Chapter 4
“Let me start this morning’s briefing by saying, Happy New Year!” Griffin said as the station gathered fully staffed for the first time since before Christmas. “I hope everyone had an amazing holiday, and I’d like to take this moment to put Detective Emerson on the spot.” He extended a hand to Bel, and she rolled her eyes before joining him at the front of the room, the officers cheering her on except for her partner Olivia Gold, who stood arms crossed and sullen at the rear of the crowd.
“This is Emerson’s first day on the job since her resurrection,” Griffin continued, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “She gave us a horrifying scare, so I think I speak for everyone when I say we’re so thankful to have you back.”
“I’m happy to be back,” Bel said to thesoundtrack of applause. “And to be alive.”
“Here, here!” A deputy cheered, and it stung that Olivia didn’t so much as smile.
“We all love you,” Griffin continued, and Bel could tell his use of ‘We’ really meant ‘I’ .“But if I know you at all, you’ll jump in headfirst, so I’d like to ask everyone to keep an eye on our detective here and stop her from working too hard on her first day. Give us at least a few boring days before you take on the forces of evil.”
“I’ll try,” she laughed as her boss captured her in a suffocating hug.
“Don’t do that to me ever again,” Griffin whispered in her ear. “I won’t survive seeing you in the morgue. I feel guilty admitting it, but I’m glad the victim we found wasn’t you.” He pulled back and gripped her biceps, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I don’t care what time of day it is or how ridiculous your hunch is. I don’t even care if it’s not police related.Youneed help? Call me, and I’ll be there. I’m not watching an autopsy on you again.”
“I see you and Eamon exchanged notes.” She cupped his cheek with a smile. “I promise. If he doesn’t answer, you’re the next person I’ll call to help me with my wild goose chases.”
“Thankgodthat man figured out it wasn’t you. And thankGodhe found Blaubart in Venezuela. I disliked the guy for a long time, but now I get his appeal.”
“You don’t say?” Bel teased. “You hid it so well.”
“Oh, be quiet. Youwere convincedhewas a serial killer atfirsttoo.” Griffin rubbed her back before returning his attention to the officers. “Okay, now for the big news,” he continued as she found her seat. “I’m sure you’ve all heard of the wildly popular TV show Aesop’s Files?” He paused as the crowd murmured their acknowledgment. “Well, our town has recently caught the eyes of the show’s location scouts. Upcoming episodestake placein a beautiful small town during winter, and they’ve decided Bajka is the perfect location. The filming permitsandcontracts havebeen signed, so I’m thrilled to announce that we’ll be home to Aesop’s Files for the next monthor so.”
Bel clapped as the room exploded in excitement. She didn’t watch the famous show. Its plot was a campy version of her entirely too real life, so shealwayschanged the channel when an episode came on. But she was well aware of the chokehold the paranormal crime series—and its sex-on-legs lead actor—had on its viewers.
“Now, before everyone gets too excited, there’s a catch.” Griffin raised his hands to settle the chatter. “I don’t need to remind you how popular this show and its actors are, and while it’s unconventional, the production studio seems very keen to exploit that fact for as much financial gain as possible. Because Bajka is a smaller town, it’s easier to protect, so the studio has announced they’ll be hosting…what do they call those cons? Comic something? Whatever. They plan to host those style events during their month here.Signings, meet-and-greets, breakfasts, photo ops, Q&A panels, the works.It’s unusual, but they see Bajka as the perfect excuse to blend filming and fan interactions.
“I’m personally not thrilled with this arrangement. Obsessed fans gathered for an extendedperiodas the cast and crew shoot could spell chaos, but themayor has agreed to the proposal because it’ll be incredible for Bajka’s economy. Almost all the hotels and rentals havebeen booked, so it’ll be amazing for our businesses and a headache for us. Our town will double in size, so unlimited overtime has alreadybeen approved. I won’t lie. It’ll be a lot of work, but it’s a once-in-a-lifetime event. How many police officers get to say they worked the Aesop’s Files protection detail?”
“Is the show bringing theirownsecurity?” Bel asked. “This scale seems beyond our station’s capabilities.”
“Yes. The actors have bodyguards and drivers, but due to the sheer number of fans expected to flood Bajka, their security isn’t enough,” Griffin answered. “Plus, police presence will help inspire order.Emerson and Gold, I realize you’re both detectives, butfor the conventions and fan events,it might be best if you wore uniforms.I want everyone to see we are present and serious. We don’t need any funny business while the show’s in our town.”
