“Succubus,” Todd snapped.
Niol quirked a brow. “Interesting, isn’t it, that all the clerks at the hotels just happened to see a blond woman fitting Cara’s description—”
“How the hell do you know about that?” Todd demanded.
Niol blinked. “You do realize that demons make up a good third of your force, don’t you, Detective?” Another sip of his drink, then, “Where was I? Oh, yes, the clerks all described a woman like Cara, the victims are all killed by the touch of a sex demon, and at one scene, well, damn, you even find Cara’s ID, all nice and neat and just waiting for you.”
Cara’s eyes were on his.
“The killer was shoving her down your throat.” Another sip. “So to speak.”
“It’s true, Todd,” Cara said, her tone fierce. “Someone is setting me up. I can’t prove it yet, but I will, and—”
He grabbed her arm, jerked her toward him. So close. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to claim her. He wanted to tell Niol to get the hell away from her. Instead, his fingers curled tight around her.
“Todd? I’m being set up, I—”
“Don’t you think I fucking know that by now, baby?” Then, because he couldn’t stand the stark look in her eyes, he kissed her. Deep and hard, and tried not to feel the swirling cold in his gut.
A cold that was instinct, rearing its head.
His succubus was in danger.
And he wasn’t sure if he’d be strong enough to keep her safe.
But he was damn well going to try.
Chapter 13
“I’m really getting sick of this damn police station,” Cara growled as Todd pulled her across the bull pen and toward his desk, a desk that was overflowing with paperwork.
“Tough.” He raised a hand and waved one of the uniforms over to them. “Mark, I need you to watch her.”
Watch her? What the hell was she now? Some kind of dog? Cara set her back teeth.
Mark gave a firm nod.
Todd pushed her toward his chair. “Stay here.”
The man was going to piss her off in about five seconds.
“Detective?” Mark frowned up at him. Probably because he didn’t know if she was a suspect or some poor victim who needed protection.
She was neither, damn it.
“I’ve got to find the captain.” Todd pointed to Cara. “Keep an eye on her. Do not let her leave.”
She gritted, “Todd, this is absolutely unnecessary—” The guy had been in some kind of freak mode ever since they’d left Paradise Found.
“It’s damn well necessary. Consider yourself in protective custody, baby.” He kissed her. Hard. Fast. “Until I can determine what the hell is going on, I’m going to make certain you’re safe.”
And that was why she was currently surrounded by cops. She grabbed his hand. “I can take care of myself.” He sure didn’t seem to be understanding the whole demon part of the equation.
She was a powerful supernatural creature. Not a level-ten, but still strong enough to kick most folks’ asses. The guy had to stop judging her by the surface skin.
“You don’t know what we’re dealing with here.” His voice was pitched low, too low for the young cop to catch. “I don’t know what we’re dealing with, and until we know just who we’re up against, you’re going to be under police protection.”
Hell.
“Now, I’m going to find Colin and the captain, and see if they know more about our Jane Doe.” A hard stare. “Stay here and stay out of trouble.”
His gaze shot to the uniformed cop. “Don’t let her out of your sight, Mark.”
“Sir.”
“And…try not to smell her.” Said with a frown.
Mark blinked. “Uh, sir?”
Another hard kiss. Then he pulled away from her and marched across the room.
And left her with the junior policeman for protection.
Cara sighed and closed her eyes.
Then she started trying to figure out who hated her enough to kill.
One name came instantly to mind. Lance Danvers.
But that bastard was dead. Had been for the last seven years.
She’d seen the body. Touched the cold flesh.
Yeah, he was dead.
After all, she’d been the one to arrange his meeting with the devil.
“We got an ID on the victim,” Colin said, pushing a file toward Todd. “Susan Dobbs. Her prints were in the system.”
“That was fast. I mean, it’s been what? Five, six hours since the body was found?”
“This case has the highest priority,” McNeal said. “I expect everything to go fast.”
Duly noted. Todd flipped over the manila folder. Glanced at the black-and-white photo of the woman in her mug shot. “What’d she do?”
“Ms. Dobbs liked to cut men up with knives,” McNeal said, leaning back in his chair with a groan of leather. “Started when she was a kid. Made a habit of the killings for the next fifteen years.”
Killing with a knife. Sure as hell fit for the Monroe murder. But for the others…“She’s human, isn’t she?”
“Emily thinks so,” Colin told him.
Todd’s brows snapped together. “Run that by me again.”
McNeal cleared his throat. “The doctor, she’s good at sensing these things.”
Right.
“If Em says the vic’s not Other, she isn’t.” Colin sounded absolutely definite.
Okay, well, that meant…“Susan wouldn’t have been able to kill the other men.”
“Not by herself,” his partner said.
It was the conclusion they all had no choice but to reach. Todd turned his stare onto the captain. “It’s a setup, sir. I don’t know who is doing it, and I don’t know why, but my gut tells me Cara is deliberately being tied to these crimes.”
The captain grunted. “You think the killer was using the blonde to throw suspicion on Cara?”
“She’s a dead ringer for her.”
“That could just be coincidence,” Colin pointed out.
Todd snorted. Bullshit.
“The woman could’ve been a lure, though,” Colin continued, tapping his chin. “Em said that vamps use them all the time.”
“What?”
Colin stopped his tapping. “A lure. Something nice and flashy to catch the attention of the humans so that they never see the monsters coming until it’s too late.”
“A succubus shouldn’t need a lure.” The wheels in Todd’s head were turning, fast. A succubus was a lure. So why use Susan? Why bring her in unless…Todd shook his head. “What do we know about Susan Dobb’s personal relationships?”
Colin reached into his pocket and flipped out his notebook. “Her mom’s in jail, her father was never on the scene, and—”
“No, her sexual relationships. Has anyone checked—”
He closed the notebook. “Bryant did.”
Bryant was the newest detective in the department. A quiet guy who’d transferred up from Miami just a few months back.
“Susan liked men—a lot of them.” His brows lifted. “What? Do you want him to get you specifics?”
Todd slanted him a hard look. “Cara said Michael House was straight. That he would have only gone to the hotel with a woman.” A woman who looked a lot like his ex? “Fuck. A succubus shouldn’t need a lure,” he repeated as excitement pumped through him. He might just be figuring this shit out. “A woman wouldn’t need to use Susan, but a man—he sure as hell would.”
Colin whistled. “Susan could’ve brought in the men, tied ’em up with the promise of some wild sex.”
McNeal’s fingers flattened on his desk. “And instead just made them helpless and got them ready for the kill.”
“Yes.” One damn good supposition. “Maybe she tied the guys up because if they’d seen who was really waiting for them, they never would have been into the game.”
“He could have waited in the closet…” Colin’s eyes were thoughtful. “Or in one of those small-ass bathrooms.” He spoke the last softly, as if to himself.