Chapter 12

12

B y the time they were done, Rafe had watched Nat interview eight known criminals and come away with nothing. Ranging from the crazy to ludicrous, there were several times he thought about flashing some scales and scaring the shit out of a couple of them just to make the interviews interesting, but then he would’ve had to apologize to Nat, and well, he was racking up quite a list all on his own.

Watching her read every person, use her Gift and cut to the heart of the person and his actions was nothing less than outstanding. Eliminating suspects was as natural to her as breathing and still, she went through the motions of asking every single one of them the same questions and building off the answers they gave her to interrogate them just as someone without her talents was forced to do.

She may have been freaked out to learn there were Dragons and Big Cats and whatever else she read about in her grandmother’s book, but Rafe had no doubt she would thrive and grow when she could use her talents without trying to hide them. Walking to where Max was sitting at an empty desk reading email on the screen of his phone, Rafe sat on the corner and asked, “What did you find out from your doctor friend?”

“She is checking the information I gave her and will get back to me as soon as she has an answer.”

“I hope she can give us some insight.”

Observing Nat while she made her way through the Squad Room joking and talking to her colleagues Rafe couldn’t look away. He knew she was tired, knew she’d been up since before dawn and was totally consumed with finding the person responsible for the deaths of six young women, but she still took the time to make each of her coworkers feel how very much she cared for each and every one of them.

“Did you hear me, Rafe?”

Snapping his head back towards Max, he apologized, “Sorry, I was…ah…”

“Gazing at your lady love?” The King teased. “Yes, I noticed, however, now that I have your attention, I will bid you farewell until tomorrow.”

“Alright, catch ya’ later.” Getting up to go and see if Nat wanted to get something to eat, Rafe called out mentally as the King disappeared out the huge double doors, “Let me know if you hear from your doctor, please.”

“Si, mi amigo. Buenas noches.”

“Night, Max.”

Returning his focus to Nat at the precise moment that she answered the phone on her desk, Rafe unrepentantly listened in as she made plans to have dinner with her grandmother. More than a little bummed, but completely understanding her need to spend time with family, he slowed his pace arriving at her desk just as she was saying good bye.

“I’m gonna head out.”

“Oh okay,” she acknowledged, giving him a quick smile as she put a stack of folders as tall as her forearm was long into her brown leather satchel. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, yeah?”

“Yeah,” was all he could say. After all, what was the protocol in saying good bye to your mate when you’d both kiss the breath out of each other’s lungs but had barely had a conversation that wasn’t about death or to pick on the other person? ‘Yeah’ seemed to fit the bill.

Turning away, he’d made it exactly two steps when Nat yelled, “O’Rhordan? Where the hell ya’ goin’?”

“Back to the condo, why?” He asked over his shoulder, praying she was going to ask him to join her at Nona’s.

Holding up her bag, she faked a perturbed look and grumped, “Can’t a girl get some help from a Special Agent?”

Unable to stop the chuckle that bubbled from his very soul, he turned back around, took her bag from her outstretched hand, another stack of old case files from her other hand, and her laptop from the desk. Waiting until she’d straightened her desk blotter and the cracked mug that held her pens, as well as her stapler and tape dispenser, he followed when she winked and snickered, “Wagon train, ho.”

Out to her car quicker than he wanted, he dawdled around getting the work she was taking home loaded, but finally had to give up the pretense and lay the laptop on the passenger seat. Shutting the door, he looked over the top at the same time she did, smiling when she smiled at him, feeling that in that moment he could move a mountain while singing The Star Spangled Banner . Nothing in all his years had ever felt better than a simple look for the woman who held his heart and soul in the palm of her hand.

“Are you gonna come shut my door for me?”

Surprised by her question but jumping to attention and zipping around the trunk of her car, he had just laid his hand on her door when she fisted the front of his shirt and pulled him towards her as she pushed up onto her toes. Sparks flew behind his closed eyelids. Fire sprang to life in the very bottom of his soul. His heart beat with such fervor that he felt it in his every cell. If their first kiss had been heavenly, the second was pure perfection.

Over almost as quickly as it had begun and leaving Rafe struggling to regain his wits, his eyes landed on hers just before she shut the car door. Rolling down the window as the engine roared to life, Donatella wrinkled her nose and cocked her head to the side. Giving him a little finger wave, she cooed, “See ya’ tomorrow, Slick.”

Grinning despite his raging hard-on and watching the taillights of his mate’s car driving away from him, he reached out to her mind and avowed, “Three time’s the charm, mo ghrá.”

The ride back to the condo was spent trying to come up with a viable suspect from the lists of former convicts he’d memorized during Nat’s monotonous, waste of time interviews. Not one, even the convicted killers that had been released early for good behavior, had the propensity for what the Yellow Ribbon Ripper was doing right under Texas’ finest.

Picking up Thai takeout and a six pack of Max’s favorite imported beer, Rafe hustled up the steps, unlocked the door, and walked into an empty townhouse. Having preternatural senses came in handy for so very many things and in this one case, it was finding out that your roommate was mysteriously absent.

“Oh well, more for me,” he shrugged.

Putting the food and beer on the table, he made quick work of changing clothes and starting a load of clothes before returning with laptop in hand. Wolfing down his salmon with red curry and two black dragon sushi rolls, he cleaned up the table and stowed the leftovers in the fridge before settling down to do some serious research.

Accessing the DOD, DOJ, CIA, and FBI databases, he searched all known felons with previous violent offenses within a two-hundred-mile radius of Ft Worth. Discarding the ones still incarcerated, dead, or handicapped, he came up with sixty-five possible suspects.

Taking another swipe, he did away with anyone younger than twenty-three and older than fifty-five. “Son of a bitch has to be able to lift a hundred-and-twenty pound of dead weight and carry it not once, but twice.”

Lastly, he eliminated all females. “The marks left by the black magic felt male, right?” He asked his Dragon King aloud, nodding when the magical beast grumbled in agreement.

“Good, that leaves us ten possibles.”

Requesting their files, he watched the thin green line that indicated they were loading until it reached its halfway point before getting up and getting a bottle of water. Wandering towards the sliding glass doors leading to the balcony, he flipped the lock and pushed them open.

Stepping out into the night air, he watched the stars twinkle and glitter as his mind churned through everything he knew about the case. Over and over the pieces of the puzzle turned and twisted, flipped and flopped, never settling, still searching for the one cohesive thread that would tie them all together.

Turning at the same time his phone rang, he walked inside, grabbed the device, and answered, “Rafe here.”

“Rafe?” The elderly woman’s voice was tinged with fear. “Special Agent Rafe O’Rhordan?”

“Yes, ma’am. How can I help you?”

“Young man, it’s not how you can help me, but how we must help one another.” There was a slight pause in which his Dragon King roared and his free hand involuntarily clenched. When she began again, it was more a command than a request. “I am Angelique Hale. My granddaughter is Donatella Hale and I am sure she’s been abducted by the same man who’s killed those poor girls.”