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“Sheriff, we’re in a legal gray area so big that I’m not even sure when I’m supposed to leave.”
That made him laugh in spite of himself. “Well, I guess I can’t argue that, but I know you being able to deputize is meant for emergencies when a marshal is alone on a monster hunt and needs backup. I’m not sure anything about this case qualifies. You never had to hunt Bobby, and now no monsters are involved.”
“Do you really believe that the people who killed Ray Marchand aren’t monsters?” I asked.
The last of the smile vanished from Leduc’s face, and he suddenly looked exhausted and years older. It was that kind of case. “You’ve made your point, Blake. Now get the extra personnel out of here.”
Angel sashayed up to him. “Oh, Dukie, you’ll miss me when I’m gone.”
That put a smile back on his face. “Of course I’ll miss you, Angel. If I said anything less, I would not be a gentleman.”
She kissed him on the cheek the way you’d kiss your uncle, except that she left a perfect crimson imprint of her lips behind. “You’re always a gentleman, Dukie,” she said, voice huskier than it needed to be.
He blushed until his cheek was darker than her lipstick. Angel was good.
75
THE MOTEL HAD all the charm of a chain motel, which is to say none, but it was clean. One window in each room looked out on thick green forest with more evergreens reaching up toward the cloud-bedecked blue sky than we ever had in Missouri. The view made the generic room not matter. I could see getting up and going hiking, bird-watching, tracing down the scent of water on the air and finding the closest lake. So many possibilities and I wasn’t going to get to do any of them. Traveling as a marshal meant that it was all about the case. Sometimes the scenery was pretty, even glorious like this, but it didn’t matter. Unless I had to chase a shapeshifter through the forest outside, it might as well have been a big-screen TV set to New Age wilderness music.
“Anita.” Edward’s voice came from behind me, and just by the tone, I knew it wasn’t the first time he’d called my name.
“I’m sorry, Edward. What were you saying?”
I turned from the window to look into the room. It was ridiculous that we were having this discussion at all, as if I would ever really have sex with Olaf. But since he was a shapeshifter and might be able to smell if we were lying, we all had to pretend that we weren’t lying and that there was a snowball’s chance in hell that Olaf and I could date.
Nicky was standing with his back to the wall nearest me so he could see the room and the window. We were five stories up, but I’d seen shapeshifters climb up and down the outsides of buildings higher than that. Edward was sitting on the corner of the queen bed closest to Nicky and me. Angel was sitting on the bed with him, but she had taken off her heels and scooted all the way up on the bed so she could sit with her back to the headboard and the pillows she’d propped up behind her. Olaf was sitting in the corner of the couch that was almost at the foot of the bed. Custer was in the doorway to the connecting room. He was leaning his shoulder against the doorframe almost the way that Angel had cocked her hip at the sheriff’s office. I wondered if he realized that he was echoing her; with Custer, I was never quite sure.
Milligan was leaning near the outer door that led into the hallway. The fact that both of the ex-SEALs had taken up posts by the only two doors hadn’t been accidental. Custer might not have realized that he was doing the guy equivalent of what Angel had done earlier, but he knew why he was in charge of one of the doors. I knew that Olaf was very aware that both of the men were between him and the exits; if he was bothered by their positioning, he didn’t show anything.
Pierette and Ethan were on the other bed. Ethan sat on a corner of the bed, almost mirroring Edward. They both wanted their feet flat on the floor so they were ready to bounce up in case they needed to move quickly and decisively. Pierette sat against the headboard like Angel, but her back was against the bare headboard. The only pillow she was using was the one she was hugging to herself. Where Angel was stretched out and happy on her bed, Pierette was huddled i
n on herself. I’d seen her in the gym, at martial arts practice, on guard duty, and she never looked like this. It wasn’t her. It was an act for Olaf’s benefit, but she’d played it wrong. Olaf liked women to be afraid of him eventually, but I’d never seen him be attracted to anyone who already seemed so beaten down.
If everyone had run their big plan by me beforehand, I’d have been able to give the women pointers, but it was too late now. It was almost a shame, since Olaf had been willing to like them in that serial killer way when he first laid eyes on them. Now he watched the room, but his gaze didn’t slow down when he ran it over the women.
We had sodas and water that we’d picked up from the shop downstairs, and a coffeemaker that was doing its best to make coffee. It made sad little sounds, and the aroma was anemic, as if the generic coffee the motel offered wasn’t going to cut it. Almost everyone had taken water. I had a Powerade that Nicky had insisted I take. He’d also offered me a protein bar, which I would have turned down, but he gave me that look that people have been getting from their significant others since probably before written language. The look said I was being unreasonable, and after what had happened at the strip club, he was right. The healthy bars never taste right to me, and the unhealthy ones . . . honestly you might as well eat a candy bar and be done with it, but I took the bar. He opened the end of it before he gave it to me. Now he knew I wouldn’t just shove it into a pocket and forget about it. He knew me too well. The wrapper said it was triple-chocolate good and it managed not to be, but it wasn’t terrible. It certainly wasn’t as terrible as me losing control again. I took another bite and a drink of the Powerade, which helped. It was almost like chocolate cake and Kool-Aid at a kid’s birthday party—okay, it wasn’t, but I looked at Olaf sitting on the couch and thought about losing control when he was the nearest snack. I finished the bar in record time.
Olaf sipped his water and looked at me. It was like he was waiting for me to say something. What had I missed while I was staring out the window?
“I’m sorry, really. It’s not like me to be this distracted.”
“Drink your Powerade,” Nicky said.
“I ate a big lunch.”
“You haven’t eaten enough today, Anita.”
“Stop fussing over me.”
Ethan said, “Do you really want Nicky to stop fussing about your health and well-being?”
I realized what I’d done. “I’m sorry, Nicky. I don’t mean that I want you to stop taking care of me. If that includes fussing, so be it.”
“Thanks, Ethan,” Nicky said.
“Would you truly have had to stop fussing over Anita if Ethan had not interceded?” Olaf asked.
“It was a direct order, so yeah.”
