Page 10 of Unspoken (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3)

Chapter Ten

Chase sat in Burnett’s office at the FRU headquarters. He knew it was Burnett’s because the walls were decorated with images of Holiday and Hannah. For one second, his tired mind wondered what it was like. To have a kid. With Della. Not that he was ready for that. Heck, he had to steal kisses. He couldn’t hold her when he wanted to. Or sleep with her when he wanted to. And he really wanted to.

His body recalled how it had felt to have her so close to him when he’d flown away from the weres. He let out a deep gulp of frustration, wishing that the remedy would come sooner rather than later.

The computer hummed, still thinking about Chase’s request. He had asked Burnett’s permission to use the computer, which had a few FRU programs on it, to do a search for anyone named Douglas Stone or Don Williams. It had found six people in the Houston area with the name Stone and ten with the name Don Williams.

Now Chase waited for it to spew out the addresses and information on them. Better to stay busy than just sit and twiddle his thumbs. But watching a computer screen wasn’t exactly busy. He stretched his neck to one side then the other. The chair squeaked and his neck popped, relieving very little of his tension.

The computer kept churning and so did Chase’s patience—from lack of sleep, no doubt. He really only needed three or four hours, but he’d been running on two a night for the last week and none at all tonight, so that didn’t help. Neither did thinking about Steve being back at Shadow Falls. Not that he was…

Chase Tallman wasn’t jealous. Nope. But damned if he didn’t feel something. Something that felt wrong, like too-tight underwear. And why the hell had he spent so much time wondering exactly what Della had told her girlfriend about the shape-shifter?

Leaning back in the chair, a frown pulled his lips downward and he raised his arms over his head, glancing from the computer screen to the blinds. The first rays of sun spilled through the slits and he groaned. The weres still hadn’t arrived from the local jail. They had only arrested four, three had gotten away, but one, the one they’d pulled from a tree, was hospitalized. Perhaps Chase should have felt a little bad, but he didn’t.

No telling what they’d have done to Della if he hadn’t gotten there. Sure, he knew Della could handle herself pretty damn well, but not with that many weres this close to a full moon—even half weres. So yeah, he kind of wished they’d all sustained injuries.

What he did feel bad about was not being able to give any physical descriptions of any of the weres that got away. He’d been so intent on protecting Della, he’d never looked at a face. And according to Burnett, who’d texted Della the same question, she hadn’t been able to offer much either.

The computer finally changed screens and gave him the information on the Douglas Stones and Don Williamses. Chase sat up so fast, the chair cried out as if complaining the wrong person was sitting in it—as if it knew he wasn’t Burnett.

He hit print. Folding it up, he tucked it in his pocket.

The door to the office swung open. Burnett stuck his head in, looking way too rested, considering he hadn’t slept either. “The weres are here. You ready?”

“More than.” He popped up and met the man at the door.

“What did you find?” Burnett asked.

“Lots of names,” Chase said and pulled out the list and handed it to him.

“It’s a long shot,” Burnett said, as if considering it. “But I’ve seen them pay off.”

“I sure as hell hope so.” His gut said his relationship with Della depended on solving this case. And solving it fast.

“You want to do the interrogating?” Burnett asked. “Show me what you got.”

***

“First, let’s see if you recognize any of these guys’ scent as the one with the animal blood,” Burnett told Chase. One by one Burnett led him into three small rooms with a two-way mirror and shared air ducts.

Their scents were familiar, but from the scuffle at the park, not the ones he’d traced earlier.

“Maybe it was the ones who got away,” Chase said.

“Go find out.” Burnett motioned to the mirror. “All of their legs are chained, but we didn’t cuff them, so don’t get too close. I’ll be watching if you get into any trouble.”

“I got this.” Chase swung the door open to the first room, then slammed it shut.

The were, no older than eighteen, had his head down. He jerked upright, his eyes glowing golden yellow. The sound of heavy iron shackles wrapped around his ankles clinked on the concrete floor.

Chase let his own eyes grow bright just to show the half were he meant business.

He moved to the opposite side of the metal table, where a pen and a piece of paper rested. He placed his palms on the tabletop. Leaning in, he took a deep gulp of air. As he did, he spotted a smear of blood on the guy’s knuckles, Della’s blood. He felt his eyes grow hotter and he forced himself to hold his emotions in check. But damned if he didn’t want to grab the twerp by the neck and give him a few swings around the room.

“You’re the same guy who…” The were smirked. “A little young to be an agent, aren’t you?”

“My age doesn’t concern you. What matters is that I’ve got what it takes.”

He laughed. “Oh, you act so tough walking in here, but how many of your friends do you have watching out there?” He motioned to the mirror he obviously knew was a window.

“Not nearly enough to stop me from kicking your ass if I want to,” Chase tossed out.

The were bolted out of his seat, nearly overturning the table. Chase, ready to act, caught him by the throat, and squeezed just tight enough that the ass-wipe knew he was serious. Then he pushed him back into his chair.

The were gasped for air.

“Now, stay down and listen. You might be able to get yourself out of this mess with a lighter sentence.”

“For what?” the rogue spit out.

Chase stared the were right in his orange eyes. “The girl you and your friends ganged up on is a friend of mine.”

“We didn’t go looking for that bitch, she came to us.”

