Bittersweet Darkness (8 page)

“‘This’ being?”

Ash turned to Ryan. “You want to start?”

Ryan was leaning against the wall at the back of the room observing them, as usual. Now he pushed himself up and strode to the front.

“Last night, I had a visit from my old partner at the Met. Apparently, yesterday morning, she was approached by a government department who claimed to be investigating Christian.”

“Investigating me for what?”

“Well not nonpayment of taxes. Other than that, she wasn’t sure, but they hinted about some sort of supernatural, spooky connection. She told them to piss off. But she said they implied there was a tie-in to the murder case we were investigating. The first girl your vamp friend took. The one who didn’t survive.”

Piers frowned. “Jack’s dead. And he was hardly my friend—I pulled his head off. So why is the case is still open?”

“Well, I could hardly suggest we close it without explaining how I knew that the perp is dead. Faith also said they mentioned Roz.”

“Why the hell would they mention Roz?”

Ryan seemed unfazed by the anger in Piers’s voice. He shrugged. “At a guess, if they’ve been watching the CR building, they’ve picked her up on surveillance. Maybe she was already on their files.”

“Your ex-partner, where does she enter into all this?” Piers asked.

“Again, at a guess—nowhere. Except the fact that she is my ex-partner and I’ve come to work for Christian.”

“You’re sure of that? She couldn’t already be involved with this government organization? Maybe she’s playing you to get close to Christian.”

“Faith? You’ve got to be kidding. She doesn’t believe in any of this stuff. She’s almost pathological about it, and it would take a hell of a lot to shift that attitude.”

“Why?” Ash asked suddenly curious.

“Why what?”

“Why is she so emphatically against believing in us? There’s usually a reason. Something that happened in the past. Has she always been like that?”

Ryan shrugged. “As long as I’ve known her.”

“Does she have family?”

“Not that I know of and not that she ever speaks of. And hey, why are you asking so many questions about Faith?”

“I phoned up her old office today—”

“Old?”

“Yeah—old. I told them I had information relating to a case she’s working on and they transferred me to some guy. Apparently, Detective Faith Connolly has been reassigned and is no longer working her cases.”

“Hmm, I’m betting Faith wasn’t happy about that.” Ryan pursed his lips. “What about the whole integration thing. Do we put it on hold?”

Piers thought for a second. “If we didn’t know about this organization, the chances are that it’s deep under and not many people do. Christian has contacts in the government and military; he can start asking around, see if we can find out anything about them. In the meantime, I suggest Ryan and Ash continue with their meetings. But Ryan, you don’t go alone, and Ash—if anything happens, you get him out of there. I don’t want any spook hunters getting hold of him.”

“So I’m his goddamn babysitter now am I?”

“Yeah. Guard him with your life.”

Ash glanced across at Ryan who had a somewhat alarmed expression on his face. Obviously, he didn’t like the idea of being babysat by a demon, but really, he should appreciate the honor. Ash had never lost anybody he didn’t actually want dead.

“So what do we do about Faith?” Ash asked.

“Faith?”

“Ryan’s ex-partner.”

“We don’t do anything about her,” Ryan said. He turned to Piers. “I sort of offered her a job here if she wants one.”

“You did?” Piers sounded amused more than anything. “Glad to see you’re making yourself at home.”

“Well, you did say you wanted to recruit more humans and Faith is good.”

“Well that would solve the problem. In the meantime, we need to keep an eye on her.”

“I’ll do that,” Ash said.

Ryan frowned, then shrugged. “She’s a big girl—she can take care of herself. Besides, you’re hardly her type and I’d like to be around when she tells you to take a hike.”

“Ryan,” Roz said. “You are aware that Ash goes by a few other names?”

“He does? So?”

“Er...Prince of Darkness, Lord of the Abyss”—she paused for effect—“Demon of Lust.”

“Lust? Shit what does that mean?”

“It means he’s had a lot of experience.”

Ash grinned as he remembered some of it had been with Roz.

“Get that slimy grin off your face,” Piers growled as if he knew exactly what Ash was thinking. Ash gazed at Roz and licked his lips to wind the vampire up.

