The Order Boxed Set (76 page)

Nice to know he was worried—probably scared the vamps or witches would get her. Though could you stop vamps and witches with bullets? She grinned at the thought.

The two women had come to a halt in front of her, and both smiled. They appeared so open and friendly that she smiled back automatically.

“Hi, Detective Connolly,” Tara said. “I brought Roz along, I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course, and call me Faith.” The waiter was hovering behind them. “Would you like a drink?”

“Scotch for me,” Roz said taking the seat closest to her.

“And I’ll have a Coke.” Tara sat opposite Faith, and she sat back down.

“Are you sure?” she asked. She was drinking a glass of Rioja, rich, full-bodied, and nearly empty. “I’ll have another of these.”

“Tara doesn’t drink,” Roz said as the waiter moved away. “Except on special occasions and when all the doors are locked.” She sounded amused and Faith glanced at the blonde, who was scowling good-naturedly.

“Alcohol has a weird effect on me,” she said. “And I like coke.”

Faith sat for a minute sipping her wine and wondering how to proceed. She didn’t have many women friends and she wasn’t good at small talk. Her job took all her time and her energy and even today, when there were more woman on the force, her level was still dominated by men.

Tara wore a pendant hanging on a chain around her neck. Faith found her eyes drawn to the stone. At first, it appeared matte black, but when she peered closer, the black was inlaid with an intricate pattern in dark crimson.

“I love your necklace,” she said. “It’s unusual.”

“It is that,” Roz replied a grin on her face.

Tara touched her finger lightly to the stone and shrugged. “My father gave it to me.”

The waiter brought their drinks and still Faith couldn’t think how to begin. She had a list of questions, but it might be better to get the meeting off on a more friendly footing than treating Tara like a suspect in an interrogation.

Roz relaxed in her seat sipping her scotch and looking vaguely entertained. Faith suspected that while she might not be a witch there was a good chance she was a bitch.

“Have you two known each other long?” Faith asked. Maybe this was what connected Roz to Christian Roth; a little tingle of excitement ran through her.

“No, not long. A month or so. We actually met through your friend, Ryan. Although it turns out we’re sort of distantly related.”

Bugger. There went another theory. If they’d only known each other a month, they couldn’t be the connection that tied Christian Roth to the murder.

“I’ve known Ryan a few years,” Roz offered.

“I saw you once or twice at the station, but Ryan never introduced us.” It sounded like an accusation but Roz grinned again.

“He said it would be a waste of time and you’d scoff at what I did, and you’d laugh at him for going along with it.”

That made Faith sound like the bitch and she bristled defensively. “What is it you did exactly?”

Roz shrugged as if to say why not? “I’m sort of…clairvoyant. I touch things and get a feeling for their owners—it helps me home in on them.”

“And that’s how you found Jessica?”

Roz nodded.

“Piers says it’s very useful as he’s always losing things,” Tara added.

“Piers?”

“Piers is my…boyfriend.” Roz smiled as though the idea amused her.

“I believe you both also know Ash?” Faith said.

Tara scowled. “I don’t know him that well.”

Her tone made it sound as though she was happy to keep it that way. No love lost there then. Why could that be?

It had given her a little twitch of pleasure when she got back from a very pleasant if unexciting lunch with Pete to find she had missed a call from Ash. Served him right. She half expected him to call and offer her a lift home, but maybe he knew she was meeting with Tara.

She turned to study Roz. Would she admit to how well she had once known Ash?

Roz swallowed the last of her scotch and held up the glass for a refill. “Me and Ash go way back. I wouldn’t say we’ve ever been friends, but we’ve been close. I’ve known him for years but most of the time it’s been more of a…working relationship.”

That tied in with what Ash had told her.

“So you’ve started a new job,” Tara said. “That must be exciting.”

“Not so you’d notice. But things might be looking up. The boss comes back from wherever he’s been hiding tomorrow, so I should get cleared for more work.”

She thought that much was safe to say—not giving away any state secrets.

“Ryan thinks you’d be a great addition to my husband’s company. Is that why you said no—because of the new job?”

