“You said you didn’t see the murder. And the more I get to know your twin, the more—”
“Stop,” Eddie said. “Why would my brother do this?”
“Why would he treat his daughter with such disrespect? Do you have any idea how much he’s hurting her?”
Eddie took a deep breath, and emotion filled his eyes. “You feel for her. She’s your bond mate, so that’s understandable, but don’t toss out harmful statements. Chao is already facing charges.”
“As are you,” Chase countered. “The FRU are looking at you for this! This whole thing is a mess. Leave. Don’t tell me where you’re going, don’t call. Let me do what I have to do. When Douglas Stone is found, and the FRU is no longer hunting you, I’ll let the Vampire Council know and they can contact you.”
He shook his head slowly. “No. You do what you have to do. Don’t worry about me.”
Chase ran a hand over his face. Damn, this was hard. “We need the FRU’s help.”
“The council is on this,” Eddie insisted.
“You, yourself, told me that you’ve had the council looking for Douglas Stone for over sixteen years. They haven’t found him. What makes you think they’ll find him now?”
“They realize the urgency now that this has escalated.”
Chase stared up at the ceiling trying to find an easy way to say this, but there wasn’t one. He looked at Eddie. “I’m resigning my position with the council.”
To his credit, Eddie didn’t look surprised. “To work for them? The FRU?”
Chase nodded.
“The bond you have for her is that strong?” Eddie asked, only the tiniest amount of hurt in his voice. What Eddie was really asking was if the bond he shared with Della was stronger than theirs. It wasn’t any stronger. He was indebted to Eddie, in so many ways, but what he felt for Della was different.
“Does she not feel it?” Eddie continued. “Why does she not join you at the council?”
“She’s stubborn. Like you.” Eddie looked at the picture of Kirsha. Chase knew Eddie couldn’t, wouldn’t argue. He knew how special a bond mate was. Hell, the man had never married again, and it had been over ten years. He might have entertained a few women, but Chase remembered him telling him that his heart would always belong to just one.
“Have you tried to convince her?” Eddie asked.
Chase realized he needed to be completely honest. “It’s not just the bond.” He swallowed. “I see the good the FRU is doing.”
“And you don’t see what good the council has done?”
“Of course I do, but the council has always run with the us-against-them policy. All supernaturals need to come together. The FRU is working toward that. It’s a good goal.”
“Because we think taking care of our own comes first, we are the enemy?”
“No. Not the enemy. The council needs to exist. But to govern, we need to unite—not only with the other supernaturals, but with the federal government and the human police.”
“If the FRU has their way, the council won’t exist.”
Chase got the feeling that Eddie’s complete distrust of the FRU was more than just a political stance. But it was something Eddie never spoke of.
“Then someone needs to show the FRU that’s wrong. I could be that someone.” He tightened his hands. “Look, I’m not saying their procedures are perfect, but I agree with a lot of their policies. United we can accomplish more. Have more resources. Sources that could help us find Stone.”
Eddie went back to the window, staring out into the night. Guilt washed over Chase. With Chase being raised like his son these past years, Eddie expected him to follow his advice.
“I know you don’t respect my decision,” Chase said.
“Do I agree with it? No.” Eddie turned around. “But I respect you enough that I will not try to stop you. You are your own person, Chase Tallman.” A sad smile appeared in his eyes. “You are so much like your father. He and I never agreed on politics either.”
“Then respect me enough to do one more thing for me,” Chase said. “Go somewhere else. Somewhere the FRU can’t find you. Somewhere I don’t know, so when they ask me where you are, I won’t have to lie. Because if they can’t find Stone, they’ll want you for this.”
“Or they’ll convict my brother.” Eddie exhaled. He looked back outside at the darkness. Several slow seconds ticked by before he turned back. “If they can’t find Stone, I’ll turn myself in.”
Chase shot off the sofa. “What?” He shook his head. “No! They’ll imprison you.”
