Avery was called to a murder scene. A family of four had been killed – ripped apart, in fact. The father was one of the park rangers, and he and his family had lived in a small cottage within the park. The house was a little out of the way; it was likely that no one heard the screams. The scene was absolutely horrific.
LLPD had been first on the scene and then requested the SEA’s presence. Raf, the SEA’s liaison agent, was there waiting for her. He was a former LLPD detective and also Isis’ mate. He deserved a medal in Avery’s opinion for putting up with the scarily unpredictable tiger shifter.
“Why does LLPD want us here?” asked Avery.
Raf gave her a weary smile. “Because they think a shifter did it, and because the father was a shifter.”
LLPD were already packing up their stuff and leaving. Apparently, as soon as they realized one of the victims was a shifter, they decided their work was done.
“They’re of the belief that the father did it,” confided Raf with a disapproving sigh.
Isis was tough enough to put up with shifter-hating humans, but Raf got annoyed on her behalf.
“Then ripped himself apart?” asked Avery in disbelief.
“Yeah, well, their opinion is that any human who gets involved with a shifter gets what’s coming to them.”
“Nice.”
“Yeah.” He let out a mirthless laugh.
Avery wrinkled her nose trying to discern the different types of blood, but it was no good, her nose tingled too much at all the different scents.
Giving up, she went over to Gary the coroner, currently looking over an unidentifiable body part that Avery didn’t want to think too much about, and asked him, “What species was the father?”
Gary bunched his mouth. “I think… brown bear.”
“Big then,” she muttered.
Whoever did this had to be savage enough to get past a brown bear shifter – no easy feat.
Gary nodded and stood up. “Rick will need to confirm, but that’s what I think.”
Rick was the SEA medical examiner, and also a lion - like Avery, though not of her pride. No, the males of her old pride were all conceited pretty boys who lounged around all day and spent more time on their hair than Avery did. Okay, so Rick spent a lot of time on his hair too, but at least he had a job.
Gary looked her up and down, and Avery rolled her eyes. Here it comes. Her lioness groaned.
He cleared his throat. “So, Avery, are you free this evening?”
“No, thank you,” she replied quickly and quietly.
“You don’t know that I was going to ask you out.”
She looked at him patiently. “You were, weren’t you?”
“Well yes,” he admitted.
“Thanks, but I’m just not interested.”
She had a rule about not dating co-workers. It started after she broke up with the douchebag Daryl.
Gary shrugged, unperturbed. He always asked her out, and she always said no. She was starting to think that asking her out was just a reflex action for the men in the SEA – they saw her legs, her curves, her blonde hair and they asked her out – even if they had no interest in getting to know her at all. They rarely liked her when they got to know her. Which was unfair; she was a nice - if a little geeky - woman, they just didn’t want to date a geek.
Avery moved through the house, carefully not disturbing the crime scene technicians. She found Cutter outside in his wolf form sniffing the ground and growling. Raf joined them.
“Any scents?”
The wolf huffed and pushed through his shift. “Lots, but they belong to the family inside or wild animals.”
“Could a wild animal have done this? Like a wild tiger?”
Cutter rolled his shoulders. “Not getting that scent, but maybe.”
“Check with the zoos – maybe one is on the loose. We should close down the park just in case.”
Raf nodded in understanding, his eyes firmly on the sky to avoid looking at Cutter’s junk. While comfortable around shifters, he perhaps wasn’t as comfortable with their easy nudity. Though, while Cutter had no issue stripping off and strutting his stuff in front of everyone – to the point where he was purposefully trying to annoy any humans in the vicinity – if his little mate tried to strip and shift in public he would go absolutely crazy and try and lock her in their house.
A phone chirruped, and Raf pulled it out of his pocket waving it in Cutter’s direction without actually looking down. Given his nakedness, no doubt Cutter had Raf hold his phone in case of any urgent phone calls – and there was one call in particular he was waiting for.
Cutter grabbed it, answering frantically. “Lucie? Lucie!” he howled his mate’s name.
His mate was due to give birth any day – she was two weeks overdue, and the waiting had Cutter just a little on edge… well, more on edge than usual. Every phone call tightened up the tension just a smidge.
He groaned into the phone. “I’ve told you before, don’t clog up my damn line!” He jabbed his phone to end the call, almost splintering the screen.
“Telemarketers?” queried Raf.
“My mother,” he growled, tossing his phone back at Raf.
