Agnes lay blissfully exhausted in Hoss’s protective arms. He’d taken her fiercely in the bathroom and again in the bed. She liked listening to his pounding heart and his loud snores. She could lie here all night and all day, letting him take her from one pleasure to another, but her desire was denied.

But she couldn’t stop thinking of Kathy. What if something happened to Kathy while she was tangled with Hoss? God, she’d never forgive herself.

As if on cue, her phone rang loudly, tugging at her guilt. She unwound from Hoss and answered. “Malloy?”

“Where the hell have you been?” Tom barked.

She winced. “If you remember, I was shot.”

“Get your ass over here. There’s been another murder.”

Guilt swelled inside her chest. Tom had been on the job while she was dilly-dallying with the Alien-of-the-Month club. “Crap. Where are you?”

“At Hodgkins Elementary.”

His hard voice fizzled all of her passion and bliss, then her gut tied into double knots.

Don’t be a child. Don’t be a child.

“What?”

“The principal just found one of his teachers. He’s pretty shaken up and not making sense.”

Relief flushed through her shivering body. At least it hadn’t been a student or Kathy. “Text me the address. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Hoss rubbed her sore behind where he’d dug his fingers into her flesh when he’d taken her hard. “Daidhl struck again.”

“Yes.” She kicked back the covers. She threaded her fingers through her hair. “This time it was an elementary school teacher. Her principal just found her.” She went over to the closet to yank out some clothes.

Hoss climbed out of the bed. “I’m coming with you.”

She turned around. “No, you’re not. If I show up with you, the captain’s liable to take me off the case.”

He grabbed her arm. “You can’t solve this without me.”

“I can’t bring you to the crime scene.”

“Yes, you can, and you will.”

“Listen, Mr. Dragon, you can’t tell me what to do. I won’t let you jeopardize my case.”

He laughed. “You don’t actually think you can put this man in jail, do you?”

She braced her shoulders, not caring he was a foot taller. She met his sarcastic glare. “Yes, I do. I’m a police officer. In case you’ve forgotten, that’s my job.”

He stopped laughing, his voice turning serious. “There’s no prison on Earth that can contain, Daidhl. Your only hope is for me to kill him or capture him. I’ll take him back to Zalara where he’ll be punished.”

“Fine.” She broke free from his tight clasp and went back to dragging a sweater and a pair of trousers out of the closet. Within minutes, she was dressed. The last few months being on a call had taught her how to move fast for an emergency. Murders didn’t happen eight to five.

She pulled her hair back in a ponytail, but she groaned when she looked at her chafed cheeks. She hoped to god Tom wouldn’t know that she’d spent hours having the best sex she’d ever had, instead of hunting down a sadistic killer.

But it was a foolish hope. Tom was a good cop and could put one and one together. If she wasn’t careful, he’d report her to the captain, and she’d find herself sitting behind a desk.

Ignoring the throbbing pain, she slowly secured her holster and stuck her revolver in the sheath.

When she walked out of the bedroom, Hoss was waiting for her. “What took you so long?”

“Very funny. I told you. You can’t come.”

He shrugged. “Then, I’ll follow you. You can’t fight Daidhl without me. Or are you determined to be slashed open like those other women?”

“Fine. Then you’re coming as an observer.”

“I’m fine with that.”

“Why don’t I believe you?”

“Look, I said I would follow your rules. But remember my people’s lives are at stake too. While we were having sex, someone else’s line just died. Don’t expect me to be an idle by-stander.”

“I was afraid you’d say something like that.”

He smiled and turned to go down the stairs. Dread settled into her as she trailed behind Hoss. What if they couldn’t stop Daidhl? Would she be attacked next? Kathy? How many more women would die?

The silent siren on her dashboard flashed red. Agnes honked the car’s horn at a crowd of curious people filling the street. They parted when she turned on the siren. A black-white officer motioned for her to park in front of the school next to the coroner’s white van. Police cars were lined up neatly in the west parking lot.

But it was the brown sedan that made her heart fall to her toes. The captain was here and wouldn’t be happy when she came strolling to the crime scene with Hoss trailing her like a shadow.

She opened her car door an inch. “Hoss, don’t piss off Tom.”

“I’ll try.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Do better than try.”

He got out before she did and slammed the door. She immediately climbed out about to send his ass back to jail. Having sex would not change anything. The job came first.

The same officer blocked Hoss’s path. “You need to get back.”

She flashed out her badge. “He’s with me. He’s an observer. Where’s the body?”

“In a hallway outside her classroom. Forensics is already down there.” He stuck out his thumb. “By the way, the feds are here.”

