Perfect Reflection (6 page)

She pushed Vander’s head off her. “What did you say?
Are you crazy, Vander? He is our suspect.”

“Look, Jewels. Something tells me that Wexford isn’t
the killer. He doesn’t look that dumb to me,” Vader said and shook
his head. “I can tell, I have the vibe for things like that.”

“Shit, vibe? Where the fuck do you get this shit?
Besides, I would never mess with a suspect.” Jewel turned her head
then leaned her seat back, closing her eyes.

Her partner looked at her closely, she could feel his
eyes staring at her, then he snorted, and leaned back,
shit, he
knew
. She was never gonna hear the end of this, unless she had
gotten him too drunk to remember. She let out a sigh, she wasn’t
that lucky.

Jewel felt a hand touch her arm telling her to put
her seatbelt back on, that they were about to land.

“Hey. We are landing.” Jewel stretched, it had been a
quick trip. “I need to use the restroom when we get off the plane,
I am not getting up in this death trap. Shit, if I lose my balance,
I would end up with a blue ass. That would be my luck at this
point.”

“Okay. Who is picking us up at the airport?” Vander
said, rubbing a hand over his face.

“I don’t know. Captain Marks said to look for them
after we get our luggage. He never gave me a name,” she said and
then laughed when the plane lurched and Vander groaned.

Chapter
Five

It had been too long in between kills. His thirst was
growing fast; it was something he would not be able to control for
much longer. During the flight, he thought about what his next move
was because he needed to get his mind off the woman who haunted
him.

The Redeemer wanted to feel her blood between his
fingers, she needed to die and by his hand. Dammit, he waited too
long to rush this, he needed to have patience. However, it was not
always his strong suit once he made up his mind. When he thought of
this plan a few years ago it was simple, his eyes on the prize.
Taking his place as Alpha, and getting his vengeance on the bastard
who sired him.

He wanted to laugh aloud, but there were too many
people around, he would draw attention to himself when he
shouldn’t. He felt the descent of the airplane and grinned, almost
there. He hoped everything was ready for him when he arrived. So
many things to plan and so little time.

The flight attendant walked by and smiled at him, he
wondered for a moment if it was her he should be taking next. She
looked like she had plenty of men, he wondered if she had a mate,
or as the humans said “a husband.” It didn’t matter to the
Redeemer; his mission was to rid the world of whores. So far, the
human women had been the lucky ones to receive his attention.
However, they were practice for the main show. Hmmm, a female
shifter would need to be taken; he had to make sure he could
control her and himself before he took the final prize.

He knew just who he was going to take, the Redeemer
always did his research, she was one who he knew cheated on her
true mate, and he knew because the bitch was waiting for him in his
hotel room right about now. His source, who helped him find his
birth family. She had been so excited to tell him he was royalty.
Of course, he knew it, but she had confirmed it.

Thinking ahead, he leaned back and closed his eyes to
plan what he was going to do. It would be simple to get her to
where they needed to go, she should have the keys already, just
like for every other site he used. Now, she would show him her
final resting spot.

Taking a female shifter would be different, he knew
they healed faster than humans and were hard to kill—this would be
fun. She would last longer than the weak females he took and
practiced on. He could savor the kill, the blood, it could take him
days to torture her, letting her know she was about to be killed,
and carving her body up, only to teach her another lesson about
mating.

He could feel himself getting hard thinking about it.
Raping her would be impossible when talking about a whore,
especially one who turned on her pack and her mate for a chance to
have a piece of his glory. She would have been killed anyway. He
would never let her share anyway, it was not in his nature to be
proud of a whoring bitch.

Preparations must be made; he would make phone calls
when he arrived. Other things needed to be prepared; he could not
afford to be caught before he was ready. He wanted to play with his
prey first. His vicious little prey didn’t know what he had in
store for her. He saved something special just for her. Only she
would appreciate his brilliance.

