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Authors: Kate Serine

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BOOK: Red
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Chapter 8
 
I stood on the other side of the one-way glass, listening in on Nate’s conversation with Caliban. I had to hand it to Nate, he was good at his job. Caliban had started out with his usual cocky self-assuredness, but after half an hour under the penetrating gaze of Death, Caliban quit jerking Nate around and finally started answering his questions. And he answered them well.
“So, what do you think?”
I glanced over my shoulder as Al entered the observation room. He sauntered up to the glass and crossed his arms, studying me as much as he was studying what was going on in the interrogation room.
“He was with his producer until ten the night of the first murder,” I said. “Then she dropped him off at a nightclub where he met up with Falstaff. They closed down the club around two.”
“Would his producer confirm his alibi?”
I snorted in a very unladylike manner. “I’m sure she’d say anything to keep him out of trouble, but I think it’s legit. Todd takes his career very seriously—it’s everything to him. I have no doubt he was going over the plans for the next day’s show with Sebille until she took him to the club. Of course, I also have a feeling they weren’t just chatting about recipes.”
“Girlfriend?”
I shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe. There’s something going on there—at least on her part.”
I heard Al purse his lips, mulling over what I’d told him. “And the other murders?”
“Alibi for every single one of them.”
“With his producer?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh.”
I frowned and glanced up at Al. “What does that mean?”
“Just odd that he’d have such an airtight alibi for
all
the murders. And that each one would be confirmed by a woman who may or may not be romantically involved with him.”
As much as I hated to admit it, Al was right. Todd had an active social and professional life, but even the biggest celebrity took a night off every now and then for some alone time. We hadn’t received the tried and true “I was home alone sleeping” excuse for even one of the nights in question.
“Are you saying his alibis are
too
good?” I asked.
Al shook his head. “No,” he said slowly. “I’m just saying that innocent until proven guilty is one thing. Overlooking guilt because you
want
him to be innocent is another.”
“If you didn’t think I could be impartial, you shouldn’t have put me on this case,” I snapped.
“I know I can count on you to be impartial, Red,” Al called over his shoulder as he headed for the door. “I just want to make sure
you
know it.”
I was still frowning over Al’s remark when Nate left the interrogation room and joined me on the other side of the glass. “I’m going to let him go,” he said. “Everything seems to check out.”
I nodded absently. “Okay. Good.”
Nate gave me a nudge with his shoulder. “You okay?”
I threw my hands up in exasperation. “Yes, I’m fine! Why are you asking?”
Nate blinked at me. “I could be wrong, but I think it has something to do with being polite.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, forcing away my frustration. “Sorry.”
Nate shrugged. “No problem.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s just past one. You hungry?”
“I’m not sleeping with you.”
Nate laughed in a loud burst, making me smile in spite of myself. “Like you said,” he explained, “a girl’s gotta eat. It’s just lunch—no strings attached.”
I thought about protesting, but my stomach growled, ratting me out. “All right. But I get to pick the place.”
For some reason the smile Nate gave me as he opened the door made other, more pleasant things happen to my stomach, but that ooey-gooey warmth vanished instantly when I stepped into the hallway and saw who was lurking there.
“Well, well, well,” Mary said, breaking out of her highly stylized lounge against the wall to slink toward us. “If it isn’t my favorite detective. I’ve been looking for you.”
Huh. So, she wasn’t there just to make my life miserable. She’d been waiting for Nate. For some reason that pissed me off more than if she’d been stalking
me
.
Nate gave her a curt nod. “Mary.”
Mary took a step closer, pointedly placing herself between Nate and me and blocking my view of his face. “You stood me up, you naughty boy,” she reprimanded, her voice taking on a sultry heat I wouldn’t have thought possible from a human iceberg.
“Sorry,” Nate mumbled. “Had a case.”
“Oh, I know all about your case,” Mary told him. She ran her fingertip down Nate’s lapel, her eyes devouring him inch by inch. “But work has never gotten in the way of pleasure before.”
Wow. That was her best line?
I groaned out load before I could stop myself.
Mary’s head snapped around (and down), her eyes narrowing. “Something to say, Red?”
I batted my eyes at her. “Sorry? What was that?”
