The Fire Within (23 page)

Dante muttered viciously in Italian. “Then I’ll be there for him.”

Beth smiled.

“For now, keep Beth close.”

“Hey! I can take care of myself, you know.”

Gabriel laughed, and it was as if the sun had come out from behind thick clouds. “And you keep Dante close as well. Dante? Stay safe, my brother.”

Dante grunted. “Stay safe, my brother.” He hung up, wincing as he put the phone back in his coat pocket. “Let’s get something to eat. If I know Gabriel, Damien and Seth will be there as soon as work lets out.”

Beth nodded and began the drive back toward Dante’s. “Want to pick up some take-out?”

“Nah. Let’s hit the diner.” He shifted in his seat. “Beth?”

“Yeah?”

The look he shot her was full of concern. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

She shot him a startled glance. “That can’t be good.”

“No.” He sighed deeply and took hold of her hand with his good one. “It’s not.”

Before long they were seated at a booth in the local diner. Elizabeth picked up her menu as Dante sat across from her in the booth. At this early hour, the place was fairly quiet. “I know Gabriel told us to stay behind, but I want to hear Cranston’s explanation on the whole Romanov file.”

“Damn it, I knew you were going to say that.” Dante sighed. “Okay. But not without one of my brothers going with you.”

She smiled sourly. “Yes, Mom.” She looked up at the waitress as she returned to their table. This one, at least, had never dated Dante. “Cheeseburger, Coke, fries, same as always. How are the kids, Dinah?”

Dinah grinned. “They’re little demons. Too smart for their own good too.” She turned to Dante. “Cheeseburger, fries and Coke, right, Detective?”

“Got it in one. How’s Harry?”

“Still sick, but recovering. Wishing he was back on active duty, but you know how cops are.” Dinah shrugged. “As soon as he’s over the flu, he’ll be back to work and out of my hair.” She winked at them, then turned away and headed for the counter to place their orders.

“Dinah and Harry are good people.”

Beth grinned at him. “Yes, they are.”

He took hold of her hand again. Ever since they’d spoken with Gabriel, it was like he needed to touch her, make sure she was with him and, therefore, safe. “Mind if I join you when you talk to Cranston?” When she frowned and opened her mouth to once again tell him hell no, he held up a hand to stop her. “You can keep an eye on me and make sure I’m taking it easy if I’m with you.”

“And if it comes down to a fight?”

His gaze burned briefly with his inner fire. “Then I fight.”

She sat back in her chair. “I can hold off on this until Seth or Damien can join me.”

His grimace of distaste had her frowning. “No.”

“Don’t you trust them?”

Dante looked distinctly uncomfortable. “It’s not that.”

The way he clung to her hand, how he refused to let go even when she tugged, was telling. “I’ll make sure I’m not alone when I speak to him.”

“That’s not the point.” His damaged arm jerked, and he grimaced in pain. “I want... No. I
need
to be the one with you. If anything happened to you...”

His voice trailed off, but she heard the pain, the loneliness. “Then I wait for you.”

The smile he gave her was sweet. “Thank you.”

She snorted out a laugh. “You just want in on the interview, Detective Zucco.”

“Got it in one, Rand.” His smile faded away. “I want to know why he didn’t think it necessary to fill us in on the Romanov file. If he’s not the one we’re looking for, why did he lie about it?”

“He could be a puppet, like Kensington.”

“He could be. We won’t know until we get him out of the office and question him.”

“Will you be able to tell once he’s out of that office?”

“Yeah. He won’t be able to hide then, not from me and certainly not from Damien.”

“Good.”

Dante nodded his thanks as Dinah placed two Cokes down on the table and moved off. “So. Would you want to make living with me official?”

She choked on the sip she’d just taken. He let go of her hand long enough to pound her between the shoulder blades.

“What?” She was stunned. How long had he been thinking about this?

“I want to know if you’ll give up your apartment and move in with me full time.”

She stared at him as if he’d just grown a second head.
Live with him?
On a full-time basis?
“I’d have to think about it.”

She watched as his big hand curled around his glass. “There’s nothing to think about, as far as I’m concerned. I want you to live with me.”

He was serious, and she couldn’t just dismiss what he’d said. She had to admit, the thought was tempting, but she needed some time to think about whether or not they were ready for such a serious step so soon. They both deserved to have her be certain that this was what she wanted. “I tell you what. Let me think about it, and I’ll give you an answer tonight.” She pointed at him. “But if I say yes, I get to decorate your beige boredom of a living and dining room.
Capisce?
”

His nod, when it finally came, was slow. He was disappointed, but accepted her decision. “
Capisce
.”