As the wheels touched down in New York City, the
Redeemer knew what he had to do. His plans had only just begun, no
one could stop him.

Chapter
Six

Jewel and Vander exited the plane and headed to the
area ahead to get their bags. She looked around and tried to find
someone who looked like they were searching for them.
Damn it,
maybe they would have to get a rental car, too.
She grimaced
and pulled her partner around the corner.

“We have to either rent a car, or take a cab, it
looks like our welcoming party is not so welcoming,” Jewel
commented.

“Let me turn my phone back on and see if someone
texted me,” Vander said.

“Hell, I thought you had it on to get the flight
attendant’s telephone number.” She laughed and continued to
walk.

“Nah, she gave me her card,” Vander laughed as he
followed. Jewel heard a stressed tone in his voice that had not
been there before, she wondered for a brief minute if he was pissed
about the whole mating thing or something else. He seemed fine on
the flight; she would talk to him when they got to the hotel about
all of this. They went through security for their weapons and then
waited for their bags to be checked and released.

Jewel pointed at her bag as it came around the
luggage belt. Vander grabbed both their bags then pointed to the
bathroom. “I’ll wait out here for you.” Vander sat their luggage
down and got his phone out, and checked his messages while Jewel
used the bathroom. He smiled and then pressed the call key on his
phone, he only had a few minutes to call, and he hoped it would be
enough.

***

Lex and Retten waited for Campbell and Collins to
exit their gate. They arrived late because of traffic. Lex looked
around but didn’t see anyone. He walked up to the counter and asked
if their flight had arrived.

When he walked back, Lex said, “Damn, they arrived
five minutes ago. The lady behind the counter said that if they
were carrying weapons they would have come through the security
line over there.”

Retten and Lex walked quickly to security, both men
pissed they were late. The damn traffic around New York was getting
worse, and then to get permission to go to the gate had taken them
longer. Thank God, his Commander had smoothed the way, not that it
mattered, they were going back to security. This was a cluster
fuck.

One of the men who were checking people looked around
when they asked if they knew where the Detectives were, and pointed
to a man standing in front of the women’s bathroom looking at his
phone. They walked over to Vander. “Detective Collins?”

Vander looked up and smiled. “Yep, I’m Vander
Collins. You must be the famous, Captain Doyle.”

Lex nodded and looked around, the woman who chewed
his ass out was nowhere to be seen. He felt a twinge of
disappointment; he was looking forward to seeing her.
Damn
it
, Lex thought and shook his head, he had been having weird
thoughts like that since he talked to the woman on the phone, he
needed to get over it.

“Where is Lt. Campbell?” Lex asked.

“She’s in the bathroom. I can introduce you to her
when she comes out. Jewels
hates
to fly.” Vander smiled then
picked up his and Jewel’s luggage, then walked over to the other
man in the suit. Vander recognized him and knew Jewel was going to
be pissed.

He shook Wexford’s hand and laughed,
yep, she sure
was going to be pissed
. The men made polite talk about the
plane ride when Lex and Retten looked over to the women’s bathroom.
He had a shit-eating grin when he saw his partner walk out slowly.
She had to have felt something, because the men certainly had,
Vander would never be able to explain what he saw, but the guys
would have given her such shit if they saw it.

The men gasped as they saw a woman walking out of the
bathroom looking around.
She was perfect, and theirs
, both
of them thought the moment they saw her. She looked up, apparently
looking for someone and both men growled deeply. She would be
theirs, and no one else’s. When the woman’s eyes met the Detective
standing beside them, both men relaxed before the implications hit
them.
Shit, this was Jewel Campbell
.

***

Jewel tilted her head in the air and smelled the most
intoxicating scents.
Fuck, her mates were here
. She closed
her eyes and frowned, because it was two different scents, one wild
and rich, while the other soothing and comforting. She looked in
front of her and saw two men standing beside Vander.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to one man; she
narrowed her eyes at Wexford and then sighed a little bit. The
picture had been taken a while ago, because the man she saw before
her was an older version of Josh. Thank the gods he did not look
exactly like the way she remembered Josh. Slowly she took a few
steps and then turned her gaze.

