The Guilty Innocent (6 page)

“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked me. He leaned over me, one arm on the other side of my body, his eyes were watching me closely.

“I'm doing fine, thank you for staying. It really meant a lot to me,” I said, fighting the urge to pull him on top of me, it wouldn't have mattered anyway, Warren is gay.

He smiled. “No problem, I wanted to. I couldn't just let you stay here by yourself, not after what happened.” He straightened himself then rose from the bed. “Well, I was talking with Matthew and he found out that Anthony Juliano, Darian's old employee, had a rap sheet longer than my di-” He paused his face reddening slightly. I suppose that was more
cop talk.
“Sorry about that, no vulgar talk when a lady is present,” he said with a bow.

“Oh stop it, already!” I laughed, he chuckled. That relieved some of my tension. Laughter was always Annette's way to perk up the spirits. As I thought about her, I wanted to cry. I forced myself to focus on something more productive, like tracking down her killers, I wanted justice for Annette! My gaze fell on Warren, he had been silently watching me from across the room.

“Go on, Warren, what else?” I asked, urging him to continue.

He nodded, and went on. “He has been arrested on several counts of armed robbery, assault, battery and DUI, but was never convicted.” Warren shook his head. “I wondered if Darian or Xavier knew about his police record before they hired him?” he noted thoughtfully.

“So now he's dead, possibly burned to death, why did you bring him up?” I asked perplexed.
What did Anthony Juliano have to do with anything?

“Matt's positive that Anthony had ties to the mafia...the Russian mafia. That's why we could never convict Anthony on any charges. I still don't understand everything that I'm saying to you right now, but I honestly feel that we're onto something.” Warren said as he began to pace back and forth in front of my bed.

I watched him for a few moments, then walked into the bathroom to tend to my necessities. It wasn't until I had finished that I wondered if Warren heard me. I began to feel embarrassed. I took a shower and brushed my teeth, then walked out of the bathroom. I looked at Warren as he sat on the bed looking at the pictures on my night stand. He looked up when I entered the room and smiled. He placed the picture back on the nightstand then rose from the bed. Warren is pretty tall, well, compared to my five-foot-two frame. He's at least six feet two inches, strong and muscular but not bulky. I always thought Warren was exceptionally handsome. And now I'm standing in my bedroom in front of him-naked, except for a terry cloth towel, I felt myself beginning to blush.

“I'll leave you alone to change,” Warren said as he left the room. He's such a gentleman.

I quickly dressed in a black turtleneck shirt and boot-cut blue jeans. I put on a pair of comfortable black flat-sole boots and combed my hair, tying it into a ponytail, one of my favorite no-fuss hairstyles. I walked out of my bedroom and saw Warren sitting on the couch.

“Are you hungry?” I asked.

“Always. I called Mall again and he said that Darian is sound asleep. He's keeping an eye on him
.”
Warren pulled on his leather coat. “Shall we go?” he asked, I agreed and we left the apartment. Warren drove us to a restaurant in Hyde Park.

“I love this place, they have the best breakfast food you've ever eaten-bar none!” he declared with great enthusiasm as we climbed out of his car. “My treat, just order whatever you want.”

“Thank you.” I was starved, I could not wait to be seated. The hostess finally called our number after a twenty-minute wait. She seated us in a booth by a window, handing us both menus before returning to her station. I looked over the menu to see what it had to offer. There were plenty of various dishes one could order for breakfast or lunch if you're the type that enjoys bacon and eggs in the afternoon. I settled on strawberry crepes and a side order of hash browns, closing my menu, I looked at Warren, his menu was already closed. I was anxious to see what he would order, I remembered the gyro-cheeseburgers he had inhaled the other day and couldn't wait to see how much he could eat for his first meal. The waitress came to our table to take our order. I ordered first, then Warren ordered peach crepes, the western omelet, that came with original pancakes which he wanted to exchange for strawberry pancakes. But wait, there's more, next he ordered a side of chicken sausage, chicken hash browns, bacon and grits. I've never seen a waitress's hand move so fast! After she finished, she looked at Warren.

“Will that complete your orders?” she asked, she almost looked exhausted. Both Warren and I nodded our heads. “Okay, then let me know if there's anything else I could do for you,” she added pleasantly as she headed towards the kitchen to give the chef the order.

“We'll have to cool our heels for the time being, everyone we need to question is asleep during the day. We could go back to the club and you can feel around inside, do you want to try that?” Warren asked me as we waited for our food.

“That's cool, we could do that,” I said. Warren and I discussed various topics until the waitress brought our meals. She placed my crepes in front of me and my mouth watered. The delicious aroma wafted to my nostrils and almost made me drool, it also reminded me of Annette's cooking. I pushed the thought of Annette from my mind and began to dig into my food. The waitress placed several plates in front of Warren covering our entire table with dish after dish of delicious smelling foods. She asked us once again if we needed anything and we told her that everything was perfect. Satisfied, she tended to her other customers. I couldn't help but watch in amazement as Warren cleared plate after plate. To my surprise, he finished his food before I finished my own! How, I don't know, but he did.

I wondered if he could eat the huge sixty-ounce steak, called the “Cowboy” from that popular restaurant in Texas. I bet he could. Hell, he and his whole Pack could probably put
that
restaurant out of business! I couldn't finish all of my breakfast, there was half of a crepe left and some hash browns. I looked up to see Warren eyeing my plate, then his pretty grey eyes looked up at me and he smiled sheepishly.

“Are you going to finish that?” he asked, I knew he would.