The officers murmured their agreement, an undercurrent of excitement thrumming through the bodies, but Bel wasn’t fooled by the promise of famous visitors.These actors would be a month-long headache, but at least there’d be overtime. She’d missed a lot of work on account of being declared dead, and her paychecks were looking thin.
“I’ll have more information and schedules for you over the next few days, but I wanted to warn you to enjoy your quiet evenings and spend time with your families because when the show gets to town, we’ll all stop sleeping for a month. On the bright side, you can bribe your loved ones into forgiving you by introducing them to their favorite actors.I know mywife is not so secretly excited about meeting Beau Draven.”
“I don’t think we want to bribe our girls with Beau Draven meet-and-greets,” a deputy laughed, and the surrounding men groaned in agreement.
“I guess this is a good time to be single,” Officer Rollo said. He was Bajka’s newest hire, a man whose attractiveness rivaled the show’s star, but the last Bel heard, he was well on his way to being taken by her friend Violet, but she’dbeen preoccupiedwith herownrelationship issues. Perhaps their spark had fizzled out.
“Well, you know what they say,” Griffin said. “Never meet your idols. Maybe Beau Draven isn’t as charming in real life ashe is on screen.”
“Yeah, right!” A deputy blurted as he wiped his laughter tears from his eyes. “We’re in trouble.”
“Alas, we probably are.” Griffin joined the joke. “But it’ll at least buy us some favor when we miss weeks of family dinners. And on that note, let’s get to work. Draven and Aesop’s Files will take up enough of our time. Let’s not let it ruin today.”
The room surged with conversation as the officers dispersed, and Bel bolted from her chair, eyes scanning the bodies for her partner. She hadn’t seen Olivia since the hospital, but her friend had barely stayed at her bedside long enough to confirm proof of life.She hadn’t answered any of Bel’s texts, either, not that Bel had sent many.The days with her father had been consumed by Eamon’s absence, and the days after Christmas hadbeen filledwith difficult conversations and rekindled intimacy…in everyroom of the mansion.She’d had little time to consider Olivia’s distance. She assumed it was due to the holidays, but now she wasn’t so sure that’s why her texts remained unanswered.
Spotting blonde hair, Bel pushed through the gathered bodies, but by the time she reached Olivia’s location, her partner had fled the briefing room, her legs carrying her swiftly toward her desk.
“Hey!” Bel breathed a sigh of relief when she caught up, but as she leaned in for a hug, Olivia blocked her movements by yanking her coat off her chair.
“Hi.”One word.Bel had returned from the dead, and all Olivia had was one word.
“Was your holiday nice?” Bel stepped back, at a loss for what to do with her outstretched arms.
“It was.” Two words. This time, Olivia only had two words.
“Did you spend it with your family?”
“I did.”
“Sounds fun.” Everything inside Bel’s chest ached. Olivia and Violet Lennon were hergreatestfriends in this town, and while she understood that her presumed death had wreaked havoc on those who loved her, she couldn’t fathom why her partner was using her coat like a shield. “I’m dying for a latte,” she continued, desperate for a way to connect. “Want to stop by The Espresso Shot before we settle in?”
“Sorry…” Olivia paused as if trying to come up with an excuse. “I have stuff to take care of. Yougoget a coffee. David will be happy to see you.”
And with that, she left an aching and confused Bel in her wake.
“Guess what?” Bel called as she unlocked Eamon’s front door and kicked off her shoes. The sound of thudding feet answered her greeting, and within seconds, Cerberus was barreling recklessly down the grand staircase.
“Hiya, Baby Beast.” She caught him as he leaped off the steps and pulled his squirming body into a hug.
“What?”Eamon shouted from upstairs, and Bel climbed toward his voice, seventypounds of excitementgivingher a burning thigh workout by the time she reached the upper level.
“Where?” she called as she approached the yet-to-be-renovated hallways. Unlikehim, her hearing couldn’t pinpointhis exact location, and she rarely ventured into this section of the mansion. It had come a long way since the night she’d broken in, but the fear the darkness inspired when she thought Eamon would kill her all those months ago kept her far from these damaged rooms… and that her foot might fall through the floorboards.Eamon had focused his renovations on the main living areasfirst, so the half they lived in was so stylish and expensive that she often forgot that most of the Reale Estate was still crumbling.
