Then I swung the car around and headed for home. I was about halfway there when I realized I was being followed.
Chapter 2
I studied the red Mazda through the rearview mirror. It was just far enough back that I half wondered if I was being paranoid. After all, we were on a freeway, all heading in the same direction, and mostly going the same speed. Well, except for the young idiots in their pimped-out, overly powerful V8s, trying to prove how tough they were by going over the limit.
It wasn't even as if the red car were shadowing all my movements. I moved out to overtake a slower car and red remained where he was, neither increasing nor decreasing his speed.
Imagination, I thought. Or a bad case of nerves.
Except ... the back of my neck prickled uneasily and I couldn't stop checking out the car. It remained in my sight, remained the same distance away, and it just felt wrong.
Well, I wasn't about to ignore my instincts. The last time I'd done that, a friend had died.
Of course, Kade's death was a whole lot more involved than just a case of me ignoring my instincts. And besides, this uneasiness stemmed as much from the warning that Kye had given me before I'd killed him.
A warning that said that Blake - the wolf who'd murdered my grandfather to take over the leadership of the Jenson pack, and a man whom I'd threatened and seriously humiliated almost a year ago - hadn't finished with me yet.
That even now, he was planning his vengeance.
Yet more fucking vengeance.
Just what my already broken world needed.
But by the same token, if Blake wanted vengeance, he knew where we lived. He didn't have to shadow my movements, just hit me where I felt the safest.
Still ...
I touched my ear lightly, switching on the voice part of the com-link. "Hello, anyone there?"
"Well, well," a sultry and altogether too familiar voice said, "isn't it lovely to hear your dulcet tones again."
I couldn't help smiling. Sal and I would never be friends, but we'd moved from barbed insults to droll comments, and from dislike to companionable trust. She was also damn good at her job - my old job - and had saved my ass on more than one occasion.
"You say that with such conviction that I almost believe you," I replied, voice dry. "Want to do me a favor?"
"Oh, I live for such moments."
In other words, she was bored shitless and could use something to do. Either that or she was on her lunch break. And like most vampires working for the Directorate in a capacity other than as a guardian, she tended to restrict her feeding to the times she was off duty, which left her with spare time during breaks. Me, I'd be heading out to shop, but as a vamp, Sal didn't have that option.
"You want to pinpoint my location with the satellites and grab the plate number of the red Mazda three cars back?"
"And why would we be doing this?"
I could hear keys tapping, so she was setting the satellites into motion even as she questioned me. "Because I think it's following me."
"Did you pick him up before or after your visit to the crime scene?"
"After. I couldn't say if he was tailing me from the moment I left the park or not, though." I really hadn't been paying that much attention - although I wasn't about to admit that to Sal. She'd only tell Jack, and he'd probably blast me for not showing good guardian form.
As if I ever had.
"While the satellite is lining up," I added, "have you had any luck with the search I requested?"
"There's one hundred and fifty cars so far with a plate starting with BUK." Her voice was dry. "At least twentythree of those are Toyotas. It's a proverbial needle in a haystack right now."
But it was a haystack that Jack would still want searched. "It might be worth cross-checking whether any of those Toyotas belong to the family of whoever Johnson murdered."
"You think it's a vengeance kill?"
"It sure as hell smelled like it."
"Well, all I can say is the bastard probably deserved it. They don't slap you in jail for that long without good reason." She paused, then added, "Okay, I have a fix. I'll trace the plate, if you like."
"I like."
I flicked another glance in the rearview, then changed lanes again. The red Mazda didn't move, remaining obstinately in its own lane. But the distance between us neither increased nor decreased.
"The car belongs to one Irene Gardener, who lives in Melton." Sal paused. "She's a little old lady of seventyfive, and there are no reports of it being stolen or anything."
"Meaning I'm being alarmist over nothing."
"Well, unless she's a seventy-five-year-old who's taken up following people, then I'd have to say yes." She paused. "Then again, she might not know the car is even missing yet. Might be worth trying to shake the Mazda, just to see what happens."
I couldn't help grinning. "And if I crash, I can always say you told me to do it."
She snorted. "This conversation is not being recorded, and I will deny it ever happened."
"Right. Thanks, Sal."
I flicked off the com-link and cruised along the freeway for several minutes, doing nothing other than watching the traffic and the annoying red car behind me.
Then a long semi-trailer came into view. Perfect, I thought, and pulled out into the other lane, keeping my speed even as I passed the truck. A glance in the mirror showed that the Mazda remained where it was. I pulled in front of the truck, then hit the gas. The big car surged forward, the speedometer rising. I didn't slow as the traffic increased, weaving in and out with a precision that would have surprised anyone who knew my driving record. The Western Ring Road overpass came into view. Ignoring the lights, I swung onto the on ramp and roared up into the traffic, using the emergency lane for several minutes before cutting into a gap between a truck and a cab. A quick glance in the mirror didn't reveal a familiar red shadow, but I cut across to the Boundary Road exit anyway, only slowing once I'd swung left - tires squealing - onto Fairbairn Road.
No red car.
I was safe.
I blew out a relieved breath and was surprised to discover that my hands were shaking again. I flexed my fingers against the steering wheel and wondered briefly if Kye's warning was nothing more than a way to get at me from the grave. He might not have thought he'd die - especially at my hands - but he knew enough about my relationship with Blake to understand just what his warning would do to me.
Maybe he thought he could use it to get closer to me. To drag me into his life. He'd suggested that, at the end, before he'd killed Kade and forced me to take the shot I'd been avoiding.
We were both killers, after all. I could do what he did, what Rhoan did. I'd proven that amply enough over my years as a guardian ...
No, I thought, shoving the thought away viciously. I was not like him. I wouldn't be like him.
