Page 27 of Unspoken (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3)

Chapter Twenty-seven

“I got a call from our guy in the DA’s office,” Burnett said. “They got the trial date. Two weeks.”

“We’ve got two weeks to prove him innocent?” Della’s voice shook. “We’ll never do that.”

“Yes, we will,” Chase said.

“Listen to him,” Burnett said. “All it takes is one lead.”

Burnett took out his phone to check the time. “Why don’t you two go over the vision? In about an hour…”—he glanced at Chase—“if you feel up to it, you two can come down and help me interrogate Sam.”

“I’m up to it,” Chase said. “Tomorrow, in addition to looking for Stone’s girlfriend, I’d also like to start revisiting the Douglas Stone suspects, concentrating on the ones I’ve already visited.”

“But I thought you didn’t get anything from them,” Burnett said.

“I didn’t, but as Pope pointed out, Stone said I was poking around in the wrong places.”

“Were any of these people you spoke to vampires or supernaturals?” Burnett asked.

“No.”

“Then how would Stone have known it was you asking questions?”

“I don’t know, but my guts say he did.”

Burnett sighed. “Then I guess follow your gut.”

Della sat up a little straighter. “I’d like to go with him.”

“You have school,” Burnett said.

“I could miss a day or two. Hell, I could miss two weeks.”

Burnett frowned. “You can’t—”

“What am I gonna miss? Lessons about Russian politics, finding what friggin’ x is to y, and trying to decipher the theme of Pride and Prejudice ? We’re running out of time. This could mean my dad’s life!” This time tears filled her eyes.

Burnett glanced at Chase, almost as if seeking his okay. What the hell? She sure as heck didn’t need his permission.

“I’ve got her back,” Chase said.

“Oh, please,” Della said. “Excuse me while I go and grow a penis so the sausage-and-meatball-toting gender will stop thinking I need a man to protect me.”

Both Chase and Burnett looked taken aback by her rebuttal, or perhaps it was her description of their genitals, but what the heck did they expect?

Burnett cleared his throat. “What matters is that both of you are safe. If either of you sense danger, I want you to pull back and call me.”

Chase nodded.

Burnett stood up. “You two go over the vision and meet me at the office in an hour.” Burnett left, and after about a minute, Chase started laughing. “Sausage and meatballs?”

***

They spent thirty minutes recounting the vision. It led nowhere. Chase offered nothing that Della didn’t recall. Frustrated, and feeling as if time were running out, she got up and started for the door.

“Della?” Chase said, trying to stop her.

“I’ll meet you at the office.”

“Where are you going?” he asked and came to stand beside her.

“I need to think,” she spouted out.

He put his arms around her. And she let him. But when she felt herself about to cry, she pulled away and shot out.

She ran. Once. Twice. All the way around the Shadow Falls property, hoping to work off some of her emotions. It didn’t help, but at least she wasn’t in danger of crying anymore.

She arrived at the cabin a few minutes early. Perry stood on the office porch.

Having not really spoken to him since he’d returned, she offered a quick “Welcome back.”

He shrugged. “What a welcome.” He frowned. She got the feeling he was talking about his cousin.

“Are you coming with us to talk to him?” Della asked.

He nodded. “Maybe I can talk some sense into him this time,” the shape-shifter said. Pausing, he glanced down, and then added, “I’m sorry. You know I haven’t seen him in over twelve years. I wasn’t aware of any of this.”

Della recognized the guilt in Perry’s eyes. “I know. Nobody blames you.”

He dropped his hands into this jean pockets. “I still feel bad. But…” he paused. “I don’t think Sam’s all bad. I think he’s afraid, and not just of Burnett, but of that Stone character.”

“Maybe he should have thought about that before he went to work for him.” She instantly regretted her gruffness and recalled how she’d felt about Chan, her cousin. He’d tiptoed close to the line of going rogue, but she’d still loved him. His death continued to haunt her.

“True,” Perry said, and got quiet.

“He’s still your cousin. This doesn’t change that.”

Perry exhaled. “I know. And it feels… weird. Seeing him. Crazy, how I recognized him right away. I never thought I’d see any of my family.”

Miranda had confided in Della about how Perry had been abandoned when he was young. No doubt that had to sting. The only thing worse was being abandoned by your family when you were seventeen. But this wasn’t about her.

“That has to suck,” Della said.

“Yeah.” Perry stared into the woods. “He knows where my mother and dad are.”

Della heard his emotions, but was unsure what to say. “Are you going to go see them?”

He shrugged again. “I don’t know. They sure as hell didn’t want me then. Why would they want me now?”

She sensed the emotion stirring inside him. She couldn’t say he had tears in his eyes, but his eyes looked brighter.

“Better yet,” he said, sounding angry, “why would I want to see them? I don’t care about them!”

She heard his heart jump the tune of his lie. She knew all about caring when it felt wrong. She gave him a nudge with her elbow. “You might want to see them because you’re curious. Or maybe because you want them to know they were wrong about you. That you grew up to be someone they would have been proud of.” She inhaled. “Or maybe you just want to call them mo fos, shoot them the finger, and then moon their asses as you walk out. Not that you’d have to do that. But you could.”

He grinned, but when his gaze met hers again she saw a sheen of tears in his eyes. “Thanks,” he said.

“For what?” Della asked.

“I don’t know. Listening, maybe. Saying the right thing.”