“I asked if you had something to say,” Mary repeated with forced patience. “I didn’t want to be rude and miss the chance to hear your captivating contribution to our conversation.”
My lips curved into a wicked smile. So many smart-ass remarks came to mind. It was a pity to have to choose only one. “I was just going to compliment you on your witty repartee.” I screwed my face in an imitation of her smug grin the day before. “Well done, Mary. Bra-
vo. . . .
”
Mary’s face contorted with such contempt she looked like she could have murdered me, but she apparently thought better of it—considering she was standing next to a homicide detective and all—and quickly draped a patronizing smile across her lips instead. “So good of you to acknowledge my superior skill.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, but felt my restraint fading fast.
“Study hard, Ms. Little, and perhaps someday you can be witty, too.”
Don’t roll your eyes, don’t roll your eyes, don’t
—
“Did you just roll your eyes at me?” Mary sputtered.
Damn. Busted.
I felt Nate take a step closer to me. “I hate to interrupt,” he said to Mary, “but we need to get back to work.”
“Of course,” Mary replied. “Forgive me for keeping you.” She gave Nate a seductive smile, then sauntered away, glancing over her shoulder to make sure he was watching the exaggerated sway of her hips—at least, that was my take on it.
And, of course, he was.
I made a noise of disgust and started walking. I didn’t bother glancing over
my
shoulder. A few beats later, I heard Nate hurry to catch up with me anyway.
(So there, Mistress Mary.)
“Where did you want to have lunch?” he asked, as if the encounter with Ms. Sex-in-a-Suit hadn’t just taken place.
I glanced at him askance and increased my pace. “Mary Smith?” I muttered. “Seriously? Don’t ever talk to me about my love life again.”
Nate had the good grace to flush a little. “It’s not what you think.”
“She didn’t leave a lot of room for misunderstanding,” I retorted. “God, you could at least be a little more discreet about it.”
“I’m not fooling around with Mary Smith,” Nate insisted loudly. Then, seeing that he had drawn the curious stares of some of our colleagues in the bustling hallway, he lowered his voice. “She and I were supposed to get together to discuss a case over dinner. I stood her up when Hamelin offed himself last night. I was with you instead.”
The knowledge that I had ruined Mary’s plans made me all warm and fuzzy inside. The fact that her plans had included Nate was just coincidence, of course. I would have felt the same sadistic glee had her plans involved anyone I even remotely liked and respected. Really.
Nate took hold of my upper arm and pulled me to a stop. “Listen, I know you don’t like her, but you might try being a little less antagonistic.”
I frowned up at him. “I’m not antagonistic.” When he gave me a knowing look, I said, “Okay, I’m a
little
antagonistic. But she started it.”
Nate shook his head. “Nice. Very mature.”
I huffed and crossed my arms, my bottom lip poking out a bit. I stopped just short of sticking my tongue out at him. “Fine. I’ll try to play nice. But I won’t like it.”
Nate chuckled and put his arm around my shoulders, leading me forward. “I’m not asking you to like it, or even like her. I’m just asking you to try to be civil.”
I sighed, conscious of the arm still around me. “I can’t make any promises,” I said as we stepped onto the elevator.
Nate pulled me in closer to him so that we were facing each other and looked down at me, his black eyes smoldering with a dark fire I’d never noticed there before. “You have a dangerous job, Red,” he reminded me softly. “You need all the allies you can get.”
The air in the elevator grew thicker, harder to inhale, and was charged with an electricity that I felt down to my bones. Suddenly, it was hard to breathe and I had to gasp a little. “Yeah? Like you?”
“Tess,” he rasped so softly that the sound of his voice made me shiver. “I—”
An annoyingly high-pitched chirp cut him off, startling us both and sending me to the other side of the elevator with an embarrassed flush on my cheeks. I ran my hands through my hair a couple of times, wondering what the hell had just happened, when Nate’s cell phone went off again.
He snatched it out of his jacket pocket and barked,
“Grimm”.
His eyes flicked my way in response to whatever he heard on the phone, then glanced away just as rapidly, avoiding direct eye contact with me. “Yeah, I’ll tell her.”