“Here!” he shouted, and Bel put Cerberus down. He took off running, and she followed him until she found the shirtless and grimy Eamon ripping up damaged floorboards.
“Wow. Looks awful.” She smiled athowhis muscles rippled below his skin with his every movement, and she marveled at how the perfectly smooth and powerful back hunched beforeherhad once been blownto pieces.
“You say the nicest things.” He dropped the rotting wood and charged for her. Bel shrieked as she tried to escape, but he was too fast and caught her in his filth-streaked arms before she could take two steps.
“Gross!”She shoved his sweaty chest, but hesimplyleaned forward and planted an exaggerated kiss on her lips. “You’ve ruined my sweater,” she grumbled against his mouth.
“That’s what you get for making fun of me slaving away up here.”He kissed her again, andthis time,Bel surrendered to the embrace.Filthy or not, a shirtless Eamon was glorious to behold.
“I’ll buy you a new one if the stains don’t come out,” he said as he finally released her.
“Fine, but what if I’d loved this sweater?” she challenged.
“You don’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you’ve been staying with me since Christmas, yet never wore it. Your sisters packed your clothes when you were in the hospital, so you only have what they gave you, and instead of going home to repack, you did laundry here…even though that sweater was clean in your luggage the whole time.”
“Okay, fine. Why do you have to be so observant?” She swatted his chest. “You and my dad are a pair. Other guys don’t notice things, but you twoare always watchingme. I can’t get away with anything.”
“I’m always watching you.” He pitched his voice low and menacing, and even though he was joking, her skin flushed with a prick of fear at how quickly he could flip the switch and uncaged the beast.
“Creeper.” She stole a kiss before sidestepping him to study the gutted room. “Looks like you’re taking the walls out too. What will this become?”
“Not sure yet. I’m just going with whatever comes to me at the moment.”
“Am I allowed to make requests?” she asked.
“Do you want to?”
“You said you were restoring this house with me in mind.”
“I am.” He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her chest. “What would you like?”
“An office,” she said. “For when I sleep over.”
“Of course.” He kissed her cheek, seeing right through her request.
“I work on sensitive cases, and while I’m terrible at keeping things from you, it would be smart to have a designated area separate from my living space.I don’t have that at the cabin, so if I bringhome a case, it’s just death on my dinner tableand my countersand mymattress.It would be nice to have a room to leave it behind in.”
“Done,” Eamon said. “But not here.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because it’s too far from my office, and if you’re going to work here, I require the ability to roll my chair across the hall to visit you.”
“Okay, not here, but yes? I can have an office?”
“You could have mine if you wanted it. Take the whole house for all I care. Iactuallyhave safety nets in place in case anything happens to me. You get everything.”
“Seriously?” She gawked at him.
“Close your mouth.” His fingers pushed her jaw closed. “All it does is give you my estate and wealth if I die. One day, we’ll add you to the paperwork while I’m still alive, but for now, it’s just in the event of my death. And we both know I’m not the dying type.”
“You better not be.” She leaned her head against his chest because he was right. She didn’t love this sweater.
“You’re stuck with me, unfortunately. You made that very clear.” He kissed her cheek before releasing her to return to his work. “So, what am I guessing?” he asked, referring to her earlier question when she’d barged through his front door.
“Oh, right… I’m already dirty. Should I help?”
“Sure, but put gloves on. I need all these floorboards ripped out.”
“My first time helping you.Thisfeels significant.”
“If you’re good, I’ll have to put you to work more often.”
“Careful, buddy,” she teased. “Don’t get excited about the free labor just yet. I’m about to be busy.”
“Really?” His face fell. “What happened?”
“Nothing bad,” she said. “It might be annoying, but it’s also cool. Are you familiar with the show Aesop’s Files?”
“Um… no, wait… is it that popular paranormal crime drama? The one where the detectives deal with werewolves, witches, vampires, and so on.”
“Just like me,” Bel laughed, and Eamon glared at her. “Okay, kind of like me.” She nudged him with her shoulder as she gripped a floorboard. “In an exaggerated, completely unrealistic, and ridiculously fake way. I’ve seen a few episodes, but now that I know evil exists, I can’t watch it. It’s so…silly. To me, at least. I have scars from the teeth of a man hundreds of years old. I’ve looked death in the eyes. Thatshow’s an insult tothe darkness that corrupts below the surface, BUT… people are obsessed with it. I guess it’s fun if you don’t know magic exists.”
