“We don’t know where he was shot, now do we? Not until we conclude our investigation,” said Hanley.
“All right,” said Avery. “We can respect that. But once you’re done with the crime scene, done with your investigation, then will it be okay for us to search for the letters?”
“Don’t see why not,” said Hanley.
“Okay,” said Dana. It was better than nothing. “How long will that be?”
“Oh, a few months, I reckon.”
“Months?” said Avery. “You’ve got to be kidding. How long could it possibly take to investigate that trailer?”
“Listen, Sheriff,” said Dana, “this could be very important. Finding those letters could give us the key to saving innocent lives. Please, we only want to look for the letters.”
“No,” said Hanley. “I don’t think so. Truth be known, I’m not too keen on you furry types. Always getting into trouble. Tom was the same way. Look what happened to him.”
Avery and Dana exchanged a look. She could see that Avery’s face was red with anger. She touched him on the arm and gestured with her head away from the Sheriff.
“Thank you for your time, sir,” she said in her nastiest voice. Then she led Avery over to their car. They both got in.
“Bastard,” Avery exploded as the door shut.
“I know,” said Dana, imagining letting her wolf out of Sheriff Hanley, sinking claws into that smug, satisfied expression of his. It would feel damned good. “I could kill him.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s why I thought we should back off.”
Avery took a deep breath. “Man, I can’t stand it when they’re like that to us, you know? We might be werewolves, but that doesn’t mean we’re not human beings. They treat us like lepers. It’s fucked up.”
“He’s not going to budge,” said Dana. “We’ve got to call King and tell her what’s up.”
“Right,” said Avery. “Do you think there’s anything in those letters, or you figure it’s more crap like he sent to Amber?”
“I don’t know,” said Dana. “He sent more than one. It seems like Cole and this guy had a regular correspondence going on.”
“Yeah, so that’s got to mean something,” said Avery. He sighed. “But we don’t even know if Tom kept them.”
“Yeah,” said Dana, “and why is he dead?”
He raised his eyebrows. “You think it’s connected to Randall?”
She shrugged. “Maybe we were getting too close to figuring something out?” Although Cole seemed to want her to figure it out, like he was doling out clues to her. She didn’t think he’d try and stop her if she got too close. That wouldn’t be playing fair.
“Maybe,” said Avery. “We’ve got to get our hands on what Cole wrote to him.”
* * *
When they got Ursula on the phone, she told them to come back to headquarters. She said she might be able to talk to someone higher up than Sheriff Hanley and get them access later, but there was no reason for them to hang out there. They drove back.
There was nothing to do but wait. Ursula wouldn’t be able to call until the next day at least. Avery asked Dana if she wanted to waste time in town. They could grab burgers and play a round of pool.
But Dana wasn’t in the mood to go out, so she declined.
She’d managed to keep herself together for work, but now that she didn’t have that distraction, she couldn’t help but worry about the situation with Hollis.
She wondered if she should have seen this coming. She’d known, ever since she first started dating Hollis, that he was used to getting his own way. He seemed incapable of understanding the word ‘no,’ and he had never given up pursuing her. She didn’t know what it was about her that Hollis had latched onto, but he had. He’d latched on hard.
And now he was pissed. She thought it was partly because he wasn’t getting his way. The rest of it, of course, just made sense. She figured any guy on earth would be pretty angry if they found out their girlfriend was attracted to the man who had kidnapped her. Especially if she’d broken up with him and lied to him about it.
Of course, to add insult to injury, she hadn’t actually broken up with Hollis. She’d just ignored him.
The thing was, Dana was pretty sure that Hollis wasn’t simply going to get over all of this. He was going to want revenge. He’d want Dana to pay for what she did. He was hurting. He saw hurting her as leveling the playing field.
But she couldn’t let him do this to her.
If there was a story published telling the world about her complicated feelings towards Cole, it would completely destroy her.
Not to mention how mortifying it would be.
Hollis didn’t have confirmation from her. Thus far, all his information came from breaking into Chantal’s office. He said he needed Cole to go on the record about all of it to have a credible source.
She didn’t know if any of it really mattered. Journalists had ethics and rules, but she wasn’t sure if breaking those rules could actually kill a story. Maybe Hollis would still publish what he knew, whether Cole talked or not.
But maybe if Cole didn’t talk, it would stop everything. It was the only thing she knew to do.
Chantal had said her access badge would work again.
She needed to go down to see Cole again.
But she was going to ask him for a favor. Last time, he’d gotten her to give up her bra without giving her anything. What would he demand in payment for his silence?
* * *
“Back so soon?” said Cole in the darkness of his cell. It was the same drill as last time. She’d come down in the middle of the night. Her access badge might be working again, but that didn’t mean that she was supposed to be down here. Ursula hadn’t given her permission to see him. She could still get in trouble if anyone found out.
The lights snapped on.
Cole was standing next to his bed. Dana stood against the door, trying to keep as much distance between them as possible. Now that she was close to him, she felt as unsteady as she always did. It was so hard to stay focused with Cole close. And she couldn’t let him distract her. She needed to keep the upper hand here, especially since she was asking him for something.
