Conviction Read online

  “And you thought she was goading Andy again?”

  “Morgan made some comment about working at the art museum Marilyn runs to make up for her behavior the night of the auction. Andy brought up Grayson and said Morgan had done nothing wrong. Morgan took the opening to mention in passing that there are always kelpies in Cleveland, hanging around waterfront bars, and said they aren’t ‘eating people on a regular basis.’”

  Liam’s eyebrows shot up. “Yeah, that sounds like a push.”

  “And it worked. Later Flint and I tailed Andy to Something Fishy and found him confronting a group of kelpies on their boat. I had to pull him out of the water.”

  “You tailed your partner?”

  In light of what was going on right this minute, now was not the time I would have chosen to talk to him about my concerns for Andy’s recent change in behavior. “Andy had been acting…strangely. But it was Flint who caught him following a kelpie and warned me we’d better check in on him.”

  I could almost hear the wheels turning in Liam’s head. Andy had shot two kelpies, killed one. Andy viewed them as predators, a natural consequence to his experience with them thus far. Now Andy had been arrested for another kelpie murder.

  Even I couldn’t fail to connect those dots.

  Liam took one hand off the steering wheel, groping for my free hand. He squeezed it. “I’m sorry.”

  I jerked my hand away without meaning to. “Don’t say that. We don’t know what happened. It’s too soon for—”

  “I didn’t say I’m sorry because I think he did it,” Liam interrupted calmly. He held out his hand, but didn’t try to take mine again. “I’m sorry because I know what it’s like when someone you care about is caught up in something like this.”

  Understanding dawned. “Brenna.”

  Liam nodded. “If you’d looked only at the evidence at the scene, it would have been easy to jump to the conclusion that my sister was guilty of murder. But I didn’t make that jump, and neither did you. You were calm, and you considered all the evidence. And that’s what we’re going to do for Andy.”

  My shoulders gave up some of their tension, and I took Liam’s offered hand, squeezed it. Shifters ran warmer than humans by a few degrees with an average temp between one hundred and one hundred and two degrees. I hadn’t realized my hands were cold until I touched Liam, and I squeezed his hand again, taking as much warmth as I could get.

  He made no move to let go. “Do you remember when we first met?”

  “Yes.” I tilted my head. “You didn’t like me very much.”

  “And do you remember why?”

  A hint of a blush rose to my cheeks. “Because I kept leaning against you?”

  The corner of his mouth twitched. “No.”

  “Of course not, because he’d have liked that,” Peasblossom scoffed.

  I ignored her and guessed again. “Because you didn’t want me interfering in your investigation.”

  “Not just any investigation. A member of my pack had been found eating the body of a murder victim. Stephen and I had our problems, but he was still pack. He was mine to protect. I wanted to believe he was innocent, but he wasn’t doing himself any favors. He didn’t talk to me, didn’t trust me enough to tell me what was going on with him.” He slowed before rolling through a stop sign, the blue flashing lights on top of the truck casting weird shadows on the dark buildings around us. “The most important thing you need to do to help Andy is to convince him to let you help. To be honest with you.”

  “It’s a good sign that he called me,” I said hopefully.

  “It is. But remember, we all have things we’d rather not share. Andy doesn’t strike me as someone who likes to talk about himself, and it might be harder than you’d think to convince him that opening up is necessary.”

  I considered his words as he drove. After a minute, he glanced at me again. “Do you want me to stop at your place first, get Scath?”

  I shook my head. “No time. I’ll text her later, after we know what we’re dealing with.” I didn’t add that it was just as likely the feline sidhe would find me on her own. She had a sixth sense for when I was in trouble, and some method of finding me that she refused to divulge.

  We were all silent for a long time. Liam drove carefully, even with the light on his truck, probably out of respect for the fact that an accident was much more likely to kill any humans involved than us. And as much as I wanted to get to Andy as quickly as possible, I couldn’t lie to myself that I wasn’t also terrified.

