Authors: Crystal Jordan
“Of course, you can, Dr. Jones. I had no doubts.” He kept his voice cool and managed to resist baring his fangs at her in return. It wasn’t worth it, and he was damn tired of dealing with her attitude. Something he’d have to confront her on at some point, but now was neither the time nor the place. He refocused on the dead body. “Why would a vampire child have fading bruises? Those should have healed within minutes.”
She shook her head, her hands moving efficiently over the boy. “I don’t think he’s a vampire. No fangs, wrong smell.” Her brows drew together. “Is his mother a witch, elf or Fae?”
“Not sure yet.” But something worth looking into. Vampires and werewolves had amazing self-healing abilities, but the other three Magickal races—witches, elves and Fae—should have been able to cast a simple healing spell. The boy was probably too young for that, but why hadn’t his mother done it for him? Why leave the damning evidence? Questions that had no answers.
Yet
. Luca nodded, encouraging Tess to continue her examination. “Let me know when you have something.”
Her gaze went to the study’s open door where agents had cordoned the boy’s parents, the father doing all the talking, the mother cowering behind him. “I’ll probably be able to tell you more once I get him back to the morgue.”
Meaning she didn’t want to reveal anything by word or gesture that Hammond might witness. Not that Luca had much doubt about what had happened here, but Tess’s reluctance clinched it.
Robert Hammond had killed his own child.
Disgust crawled through Luca, but he did his best to school his expression so it wouldn’t show. He turned away from Tess and let his gaze sweep the house again. Uniformed officers and CSUs swarmed around the posh residence with a waterfront view of Union Bay. The grand staircase and floor were made of white marble, the walls an ice blue, all spotless perfection except for the blood spatter where the boy had hit the steps coming down. To the right was a masculine study with dark wooden bookshelves, thick area rugs and an imposing desk; to the left was a feminine sitting room with pale blue décor that matched the walls in the foyer. Everything about the place screamed money—old money—and lots of it.
Not surprisingly, Hammond held court in the study.
Luca ignored him for the moment. There would be plenty of questions for that vampire later, but he wanted Tess’s autopsy report, more information from the CSUs sweeping the scene and a chance to read through both Hammond and his wife’s official statements before he decided the best course of action.
He pivoted when the front door opened, then nodded a greeting to one of his agents, Jack Laramie. He was the first Normal ever to be involved in Magickal law enforcement, and it had been controversial when Luca had decided to bring the ex-Marine onto his team. The man offered a perspective someone born a Magickal couldn’t or didn’t understand, and his skills had proved an asset more than once. It amused Luca that other Magickal units were suddenly willing to consider bringing in a Normal to work with them.
“Jesus.” The man paled when he got a good look at Dillon Hammond’s broken form. “Why are we on a child homicide?”
Jack’s wife had given birth to their first child not long ago, so the sight of a dead kid would probably hit harder than usual. That hadn’t been Laramie’s point—this case shouldn’t even be their jurisdiction. The Seattle PD’s Magickal Task Force should be on this, not the FBI. But that was how politics went.
“The parents claim it was accidental.” Luca turned to the side, putting himself between Laramie and the open study door, giving Jack a chance to react without being watched.
“I see.” Jack’s gaze sharpened on the scene, taking in details. “So why are we on an accidental death case?”
Attention had focused on them, and Luca’s senses buzzed with a subliminal warning that edged on a threat. He didn’t have to glance back to know that Robert Hammond had taken sudden notice of them. “Because the boy’s father is a mover and shaker in the Vampire Conclave. I was requested, which means the rest of you get to come along for the fun.”
“I can barely contain my joy,” Jack returned,
sotto voce
.
“I’m sure.” Luca rubbed a finger over the bridge of his nose.
With another quick look around, Jack slid his hands into his pockets. “Has Merek gone through the house?”
