ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (121 page)

“Liam, how can this tie into the Monkey Killings?” 

He shook his head and took a piece of pizza for himself.  “I have no idea.” 

“Could you…I mean I know you can…but could you smell her in the house?”

“That’s the thing.  Until she kissed me that night, I had no idea she was a shifter, and she is a real shifter.” 

“She becomes a wolf.” 

“Yeah, I could taste that.”  He winced, instantly regretting saying that part.  Audrey looked like she had been slapped.  He tried to reach a hand out to her, but she got up and went to lay on the bed.  He frowned at the fact that her back was to him.  He knew this was a precarious time for them.  The kiss at the house proved two things to him.  Number one: she still loved him.  He could feel it.  Number two: the most important thing, was that he still loved her too.  He had nearly lost her, but that was over with, from that point on he would do better.  He would be better. 

Audrey awoke the next morning, still in her clothes from the night before, when she heard Liam on the phone. 

“Chester, I can’t tell you when she’ll be back.  Honestly, the best thing to do is to take her off the schedule.”  Liam nodded his head towards the floor.  His elbows were on his knees and he was bent over them slightly.  “Yes…no I can’t go into any details.”  He nodded again and closed his eyes.  “I’m sure she will appreciate your prayers.”  Liam hung up and looked over at Audrey.  “Is Chester a praying kind of man?”

Audrey shook her head and gave a halfhearted laugh.  “Umm…no I wouldn’t say so.”

Liam stood and stretched.  “Well, apparently today, for you, he is.” 

Audrey chewed on the side of her lip.  “Is he mad?” 

“Mad?  No.  He’s concerned.  He did say to tell you that you would be in his prayers and get your ass back to work ASAP.”

Audrey laughed heartily at that.  “Now that sounds like Chester.”

“I want to get us some breakfast.” 

“Ok.  Let me take a shower first.” 

Liam ran a hand over his head.  “No, I’ll go out and bring it back.  I think it better if you wait here.  I’ll need your car keys, because I’m leaving my car and bringing yours.  Do you want anything else?” 

“I’ll need my laptop and messenger bag from the house.”  She said and took the keys from her purse and handed them to him.  “Oh, and there are two library books on the bedside table.  Can you bring those too?”

Liam wrote her requests on a piece of paper from the notepad provided by the motel.  He went to her and kissed her cheek.  “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”  He stopped at the door and looked back at her.  “Do not open this door for anyone.  Not even housekeeping.” 

Audrey nodded her understanding. 

Liam let himself into the house and walked quietly and stealthily through each room.  He opened his mouth a pulled air through his nose and mouth at the same time.  He still couldn’t smell Lydia, but then again he never could.  There was a slight odor of stranger lingering in the house, but he couldn’t place if it were actually a person or not.  He thought it might have been from her friend Luke being there the day before. 

Liam checked all of the windows and saw that they hadn’t been tampered with.  Even the master bedroom window was still locked from where he had closed and locked it the night before.  He grabbed Audrey’s requested items and a couple of apples from the kitchen counter.   

When he left the house he made a short circuit around the house, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.  He frowned as he looked at the master bedroom window from the outside.  There wasn’t an outside ledge, and the window bottom was nearly level with Liam’s nose.  The house didn’t have a basement, but it did have a crawl space big enough that he could crouch and move around in instead of moving around on his belly.  This fact caused the house to sit a little higher than a house with nothing under it but a foundation.  Lydia was a tiny woman, no taller than 5’4”.  Either she had a step ladder, or she hovered in midair before opening the window.  Being a shifter, she would have the ability to jump high, very high, but what would she have landed on unless the window was already open?  Liam touched the glass.  Unless… 

“Unless she had someone with her.”  He said aloud.   

Liam had called Hank and was still talking to him as he pulled into the Dunkin Donuts.  He wasn’t sure what to get Audrey, so he planned to just get a little of everything. 