“You need to stay over there,” she said.
Cole laughed. “Shook you up last time, didn’t I?” He took a step towards her.
“Stop,” she said. God, he wasn’t listening.
He didn’t. He took another step.
What could she threaten him with? What did he want? “Go and sit on your bed, or I will leave, and I will never come back to see you ever again,” she blurted.
He froze in place. “I don’t believe you.”
She lifted her chin. “Do you want to take the chance?”
He hesitated for a minute. Then he went back to his bed and sat down. “Honestly, Dana, I thought you liked me.”
“I hate you,” she said.
He laughed. “No, you don’t.”
She didn’t. Not exactly. But she wished she hated him. That had to count for something.
“Want to know what I’ve been doing with your bra?”
“No.”
Cole laughed again, clearly enjoying her discomfort. “So, you came all the way down here, against the wishes of your boss, because you wanted to stay away from me? I find that hard to believe.”
She took a deep breath. “I have something to ask you.”
“About the rogues?” he said, inspecting his fingernails. “I think I’ve told you all I can about them. You’ll need to start thinking a little bit more traditionally, I’m afraid.”
“No,” she said. But what did he mean, traditionally? There was something in that Sullivan stuff she’d read, wasn’t there? God damn Hollis for distracting her from looking it back up again. “I need to ask you... a favor.”
“Really?” Cole leaned forward, resting his chin on his fist, propping his elbow on his knee. “Oh, this is quite unexpected.”
“A reporter’s coming to see you,” said Dana. “His name is Hollis Moore.”
“Right,” said Cole. “I got a letter from him. Your beau. Really, Dana, you might have told me you were spoken for.”
Dana grimaced. “So, he told you that I used to date him, then? He would. Anything to get you to talk to him.”
“Used to?” said Cole. He smirked. “He didn’t make it sound that way.”
“He what?”
“Oh, he seems to be under the impression that the two of you are quite entangled,” said Cole. “I was looking forward to making him squirm. Are you telling me that’s not the case?”
“We haven’t been together since... before,” said Dana. “He didn’t know about what happened between us, but he got hold of my psychiatrist’s records—”
“You’re seeing a psychiatrist?”
“I’m hot for the guy who kidnapped me,” said Dana. “It’s kind of abnormal.”
Cole chuckled. “Is it working? Is the therapy driving me out of your head?”
She glared at him. “The point is that he knows now, but he doesn’t have a source he can use to back himself up when he publishes. He’s going to ask you to tell him what happened. And if you tell him, then... it will ruin me, Cole. I’m here to beg you. Whatever—”
“Dana.” He shook his head in disapproval. “You know I would never do something to hurt you.”
“I don’t know that,” she said. “You tried to kill me.”
He shrugged. “Well, there is that, I suppose.”
“You said you wanted to make him squirm.”
“Do you want to protect him?” asked Cole. “Do you still have feelings for him?”
“No,” said Dana. “He’s horrible. He threatened me. He made me feel... awful. Like I was damaged and useless.”
Cole’s eyes flashed. “Don’t worry about him anymore.”
“What’s that mean?”
Cole smiled. “That was the only reason you came to see me?”
“Yes,” she said.
“No other questions about the rogues?” he asked. “I have to say I’m a little disappointed. It seems you’re not making much progress.”
She glowered at him. “Maybe I’ve got it all figured out, and I no longer need to talk to you anymore.”
“Oh, don’t be silly. Of course, you haven’t figured it out.”
“I’m not an idiot.”
“I wasn’t saying that you were.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “Did you somehow have Tom Hathaway killed?”
“Tom Hathaway? Why on earth are you bothering anything with Tom Hathaway?” Cole looked genuinely perplexed.
“We cross-referenced a list of potentials with a list of people you’d exchanged letters.”
“Potentials?” He furrowed his brow. “Wait, did you say Tom Hathaway is dead?”
Dammit. This was all going badly. She was giving Cole information. He wasn’t giving her anything. She should have known better than to try to go digging. She should have left it alone.
“How did he die?” asked Cole. “Was it another wolf?”
“There hasn’t been a full moon.”
“That’s a no?”
“I’m not here to try to give you answers. You need to tell me what’s going on.”
He stood up. “Well, I have no idea. I certainly don’t want Tom dead.”
“Who is he?”
“He’s a young man,” said Cole. “He wrote me letters. I wrote back. He’s not part of this.” He took off his glasses and began to clean them. “If you’re looking for someone with motive to kill him, I’d look at his father.”
“I wasn’t,” she said. “Not unless it had something to do with you.”
He shot her a look, and it was almost fearful. “Nothing to do with me, I’m sure.” He swept across the room, and before she could do anything, she was in his arms.
“Cole, please don’t,” she said. But he was close now. It was hard to resist when he was so close. There was something about him—the feel of his body against hers, the way he smelled—that made her feel so drawn to him, like she belonged with him. It was so hard to fight.
He tangled his hands in her hair. “Dana, you can’t honestly expect me to have you right here and somehow keep my hands off you, can you?”
