The Lion's Den (5 page)

“
Is there any way to answer that question truthfully and still get some tender lovin’ later on today?” he asked, grinning wolfishly.

“
Not if your answer is ‘yes’, there isn’t.” Elise’s eyes met his and she smiled slyly.

“
Ahhh, shit,” Sergio groaned as he tossed the covers aside, climbing out of the bed. “Of course not, darling. I would rather investigate this silly-ass crime than get much needed rest. As a matter of fact, I’m betting Danny would agree. I’m taking him with me.”

“
Sarcasm will get you nowhere,” Elise commented.

“
Who’s being sarcastic?” Sergio tossed her a mischievous grin as he walked into the bathroom. Showering quickly, he then dressed in a pair of black jeans, boots and black t-shirt. He walked towards Elise, standing behind her chair. Leaning over, he began to kiss her neck, tickling her with his perfectly groomed goatee.

“
Stop tickling me with your whiskers!” Elise said, giggling.

“
Okay,” Sergio said, he began licking down the length of her neck, hoping to get her in the
mood
.

“
Sergio, sweetheart?”

“
Yeah, baby?” he answered as he trailed his kisses over the creamy smoothness of her bared shoulder.

“
First business, then pleasure.”

Getting the hint, he ceased his seduction. “You’re no fun,” he whined before leaving the room, heading towards Daniel’s and Miranda’s shared bedroom. He knocked hard, purposely, hoping to jar the couple out of their peaceful sleep. A second later, Daniel swung the door opened, a look of pure outrage plastered on his face.

“
What the hell?!” Daniel exclaimed.

“
Congratulations! You are the unlucky winner of an early morning, one hour commute to a downtown club to investigate the murder of a shifter. Hurry now, get dressed and come with me!” Sergio said, feigning enthusiasm.

“
You’re an asshole sometimes, you know that?” Daniel said, rolling his eyes.

Sergio laughed. “I’ve been called that by other people with much more conviction behind that word than you. But seriously, I’ll fill you in on the way there, get dressed. I’ll be waiting downstairs.” He walked away, leaving Daniel to get prepared.

Ten minutes later, Daniel joined Sergio in the foyer. “Let’s go.”

The two men climbed into Sergio’s Sidewinder SUV, traveling down the winding scenic route towards the interstate.
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“
Okay, what the fuck’s going on?” Daniel asked.

“
Some
other
asshole killed a shifter. Elise wants us to search the crime scene and see what we can find. Warren and Matthew are on the case, but she wants to do her own investigation. They’re young, we may pick up on something they didn’t,” Sergio informed.

“
Oh.” Daniel looked out the window at the beautiful flowers and trees as they passed by. “Did this happen last night?”

Sergio nodded. “Yeah, from what we were told. Well, actually, it happened around three or four this morning.”

Daniel didn’t speak any more about the murder, he and Sergio discussed other matters until they arrived at their destination. S.U.I.T. tape blocked off the entire
Eclipse
nightclub, which meant the new establishment was not going to do any business until the matter was settled and the club and its’ employees were cleared of any involvement. There was a police squad car parked in front of the building. A uniformed officer exited the car and began walking towards the two men as they approached the scene.

“
I’m sorry gentlemen, but no one is allowed near this crime scene.”

“
I left my wallet here last night, they told me to come in today to pick it up,” Sergio lied, hoping it would get him some kind of access.

“
I’m sorry, sir. But there’s no one inside to retrieve your wallet for you. Why don’t you write down your name and I’ll forward the information to the club owner. That’s about all I can do for you at the moment, I can’t allow you inside.” The officer handed Sergio a pen and paper and told him to describe his wallet.

Sergio scribbled a brief description with a fake name on the paper and handed it back to the officer. “Thanks.”

“
No problem,” the officer said, taking the paper and pen back.

“
Hey what happened here anyway?” Daniel asked.

“
I’m not at liberty to say, sir.” The officer stood his ground, silently letting the two men know that he wasn’t going to let them pass. The expression on his face told them he wouldn’t answer any more of their questions either.

“
I’ll call and check back later,” Sergio said, tapping Daniel on his arm, leading him away. The two shifters climbed back into the Sidewinder SUV. “Fuck! That was a waste of time.”

“
I guess having a vampire now would help. John or Xavier could have hypnotized his ass and got him out of the way,” Daniel said, slightly disappointed that they couldn’t do their own investigation.

“
Yeah, I agree. Hey, did you manage to catch the scent of the shifter or anything else?”

Daniel nodded. “I did, confirming what Xander told Elise, It’s definitely a lion.”

“
You know that’s an interesting aspect. Lions are extremely terrial. I wonder where he came from.”

“
They are also the strongest of the feline species,” Sergio said.

“
Depends on his age. I wonder if he had a Pride with him?” Daniel speculated.

“
I was wondering about that, too. If he did, where are they?” Sergio asked.

“
If they aren’t dead, they should be looking for another alpha male to protect them.”

“
True. We should see if there’s been any movement among lion Prides as of late.” Sergio pulled out his cell phone, calling Elise. Once she answered, he told her that they were unable to investigate the scene. Also, he told her about his and Daniel’s opinion on the situation.

“
I was thinking the same thing, I’ll call Xander, he may already be on the same page,” Elise said.