Raf and Avery exchanged glances.
Raf coughed. “Wayne is already looking into next of kin.”
“We need to look around the area,” said Avery, “though it is rather large.” Their team was a bit thin due to Gunner and Isis already investigating another murder across town.
Raf nodded. “I’ll rustle up some more agents to help.”
“Ideally those with good noses.”
Avery started pulling off her jacket. Yep, time to shift and scent around. Cutter had the best nose in the SEA, but there was any number of wolves, bears and many other shifters who were good at following trails as well.
Cutter grunted in agreement and gave Raf a hard look. “If my phone rings…”
“I will answer it, and if it’s Lucie, I will find you – don’t worry. More than my life’s worth to let it go to voicemail.”
Cutter nodded and shimmered to his wolf, loping off into the park. He was his usual gruff self, though there was a hint of worry about him that wasn’t usually there. Avery smiled inwardly. The gruffer and more abrasive the shifter, the harder they clung to their cute, harmless mates.
Avery started unbuckling her belt, realized most of the crime scene technicians had stopped to watch her and then decided to undress behind a tree. She had no problem with nudity; she just had a problem with guys drooling over her nudity.
Well, maybe not all guys. She thought back to her first meeting with Wolfman. She had been naked, and he had taken the time to appreciate her body. Though, he hadn’t done the gross, drooly, gaping mouth thing most men do. No, he was all business. A quick look, a kiss and then he was gone. Oh, it had been a magical night!
*
Kay jumped back as Nine leaped against his cage.
Marlowe scowled. “What’s wrong with him?”
“He’s getting more and more aggressive. The serum was starting to wear off, so I was told to give him double the usual amount, but it’s made him extremely angry.”
Marlowe moved to the weapons cabinet. “Maybe we should tranq him.”
“He wouldn’t recover in time for tonight; he’d be too sluggish.”
Yes, the ‘event’ happening that evening was the only reason any of them were even there. Nine needed to be in tip-top shape – no arguments.
Marlowe’s jaw twitched. “Turn on the juice.”
Kay’s brow creased. “He could hurt himself. Electrifying the cage could kill him – he may just throw himself against it again and again until he dies.”
“He gets out; he could hurt all of us. We don’t want a repeat of Eleven.”
Kay shuddered. No, they definitely didn’t.
Eleven was back in his cage and didn’t seem to be any different than usual. But now, Kay watched all their specimens warily. If one could get out, maybe they all could. They still didn’t know how he did, though she suspected Dr. Froggett of forgetting to lock his cage properly, though the arrogant man certainly wouldn’t admit to it.
Dr. Froggett was far too interested in their female specimens to pay attention to security protocols.
Marlowe – by far the easiest and most sympathetic to deal with of the security team – nodded at her sadly. “I’ll turn the juice on. Better safe than sorry.”
She nodded in agreement. He was right. She was just hoping to get out of this awful place with as few casualties as possible.
*
“Broad daylight, sweetie – you’re not seriously going to jump me now, are you?”
Avery waited until Aimee caught up with her, looking ever so slightly disheveled. She heard her coming a mile away. Didn’t help that Aimee had managed to knock over two trash cans, step on a stray cat’s tail and collided with a bike messenger. What was the opposite of a ninja? Whatever it was, Aimee embodied it.
“No, that isn’t why I was following you,” said Amiee.
Avery pulled a candy wrapper out of Aimee’s hair.
“Oh, I fell into a dumpster before I started following you.”
“Why were you… actually, no I don’t need to know.”
Avery smiled at her youngest sister. Aimee had always been considered the family runt – a sentiment their mother thoroughly encouraged. Aimee was so much smaller and curvier than all the sisters, and it made the competition hard for her – she never managed to best any of them.
Avery had long ago given up trying to compete with her sisters, but that didn’t stop them from trying to compete with her. Aimee, she assumed, had no choice – she still lived at home and was at the whim of their crazy mother.
“I came to ask you a favor.”
Avery raised an eyebrow. Because of their mother and her insistence that they compete with one another, the sisters had never been close, and asking for a favor was akin to suicide.
“Really? This a trick so you can taze me and tie me up?”
Because she fell for that four years ago when Andrea tried it.
Aimee shook her head, and her enormous blue eyes seemed to get even larger. Jeez, could she look any more like a cute kitten?
“No, an actual favor.”
Avery folded her arms, regarding those darn eyes steadily. “Okay, I’m listening.”