And yet ... it was a possibility. If I stayed in this job, kept hunting down killers, I would continue to harden. It was inevitable.
Maybe that's why my hands were shaking. It wasn't so much the ghost of a threat but rather the fear of the future. A future without my wolf soul mate.
I closed my eyes briefly. This was ridiculous. I needed to stop thinking like that, because I wasn't alone. I still had Quinn. My soul might have been reduced to ashes, but I still had my heart.
I continued toward home, parking several doors down from our apartment building and locking the car as I headed back up the street. The rich smell of baking bread wafted around me, making my stomach rumble and reminding me that I hadn't yet had breakfast. I spun on my heel and headed back to the bakery, which was run by the same family that owned the pizza place next door. I'm sure Rhoan, Liander, and I kept the two places in business.
A bell rang as I pushed open the door and Frances - the cheery, matronly woman who was the chief baker -
came out of the back room, wiping floured hands on a towel.
"Riley," she said, a wide smile creasing her lined features, "You're up early this morning."
"I had to work early." I stopped in front of the display case and eyed the mouthwatering treats indecisively. The trouble was, they were all so damn good, and if it wasn't for my werewolf genes, I'd probably be the size of a house.
"You should tell your boss these hours are no good for your beautiful face. It's far too cold these mornings."
I smiled. Frances had a thing about cold air causing rosacea, and often lectured me about not wearing a hat and scarf.
"Unfortunately, killers don't really give a fig about how the cold affects my face."
"That is very inconsiderate of them," she said, snapping on some silicone gloves. "Now, what can I get for you this morning? The chocolate croissants are particularly good."
"Then I'd better get a dozen." If she was recommending them, then they had to be.
She gave me a happy smile and bagged the croissants. I handed over the cash, then headed back to our apartment. As I pushed open the front door, a familiar flash of red caught my eye. I spun around, spotting taillights disappearing down a side street, but couldn't see the make of the car. I frowned, wondering if I was getting so paranoid about the possible threat Blake represented that I was now imagining that every red car on the damn road posed a danger.
I shook my head and munched on one of the warm chocolatey treats as I climbed the stairs to our apartment.
Rhoan was waiting with the door open by the time I got there. "I smell chocolate croissants."
I took another one out, then handed him the bag. He took a deep whiff and sighed in pleasure. "There's nothing that smells nicer in the morning."
"Actually, I can think of one or two things that do."
The absence of one of those scents - my vampire lover Quinn - suggested he was either at work or out pounding the pavement again in an effort to get fit. Or fitter, as the case was. I squeezed past Rhoan and was instantly assaulted by the rich aroma of percolating coffee. I flared my nostrils. Hazelnut. Quinn must have put it on before he'd gone for a run. Rhoan would have put the Kona on, because that was Liander's favorite.
I headed for the kitchen, adding over my shoulder, "I thought you were supposed to be undercover this week."
"I was, but it went pear-shaped." He shrugged and shut the door behind us. "An old school friend of mine walked into the bar and recognized me. And of course, the damn suspect happened to be listening in via the close-circuit system at the time and fled."
"Well, he obviously wasn't innocent, then."
"No. There's a kill order out on him, but given he's a bird-shifter, he could have well and truly flown the coop by now."
It wouldn't help him in the long run. Kill orders were issued Australia wide. Sooner or later, the Directorate would get its man.
Liander wandered out of the bedroom he shared with Rhoan, bleary-eyed and looking more than a little worse for wear. I raised my eyebrows. "Big night last night, I'm gathering?"
"Yeah." He rubbed a hand through his tousled silver hair, messing it up even more. "Got that special effects contract I was talking about, and we celebrated big."
"Congrats." I pulled mugs out of the cupboard then went to the fridge to get the milk. "But I hope you realize you can't be out boozing all night when we become parents?"
Liander leaned a shoulder against the door frame and gave me the biggest smile imaginable. "That has such a good sound, doesn't it? Us as parents. Who'd have thought?"
Certainly not me - not with Liander as the father, anyway. I'd known for a while that my own vampire genes and the drugs forced on me by a mad former lover had made me incapable of bearing children, but there'd always been that slither of hope that at least part of the dream would be achievable. That I would still find a way to have children with the man I loved.
That hope was gone, buried along with Kye.
But with Liander and Rhoan's relationship stabilizing and deepening, they'd both developed a hankering to become dads. Liander's sister had volunteered to become a surrogate, and I'd had eggs frozen before my body had totally betrayed me - and my eggs were as close as my twin was ever going to get to having children of his own, since he'd gone sterile long before me.
Of course, Liander had dreams of a big family, with at least a dozen little Jenson-Moores running around. I wasn't so sure I could handle that many kids, as much as I'd always dreamed of a big family myself. And the sudden reluctance might have something to do with little Risa - who'd been the sweetest thing going - suddenly hitting the terrible twos and becoming a demon child.
"You'd better hope she has twins, because after seven of her own, she may not want to go through the whole process again for us."
Liander snorted. "Trust me, Emalee loves being pregnant. She's already said she's up for a second round of surrogacy."
She might be saying that now, but she hadn't yet gone full term and made it through the birth. None of us knew what effect the drugs I had been given might have had on my eggs. Or whether those changes would affect Emalee herself. This could still go horribly wrong, as so many other things in my life had. Which was why the doctors were monitoring Emalee carefully.
But I kept my doubts and fears to myself, not wanting to dampen Liander's infectious happiness.
"Oh, that reminds me," Liander added, accepting his coffee with a smile. "Emalee has her first ultrasound on Thursday. She wants to know if we're all coming."
"Too bloody right," Rhoan said, handing Liander a croissant before squeezing past him to grab his coffee. He glanced at me. "I've already told Jack we aren't available that afternoon, no matter what happens or how many crazies appear."