“Or is it fun because Beau Draven stars in it?” Eamon winked at her before ripping a floorboard out with such a display of strength that Bel couldn’t wait for their shower later.
“So, you don’t remember the show, but you know he’s in it?” she teased.
“Yeah, yeah.” He rolled his eyes. “So, what’s going on?”
“They’ll be shooting here for the next month.” She recounted that morning’s meeting, and by the time shewas done, Eamon was visibly annoyed that the town he hid behind was about to swarm with attention.
“Having the show shoot here is cool, but I’m wary of the fan events,” she said in closing. “Too many variables can go wrong. The overtime will be good, though. I blew through all my vacation days andthensome,soI could use the money.”
“If you need money, I’ll give it to you. Don’t stress yourself out your first month back.”
“I don’t think I have a choice—uff.” She pulled too hard on a floorboard and crashed to her backside. “Film shoots don’t normally include fan conventions. They’re usually separate events, but that’s how this studio operates, so unfortunately, Bajka will be a madhouse. I doubt I could bow out even if I wanted to. At least you live in a secluded mansion. No one should bother you out here.”
“I’m not worried about me.” He helped her off the floor, and she rubbed her stinging tailbone to ease the discomfort. “I’ll be grumpy, but what’s new?I wasjusthoping for your sake that life would calm down.”
“Maybe it’ll be fun.” She shrugged, trying to remain positive because she’d hoped for the same. “We get to meet the actors and watch them film. I’ve never seen a set before.”
“I hope it is.” He rubbed her back. “And I’m serious. If you ever need the money, you can ask me instead of running yourself ragged. There’s a difference between using me for my wealth and needing help.”
“I know, and as much as I groan about you giving me things, if this OTwasn’tmandatory, I’d take you upon it. It’s winter.It’s cold and dark, and I don’tparticularlywant to work late or weekends.”
“I don’t want you to either. I need to get over it, but I’m still nervous about letting you out of my sight. At least Olivia will be there to keep an eye on you.”
“About that.” Bel shifted to her knees to meet Eamon’s gaze. “I tried to talk to her today. She’s been ignoring my texts, but I figured it was the holidays, and maybe she felt weird interrupting us. But she practically crawled out of her skin when she saw me. I get my faked death messed people up, but I didn’t think finding out I was alive would make her so uncomfortable.”
Eamon cursed, yanking a rotting board too hard, and its splinters flew everywhere. “That’s probably my fault.”
“Your fault? How?”
“I told her the truth about me.”
“You did? That’s surprising, but why would that make her avoid me?”
“Because…” Eamon met her gaze. “She didn’t know about Ewan.”
“What do you mean?” Bel asked. Ewan Orso was a bear shifter and Olivia’s boyfriend, and while alpha predators never lived peacefully when forced to coexist, Eamon and Ewan were the exception because of their detectives. “I thought you two made a deal? He tells her the truth, and you don’t kill him for living in your territory.”
“We did make that deal,” Eamon said. “But he didn’t hold up his end of the bargain. After I realized it wasn’t your body in the morgue, I barged in on them, demanding the bear’s help. I assumed Olivia knew, and I wasn’t in the proper headspace to be diplomatic. I told her the truth since Ewan hadn’t, but I wasn’t kind. I feel bad. I do, but the conversation occurred an hour after I learned you were alive. It was not my finest moment, and she freaked out. She was ready to pull a gun on me, so I did the only thing I could think of to prove my words. I cut myself so she could watch me heal.”
“Oh god.” It was Bel’s turn to curse. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was a little preoccupied.” He captured her hand and pulled it onto his lap. “I’m sorry. I know she’s one of your best friends, but it wasn’ton purpose. I assumed she knew about Ewan, so learning about me wouldn’tbe a surprise. Unfortunately, I traumatized her, and it seems she’s still angry about our deception.”
“But I just came back from the dead. Why wouldshebe upset with me? I get Ewan. He lied…although that makes sense now. If he’d told her the truth, I suspect she would’ve tried to hint at it to me.”
“She asked if you knew what I was. Maybe she’s hurt that you didn’t trust her enough to tell her.”
“But that wasn’t my truth to reveal.”
“It wasn’t.” Eamon brushed a hand over her hair. “But she loves you, and you hid a secret that changed everything. Then you almost died. I wouldn’t worry about her.She probablyjustneeds time to process everything.”