And Colin was damn interested in his doc’s analysis of the guys. His Emily had a talent for getting good and deep beneath the skin of the Other.
“Do you admit it?” he asked again, still keeping his voice easy and calm.
A quick nod from Trey. A frantic glance up at the interrogation mirror.
He knows they’re watching him. Just like Cara had known. Demons always made his job so much harder.
“How—how did you find out?” Trey asked.
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Are you…going to tell everyone?” Horror, in his voice, on his face.
“Depends.”
Another bob of the guy’s Adam’s apple. “On what?”
Colin leaned forward. Opened the file and shoved the pictures at the demon. “On whether or not you’re a killer.”
“Not him,” Emily said as Trey Barker vomited into the garbage can.
“You sure? Maybe he’s just faking his reaction. He knows we’re here, he could be—”
“No! No! I didn’t do this!” Trey’s frantic voice broke across the captain’s words.
Colin began to rattle off the dates of the killings.
“No! Listen, damn it, listen to me!” He shoved the pictures away, looked like he might vomit again. “I didn’t do this! Shit!”
“Then give me an alibi. Make me believe you.” Colin started talking about the first victim, the date he’d been found and—
“I was in Boston!” Relief lit Trey’s eyes. “I was interviewing for a job up there—call them! At Station Seven. I flew up and I—”
McNeal leaned forward and adjusted the volume control for the interrogation room. His gaze met Emily’s.
“Not him,” she repeated again, and he gave a slow nod.
“Then let’s try demon number two.”
“I’m not the Bondage Killer,” Jody Rain said the minute Colin walked into the second interrogation room.
Colin blinked. Way to cut to the chase.
Jody shrugged. “I’m not an idiot, Gyth. You know what I am and I—” His lips curved. “I know you’re not human, and that’s about damn all I know.”
Colin lowered himself into the chair across from the incubus. Jody Rain was tall, muscled, with skin tinted gold by the sun. No lines marred his face, so his age was close to impossible to guess.
“I wouldn’t say that’s all you know,” Colin murmured, aware that he had to tread very carefully with the ADA. Jody was smart, tough, and not generally one for bullshit. “You know about the Bondage Killer, after all.”
One dark brow rose. “I have my sources.”
Colin wasn’t really one for bullshit, either. “Or else you’ve been draining men dry in the city.” A deliberate pause. “If you’re the one killing the bastards, then, the way I figure it, you’d know exactly what was happening.”
A bark of laughter. “I’m no killer.” The smile still curved his lips as Jody said, “I know about the case because my boss knows—and my boss has a big mouth.”
Yeah, that was true enough. Everyone knew the DA needed to learn how to slap a gag order on himself.
“Look, let’s just cut the shit, Detective. I know when the men were killed, and I can provide airtight alibis for all occasions.” That brow was still up as he murmured, “You ready for ’em?”
“Damn it.” McNeal’s only response as Jody Rain began to rattle off dates and locations—and, far, far too many names to back him up.
Emily watched the ADA quietly. She could a feel a hum of energy pulsing off him.
This one was dangerous. Much, much more dangerous than the last demon.
She had to point out, “Demons lie well, you know. And they can get humans to lie for them, too. A simple suggestion, the magic of an incubi’s hypnosis—people would back up his alibi even if they didn’t know who he was.”
“Working these cases can be a bitch,” McNeal grumbled, rubbing a tired hand over his face. “And, yeah, Doc, I know, if they’re strong enough, demons can make the whole world lie for ’em.”
Colin continued to grill the ADA about the alibis, asking question after question, and Jody never even came close to breaking a sweat as he replied.
“Shit.” McNeal ground his back teeth together. “Where’s the last asshole?”
Cameron Komak sprawled back in his chair. His face was hard with anger, belying his easy pose, and the eyes that locked on Colin’s were narrowed.
“Where’s your partner?” Cameron demanded.
“Doesn’t matter.” Colin stalked across the room. “You’ll be dealing with me today.”
Cameron leaned forward, eyes assessing, and after a moment, a wide grin broke across his face. “Good. I’m tired of those fucking humans.”
Colin never changed expression. “Wanna run that by me again?”
The demon rolled his eyes. “Come on, I know you aren’t like them. I’ve known from the first night when you came in with the sexy little Monster Doctor.” He glanced knowingly toward the mirror. “She’s watching me, isn’t she? I can feel her.”
The beast Colin carried roared to life. He clenched his hands—the better to leash the urge to punch the demon.
A laugh, high and grating, burst from Cameron’s lips. “Ah, man, come on, I mean—you know what I am, right? If you didn’t, well, you wouldn’t be in here with me. One of them”—disgust laced the word—“would be.”
Okay. So the guy wanted to play it with gloves off. Fine with Colin. “You don’t like…them…too much do you?” His voice was without any inflection. Not good cop, not bad.
Not yet.
“They’re weak.” Cameron’s lips twisted with distaste. “And they don’t even know it. They go around, acting like they rule this damn world—and they don’t even have a clue what’s really happening.”
“Or who is really running the show,” Colin finished softly.
“Right! Yeah, that’s right. They don’t know.” He nodded quickly, dark hair glinting under the light. “They think they’re the smartest, the strongest things ever put on the earth.” A hard exhalation of air. “They’re dead wrong.”
“Hmm.” Colin pulled out the photos of Michael House, Travis Walters, and Simon Battle. “And sometimes they’re just dead.”
Cameron shot back in his chair. “What the hell?” His eyes almost doubled in size as he stared, almost helplessly, at the dead men.
“You hate them, don’t you?” Soft voice, no pressure. Colin just watched the demon, and waited.
“I don’t even know these guys!” Cameron shoved the photos away. “Is this why I’m here? You think I had something to do with those stiffs?”
“Humans,” Colin drawled out the word, deliberately not answering Cameron’s questions. “You hate all of them, don’t you?”
The demon blinked. “Don’t hate ’em,” he said slowly. “Just don’t really care about ’em at all—”
“So you don’t care that these men are dead?”
“I don’t know them!” His fist slammed onto the table.
Ah, so Cameron had a temper.
And an obvious dislike of humans.
But did he hate them enough to kill?
Colin shifted gears, fast, needing to keep his suspect off balance. “What about Cara Maloan? Just how do you feel about her?”
His lips parted. “Cara? What—”
“How do you feel about her?” Colin pressed.
“I’ve known her for years. She’s like—like a sister to me.” Real worry appeared on Cameron’s face. “Is she okay? Has something happened to Cara? Hell, I knew she shouldn’t be dating that cop friend of yours! I knew it would be trouble—”
“Why?” Still soft.
Cameron swallowed. “Because humans and demons don’t mix. Humans can’t know anything but fear when they’re with us. They aren’t strong enough for more.”
Colin thought of his Emily, and one word immediately sprang to mind. Bullshit.