“Among other things. So tell me about your husband and why I’d like to work for him.”

“Because Christian is a good man. He’s honest, law-abiding, and he runs one of the biggest privately owned companies in the world. The opportunities are endless.”

“And interesting,” Roz added. “Ryan says you’re a great detective. You could still do that as part of the investigative division.”

“So I wouldn’t be working with Ryan?”

“Probably not. He said that diplomacy wasn’t your strong point.”

“Did he?” Bastard—how dare he say she wasn’t diplomatic? She could be if she tried. Just most of the time, she never saw the point in trying.

“He said you were straight and to the point and always said exactly what you thought. He meant it as a compliment.”

“Besides,” Roz added. “He’s working with Ash, and strangely they seem to be getting on well together.”

“And I suppose Ash can be diplomatic?”

Roz grinned. “He can be a smooth bastard when he wants to.”

“And a total bastard the rest of the time,” Tara muttered.

Definitely no love lost there.

She fired off a few more questions about the company and got totally innocuous answers in return. The truth was it did sound a fantastic opportunity. But she wanted to be a policewoman. She changed the subject.

“So how did you meet, Christian?” she asked. “I mean he’s supposed to be like a total recluse.”

“Not really; he has close friends. But I actually employed CR Investigations to trace my family after the aunt who bought me up died. Christian found the case interesting and took over the investigation.”

“And the rest is history,” Roz added.

Tara grinned back as though they shared a secret, and Faith had a sudden urge to be included in their little circle. Then Tara’s expression became serious. “He’s a good man, and I love him with all my heart.”

Hmm, that was nice, but she knew that love could make you blind to all sorts of issues. She’d seen it again and again. People who protected their loved ones, lied to the police, hid evidence, all because they couldn’t believe the objects of their devotion could do any wrong. She turned to Roz.

“And do you agree with that?”

“Well, I don’t love him—not that he isn’t loveable—but yes, he’s a good man.”

Faith was getting nowhere. Maybe it was time to try a little shock tactics.

“So he is a man? Because I’d heard rumors he was a vampire.”

Tara laughed. “I’ll have to tell him that one.”

Roz batted her lashes. “Really, Faith. You don’t believe in witches, but you do believe in vampires? How open-minded of you.”

Faith looked her in the eye. “You found Jessica. You know what was done to her.”

Roz shrugged but said nothing. Tara leaned forward. “Faith, there are things we can’t tell you. Things told to us in confidence. But come and work with us and I’m sure you’ll learn what you need to know.”

“Maybe. But I need to solve this case first.”

“Why does it mean so much to you?”

Suddenly Faith wanted to tell someone, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words so she gave her usual general answer. “Because a lot of people are murdered and a lot of killers escape justice. There needs to be people who care, people unwilling to let go.”

“You’re right,” Tara said. “But there are resources you could use at CR. There’s no reason why you couldn’t keep up the investigation from there.”

Faith frowned. Something didn’t quite add up here. “You know the old saying—if something sounds too good to be true it probably is? I’m sort of thinking this whole thing seems way too good and I don’t get it. I’m good at my job, but not that good. Why me?”

“Because we go on personal recommendation more than anything. We need people we can trust. And Ryan recommended you.”

Hmm. She wasn’t entirely convinced. She rubbed her scalp, where she could feel the first glimmer of an incipient headache. She so didn’t need that right now. Picking up her bag, she found the bottle of pills, and washed one down with a gulp of red wine. When she glanced up, Roz was watching her, an expression of sympathy on her pretty face which put Faith’s back up. She didn’t need sympathy.

“Okay. Thanks for meeting me. I’ll give it some thought.”

“Well, phone if you have any more questions or want a chat.” Tara handed her a card, and a minute later Roz handed her a second.

Faith called for the bill but Tara insisted on paying. Which was fair enough; she was married to a billionaire.

Outside it was still daylight and they walked along the embankment together. She presumed Tara and Roz were heading back to CR and wherever it was that Roz lived.

“Do you live in the CR building as well?” she asked.