  I couldn’t quit thinking about Andy’s behavior lately. His temper. I didn’t know if it was the fact he’d seen Grayson begging for his life that had left such a big impression on him, or if something about the kelpies struck a more personal note. But if there was one thing I knew for sure, it was that anger grew from fear. The kelpies terrified Andy.

  And that made them both dangerous.

  Chapter 2

  The last time I’d been to Something Fishy, I hadn’t noticed the name on the sign. In my defense, there was enough grime covering the cracked paint that even if I’d been of a mind at the time to look for it, I might have missed it. But tonight, I couldn’t help noticing.

  The crime scene floodlights helped.

  Peasblossom snorted. “Why not just call it ‘Food Poisoning’ and be done with it?”

  I managed a half smile at her joke as I fortified myself for the coming task. Andy had guessed the boat he was being held on was Siobhan’s, which probably meant he’d seen her. If she was here I had to be ready to face her, and I needed to be my witchiest self when I did.

  Liam parked his truck in the sea of broken asphalt that passed for a parking lot, careful not to get too close to the crime scene tape marking off the section closest to the front door. There was a van parked near the entrance, the words “Cuyahoga County Coroner” emblazoned on the side in blocky blue letters. I nodded in satisfaction at the reminder that I wasn’t Andy’s only ally here. Kylie and Vincent were the best at what they did. Together, they would figure out what really happened.

  “Headache?” Liam asked.

  I paused, realizing that I’d subconsciously reached up to touch my forehead. On my last case, the killer had used a psychic-attack-by-proxy to stab me in the third eye, shredding the extrasensory organ and leaving me magically blind. It would heal, eventually, but for now, pain greeted my fingertips, pulsing in a dull ache. A warning not to try opening that sense.

  “A little.” I lowered my hand. “My third eye still hasn’t healed. It’s a good thing Vincent is here, because I couldn’t use his forensic spell if I tried.”

  “And you’d better not try,” Peasblossom warned. “Last time you tried to open your third eye—after I told you not to—we had to hang blackout sheets over all the windows for two days. I wasn’t meant to live like a vampire.”

  She wasn’t wrong, so I didn’t argue.

  I got out of Liam’s truck with my head held high, my back straight. If Siobhan spotted me first, I wanted her to see my confidence. In an investigation like this, confidence was key.

  A blue vinyl tent had been set up in front of the bar’s front doors. The floodlights centered around that area, illuminating the scene in harsh artificial light.

  “That’s where the body is, isn’t it?” Peasblossom asked, her voice coming from somewhere close to my ear.

  “I’d imagine so. They’ll want to block the body from the road.”

  Just then, Vincent appeared around the tent. The wizard, as usual, looked like a physics professor who’d just wandered off some college campus. His tweed suit was dark brown today, with tan elbow patches and a pale peach shirt underneath. His wild brown hair reached for the sky, as if each strand fought to get a better look at a different star. His eyes were unfocused, and I knew he was using his forensics spell, the one that sought out DNA to create ghostly shapes of whatever creature had left the evidence. I took a step forward, but shut my mouth before I could call out to him. I didn’t want
to interrupt.

  Liam’s nostrils flared. “Kelpies are out back.”

  “Then that’s where Andy will be.” The yellow crime scene tape prevented entrance to the bar, so I nodded toward the alley beside the building. “We can go around that way so we don’t mess up Vincent’s crime scene.”

  Another cold wind swept over the area, brushing my long, dark hair away from my face. Liam walked as close to me as he could without actually touching, letting me benefit from the warm pulse of his aura. The fact that his energy was still at this pleasant level made me relax a little more. If Liam were really worried, that warmth would be less warm and fuzzy and more hot and sizzling, crackling like a campfire made with fresh pine.

  The brackish smell of the Cuyahoga River wrapped around me as I circled the building. It wasn’t the best smell, this part of the river tucked as it was between restaurants, not far from Cleveland’s club district. But I’d smelled worse. And the main body of Lake Erie was within sight, offering a cold wind to blow away any lingering foul aromas.