“Not yet.” It was a good question. Merek Kingston was the resident clairvoyant in the Magickal Crimes Unit, and the most powerful psychic Luca had ever come across. The warlock could see the past, present and future, and his visions—along with Tess’s autopsy report—would provide exact details on what had happened here. “He’s on another case, but I’ll have him do a sweep.”
Jack nodded.
Luca’s senses vibrated, letting him know someone approached from behind, though he heard no footsteps. Movement that silent could only be a wolf or vampire. He spun, found Hammond directly behind him. Robert drew up short, his eyes flashing to red for the briefest moment before a charming smile curved his lips.
“Agent Cavalli?” He offered his hand, his voice as smooth and cultured as any Normal politician. “We haven’t met, but you resemble your father a great deal.”
“So I’ve been told.” Luca didn’t smile in return, kept the handshake as brief as possible. “I’m sorry for your loss, Mr. Hammond.”
“Ah. Yes, thank you. Call me Robert.” He didn’t look at his son’s body. “My wife is understandably distraught, and I’m hoping that your investigation into the accident won’t drag out and continue to upset her. Cecily is very fragile.”
Not bothering to point out that her son’s death was likely more upsetting than any investigation could be, Luca nodded. “We’ll do our best to keep this as quick as possible, Robert. We have to cover all of our bases, of course, or this may come back to haunt you in the future. But I anticipate this being a fairly straightforward investigation.”
“Excellent.” Hammond smiled his too-confident, smarmy smile, and Luca knew he was going to enjoy putting the bastard behind bars. “I won’t forget this, Agent Cavalli. Your father assured me you were the best.”
As if the FBI was a consulting firm he could call in to clean up his mess. Luca gritted his teeth. His team was far too valuable and far too highly trained for this shit, but Luca would let Hammond think whatever he wanted. For the moment.
“Robert?” A hesitant voice called. Cecily stepped forward, her mouth opening to say more, but then her gaze locked on her child’s dead body and only a strangled noise emerged from her throat.
“Go back in the office, Cecily.
Now
,” Hammond barked. “I’ll be there in a moment.”
The woman skittered backward, clearly used to obeying commands without question. But Luca had focused on her long enough to realize something interesting. Not only was she
not
a vampire, as Tess suggested, but she was someone whose magic was weak enough that from this distance he couldn’t even sense it. Someone easy for a powerful vampire to push around.
Hammond turned back to them, apologetic chagrin on his face. “As I said, it’s best we don’t tarry with this investigation. She’s not doing well.”
It didn’t take a clairvoyant to know the vampire was full of crap. Luca could see the truth all over the wife’s face. Pinched and scared, long sleeves she kept tugging down, despite the warmth of the heater in the house. Abused spouse. Her body language screamed it. And a man who abused his wife wouldn’t make that long of a stretch to abuse his child too.
“You won’t be able to stay here tonight, so why don’t you let Agent Laramie gather some things for you and take you to…a hotel? A relative’s home?” Luca motioned to Jack, who looked sardonically amused at being called on to play errand boy. “I’ll need you to come into the MCU headquarters for questioning in the morning.”
Hammond’s eyebrows drew together. “But we’ve already given our statements to the other agents.”
“We just need to make sure all the official red tape has been taken care of.” Raising his hands in supplication, Luca shrugged.
“Of course.” The other vampire’s face stiffened before he smoothed his expression into one of practiced charm. “We can stay with my mother this evening while you finish your work here. I assume you’ll let us know when we can give the boy a proper burial.”
“You can start the preparation for a full vampire funeral.” Luca forced his lips into a smile, but shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from breaking the other man’s nose. “I’m sure your mother can help with that. Elinor would know how to do it right.”
Something about what he’d said made the smooth expression on Hammond’s face crack a bit. “Right. I’ll do that. Thank you again.”
The sun was shining a little too brightly for Luca’s taste, which did nothing to improve his ugly mood, but the windows on his car were tinted enough that he wouldn’t get scorched. Like all vampires, his skin was extremely photosensitive. Every Magickal species had a deathly allergen—something he’d always considered the universe’s way of balancing out all the power they had. Things that wouldn’t affect most Normal humans could kill a Magickal. Sunlight was the scourge of his race.