“Lovely.” That’s when she noticed the black car parked in between two squad cars. Her nerves knotted up into tiny tangled balls of strings. Oh, God, please, please, please, don’t let it be Frank.

She motioned to Hoss to follow her. “Come on.”

He leaned close. “What are feds?”

“Annoying assholes who think they’re gods, and we’re a bunch of bumpkins.”

He smiled. “I’ve never met a god before.”

She couldn’t help but shake her head and grin.

They hurried into the faded red brick building that reminded her more of a detention center with security cameras posted in the hallways rather than an elementary school. But maybe the cameras would give them a break on the case. She could only hope.

Tom and the captain were in the window-framed office that looked like any other school office with wire baskets, pens, and papers sitting on a Formica counter. So far, the suits hadn’t made an appearance.

But by Tom and the captain’s grim faces, she doubted they’d hit pay dirt.

The captain and Tom were talking with a tall thirtyish looking man. His black hair stood on end as if he’d been running his hand through it. His face was whiter than the tile floor.

An officer stood guard in front of one hallway. Agnes could make out a body sprawled out that had been split open like the other victims.

Sadness filled Hoss’s eyes. “Another Zalarain’s lineage has been severed.”

“I’m sorry, Hoss.”

He nodded but didn’t answer.

Tom impatiently motioned for her to come inside. When she entered, the captain frowned. “Why the hell is he here?”

“We need him.” Agnes refused to flinch. “Captain, did you call the feds? I was handling the investigation.”

“No. I didn’t. But our illustrious mayor panicked.”

“Humpf, yeah, I bet,” Tom mumbled. “Your brother will be less than pleased.”

Air sucked out of Agnes as if she was hit the gut with a bat. “He’s here?”

Tom smiled. “Of course. The mayor wanted the best.”

“Great.” Blood drained from her face, and the tip of her fingers turned numb. This was so not what she needed. “Where is he?”

Hoss looked at her amusingly. “Is he one of the gods?”

“He thinks he is,” she mumbled.

Tom shrugged, then cleared his voice. “Principal Myers, this is my partner, Agnes Malloy.”

The principal stretched out his hand. “Bob Myers.” He had a nice firm handshake. “It’s nice to meet you, Detective.” He released her hand. “Agent Malloy is your brother?”

Agnes nodded, forcing herself to bite back a retort. “Yes.” She gestured toward Hoss and lied. “This is Hoss, and he’s a special advisor on the case.”

Just as she said that, another suit and her brother, who looked as smart as ever, entered the office. He was the exact opposite of her––tall, dark, muscular, handsome––her father’s favorite.

“Really?” Frank put his hands behind his broad back. “I wasn’t informed of a special advisor.”

Principal Myers frowned. “I thought you were the agent in charge.”

Frank strolled over to Agnes. “I am.” He glanced at the tall blond man next to him, wearing an almost identical blue suit with a red tie. “This is Agent Jeff Holmes, my partner. We are both in charge of this investigation.”

He gave Hoss a cool look. “I suspect, sis, your claim of this civilian being important to this case is based on your so-called abilities.” He humiliated her like he used to do when she was a little girl in front of her friends. “Care to explain yourself, Detective?” He lowered his voice. “Or should I say, Carrie?”

Heat flared in her cheeks and in her neck. He and his friends used to call her Carrie White, based on the misfit character in Stephen King’s novel, Carrie, who was strange and telepathic.

Hoss frowned. “Carrie?”

Frank shrugged. “She was a crazy, psychic like my sister.”

“Don’t talk about her like that.” Hoss glowered and actually towered over Frank.

Frank’s face actually paled. He straightened his tie and his Adam’s apple moved up and down. Agnes forced herself to hide a smile.

She’d be called on the carpet for that one, but Hoss was an advisor, not that she could tell these two that their number one suspect was from outer space. She’d be off the case and put on leave until a mental health exam said she was sane.

The principal shook Hoss’s hand. “It’s good to meet you.”

He focused on Agnes. “Your partner reports that you have some amazing deductible abilities and can help us find out what happened to…Annie.” Tears welled in his eyes. He put out his hand. “Sorry. I just can’t believe something like this happened here. I’m still not sure what happened.”

She ignored Frank rolling his eyes and concentrated on the principal. “I’m sorry for your loss,” Agnes said. His grief appeared to be genuine, and this was a man who obviously cared about his staff.

“He found her at seven this morning,” Tom said. “The principal had just missed the murderer.”

“Annie liked to get to school before anyone else, including me. She was our MTSS teacher, who was extremely dedicated. Who would do this to her?”

Hoss asked, “What’s MTSS?”

