Sealed with a Hiss: Book Four Supernatural Enforcers Agency (4 page)

“Oh, my,” she whispered while her squirrel fanned herself.

He viewed her through hooded eyes.  The coolness of his eyes was tempered by his lust, but also something else, something like recognition.  He tossed the mistletoe to the ground as he pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, murmuring one word, “Mate.”

And naturally, at that moment, her sweater broke out into another verse of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Chapter Four

January

Gerry stared out of the window, half-listening to Gunner’s report.  He really should be listening. 
It was important, damnit
.  His job was important to him.  Doing his job was important.  So why was every thought filled with a certain mischievous squirrel shifter?

His python flicked his tail with impatience.  The beast wanted to know why they weren’t with the female at that very moment.  Gerry had a list of reasons, none of which his inner animal agreed with.

After a couple of weeks, he thought that his desire for her would have waned, but no.  If anything, it was even worse than it had been when he felt her soft lips on his, and her lush body pressed against him.

Gerry couldn’t deny that he’d been without sex for a while.  Real sex, anyway.  Not the kind of sexual release that came from a willing partner who just wanted to get it over and done with so she could go back to sleep.  He assumed that was the reason he was so taken with the squirrel.  His snake had latched onto the nearest female it could find and now didn’t seem able to let go. 
Maybe if they had slept with her suggested the beast…

Every detail of that night was etched into his memory.  He burned the moment he saw her, running into his office, giggling excitedly.  She was a vision of joy and loveliness in a drab world. 
And that kiss…
he shouldn’t have.  But he couldn’t help himself.  He saw the mistletoe and those red, trembling lips and he couldn’t hold back.  He should have.  He was just a dirty old snake taking advantage of a young employee in a moment of weakness.  But what he did next freaked him out even more.  The word
mate
escaped him.  Was she really his mate?

No, it couldn’t be true.  He let the word escape him, but it couldn’t be right.  She couldn’t be his mate.  His snake hissed at him, and Gerry tried to soothe him.  There was nothing wrong with her –
far from it.
  He’d known her for a handful of minutes, and he was smitten.  She was sweet and sassy with luminous green eyes and soft, arousing curves.  Did it bother him that she was a squirrel rather than a snake?  Not even a little.  His snake wanted to drag her into a nest and defend and hide her from every other male on the planet.  His instincts to protect her, to keep her safe ignited the moment she pressed her button nose against his window.

She wasn’t the issue. 
He defied any male not to get hard from just a twitch of her nose.  Although, he had an urge to hunt down and kill any that did.  Over the past two weeks, he’d wasted many an hour in the shower thinking of her. 
It was getting
embarrassing
.  He hadn’t whacked off this much since he was a teenager, and maybe not even then.  His wife thought they had a problem with their water pipes.

And there was the rub. 
He had a wife!
  He had a wife; he had to be almost twenty years older than the squirrel, and he was her boss.  He wasn’t sure which of those things bothered him most.  Probably the age difference.  He was too old for her – far too old.  She deserved someone as young and vibrant as her.  She deserved more than a middle-aged, miserable snake.

Gunner, the agent in charge of the Alpha Team, cleared his throat, and Gerry looked at him questioningly.

The polar bear shifter carefully avoided commenting on his boss’ lack of attention, and chose to reiterate what he was saying.  “I was just thinking, Sir, that it would be helpful if we had a full-time tech support assigned to us.  We have so many needs and it’s getting harder…”

“You’re right.”

Gunner almost gaped at the sudden agreement.  “I ah, yes, Sir.”

“Yes, we should have a tech support just for us.  She could work up here on this floor.  There’s an empty office down the hall…”  Gerry tented his fingers together in a way that would make a supervillain proud.  His beast stirred at the directions of his thoughts.

The huge polar bear scratched his head.  The conversation was getting away from him.  “Uh, she, sir?”

Gerry paused in his machinations.  “Or he,” he said, airily.  Gunner wrinkled his massive brow.

Time to move on.
  Gerry cleared his throat.  “Did you get anywhere with the surgeon’s murder?”

