Black and Shadow (9 page)

“Well, uhm, the sheriff’s office is
sending someone over to speak with Miss Black. They found a bag of
suspected cocaine hidden in Fred’s apartment.”

Jessica felt the blood drain from her
face. No. Fred didn’t do drugs. He wouldn’t! It had to be a
plant.

“When will they arrive?” Joe asked
taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.

“Probably in thirty minutes or so, if
they come straight here. I told them Miss Black was in the clinic
from an accident. I didn’t explain she’d gotten shot. You might
want to keep that under your hat, Miss Black. We don’t want Dr.
Rick to get in trouble for not reporting the incident to the
police.”

“Call me Jessica. What should I tell
them?” Jessica shook her head. Things got worse and worse. How
would she find out the true story of Fred’s death?

“How many times does Miss Black have
to say she doesn’t know anything, Officer Curtis?” Joe asked. His
jaw hurt from keeping his mouth closed.

Jessica looked more and more haggard.
Joe wanted this interview finished. The idiot officer thought he
could blow the drug lord connection wide open now that he’d found
the warning note in Fred’s apartment. Finding out Jessica lived in
New York City and came to New Mexico to clean out the apartment
didn’t sit well. They wanted her to confess to knowing something,
when she didn’t. Joe wanted to punch the guy.

“Miss Black, are you sure you didn’t
know your brother was involved with drugs?” the man asked,
again.

“My brother was
not
involved with drugs.
How many times do I have to tell you? Fred didn’t take drugs. He
wouldn’t do that. He was morally opposed to it.”

“Then how did a bag of cocaine end up
in his apartment?”

“I don’t know!” Jessica yelled. “Maybe
you should wonder why someone would toss my brother’s apartment and
leave drugs behind.”

“Officer, I’m asking you to leave,”
Dr. Rick said coming into the room. “My patient needs rest and your
browbeating is detrimental to her health.”

“Now look here, Doctor. I could charge
all of you with obstruction of justice. I want to know what Miss
Black knows about her brother’s contact with Thanatos.”

Joe stood. “Miss Black has
told you
over and over
, she doesn’t know anything. Security will escort you out,
officer. You can forget coming back here without a warrant. Sarah,
escort our guest from the premises.” Sarah stood waiting at the
door.

Officer Curtis looked from Joe to Dr.
Rick and then to Sarah. “Don’t leave town, Miss Black.” He shook
his head and left the room.

Jessica laid her head on the pillow.
“Do you think he’ll bring a warrant?”

“For what, sweetheart? Your arrest?
You weren’t anywhere near Fred’s apartment. They have nothing on
you and that jerk knows it.” Joe turned to the doctor. “Can you
give her something, Dr. Rick? She needs time to recover. Thanks for
coming to our rescue. I wanted to throw that ass out on his
ear.”

“I’d rather not add any more meds to
the mix. If she’ll eat something and keep hydrated, I can remove
the IV now.” Dr. Rick pulled over a tray with bandages and tape. He
removed the device from Jessica’s arm.

“Thank you, Dr. Rick,” Jessica said
quietly.

Dr. Rick patted her hand. “Try and
relax. I’ll send a tray of food in.” He left the room, a worried
frown on his face.

Jessica nodded and closed her eyes.
Joe felt a punch to his gut when a lone tear wandered down her
cheek. He brushed it off. “Hey, baby, it’s all right. None of us
think your brother did drugs. If anything, you’re right, those
drugs got planted as a ruse. It doesn’t make sense that someone
would search Fred’s apartment so thoroughly and then drugs were
found ‘hidden’ afterwards.”

Jessica blinked her eyes open and gave
a weak smile. “Thanks, Joe. I appreciate you saying that, but
things aren’t adding up. My brother must have been connected to
this drug lord somehow. Otherwise the note doesn’t make sense. The
officer is right on that part. He’s not right thinking I know
anything about it.” Jessica shook her head. “What did Fred get
into? I know he didn’t take drugs. Maybe he wanted to help someone
get out of the drug ring. It wouldn’t be the first time he tried to
save someone.”

