Heart of the Witch (34 page)

The taller technician shrugged. "Stable at the moment. We'll see."

"Thanks." Nick turned once more to the detectives. "Let's get this over with."

"How did you know to come here?" Mungia asked.

"I had a tip. After I called Harris and gave him the info, I headed here."

"Called Harris?" Mungia shot a look at his partner. "Lassiter called you?"

Harris's face colored. "Some fucked-up story about a lead. I ran a check, found out the guy was a doctor…" He swallowed, his voice fading as his gaze took in the carnage surrounding them.

"Sonofabitch," Mungia said under his breath. "What else?" he asked Nick.

Nick relayed the rest of the story, answering Mungia's questions quickly and concisely, anxious to find Ravyn. Not only did he want to know what had happened, he had to know she was okay. And he had a desperate, panicky need just to see her.

He left out the part where the Tin Man shot him. He wasn't sure it was even true, although he recalled it in vivid detail. But that was too insane, because he was obviously unscathed. He didn't want them thinking he'd been drinking. He hadn't touched a drop in days.

"You can go now," Detective Mungia told him after he'd given his statement.

"The hell he can," Harris sputtered. "You don't believe him, do you? Don't you find it a little odd that he's been right in the thick of things from the beginning of this case?" He turned to Nick and pulled out his handcuffs. "You're under arrest."

Mungia sighed. "Back off, Scott. He's been in the thick of it because he's investigating. He's a private detective, and he did what the two of us couldn't. As a matter of fact, he told you to check this guy out, and you came up empty. Nearly got this girl killed. Remember?" Mungia gave Nick a rueful look. "You might say he's a hero."

"A hero?" Harris screeched. "He's a fucking washed-up alcoholic and a goddamned murderer!" He dropped the handcuffs and pulled out his gun, pointing it at Nick. "You're not going to jail, motherfucker, you're going to
die
."

Nick lifted his hands and faced the angry detective. "Calm down. Let's talk about this."

"Drop it, Scott." Mungia had pulled his weapon, and it was trained on his partner. "Don't make me do something I don't want to do."

"What?" Harris whirled. Spittle flew from his lips as he screamed, the cry of rage sounding like that of a wounded animal. "You'd take his side over mine? Your own partner?"

At that moment, more footsteps pounded on the stairs, and out of the corner of his eye Nick saw two uniforms appear in the basement. "What the… ?" one of them said.

Harris's gaze flicked to the stairs. "You're all against me? You all think he's some kind of fucking saint? He tried to have me fired. Tried to ruin my life over some little crack whore!"

Nick inched closer to Harris while the man's wild-eyed gaze roved from the uniforms to Carlos, then back again. "I'll fucking kill you all!" Arms trembling, Harris lifted the weapon toward the cops on the basement steps. Nick lunged and the weapon discharged, just missing the two uniforms, who stood in shocked stillness.

"Get off me!" Harris screamed in Nick's face, rage contorting his features. He jerked and bucked like a man in the grip of a seizure.

Detective Mungia muttered an obscenity, kneeling to slap the cuffs on his partner's wrists as Nick moved off him. He looked up at Nick. "The guy's not right. Hasn't been for a while, but I ignored it. Can't ignore it any longer." Harris thrashed beneath him, shouting curses, his face scrunched in fury.

Black spoke slowly, incredulously. "Good God. He almost killed another cop."

Nick said, "He needs help."

Mungia nodded. "Damn sure needs to be off the streets." He put his hand on Nick's shoulder. "Thanks. You saved our asses."

Nick shrugged. "Saved my own."

"Yeah, right." Mungia gave a grim smile and pulled his partner to his feet.

Harris glared at Nick. "This isn't the last of it," he seethed. "You're going down. Hard."

Black stared at his friend, shaking his head. "What the hell happened to you?"

For the first time, Harris fell silent. He dropped his head and stared at the ground, his shoulders stiff and his chest moving rapidly.

"Come on." Mungia tugged on him, and the uniforms, who were still frozen on the stairs, moved aside to let them pass.

Black stepped over to Nick and offered his hand. "Sorry, man. I had you wrong. I just heard what Scott told me and…" He trailed off, looking sheepish.

Nick stared at the cop's hand a moment before finally shaking it. "No problem."

"The task force?" Black asked. "You still on that?"

Nick shrugged. "I have some things I need to take care of. We'll see what happens."

Black nodded. "Just let me know."

Nick walked to the basement steps and up past the uniforms, accepting their mumbled thanks as he rushed out the door.

In spite of the fact that his driving need to find Ravyn was paramount in his mind, there was another task he needed to take care of, too. As he drove, he placed a call to Phil Bodinski.

"We got him," he said as soon as Phil answered.

"What?" Phil's voice held a hesitant elation, as if he'd been told he won the lottery but they had to check his numbers one more time. "You got the Tin Man?"

"Yeah. He's dead."

"How? Who was he?"