“It stands for Multi-tiered System Support, which really means that Annie had lots of reports to fill out,” the principal answered. “She liked to get to school early to work on them. Her main focus had always been the students.”

“I know you’ve repeated what happened, but could you tell me what happened, Mr. Myers?” Agnes asked.

The principal flashed Tom a warning look. “I know your partner doesn’t believe me.”

Agnes led him away from the captain and Tom, who was mumbling under his breath about the principal being off his rocker.

“Would you like to go someplace private?” she asked.

Principal Myers motioned. “My office.”

“Of course,” Agnes said. Both her and Hoss followed him into a large office with a wooden desk and a conference table with eight chairs. She and Hoss sat on either side of the shaken man.

Hoss was right at her side, thankfully, keeping his mouth shut.

“Please tell me what happened, Mr. Myers.”

“I know it sounds crazy.”

“Please,” Agnes encouraged. “Anything will help.”

He damped his face with a handkerchief. “I was just coming into the building when I heard her scream. I ran toward her room. When… I saw her…”

His eyes turned vacant as if he were reliving the scene again.

Agnes gave him a minute to compose himself.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “It’s just so surreal.” He glanced at her face. “Annie was lying on the floor bleeding profusely. I have never seen so much blood.”

“Did you see anyone?” Agnes asked.

He shook his head. “No, but I… I heard a voice.”

“Go on.” Agnes gently touched his trembling arm.

“The voice said…I…was lucky that he…wasn’t going to kill me.” He frowned. “Why would he say that? What did he mean?”

“He’s only interested in killing women,” Hoss finally said.

Principal Myers took a deep breath. “You believe me? You don’t think I imagined it like your partner or the FBI agents?”

She smiled. “I’m more open-minded. Did you smell anything?”

“Come to think of it, I did. I thought it was strange that I detected spoiled milk.”

“Thank you,” Agnes said. “You’ve been a big help.”

“You don’t…think… You don’t think the killer will come back and murder more of my staff, do you?”

Agnes and Hoss glanced at each other. “We hope not,” they answered at the same time.

“That’s not very reassuring.” Principal Myers glanced up at the clock. “If you’ll excuse me, my staff will be getting here soon, and I’ll need to tell them what happened.”

“Sure.” Agnes smiled. “Do what you must do.”

He quickly left his office and headed down the opposite hallway where a group of nervous women waited for him. He led them into another classroom. Agnes didn’t envy what he was about to do.

She and Hoss approached the captain, who stood by himself. He flashed an angry look at Hoss.

“Captain,” she asked. “Where did Frank and his partner go?”

“Back to the office. They’re planning on working on a profile.”

Hoss looked at her. “What’s a profile?”

“Based on what they know and the evidence, they will come up with a profile on the suspect.”

“Does that actually work?”

“Yes, it does,” the captain snapped.

Not wanting those two get into an argument, Agnes asked, “How was she killed?”

“She was wearing a scarf, and according to the coroner, the killer yanked on the scarf from behind, pulling her to the ground. The bastard slashed her throat so deep that he cut through her wind-pipe, silencing any scream. She bled out within two minutes.” The captain shook his head. “The poor girl never had a chance.”

Agnes noticed the wooden mail slots and wandered over. Annie hadn’t picked up her mail. “How did she get in?”

“She had a key fob,” the captain said. “The killer must have attacked her as she came inside.”

She frowned. “There were no signs of forced entry?”

Hoss interrupted. “What about the security cameras? Did anyone catch any footage on that?”

The captain frowned. “We did, but there must be something wrong with the cameras. It didn’t make any damn sense.”

Dread hunkered down in Agnes’s gut. “What do you mean?”

He motioned for them to follow. “Come on, I’ll show you.” He led them to the resource officer’s office. On one wall were a slew of screens. A young officer sat behind a desk with a perplexed look on his face. He tore himself from the screen and stood when they entered.

“Officer Wilson, this is Detective Malloy, she was the lead investigator on this case.”

Agnes bristled at the word was, but kept her composure. She gestured toward Hoss. “This is Hoss. He’s my advisor.”

Office Wilson stretched out his hand and shook hers. It was a strong, firm, grip. “Detective.” He then greeted Hoss.

“Please sit,” he said. “I’ve been reviewing the tape of Annie, and I just can’t figure what is wrong with the equipment. The video just doesn’t make sense.”

Agnes and Hoss glanced at each other as they slid into two chairs that faced the screens, while the captain sat on the edge of the officer’s desk, folding his arms across his chest.

“Review the footage, Wilson.”