“Don’t think about it now, honey. You
need to rest.” More than anything, Joe wanted to take her into his
arms and comfort her.

“I can’t help it. The quicker we find
out what really happened, the sooner I can clear my brother’s name.
It looks to me like it wasn’t terrorists who killed my brother.
This drug lord killed him. Now we need to figure out why and go
after the bastard.”

Joe nodded his head. It did look like
the drug lord might have been involved in Fred’s murder. What
worried him was the same drug lord warned Jessica to get out of
town.

§

Jessica poured over the file Joe
brought her. He had gone upstairs to handle a few things after
making sure she ate everything on her food tray. She liked that he
looked out for her, though she felt a little guilty taking him away
from work. He did have a job with huge responsibilities to
fulfill.

She returned to the picture of her
brother’s body. Fred’s eyes were closed. If he had been afraid,
shouldn’t it show on his face? He looked like he’d gone to
sleep.

Jessica shook her head. It didn’t make
sense. The bullet to the heart had to have been shot at point blank
range. The person who killed him stood right in front of him. Why
didn’t he move, turn to the side, or fall to the ground to avoid
the bullet? It seemed almost like he didn’t see the gun.

Then, like a flash, a thought smacked
her. Fred knew his killer. Whoever walked up to him wasn’t a
surprise and he didn’t see the gun until he or she fired. Fred got
killed by a friend.

She reached for Joe with
her telepathy.
“Joe, Fred knew his killer!
He had to. That’s why they got the drop on him. They were
friends!”

“I’ll be down in a minute.
I hope you’re resting. I’m thinking we should do a jail break
tonight and get you out of that clinic. I’m sure a nice dinner
would help with your healing.”

Jessica grinned.
“I’m sure you’re right.”
The quicker she got out of the clinic, the quicker she could
find who killed her brother.

§

Joe stared at the images that flashed
across his computer. The men who trashed Fred’s apartment had
waited until someone else walked in to grab the gate before it
closed. They both wore dark clothing, but Joe recognized Greasy
Hair as one of the men. He should run their pictures by the
sheriff’s office and see if the guys had a record. They looked like
hired help. Greasy Hair had mentioned “the boss” when Jessica got
shot, so they knew Thanatos’s real identity. If he could find the
men, they could lead him to the drug lord, or with the right
persuasion tell him who it was.

He copied the file to a thumb drive
and slipped it into his pocket. Then he printed a picture of the
men. He’d promised to show everything to Jessica, but he wasn’t
above getting as much information as he could first. He didn’t want
her going off on her own with a drug lord threatening
her.

He wanted to keep her safe, and have
the time to leisurely get to know her and every place on her body
that gave her pleasure. His pulse quickened. He adjusted his
position. Dammit, he wanted her. The Shadow Dimension marked her as
his mate. He needed to claim her, soon.

The phone rang, jarring him from his
thoughts.

“Running Bear…”

“Joe. I have the information you
wanted on the DEA agent,” General Holland said.

The general had recruited the Shadow
Walkers to spy for the government. Several including Derek still
did so, though Raven, chief of their tribe, had told everyone to
terminate their contracts. Raven wanted the men to settle down and
find their mates, so the Shadow Walker Tribe could repopulate their
numbers. The general remained a friend, though, and swapped favors
with the Shadow Walkers. If anyone could find the truth about Agent
Kurt Kramer, it was him.

“Everyone I talked to said they think
the man is dirty. But they can’t prove it. He doesn’t own anything
except an expensive car. He rents an apartment in Albuquerque. Oh,
and he has a younger sister, though she seems to have disappeared
several years ago. Not sure how that happened. Maybe the guy killed
her. I don’t know, Joe, but I wouldn’t trust him farther than I
could throw him.”

“Thanks, General. Out of curiosity,
what’s the sister’s name?”

