When Temptation Burns: A Shadow Keepers Novel (Shadow Keepers 6) (23 page)

“Of course.” Bryce nodded, though he clearly wasn’t thrilled. “We’ll bring him in immediately.”

“Good. And Wes and Kevin?” Paul added. “You sent someone to guard them?”

Bryce swallowed and drew himself up straighter. “No, sir. I didn’t think—”

“Dammit, man, no, you
didn’t
think. Those boys are assets. They’re poster boys. Walking fund-raisers. And if
the werewolves took revenge against Stu, don’t you think it’s likely that they’ll also seek out the other two?”

He pulled his phone toward him and dialed Kevin’s number, followed by Wes’s. Neither boy answered, and a rope of fear knotted through his gut.

He pushed himself out of his chair. “Come on,” he said to Bryce. “And hurry.”

The buzz of Doyle’s phone woke him, and he reached slowly for it, careful not to wake Andy. The display showed that the call was from Rand.

“What have you got for me?”

“You’re going to want to kiss me, Doyle. But I’m not going to let you.”

“Considering I can’t imagine ever wanting that, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you ID’d the werens who took out Stu.”

“That’s affirmative,” Rand said. “The kid went out drinking. Bragged in a few bars he had no business bragging in, and a couple of werens who have a rep for acting first and thinking later heard about it and decided to show Stu just how little they thought of him.”

“Two perps? We sure we got them all?”

“We’ll know once we get them into custody and question them,” Rand said, “but they weren’t careful at all. They told pretty much the entire weren community what they had planned. And I’ve got a traffic camera image placing them at the light one block from Stu’s apartment. I’m confident they’re our guys, and that they worked alone.”

“When we get them into custody? You’re telling me they’re still at large?”

“That’s what I’m saying. We’ve issued an all-points. I’ll call as soon as we locate them.”

“Damn straight,” Doyle said. “Stu may have been a little prick, but he was a human. There are rules, goddammit, and those fuckers broke them.”

He ended the call and put the phone down quietly. Then he gently wrapped his arm around Andy’s shoulders, wondering if she was ready to withstand the depths of the world into which she was diving.

Andy woke in Doyle’s arms, more at peace than she could remember feeling in a very long time. She kept her eyes closed, enjoying the rise and fall of his chest against her cheek. Breathing in the scent of him, soapy with an undertone of cinnamon. She smiled to herself. That was probably from the coffee cake.

“Are you awake?” he whispered.

“If I say yes, does that mean I have to move?”

“We could stay here forever,” he said. “But our food options would be rather limited.”

“You’d be amazed by how many places deliver in my neighborhood.” She rolled over in his arms and grinned up at him. “I enjoyed last night.”

He stroked her cheek, and she felt a shiver travel all the way down to her toes. “It was my pleasure.”

She forced herself to sit up, then glanced at her watch, shocked to discover that it was almost noon. “I should go talk with my dad. And I’m betting you have a job to go to. Or do they just let you run free at Homeland Security?”

“They tend to keep us on a short leash.”

“That’s the beauty of freelancing,” she said. “My time is my own.” She made a face. “Or not. I need to see
Daddy, hit the grocery store. I should check on Paul, too. Thank him for the party and make sure his arm is okay. And Kevin. At the very least I need to give him a ride back to the Warford, because you have never met anyone who is more lost without a car.”

She ran her fingers through her hair, hoping she didn’t have a serious case of the morning frizzies. She turned to him as a new thought hit her. “The cops aren’t going to find anything, are they? About Stu’s murder?”

Doyle shook his head. “What could they find? They’re looking for humans. The attackers were werewolves.”

“I still can’t believe it. I think I would have had nightmares about it if you hadn’t been here. I’m so glad Kevin wasn’t with us to see what they did to—” She clapped her hand over her mouth as a new thought struck her. “Paul said that he thought they went after Stu because he bragged to the wrong people. But what if that wasn’t it? Or what if he included Kevin and Wes in his bragging?”

Doyle didn’t waste any time. “Get dressed,” he said, and within minutes they were in his car.

“His apartment’s in North Hollywood,” she said, her foot pressed to the floor of the Pontiac, as if that could make it go faster.

Doyle reached over and took her hand. “We’ll find him. He’ll be okay.”

“You don’t know that,” she said, hating that he didn’t rush to contradict her.

“Here,” she said, when he hooked a right onto Whitsett Drive. “That one. There, there! Pull in there.”

Doyle slammed on the brakes, pulling the Pontiac into a fire zone. They both leaped from the car, and she raced toward Kevin’s apartment, upstairs and in the back.
Doyle was right beside her, and he rested his hand on her back for support as she pounded on the locked door.

Nothing
.

“It’s locked. Could they have gotten in through the back? He’s on the second floor and there isn’t a balcony.” She turned to Doyle, desperately wanting him to say that of course Kevin was locked up safe and sound.

“If they wanted in badly enough, the second floor wouldn’t stop them.”

“Shit.”
She pounded more.

“Back,” Doyle said.

“What?”

“I said get back,” and even as she was scrambling out of the way, Doyle kicked up and out, his foot intersecting the lock. The doorjamb splintered, the door sprang open, and inside the room, Kevin screamed.