“No,” said Gunner, gruffly.  He took any failure with a case as a personal affront – he took it even harder than Gerry.  “Any leads we had have gone cold, and when we finally got tech support to do some digging, we found out that she did have a malpractice case filed against her.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, a few months back.  A guy filed it after his wife died in surgery.  But the case was dismissed straight away – apparently it was a really risky procedure, and our doc did everything she could.  There weren’t any reports of the guy who filed it attacking her or anything like that so I’ve no idea whether he could have done it.  But he did claim that she rushed the surgery and that was why it ended badly.  The surgery was scheduled for a Friday and she moved it to another day.  He said it was because she wanted to go on a ski trip.”

“Have you spoken to him?”

“He’s dead,” declared Gunner, grimly.  “Died a week after we found the body.”

“How?”

“Car accident.”

Gerry arched an eyebrow.  “Suicide?”

“Well, when they tested his blood it was clear that he was way over the limit.  He could have intentionally gotten drunk and driven into a tree.”  Gunner looked highly doubtful about that.  “I spoke to his sister.  She said that he was devastated after his wife died.  She said he was mad at the doctor at first, but he seemed to calm down after the malpractice was dismissed.  Although, she made a passing comment about his savings account.  She was surprised that he had so little money after he died.  She thought he was missing at least seven grand.”

“Like maybe he spent the missing money on a hit man for our surgeon?”

“Not to eschew that much money…”

“Eschew?”  Gerry’s lips quirked.

Gunner nodded.  “Word of the day calendar – my Secret Santa gift.”

Ah yes, the office Secret Santa, and to think Gerry
eschewed
partaking in that.

“Anyhow, not to eschew the money, but it’s not really a lot for a professional hit.  And someone put a hell of a lot of work into killing her.  Although the coroner did say that he doubted the killer was a professional surgeon.  He said the knife work was too messy.”

“I suppose it would depend on the hit man,” Gerry said slowly, as he considered the bargain basement option of hired killers.  “Shame we didn’t get to speak to him before he died.”

“Yeah, we might have been able to get to him in time if we’d had a little better support,” said Gunner, pointedly.

Gerry’s inner python grumbled. 
Fucking Barry Sayles
.  “You make an excellent point.”  His eyes gleamed.  “Leave it to me.”

*

Madam patted Miriam Quirk’s hand.  “Everything’s been taken care of.  As requested, he’s restrained in his house and awaiting your arrival.  I’ve had one of my associates imbed a charm in him – for any reason if he gets free all you have to do is say the word ‘slumber’ and he will become docile.  I’ve also arranged for a number of implements for your use, in case you wish to get creative with his punishment.”

Miriam bit her lip.  “I’m not sure I can do this.”

Madam didn’t lose her sympathetic smile.  “My dear, I won’t force you to do this.  Everything that happens is your decision.  You’ve already signed the contract.  If you decide you do not wish to continue, then that is entirely up to you.  Although I hesitate to mention it, we wouldn’t be able to refund your money at this time.  But remember, you’re not just here because of what he did to your sister.  You’re here because of all the agony and pain he’s put your family through.  And all the pain he may cause to future victims’ families.  The cops failed to protect your sister and failed to bring him to justice.  Aren’t you just doing what needs to be done?”

Miriam wiped tears away with the back of her sleeve.  “You’re right.  He has to pay for what’s he’s done.”

“An eye for an eye,” agreed Madam, squeezing her hand.  “Now are you sure you definitely want it to happen here?”

She nodded vehemently.  “This is where he… it has to be here.”

“Of course, whatever you want.  Just remember, his housekeeper is due to arrive at 6 am.  We’ll need at least two hours to ensure that we get rid of any evidence.  However,” Madam paused and frowned, “if he needs his memories erasing, we’ll need at least three hours.  It’s a delicate procedure, and I’d need a shaman to do it.”

Miriam’s brow creased.  “What do you mean if?”

“Just remember, if he’s still alive at the end, he will remember everything you’ve done to him.”

“You want me to kill him?”

Madam spread out her hands.  “You do whatever you want – this is your revenge after all.  Just ensure that my people will have enough time to come and clean up before his housekeeper’s arrival.”

Miriam blinked at her before mumbling, “Okay.”

“Good, but if anything goes wrong use this.”  Madam passed her a rock and explained what it was.  “All you have to do is throw it to the ground, and it will cover up any… messes.  Just make sure you run like hell from it.  Only use it in an absolute emergency.”

“You mean like if someone turns up?”

“Yes, particularly the cops.  The last thing we want is for you to be arrested for this.  Speaking of which, one of my associates is currently establishing your alibi in a bar across town.”

“You think of everything.”

