10. Oh No, Another Murder
Oh No, Another Murder
My mind is a morass as Micah smoothly shifts my car into gear and pulls away from the curb in a rush of tires. I flick on the lights and siren I had installed, so the few autocars on the streets will get out of the damn way.
Micah didn’t question why Tim wants him there. He simply thanked the staff on the way out of the restaurant before sliding into the driver’s seat once I’d unlocked the Aston Martin. I didn’t argue.
Not exactly, Tim said, but it’s obviously a murder. So who’s our latest vic? How did they die? And where was Jake? I hope to God he has an alibi this time. I hate that a small shred of hope blooms, that another murder will clear him of the first murder charge.
The dropped pin on my contacts shows an address across the city, in Werewolf territory. I flick it from my contacts to the car i-screen, so Micah knows where to go. Then I concentrate on watching his hands on the steering wheel, flipping the paddles to change gears seamlessly, to calm my mind.
I have no idea what he had been about to say to me in that moment where time stood still, energy cracking between us like a lightning storm about to break.
It should be the last thing I care about right now as my anticipation and impatience rise by the second.
I clench my hands in my lap to stop myself from drumming them impatiently.
We don’t need to crash on the way there.
We arrive at the scene in less than twenty minutes, Micah sliding the car to a smooth stop at the curb. Before I can open my door, he’s helping me out on unsteady legs, not helped by my sky-high heels. Even if I had spare clothes with me, there’s no time to change.
I note Ruby’s car in front of mine, the trunk left open, plus a bot ambulance for transporting the body to the morgue later on. DOA is obvious from the lack of human medics in attendance. Whoever found the body called it in to the police, not the EMTs.
Micah holds my arm to steady me as we move toward the laser-tape beamed across the entrance to the alley.
Spectators have gathered, and they part for us as they whisper among themselves.
I don’t care if it’s because of my dress or the devastatingly gorgeous Vamp.
I’m very aware of exactly how we look together, and it makes me realize how unprofessional this is.
Flashing my holo badge from my wrist micro, I’m gratified to see some of them blanch as they retreat a few steps.
The media aren’t here yet, but a second murder where the PPS is called to the scene will be harder to keep on the DL.
Some of the spectators are recording holos with their micros, so I grab a street cop on the way into the alley and tell him to shut it down, make them erase the footage, and get the details of every person there to take witness statements later on.
We don’t need this flooding the feeds. It would be worse than the media.
I can only hope none of them are live-streaming it in 4D technicolor.
At least they have no idea what’s really going on here.
Micah doesn’t need help to see with his preternatural eyesight, but I turn my micro on full beam to illuminate the way.
This alley is narrower and dirtier than the one behind Delilah’s. It’s an area I’m unfamiliar with. It feels seedy, and I wonder what the vic was doing here, in the dark.
My partner is standing over the body of our latest vic, watching Ruby Blue as she scans prints and the body herself to pick up anything before removal. Bots are already sweeping their holo-cams over the surrounding area, documenting everything before collection.
Tim strides toward us, stopping me before I can get close to the body.
‘Anonymous call,’ he says heavily.
Micah’s hand is warm and steady against my back as dread spreads through my bones.
‘Was the last one also anonymous?’ Micah asks, turning to face me, his eyes glowing in the reflection from the portable holo-lights. We’re far enough back that any street light is nonexistent.
‘Yes.’ The word is loaded as it comes out of my mouth, my mind already spinning with repercussions.
Two anonymous calls to report murders. One, we could put down to not wanting any involvement. It’s a fairly common occurrence, especially with anything supernatural-related. Humans are afraid of retaliation, and Lycos and Vamps would never willingly get involved with a police investigation.
But with two? I weigh it up. It could be two different humans who are afraid.
Or it could be the perp. I’m hoping for the latter.
I add it to the profile I’m building in my mind.
He wants his vics to be found quickly. To show off?
Is he in the crowd watching? Was he hiding in the shadows at the last crime scene?
I say all this to Micah and Tim, sounding it out as a theory as I go.
‘Possible. But we’ll deal with that later.’ Tim looks between us and the crime scene behind him.
‘I can help with that, if you show me the other crime scene,’ Micah says to Tim, his hand still steadying me. I’m not sure what to make of it. It’s simultaneously familiar and foreign.
‘That can be arranged. Think you can get a Were to pick up the scent as well?’ Tim asks me, following the Vamp’s train of thought.