  The pier that stretched out from the back patio of the bar was every bit as dangerous as the building itself. I didn’t know what kept it standing, but it wasn’t dedication to timely repair and upkeep.

  My thoughts on the safety issues surrounding the property faded as I looked ahead to see a single boat tied to the pier. And standing on board that boat were two figures.

  Siobhan.

  And Rowyn.

  Blood and bone.

  “Mother Renard. So glad you could join us.”

  Despite her sickly sweet tone Siobhan’s voice drove into me like a stab of frigid air through a broken window. A chill settled at the base of my spine. I’d expected anger, or accusation, something sharp like a weapon. This smugness was worse.

  Much worse.

  The lights from the boat illuminated the brown highlights in her dark hair. Her eyes were a pearlescent white, the sort of shining orb that made humans think of underwater treasure, lured them to the water’s edge and encouraged them to lean forward, look deeper. Like most of her kind, she had very little body fat, all her bulk packed into thick corded muscle that shifted under her pale green-tinted skin.

  “I’m here to see Andy,” I said, summoning my best witchy look.

  “Of course you are. Come aboard.”

  The boat she stood on looked…expensive. This wasn’t some cheap second-hand fishing boat, this was new. It smelled new. Of course, anything would smell new in comparison to the rotting building behind me, but still.

  “You like it?” Siobhan asked, noticing my stare. She drew a hand over the bulwark, tapping her fingernails against the smooth white fiberglass. “My fortunes have improved since the last time you managed to save Agent Bradford from the consequences of his actions.” She bared her large flat white teeth in a grin. “This time, the facts and the law will favor me.”

  I looked past her, unwilling to engage in this conversation when only one of us had the facts of the night’s events. “I trust he’s come to no harm since I talked to him?”

  “Didn’t take long to get to the accusations, did it?” Rowyn said, disgust thick in his voice. “Have you ever considered the possibility that the reason your partner hunts us down with such dedication is because you have such a low opinion of our kind?”

  The male kelpie had skin that was more blue than white, and his eyes were the opposite of Siobhan’s, shiny black obsidian instead of pearls. It made him look alien and cold. The fact that he was built like a brick outhouse didn’t make him any more comforting.

  “I think my partner holds you in the estimation he does because he watched you and Bradan torture a kid,” I said honestly. “Andy frowns on such things. As do I.”

  “We acted in good faith that night,” Rowyn said tightly. “Bradan purchased Grayson. Legally. The fact that the contract was declared void because you managed to buy Marilyn’s goodwill doesn’t change what we did.”

  “No, it doesn’t,” I said icily. “You still bought a child. Will you stand there and tell me you intended him no harm?”

  “I’m saying we had the right to harm him. By virtue of his own signature.”

  No one was going to win this argument. The differences were cultural. Kelpies had already given up eating humans—at least, officially. In their minds, giving up the rest of it, the fear, the wild rides, that was just asking them to lie down and die.

  I gestured at Liam. “I’ve neglected to make introductions. Siobhan, Rowyn, this is Detective Sergeant Liam Osbourne. Liam, meet Siobhan and Rowyn.”

  “Charmed.” Siobhan tilted her head at me. “Bring all the backup you want. He’s guilty. And this time, his guilt will count for something.”

  I climbed up the ladder leading to the deck of the boat, ignoring the way Rowyn crowded me so I had to brush past him. It was petty, but there was no point in calling him out for it.

  I noticed he didn’t pull the same trick with Liam.

  “Agent Bradford is down there,” Siobhan said, gesturing to a door that led deeper into the boat. “Go right in.”

  The thought occurred to me that being on someone else’s boat—especially inside someone else’s boat where no one could see me—was an extraordinarily vulnerable position to put myself in. Although having Liam with me improved my odds considerably, regardless of what Siobhan might have waiting.

  “Don’t worry, Mother Renard,” Siobhan said with a smile. “The Vanguard’s agent has stayed with Agent Bradford the whole time, and she can protect you too.”

