Edge of Night (10 page)

She glared at him but got back on task. “There are a few vampiric bite marks that haven’t quite healed, adding to the overall
sheepish
picture. Two here”—she pointed to a spot on the child’s arm, then to his neck—“and another here. The third bite was delivered post-mortem.”

Luca considered the implications of that. “Was there evidence of blood around the boy’s mouth that wasn’t his?”

“I thought you might ask that. Yes, there was.” She handed him a file with some lab results. “I ran DNA on it and it’s a match to a male relative of Dillon Hammond.”

He grunted, the pieces falling neatly into place. “Robert tried to turn his son after he was dead.”

Leaning forward to look at the file, Merek asked, “Desperation of a father who doesn’t want to lose his child, or desperation of a man who doesn’t want to go down for murder?”

Luca held the paperwork so it was easier for them both to read. “Unclear at this point, but I know which option his lawyer will present as his motive.”

“I hate lawyers,” the other man stated.

Luca hummed in agreement. “They do tend to get in the way.”

Tilting his head, Merek squinted. “Though I assume your judge uncle used to be a lawyer uncle.”

“Indeed.” After snapping the file shut, Luca tucked it under his arm. “He’s been handy to have around. Especially back when I was a practicing lawyer too.”

The warlock chuckled drily, then gestured toward Dillon’s corpse. “Are you making this case a priority for me?”

“Not at the moment.” Luca shook his head. “I’ll let you know if we need a reading on anything else, but I’m having Peyton and Jack question Hammond.”

“He’ll love that,” Merek drawled. “Stick-up-his-ass vampire that he is.”

“Yes, I’m looking forward to his reaction. I imagine it will be…revealing.” More than that, Luca hoped that if he timed matters just right, he might be able to get a confession out of Robert. Or his wife. Either would work, though Robert would be preferable. It would have to be handled carefully. Just like everything else in this politically-heated case, but Robert was too slick to give up any information easily. Luca tapped his fingertips against his thigh, considering options to twist the situation to his advantage. What were Robert’s weaknesses? What could break him? Cecily might be easier to crack, but she couldn’t be forced to testify against her husband. It was Robert that Luca wanted most.

“I have work to do. You can show yourselves out,” Tess interjected. She shot a chilly stare at Luca and smiled at Merek. “I’ll see you and Chloe after work. I’ll bring wine for us and something prenatally approved for her.”

The warlock patted her shoulder. “You should maybe not label it quite that way when you give it to her.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to keep the pregnant lady happy, don’t worry.” Her gaze gleamed with mirth. “That’s what best friends are for, right?”

“That is exactly the right attitude to have.” He nodded in approval. “For the next seven and a half months, anyway.”

“She has you so well trained.” Reaching out, she patted his jaw.

Merek’s broad shoulder rolled in a shrug that was both arrogant and humble at the same time. “I keep my woman happy.”

“If you didn’t, I’d have to kill you.” She glanced at the table that still held the fricasseed man. “You’ve seen what I can do with a scalpel.”

A pained expression formed on the warlock’s face. “Ah, yes.”

“Exactly.” Her grin was satisfied. “I’ll see you tonight. Chloe said eight.”

“Make it seven. She’s starting to crash earlier with the pregnancy.”

“Will do.”

Movement shivered at the edge of Luca’s consciousness and he closed his eyes to let his extra senses heighten. Someone approached the door, silently enough it could only be another vampire or a werewolf. It took a split-second for him to recognize Peyton. The warmth of his body, the pulse of his blood through his veins, the familiar scent of the man all came to Luca in quick succession. He didn’t bother glancing back when Peyton came in, simply motioned the wolf forward.

Tess’s gaze flickered toward Peyton, and a warm, welcoming smile formed on her face. “Hey. These two were just leaving.”