“Or they’ll imprison my brother. He holds no fault here. I can’t say the same.”
Chapter Four
“You didn’t do this.” Chase’s eyes burned with frustration.
“No, I didn’t kill Bao Yu. I would have taken her place a thousand times. But I joined the Vultures gang, Chase.”
When Chase learned Della’s aunt had been killed, Eddie had told Chase the story. “You were young and scared.”
“But it was my mistake. I own it. It was because of me that they killed her.”
“That doesn’t make you guilty,” Chase insisted.
Eddie frowned. “In a way, it does, son.”
Eddie’s calm attitude had Chase clenching his jaw. “How? You chose not to kill someone, now you are going to pay the price for them killing someone you loved.” He paced the path between the sofa and coffee table once. Then twice. There had been times when Chase had wished he too had died with his family, but Eddie made him see that life was worth living.
“I made a mistake,” Eddie said. “I’m more responsible than Chao. And before I’ll let him pay for this, I will pay.” Eddie’s dark eyes met Chase’s in a firm look. “Now respect me and my wishes like I respect yours.”
Eddie was dead serious. Emotion tightened Chase’s chest. “I’ll find Douglas Stone. I’m not going to let you go to prison.” And he meant it.
Eddie put a hand on his shoulder. “I have no doubt you’ll do everything you can.” He gave Chase’s shoulder a heartfelt squeeze. “Meanwhile take care of my niece. You call her stubborn, and you are right: The Tsangs are headstrong. But son, you have your own obstinate side.” His smile widened. “The two of you are going to make quite a pair.”
The advice came from the heart. Chase owed this man so much, and right or wrong, he felt as if he were turning his back on him.
Then it occurred to him that what he felt for Eddie, Della felt for her father. Whether Chase liked the man or not, even if he wasn’t deserving of his daughter’s affection, Della was emotionally connected to him.
“You need to get to know her,” Chase said. “You would be proud of her.”
“I have no doubt. I can see you care for her. Does she feel the same for you?”
“Like I said, she’s stubborn.”
Eddie smiled. “But you will win her over.”
Chase put his hand on Eddie’s. Why did this good-bye seem harder? Part of him longed to be exactly who Eddie wanted him to be, but Chase wasn’t blind to the rights and wrongs of the council’s ways.
Chase moved over to Baxter and gave him a good ear rub. “Take him to Kirk’s. I’ll get him from there.” Not that Chase was looking forward to facing Kirk, either. Kirk Curtis was Eddie’s best friend and a member of the council. Kirk had even been with Chase when they found the crashed plane.
Eddie nodded. “Are you sure this Burnett James is going to accept you after what happened? You’ve said he’s a hardass.”
The same question had been bubbling in Chase’s subconscious. “A letter releasing me from the council would help.”
“Kirk can provide that. He’s at his office right now.” Eddie paused. “And if that doesn’t work, come back, where you belong.”
“It’ll work.” Chase refused to believe otherwise. “It has to.” His gut knotted, thinking about the possibility that his request would be denied. But even the best-case scenario of Burnett agreeing was going to be hard. For there was
no way Burnett was going to let him back in without giving him some comeuppance.
If Burnett excelled at anything, it was dishing it out. And if there was one thing Chase sucked at, it was taking it. He’d never liked eating crow.
But he’d better work up an appetite. For Della, he’d do it.
Nodding goodbye, he walked out of the living room. Baxter followed him, gazing up at him, his tail thumping. Chase knelt down. “I’ll be back soon to take you with me. Promise.”
Chase’s phone, tucked in his back pocket, dinged with an incoming text. He stood up and pulled it out.
His heart jolted when Della’s name appeared. When he’d first left on a mission, trying to find the lowlife rogue who’d killed Eddie’s sister, she’d tried to contact him. It had hurt not to be able to answer her. It had hurt more when she stopped trying to contact him. He read her text.
What game are you playing now?
“Just the one to win you back,” he said to himself as he walked out.
