Rafael Read online

  Grinning, Rafe pulled out his cell phone and snapped several pictures, sending them to Julian. The Society owned a sophisticated lab that allowed them to do their own investigative work. Hopefully Jules could get the make of the tread and thus a clue to who the killer was.

  When Rafe was satisfied there was nothing else to see, they once again unfurled their wings and took to the skies.

  Nikolas had looked through over half of the books in the family library; a massive room that just happened to be in his home. So far there was nothing written about human bonding. One of his specialties was speed reading. He would much rather be sitting with an old book in front of a fireplace than outside patrolling. This assignment was just what he relished.

  If it were true, if the Goyles could bond and mate with a human, their heritage could be preserved, and another generation of protectors could be produced. This possibility excited him, so after a quick bathroom break he dove back into the rest of the journals. He had just pulled a book down from the shelf when he heard the door open. Geoffrey, his older brother by about fifty years, walked in.

  “I thought you were helping Gregor find someone to go undercover.” He placed the book on the table and opened it.

  “I did. One of my students, Tamian St. Claire. His skill in Muay Thai is the best I’ve ever seen. I’m just waiting for the day he kicks my ass,” Frey said with a laugh. “He’s still a little bit of a wild card. There is just something about him I can’t quite shake, but he’s been studying with me on and off for three years now, and I really like the guy. He has no family in the area and mostly sticks to himself. He is always talking about making a change and stepping up to better the world, that kind of thing.”

  Frey walked over to the bookcase pointing to the book beside the space vacated by the journal Nik was studying. “This one next?”

  Nik looked at his brother and frowned. “You hate reading. And sitting still. And reading.”

  Frey grabbed the book and sat down in an overstuffed chair and got comfortable. “Yes, but I hate being alone more. If there is something to bonding with humans, I want to know.” He settled in and began reading.

  Nik just shrugged his shoulders and returned his attention to the book in front of him. Being alone was just a way of life for most of their species. Nik often drove out of town to find one night stands. While he hated the lack of connection that came with that type of interaction, he craved the feel of a woman beneath him, beside him, surrounding him. Seems he wasn’t the only one.

  Chapter 8

  Rafe woke to his personal phone ringing. He glanced at the clock: 4:17 in the fucking morning. “This better be important.”

  “Hello to you too, Brother. Catch you at a bad time?”

  “Sin, you do realize there is a time difference?” Rafe sat up, swiping a hand through his hair. If Sin was calling so early, there was a good reason.

  “Of course I do, but I wanted to give you a heads up. Since you didn’t bother answering your phone before going to sleep or returning the message I left, I thought I better check on you. What’s up?”

  Rafe’s thoughts were so filled with one lady cop that he hadn’t looked at his phone before he lay down. “Long night, sorry. What did you need?” He wasn’t ready to tell Sin about Kaya and his reaction to her. None of the brothers wanted a mate more than Sinclair. Being younger than Rafe by only a few years meant he had been lonely almost as long. Sin was like Nikolas; he wanted a woman in his life, even if it were just for a night. He had even married a couple of times over the years. As painful as it was to watch your partner age and die, Sin endured that pain just so he could enjoy a companion while the human was alive.

  “I wanted to let you know that Lorenzo Campanelli and Jasper Jenkins are heading your way this afternoon. I will have Ashley forward the itinerary to Willow.” The Clan moved around quite a bit, usually on the same coast. When they felt they were jeopardizing the family, they would travel cross country to start over. Some even changed countries.

  “Be mindful of Jasper though. He has been showing signs of aggression lately, and he wasn’t keen on the move. He more or less told me he wasn’t moving and when I told him it wasn’t a request, he phased. Fully. I believe if some of the others hadn’t been present he might have challenged me.”

  “So you’re sending me your problem child?” Rafe just laughed. “I’ll hand him over to Frey, see how long the attitude adjustment takes.”

  “Not long knowing our little cousin.”

  “I’d really like to witness you calling Geoffrey little. He’d be offering you an attitude adjustment.” Frey was the largest member of their Clan and being a master of several types of martial arts, he was not only the fiercest but also the scariest.

  “Yeah, well I want to keep all my limbs intact as well as my head attached to my shoulders, so I think I’ll pass.”

  Rafe laughed again. He missed Sin. Not only were they closest in age but they were close period. He and his brother were so much alike they could pass for twins and often did in their younger days. He couldn’t hold back the sigh that escaped. “Miss you, Brother.”

  “And I you.” The line went dead as it always did before he could say goodbye. Sin didn’t believe in the word.

  Rafe placed his phone on the night stand and then settled back into bed. Jasper. He didn’t know much about the man since he was sent directly to the west coast from Scotland when he could no longer pull off his young age there

  Nikolas kept a detailed record of every Society member: their age, occupations, all former identities, as well as their mates and offspring for the few who were lucky enough to have bonded. Most chose to remain in the same occupation as before, but every once in a while a few opted for something new. When you did the same thing for hundreds of years, it could become monotonous. Whatever job they chose, Rafael would help them both adjust to their new surroundings.

