“What the hell was that?” he asked.
I shook my head, letting the shorter hairs around my face fall forward. Hiding again. “Nothing. Now get outta here. I need a nap.” Suppressing my trembling, I walked to the door and opened it. Held it wide.
Rick stood by the table for a moment. I was afraid he might demand an answer, maybe a lot of them. I knew what I must have looked like, sniffing him like an animal. I was afraid I’d say something to alert him to what I was or what I discovered. I couldn’t look him in the eyes.
He slid his sunglasses on and walked to the door. And outside. I closed the door behind him and rested my weight on it. Whoever the Joe had slept with last night or this morning, sometime recently, she was sleeping with the rogue vamp too. How could she stand the reek of rot? And why wasn’t it on her too?
CHAPTER 7
Fly it
I needed Mol’s help. I dialed her cell and listened to the rings, leaving a succinct message when I got routed to voice mail. “It’s me. Call. And check the wards again.” I pressed the END button and curled up on my bed with the cell on the other pillow, knowing Mol would call me when she finally checked the messages.
Like most witches, Molly was forgetful. She even occasionally forgot to check her house wards, the ones that protected her home from casual observation by the federal government’s newly established Psychometry Law Enforcement Division, the so-called PsyLED. It was a branch of Homeland Security, and the PsyOffs—PsyLED officers—were still gathering info on the nation’s supernats. So far, Molly’s kids were off the grid. Keeping her home and property from leaking magical energy was the key to keeping them safe.
Desperately sleepy, my limbs feeling weighted with lead, I closed my eyes.
I woke at three p.m. to the sound of knocking on the front door. My bedroom was L-shaped, with the short side on the front of the house. I peeked through the window and saw a marked cop car parked in the street, a man in uniform and a woman in a jacket and khakis on the stoop. I looked in the mirror and frowned at myself. I looked ratty, not the way the out-of-town talent, the hired gun the council had contracted to take down the rogue, should look. If this was Katie’s liaison with the New Orleans police department, then I was going to make a really bad first impression. If Rick had gone to the cops about my seeing the rogue, then I was going to make a worse impression. And I hadn’t washed the blood from my steak meals out of the grass in the backyard. Stupid. Crap.
One of them knocked again, less politely this time. I walked to the foyer, slapped the locks off, and opened the door, holding on to the door and jamb, arms stretched up high. I yawned widely and studied them through slit eyes and a strand of snarled hair. The guy was looking at my legs and the patch of belly showing between tee and shorts when I yawned. He was mid-forties and smelled of Cajun spices and aftershave. Lots of aftershave. I wrinkled my nose. The woman was younger, a little stout, bobbed hair. A lapel name badge said she was Jodi Richoux. Yep. Katie’s liaison. I finished the yawn and said, sounding grumpy, “Yeah?”
She made a face at me. “Jane Yellowrock?”
“That’s me. And you’re Katie’s pal at NOPD. Come on in.” I pushed the door wide and walked to the kitchen, deliberately scratching at my armpit. I didn’t like cops but I did enjoy messing with them. Much like the way Beast liked playing with her food before she killed it. There was a certain kind of challenge to the cat and mouse. “I’m making tea,” I said, over my shoulder. “I don’t have any coffee or donuts for y’all.”
“I understand that you eat a lot of steak,” Jodi said.
And the game begins. I grinned and shoved my hair back from my face. “I’m a carnivore. Veggies are for sissies.” I filled the kettle while the two surveyed the kitchen. “You been talking to my butcher, I take it.”
“Him. A few other people.”
“Have a seat,” I said.
“Mind if I look around,” the guy said, “stretch my legs?”
Pointedly, I looked at his name badge. “Yes, Officer Herbert, I do mind. Have a seat or take a hike.” I pointed at a chair and back to the door.
“And why do you mind?” Jodi asked. “Do you have something to hide?”
“Not especially. I just don’t see any reason to let him paw through my undies without a warrant. Bring me a warrant and you can rattle around all you want. Just know that my landlady had the place wired with cameras. Not much privacy if cameras are rolling twenty-four/seven.” All entirely the truth. Katie had indeed had the place wired. The cameras were simply not rolling anymore. And that part I didn’t share. Life was so much easier without actual lies to remember. The cops looked at one another, startled. I could almost see them rearrange their tactics. I pointed again at the kitchen chairs. “Sit.”