“Yes,” she choked out, but then she was kissing him or he was kissing her or... She didn’t know who had started it, but it was happening. Blisteringly sweet, blazing through her, radiating into the depths of her, and waking up something deep down.
She ran her fingers over his shoulders and arms. He was firm and unyielding under her touch. She hadn’t ever touched him very much. Maybe she’d never admitted to herself that she wanted to. But she liked the way he felt under her fingertips. She pressed her palms against his chest, exploring him.
Cole’s hands moved in her hair, tugging at it. Pain shot through her, but it only urged her on, excited her.
She slammed him against the wall of his cell, trapping his body between the wall and her own. She kissed his chin, his jaw, his neck.
He sighed.
“Fuck,” she muttered. What was she doing? She tried to push away from him, to get free.
But he moved his hands to her waist and crushed her against him.
She struggled. “Whatever this is, I don’t want it.”
“You want it,” he said. He kissed her. “You want me.”
“No.” She tried to make her voice fierce, but there was something else in it, a thickness that came from desire.
One of Cole’s hands moved down to caress the curve of her backside. “There’s no way to fight it, beautiful. I’ve tried. You and me? We’re connected now.”
His statement filled her with a thrill of joy and a surge of horror. She couldn’t be connected to Cole Randall. She couldn’t continue this way, not really. Not when she kept sneaking away for clandestine trysts with her demon lover. She gazed into his dark eyes, and she realized that she was doomed. There was no hope for her.
And God help her, if some part of her wasn’t completely okay with that as long as it meant she got to kiss him again.
He turned her, moved them so that their positions were switched. Now she was against the wall, and his body trapped her there. She bit her lip. She was tingling in all the right and wrong places.
He put his mouth to her ear, nibbled the lobe. He ran his tongue down her neck.
She broke out in shivers. A moan burst from her lips.
“Shh,” he whispered. “They’ll hear you in the hallway and wonder what we’re up to.”
And she suddenly felt drenched in shame and embarrassment. She lurched forward. She had to get out of here.
But she only collided with Cole, and he was stronger than her, and his mouth was wet and sweet, and the sensation of his lips and tongue on hers undid her. She sagged back against the wall.
He drew back, holding her at arms’ length. “I want to see you, Dana.”
She didn’t know what he meant. He could see her.
“Lift up your shirt.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but instead she found herself reaching for the edge of it.
“Show me.”
She did.
“Show me everything.”
She pushed her bra out of the way. The cool air hit her bare breasts. Her nipples tightened.
Cole drew in a slow, noisy breath. He stood stock still for several seconds, doing nothing but looking at her. “Beautiful,” he finally said, his voice hoarse.
Dana swallowed. She felt vulnerable and exposed, and the force of it was arousing her, exploding through her, ripping away her inhibitions.
“You said you touched yourself here,” he said. “Show me.”
She put a hand to her own breast, massaging herself, teasing her own nipple.
Cole licked his lips. He put his hand on her hand. He moved closer, and she could feel the fabric of his jumpsuit against her skin. “I want you to do
something for me.”
“What?” She let her fingers drop away as Cole’s took over stroking her.
“I want you to touch yourself like that, at midnight, on the next full moon.”
It was hard to think. She only gasped.
“Go to my house,” he said. “Lie on my bed. Think of me.” He lowered his mouth to her nipple.
She moaned again, but she tried not to do it too loudly. “I... I can’t. I always have to work on a full moon. Rogues...”
He looked up at her, fixing her with his dark gaze, his mouth still around her flesh as he ordered, “Find a way.”
* * *
“This guy is an utter slob,” muttered Avery as Dana joined him in the living room of Tom Hathaway’s trailer. True to her word, Ursula had been able to pull some strings to let them into the trailer to search for letters. Sheriff Hanley seemed resigned to it, although not particularly happy.
“Don’t worry,” said Dana. “You can stop. I think I found the letters.” She held up a stack of four envelopes.
“Where the hell were they?”
“In the bathroom,” said Dana.
“The bathroom?”
She shrugged. “Some people like to read magazines. I guess Tom liked to read letters from Cole Randall.”
Avery grimaced. “That’s gross.”
“True,” she said. “But we’ve got some letters to look through.”
“Hell,” said Avery, “I’m glad to get out of this place.” He headed to the door of the trailer and Dana followed. “You think we’re going to find anything?”
“I don’t know,” said Dana. In retrospect, she’d realized that Cole had started making out with her in order to distract her from asking anymore questions about Tom Hathaway. But she didn’t want to think about Cole, because the request he’d given her made her feel disgusted. And turned on. Really fucking turned on.
Yuck.
She closed the door of the trailer behind her.
Avery was already halfway to the car. “We need a break on this Randall thing. We’re getting nowhere, and the full moon is in two days.”
Dana’s stomach turned over. In two days, she could drive to Cole’s house, lie down on his bed and—
Yuck.
“I hope there’s something here too,” she said. But she wasn’t counting on it.
A red pick-up truck pulled into the driveway behind their car, blocking them in.
“Great,” said Avery. “You think that’s someone the Sheriff sent to fuck with us?”
Dana rolled her eyes.
He trotted over to the truck. “Hey, buddy, you think you can back up and let us out?”