They ate their hamburgers in an uneasy silence. She didn’t know what was going through his head, but she knew what was going through hers.

Disappointment. She was surprisingly disappointed that he’d only asked her to live with him. But what more could she expect? They hadn’t been lovers for all that long, and in the grand scheme of things, if you counted the time when they’d hated each other, they’d known each other less than a year.

And, she decided, it showed that he wanted some kind of a commitment from her. It would mean that they were more than just exclusive.

They’d be a couple in every sense of the word.

Of course, a living arrangement could be dismissed much easier than a marriage. All she had to do was move out. End of relationship. Game over. End score: Dante one, Beth zero. It would shred her if she lost Dante, but if she didn’t take the chance she might lose him anyway, before she’d really had him.

She’d definitely have to think about it.

Chapter Twenty

It was obvious she was still thinking about it when they pulled up outside of Blessing headquarters half an hour later. Her pensive expression hadn’t changed since he’d first asked her to move in with him. He was hoping she’d give him a positive answer that night, but he was frightened that maybe he’d pushed too soon. Now he ran the risk that she’d turn him down, and he’d be left out in the cold.

The sky was darkening, the wind blowing as they got out of the car. The snowstorm that the weathermen were calling for was about to hit. He could smell the snow in the air.

Shivering, Elizabeth hugged herself, breathing hard on her hands and rubbing them together to generate warmth. Dante wanted to warm them, but surrounded by the coming and going of the people around them he didn’t dare unleash his flame. Instead, he ushered her into the Blessing office as quickly as he could, considering his lack of an arm.

He looked around the office and wasn’t surprised to see it shutting down for the day. Blessing was running back and forth, telling people to go home, urging people to put their coats on, and reminding one elderly volunteer that she had a ride if she needed one.

He watched Blessing move around the office, strong and charismatic, and understood what Jennifer Blake had seen in him.

He was strong, a natural leader. Others gravitated to him, around him, drawn to his innate charisma. The man seemed to care about all of his office workers, and Dante couldn’t see any sign that Blessing’s attitude was all an act.

Elizabeth strode right toward Blessing. Dante had the pleasure of seeing his faint grimace before he smiled. Good. He didn’t like anyone who thought it was all right to cheat on their spouses.

“Mr. Blessing. Is Mr. Cranston still here?” She kept her tone pleasant, a smile on her face.

“Yes, he’s still here, but I believe he’s going to be leaving soon. He’s from Florida and finds the snow storm frightening.” He sounded confused over the question, as if he’d been expecting something else. Perhaps a confrontation on his cheating ways?

One thing was for certain, a man who could cheat on his spouse, with his friend’s wife no less, would have no problems cheating his constituents. He was definitely not getting Dante’s vote, that was for sure.

“Cranston finds the thought of sharpening a pencil frightening.” With a brisk nod, she moved past him and into the accounting offices.

Cranston was there, scurrying around like a rat, muttering to himself under his breath as he tried valiantly to gather together all of his belongings. Dante watched him for a moment, trying to see the miasma that should have been there. But the Shem stench was so thick he couldn’t see whether or not Elizabeth was human, let alone Cranston.

Gabriel was right. Whoever it was, the Shem was clever to hide this way.

Cranston darted to his briefcase, hesitated, muttered again and turned toward the coffee maker. He paused, his lip caught between his teeth, then headed for Oates’s office. Cranston stopped just outside the door, returning once more to his desk.

“Mr. Cranston?” Dante’s voice boomed through the mostly empty office.

Cranston jumped. “Oh. Detective Zucco, isn’t it? And Ms. Rand.” He glanced down at his desk with dismay. “Did we have an appointment this afternoon?”

Elizabeth nodded and stepped into the room, Dante right on her heels. “If you have a few moments to talk to us, we’ll get out of your hair as quickly as possible.”

With a nervous twitch, Cranston sat behind his desk, knocking his desk calendar to the floor in the process. He jumped again at the sound of Beth’s cell phone ringing.

Something was making Cranston extremely nervous, and Dante doubted it was the snow storm.

“Give me a moment, please?”

“Of course, Ms. Rand.” Cranston’s sickly smile seemed out of place with Elizabeth’s professional tone.

Elizabeth waved Dante on, moving back to the main office doorway to take the phone call. Dante followed, refusing to leave her. He glanced around to make sure no one could overhear their conversation as Elizabeth answered the phone and put it on speaker. “Hello?”

It was Sam. “Guess what?”

“My stock portfolio has decided to go up instead of down?” Elizabeth quipped.