A moment later, he pocketed his phone again. “Looks like lunch is going to have to wait.”
The elevator came to an abrupt halt, and I immediately stepped out, eager to get away from the too-close space. “Yeah, why’s that?” I called over my shoulder.
“There’s been another attack. About half an hour ago.”
This brought me up short. “What? Why didn’t you know about it?”
“The victim didn’t die,” Nate said, his tone oddly gentle.
This news made my eyes widen. “Really? He left a witness? Then let’s get going!”
I started toward his car in a rush, but Nate cut me off with his swoosh move. “Red—”
I let out a little yelp of surprise. “Damn it! I hate it when you do that!”
Then I noticed the pained, sorrowful look on his face. Something was wrong. Way wrong. When he took me by the shoulders and brought me closer, I wanted to forbid him to say whatever horrible news he was trying to tell me, but I swallowed hard instead and croaked, “Who is it?”
“It’s Gran.”
Chapter 9
 
I read. A lot. I read everything from ancient mythologies to modern literature. In my line of work, I never quite know who I’m going to bump into and need to be prepared. Over the years, I’ve come across a lot of stories, especially in the Victorian novels, in which the heroine is always gasping and swooning from shock. I never in a million years thought I’d ever be able to identify with such schmaltzy melodrama.
But the moment Nate told me Gran had been attacked by some unknown creature, my world pitched into a disorienting spiral. I didn’t
swoon
per se, but the news sure as hell knocked the breath from my lungs and the bones from my legs.
I remember gasping something like “Oh, my God” and stumbling a little when my legs went to jelly on me. But the rest is a blur.
Sometime later, a nurse in pink scrubs ushered me into an Ordinary hospital room where Gran lay against a fluffy white pillow, her silver hair a tangled mess. A bandage had been taped to her forehead and her left arm was in a cast. Numerous bruises and scratches were visible where her skin wasn’t already stitched and dressed, and I had a feeling there were other injuries I couldn’t see beneath the coarse cotton blanket.
Nate gave me a comforting squeeze on my shoulder, then backed out of the room, giving us some privacy. But I had a feeling if I needed him, he wouldn’t be far away.
Sensing my presence, Gran opened her eyes and offered me a weak smile. “Red, my darling.” Her voice was rough and brittle, making her seem very old. I had never thought of her that way, even though she’d been written as an elderly woman. She was always just Gran—a perpetual parcel of perkiness that exuded the sort of kindness and energy that was completely infectious. I couldn’t imagine who would want to harm her in any way, but I
could
imagine about a thousand ways that I was going to make that person pay for it.
I sat down in the chair next to her bed and took her uninjured hand in both of mine. “What happened, Gran?”
She exhaled a shuddering breath. “I honestly don’t know, dearest. I had just finished the interview with the Panellas and had gone to my dressing room to freshen up. The next thing I know, something attacked me from behind. It all happened so fast.”
I gently patted her arm. “Did you happen to see who attacked you?”
She shook her head. “No, my darling, not really. All I can tell you is that it wasn’t human. I saw . . . fur. And its claws and teeth were so—” Gran broke off, fighting the tears I heard in her voice.
“Don’t worry, Gran,” I told her gently. “I’ll figure out who did this to you.”
She smiled and patted my cheek. “I know you will. Just be careful. I am always so afraid for you.”
“I’m not working this one alone,” I assured her. “I have a temporary partner.”
At this, Gran’s eyes sparkled. “Indeed? Would it be that handsome detective?”
I let out a short laugh and felt my face growing warm. “Yes, Gran. It’s Nate.”
She settled into her pillow, her eyelids growing heavy. “I like him. I think he’ll be good for you.”
I started to ask what she meant by that, but she had already drifted back to her drug-hazed sleep. So, instead, I stood and pressed a kiss to her cheek before pulling the covers up to her chin and making sure she was as comfortable as possible. When I exited her room, I saw Nate sitting in the waiting room chairs exactly where I had expected him to be. He immediately launched to his feet and hurried toward me.
“How is she?”
“Okay,” I told him. “She’ll be all right after a couple of days, but she’s pretty shaken up.”
“Did she get a good look at the guy?”