“Are you going to tell Corey?” 

“Not yet.” 

“Why not?”  Liam could practically see Hank’s eyes bulging. 

“I can’t prove it, and what am I supposed to say?  Hey Lieutenant, I’m a Werewolf, Lydia’s a shifter, and that’s where the problem really is.”  

Hank sighed loudly.  “No, I guess not.”

“I bet you had nearly forgotten I was that, huh?”  Liam tried to laugh. 

“No, buddy, I hadn’t forgotten.  That’s not something one forgets.” 

“I need to go.  Look, if anyone asks, I’m sick.  That’s what Corey thinks, so you just play along.” 

“The patrols will think it odd that your car isn’t there.  Everyone knows you’re staying with her, so they’ll know what cars to expect on patrol.”

“No, because I left my car and brought Audrey’s.” 

Hank grinned into the phone.  “Smart.”

“Yeah.  I guess.” 

“Hey, let me bring you and Audrey dinner tonight.” 

Liam hesitated.  He trusted Hank, but he didn’t want to take any chances.” 

“I don’t know…”

“Come on…I promise, no one will know where you are.” 

“Alright, but you better make double sure that Lydia or anyone else is following you!” 

“I will.”  Hank said and wrote down the hotel name and room number.  “See you later tonight.”

Audrey’s hair was still wet when Liam returned and she was drying it roughly with a towel.  She grinned when she saw the two bags.  Liam held up a finger and left the room again.  When he returned he had her messenger bag slung over his shoulder and a drink carrier with tall paper coffee cups and two bottles of water.

“Wow.  I’ll be fat before I get out of this hotel room!”

“I didn’t know what you might want.”  He set the two apples on the table by the bags.

Audrey pulled out a cranberry muffin, two hot ham egg and cheese sandwiches, and tons of sugar and creamer packets.  The other bag had four different donuts.  “You did well.” 

“Thanks.  Hank wants to bring us dinner tonight.” 

“Is that wise?”

“I didn’t think so, but I know he’ll be cautious.”  Liam took one of the sandwiches and began unwrapping it.  “I’ll be quiet today so you can work.”

Audrey looked at him with surprise.  “You’re not going to work?” 

Liam shook his head.  “I want to stay with you today…just to be safe.” 

Audrey tamed the small smile that wanted to play on her lips.  She didn’t want Liam to know what it meant to her that he was staying.  There was a time in recent history that she was so sick that she couldn’t even get out of bed.  She had a fever over 103.  He had placed a box of tissues beside her and a glass of orange juice and left for work.  It had hurt her in a way that had left a scar.  It wasn’t long after that she had asked him to move into the guest room. 

Hank looked at the coroner’s report and frowned.  He ran a hand along his jaw and read it again.  The report gave the usual information: who conducted the autopsy, who identified the body, identifying marks, eye color, etc.  What was interesting to Hank was the cause of death.  Fracture of the frontal bone which caused hemorrhaging to the brain.  There was also a list of contusions to the facial area.  The thing that stuck out most was that there was a blood type found on her face that was not that of the deceased.  Hank looked at Liam’s empty desk.  He stood and found the Crystal Reynold’s case file in Liam’s file drawer.  It was the only file currently there.  He slid the coroner’s report in the folder and put it in his brief case. 

Liam had left Audrey briefly to go back to the house and just make sure everything was alright.  While he was gone, another call came in from Lydia which he rejected.  He couldn’t think of one thing he wanted to say to her. 

Almost simultaneous of Liam receiving his call, Audrey received one of her own. 

“Audrey?”

“Hi, Luke.”

“Why aren’t you at home or at the diner?”  His voice carried an insistence that gave Audrey pause. 

“How do you know that I wasn’t?”  She asked cautiously. 

“Because I went there!  I went to both places!  That tight lipped boss of yours wouldn’t tell me a damn thing.” 

“I’m taking some time off, considering what’s going on, and I won’t be at home for a while either.” 