Roz ignored the look. “All I’m suggesting is that if she’s your friend maybe you’d prefer me or Tara to keep an eye on her. We can call her up, say you thought she might want to hear more about the job.”

“That might be an idea, anyway,” Piers said. “If we could get her on our side, she might be an in to this organization.”

“Yeah, but before you meet Faith, you might want to cover up those love bites on your neck,” Ryan said. “She’s investigating a case where the victim was exsanguinated and she’s not stupid.” He glanced across at Ash. “I think Ash should contact her as well. She’s more of man’s woman, and he might get closer.”

“Why? I thought I wasn’t her type.”

“You’re not, but I saw the way she looked at you last night. And while you might show her a good time, it will only ever be sex. And that’s not going to kill her.” A flash of alarm crossed his face. “Is it? You don’t do some weird demony shit, do you?”

Ash chuckled. Yeah, there was a whole load of weird demony shit he could do—some of it she might even enjoy. But he wouldn’t. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“And besides,” Ryan continued. “I still think she’ll tell you to piss off. She’s got way too much taste to fall for a demon.”

…

Faith sat back and rubbed her forehead. A vague headache had been nagging at her brain for a couple of hours now. She didn’t think it was anything serious, probably just the result of spending the afternoon deep underground staring at a computer screen.

She’d spent the last two hours reading the level-two file on Christian Roth, which in no way convinced her that Christian Roth was anything other than he seemed, an extremely successful businessman.

Apparently, he was born in the sixties but all his records had been destroyed in a fire. He’d first appeared just over twenty years ago, had bought the building that now housed CR International, and almost overnight, the business had boomed. But that didn’t mean he was a fucking vampire. It probably did mean that he was dodgy or at least paying kickbacks to someone. But if he was, there was no evidence of it.

“CR Investigations,” the section of the company Ryan worked for, did everything from investigative work, to setting up security systems, to providing a private army to anyone who might need one. No hint of anything illegal.

Someone came up beside her. Peering over her shoulder, she found the colonel standing at her back. For some reason, he made her skin crawl. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t like it.

“This is a load of crap,” she muttered. “There’s nothing weird about this guy, except he’s very good at what he does.”

“You don’t find it strange that he has never been seen out in the daytime?”

“Oh yeah, right, because if he did, he’d go up in a puff of smoke. That’s definitely proof. Not.”

“You’re a cynic, Detective.”

“Too right. I work on evidence, and so far, I’ve seen nothing conclusive.”

“Hopefully, tomorrow you’ll have more. I’m clearing it with my superior.”

“You have a superior? I can’t imagine that or at least I’m surprised you admit to it.”

“We all have to answer to someone, Faith.” He leaned over her shoulder, and she had to hold herself still to stop from edging away. “Try comparing the photos we have of Roth,” he suggested.

Faith punched a few keys. There weren’t many photographs, probably because he was pretty much a recluse, rarely seen out in public. And those there were on file were hazy as though he’d somehow shifted at the last second, blurring the picture.

The first was back in the early days when he had shown up. Tall and lean, he towered over the people around him. He wore a dark business suit and even with the bad quality, she could tell he was a stunningly handsome man. But there was nothing weird about him, no horns or a tail, no fangs that she could see.

“Compare it to the latest picture,” the colonel said.

She pulled up the last file and studied it.

“This was taken a few weeks ago. One of the rare sightings of Roth outside his building.”

He was dressed differently. In fact, everything appeared different. In the first photo, he’d worn an aura of respectability. In this last picture, he looked anything but respectable. With a jolt of shock, she realized he reminded her of Ash. Maybe it was that he was dressed the same, black leather pants and a black trench coat that nearly reached the ground. His dark hair was brushed back from his face. A face that appeared identical to the first picture. Not a day older.

“Is it the same person? Maybe a brother?” she asked.

“It’s the same.”

She wanted to ask how he was so sure.

“Even if he’d been only around twenty when the first picture was taken,” the colonel said, “he must be in his midforties by now. Does that man appear to be in his midforties?”