  I stared at her long enough to let her know what I thought of her insinuation that she or her boat could scare me, then proceeded down the steps into the belly of the ship. I was grateful Andy had mentioned Evelyn on the phone. Otherwise, Siobhan’s offhand mention of the Vanguard might have worried me.

  The inside of the boat was as nice as the outside, and looked just as expensive. The seats that went around the perimeter were all padded with luxurious leather, and warm gold light lit the area from intricate wall sconces. It was bigger inside than I’d been expecting, almost roomy. But I didn’t give a damn about Siobhan and her pretty new boat. My reason for being here was sitting in the corner.

  Andy looked awful. His brown hair was mussed—and Andy’s hair was never mussed. There were dark bags under his eyes, and even his clothes seemed to droop with exhaustion. I was guessing Vincent had taken the clothes he’d been wearing for evidence, because the grey sweatpants and hoodie he was wearing said “Turning Tides” on the back, with a picture of a racehorse. Definitely not Andy’s.

  He looked up as I came in. In the second our eyes met, I learned something very important. Something conveyed in the way his shoulders relaxed ever so slightly, and the lines around the corners of his eyes and mouth faded.

  Andy trusted me.

  Whatever his thoughts and fears about the Otherworld, whatever friction had been between us lately, I’d given him hope just by being here. A weight lifted from my heart, and I found myself standing straighter, revitalized by his confidence in me.

  “Andy, are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.”

  He couldn’t quite maintain eye contact. His gaze kept flicking to the side, to the other person in the room.

  I followed his gaze to the woman standing a few feet away. I didn’t know exactly what Evelyn was, but I knew she was at least part deva—a semi-divine Persian spirit. Since our last meeting I’d also learned that her formal rank at the Ministry of Deliverance was Justiciar but she rarely used it. She was taller than me, as most people were, but something about her excellent posture made her seem even taller. A quality I’d found to be common in paladins. She wore the same white robes I’d seen her in before, the plain white cloth contrasting with her exotic blue skin and gold tattoos.

  “Evelyn, isn’t it?”

  The woman smiled, pleased I’d remembered. “Yes. And you are Mother Renard.” Her smile wilted at the corners, as if remembering the night we’d met. Retrieving a demonb
ound was never easy, but it was much harder when innocents were involved. Especially innocents with demon-given gifts and a firm conviction that their murderous mistress didn’t belong in jail. “It’s good to see you again. Though of course I wish it could be under different circumstances.”

  “So true.” I gestured at Liam. “This is Detective Sergeant Liam Osbourne. Liam, this is Evelyn. She works with the Vanguard.”

  I glanced over my shoulder at Andy. He stared at Evelyn as if he were waiting for her to sprout the fiery halo she’d worn the night she came for the demonbound. I couldn’t blame him for being nervous. A holy warrior in full battle mode was an intimidating sight for anyone, and it definitely stayed with you.

  “I’ll give you some privacy,” Evelyn said, taking a step toward the door. “I know giving a statement can be emotional, and I dare say Agent Bradford would feel more comfortable telling you himself.” She paused. “Mac Tyre assumed you’d be taking the lead in the investigation.”

  “I will,” I confirmed.

  She nodded. “Mac Tyre has no problem with that, as you’ve worked for the Vanguard before. You’ll still have to present the results of your investigation to him when it’s over for them to be certified, but until then, proceed as you see fit.” She hesitated. “I should be present when the forensic team is finished and you go in to look around and speak to the witnesses. Siobhan has concerns—”

  “She’s been insinuating that I might tamper with evidence,” I said flatly. “I assumed she would.”

  “I don’t believe you would, despite your close working relationship with Agent Bradford,” Evelyn said. “But you understand our actions must be above all reproach.”

  “I understand completely.” I kept the edge out of my voice, tamped down on my temper. Evelyn wasn’t my enemy.

  The effect of Evelyn’s exit on Andy’s demeanor was instantaneous. He pushed his shoulders back, and his eyes cleared, focusing on me with renewed intensity. Some part of my brain could almost picture his suit shimmering into place as if he could conjure it like a comic book superhero.