Niko: Love me Harder (15 page)

He watched as Ash led Detective Johnson out of the door. The male was used to solving crimes. He could see it in the detective’s eyes. He was a predator of the human variety. One predator acknowledged another. He would watch out for him.

“What do you think they will find?”

“Whatever the created left for them to find. To try and stall or to look at the video feed first, would imply guilt. Ash will minimize any damage done on the video.”

“You really are a family.”

“Yes, the six of us are intimately linked, but it goes further than that. The Created are a family. We have bonded because of what and who we are. We watch out for and help each other, whether we’re genetically linked or not.” Aran replied.

“I’ve known siblings from the same parents that hate each other, yet all of you go out of your way to help each other.” Dee looked at him with respect.

“Those siblings never went through hell together. Their lives never depended on their brothers. They never spent weeks at a time in the same dark hole, waiting for a chance to attack. They were raised in privilege, whether they know it or not. Luxury at times can breed contempt.” Niko told her.

Their conversation died as they heard the footsteps of Detective Johnson in the hallway. Ash came in on silent feet.

“Were you able to retrieve any evidence from the surveillance feed?”

Aran looked at Ash, then at the detective.

“I saw, but I’m not sure I believe. We made out the shape of what looked like an animal, one I couldn’t identify. It came into the office and soon after Mr. Baal walked out, looking the worse for wear. All we’re sure of is that he exited on his own two feet.”

“I would’ve thought that was impossible, considering the amount of blood in his office.”

“I would’ve originally agreed with you Ms…”

“Jones. Dee Jones.”

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Jones.”

She walked over to the detective and handed him a list of names. “Those are the names and addresses you asked for.”

“Thank you. I’ll be in contact with you shortly. We’ll be putting out an APB on Mr. Baal.”

Thank you they all said at once, as Ash escorted the detective out of the building.

“I didn’t have time to mention this, but it seems we also have a missing woman or two from this department. Neither were here today. Both have been rumored to be showing signs of having their psyches messed with.” Tina hadn’t been in the office when Dee came in.

“Another sign the created was here.” Aran replied, as Ash walked back in the room.

“Anyone up for a trip to Jessie’s house?” Dee held up the name and addresses of the two women that were missing. “Jessie seemed to be the most effected. We should check on her first.”

A beautiful, new, deep blue BMW sat in Niko’s parking space.

“Your new car I take it.”

“Uhuh.”

“Why is it blue?”

“Because it’ll look good sitting next to your Charger.” She shook her head as she got in the car, waiting for Aran to get into his to follow them.

They pulled up in front of Jessie’s house ten minutes later.

The curtains were pulled and the windows were painted black with a white cross on them.

Chapter Twenty-five

Dee watched as Aran left his car and approached the house. He knocked on the door and called out Jessie’s name.

“Shouldn’t we go with him?”

“No, he can handle it. I want some time alone with you. If he needs help, he’ll send out a mayday.”

Dee shook her head and looked at Niko, who was slumped behind the wheel of the car.

“He’s ok. He let me have his body so I could speak with you. Your pathway to the male isn’t finished yet, but your pathway to me is complete. Look inside. You’ll find the path.”

“Who are you?”

“You know who I am.”

“Your Niko’s beast side. How can I be talking to you?”

“When he bit you, it formed a mental pathway. You exchanged blood. More, you exchanged genetic material.”

“If you’re his beast, how do you talk? How do you know what genetic material is?”

“Don’t judge me by the standards of your world. My appearance to you may be one you would consider an animal, but on my world you would be considered a grossly undeveloped species. Although Niko’s planet claims to be the home of true science, we studied genetics and manipulation before they could even say the word much less form the thought.”

“Sorry, guess finding out we aren’t alone, and that we’re also out of our depth with the other races, has been a bit of a shock.”

“No worries. We’ll take care of you.”

Dee rolled her eyes. “Spoken like a true male.”