“Botox?” she suggested.

The colonel gave an exaggerated sigh. “What will it take to make you a believer?”

“I don’t think you can.” She thought for a moment and an image of a wall rose up in her mind. She shook it away. “You know how you get religious types who go on about faith and how you know it’s real. Well I feel like that, but the opposite. There’s something inside me. Something that knows it’s all rubbish. God, vampires, demons, angels—crap, the whole lot.”

He shook his head in exasperation. “Why don’t you head home? You look tired and soon we’ll have your clearance and we can show you something that will convince you.”

“Good idea.”

“And, Detective, you need to get into contact with your old partner. Tell him you want to meet up.”

Like hell, she would. But she didn’t say the words out loud. She was quite aware Ryan was the real reason she was here, but no way was she setting him up for these creepy guys.

She wasn’t sure how she was going to cope with the whole Ryan thing; she needed to think on it some more. But she also couldn’t tell him anything that went on here. She’d signed a scarily complete nondisclosure agreement that morning. And if she revealed anything about her new job, she’d find herself locked up and silenced quicker than she could say, “vampires don’t exist.”

So she nodded. She’d been issued a waist holster and she slotted the Berretta into the small of her back, pulled her jacket on, and headed out. It felt slightly strange leaning down for the retinal scan, but by the fourth time, she was getting used to it.

Her cell phone rang as she stepped out onto the street. She didn’t recognize the caller ID but answered anyway.

“It’s Ash.”

Her heart gave a little jump at the low, rich voice. She’d been doing her best not to think about him during the long day. Now his image flashed in her mind.

“You there, Faith?” He sounded amused, but then she had been standing in the middle of the busy street and gazing at nothing.

She cleared her throat. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“I thought we might go for a drink.”

“A drink?”

He laughed softly, and a tingle ran down her spine. She forced herself to pull herself together.

“I’m tired,” she said. “I want to head home.” It had been a long day.

“I’ll give you a lift.”

She opened her mouth to say no, then snapped it closed again. It occurred to her that if she needed a contact in CR International Ash was as good as Ryan. And while Ryan was her friend, she didn’t owe Ash anything. She’d be much happier using him as an entry to Christian Roth’s company than her old partner. Plus, sitting in Ash’s comfortable car sounded a much better option than a busy commuter train right now.

“You don’t know where I am.”

“So where are you?”

Without giving herself more time to think, she gave him her location.

“I’ll be there in five minutes.”

And he was. Five minutes later a black SUV pulled up beside her. Ash leaned across, opened her door, and she climbed in.

She’d forgotten how big he was. Huge in the confined space of the vehicle. “So?” she asked, nerves making her snappish.

“So?” A lazy smile curved his lips and her stomach flipped. What the hell was the matter with her?

“What do you want, Ash?”

“Would you believe the pleasure of your company?”

No, the truth was, she wouldn’t. Ash was gorgeous and she was sure the bad-boy looks attracted women in their droves. She could imagine him, with a blond Barbie doll type on each arm, and she was hardly trophy girlfriend material. She was okay, but had never considered herself sexy.

“I did ask Ryan’s permission to date you,” he murmured breaking into her thoughts.

Her mouth dropped open. “He’s not my goddamn father.”

“He told me ‘good luck.’ But that he wasn’t picking up the pieces when you’d ripped me to shreds.”

“But you’re still here.”

He turned in his seat and studied her, his gaze sliding over her face, down her body, and back to her face. It was like being touched and she shivered.

“I like a challenge,” he murmured. “But right now, you look tired. I’ll take you home.”

As he pulled out into the traffic, she fastened the seat belt.

“So, how was work?” he asked.

She glanced at him sharply. “I have a new job.”

“I know.”

“You do?”

“I called your old office—Ryan gave me the number. They told me you no longer worked there but wouldn’t tell me anything else. So why the move?”

She shrugged. “I’m not allowed to talk about it.”

“I presume it’s the organization that approached you yesterday.”

“I’m not allowed to talk about it.”

It occurred to her that he might be using her for information just as much as she intended to use him. But he merely grinned at her answer.