I shook my head. “Not good enough to make an ID. She did say that he wasn’t human.” I paused before adding, “He had fur.”
Nate gave me a sympathetic look and said, “Werewolf fur?”
The look I shot his way made him take a step back. “Just fur, okay? Like I said, she didn’t get a good look.”
Nate held up his hands in mea culpa. “Sorry. You’re right. I shouldn’t be drawing any conclusions yet. Seth might have really been at work this morning. We confirm the alibi his girlfriend—”
“We don’t know she was his girlfriend,” I interrupted.
“Okay, sorry,” Nate amended. “We confirm the alibi his
houseguest
provided and all is well. At least we can definitely take Caliban off our list. He was in custody when the attack occurred.”
I started down the hospital’s hallway, my angry steps drawing the stares of the Ordinary employees and visitors. “We need to get her out of here,” I muttered. “Why did her assistant call the Ordinaries? They’re going to figure out she’s not like them when she starts healing up quicker than humanly possible.”
“I’ve already taken care of it,” Nate assured me. “The Chief has people on it as we speak. Our contacts in the Ordinaries’ police force will take care of the incident report, so we don’t have to worry about them getting involved. And Al’s sending over a couple of FMA agents to order Gran’s transfer. They’ll transport her to our own facility where Tale doctors can make sure she has the proper medical treatment.”
I was silent the rest of the way to Nate’s car, mulling over what I knew—which was damned little—and thinking about how many ways I was going to rip the head off this thing once I got my hands on it. It wasn’t until we were back in his car and on the interstate that I spoke again. “Thanks.”
Nate shrugged off my gratitude. “It was nothing.”
“Maybe to you,” I replied, “but I appreciate it. Gran is everything to me. She took me in when no one else wanted me. I owe her my life.”
“We’ll get him, Red,” Nate assured me. “I promise.”
I cringed. “Don’t make me a promise you aren’t sure you can keep,” I muttered. “I’ve had more than my fair share of those. Just tell me you’ll help me, that you’ve got my back. That’s enough.”
Nate gave me a tight nod. “Okay then.”
Satisfied, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, too angry for any additional conversation. If Nate was right and one of my former lovers was to blame for the attacks, why had he targeted Gran? Seth didn’t know her and Vlad adored her. And even if Caliban hadn’t been in custody, I wouldn’t have believed him capable of such an attack, either—he’d always had a soft spot in his heart for Gran in spite of the fact that she was his primary ratings rival. There was no way one of them would have a reason to attack her.
Unless it was to get to me.
All the other attacks had seemed random, crimes of opportunity. But something in my gut told me Gran had been targeted. Was I getting close to uncovering something already? Was it a warning? That theory sounded paranoid even to me.
Maybe I’d know more once I’d had the chance to question Vlad and Seth. If I could clear both of them as easily as we’d cleared Caliban, then we could look more seriously at who might really be behind the attacks.
A little while later, the car came to a stop. Anxious to get back to work, I shoved away my musings to mull over later, but when I opened my eyes I was surprised to see us not at the scene of the crime but at Gran’s pale pink Victorian Eastlake. The house was so daintily darling it seemed completely at odds with its more utilitarian bungalow neighbors and had enough fanciful spindle work to make Sleeping Beauty nervous.
“Why are we here?” I demanded. “Don’t we need to be at the studio, looking over evidence?”
“The Chief already has Trish on it,” Nate said. “You know if there’s anything to be found, she’ll find it.”
“That’s beside the point!” I huffed. “Why would you bring me here?”
Nate looked surprised at my anger, which didn’t help. “I thought it’d be too hard for you to see the crime scene, considering who the victim was.”
“Who asked you? You don’t know a damn thing about me!” Mad as hell, I lunged out of the car, slamming the door behind me. I was climbing into the Rover, determined to set off on my own, when Nate caught the edge of the door, keeping me from closing it.
“Don’t know you?” he repeated. “I know all about you, Red. You’re a loner and a rebel and a beautiful woman with a seriously bad attitude. Then there’s this idiotic death-wish behavior of yours. You rush into everything head-on, putting yourself at risk unnecessarily. What I can’t understand is why. What exactly are you trying to prove?” Nate ran his hand down his face, visibly bringing his frustration with me back under control. In a much calmer voice he said, “Now, I told you, Trish is on the scene. If you show up there, you’ll just be in the way.”