* * *
Della had cratered and texted Chase again. Now she stared holes into her phone waiting to see if he would answer.
When no ding came, she paced her room for another ten minutes.
Back.
Forth.
Back.
Forth.
Feeling caged in, she noted the clock on her bedside table. It wasn’t eight o’clock. Her parents were still moving about downstairs and normally didn’t even go to the bedroom until after eleven.
She went to the window, slid it open halfway, and took a big breath of cold November air.
Was Chase still close by?
The slightest hint of his scent lingered outside her window, but it wasn’t fresh. Glancing over her shoulder at the clock again, her stomach quivered with the need to hit the dark sky and search for the lying bloodsucker.
Maybe just a few laps around the block? Perhaps he lingered close by? Moving over to her closet, she yanked off her pastel-colored top and donned a black fitted tee. Then out of her suitcase, she pulled the black wig and the extra-large shapeable pillow she’d brought with her from camp. She stuffed the pillows under the blanket to make it look like a body, then slipped the wig under the top of the cover, leaving just enough of the straight dark hair hanging out to make it look convincing.
Stepping back, she looked at the imitation of her. It looked as if she were the hunchback of Notre Dame. She went back to rearrange the pillows. With just a little fluff, she stepped back again to check her handiwork.
Friggin’ great, now she looked like a Hooters waitress with size Ds. She yanked back the covers and gave her pillowed self a breast reduction.
She moved toward the door to make sure it looked convincing for when her mom did her normal peek-in to confirm Della was sleeping. Right then she imagined her mom discovering the faux Della and how upset it would make her.
Blinking, she glanced away, but her gaze stopped on the framed picture on her dresser. The one taken before a father-daughter dance. She’d been eight. Her father had knelt down and put his arm around her. She could still recall how special he’d made her feel that night.
Then she remembered her mom’s words from earlier. She’s our daughter! Don’t you love her anymore?
A knot tightened her throat. She looked back at the window; she had to find Chase, find him and get him to hand over her uncle. Standing up, she grabbed her phone and fit it in her back pocket, then went to the window and eased it open. Slowly, so it couldn’t be heard below, she climbed out on the roof, turned, closed her window, and took a flying leap into the dark sky.
Twice she flew around the neighborhood, hoping to get a fix on Chase’s scent. She got nothing. Well, not nothing. She got a hint of a few weres. And from about a hundred feet up, she spotted three young guys. Were they the weres? And if so, were they just cruising the neighborhood, or were they looking for trouble?
Flying lower, the scent got stronger and she got a good glimpse of them. They weren’t dressed in gang attire, so chances were they weren’t rogues, just some young guys, who happened to be weres, out on a Saturday night. She couldn’t condemn them for that.
Right before she moved higher, one of the weres must have gotten her trace. One and then all three looked up. She saw their three faces, all scowling in dislike. Not wanting any trouble, she hurried back home.
Della had just shut her window when her phone rang.
Chase?
She hurried to get the cell out of her jeans.
“Hello?” she answered before looking at the number.
“Della?”
It took a second to recognize Natasha’s voice and another for Della to feel guilty for not contacting her since she’d left Shadow Falls. For a good reason, of course, Della didn’t want to have to explain to her cousin that her own father was accused of killing her mother. She and Natasha had grown so close since she and Chase had rescued her and her boyfriend, Liam.
“Hi, Natasha.”
“Guess who Liam saw earlier today when he was visiting his mother?”
“I have no idea,” Della said.
“Chase. And he asked Liam if we would house sit for him. Of course, we know he’s just being nice and giving us a place to stay. Have you seen his cabin? He could rent it out in a snap.”
“Yeah.” Della remembered the warm interior of leather and wood. The cabin, secluded in the woods, spoke of relaxation. And her cousin was right. Chase could have easily rented it.
She recalled how happy Chase had been when they’d found Natasha and Liam.