“
Okay, I’ll be home soon.” Sergio hung up. He and Daniel ate at a restaurant before returning home. He searched for Elise and found her with their two children, playing a board game specifically designed to help kids learn the basics. He sat down beside her, kissing her softly on her temple.

“
Hi Daddy!” his twins exclaimed at the same time, excited to see their dad for the first time that day.

“
Hey you little munchkins!” He scooped up both kids tickling them and nuzzling them as they cackled and squirmed, loving every moment of their father’s attention.

“
I love watching you with them. So precious,” Elisa said, watching her lover and children.

Sergio smiled. “I love my family, I love being a part of your lives.” He continued to play with his family, including himself into their board game. “Did you speak with Xander?”

“
I did, he’s going to look into it.”

“
That’s good.” He bounced his son on his lap. “So, did you learn any colors today?” he asked his son, Caesar.

The toddler nodded his head enthusiastically. “Yes! I did! I know blue, red, pink …” his son listed the colors he’d learned. He had a little trouble pronouncing “purple” and Sergio assisted him. Caesar was pleased with this accomplishments, as was Annette-Nat
é
when her father asked her the same question. The four of them spent quality time together, teaching their children more colors, numbers and shapes. It was a great way to spend the early part of the day, especially when sundown seemed so far away.

C
hapter
F
our

Warren closed his cell phone, disconnecting his cl from his Alpha. He looked at Matthew sitting in the passenger seat. “That was Xander, the heads of our groups are looking into lion Prides to see who’s missing a King or male member.”

“
That should be easy information to find out, right?” Matthew asked.

“
That depends if they’re willing to talk. Lions are the most secretive and territorial of all the shifter species,” Warren paused.

Matthew looked at him. “Are you going to tell me more, or are you just going to leave it at that and hope I figure out the rest on my own?”

Warren blinked, as if bringing himself out of a trance. “Sorry, just thinking about something. I’ve never met a Lion Pride, but I do know that the King of the Pride is both protector and provider. The women are the nurturers and homemakers. Without a King, they are extremely vulnerable. So, if one happens to be missing a King, they might not want to broadcast it. They’ll lose their territory, possibly. Other Lion Prides will seek to kill them or the Kings of other Prides might take the women for their own, expanding their Prides.”

“
But if they need a King to survive, wouldn’t it be in their best interest to broadcast it?”

Warren shrugged one shoulder. “That depends. If handled diplomatically, so to speak, one could choose their King, instead of being forced under the ruling of a less desirable one.”

“
Do you think this shifter was a King?”

“
I don’t know. Unfortunately, my superior sense of smell, which far surpasses yours, is unable to tell.”

“
You think you’re better than me just because you’re some mangy wolf?” Matthew asked, playfully.

Warren tossed a sly glance his way, shrugging one shoulder. “Well, one isn’t going to dispute such glaring and irrefutable facts.”

“
Fuck you and your entire mutt breed,” Matthew retorted with a wicked grin.

Warren laughed outright. “Can I help it if we’re the shit?”

“
Full of shit, is more like it.” Matthew looked away, smiling to himself.

“
Don’t think I didn’t catch that sly-ass comment.”

“
Oh, I’m sure your super heightened
wolf
ears can pick up everything,” Matthew said sarcastically.

“
I see, I’ve talked myself into a hole. I’m going to stop now. Besides, we’re at the precinct.” Warren pulled their car into a parking spot closest to the door. The two men climbed out and entered the precinct. They walked to their desk, turning on their computers simultaneously.

Matthew sat down and began sifting through the notes he took of the crime scene. “We caught the scent of a vampire on the victim, do you think it’s working alone?”

Warren ran his fingers through his luxurious black hair. “Most likely it is. Although I’mnot willing to omit human involvement. For all we know, the vampire scent we smelled could have been another victim waiting to be disposed of. I mean after the way Annette died, puncture wounds and drained blood, I’d be foolish to not add humans to the list of suspects.”

Matthew nodded. “Not to mention those rich assholes a few years back had no problem drugging shifters and a vampire, kidnapping them in the process. It’s easy to see why we can’t rule humans out. If one is involved, how are we going to begin tracking them down?”

“
Matt, right now, I have no idea. I haven’t slept in twenty-four hours. We’ve been up all morning at that fucking crime scene and all we have to show for it is that the body wasn’t thrown from the rooftop, that’s been ruled out. It’s frustrating.”

“
If we’re not going to cancel out humans, we need to check the air traffic control reports to see if any planes were flying over Chicago at that time, in that location.” Matthew began looking up the telephone number so he could call and get the report.

“
Good idea, no planes, no humans.”

“
Well, I wouldn’t go that far. It just means that no humans were flying over at that time. Doesn’t mean they aren’t involved. Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves,” Matthew said. He found the number and looked at Warren. “Do vampires register on the radar when they fly?”

“
I don’t think so. If they see anything at all, they probably mistake it for a glitch in the system or a bird. The government doesn’t even know they can fly. The
Council
kept a lot of our secrets … secret.” Warren began reading over his partner’s notes.

Matthew called the Air Traffic Control Center, using his federal S.U.I.T. status to get the report. He kept his fingers crossed, hoping to get some kind of lead. After requesting the information and getting the results, he was slightly disappointed. He stood by his fax machine looking at the total amount of aircrafts that were in the air for that day and their point of travel and destination.