Oracle Seeing (The Phoenix Files Book 2) (14 page)

She found that funny. “I’ll see what I can do. Don’t leave fingerprints.”

“Fuck it. I’ll wear gloves. Hell! I’ll wear freaking latex if soldier boy swings that way.”

Bishop didn’t doubt it, and that’s what made it funny as hell. The redheaded man didn’t have a clue. He was about to be run down.

Hard.

By Roxanne Faust, ME and man-eater.

Chapter Six

The second he saw her, he couldn’t look away. He’d been up in the tree, playing lookout, but he had to come down. Jagger was hoping to get a closer look.

The brunette at the gate was gorgeous. As she knelt over the body, he watched her. She moved so gracefully, that he had to wonder if she was that fluid in bed.

He was dying to find out.

Only she was going to be hands off, and he knew it. When he saw his boss, it was the perfect moment to get closer.

He couldn’t help himself. When Nate didn’t send him back up to do recon, he figured it was his lucky day.

Or worst nightmare.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten personal with a woman. Yeah, he could.

It had been about five months when he’d been on leave and shacked up with that woman in Maryland. It had been a hell of a week, but he’d left and never looked back.

This one…he wanted to stare at for hours. He wanted to leave fingerprints on every inch of her body.

There was something sexy about how she was wearing scrubs and a lab coat. He wanted to play doctor in the worst way. Maybe, he’d develop a cough and need a physical…

He could pay her for her services.

His body reacted to the thought, and he didn’t think twice about it. He was a man, and he had needs. It wasn’t easy to live in a house where everyone was shacking up. He was the only one living the life of a monk. It sucked. Jagger slept with ear buds in, and it wasn’t because he liked listening to music.

“Who’s the broad?” he asked.

Luke looked over at him as soon as the meltdown stopped. “Do you hear Maura flipping out over your com? She’s going to kick your ass as soon as you get inside that house.”

He grinned. “Yeah, that’s why I didn’t ask who the doctor was. I like making Maura angry. It’s my hobby.”

“Asshole,” came over the com.

It made him grin even more.

“You love me, sweet cheeks.”

There was more cursing from the major, and Luke actually laughed. He didn’t need to protect his wife. She would break Jagger in her own sadistic way—and when he didn’t expect it. 

“That’s the coroner. She’s got her hands full.”

Jagger wouldn’t mind getting his hands full with the coroner. She was something else. The kicker was that she really wasn’t his type. He liked brash blondes and more the porn star type. This woman was more like a librarian digging in bodies. Don’t get him wrong, she had an amazing body, all curves, and breasts.

Why that made him hard, he’d never know.

“If she needs help, I’m her man.”

Nate heard the tone. “Don’t burn the town down, Jagger. I don’t want to clean up a mess.”

He laughed. “I can’t promise to the former, but the latter won’t be an issue. I handle my own messes.”

He had a point.

If he wanted to chase down a woman who played in the dead, more power to him. They weren’t Jagger’s parents, nor his guardians. The man was a Marine. They were sure he could maneuver through this sort of thing.

“Toss me a bone. Be my wingman. I’ve been on nonstop Oracle duty for almost half a year.”

Luke gave him a look. “Yeah, like you’re my wife’s?”

As they approached, he did something he never did before. “Please? I’ll owe you one.”

They stared at him as if he was the next coming of the devil himself. Neither man had ever heard Captain Jagger Armstrong utter the ‘P’ word—not even when he was asking them to pass food at the dinner table.

“Holy shit!”

Nate laughed. “I wish I had this recorded. Jagger said please. This is a first.”

He didn’t say anything else. They were going to bust his ass, so he let it go. If he wasn’t meant to chase the hottie down, so be it.

He’d survive.

What sucked was he’d be servicing his own needs as a party of one.

A Marine had to do what a Marine had to do.

“Sheriff,” Nate called. “Can we talk?”

She headed their way.

“Yeah, we can. It seems you check out. I spoke to Elizabeth Blackhawk. How you got her to make the call at three in the morning is beyond me, but whatever. You can help.”

“Help?”

“Oh, yeah, Director Carter. I was pretty clear when I told your boss that I’d play nice, but I never told her I’d let you run this show. Until I find out what the hell is going on here, and someone comes out and tells me the truth, I’m driving this one.”

Nate couldn’t argue.

He knew he didn’t have a leg to stand on. They were supposed to do this on the DL, and the sheriff could make their lives hell.

This was her game.

It was time to play nice.

“We’re here to back you up.”

“Great. I’m going to head in and talk to Lucian and the redhead he’s cozied up to. I know she’s not a Fed. Anyone want to tell me who she is?”

Here’s where it got tricky.

Nate wanted to point out that she was his fiancée, but that was suspicious too. So, they used the cover story.

“Her name is Avalon Miller, and she’s contracted with the FBI. You can ask Elizabeth Blackhawk about her. She’ll confirm it.”

That made her less cranky. Bishop was good at picking up lies. She’d had brothers who screwed with her on a daily basis. So far, she didn’t think the man was yanking her chain.

“Okay. I’ll go ask some questions.” Bishop stared at the man with the tattoos. “You! I need to borrow you.”

Nate lifted a brow.

“Can you help my coroner? We’re short staffed now that my men are keeping the media out of here.”

“You can’t just borrow our team,” Nate said.

“Yes, I can help,” Jagger offered. “I don’t mind. She can borrow me. It would be my pleasure.”

Jagger smiled.

The Feds stared at him.

This was scary and possibly a borderline possession. Both men wanted to throw holy water on Jagger. First the word please, and now he was smiling?