Chase leaned down, his nose almost touching the rogue’s, almost daring the were to try something again. “If you hadn’t been after that young girl, she’d have never joined you!”

“We weren’t gonna do anything bad to that chick. Just scare some sense into her. She should have known better than to be out in the park at that time of night.”

“You’ve got an excuse for everything, don’t you? What excuse are you going to give me for not writing down the names of everyone who was with you?”

His eyes brightened and a low growl left his lips. “Because I’m not a snitch.”

***

Della’s mom pulled up and parked in front of the Shadow Falls Academy sign. Something about this trip back to school felt different to Della. More permanent.

More painful.

It was the right thing, even what she wanted, but it stung knowing she wasn’t wanted at home, knowing those trips home might very well be coming to an end.

She had known her dad would jump at the chance to send her back, but for God’s sake, three minutes after he’d hung up with Burnett he’d told her mom to inform Della to pack her bags.

Her dad’s insistence had sparked an argument between her parents. And given credence to what Della was beginning to suspect.

In the end, her mom relented to her dad’s demands. Della didn’t blame her. Not really.

No doubt her mom was upset about Mr. and Mrs. Chi in addition to being devastated over the fact that her husband was accused of murder. She simply didn’t have much fight left in her.

But it would have been nice if she’d had just a little. A little for her daughter.

Marla, on the other hand, had fought. Not with their parents, but with Della. “Just go. Just go and leave me here to deal with all of this!”

Della had wanted to scream at her sister that she was doing everything she could to help. And that going back wasn’t her idea, but her father’s. He didn’t want her there. She’d longed to say it wasn’t her fault. But it was her fault and she knew that. The reason her father was awaiting trial was because Della had inadvertently gotten the file pulled and the cold case reopened.

But guilt or fault didn’t matter. So she just let Marla think that leaving was Della’s idea.

“Should I come in?” her mom asked, bringing Della back to the present—sitting in the car.

“No.” Della looked up at the iron gate, swallowed the lump that kept appearing in her throat, and reached for the door handle. “I’ll see you in a few weeks.” Or she prayed she would. Prayed her father wouldn’t take away those short visits from her too.

Her mom caught Della by her forearm. “If you would agree to return to your old school, you could stay at home.”

No, I can’t. Della swallowed. She’d spent all morning thinking about her father. Trying to figure out how it could be. How could he know?

“I love it here, Mom,” Della said, hoping the truth sounded in her voice and not the pain. Her mom was hurting enough. She didn’t need to borrow Della’s pain.

“And I love you,” her mom said, tears filling her eyes.

“I love you, too,” Della answered and it came from the bottom of her heart, where it hurt the worst.

“I don’t understand,” her mom’s voice shook. “A year ago, our life was so normal. Now my husband’s being accused of murder, my oldest daughter lives at a school for troubled kids, and my neighbors are being slaughtered. How did life get this way?”

Della reached for her mom’s hand, forgetting about her temperature. Thankfully, her mom didn’t seem to notice, but she pulled it back quickly. “It’s gonna be okay. Dad’s not going to get convicted. I’m almost eighteen, so I would have been leaving the nest soon anyway. Right now this is the best place for me, and… the people who killed Mr. and Mrs. Chi are going to pay. I’ll make sure of that.”

“You?” She blinked and a few tears escaped. “How are you—”

“I mean the police,” she answered in a rush.

Her mom got a sad smile on her lips and wiped her tears from her face. Then she reached out and touched Della’s cheek. “Sometimes you look so different, and other times… I still see the same ol’ Della in there.”

“I’m still here,” Della said, fighting to hold it together while she wondered what her father saw when he looked at her. Did he ever see the old Della? Or did he see the monster in her?

Her mom shook her head. “You’d better go. And study. Your dad said that Mr. James said you were falling behind.”

“I will.” Della grabbed her suitcase from the back and stood by the gate, the cool wind blowing her hair, as she watched her mom drive away—watched until her mom’s gold Malibu was only a speck in the distance.

“You back?” a voice asked, and Della turned to see John, a shape-shifter, walk up.

“Yeah.” She bit her tongue to keep from smarting off that it was none of his business, because that would have just been rude. It wasn’t his fault she was in a piss-poor mood.

She shot through the entrance. She had a certain vampire to interrogate. If Chase thought last night’s questions were the end of it, he had another think coming. But first things first.

She walked into the school’s office, having gotten their scent a few steps inside the gate. Dropping her suitcase and stuff on the floor, she walked into Holiday’s office. The red-haired fae sat at her desk, her thick rope of hair pulled over one shoulder, a crossword puzzle open on her desk.

Burnett stretched out on the sofa, with adorable Hannah, wearing only a Pampers, sitting on his stomach. The tough-as-nails vampire looked to be in a Sunday-morning carefree mood. His feet crossed at the ankles, his shoulders loose, his hair even a little mussed. Or perhaps it was an exhausted Sunday morning; she knew he’d worked all night.

He’d texted her at five this morning telling her the weres weren’t talking. “What’s wrong?” Holiday asked, her fae gifts picking up on Della’s bottomed-out emotions.

Della took in a deep breath and it shuddered deep in her chest. “My dad knows.”

“Knows what?” Burnett asked, sitting up, pulling his daughter to his chest.

“He knows I’m vampire.”