I slammed my hand against the steering wheel, knowing he was right, but feeling like I needed to be doing something,
anything.
“I can’t sit here and do nothing, Nate—not when this asshole is out there hurting people! I need to be out there hunting him down.”
“So where are you going?” he asked softly. When I tried to look away, he leaned into the car between me and the steering wheel, forcing me to look at him. “You said you wanted my help, Red. Where were you planning to go?”
I shrugged, then let my head fall back against the headrest. “I don’t know.”
Nate held out his hand to me. “Come on. You still need some lunch.”
“I’m not hungry.”
When I refused to take his hand, Nate grabbed mine anyway and pulled me out of the car. “You’re a bad liar,” he replied. “I thought you might want to take the rest of the day off, all things considered, but if you’re going to insist on being a pigheaded pain in the ass about it, at least eat something first. Then we’ll head back out. Together.”
I glanced up at him, gauging his sincerity, then sighed. “Fine,” I relented, “but you need to stop mixing your metaphors. You’re a fictional character, for crying out loud; it’s embarrassing.”
He laughed and gave my hand a squeeze, bringing a smile to my lips in spite of my irritation. A few minutes later, we were sitting side by side at the kitchen bar, eating roast beef sandwiches and kosher dill pickles.
“Thanks for the sandwich,” I mumbled around a mouthful of pure heaven. “This is delicious.”
Nate gave me a self-satisfied smile. “Thanks. It’s the herbed mayonnaise. I mixed it myself. If you’re nice to me, maybe I’ll give you the recipe.”
“Don’t bother,” I replied. “I don’t cook.”
Nate lifted his brows. “Not at all?”
“Never.”
“But you love to eat.”
“So does a dog,” I retorted. “Doesn’t mean it cooks.”
Nate chuckled and nudged me playfully with his shoulder. “Stick with me, kid. I’ll show you the ropes. Then you won’t have to rely on your men to cook for you.”
I felt my stomach tighten at his remark, but afraid to read too much into it, I let it go. Trying to cover my sudden onset of nerves, I took a bite of pickle, then wagged the spear at him. “I don’t get you.”
Nate’s smile vanished and he turned away, concentrating on his sandwich. “What’s to get?”
“You’re an enigma to me,” I admitted. “I’ve known you for decades. We’ve worked—what?—scores of crime scenes together over the years?”
Nate shrugged. “Yeah, something like that.”
“So why are you suddenly so interested in working with me
now
?”
Nate wiped his hands on his napkin, obviously looking anywhere other than at me. “I told you, you’re the best one to be on this case. You have intimate knowledge of the suspects.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “My love life aside, there are several other Enforcers who could have brought them in.”
Nate polished off his lunch and got up to put his plate in the dishwasher. “Call it a professional courtesy, then. I figured you’d want to be involved.”
I studied him, knowing that there was something he wasn’t telling me, but I didn’t have the faintest idea what it could be. Then, a sudden, chilling thought came to me. I was almost afraid to utter the words, but I had to know if my hunch was right. “You’re not hanging around with me just because of the murders, are you?”
Nate grabbed a sponge from the sink and began wiping down the countertops. “What are you talking about?”
“There are only a few reasons the Grim Reaper takes a sudden interest in a person,” I pointed out. I gripped the edge of my chair, bracing myself. “My number’s up, isn’t it, Nate?”
Nate hesitated briefly at my question but didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. I could see the truth etched in the sternness of his expression.
I took a deep breath and asked, “How’s it going to happen?”
This time Nate came back to his chair and sat down next to me, lacing his hands together in front of him before answering. “Just because I saw what’s coming, doesn’t mean it will come to pass. Consider it more of a cosmic heads-up.”
“But it has to do with this case,” I surmised. “It has to do with these suspects?”
Nate nodded. “I knew that if you found out who our suspects were, you’d get involved on your own, regardless of what the Chief said. So I asked him to put you on the case with me. That way I figured I could keep an eye on you, be there in case I needed to intervene.”
BOOK: Red
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