“Thank you. You’re beautiful. To be given one such as you as a mate is an honor.”

She blushed. “Thank you. That is some compliment.”

“I only speak the truth. I wish you to understand that I’ll never hurt you. Neither of us will hurt you.”

“Why do you speak as if you’re separate?”

“We are to a degree. To some degree we’re two beings occupying the same body. To another degree, maybe the same degree, we’re interchangeable. Neither matters when it comes to you. We’re of the same mind. We’ll always defend and protect what is ours. Dee, you belong to both of us.”

He brought his hand to her face and caressed her cheeks. Those deadly claws lay gently against her. She caught his hand and turned it over. What could’ve been deadly was fashioned to bring pleasure and nothing more. She kissed the palm of his hand.

“When I accepted the male, I accepted the beast. I don’t fear you.”

She felt the soft flutter of a kiss in her mind, before she felt Niko’s lips on her. Niko or the beast, she didn’t really care. They both kissed liked gods (Marvel gods).

“Aran needs the both of you. I’ll come back later.” The door that had opened was now closed in her mind.

Niko rose up in one fluid motion. “Did he scare you?”

She gave him a look that would’ve put him in the grave if it could kill. “Of course not. He’s simply you. The two of you should get that fact straight.”

She exited the car and went to the door of the house. She listened before she pushed the door in.

“They’re in the basement.”

She simply nodded her head and started for the back of the house. The basement door was by the kitchen where she’d hoped it would be. She flicked the lights on. Darn males. They could see in the dark.

She walked down the stairs to find a crazed Jessie, with a rake in her hands, pointed at Aran.

“She’s convinced that I’m an alien and that I’m here to rape her and then eat her. I told her that I was with Rena, but she wouldn’t believe me, because Rena isn’t here. She said she would believe it if Dee were here, because she didn’t take shit from anyone.”

“I always knew you were watching me Jessie, even when you didn’t want to say hi.”

“Dee, is that you?”

“Yeah it is.” She turned to Niko and whispered, “Call Dante. Get us some Rowl. Bags of it.”

“He said you were dead and that I was going to die a terrible death like you.”

Niko and Aran stiffened behind her.

“Who said that Jessie?”

“The man who came to the office. He said he’d lost something and needed help. I was just coming back from lunch and offered to help him.”

“Can you tell me what he looked like?”

“He was tall, maybe five eight.” Jessie stopped talking and clutched her head.

“Jess stop thinking about him, ok? Stop, Jess. It’s alright.”

She looked around the room suspiciously. “Dee?”

“Right here, Jess.”

“Who are they?” Her voice had lowered when she asked the question.

“They work for our company too. The blonde is my man.”

“You finally settled with a man?”

“Yeah. Amazing huh?”

“It is. Dee, is he an alien?”

“You mean one of those guys I heard you talking about who will rape you then eat you later?”

Jessie nodded her head vigorously. “Yes. The man said that the guy who owns the company would come for me to kill me. No loose ends.”

“No Jess they’re not aliens. They’re the good guys. They saved me. Someone shot me, but they saved my life.”

“Hired gun.”

“What do you mean, Jess?”

“The man. He liked to brag when he was torturing me. He said he hired someone to do a hit on you. To kill you. He gave that person a weapon that would tear you apart. You’re still alive. He was wrong.”

“Yeah, he was wrong. Jess, are you thirsty?”

“I drank the last of my water so I’m thirsty.”

“No water, but I have a soda. Is that ok?”

She nodded her head yes. “I’m going to bring it to you, ok?”

Dee walked to her and opened the bottle, before handing it to her. “Drink it all.”

Jess smiled and turned the bottle up, drinking it down without taking a breath.

“You really were thirsty. That will help you.”

“I feel sleepy.”

“You have had a hard time. Sleep. When you wake up, you’ll feel better.”

Jessie dropped and Dee caught her.

“Dante.” Dee called him out of hiding. “What did you put in that soda?”

