Unspoken: Shadow Falls: After Dark (24 page)

“Hey,” she said.

He looked back. “What?”

“Don’t go looking for trouble.”

“I’m not,” Perry said. “I just want some air.”

“There’s plenty of air in here.”

“I’ll be back.” He walked out.

Della stood alone in the room, then looked back at Perry’s cousin.

The door opened, making Della realize the room was soundproof. She hadn’t been able to hear anything outside the walls. She looked back, expecting Chase or Burnett, but in walked a woman, a young woman, only a few years older than Della. Her fitted black suit identified her as an agent. Della automatically checked her forehead and noted she was half vampire and half fae.

“Oh, hey, I thought Burnett was in here,” she said.

“He went to sign some of Chase Tallman’s paperwork,” Della answered.

“I’m Trisha.”

“I’m Della—”

“I know who you are,” the woman said.

Della studied her. “Have we met?”

“No. I’ve just heard about you. That you’re planning on signing on with us.”

“From Burnett?” Della felt a touch of pride.

Trisha nodded.

“Don’t believe half of what he says,” Della said.

“Oh, he had nothing but good things to say. He told me just enough to make me feel sorry for you.”

“Sorry for me?” Della emotionally flinched. What the hell had Burnett told them? About her parents?

“Okay, that was a bad way of putting it. I meant I heard enough to know what you’re up against.”

Della still didn’t understand, and her expression must have shown it, because Trisha continued, “When I first came to work here, I was assigned under Burnett.” She smiled. “I requested a transfer.”

“Oh, you mean about him being a male chauvinist pig?”

The woman grinned. “That might be a little strong.”

“No, it’s not,” Della said. “I tell him that all the time.”

She laughed. “Sounds like he met his match with you. But when you get here, if you’d like to train under me, I’d be honored.”

“Thanks,” Della said. She hadn’t really considered the training period of becoming an agent, and for some reason it sent a thrill through her. As if that part of life was closer than she expected. With all her problems of late, she’d kind of lost the excitement of where life could lead.

She glanced back up at Trisha, who appeared to be waiting for Della to say something else. “But I’ll probably just stick with Burnett. He’s a pain in the ass, but I’m told I can be the same. So we’re a pretty good pair.”

She laughed. “Well, it sounds like you two belong together. To be honest, I’ve regretted my decision as well. He’s a good agent.”

“So the other agents here aren’t as overprotective as Burnett?”

“Well, they all have a little bit too much testosterone—just not as much as Mr. James. But after meeting you, I think you have enough estrogen to put them in their places.”

All of a sudden, in the other room, Sam stood and banged on the door. “Are you gonna keep me in here all day?”

Della and Trisha both glanced at the boy through the two-way mirror. “Looks as if he might be frustrated enough to talk now. Burnett asked me to soften him up earlier, but he wasn’t responding.”

“He has to talk,” Della said, thinking of her father, and the ticking clock. In two weeks he could be sent to prison.

“I read him when I was in there,” the agent said, and Della assumed she was referring to her fae ability to read emotion. “He’s not a bad kid, mostly scared. But we’re all scared, aren’t we?”

“Yeah.” The woman had probably read Della’s emotions. But could she read her enough to know Della wasn’t afraid for herself—only for her father?

Two weeks.

Chapter Twenty-eight

“Just go in and be honest,” Burnett told Perry.

Chase stood by Burnett as he spoke to the shape-shifter.

“What are we doing? Good cop, bad cops? I’m nice to him, and then you two beat him up?” Perry asked.

Chase heard concern in Perry’s voice, and obviously so did Burnett.

“We’re not treating him as a hostile …
yet,
” Burnett said. “If he talks, we’ll go extra easy on him.”

Chase wasn’t sure he agreed with that, but he didn’t think he had the right to argue.

“Okay,” Perry nodded at Chase. The quick duck of the head didn’t come with any friendly pretense. The way Chase saw it, Perry was probably friends with Steve.

“Go with Trisha.” Burnett motioned to the agent who walked up. “She’ll show you the way.”

“Congratulations,” Trisha said, meeting Chase’s gaze.

“Thank you.” Chase shook the agent’s hand, a real sense of pride filling his chest. He’d signed the papers. It was official. Chase Tallman was an FRU agent. He’d even be given a badge and a couple of black suits. Not that Chase wanted to wear them. But the badge, yeah, he kind of liked having it. It felt nice to … belong to something.

