Page 128 of Hoofin’ It

The Babylonians were beyond anything I could’ve imagine.

I swallowed and ran my hands along Marian’s spine before holding her closer. “It gets worse, doesn’t it?”

“See, this is why you were smart to lay permanent claim, Marian. You need to convince him to let you go so you can get dressed. Abil Ili brought you clothes hours ago.”

“I’m comfortable as I am,” she replied.

“Of course you are. I think you like making me nervous. I’m waiting for Gibby to tire of me seeing your beauty and take one of my eyes to replace his.”

“Now that’s a thought. I’d look strange with a vampire eye, Quinton. You’re safe for now, assuming the Babylonians give mine back. If they don’t, I may have to consider taking yours. Also, stop looking at her. I saw her first. You can’t have her.”

Marian laughed. “You can’t take his eye, Shane. That’s just rude.”

“Do vampires even use their eyes?”

“Yes, Gibby, I need my eyes. Both of them.”

“Is there anything else I should be worried about? The shedu are the biggest concern, right?”

“Depends on what you view as a problem. If the Babylonians stick to the people involved with your attempted murder and any connected sex trafficking operations in Chicago, it won’t be wholesale slaughter—just a bit messy. There are so many factors to consider. Who’s involved? How far does the corruption go? How many of the other crime lords have gotten their hands unforgivably dirty? If there’s a ring here, it’s possible the attack was intended to get rid of both of you. If that’s the case, you’ll be targeted again.”

“I’m worried there are police officers involved,” Marian confessed. “They had you heavily monitored. Six pairs of officers visiting for bogus information would be a good way to track you. You ditched your phones in the canal, but if someone had been using the phones to track you, they could have followed us there. They had the time to hack the software. Anyone with a little knowledge and skill could do it.”

“Okay. You’re worried the CPD is involved. That’s fair. They have no reason to like me right now, and making me disappear would benefit them in more ways than one. I hadn’t exactly made a lot of friends on the force. The sex trafficking ring is more likely, though.”

“Unless the CPD is involved in the ring,” Marian whispered.

The suggestion horrified me and went against everything I’d ever believed in as a cop. Worse, I couldn’t deny the possibility. A substantial sum could be made buying and selling of people, and the more exotic the person, the higher the pay off. I’d never been involved with busting any of the rings, but I’d heard rumors.

A single corrupt cop inside the system could clear the way for the masterminds behind a ring to get away with murder—or worse.

“Someone on the inside is always a possibility,” I conceded.

Quinton looked grim. “And if there’s someone on the inside, and they were afraid you were getting too close to them, they might try to get rid of you. It doesn’t take a genius to see you’re dedicated. You have connections to the FBI now, a permit that shows you’re far more of a threat than anyone believed. You’ve done a masterful job of avoiding attention. That’s no longer the case. You were shot twice, and within a day, you were back on the move. Someone knew you’d been shot, heard you’d been released, and tried to get you locked away for a crime you didn’t commit—someone in Chicago.”

“Why do you think it’s someone in Chicago?”

“Because there’s no record of the so-called case anywhere else. The crime only exists in the CPD’s database—I know because Uncle Pierce looked. The accusation was never fully filed.”

Marian sucked in a breath. “When a law enforcement officer, past or current, commits a crime, it’s supposed to be reported to the FBI for monitoring. Exonerated cases are reviewed, and an investigation of the accusation is conducted. But if the case is never submitted to the FBI, that investigation can’t take place.”

“Someone inside the system was setting Gibby up. Gibby, do you know who was behind it?”

“No. Captain Martins explained the accusation to me, I informed him where I’d been, and that was that.”

“So he knew you were in Des Moines.” Marian wiggled free of my hold, planted a kiss on my cheek, and waded through the cushions towards the archway. She threw my jacket and shirt at me, and the jacket’s weight betrayed the presence of my Ruger and wallet. “What species is this Martins fellow?”

“Lion centaur.”

“Racist?”

“Yeah, he is. If we were alone on a bridge, he might think twice before tossing me off. I was a body to fill a quota to him. I don’t think that opinion has changed even with my new status as a shifter. The trial won’t have helped matters much. That said, I don’t think he’s the type. He takes his job seriously, and when he found out the NYPD had called about me, he flipped his lid because he hadn’t been informed.”

“Well, if he’s behind the attack, of course he’d flip his lid,” Marian countered, bending over to pick up a bundle of dark clothing. “It’s information he didn’t have but needed to keep tabs on you. The nationwide concealed carry permit number he wants would be a convenient excuse to keep an eye on you.”

“Or he wants to make sure I continue breathing, since a former CPD officer being killed by a mafia hitman would be a publicity nightmare.” While my shoulder still ached where Abil Ili had stabbed me to make Marian’s bite permanent, I shrugged into my shirt and jacket with minimal discomfort. “He probably doesn’t care what happens to Marian. He’s not a fan of the feds.”

“We do have a reputation of stomping all over their territory when working a case. I’ve done it, and since I don’t take bullshit from uppity police officers, they don’t like me all that much.”