“I decided to do a cross-reference of people who’ve worked with the Blessing campaign, had access to funds and had something to do with Romanov, seeing as how it was his money that was stolen, and guess what I found?” Sam sounded giddy. Dante could picture her literally dancing in her chair. It seemed like something the bubbly Sam would do.

“Alien forces have taken over Romanov’s brain and he’s the one behind the plot. Or, rather, the aliens are.” Elizabeth winked at Dante.

“I didn’t think of that angle. If Romanov were brainwashed... But it takes time to be brainwashed...and from what I’ve heard, he’s got a pretty strong will...”

Beth grimaced. “Sam.” The indulgent impatience in Beth’s voice told Dante this wasn’t the first time Sam had gone off on a tangent while working with Beth.

“Oh. Right. Sorry.” Sam giggled. “Um, I’d ask you to guess what I found, but I already did that, didn’t I?”

Elizabeth sighed. “Yes, Sam, you did.”

“Okay.” Dante heard Sam take a deep breath.

“Who, Sam? Who is it?”

“Bryan Cranston.”

Dante grinned. Cranston had left a paper trail after all. If he’d planned on hauling him before human authorities he’d have enough for a search warrant, and possibly an arrest warrant. Everything was pointing to Cranston being their man. “Damn.”

Elizabeth nodded toward Dante.
We got him
, she mouthed.

Sam continued. “He worked for Romanov Enterprises and left under less-than-auspicious circumstances. I don’t know all of the details, but it had something to do with missing funds.”

“Tell me what you’ve got.”

“It seems as if he might have been involved with money laundering, but no charges were ever filed. Just a note of investigation from Romanov himself.”

Elizabeth pushed her glasses up her nose. “Damn it, I asked Piotr if he knew anyone who worked for the Blessing campaign.”

“He may
not
have known. After all, Cranston isn’t the head accountant or anything like that. He’s just a regular Joe working under Sylvester Oates.”

Dante was absolutely positive Romanov had known. “Tell us the rest.”

“Hi, Dante.”

Dante smiled. Sam actually sounded happy to speak to him. “Hello, Sam.”

“Okay, so. He’s had a lot of activity on his computer, and I’ve been able to trace some of his activities. Guys, a lot of them coincide with the movement of the stolen funds.”

Dante frowned. “How did you track his online movements?”

Sam’s voice was small, uncertain. “If I tell you, can you be prosecuted too?”

Dante winced. “Okay. I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” So much for a search warrant. Good thing he was almost positive Cranston was the Shem. He’d take the bastard down the Nephilim way.

“Thanks.” The relief in Sam’s voice made him chuckle.

“You’re welcome.”

“I gotta go. I have a job interview this afternoon.”

“I thought you were going to continue doing freelance work.” Elizabeth sounded surprised.

“This promises to be...interesting.” With a soft goodbye, Sam hung up.

Elizabeth holstered her cell phone. “I hope she’s not getting into trouble.”

“Does she get into trouble often?”

Elizabeth snickered. “You have no idea.”

“Want me to ask Damien to keep an eye on her?”

She glanced up at him with a smirk. “Why, what a clever idea, Detective Zucco.”

“I have them occasionally.”

“Just tell him she’s probably going to get a job with Romanov Enterprises.” At his shocked look, she laughed. “Andi put in a good word for her.”

“Shit. He’s going to go ballistic.”

“Good. That’s what he gets for firing her without real proof.”

Dante’s grin was wicked. “Agreed.”

They reentered the office to find Cranston reaching for an oversized white parka. He slid it on and zipped it up. Reaching for his briefcase, he said, “I’m sorry, I really must be going now. There’s a storm coming in.” He shivered and smiled weakly. “I’ve stayed too long as it is.”

For a second, Dante could see Jennifer Blake’s death scene. The huge white parka Elizabeth said she saw on the person running away from the body, the blood on the snow and the briefcase lying open next to the body. He stared at Cranston, noticing that the oversized parka made him look twice as bulky.

Elizabeth reached out and grabbed Dante’s hand tightly. Tugging on him, she pulled him after her, following Cranston out onto the street. With the light snow falling, the street had taken on a glow, soft and gentle.

Cranston had carried the miasma out of the office with him. He was the Shem they’d been hunting, but with so many people around them Dante couldn’t act on the knowledge. Cranston shivered as he pulled the hood up on his parka. “Well, I must be going. Have an enjoyable evening.”

Elizabeth, who couldn’t see the miasma, was studying Cranston with an odd expression. “Mr. Cranston? I don’t believe I’ve seen you wear that parka before.”