  Nik had found nothing to report from the archives. He was surprised that Frey helped him search. Rafe, however, was not. Theirs was a family of protectors first, and they took their role in society seriously. They also wanted to be mates and fathers like most men did. Just because they were shifters didn’t mean the longing for that soul mate wasn’t there. If anything, it was a deeper want, a greater longing since they couldn’t choose just any woman.

  If they never found their mate, they lived alone until they were no longer of this world. They could have sex, but it wasn’t a lasting fulfillment. It quenched the thirst for a moment, but the parched feeling came back quickly.

  Would Kaya Kane even desire him? Right now, probably not. Until he was no longer a suspect for the recent murders, she no doubt wanted nothing to do with him. He hoped the man Gregor and Frey were putting inside the pen would come up with some answers and quickly.

  Wanting a few more hours rest, Rafe closed his eyes. As with the night before when trying to go to sleep, his thoughts turned to Kaya and the way she affected him. He loved the fact that she was tall and toned. All of his past lovers had fit the same description. No petite women for Rafe. He was a big man and wanted a woman who wouldn’t break when he bedded her. His sexual tendencies leaned to the rough side. If by some miracle Kaya was his mate, he would thank the gods every day and night, and worship and cherish her until her dying days.

  Kaya stood at the kitchen table scooping seeds out of the pumpkin she was going to carve. A dark haired little boy with eyes the color of pitch stood in the chair watching intently. The back door opened, and the little boy declared, “Papa look! Momma’s making us a punkin.” Laughing, the father of her child picked his son up throwing him in the air, causing them both to laugh. With the boy safe in his arms again, the man leaned over and kissed Momma on the cheek. She smiled at her son then looked up at the man holding him: Rafael.

  Kaya awoke from her dream with teeth chattering. The temperature had dropped overnight. She pulled the covers up tight under her chin. She wasn’t completely certain it was the frosty morning causing her teeth to
stutter together. The little boy in the dream had seemed so real.

  The morning light hadn’t broken so there was still a little while before her alarm would go off. She loved this time of year with the cooler weather, the harvest moons, and the wind whispering through the trees. Autumn had been her favorite season since she was a little girl.

  The change in the topography of the land after the bombings seemed to affect the weather for several years. Back then, the air was almost always filled with a hazy film. The temperatures rarely fluctuated from one season to the next. The religious zealots were calling for the end of days on every street corner, quoting the book of Revelation. They obviously were wrong since the seasons leveled out as did the smog in the air.

  Kaya’s house was full of Halloween knickknacks, and there was even a pumpkin sitting on her front steps. Each year she planned on carving a jack-o-lantern and each year she ran out of time. She loved watching the kids come to the door in their costumes. Her neighborhood was one of the safest even with the houses sitting back from the road. She observed which parents came with their children and those that sent them out on their own. Her dreams of having her own goblin or vampire to dress up were quickly dwindling with her age. Not only was she getting too old, but her job was hard enough with nobody waiting on her at home. If she had a child to take care of, she might think twice about running the city’s police department.

  The scene from the dream played on a continuous loop in her mind: the beautiful boy, the handsome father. Closing her eyes made the vision even clearer. She opened her eyes, but those tiny black orbs would not vanish. Her chest ached with the longing to see his face in reality. Something about those eyes was haunting her soul, but at the same time, that little face lightened her heart in an otherwise bleak world.

  Kaya turned to her side and slid one hand under her pillow, cradling her head. Her teeth no longer shivered, but she still felt the chill. After a while, she gave up on going back to sleep so she rolled over, shut off her alarm, and made her way to the shower. She might as well go on in to the office and try to get some work done.

  Chapter 9

  Kaya arrived at the precinct, having driven there on auto-pilot. After eighteen years of navigating the same route every day, she could do it with her eyes closed. The only change over the years was where she parked. Being chief meant the premier spot in the whole parking lot now belonged to her.

  Sighing, she thought back to the days when she was just a beat cop. She didn’t have to make any decisions; she just did her job and wrote a report. Now it was up to her to ensure everyone else was doing their job and to double-check all reports. She didn’t trust anyone else to that task, not after the governor had questioned one that was less than perfect. Never again would her department look incompetent. If it took her all night, she looked over every report that came in before they were sent on up the judicial chain of command.

  As she walked through the lobby past the bullpen, she greeted the few overnight employees by name. One thing she made sure of was that the office was stocked with decent coffee. She needed her caffeine fix as much as the next person, and she refused to drink sludge. Her team didn’t make a lot of money, so she didn’t want them spending what they did make on expensive, barista drinks. She poured herself a cup of hot, steamy, wake-me-up and settled in for the day.

  Several cups of coffee and a couple of hours later, her day team began coming in, grumbling and complaining as they did most mornings. Being a cop was a rewarding job when the bad guys were caught, but when they had a case like they did now, it wore on your soul. Kaya waited until all bodies were feeling the caffeine running through their system before she wrangled them into the conference room. She had learned a lot about dealing with a large group of mostly testosterone laden men over the years; let them know right away your balls are bigger but mother them at the same time. From the moment she was promoted to chief, she laid down the law, and her team listened. She proved herself time and again in the field, garnering the respect of those who didn’t think a woman should be a cop, much less chief.