Madam smiled encouragingly.  “All part of the service.  Call me as soon as you’re done.  Now go.  On wrongs swift vengeance waits.  You’ve waited long enough, go enjoy your vengeance.”

*

Miriam fumbled with her phone.  She could barely grip it because of the blood on her fingers.  When Madam finally answered, Miriam started crying.

“She came home early,” she hiccupped.

“Who?” asked Madam, as calm as ever despite Miriam’s frantic tone.

“The housekeeper!” cried Miriam.  “She came home early.  I freaked out and left; I forgot to use the stone.  It was… oh god!  I’m sorry.  I fucked up and forgot everything you told me.”

“Is he dead?  Did you finish the job?”

“I… yes, I’m pretty sure he was dead.  There was so much blood.”

Madam barely even paused before she started making hushing, soothing noises.  “My dear, do not fret, all is not lost.  I have a… well, let’s just say, a
contact
within the SEA.  I’ll make sure the evidence goes missing.  Remember, you already have an alibi in place; they won’t be able to arrest you for this.  Try not to cry – you’ve performed a great service to the world.  Don’t feel any pity for him.  He deserved this.  Now, you get yourself home, take a long shower and try and get some rest.  Leave everything to me.”

Chapter Five

Jessie scowled at the computer.  “Why won’t you work?” she hissed at the screen.  The computer stared back at her giving nothing away.  “Yeah, come and work at the SEA,” she muttered, stabbing at her keyboard with ill-concealed fury.  “Smartly dressed idiots will kiss you before running away like you’ve eaten a whole plate of garlic flavored onions.  Ugh!  Work damnit!”  She slapped the side of her screen.

Someone coughed, delicately.  “Everything okay, Jessie?”

Her squirrel grumbled, and Jessie tried not to show her irritation.  “Hi, Robbie.”  She noticed a few other people in the office were casting furtive glances her way.  Maybe she should tone it down a bit.  “Sorry, just a little… ah… bad time of the month.”  She cringed about pulling out the ‘girly’ card, but there was no way she was going to admit the real reason for her perpetual bad mood.  Her parents hadn’t been able to extract it from her over the holidays – and they even resorted to bribing her with triple chocolate fudge cake.  This guy wasn’t going to get it out with sad puppy dog eyes and a boy-next-door charm.  Both of which did nothing for her ever since some asshat gave her the best kiss of her life, and didn’t even hang around to tell her his name. 
She had to read it on his door!

Robbie looked immediately off-color, and Jessie tried not to roll her eyes.  Clearly he fell into the large category of men who found the details of how ‘lady parts’ worked embarrassing.

“Oh, umm, ah…”  His cheeks dusted with red.

“I’m having a little trouble getting the search software to work,” she admitted.  It was a source of personal embarrassment.  She could get any computer, any program to work, and yet she was having problems with such a simple package as the one designed for even the agents who ran around waving a gun all day. 
The computer illiterate muscled jocks.

Robbie smiled, happy to be back on normal territory.  “Let me take a look.”

He sat down next to her, flashing her a boy-next-door grin.  His arm brushed hers, and she inhaled his soapy scent. 
Sigh
.  He’d be perfect for her.  Why did she have to run into that damn snake shifter’s office?

Her squirrel chirped in annoyance and Jessie told her to button it.  Yes, he was handsome and smelled incredible and yes she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since the moment he kissed her, but what kind of a man calls a squirrel his mate and then runs out the door like he’s on fire?

The last two weeks had been the longest of her life, and she doubted she’d ever endured so many cold showers in her life before now.  Her body was on fire, and her temper was firmly at the end of its wick.  The only thing that had stopped her from exploding over the Christmas break was that she was far too busy helping with her younger brothers and sisters to actually worry too much about her love life – or
lack
of a love life.

Now, however, two days back at work and not having spotted the sly snake even once, she was completely pissed.  How dare he kiss her and then run out on her!  She wouldn’t have dreamed of kissing him.  Well, okay, she might have dreamed about it, but she wouldn’t have done it.  Well, she probably would have done it. 
Oh, never mind!

Robbie tapped on her keyboard a few times and hey presto, it was fixed.  She hid her scowl.  She should have been able to do that, and he made it look damn easy.  He beamed at her, and she managed a watery smile.

“Thanks,” she muttered.

