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“Thirteen.” And then we were inside, and I could see that it wasn’t the same room at all.
Slowly my shoulders eased. My dad had died with nothing to save him. As a law enforcer, Gle
The small, stocky man tried to smile, but he couldn’t do it. In the few hours since learning about his son’s attack, his pale face had acquired wrinkles I’d only seen hints of before. In his grip was a winter hat, his short fingers working the rim around and around. He stood, and my heart went out to him when he exhaled, the sound carrying all his fear and worry.
Edden was the captain of the FIB’s Cinci
“Thank you for coming,” he said automatically, his gravelly voice cracking, and I worked to keep from crying when he ran a blunt hand over his short-cropped, graying hair in a recognizable sign of stress. I came close to give him a hug, and the familiar scent of old coffee hit me.
“You know we wouldn’t let you do this alone,” Ivy said from her corner where she’d folded herself stiffly into a padded chair, quietly giving support the only way she could.
“How is he?” I asked as I turned to Gle
“They won’t give me a straight answer,” he said, his voice higher than usual. “He’s been beaten up pretty bad. Head trauma-” His voice broke, and he went silent.
I looked at Gle
Edden sank into his chair and looked at his son’s damaged hand. “They wouldn’t let me in,” he said softly. “They didn’t believe I was his father. Bigoted bastards.” Slowly his hand went out, and he cradled Gle
I swallowed hard at the love. Edden had adopted Gle
In the threshold, Ford closed his eyes, clenched his jaw, and leaned against the frame.
Grabbing a chair, I dragged it across the linoleum to where I could see Edden and Gle
Edden took a slow breath. In her corner, Ivy sat up. “He was working on something on his own,” the man said, “after hours, in case what surfaced would be better left off the record. One of our officers died last week after a long wasting illness. He was a friend of Gle
Ivy got to her feet, interested. “She poisoned her husband?”
The FIB captain shrugged. “That’s what Gle
“Oh my God,” I whispered, going cold.
“He was off duty,” Edden continued, “so he lay there almost an hour before someone checked on him because he didn’t come in to work. He’s a smart kid, and one of his friends knew what he was doing and where he had gone.”
My breath caught when Edden turned to me, pain etched deep in his brown eyes as he tried to find an answer. “We never would have found him otherwise. Not in time. They left him there. They could have called 911 and fled, but they left my boy to die.”
The warm prick of tears hit me, and I gave the stocky, heartbroken man a sideways hug. “He’s going to be okay,” I whispered. “I know it.” My gaze went to Ford as he came in to stand at the foot of the bed. “Right?”
Ford gripped the footboard as if struggling for balance. “Can I have a moment with Gle
Immediately I stood. “Sure.”
Ivy touched the lump that was Gle
I drew Edden out of the room. “Come on. I’ll get you some coffee. There’s gotta be a machine around here somewhere.”
I looked back as we left. Gle
As I escorted Edden down the hallway in Ivy’s wake, I felt a moment of guilty relief. At least Gle
Edden pulled out of my grip when we reached a bench across from a vending machine. Everything was done in institutional comfort: soothing shades of taupe and cushions not soft enough to encourage lingering. A wide window opened onto the snowplowed parking lot, and I sat so my feet were in the shaft of dusky sunlight coming in. There was no warmth. Edden sat beside me with his elbows on his knees, his forehead cupped in his hands. I didn’t like seeing the intelligent, quick-fingered man so depressed. I didn’t think he even remembered I was here.
“He’s going to be okay,” I said, and Edden took a deep breath.
“I know he will,” he said with a forcefulness that said he wasn’t sure. “Whoever did this was a professional. Gle
Ah hell. Maybe it is my fault. Ivy’s shadow fell on us, and I looked up. Her silhouette was sharp against the bright window, and I leaned back into shadow.
“I’ll find out who did this,” she said, then turned to me. “We both will. And don’t insult us by offering to pay for it.”
My lips parted in surprise. She had tried to hide herself in shadow, but her words gave away her anger. “I thought you didn’t like Gle
Her hand moved to her hip. “This isn’t a matter of like or dislike. Someone mauled a law officer and left him for dead. The I.S. won’t do anything about it, and anarchy can’t be allowed a toehold.” She turned and the sun came in. “I don’t think a human did that to him,” she said as she moved to sit across from us. “Whoever it was knew exactly how to cause an excruciating amount of pain without letting him pass out from it. I’ve seen it before.”
I could almost hear her think, Vampire.
Edden’s hands clenched, then he visibly forced himself to relax. “I agree.”
Unable to sit still, I squirmed. “He’s going to be okay,” I said. Damn it, I didn’t know what else to say! Ivy’s entire vampiric culture was based on monsters who worked outside the law, people who treated people like boxes of chocolates. The biggest and baddest, the ones who made the rules, got away with anything.