“Kelly. She went to high school in New
York somewhere. Her records get kind of spotty after that. Looks
like she traveled around a lot, maybe got married. Then around
three years ago, nothing.”

“Nothing at all? You didn’t find a
death certificate?” Kelly Kramer, why did that name ring a bell? It
couldn’t be the sister if she disappeared three years
ago.

“Nope. It’s like she fell off the face
of the Earth. Couldn’t find a credit card receipt or driver’s
license. She’s gone. To do that in this day and age takes real
effort, unless of course he killed her, or someone else did. She
got herself into trouble as a kid. Drugs mostly, though she got a
couple of shoplifting convictions. Someone got her community
service for most of them. Must have had an in with the local
sheriff or the judge.”

“I owe you, General. Tell Derek to
hurry up with that assignment you gave him. Kathy is getting
teary-eyed missing him and that ticks me off. Nobody hurts a Shadow
Walker mate, not even their intended.” He’d caught Raven’s
administrative assistant crying at her desk.

“I’ll tell him, Joe. It shouldn’t take
too long. Tell Katherine I’m sorry, but she shouldn’t worry. He’s
safe enough.”

“Good to hear. I’ll tell her.
Goodbye.” Joe hung up. He glanced at the clock and swore. He’d told
Jessica he’d be right down half an hour ago. Hopefully she wasn’t
mad at him.

He made his way to the clinic and
stopped at the door to her room. Jessica lay curled on her side
sound asleep. Her brother’s file sat under her hand. Joe smiled,
glad that she got a little rest. Her arm would stay sore for a
couple of days.

He leaned down and brushed her red
hair off her face before kissing her lightly.

“Joe,”
took form in his mind.

“I’m here, sweetheart” he answered out
loud.

“You’re late.”

“You’re sleeping. Are you going to
finish waking up or should I let you go to sleep?” Joe frowned.
This wasn’t like Jessica. Normally she reminded him of a tiger
waiting to pounce. He hoped to make her purr real soon.

“It hurts. If I sleep, it’s
not as bad.”
She shifted to her back and
then sighed, her eyes tightly closed. His chest ached.

“What hurts, baby? Should I call Dr.
Rick?” Joe began searching for the call button.

“Fred.”
Fred, not her arm.

That was it. Joe picked her up in his
arms and held her snuggled against his chest. He sat on the side of
the bed. Rocking her gently, he nuzzled her hair. Then, he made up
his mind. He held her close while opening a door into Shadow with
one hand. Picturing his apartment upstairs, Joe entered the dark
dimension and transported them to his bedroom.

The blast of cold made Jessica jerk in
his arms, but he held her tightly. With a wave of his hand the door
to earth opened and he walked into his room and sat on the bed. He
grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around Jessica’s chilled
form.

“What the hell was that?” Jessica
asked, her eyes wide.

“That was the Shadow Dimension. It’s
what makes my tribe members different. That little heart shaped
mark on your left breast means you and I are destined to be
together. Is it burning?”

“How did you know my breast is
burning?” Jessica pulled herself up, one hand on her chest, but
stayed sitting on his lap. “Wait. What? There’s a mark?” She pulled
the top of her gown back and looked inside. “What the hell! You
marked me?”

“No. We believe the Shadow Dimension
recognizes our mates and marks them when they travel through its
space.”

“Through space? Dimensional travel?
Are you nuts?”

Joe chuckled. “No. I’m a Shadow
Walker. Walking through Shadow is what we do. This is the second
time I’ve carried you through Shadow without claiming
you.”

“Claiming me? Sounds a little
archaic.”

“Making love is as old as time. I told
you I want you.” Joe ran his fingers against her cheek.

“Because your dimension marked me.”
Jessica frowned.

“No, I’ve wanted you since the first
moment I saw your picture. The call of a mate can be intense. When
I saw you standing in my office, and then touched you, my tribal
tattoo burned. Those were all the clues I needed.” He brushed his
finger against her silky hair and then turned to lay her on the
bed. He followed her down, taking her mouth in a kiss.