“She got a Dante special. A double heaping of Rowl mixed with a syrup that will let her sleep without nightmares until the Rowl kicks in.”

“What do we do with her?” Dee looked at the males standing there.

“We’ll take her to the safe house where we have the other female and monitor them both until we find the killer.”

“Dante, you make it sound so easy. What about her friends and family?”

“So far, he has picked people that no one will miss, like you coworker Vance. I checked. No friends or family. Just a job.”

“No one has looked for Sara either. She’s the other victim we have at the house.”

“Aran and I will take Jessie. Then we’ll look into the last name on your list.”

Dante picked Jessie up and carried her out.

“Take Rena with you.”

“Count on it.” Aran replied and then disappeared after Dante.

“Shall we go look for the money?”

“After you kitten.”

They headed for his car. She looked around. Jessie had been scared. She had verses from the bible written on her wall, prayers to keep the evil one away. They had to find this creep before he hurt anyone else.

The drive back to Niko’s place was swift and uneventful. She went into his office also, known as his security room and found that a place had been made for her.

She turned on her laptop and began to follow the money. It had been rerouted several times. She didn’t have the level of expertise that her friend Rena had, but she could follow money. She ended up back in the US at the same bank they used. That made it easier.

She reversed the deposit and lifted the phone to speak with the bank manager, who she knew. She showed him what she’d found and told him in sweet words that his bank really didn’t want to be in the middle of an embezzlement case.

He seemed to agree with her. They searched for several more hours and were able to push the reverse through, as well provide a name of the client. This was done as a courtesy of course and wouldn’t be acknowledged if asked about.

They then tracked the money they weren’t able to reverse. With one last goodbye, she hung up.

“I have good news and bad news.”

“The good news is that you’re now solvent again. The bad news is that you lost five hundred thousand dollars.”

“We can absorb that.”

“I love aliens. I have another piece of news.”

He looked at her and waited.

I have the name on the account.

Chapter Twenty-six

“Niko. Is she going to be ok? Good. No, that’s not good. I’ve some good news. Dee was able to find the name of the person whose account our money went into. We’ll be waiting for you.”

“What happened?”

“They were able to get Jessie settled in the house with Sara. She’s consuming Rowl and responding. They think she’ll be alright, given time. They swung pass Tina’s house. She’s missing. Her neighbors said she went off with a man who they had seen around lately, but they aren’t sure she went willingly.”

“You have to love the ‘don’t get involved’ feeling people have.”

“They’re elderly. It’s probably why the created left them alone. They presented no threat to Him.”

“Why didn’t the scientists create any females?”

“We all have a different theory. Some claim to know, but they say nothing.”

“What’s your theory?”

“I go between power and control. One is the flip side of the other. Some days I think they thought they would be able to control us if we had no one. They could use the thought of creating females for us to keep us in line. Other times I think it was a power play. You’ll never have what you crave. Again, a way to manipulate us. It brings us back to control.”

“I guess it doesn’t really matter. I’m thinking that they figured you would just die off after you finished fighting.”

The hands that had been rubbing her shoulders dropped. Niko walked across the room and looked out of the window.

“Niko, what’s wrong?” He stood still, looking out of the window. “Are you dying?”

Her mind went there. Wasn’t it a fact that aliens weren’t able to exist on other planets? Hadn’t Neil Armstrong walked on the moon? He’d been in the bulkiest protective suit ever made. He would’ve died without it.

Even in the movies humans had to build domes to live on different planets. Yet, here he was living like a human. Had his life been cut short because of it? Would he have to leave?

“Niko?”

“I’m not dying.”

Males! Why did they have to make everything so difficult? Did he think she wanted something to happen to him? He was still staring out of the window. What could be wrong?

“I’m not dying and neither are you.”

“Of course I’m not dying. I most definitely don’t have a death wish.”

“No Dee. You’re not dying any time soon.”

“Meaning I should live a long life? Another fifty years, sixty if I’m extra careful?”