“No problem.  Takes a little while to get used to the Los Lobos system.  You’re already way ahead of all the new hires.  Even the ones who came to us from another SEA branch.”  He cast a wary look in Cora, the mole shifter’s direction.  The mole had no sympathy for any of her colleagues.  She told Ellory the ferret shifter that it was his own stupid, reckless fault he broke both legs while skiing. 
Well, it was his own fault – but you shouldn’t say it!

“Please.”  Her ire melted a little at the compliment.

“No really, you’re a fast learner.  And anyway, the bar here is not that high.  A year ago when a new agent transferred in, we put a couple of shoot ‘em up games on his computer, a couple of hours later there were gunshots from his office.” 

Jessie raised an eyebrow.  “He shot his computer screen with his gun?”

“Shotgun and yes.  As we were taking his computer away, he complained that the game wasn’t realistic enough.”

She burst into peels of laughter.  But her mirth was cut short by an enticingly familiar scent, followed by the coldest clearing of a throat she’d ever heard.

“Ahem.”

She and Robbie spun around to find him staring at them.  Robbie jumped to his feet, blushing wildly.  “Director Sanders!” he exclaimed.  “We were just…”

“Ms. Duchamp,” said the director, ignoring Robbie and giving her the blandest look she’d ever received.  He could have been happy, angry or sad and she wouldn’t be able to tell.  Although, maybe he really was just completely apathetic to seeing her again.  That thought gnawed at her, and her inner beast gnashed her tiny teeth.

Oh, he just made it worse by looking absolutely wonderful.  So handsome and sophisticated in his gray suit and dark red tie.  He looked like he should be a model for a fancy-ass watch.  And he smelled better than she remembered.  His cool, spicy scent was even more intoxicating without the smell of whiskey.  She just wanted to throw herself at him and wrap herself around him like a…
well, like a python
.  But she needed to stop thinking like that.  She was still mad at him.  Her squirrel pouted, but Jessie felt no mercy.  Freeze him out, baby, it’s ice cold in Jessie town.

“Director,” she said with a coolness that she definitely didn’t feel.  No, her insides were molten lava at that moment.  Yet the tiny flicker of his eyebrow indicated that perhaps he wasn’t completely unfeeling.

“May I see you in my office, please?  Ten minutes.  I believe you know the way.”

She gave him a sharp look at that.  He merely stared right back.

The rest of the office was silent and watching the exchange with interest.  “Yes, of course,” she mumbled.

He nodded and his lips twitched into a brief smile.  He turned on his heel and walked away.

“Jeez, Jessie, he never comes down here.  What did you do?” whispered Robbie.

Her squirrel whimpered. 
He wasn’t going to fire her, was he?

*

Gerry took a deep breath before he called ‘come in’.  He could do this.  She was a tiny squirrel shifter.  He had nothing to worry about.  He was forty-four fucking years old, for crying out loud.  He could handle himself against a squirrel shifter called Jessica Mary Duchamp, who happened to be twenty-three years old and was born and raised in a small town called Nutsville.  He assumed that her scurry –
and yes that really was the collective name for squirrels
– had something to do with the naming.

It wasn’t weird that he knew those details.  He may have taken a look at her file. 
He may have memorized her file
.  The picture they had on file for her did not do her justice.  Her eyes were closed, and her mouth formed an O of surprise.  In reality, she was beyond lovely.  So lovely she made everyone and everything around her melt into the background in their inordinate plainness.

His snake sighed as she entered and stomped her way over to his desk.  He hid his smile because it was indeed a stomp.  Her pretty face, with flaming red cheeks and pouting lips, looked furious.  Despite her small size, the enormous combat boots made quite a ruckus.  He tried not to stare at her chest, currently clothed in a blue t-shirt with a picture of two kittens that said ‘you’ve cat to be kitten me’.  To Gerry, who had only dated snake shifters who mainlined in sleek business suits, he found it surprisingly sexy.

“You can’t fire me,” she declared folding her arms over her chest, pushing the kittens up and out.

Gerry snapped to attention, feeling embarrassment for actually staring at a woman’s chest.  He wasn’t sure he’d even done that when he was a horny teenager.  Even as a boy he’d been able to control his baser urges.  This darn squirrel made them all bubble to the surface.

He looked at her for a few moments, and she fidgeted under his gaze.  “Fire you?  Why would I fire you?”

“Because of what happened before Christmas.”