“I see.” He nodded a greeting to everyone, something in his expression softening when he looked at Tess, but he didn’t crack a smile. Not that anyone was surprised by that—the wolf was notoriously reserved. His gaze shifted to Merek. “Tell Chloe I said thank you. Again.”

“No problem.” Merek clapped him on the back, then turned to follow Luca out the door.

Luca waited until they were in the elevator before he let his curiosity loose. “Why was Peyton thanking your wife?”

Shrugging, the warlock leaned against the wall. “She got him into one of her drug trials for lycanthropy.”

Luca frowned, his memory tugging at him. “Yes, I believe that information came across my desk several months ago.”

“It’s been working well for him, I hear. He’s grateful, apparently.”

“Apparently.” For Peyton to say anything at all, let alone repeat himself, was just short of miraculous.

Merek squinted, his voice uncharacteristically hesitant. “Luca…”

Ah, the uncomfortable moment where someone wanted to warn him that Tess was screwing Peyton. It had happened once or twice before, and Luca would be just as glad to never have it happen again. Unfortunately, that wasn’t likely until he was in a solid relationship with someone else and everyone could be relieved that he’d moved on. He
had
moved on, even without that solid other relationship, but he still had to deal with awkward moments like this one. Wonderful.

“I know they’re together. Have known for a long while now.” He sighed. “Believe me when I tell you it’s fine with me. She needs to get over us.”

“So do you,” Merek said pointedly.

“I have.” Erin’s face filled his mind, and the unsettled feeling that had ridden him since the night before made his shoulders twitch. He couldn’t lose her. Not yet. Whatever was going on, he’d get to the bottom of it. Hopefully, it was something they could work on. Working on something sounded a lot like they already had a relationship, and hell, maybe they did. Maybe they needed to start calling it what it was. They weren’t dating per se, but he considered her a friend. With benefits. But a friend, nonetheless. Being in the FBI meant he didn’t have a lot of time leftover for friendships, so he cherished those he had. He didn’t want to lose this one.

He was going to have to talk to Erin and figure out what was up.
Something
was, he just didn’t know what. A small smile curled his lips at the thought of duking it out with her. They’d never had a confrontation before, but he was almost looking forward to it. Fighting got the blood pumping…and made for excellent make-up sex.

“I think you
have
gotten over it.” Merek’s eyebrows arched as he searched Luca’s face. Apparently satisfied with what he found there, he grinned. “Good.”

Chapter Five

Def Leppard belted out of her new cell phone, singing about pouring some sugar in the name of love. Erin fished the phone out of her pocket and quickly silenced it. Luca. She’d already set his usual ring tone, but maybe she should change it. She’d been avoiding him for a few days now, which she knew was shitty. But she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do about him, so she wouldn’t know what to say if she did pick up.

She’d decided to back off a bit, but how far was
a bit?
He was only allowed over once a week? Twice a month? Less than that? There’d never been any limits on their arrangement other than discretion. Her chest squeezed painfully at the thought of cutting things off entirely, and even that wasn’t a good sign.

It didn’t help in the least that her body craved him like a drug. She’d practically worn out her vibrator in the last three days, and as much as she’d tried to avoid fantasizing about him while she’d brought herself to orgasm, she’d kept imagining his mouth on hers, his hands on her skin, his cock shoving deep inside her soaking pussy.

Forcing herself not to return his call or send a text message, she shoved the phone back in her pocket. Time to work, not waste minutes vacillating over a man. She turned her attention to the inventory list on her desk. Their vendor had just dropped off their order, and she needed to check it to make sure what she had in her kitchen matched what was on the list. Picking it up to scan it, she turned to walk out the door.

She’d just stepped into the hallway when she stopped and frowned. “This can’t be right.”

“What can’t?”

She glanced up to see Tina bearing down on her with a trayful of dirty dishes.

“Nothing for you to worry about.” Erin flapped the sheaf of papers through the air. “Busy day so far?”