Sure, he’d belonged to the council, but it hadn’t been so much his decision as it had been Eddie’s. This was his own doing. This was, Chase realized, his first real job.

Not that he needed money. His parents had left him with more money than he knew what to do with. But then again, this wasn’t just a job. It was a career. It was something that would probably define his life from now until he was ready to retire.

It hadn’t been anything like a ceremony, but in a small way it had felt like it to him. Part of him wished Della had been there. Because she should have been. Their lives were connected.

He recalled the conversation with Steve, and the one with Della earlier.
You still have a choice.
He hadn’t lied to her, she did, but damn it, it was his mission in life to make sure she chose him.

“Welcome to the team,” another agent called out.

Chase nodded, but realized the one person who hadn’t congratulated him was the one walking at his side right now: Burnett.

Was he still thinking about their earlier conversation about Chase’s trip to Hell’s Pit? The conversation had stuck with Chase, too. As much as he hated admitting it, Burnett had been right. Chase did feel invincible. No one had been more shocked than him when he’d felt that makeshift knife slice into his back. If it hadn’t been for the ghost, Chase wasn’t sure he’d have gotten out alive.

“I plan on making you proud,” Chase said to Burnett.

“Do that by staying alive,” Burnett said, confirming that Chase had been right about the man’s thoughts.

“I will,” Chase said as they walked back into the room where they’d left Della.

Della, phone to her ear, looked back at them and then down, as she held up one finger. “Yes. I shouldn’t be too late. I’ll stop by.”

Chase tuned his ear to listen, hoping to hear who Della had made plans with and fearing it would be the good doctor, Steve.

“Great,” a feminine voice answered. “Bring Chase with you.”

He recognized Della’s cousin’s voice. Chase really liked Natasha and her boyfriend Liam. And remembering Perry’s cold shoulder, he was glad to know he had friends.

Della looked up at him. He nodded at her to let her know it was a go for him, but she still said, “We’ll see.”

What the hell?

“Look, I’d better go now,” Della continued. “I’ll see you in bit. Oh, and again, I’m thrilled things worked out.”

“Me too,” Natasha said. “Don’t forget to come by; I can’t wait to see you.”

“I’ll be there.” Della hung up.

“You ready to do this?” Della motioned to Sam behind the window.

“Perry’s going in first,” Burnett said. “Then Chase and I.”

“Not me?”

“I think we have this,” Burnett said.

Chase saw Della flinch, but she tried to rein her frustrations in. She was constantly doing that. Except with him. She didn’t hold back with him. At least not with anger.

“Perry stepped out for air,” Della said.

“Just met him in the hall.” Burnett paused and glanced back at Chase. “Meanwhile, Mr. Tallman has just made it official. He’s an agent. Got his badge, suits, and everything.”

Della smiled at Chase, and it looked genuine—the kind of smile that reached her eyes, and made them twinkle a little brighter. He wanted to see that a hell of a lot more. See her happy, worry-free.

And he would, his gut told him. Just as soon as the problems with her father were resolved.

“Congratulations, Mr. Tallman,” Della said, her voice sounding sincere.

“Thank you.” If Burnett weren’t in the room, Chase would have moved in for a kiss, because he’d learned that whenever she allowed herself to smile, it meant her guard was down. And only then did she let him close.

What he wouldn’t give to knock that guard down for good. While he knew he needed to be patient, he couldn’t deny growing frustrated.

“It feels nice,” he said, and held out his hand, hoping a handshake would curb his desire for a kiss.

It looked as if she wasn’t going to accept it when he literally saw her guard go back up. But she slipped her hand into his. He took advantage of the moment and gently ran his thumb over her knuckles, hoping she felt that same spark of something wonderful that he did. Touching her was like sticking his finger into a happy socket. Nothing made him feel more alive.

From the quick way she retrieved her hand and the way her eyes widened, he knew she felt the electricity too. So why the hell was she fighting it?

Then through the two-way mirror, Chase saw Perry walk in and sit down across from his cousin, Sam. The two of them looked enough alike to be brothers.

“They send you in here to soften me up?” Sam asked.