There was silence, and Audrey was sure she heard something move over the receiver, as Luke’s voice became muffled in a short incomprehensible burst of words.  When he spoke again his voice was clear.  “Has something else happened?”

Audrey felt her stomach clench.  He asked the question with less intensity than he had asked why she wasn’t at home or at work.  He hadn’t bothered to ask if she might have been at the library working on her thesis. 

“No.”  She lied.  “Everything’s fine.  Well, as fine as it can be right now.” 

“Ok.  I really just wanted to know that you’re safe.  That you’re somewhere safe.”

He’s baiting me.  He wants me to tell him where I’m at.  “I’m fine.  I’ll talk to you later.” 

Audrey looked at herself in the mirror.  She had an uneasy look in her hazel eyes that she hoped she could hide from Liam.  She didn’t have time to figure it out, because he walked in just moments later. 

“Hey.”  His voice was exhausted.  Audrey noticed black circles under his eyes. 

“Did you sleep any last night?”

“A little.”  He dropped a phone charger on the bed beside her.  “I thought we might need that.” 

“Please lay down until Hank gets here.” 

“No, I’m good.” 

“No!”  Audrey insisted.  “You’re practically falling down.”  She pointed towards the bathroom.  “Go take a hot shower, then lay down.”  Her voice left little room for discussion, and Liam actually did as she asked. 

Hank arrived just after six with a six pack of beer and a huge bag that held a bucket of fried chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans.  He also had a box of biscuits tucked under his arm. 

“Here’s my little fugitives!”  He called out merrily as Liam hurried him through the door. 

“I’m going to walk the parking lot.” 

“Hey, get the bag I forgot out of my car.”  Hank said, and tossed Liam his keys.

“Do we need it?” 

Hank shrugged.  “Not unless you want to eat without plates and plastic ware.  There’s a case of water in there for you guys too.” 

Liam’s face softened.  “Thanks.” 

As the door clicked shut behind him, Audrey gave Hank a quick hug.  “This was very thoughtful of you.”

Hank immediately blushed and looked sheepishly at her.  “Aww, Audrey it was nothing.”  His face became grave.  “I wish I could do more.” 

“Me too.” 

“So, how’s he handling all of this?”

Audrey sighed and shook her head.  “He’s not sleeping much that’s for sure.  I can’t remember a time I’ve seen him so worried.” 

“Yeah.  This has been hard.  Lydia’s trying her best to get something started at the precinct along the lines of sexual harassment, but the brass isn’t buying it.”

“Good.”  She said firmly, her eyes hard. 

“Most people know she’s full of shit.  Other than that one stupid mistake, Liam has never done anything inappropriate with the female officers.”

Although the reminder of the kiss still stung, Audrey was relieved to hear affirmation concerning Liam’s conduct. 

The door opened and Liam came back in.  “I moved the sedan to the other end of the parking lot.” 

“Ok.  Guess it was kind of dumb to park it right under your room.”

“It’s fine, Hank.” 

The three of them ate, happily telling old stories and laughing.  It was good to laugh, Audrey later mused as she laid on the bed reading.  It was obvious Hank had police work to discuss with Liam.  She was sensitive enough to pull her iPod from her purse and plug her ears with music to give them more privacy.

“Alright, out with it.”  Liam said, stretching his legs in front of him and cracking open his second beer. 

Hank pulled the file from his briefcase.  “The coroner’s report came in late this morning for Crystal Reynolds.” 

Liam took the folder.  “Took him long enough.” 

“Check out what they found on her.” 

Liam scanned the report.  He lifted his eyes to Hank’s.  “Another blood type.”   He laid the file down.  His mind went over the interviews that had been done concerning her case.  He stopped on Lamar Wilkins. 

“What?”  Hank asked when he saw the change come over his friend’s face. 

“Lamar Wilkins had a scrape on two of his knuckles.”