It was late afternoon, and he was only now making it into his office. He’d had several other cases to check, including the one Merek Kingston was working on. The psychic would take a look at the Hammond crime scene in the next few hours, and probably confirm Luca’s suspicions. It should be good news, but nothing about a child murder was good news.
Flicking on his blinker, he waited until traffic cleared before pulling into the underground parking lot beneath the MCU’s headquarters. Some of the tension eased out of him once he was away from the beams of light. The rainy Pacific Northwest was usually good for him, but the weather just underscored the fact that today was determined to be a complete clusterfuck.
His phone buzzed with a text message as he pulled into his designated space and shut the engine down. Maybe Tess had finished her autopsy and had some information for him. He slid his cell out of his pocket and swiped a thumb over the screen. Yes, Tess had found something, but apparently he’d missed an earlier message from Erin. He grinned, his mood lightening for the first time since he’d been dragged from her bed that morning.
Her name flashed and then the text appeared:
Thank you for the flowers. They’re lovely.
Ah, she’d received them. Good. A small apology for making her wake up alone. He’d left a note explaining, though she was probably used to it by now. Still, a little courtesy with his lovers went a long way.
He’d tapped the screen to call her before he remembered she’d probably be working over a hot stove and not inclined to pick up her phone. He was about to hang up when the line clicked and her voice came through. “Listen, you
sick fuck
—”
“Erin?” Surprise made his eyebrows arch. Not that Erin didn’t swear, but he doubted he’d ever heard her sound quite so livid and ready to damage someone. When there was no further response from her, he tried a note of teasing. “That wasn’t what you called me last night.”
He heard her swallow. “Luca?”
“You expected someone else to call you from my number? With my special ring tone?” Now his brows contracted. This was very un-Erin-like behavior.
A weak chuckle came through the phone. “It’s on vibrate, so no ring tone, and I actually didn’t look at the number before I picked up.”
“Who did you think was a sick fuck then?” His tone was a bit sharper than he’d intended. “Are you all right? Where are you?” He realized that he didn’t hear the typical sounds in the background that he associated with her restaurants. No clatter of pots and pans, silverware and dishes, people talking, cursing if something was going wrong in the kitchen.
“Someone’s been prank calling me all day.” She hesitated, sighed. “Probably some stupid teenager. It’s fine, it’s just annoying me.” The phone rustled, and then her voice warmed. “What did you need?”
The horseshit of the day—and knowing more was going to pile up on him when it became clear he was after Hammond—made him long for the release that he found only with her. He closed his eyes for a moment and her face appeared, her unruly curls escaping from whatever clips she’d tried to tame them with, her cheeks flushed with desire, her lips swollen from his kisses. Yes. That was what he wanted right now. He opened his eyes. “I was wondering what time you finish with work tonight.”
“I took off early and came home to work on the menu for next week. My new sous-chef is covering for me.” He heard the sound of her stirring something, metal scraping against metal. “Gotta keep the specials fresh so customers don’t get bored.”
He snorted. “No one with a decent palate would get bored with your cuisine.”
“Thank you.” He could all but hear her smile, and that made his lips curve.
“I have no idea when I’ll be free tonight, but can I offer myself as a taste tester?”
“Ha, you’re such a mooch. And your even bigger mooch of a familiar is here too.” A meow echoed from the background. “I think that was cat for
hello.
”
“
Feed me
is more likely.” He shook his head when she hummed in agreement. “Just for the record, I stopped at home to change this morning, and I took him with me.”
“Well, you can come pick him up tonight then. I’ll be here whenever you get off work.” Her voice lilted with mischief. “If you promise to make me come at
least
twice, I might allow you to be the first to sample my new dishes. And I mean come
hard
, like screaming orgasm. People appreciate what they have to work for.”