“No. I live with Piers about a mile away,” she replied.

Faith was heading to the nearest tube station. She’d been spoiled getting a lift home each evening.

The skin down her back prickled. Her detective senses were tingling. She peered at the two women walking beside her, but they appeared relaxed, murmuring softly to each other. On their left, there was just the barrier and then the river. A tourist boat was drifting by but she could see nothing out of place.

“Faith?”

Roz had asked her a question, and she hadn’t heard a word. “Sorry.”

To the right was the road. The traffic moved slowly. A red double-decker bus went past, a couple of black cabs. Everything nice and normal, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching them, focusing on their little group.

Finally, she glanced over her shoulder and spotted them immediately. They were hard to miss.

“Keep walking,” she said in a soft voice. “But there are two men following us.”

“They’re our bodyguards,” Roz replied.

“Bodyguards?”

“Christian and Piers insist we don’t go anywhere without them. It can be a real drag, but it puts their minds at rest.” Roz raised her hand and waggled her fingers at the two men. One waved back.

Both were tall, dressed in black, and moving with the easy grace of men used to action.

“That’s Saul and Calvin. They work for the security branch of CR.”

“Oh. So they’ve been doing what, while we were in the bar?”

“Watching the doors, watching us.” Roz shrugged. “You get used to it.”

Faith didn’t think she would ever get used to it. So it was lucky she wasn’t thinking about dating a billionaire. At least Ash only worked at CR, he didn’t own it.

Walking on, she tried to ignore the uncomfortable sensation. She exhaled slowly and relaxed her tense muscles. She was getting paranoid. Again.

They’d only gone a few feet when a vehicle pulled up in front of them. A white van. The windows were tinted and she couldn’t see the driver. Yup, she was definitely paranoid. They were passing it when a screech from behind made her stop and swing around.

A second identical white van had mounted the curb and pulled to a halt.

In a flash, she realized that it had cut them off from the two bodyguards. After that, everything happened fast. She whirled back around, reaching for the pistol at her waist as two men leaped from the front of the first van.

“Get Roz away,” Tara shouted. “They’re after Roz.”

Faith turned to where Roz stood, then glanced back and saw the two bodyguards were down, but she hadn’t heard any shots. She reached for Roz meaning to put her behind her. Just as the other woman collapsed to the pavement.

A scream. She swung around again. The two men had Tara gripped between them and were hustling her toward the open back of the van.

Faith raised her pistol. “Let her go.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a movement. The front window of the van lowered, but she couldn’t take her eye of the group in front of her.

Her finger tightened on the trigger, but before she could fire, a shot came from the van. Something slammed into her shoulder, knocking her to the hard ground. For a moment, everything went black.

“Come on,” she muttered. “Get up.” She pushed herself on to her elbow as the van pulled away. All around her, people were screaming. She tried to stand but couldn’t. Instead, she rolled over and dragged herself across to where Roz lay unmoving. For a second, she thought she was dead, but then she saw the small dart embedded in Roz’s shoulder. Reaching out she rested a finger against her throat and felt the slow steady throb of her pulse.

Only then did she heave a sigh. At that point, pain hit her like a sledgehammer.

She’d been fucking shot.

She glanced up and caught people in the crowd staring at her. Clenching her teeth against the pain, she peered down. Her left arm was drenched. While it hardly showed against the black of her suit jacket, her left hand was stained crimson. The thick, cloying, sickly sweet stench of blood filled her nostrils dragging her back to that long ago time. Her mother’s body had also been daubed in crimson. So much blood.

“Hold on, love, we’ve called the ambulance—they’ll be here in a moment.” A man couched down beside her. He reached out a hand and then pulled back. “Lie still.” Something pressed against her shoulder.

The pain was coming in waves now, rolling over her, sucking her under. In the distance, an ambulance siren whined and as the next wave rose to a crescendo, she let the pain take her and drag her down.

Chapter Ten

Ash slammed through the swinging door and came to an abrupt halt.

Faith lay on the bed, her face even paler than usual, her eyes closed, her lashes dark shadows against her skin.