He felt a pang at the unhappiness on her face. 
He’d done that to her
.  But hadn’t she welcomed the kiss?  Even participated with a warmth and enjoyment he had never encountered with any of his previous partners.  Hadn’t she wanted him to kiss her?  The thought that she might not have unnerved him.  But no, that wasn’t important.  It was better if she wasn’t interested in him.  Yes, kept telling himself that.

“I wish to apologize for that,” said Gerry, ignoring the fury of his snake.  “That was very unprofessional of me.  I should never have seduced you.”

Jessie snorted in disdain but the color bloomed even darker in her cheeks, and she couldn’t take back the sharp intake of breath.  “Seduced me?  You didn’t seduce me.  It was just a kiss, and you weren’t the first I kissed that night.”

Gerry braced himself as his snake surged forward.  The beast wanted out.  The beast wanted to hunt down and murder any male who had ever touched her.  He clenched his fists.  “I remember you said so on the night.”

“I’m not easy if that’s what you think.” 

“I would never think…”

“And obviously, you can tell I haven’t got that much experience with kissing.”

Gerry frowned at her as embarrassment and anger competed for dominance on her face.  “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

“Well clearly my kissing skills are awful otherwise, I wouldn’t have sent you running away like a little girl.”

He disregarded the obvious insult and tried to ignore how fetching her bottom lip looked when it quivered, indignantly.  “That’s not what happened, Ms. Duchamp.”

Jessie’s eyes flickered yellow in interest.  His snake flicked his tail.  “No?”

“No, I was… ashamed of my behavior.  Taking advantage of an employee, never mind one as young as…”

His secretary, Norma, a sturdy, middle-aged warthog shifter burst into his office.  “Norma!” he roared leaping to his feet, in a rare show of anger at the interruption.

Norma, usually so unflappable, actually took a step back.  He dared a glance at Jessie, fearing he may have startled her, too.  She merely blinked at him.

After taking a moment to collect herself, Norma said, “I’m sorry, Gerry,” in her best admonishing tone.  “But
she’s
on her…”

Before Norma could finish her sentence, his senses were assaulted by thick, floral perfume. 
Shit
.  It was the dreaded
she
.  His beast snarled in fury.  Never let it be said
she
didn’t have impeccably bad timing.

“Forgive me, honey,” crooned Edith, flouncing into the room.  She imbued the word honey with so much sarcasm that it almost fell down under its own weight.  “I locked myself out of the house, and I need your keys.”  She struck a model-like pose and clicked her fingers, impatiently.

Gerry could feel every muscle in his body twitching, every vein pulsing with the need to shift.  “Wait outside, Edith,” he hissed, barely able to form words as his mouth started twisting in his change.  The python was furious.

Edith rolled her eyes.  “Well, hurry up, honey.” She turned to leave and smirked at Jessie in a way that said ‘men, huh?’.  Jessie looked out the window, her body was a study in stillness.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.
  His marriage was no secret, of course not.  It’s not like he had tried to hide it or deny Edith’s existence to Jessie.  And it wasn’t like he and Jessie were a couple or anything, or even contemplating becoming a couple.  All they’d shared was one kiss -
one devastatingly wonderful kiss
. He knew Jessie had to find out about it sooner or later.  He was just kind of hoping that she might find out about it after his divorce when he was free and single and able to pursue her…

He glared at Norma until she had ushered his fickle wife out of the office.  He scrubbed a hand over his face. 
Fucking Edith didn’t even have to try to ruin his life thought his animal
.  “Ms. Duchamp… Jessica…”

“What did you call me up here for?” she asked, abruptly.  He wasn’t completely unhappy by the sudden diversion away from the topic of his wife, but the look she was hurling at him could be considered as hostile at best.  Her lips were pursed and tight in a way that said ‘you’ll never kiss these again’.  Her eyes said ‘read my lips’.

“I wanted to tell you that you’re being reassigned,” he told her, trying to smile and make it sound like it was good news.  Considering smiling was something he generally reserved for special occasions, it wasn’t easy.

But the silver lining was that her expression softened.  She just looked confused.  “Reassigned?  I’ve only worked here a total of three days!”

Gerry cleared his throat.  Now he really was embarrassed.  Yes, his reasons for choosing Jessie for this role were hardly altruistic.  No, it was purely selfish.  He could dress it up with some very justifiable reasons, but he was reassigning her to make himself feel better.