Micah can spool out his power to sense if the same person was at both scenes.
I nod in answer. ‘Show me the body,’ I tell my partner, bracing myself.
I lean back into Micah a fraction before straightening.
If I wasn’t at a crime scene, I would find his presence a distraction, almost overwhelming.
He has that effect, dominating whatever space he inhabits without even trying.
Every Vampire has the ability, but with Micah it’s magnified a hundred-fold.
One of the many reasons Lycos have issues with Vamps.
Their predatory nature can’t handle another species having dominance.
Watching where I step, we make our way to where Ruby is directing two bots in a low voice. She turns toward us, taking in Micah beside me as she sweeps her rich brown eyes over him.
‘You must be Ruby Blue.’ Micah extends his hand, not looking out of place in his immaculately tailored clothing in this derelict back alley.
I’ve told my bestie so much about the Vampire that I have to remind myself they’ve never actually met.
‘And you must be the bastard who broke Eve’s heart.’ I have to admire her for staring down a lethal predator, eyes dismissing him with a flick.
I think I see a flash of guilt in his eyes before he drops his hand smoothly, sliding it into his pants pocket.
‘What have we got?’ I ask Ruby before Micah can retort, crouching down to get a better look at our vic.
‘Fuck,’ I swear under my breath as my dress rides up my thighs. I’m unsteady in my heels, and I do not need to fall on top of a corpse with Micah watching.
He lets out a low laugh as he helps me back up. Of course he heard me. I can’t breathe without him being aware of it.
‘Shut up,’ I snap, and he smirks, his face illuminated by the holo-lights that hover above us, throwing light on the body and the area surrounding it. He has no right looking that beautiful with death hovering so close.
I can’t see torn clothing or claw marks on the body. But his neck is a bloody mess. It’s awful to see, but I let out a shaky breath of relief.
I hear Micah inhale sharply and feel him stiffen beside me as he takes it in. For him to react…
‘Looks like a Vamp attack,’ Ruby confirms my suspicions. ‘The victim is twenty-four-year-old Lycanthrope Evan Reynolds. Judging by lividity, I would say the body has been here for at least three hours, putting TOD at around six pm. I’ll know more once I get him to the morgue.’
‘You’ve confirmed ID already?’ I’m surprised. Weres don’t have microchips, and prints take longer than a few minutes to get the results back, even with immediate upload to all the databases from Ruby’s contacts.
‘He had a holo ID from his human life,’ Tim explains.
Carrying a remnant from the past isn’t unusual for new Weres. It’s a huge adjustment to let go of their old lives, even when they want to embrace their new one. The vic chose to be Turned, but he may still have family in the human world.
‘So he hasn’t been Turned long then. Any idea whose Pack he’s from?’ If it’s Janus’s, we’re in trouble.
‘Sin City. Jake’s Pack,’ my partner says, eyes full of apology as if it’s his fault he’s the one bearing bad news.
Shit. Not good.
I don’t ask if Jake has been notified. That’s a later problem.
I feel sadness as I stare at the body of someone so young, and elated that Jake won’t be accused of this murder.
It goes against everything Werewolves stand for.
Pack above all. Unless it’s a Challenge for leadership, they don’t murder their own.
They fight out issues, and it can be bloody, but it never ends in death.
Not anymore. Plus, I know Jake has an alibi. He’s safely at Pack HQ.
‘You don’t recognize him?’ I hear the surprise in Micah’s words and see the question in his eyes when I glance at him.
I shake my head. How do I barely know any of my own boyfriend’s Pack? I push that thought aside. No time for personal revelations or recriminations now.
‘Whose territory are we in?’ I have a sinking feeling I know which invisible boundary line we’re over.
Vamps hold the middle of the city, in what used to be Central Park and the Upper East and West Side.
Lycos have territory stretching from the West Village through Soho and Tribeca to the Financial District.
There’s some cross-over with the Cartel, but their businesses- both legit and illegal- run from Midtown to the Lower East Side.
I’m not sure where the boundary between the Packs is, but a warning is going off in my head.
‘Janus’s pack. Devil’s Edge,’ Tim says with a grimace.
‘Fuck,’ I say with vehemence. ‘Not. Good.’
This case has just escalated from bad to much, much worse.
‘Fuck is right,’ Ruby agrees. ‘But you can talk through the ramifications of that later on.’