Shit. She would ask him about that.

With luck, Cranston would walk away. If the Shem attacked now Dante would be forced to defend Elizabeth, no matter how many humans were bustling about. And now that Cranston was out of the office, the stench still clung to him, marking him as the skunk who’d panicked and stunk up the rooms.

Cranston hesitated a moment before moving forward toward the parking lot. “Yes, I just recently purchased it. I’m not all that fond of the snow, you know.”

She smiled, a cold one that sent shivers down Dante’s spine. “Have a good night, Mr. Cranston.”

He nodded, an odd little half bow with his head alone. “Good night, Ms. Rand. Detective Zucco.” He turned and walked briskly through the parking lot. He got into his green Ford, started the engine and drove slowly out of the parking lot, obviously conscious of the light dusting of snow already on the ground.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Dante asked, staring down at her.

“Nope,” she replied, grinning savagely. “He’s the one.”

“I know that.” He walked her briskly toward their car. He didn’t like this one little bit. Cranston’s expression had turned far too calm before he left. The man’s nervous energy had disappeared.

“What I want to know is how he hid what he was from Piotr.” Dante slid into the passenger seat, waiting calmly for Elizabeth to climb behind the wheel. On the inside, his fire burned, ready to do battle to protect Elizabeth from Cranston.

The man knew. He had to. Simply allowing them to see him outside the office had sealed his fate. He was either going to fight, or flee.

Dante planned on forcing him to fight.

“Yet another thing to ask Piotr about.”

“I’ll have to get the others together to search for him. He’s going to run.”

“He had that look about him, yeah.”

“Seth and Damien should be at my place by now.” They’d help him hunt Cranston down, leaving Elizabeth safe and sound at home.

“Maybe we should call in Piotr as well. This affects him more than anyone.”

He stared at her for a moment before nodding. “You’re right.” He pulled out his phone and dialed.

“Romanov Enterprises. How may I help you?”

“Mr. Romanov, please. Tell him it’s Dante Zucco.”

“One moment, please.”

Most of the drive home he spent on hold, but soon enough Piotr answered. “
Zdravstvuy, moĭ brat.
”

“Um. Hello.” Dante sighed. “Elizabeth suggested we should call you. It looks like the Shem is an ex-employee of Romanov Enterprises.”

Silence, then the car filled with the sound of rapid Russian obscenities. “Where is he?”

Dante was surprised at the vicious rage in Piotr’s voice. “Do you want to know who?”

“
Da.
”

“Bryan Cranston.”

The rapid intake of breath sounded surprised. “Andrea had been investigating him for embezzlement, but couldn’t find anything on him. I was about to step in personally when the head of his department fired him.”

“You didn’t know?”

“That I had a Shem working for me? No.” Piotr sighed. “My company is very large, and spread over several states. He did not work in my office, or I would have detected his presence.”

Elizabeth nudged him. “Didn’t Blessing say Cranston was used to a warmer climate?”

“Shit.” That explained how Piotr hadn’t known. For the most part, he ran his business out of Wilmington and Dover, but he’d jet to his other locations frequently. “He stole the money from the Blessing campaign.”

“How did you find out?”

Dante could hear Piotr moving around, possibly preparing to leave his office. “Sa... Elizabeth’s friend got the information for us.”

“Ah.” Dante clearly heard a door closing. “I’m on my way,
moĭ brat
. Keep your woman safe.”

For the first time, Dante offered Piotr the traditional parting words with no reluctance whatsoever. “Stay safe, my brother.”

“
Prebyvaniem bezopasny
,
moĭ brat.
”

Elizabeth pulled into his driveway and they got out of the car. “Do you think the three of them can find Cranston?”

Dante stared at the front porch of his home, his heart in his throat. He couldn’t be seeing this, couldn’t be feeling the terror that raced through him.

But that fall of dark hair against the white snow didn’t disappear, no matter how he wished otherwise.

Dante took a deep, cleansing breath and tried to push back the fear. “I don’t think they’ll have a problem at all.”

Cranston, his white parka zipped against the snow and wind, stood there. He held a silenced gun in his hand. Dante’s mother lay at his feet, unconscious. Dante couldn’t tell if the Shem had killed her or not, but Dante couldn’t see any blood spotting the pristine white parka Cranston wore.

Cranston sighed. “I’m sorry, Detective. I truly am. But I knew you wouldn’t let me go without a fight.” The sorrow in Cranston’s voice was audible. “I wish it didn’t have to come to this. I had no desire to tangle with you. I just want to leave.”