She frowned. “I pretty much suck at that.”

“Nah,” he said. “Actually, you’re not that bad at it.”

“You know who’s better at it?” she said.

“Who? Miranda?” he asked.

“Uh, well, I was gonna say Kylie. She’s like a little Holiday. She says all the crap you don’t want to hear, but she’s right, and while you don’t like it, you need to hear it. But I’ll bet Miranda is good too.”

He shook his head. “I wish I could talk to Miranda. She’s still playing hard to get.” Shuffling his feet, he looked out at the sky. At almost five, the sun was a big ball of yellow.

“Do you know if Miranda’s seeing that FRU agent?”

What could she say? Yeah, she saw him last weekend and wanted to kiss him.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Della so didn’t want to get in the middle of this. But in a way she was. Smack dab in the middle, too. Worse than being in the middle, she’s been the cause of it.

For the first time she felt guilty for encouraging the witch to give the warlock a chance. Perry would totally hate her if he knew that.

But at the time, the shape-shifter had practically dumped Miranda. And as good a friend as Perry was, Miranda trumped him.

“Is she?” Perry asked again.

“I…” As a shape-shifter, Perry couldn’t sense if she lied, but lying to someone she liked gave her stomach cramps. But damn, this was why she didn’t like listening and being someone’s commiserating buddy.

Right then, Burnett landed on the porch. Saved by the vampire. Relief spiraled through her. Temporary relief, but at this point she’d take it.

“Where’s Chase?” Burnett asked.

“Here,” Chase said, walking up.

“Then let’s go get some answers.”

***

They had all walked into the observation room with a two-way mirror. Through the mirror Della saw Sam sitting at the table, looking lost and scared. Before anyone spoke to Sam, they were waiting on another agent, who’d briefly interrogated Sam. She hadn’t arrived yet.

Another agent stuck his head into the room.

“If he”—the man pointed to Chase—“is working this case, you need to get him to sign a contract now.”

“Let’s get this over with.” Burnett led Chase out, leaving Della with Perry. Before the door closed, Shawn—Miranda’s Shawn—walked past.

After staring at his cousin for a few seconds, Perry started toward the door. “I’ll be right back,” he offered. He was almost out the door when Della realized what he might be doing.

“Hey,” she said.

He looked back. “What?”

“Don’t go looking for trouble.”

“I’m not,” Perry said. “I just want some air.”

“There’s plenty of air in here.”

“I’ll be back.” He walked out.

Della stood alone in the room, then looked back at Perry’s cousin.

The door opened, making Della realize the room was soundproof. She hadn’t been able to hear anything outside the walls. She looked back, expecting Chase or Burnett, but in walked a woman, a young woman, only a few years older than Della. Her fitted black suit identified her as an agent. Della automatically checked her forehead and noted she was half vampire and half fae.

“Oh, hey, I thought Burnett was in here,” she said.

“He went to sign some of Chase Tallman’s paperwork,” Della answered.

“I’m Trisha.”

“I’m Della—”

“I know who you are,” the woman said.

Della studied her. “Have we met?”

“No. I’ve just heard about you. That you’re planning on signing on with us.”

“From Burnett?” Della felt a touch of pride.

Trisha nodded.

“Don’t believe half of what he says,” Della said.

“Oh, he had nothing but good things to say. He told me just enough to make me feel sorry for you.”

“Sorry for me?” Della emotionally flinched. What the hell had Burnett told them? About her parents?

“Okay, that was a bad way of putting it. I meant I heard enough to know what you’re up against.”

Della still didn’t understand, and her expression must have shown it, because Trisha continued, “When I first came to work here, I was assigned under Burnett.” She smiled. “I requested a transfer.”

“Oh, you mean about him being a male chauvinist pig?”

The woman grinned. “That might be a little strong.”

“No, it’s not,” Della said. “I tell him that all the time.”

She laughed. “Sounds like he met his match with you. But when you get here, if you’d like to train under me, I’d be honored.”

“Thanks,” Della said. She hadn’t really considered the training period of becoming an agent, and for some reason it sent a thrill through her. As if that part of life was closer than she expected. With all her problems of late, she’d kind of lost the excitement of where life could lead.

She glanced back up at Trisha, who appeared to be waiting for Della to say something else. “But I’ll probably just stick with Burnett. He’s a pain in the ass, but I’m told I can be the same. So we’re a pretty good pair.”

She laughed. “Well, it sounds like you two belong together. To be honest, I’ve regretted my decision as well. He’s a good agent.”

“So the other agents here aren’t as overprotective as Burnett?”

“Well, they all have a little bit too much testosterone—just not as much as Mr. James. But after meeting you, I think you have enough estrogen to put them in their places.”

All of a sudden, in the other room, Sam stood and banged on the door. “Are you gonna keep me in here all day?”

Della and Trisha both glanced at the boy through the two-way mirror. “Looks as if he might be frustrated enough to talk now. Burnett asked me to soften him up earlier, but he wasn’t responding.”

“He has to talk,” Della said, thinking of her father, and the ticking clock. In two weeks he could be sent to prison.

“I read him when I was in there,” the agent said, and Della assumed she was referring to her fae ability to read emotion. “He’s not a bad kid, mostly scared. But we’re all scared, aren’t we?”

“Yeah.” The woman had probably read Della’s emotions. But could she read her enough to know Della wasn’t afraid for herself—only for her father?

Two weeks.