pants.
“Difficult seems to be par for the course these days,” said Rafe as she pressed the necessary button.
“Then let me try to make it a little less fraught for you. We’ll catch this guy, Rafe. I know we will.”
“From your lips to God’s ears.”
“Amen to that.”
Chapter Ten
Rafe wasn’t entirely surprised by how quickly Ashley won over Dean and Alona. There was something about Ashley that drew people to her and put them instantly at ease. Rafe was at a loss to explain it; she was afflicted with the same pull, no matter how hard she tried to fight it. She tried to pretend to be interested in something on her desk and not watch Ashley totally wrap her team around her little finger. She was brought out of her musings when Ashley brushed against her shoulder and handed her a USB stick. Rafe lifted an eyebrow at it suspiciously.
“You’re about to let me in to share your work. Turnabout is fair play. I have my own photos of the scenes,” Ashley whispered in her ear. Rafe’s body instantly reacted as the erotic heat slammed straight down to her gut, causing her muscles to twitch. She barely heard Ashley continue. “I thought it would be prudent to share these, now that we’re a team.”
Rafe willed her body to stop reacting and coughed to draw everyone’s attention. She shot up from her seat, careful not to touch Ashley and slipped away from her. She reached out a hand for the USB.
“I need to ask you both a very big favor,” Rafe said, looking first at Dean and then Alona.
Dean seated himself on the edge of Rafe’s desk. Folding his arms over his chest, he nodded. “Yes.”
“I haven’t told you what it is yet.”
“I’d follow you anywhere, into anything, Rafe, and pretty much do anything you asked. I’m in, whatever the favor is.”
“I second that,” Alona said.
“Even if it might cost you both your badges?” Rafe watched them closely. Neither changed their expressions.
“If it comes to that, then we’ll deal with it.” Dean shrugged. “Now I’m just really intrigued.” His grin ignited a matching one in Alona, and Rafe had to smile at their excitement.
She flashed a look over her shoulder at Ashley. Could she put her trust in a woman she barely knew? She took another look into Ashley’s clear blue eyes and, choice made, held up the USB stick. “Ashley has certain information on this case that we don’t have access to. I’m asking for you not to question it or her and definitely not to speak of it outside this room. We just need to use it in conjunction with what we gather ourselves. She’s here to help us.” Rafe paused before she continued, hoping she was doing the right thing. “There might be an occult angle to these killings. Ms. Scott is going to work that angle for us. She has a degree in religious and occult ideology and symbolism and is going to use her expertise to see if we need to look further in that direction.” She hoped that was an explanation her team would accept and leave it at that. She caught Ashley’s look of surprise. Well, I can hardly tell them you hunt demons, can I? This way I’m touching close enough to the truth so I’m not lying to my team.
“The occult?” Dean’s eyebrows rose and he gave Ashley a steely glare. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Stranger things have happened,” Alona said. “You can’t honestly say this killer is normal. He’s got something weird fueling his need.”
“The bosses don’t know about this. Detective Powell is not to hear a word about this. It stays in this room. We continue our side of the investigation, and Ms. Scott will follow her own leads. But we’ll work both angles together.” Rafe stared Dean down until he calmed.
“I don’t give a fuck about jurisdiction or who’s in the lead. I want to just get this bastard and take him off the street.” Dean looked over at Alona. “What say you, Officer?”
“I deal in information that comes from many sources. I don’t
“Difficult seems to be par for the course these days,” said Rafe as she pressed the necessary button.
“Then let me try to make it a little less fraught for you. We’ll catch this guy, Rafe. I know we will.”
“From your lips to God’s ears.”
“Amen to that.”
Chapter Ten
Rafe wasn’t entirely surprised by how quickly Ashley won over Dean and Alona. There was something about Ashley that drew people to her and put them instantly at ease. Rafe was at a loss to explain it; she was afflicted with the same pull, no matter how hard she tried to fight it. She tried to pretend to be interested in something on her desk and not watch Ashley totally wrap her team around her little finger. She was brought out of her musings when Ashley brushed against her shoulder and handed her a USB stick. Rafe lifted an eyebrow at it suspiciously.
“You’re about to let me in to share your work. Turnabout is fair play. I have my own photos of the scenes,” Ashley whispered in her ear. Rafe’s body instantly reacted as the erotic heat slammed straight down to her gut, causing her muscles to twitch. She barely heard Ashley continue. “I thought it would be prudent to share these, now that we’re a team.”
Rafe willed her body to stop reacting and coughed to draw everyone’s attention. She shot up from her seat, careful not to touch Ashley and slipped away from her. She reached out a hand for the USB.
“I need to ask you both a very big favor,” Rafe said, looking first at Dean and then Alona.
Dean seated himself on the edge of Rafe’s desk. Folding his arms over his chest, he nodded. “Yes.”
“I haven’t told you what it is yet.”
“I’d follow you anywhere, into anything, Rafe, and pretty much do anything you asked. I’m in, whatever the favor is.”
“I second that,” Alona said.
“Even if it might cost you both your badges?” Rafe watched them closely. Neither changed their expressions.
“If it comes to that, then we’ll deal with it.” Dean shrugged. “Now I’m just really intrigued.” His grin ignited a matching one in Alona, and Rafe had to smile at their excitement.
She flashed a look over her shoulder at Ashley. Could she put her trust in a woman she barely knew? She took another look into Ashley’s clear blue eyes and, choice made, held up the USB stick. “Ashley has certain information on this case that we don’t have access to. I’m asking for you not to question it or her and definitely not to speak of it outside this room. We just need to use it in conjunction with what we gather ourselves. She’s here to help us.” Rafe paused before she continued, hoping she was doing the right thing. “There might be an occult angle to these killings. Ms. Scott is going to work that angle for us. She has a degree in religious and occult ideology and symbolism and is going to use her expertise to see if we need to look further in that direction.” She hoped that was an explanation her team would accept and leave it at that. She caught Ashley’s look of surprise. Well, I can hardly tell them you hunt demons, can I? This way I’m touching close enough to the truth so I’m not lying to my team.
“The occult?” Dean’s eyebrows rose and he gave Ashley a steely glare. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Stranger things have happened,” Alona said. “You can’t honestly say this killer is normal. He’s got something weird fueling his need.”
“The bosses don’t know about this. Detective Powell is not to hear a word about this. It stays in this room. We continue our side of the investigation, and Ms. Scott will follow her own leads. But we’ll work both angles together.” Rafe stared Dean down until he calmed.
“I don’t give a fuck about jurisdiction or who’s in the lead. I want to just get this bastard and take him off the street.” Dean looked over at Alona. “What say you, Officer?”
“I deal in information that comes from many sources. I don’t
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