” She made sure to keep her voice at a mere whisper so
no one else would hear them. “Look, your secret is safe with me.
I would love to see some of your work someday. Only if you are comfortable, though.”

Donte glanced down at her hand resting on top of his and was glad Nathaniel wasn’t in the office. Susan still didn’t realize how possessive a mated male could be. “I’ll think about it,” he replied as he carefully extracted his hand from under hers and went to make copies of the sketch to hand out to everyone. He shook his head as he headed back to the copier.
I hope when I meet my mate she is as pretty and sweet as Susan.

Truth be told, he had come close to asking her out a few days before Nathaniel arrived. Knowing she had just recently lost her husband, he had held off.
He had just offered her friendship, not wanting to act too soon and scare her off. But yeah, if Nathaniel hadn’t shown up when he did, he would have damn sure asked her out. What wasn’t there to like in her? Long, blond hair, a killer body, and a ready smile for everyone. Nathaniel was a lucky son-of-a-bitch, because Susan was the complete package as far as Donte was concerned.

Chapter Six

Over the next two weeks, life seemed to mellow out for everyone. Although the team was still actively searching for Parker and digging back into Eddie’s case, they still couldn’t link Parker to anything other than vandalizing Susan’s house. And Walter didn’t like it. He didn’t like it, because his gut was telling him that Parker was involved in a lot more than just vandalizing his soon to be sister-in-law’s house. His gut was screaming that Parker was the last piece of the puzzle.
He knew he was the man they were still actively seeking, the man who was in charge of Eddie’s group.

Finally, they received a firm lead on a human trafficking case going right through their territory. From talking to Adam’s mate, Bethany, they knew Eddie’s group had been involved in this also.
The team soon made plans to stop them in their tracks. All available Rangers were called in for this assignment. It would be an evening take down, which was just fine with the Rangers. They didn’t have to contend with the hot Texas sun.

The Rangers had been in the conference room most of the day, planning for their attack later that evening.

When Nathaniel walked out of the meeting, he headed straight for the front desk. He had missed seeing Susan earlier. When they had taken a break for lunch, he walked out to find her seat empty. Before Nathaniel had the chance to hit the panic button, Walter quickly came up to his side to inform him that he had gotten a text saying that Sissy had stopped by and taken Susan to lunch.

Now, all he wanted to do was take her home and love her through the night. Unfortunately, that would have to wait until after this take
down operation was over. He walked up behind her and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. Leaning down, he took a few brief seconds to just inhale her gentle fragrance. She leaned her head back against him and he brought his fingertips down to lightly skate the column of her throat.

“Hi, baby. I missed you today,” he spoke quietly in her ear.

She pressed up against him tighter, raising her hands to bring his hands around to the front of her chest. Leaning down and kissing each hand, she replied in a soft voice, “I missed you, too.”

“Well, we do have a couple of hours before I have to report back to duty. Want to run home and relax with me for a little while?”

She smiled up at him and lifted her eyebrow. With a low, sultry chuckle, she replied, “I’d love to go home and ‘relax’ with you.”

Nathaniel wasted little time in scooping Susan up into his arms and carrying her out the front door. “Nathaniel, I have two good legs, you know. I can walk.”

“I know, but I just need to feel you near me,” he quickly countered as he headed for his truck. The drive to Nathaniel’s house was quiet, but the sexual tension in the air was strong.

Nathaniel had no more than stopped the truck and turned off the ignition when he jumped out and hurried
over to Susan’s door. She hadn’t even had time to get her seatbelt unfastened, and now, it seemed as if her fingers refused to cooperate as she tried to undo it. He reached around and had the contraption unhooked in no time.

He hauled her out of the truck, not putting her down at all. He carried her to the front door, unlocked and opened it with one hand, and then shut the door with his foot after they were inside.
He stopped long enough to relock the door and then he was carrying her upstairs.

Once he reached the bed, he leaned down to release her, but she held tight to his neck with her arms. “No, cowboy.
If you can manhandle me, I can woman-handle you. Now, get down here.” This brought a chuckle from him. Did she honestly think she really stood a chance if he wanted to get stubborn? But this was his mate, and after all she had gone through, for her to be showing a feisty side in the bedroom was nice. He liked it.