“No, you can have it,” I chuckled. He didn't waste any time clearing my plate. Then he sat back in the booth, smiling. I looked at him and smiled. He reminded me of a schoolboy with a straight “A” report card.

“Are you full, did you have to start from your pinky toe on up?” I asked, he laughed outright, slapping his hand on the table.

“Yeah, I'm sated right now, I could actually take a nap at this point.” He grinned at me from across the table.

“You ever think about entering in any food eating competitions?”

He began to chuckle. “Matt asks me the same thing all the time. He even dared me to tackle the “Cowboy”. It's a sixty-ounce steak that is served in a restaurant in his hometown in San Antonio, Texas. I might take him up on his bet one day.” He reached for his wallet.

“Oh 'tackle', my ass! You'll engulf a sixty-ounce steak, you can probably take out a sixty-pound steak!” I declared. He gave me a knowing look and nodded. I laughed, it felt good to laugh.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked.

I nodded my head and reached in my pocket for the tip. He paid for breakfast, the least I could do was tip the waitress. Warren grabbed my hand before I could put the money on the table.

“I got it covered, don't worry, this was all my treat,” he said as he placed a ten dollar bill on the table.

“I don’t mind, really “

“I got it, don't worry, come on.” He said softly with a charming smile as he ushered me towards the cashier. He paid the fifty-dollar tab and we left.

We drove for about thirty minutes as Warren switched from lane to lane. I sat in the passenger side of his car, wishing I could buckle myself up twice. I thought
I
was a speeder, Warren had me beat by a forty mile over-the-speed-limit preference. He pulled in front of Darian's nightclub. We got out of the car and went inside and I immediately began feeling around the club for anything to form a connection. My clairvoyance was not as heightened as some other clairvoyants, but I could still make a connection. I felt several tremors as I passed over various objects. I would have to filter through those connections, hopefully one would prove useful. After we scanned the club for over two hours, we left.

“Can we go somewhere, I don't want to go home, can we go to the movies?” I asked. He looked at me, shrugged one shoulder and nodded. Then I thought about it, I wondered if he was missing work. “I'm so sorry, here I am hogging all of your time, do you have to go to work?” I asked.

“No, not until tonight but I do need to swing by my place to change, do you mind?” he asked.

“No, not at all.” I said, shaking my head. Far be it for me to deny someone a clean change of clothes. I looked at Warren as he drove. “Warren?” he set his gaze on me then back on the road.

“Yeah?” he answered.

“Thank you.” I said with the upmost sincerity. He smiled, then reached over and took hold of my hand, kissing the back of my fingertips.

“Anything for you, Natasha,” he said.

I fought against the urge to snuggle. I looked out of the window as the scenery changed from apartment buildings to single family homes. Warren then pulled the car into the driveway of a beautiful red two-story brick home. The windows frames were painted white and there was a lovely garden in front of the house filled with pink, blue, purple, red and yellow flowers I didn't know the names to. Nevertheless, they were beautiful to look at. I was actually surprised that the flowers were blooming so early in the spring season. Well, it's a fact, anyone who lives in Chicago can vouch for the unpredictability of the weather conditions of the “Windy City”. Warren climbed out of the car and I followed him inside. He turned on the lights and a gorgeous chandelier overlooking the foyer sparkled brightly overhead.

“Make yourself at home, I'll be out in a little while.” He then sprinted up the flight of stairs, disappearing into a room I assumed was his bedroom.

I walked around his house looking at photographs, some of Matthew and him on vacations or in uniform, others of people I didn't recognize, though many were very attractive. I ran my fingers over his dark blue suede sofa before I sat down on the soft comfortable cushions. He had a beautiful home, I wondered how much he was paid to police the supernaturals. Warren came out of his bedroom thirty-minutes later, his hair still damp from his shower. He was wearing a white t-shirt that hugged his muscular chest and biceps and a pair of dark blue jeans, that completely elongated his already long legs. Adrian was a lucky man, then again, I had no idea what Adrian looked like. Hell, they might both be lucky!

“Are you ready to go to the movies? What do you want to see?” he asked as he pulled on a brown leather bomber jacket.

“I was hoping we could see the movie that just came out this past weekend.” I suggested as I rose and walked towards the door.

“Oh that one. Okay, that looked interesting, that's cool.” We climbed into his car and drove to the movie theater. We theater hopped and were able to see two movies, one turned out to be longer than I expected. By the time we left the theater, the sun had set and there was a good chance we could talk to some of the vampires that may know something about Anthony. But the first thing I wanted to do was talk to Darian. Warren agreed and we drove to the precinct. When I arrived there, Warren gave me a visitors pass. I walked towards the holding cell area of the S.U.I.T. station and was stopped by the guard.

“I have a pass, what's the problem?” I asked.

“There is someone in there already, Ma'am, you'll have to wait.” The officer said, then he gestured to the waiting area. There were ten yellow plastic chairs in the waiting area. A man who was sitting down watched me as I entered the room. He was extremely handsome, a lock of his black hair falling into his grey eyes as he sat in the chair, elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped together. I smiled and nodded as I walked over to one of the hard chairs, his gaze lingered on me a moment longer, then he turned his head to stare at the door just as Warren entered the waiting area. Warren stood in the doorway as he and the mystery man eyed each other intently. I watched, not knowing what was going on. I was beginning feel the tension in the air. The two men turned away from each other, the mystery man returned to his previous position, not really paying us anymore attention.

Warren took two steps toward me. “Why are you out here?” he asked me.

“They said that someone was visiting Darian already, so I have to wait.” I replied, then I gestured for Warren to lean closer to me, he did. “What's going on?” I whispered into his ear. Warren straightened himself then smiled down at me.