“Maybe,” Perry said. “Look, you gotta tell them what you know, or you’re going to go down for a lot of shit.”

“I didn’t do anything but break into that school. What? Is that gonna get me sentenced to life?” Sarcasm rang from the guy’s voice.

“Don’t you get it?” Perry asked, his eyes turning gold. “You were helping that Stone guy, and that means you’ll be responsible for everything he did too. And from what I hear he’s a murderer.”

“Whoa. I didn’t hurt anyone. And hell, yeah, he’s a badass. And if I talk, he’ll come after me.”

“Then tell them what they want to know and let them catch him. If you go to jail, you know this guy is gonna think you’ll crater and talk. If he’s half as bad as you think he is, he has friends in low places. He’ll have you killed. Do you want to die?”

*   *   *

Thanks to Perry, it only took Chase and Burnett a few minutes to get the shape-shifter to spill his guts.

“I met the guy at the Get-Along Bar. It’s known to be friendly to half-breeds such as myself. He was vampire, but had a slightly weird pattern like … he had a bit of something else in him. He said his name was Michael Higby, but someone else told me he also went by Stone. I heard he hired a lot of down-on-their-luck bar patrons to do grunt work for him. That’s how I got here. But rumor had it he has a gang called the Bastards.”

“What kind of gang is it?” Burnett asked.

“I don’t know. Like I said, he was … vampire … Mostly, anyway. He approached me and said he needed a shape-shifter to break into a school. I was to spy on a—” He looked at Chase. “You. He wanted to know what you were doing at that school. It didn’t sound illegal. I thought you were like his long-lost kid or something. I was just trying to reunite a family, you know?”

“Just warms my heart,” Chase said, not so warmly.

“What does this guy look like?”

“He’s forty-something. Over six feet. Hasn’t let himself go to pot. Has brown hair and, like I said, has that pattern that’s just a little different.” He exhaled. “That’s all I know, so can I go now?”

“Uh, no,” Chase said.

Sam frowned. “But I didn’t do anything. I mean, yeah, I snuck into the school, but Higby or Stone or whatever you want to call him set it up. All I had to do was fly over the fence when he told me to.”

“And how did you mess with our electricity?” Burnett asked.

“He had one of his other grunt workers do something with the power lines outside your school. I … didn’t hurt anyone.”

“What info did you report back to him?” Chase asked.

“None,” the kid said.

Chase and Burnett looked at him in disbelief.

“I didn’t. I swear. You can check my phone. I was going to, but I got sidetracked by that chick. Then I saw my long-lost cousin.”

“What chick?” Burnett asked. “Did someone else come in with you?”

“No, the one that was there. Dark hair, vampire. Nice ass.”

Chase let out a growl.

The kid gave them a telephone number and the address of the bar.

“So what now?” Sam asked. “Can I leave?”

“Not yet,” Burnett said. “I’m sending in a sketch artist. Then I think we’ll keep you here for a few days.”

“But I told you all I know,” Sam said.

“Yes,” Burnett said, “but we may need you to help us snag him.”

“I didn’t agree to that.”

“You didn’t seem to like the idea of prison, either,” Burnett said.

Sam frowned. “I might as well be in prison. Why don’t you let me go back to that school? Has nicer scenery.” He smiled. “Especially that girl with the hot ass. Was her name Delia, or something like that?”

“You’re staying here,” Chase ordered.

Burnett walked up to Sam and held out his hand.

“What?” the kid said.

“Your phone,” Burnett said.

“Will I get it back?” Sam asked.

Burnett didn’t answer, and he and Chase walked out. The older vamp stopped and typed on his phone as if sending a text.

He looked at Chase. “You ever heard of that gang, the Bastards?”

“Never,” Chase said. “You?”

“No, which is strange, because we know the ones out there. But I’ll put out some feelers and see if we’ve got a new one in town.”

Another agent met them in the hall. Burnett handed him the phone. “Text me as soon as you have something.”

“Maybe it was just Stone’s way of impressing the kid,” Chase said, seeing the agent with the phone hurry away.

“I hope so.”

“Like I said before, I could leave the school and lessen the chance of—”

“Not yet.” Burnett’s cell phone dinged with a text. After checking it, he looked up at Chase. “You ready?”

“Yeah.” Chase followed Burnett down the hall. “You want me to go check out that bar?”