“What the fuck! Jesus, Andy, what the fuck?”

A towel was wrapped around her cousin’s waist and his hair was sopping wet. She didn’t care. She raced toward him and threw her arms around him.

“We were a little worried about you,” Doyle said.

Kevin patted her back. “Okay. So, you wanna tell me why? And you wanna do something about my door?”

To Kevin’s credit, he didn’t go too pale when Andy told him about Stu’s brutal murder, though he did have to sit down.

“But I’m okay, right? I mean, I didn’t brag to anybody.” He looked between Doyle and Andy.

“I don’t want you to stay here alone,” she said.

Doyle pulled out his phone. “I’ll have someone take you into protective custody.”

She turned to gape at Doyle. “You’d do that?”

“Of course,” he said. “Under the circumstances I don’t see another option.”

“But are you allowed to? I mean—you know what? Never mind. If it’ll keep him safe I’m not going to argue.”

He didn’t bother answering because he already had his cellphone out. She tuned out his conversation and took a seat next to Kevin.

“Ripped up?” Kevin said. “Like—”

“Like you really don’t want to hear the details.” She took his hand. “Do what Doyle says, okay? I want you safe.”

“Yeah,” he said, looking a little shell-shocked. “I can get clothes, right?” He gestured at his towel. Doyle snapped his phone shut and nodded, and Kevin went into his bedroom to pull on some jeans.

“He’ll be safe?”

“I promise,” Doyle said.

A few minutes later, Agent Tucker appeared in the doorway. He looked at the splintered wood and lifted a brow. “Forget your key?”

“This is my partner, Severin Tucker.”

“I remember him from Lompoc. Thanks for doing this.”

“His wish is my command,” Tucker said, nodding at Doyle. “And where is our happy houseguest?”

Kevin reappeared a second later with a duffel slung over his shoulder. “I didn’t know how much to pack.”

“Andy can get anything you forgot,” Doyle said. “Hopefully, you won’t need to be under for long.”

“Where’s he going?” Andy asked.

“All you need to know right now is that he’s going to be somewhere safe. Fair enough?”

She hesitated, uncomfortable with the secrecy. She wanted to know where Kevin would be. But this was Doyle, and she trusted him. She nodded.

“Kevin?” Doyle looked at him.

“Safe works for me.” He followed Tucker to the door, then paused. “But what about Wes? You’re checking on him, right?”

Doyle caught Andy’s eye. “He’s our next stop.”

It didn’t take them long to get across the valley to the small house that Wes rented in Van Nuys.

“Wow,” Wes said as he opened the door for them. “If I’d known I was going to be throwing a party, I woulda bought more beer.” He stepped aside, and Doyle saw that Paul was sitting inside the small living room. “Come on in.”

“Doyle,” Paul called as he crossed over to them, then shook Doyle’s hand and kissed Andy’s cheek. “I see that you had the same worry that I did. Kevin?”

“We went there first,” Doyle said. “He’s fine.”

“I’m relieved,” Paul said. Doyle waited for him to ask where Kevin was now, but he didn’t. Instead, he turned and gestured to the two men who were sharing the room with him. “I believe I told you about Bryce? And this is Aaron, who’s fast following in his footsteps.”

Both men nodded in greeting.

“And Wes?” Doyle said. “What are we going to do about him?”

“We were just discussing that,” Paul said. “I’ve got plenty of room. He can stay with me for a few days.”

“And after that?” Doyle asked.

“A few days should be plenty,” Paul said, in a voice that left Doyle with no doubt that things were heating up. But what was being planned, dammit? And when?

“There’s room for Kevin, too, of course,” Paul added.

“I’ve already sent him to a safe house,” Doyle said.

“Did you? Where?”

“If I tell you that, Homeland might find out I’m playing in a different sandbox. Trust me, though. He’s fine.”

“Good,” Paul said, seeming satisfied. Bryce, however, peered at Doyle.

“Why are you playing in our sandbox?”

“Bryce.” Paul’s voice was sharp.

“No, it’s okay,” Doyle said. “I’m new and he doesn’t know me. It’s a fair question. Why am I with Homeland? To protect this country. Why am I aligning myself with Paul? For the very same reason. There are things out there that the government is blind to. And it’s not in my nature to leave it to others to fight something evil when I know it exists. I need to be in the fight, too.”

Right now, actually, he was itching for a fight—for the release that came with the violence of a kill. It was the hunger, of course. He could feel it growing stronger inside of him—he should have gone to Orlando’s last night after he felt the first hint of it, but he wouldn’t trade the time he’d spent with Andy for anything. And this morning had been out of the question, too. He’d needed to protect Kevin and come here.

But Doyle wouldn’t have to wait for too much longer. Paul would take care of Wes, then Doyle would take Andy home, and he could go to Orlando’s and do what needed to be done.

In the meantime, he tamped down the hunger. Or at least tried to. There was still an edge in his voice as he
took a step toward Bryce. “I think you understand that. The need to fight. Don’t you?”

For a moment, Bryce only stared at him, the silence stretching out for so long that Doyle almost feared that the daemon half he kept so well hidden was starting to rise to the surface. But then Bryce nodded.