The other man who was next to him stared at her
intently also. Both of the men had hunger in their eyes; she felt
the burn of her wolf pushing against her. Jewel stared back at the
two men trying to keep her expression from indicating anything to
them. Her skin began to heat up; she had to make herself look away
from them before she went up in smoke.
Fuck
, the mating pull
was stronger than she anticipated, looking at both of the men made
her feel like she had to burst out of her skin and run to her
mates.

Fuckalicious, they were better looking in
person
, she thought, and then caught her partner’s eye. Vander
looked at the men staring at his best friend and he didn’t like the
looks they were giving her. He walked over to Jewel, capturing her
attention. “Jewels, this is—”

Before Vander could finish, Jewel answered for him
smugly. “Retten Wexford! And this must be Captain Lex Doyle.”

Jewel knew she needed to say something more; the air
was thick with arousal and tension. She extended her hand to
Captain Doyle first. “Captain Doyle, it’s nice to put a face to the
man. You, Wexford, I have some questions for.”

Vander snickered and looked over at Captain Doyle.
Lex shook her hand but continued to stare at her; it was as if he
was eating her up with his eyes. Jewel and Lex were shocked at the
electricity that shot through his arm as he touched Jewel.

Jewel pulled her hand away from Lex, and she directed
her attention to Wexford. “Jewels. Captain Doyle has informed me
that Mr. Wexford is footing the bill for our rooms and food while
we are in New York,” Vander said.

“Well, I guess Mr. Wexford can use it as a tax
write-off.” She extended her hand to Retten. He gently shook her
hand. Retten knew she smelled good, but when he felt her hand and
could feel the electric current going through his arm, he knew he
was in trouble. She was trying to remain impassive, but the heat
was coming too fast.

He let her hand go, and reached down and grabbed her
bag. “Here, let me help you with your luggage. I have a car waiting
to take us to the hotel.”

Retten and Lex walked beside Jewel as they walk out
of the airport. Jewel and Vander looked up at each other as Retten
handed her luggage to a man waiting by the black limo. Vander
handed his bags to the man and walked toward the car door. A large
man with muscles and a dark suit was standing beside the back
passenger door holding the door open. Jewel knew that he was a
bodyguard for Wexford, he had the look. He was looking around
watching the people around the car. Jewel couldn’t see his eyes
behind his sunglasses, but she could tell he was also a wolf by his
smell.

“After you, Detective,” Wexford said as he pointed to
the back seat. Vander pushed Jewel ahead of him then entered the
limo behind her. Vander made sure to sit beside Jewel, making
Retten and Lex sit directly across from them.

Jewel knew she needed to get away from these two men.
Her wolf was doing cartwheels inside of her. Being enclosed in this
vehicle and smelling their scent was driving Jewel crazy. She
needed answers and only these men could give them to her. Damn,
this was a mess, thinking about what she knew of this made much
sense. Why would the man sitting before her kill the women? Looking
at him, she knew he wasn’t a real suspect; however, since she
needed answers, he was going to be questioned.

Retten and Lex couldn’t help but stare at Jewel—she
was a breathtaking beauty. She smelled like the outdoors and the
sweetest strawberries. Both men placed their jackets over their
pants so nobody could see how she was affecting them. They haven’t
even kissed her yet and they wanted to lose themselves in the
lovely detective. She was beyond anything they had ever seen. Lex
knew that Retten was just as taken with Jewel as he was. This was
going to be a very weird two weeks.

“So, what do you need to discuss with me?” Wexford
said smoothly and Jewel snapped her eyes up to his.

“I thought we could at least get to the hotel and
settled before I interrogated someone.” She leaned back and put the
folder on her lap she had been carrying.