Nick didn't feel like going into it now. He could barely concentrate on the conversation enough to give even the smallest details. "Why don't we meet in my office next week? I'll explain everything. I just wanted you to know it's over. It's finally over."

"I don't…" Nick heard Phil swallow, and his voice was thick with tears when he continued. "I don't know how to thank you. Now Lindsey can finally have peace."

"You can, too, Phil."

A humorless chuckle came over the line. "Peace, yeah. Maybe not happiness, but peace is good, too."

Ravyn sank onto her sofa, her body boneless and weary, her energy spent. She let her head fall back, took deep, slow breaths. Tears threatened at the back of her eyelids, but she didn't let them fall. It was over. The psycho was dead and Nick was fine. She could go on with her life.

But it was a life without her sister and Nick. And what about Kayne? She knew he'd had a hand in this. She also knew he wasn't finished with whatever he planned. But she couldn't worry about that now. Not tonight. She was drained.

She didn't realize she'd dozed off until a pounding woke her. Someone was at the door. Kayne? No, knocking wasn't his style. Even vigorous knocking, such as the kind taking place now.

She stumbled to the door and opened it to find Nick standing on her porch. He pushed past her and she closed the door, turning to face him. She supposed she'd known he would follow her.

"What happened?" His voice was ragged, his jaw clenched against barely contained emotion.

She shrugged, unable to summon the energy to do more. "What do you mean? You were there. The Tin Man killed himself. Is the girl okay?"

"She's fine." Nick stared at her. "I mean, what happened to me? He shot me."

She gave a laugh that sounded phony even to herself. "Shot you? You seem fine."

"I know. That's what I don't understand. I woke up and…" He raked a hand through his hair. "God. I don't know. It's all so muddled."

"I can't help you, Nick. I have no idea what you're talking about."

He looked at her, but this time the distress was gone. In its place was… desire? Was that what she saw in the cobalt gaze? Did he desire her as much as she desired him?

He took a step toward her, and she instinctively stepped back.

"Don't," he whispered. "Don't run."

"I'm not. What do you want?" she said.

He took another step and reached out to caress her cheek. "What do I want?" He shook his head. "What I've wanted from the moment I saw you."

Ravyn's eyes drifted shut. This couldn't happen. But even as that thought crossed her mind, she swayed toward him, leaned into his touch, his strength.

"Ravyn."

Her name was a groan that came from deep within him. His hand slipped from her cheek to the back of her head. She opened her eyes. His lips were a mere hairbreadth away. His gaze locked with hers, and he must have seen the surrender in her soul. His head tilted forward, and his mouth touched hers. She moaned, and her eyes closed again as he pulled her to him.

"Nick." She breathed his name against his lips.

His kiss was firm and hot, demanding. His tongue probed, and she opened to him, shuddering with a wild, aching desire more powerful than any spell she'd ever encountered.

He stroked his hands over her back, then down to her hips, fitting her against his erection. A current of heat zipped through her, tingling over her nipples and ending in a warm, wet rush where their bodies met. She couldn't fight it anymore: she wanted him, and damn the consequences. Nothing mattered at this moment except his touch, even if it was the touch of a mortal.

She sensed a change in him, a tensing of his muscles beneath her seeking hands. He lifted his head and broke the kiss with a strangled groan. Still holding her against him, he closed his eyes, breathing harshly, the sound an echo of her pounding heart.

"What's wrong?" she whispered, feeling tremors, not knowing if they came from his body or hers.

He shook his head. "I haven't… not since Annie. I haven't been with…"

Dazed, she brushed her hair back from her face with a trembling hand. "But you…"

Then she understood, and it surprised her how much the knowledge hurt. In spite of releasing his guilt over his wife's death, he couldn't make love to Ravyn without feeling he was betraying her.

"You're not being unfaithful." Her voice was gentle as she put her hands on his face, and he opened his eyes and stared down at her. "She's gone, and she would want you to be happy. You're not betraying her."

He smiled and shook his head, and it was clear that she'd misunderstood. "No. It's not that. It's just…" Dropping his arms, he stepped away, blushing. "It's been a
very
long time." The expression on his face was tortured. "I don't want to disappoint you."

"Oh," was all Ravyn could manage. He was simply afraid of living up to what he thought she deserved. Her love for him swelled, growing inside her and filling her with equal amounts of joy and fear. It was true—she loved him. A mortal. Such feelings were dangerous and off-limits, but Nick Lassiter made her heart race in a way no other man had. He made her wonder what it would be like to wake up next to him. Made her want to please him. Made her want to dare all.

She stepped toward him and took his hand, staring up into his eyes. "You won't. I promise."

He looked at her for a long moment, then sighed and dipped his head, crushing his mouth to hers. Tangling his hands in her hair, he devoured her lips, groaning deep in his throat as her tongue thrust against his. His hand slipped from her head to her hips, caressing her bottom. He pressed her even closer. Then he pulled back and took her by the hand, leading her to the steps and up to her loft.

To her bed.