It had been less than a month ago, but it felt like forever. She’d been about to give herself to Chase. Damn, she’d been a whisper away from sleeping with the lying vamp.
She moved to the window, where his scent was still lingering.
Liam and Chase talked forever,” Natasha said.
Had Chase had told Liam about the murder case?
“Are you still staying at your parents’?” Natasha asked.
“Yeah.”
“I’ve been worried. Look, I know about your father being charged with my mother’s murder.”
“Chase told Liam?” Della asked.
“No, Burnett explained it when I asked about you. I can’t imagine how hard that must be.”
Della took a deep breath. “He didn’t kill her.”
“I know. Burnett told us about our other uncle and how you two think he did this. But then Chase told Liam—”
“I don’t care what he said. My dad didn’t kill—”
“Chase doesn’t think your dad did it.”
Della heard the words but couldn’t digest them. “Then why is he protecting a murderer? Why hasn’t he turned in Feng?”
“He said Feng, or Eddie as he calls him, didn’t do it either. But they know who did kill her. And they’re looking for the guy and trying to get your dad off, too.”
Della stood there, trying to wrap her brain around this. “But he lied to me the whole time. And then he took off when I found out he knew our uncle.”
“I can’t defend his actions,” Natasha said. “But I know he cares a lot about you. And Liam said he was trying to make it right.”
“The only way to make it right is to turn Feng over to the FRU. Let them decide if he’s telling the truth.” Della took in a deep breath. “Where is Chase?” She held her breath, waiting. Hoping.
“No one knows.” Then after a second, she said, “Oh, Burnett is trying to find a way for me to still be alive. To say I was kidnapped and they just misidentified the body.”
Della became lost in the absurdity of it. She’d been thinking everyone would have been better off if she’d faked her death, and here her cousin was trying to undo hers. Which one was right?
“If anyone can do it, Burnett can,” Della said
The line got quiet. Then Natasha spoke up. “I know you still have your family, and maybe I’ll get mine back, but … right now, you are the only family I have. I would really like to see you and just
talk. Please.”
“I promise, I’ll stop by soon.”
* * *
Chase parked in front of the Shadow Falls entrance. Burnett had probably already heard his car and picked up on his scent. Was he gearing up to give Chase shit, right this moment?
Running a hand over his face, he reminded himself not to give the man any lip. If Burnett was going to allow Chase back at Shadow Falls, Burnett would demand respect.
Chase didn’t have a problem with respect. He had a problem with Burnett. Not that Burnett didn’t deserve respect. Chase wouldn’t be here if he didn’t. But Burnett didn’t respect Chase. And while Chase didn’t like admitting it, the agent’s lack of regard was probably for good reasons. More than once Chase had lied to the man.
Are you sure this Burnett James is going to accept you after what happened? Eddie’s question had brought Chase’s fears to the surface.
Because Chase wasn’t a hundred percent sure Burnett would take him back, he decided to cover his bets.
Before coming here, he’d stopped off at the FRU office and slipped in his application to work for the bureau through the mail slot. In the same envelope he’d included a copy of his letter of resignation from the council and his own personal requirements: He would live at Shadow Falls and work under Burnett.
His goal was that the FRU would put pressure on Burnett to say yes to Chase’s offer. They were, after all, Burnett’s boss.
Hell, for all Chase knew, Burnett had already received a call from the FRU office. A flicker of light in the school’s main office came on.
So Burnett was waiting for him. Taking a deep breath, Chase went to face the music.
How hard could it be? He’d already faced Eddie and Kirk. And while telling Eddie had been emotionally harder, Kirk, like an uncle to Chase, had been less understanding. Not that it had surprised Chase; Kirk, as part of the vampire council, saw Chase’s actions as disloyal. I personally trained you. Kirk’s words still echoed inside Chase’s head and heart.
Chase was almost to the Shadow Falls gate when he heard Burnett’s voice. “I’ll text her in a few minutes and let her know you will be showing up instead of me. Don’t forget the blood. And don’t mention this.”