That was some terrifying shit.

Jagger didn’t hesitate to move toward her. Yes, he was going to get his ass ridden later. It was clear what part of his body he was thinking with, and it wasn’t the Marine brain part.

Still…

He didn’t care.

“He’s all yours.”

Jagger was grinning like the cat who was after the canary. He had that hunting look in his eye, and no one doubted that he was going to be detained later.

The men almost wanted to warn the woman he was focused on, or hand her some pepper spray. There was a horny Marine in their midst, and he tended to get what he wanted.

“We’ll join you,” stated Luke, following the sheriff up the long drive. “We can talk about the case.”

“Why are you really here?” she asked. “I’m giving you one last shot at this, guys. Really. It’s insulting when you actually think I’m clueless. I’ve been working as a deputy for eight years, and sheriff for two. I’m pretty good at my job.”

Nate glanced over at his partner. They knew they were out of options.

“Avalon really is a psychic.”

Nate wasn’t sure if she was going to believe him or not.

“She’s really contracted out to handle these sort of cases. They need someone with her skills, not ours.”

“Okay, and?”

This was new, so Nate pressed on. “She gets visions, and we head toward them. We have a little agency that’s an offshoot of the FBI. We handle the woo-woo cases she pulls.”

Well, at least that made sense.

“You could have just told me that.”

He started laughing. “No offense, but that doesn’t usually go over well. When someone hears psychic, they think total bullshit.”

Bishop thought about it.

“Yeah, I guess it wouldn’t be well received. Now I’m going to talk to Avalon, if you don’t mind.”

“She’s not behind this.”

“I’m aware, but she might give me an insight. She said I was here to help Lucian, so she knows something. I’m going to get the information and run with it.”

“We’ll join you.”

“No. I’m doing this interview on my own. You lied to me, you yanked my chain, and I’m going to get my bearings and then we’ll talk. Be at my office at eight in the morning. We’ll discuss it then.”

“You can’t just…”

She shut him down. “Mr. Carter, I don’t know a single thing about you. I’m going to do my job, follow my gut, and go from there. I have a gift too, and I’m going to use it. Right now, it’s telling me that I need to talk to Avalon and then Lucian. Give me some space. If you really don’t have anything to hide, a few hours won’t hurt, now will it?”

She had a point.

“Okay.”

Luke stared at him.

Did his boss just back down?

Did Nathaniel
‘Take No Prisoners’
Carter let someone else win?

Jagger was trying to take a coroner for a joyride, and Nate was playing nice.

What the hell was next? Maura in a dress?

“Just take it easy on her. She’s my fiancée, and she’s pregnant.”

The woman relaxed the second he spilled the rest of the details. That cheered her right up. The woman wasn’t cozied up to Lucian.

The knot in her chest loosened, and she didn’t feel like kicking the shit out of someone.

“I promise I’ll be gentle. She’s the only one I’m not pissed at, since she’s the only one who didn’t lie to me about what she was doing here.”

And it was true. Now she’d use kid gloves on Avalon Miller. If she genuinely had a gift, and the FBI used her, she would have an advantage over this killer.

That worked for her.

Nate had to trust the woman.

Avalon seemed to, so this was going to be her call.

“Thank you, for that.”

When the sheriff left, Luke punched him in the arm—hard. “Really?”

“We have to play nice.”

He punched him again.

“Knock it off! You’re hanging around Maura too long. Why did you do that?”

“You’re having a kid, and this is how you tell us?” he asked, pointing at his ear.

Crap.

Yeah, that was shitty.

“Sorry? I was going to tell you at breakfast, but we had a body turn up.”

“You better hope it doesn’t get back to Callie, or she’s going to boot your ass around Damascus for not giving her the news first. You know she told you first when she was pregnant.”

Yeah, his sister had.

“Okay! I’ll send her an email.”

Luke laughed.

Maura laughed over the com.

Hell!

Even Jagger laughed.

“A text?”

“Nate!” Maura stated. “You know better than that. You and our dead guy will both be crucified.”

He started laughing. “I know! I’ll call her as soon as I can. Let’s start pulling information on this case. Maybe the media published something interesting about the two dead men.”

“So we’re trolling the tabloids?”

Sometimes, you had to scrape the bottom of the barrel, and this was likely going to be it.

They needed gossip.

They needed the dirt.

Inside, she found the woman sitting on the couch and Lucian nowhere to be found. The woman in camo was not far away, and she was polishing her gun.

“If that’s meant to scare me, I can take you.”

Maura laughed. “I’m a Marine. I’d have you down before you even got to your weapon. I’ve killed three men in less than a minute when they’ve moved at her. The hardest part about taking you out will be hiding the body.”

She didn’t think the woman was kidding, so she let it go. This was no time for a pissing match.

“Can I talk to you, Avalon?”

“Yes.”

“Alone?”

Maura laughed. “Yeah. No.”

Avalon blindly glanced over. Since Lucian was nowhere to be found, she was going to have to use the women’s auras to navigate around the room. “Please, Maura? I’m safe. She’s a good person. Her aura is clear.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Maura could hear Nate over the com. He was giving her the order to take a hike.

She didn’t like it, but she’d do it.

When she was gone, Bishop pointed at the coffee on the table. “May I?”

“May you what?”

“Have some coffee?”

Avalon scanned blindly. “I can’t see, so you’ll have to help yourself.”

Bishop waved her hand in front of her face.

“Well, that I can see. I read auras. The coffee doesn’t have one. Yours is all pissed off and frustrated. Nathaniel gets like that a lot. I’m very familiar with it.”