“I’m earning my paycheck, that’s for sure.” Tina winked, her usual good-natured smile in place. “And the tips are plentiful, so I can’t complain.”

“Excellent. Carry on.”

“I shall.” She managed a mocking half-bow, even with the loaded tray.

Giving a parting wave worthy of a pageant queen, Erin moved toward the stockroom to check if what was on the inventory was what had been delivered. Ten minutes later, she found out it was. “What the hell?”

This wasn’t what she’d told Holly to order. It wasn’t even close. None of the new recipes she’d developed could be prepared with these ingredients. A wash of queasiness filled her belly. This was not good. No, scratch that. It was really, really fucking bad.

It took her ten more minutes to track Holly down. She shoved the inventory list at her. “What is
this
?”

The werewolf eyed her as if she’d started foaming at the mouth. “
This
would refer to…what, exactly?”

“This is not the ordering list I gave you. How on earth am I supposed to cook this week?” Erin tried to ratchet down the hint of panic in her voice, but knew she hadn’t succeeded. “What happened, Holly?”

Confusion flooded her cousin’s face. “Most of what’s there is our normal fare for the menu. Only the stuff for your specials is different. I thought you changed the order for some last minute dishes or something.”

“Me? Why would I want”—she looked at the list again—“
three hundred cans
of sardines?”

“Wait, you didn’t change the order?” Holly’s tone sharpened in dismay. “Because I know I didn’t. So who did?”

“I have no idea.” Erin shook her head for emphasis.

“I’m calling the company right now.”

No matter what they had to say, there was no way this order could be fixed in time for her to cook her specials for the dinner crowd tonight. Probably not even for the breakfast crowd in the morning. Shit. Shit, shit,
shit
.

Okay, it wasn’t as if the world was ending, but this was her livelihood. This was how Holly and she paid their bills. It was how they paid their employees, which was even more important. It only took one bad meal for customers never to come back again, and their regulars had already been emailed about the fabulous new dishes they should come in and try.

And she had canned sardines to work with.

Fantastic.

She got a grip, sat down in the nearest chair, and went over the list again, item by item. What could she make with what she had available?

Breakfast was easy. She could do fisherman’s eggs—seasoned sardines in a ramekin, with a soft-cooked egg over the top. Not her usual fare, but it would work for one day.

Dinner was a whole different can of fish. It didn’t help that she loathed sardines. It was like some sick joke that she now had to work with a boatload of it. She groaned at the unintentional pun. They had specials for everything from appetizers to desserts, so she needed to do a sardine extravaganza. Blech.

Okay, a Caesar salad with sardines was easy enough. There were a few different pasta dishes that could withstand the addition of sardines. Spaghetti would probably be best. That was the salad and the entrée…appetizers. She scanned the inventory again. Crostini. Spinach pesto sardine crostini. They’d need to order extra pesto if she used more of it than usual tonight, so she made a note to mention that to Holly.

She breathed a sigh of relief. It would be insane tonight trying to prep her line cooks for a different menu than she’d planned, but that was life. Sometimes you had to adjust.

“They’re closed for the day, but I have the manager’s personal number.” Holly flashed a grin. “We went out once, remember? Anyway, he made some very pissed off calls to his people and they have no idea who changed the order. A new staff member took a call from someone who claimed to work here this morning. The person—not sure if it was a man or a woman—had our customer ID number, all our relevant information. We’ll be getting a new ID, by the way.” She sighed, frustration in the sound. “Apparently, they had to scramble to get enough sardines for us.”

“Well, they can scramble to take it back, then.” The idea of sardine stink filling up her kitchen made Erin’s nose wrinkle in noxious anticipation.

Her cousin shook her head. “Not until tomorrow, babycakes.”

“I know.” She nodded. “I have the specials figured out for dinner and breakfast, but I want this fixed ASAP.”

Spreading her hands, Holly shrugged helplessly. “He’s on it first thing, but this late in the day, there’s not much he can do.”