“Yes, sir.” He pushed some buttons and the tape rewound. “Just doesn’t make sense,” he muttered.

Annie entered the building on the west side of the building, her pale face was a sharp contrast to her black hair. With her red lips, Agnes thought of Snow White, but no prince was going to wake her from a dead sleep.

Annie kept looking over her shoulder. She held her purse and bag close.

“Do we know what was in her bag?” Agnes asked.

“Papers, notebooks, and an iPad. Nothing that gave us in any information on what happened,” the captain said.

“I’d like to look at her things,” she said.

The captain cast her a glowering look, as if to warn her not to do anything supernatural. She pretended not to notice but anger seethed inside her. She was so tired of any guesses she made being suspect. No other detective had to work as hard to be logical.

On the tape, Annie walked down the hall, but the she increased her pace, constantly looking over her shoulder. Her eyes were wide, and she was breathing hard. Strangely, there was nothing behind her. The woman’s terror touched Agnes.

Annie’s mouth opened in a scream as she ran down a hallway that led to her room. She jammed her hand into her purse and pulled out a key ring. She shoved a key into the lock, and the door opened.

Suddenly, her scarf lifted up from behind her as if by magic, then she was yanked hard back. Her throat was viciously cut, blood gushing down her white coat, turning it dark red. She gurgled, then collapsed on the tile floor. A pool of blood spread from underneath her.

She hadn’t blinked nor had her chest rose up and down. Her legs moved apart by themselves, or more likely someone forced them to move.

The principal came around the corner and halted to a stop. A look of pure horror flashed across his face. He jumped back against a wall.

“I just don’t understand,” Officer Wilson said. “Someone killed Annie, but it looked like the suspect was erased from the tape. No one broke into my office. How the hell did this happen? She didn’t deserve this. She was a great teacher, loved by her students.” His voice shook with frustration.

The captain shrugged. “Hell, if I know.”

Agnes cleared her throat. “Do you mind if I go down to the crime scene?”

“Go ahead. Good detective work that’s all, Malloy.”

Hoss followed her out of the office. “Daidhl wasn’t done with her.”

“What?”

“The principal interrupted his work. I fear he would have been more violent.”

“So, part of his plan is to cut these poor women up?”

“I told you. He feeds on fear. Not just the women’s, but ours. I am sure he got a full belly after feeding on that man’s fear. We need to find him.”

“Obviously, but how?”

“By figuring out how he knows our mates.”

“And exactly how we are going to do this?”

“I don’t know, but we’d better damn well figure it out. He’s getting more brazen and more violent.”

Neither of them spoke as they went down the hallway toward Annie’s room. Agnes caught three cameras and felt like her every move was being dissected. Maybe they were.

Cold air whooshed around Agnes, and she pretended not to notice. A white light flashed at the end of the hallway. Agnes quickly glanced at Hoss to see if he saw it, but his demeanor hadn’t changed. She took a deep breath.

The light reappeared and formed into Annie Watkins, but she had difficulty maintaining her form and flickered in and out. She looked down at her dead body that was now covered with a tarp. Forensics was still inside taking photographs. Luckily, neither Frank nor his partner were inside.

Agnes slowed as her and Hoss approached the ghost. She leaned closer to Hoss, inhaling his masculine scent. “She’s here.”

He frowned. “Who?”

“Annie Watkins. I can see her.”

He raised his eyebrow. “You can.”

“Yes, if I try talking to her, the cameras will see, and I’ll be off the case.”

“Your kind is foolish to not appreciate your gift.”

It was the second time he’d called her abilities a gift and rather than arguing, she smiled, wishing she could kiss him. But this wasn’t the time or place.

“I need you to stand next to her, so it looks like I’m talking with you.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re being watched.” She tilted her head toward a camera that was high up in a corner overhead.

“Can’t they hear us?”

“No, based on what we saw in Officer Wilson’s office, the cameras are only visual and don’t have the capacity for auditory. Stand on the other side of the body.”

He winked. “Sure, beautiful.”

Annie raised her head. “I can’t believe I’m dead.”

Agnes pulled out her iPad and took a picture. “I know. I’m sorry.” She proceeded to take several pictures of Annie’s body.

“My students will be sad. We’re very close.” A tear leaked down onto her cheek. “He was so vicious. I could feel the evil within him. He’s not done yet.”

“Can you tell me anything else?”

“He’s obsessed. I could…read…his mind.”

Her fading voice unzipped an uneasiness inside Agnes. Goosebumps slowly edged up her arm.

Annie faded, but her voice was loud enough for Agnes to hear.

“He’s going after your friend, then you. You can’t stop him. He’s too powerful.”