  With their early morning brief over, she stopped Dane and Jorgenson. After she had left the hotel, the two of them spent the next several hours interviewing all of the hotel staff before going through the guest rooms. There was no sign of struggle, no sign of a break-in. Whoever pulled off an abduction of that magnitude could not have managed it alone. There were a few of employees they wanted to talk to again as well as all of the managers.

  Jorgenson walked off to get busy, but Dane held back. “You okay, Boss? You seem tense.” He usually offered up his dimpled grin that she was positive melted the panties off certain young women. Hell, if she was honest, that grin made her stop and take notice in the beginning. Today he was holding back, almost sounding concerned.

  “No, Abbott, I’m really not. We have eleven dead, one missing and very few leads. We need something and soon because Magnus Flanagan’s chances are sliding down the percentage scale quickly.” She was shocked when he gripped her shoulder with a small squeeze. “Hang in there. I’m going to check on the lead I got. I’ll let you know how that goes.”

  He walked away leaving Kaya speechless. Well hell.

  Kaya was going over the previous night’s reports when her desk phone rang. “Chief Kane.”

  “I have information on your murders. I saw Rafael Stone leaving the scene just after daybreak yesterday.” The line went dead. The voice on the other end had been distorted by an electronic device.

  She stared at the receiver a beat before hanging up. First, only those in law enforcement or higher up knew the number to her office phone. Second, time of death still had not been released. Dante had called Kaya yesterday while she had been meeting with Rafael. She later returned his call when he informed her of the cause as well as time of death. The bodies were found at approximately ten a.m., and the ME estimated the murders happened at approximately eight that same morning.

  Since the sun came up right at eight, the time frame fit. Unless Dante shared TOD with someone outside of his department, he and Kaya were the only ones with that information. Well, them and the killer. She picked up her phone and dialed his department.

  “Morgue. They dice ‘em, we ice ‘em.”

  Kaya would never get used to the young assistant. “Trevor, this is Chief Kane. Please put Dante on the phone.”

  “Hold whatcha got.”

  Shaking her head, she waited less than a minute for the ME to pick up.

  “Chief Kane, what can I do for you?” His deep baritone voice was sexy over the phone. If the man ever chose to smile, she might consider him handsome.

  “Dante, have you spoken to anyone other than me about the murders?”

  “No, I ran the tests and made the notations in the computer myself.”

  “Does Trevor have access to the information?” Kaya could see the young man chatting up the murders over a nice game of Halo with his geek buddies.

  “Yes, he does, but I can assure you, he takes his job seriously and knows not to speak about ongoing cases, the same as you and I. Is there a problem?”

  “I hope not. I just received an anonymous phone call with a tip. The caller knew the approximate time of death. Let’s hope it was a guess.” She pressed the button that disconnected the call. When the dial tone buzzed, she punched in the number for her IT department.

  “Wilkes, this is Chief Kane. A call came in to my private line, and I need it traced. Yes, about three minutes ago. This is priority.” She hung up. What the hell was going on? If someone actually placed Rafael at the scene when they said they did, all of his alibis had lied to Dane. She called his cell, but it went to voicemail. “Dane, Kaya. Call me.”

  Needing another cup of coffee, she passed by the dispatcher’s desk on her way to the kitchen. “Hey Kim, did you put a call through to my phone a few minutes ago?” The younger woman had worked at the precinct for years, and Kaya knew her well. “No, Ma’am. Is something wrong?”

  “No
, everything’s fine. I just missed the call, and they didn’t leave a message.”

  Her office phone was ringing as she walked back through the door. “Kane.”

  “Chief, Wilkes here. We couldn’t get a trace on the call that came in. It was from a burner phone.”

  “Okay, thanks.” Kaya was at a loss. She needed answers. She didn’t want to be wrong about Rafael. Mr. Stone. Sipping her coffee, she thought back to the dream of him and the little boy. Wishful thinking was all that could be. There was no connection between them, never would be, especially as long as he was a suspect.

  The anonymous tip bothered her. She received them frequently and more often than not they were bogus. Was this one real? Was someone trying to set him up? His alibi was airtight if his housekeeper and gardener were telling the truth. There was also the security footage at the office with timestamps. She needed to see them.

  Chapter 10

  Rafael’s home was a large manor situated on a sprawling piece of land located on the northeast side of New Atlanta. The house boasted eight bedrooms, ten bathrooms, billiards room, dojo slash gym, state of the art kitchen, swimming pool, and his favorite area: a flower garden. The garden covered approximately three out of the fifty acres. Paths led through the various types of greenery, blooms, trees, and fountains. It was one of the most serene places he had ever enjoyed. When Rafe wanted to think, this is where he went. Benches were scattered throughout the paths, and on one of these benches is where he found himself this morning. The brisk October air kicked his senses into sixth gear.

  Ever since waking, Kaya filled his thoughts. He couldn’t shake the memory of their brief contact, the electricity that zinged through his arm when they shook hands. The way she trembled beneath his touch and the scent of her arousal as they stood close were tattooed on his brain. However hard it was to control his thoughts, he had to get a lock on them. There was a killer to find so that he was no longer a suspect.