He didn’t even want to think about the way Peyton had been holding her on the dance floor the night before.
Jack broke the heavy silence first. “This tells us two things. First, whoever did this knew her well enough to know she was a Magickal.” He lifted his fingers to tick off his points. “Second, he knew what kind of Magickal she was, because he used the metal she was allergic to.”
Tess looked away from the big vampire and met Jack’s gaze. “I can tell you he also used rounds made of the metal she was allergic to.” She indicated the flesh around the bullet holes. “See how it’s blackened at the edges with some blistering? Regular Magickal bullets wouldn’t do that. They have a shell casing that looks like a normal bullet. They’re explosive and armor-piercing rounds with fragments of all the allergen metals, as well as loaded with a sunbeam spell to fry the vampires when they explode. So Magickal ammunition wouldn’t have caused an allergic reaction until it burst inside of her. This bullet was made of iron.” The redhead shrugged. “That’s all I’ve got for you for now. I’ll be able to tell you more once I get her body back to my lab.”
“Good.” He rose to his feet and stepped aside. “Let me get out of your way so you can work.”
“Appreciate it, thanks.” Tess dug through her kit and turned away, her mind already on the task at hand. “I’ll let you know if I find anything worth mentioning. Check back with me later this afternoon.”
“Thanks.” He jerked his chin to indicate Cavalli follow him out into the living room.
Faint amusement showed on the vampire’s face, but other than a last glance at Tess, he did as Jack wanted. “Afraid I’ll distract her?”
“If by ‘distract’ you mean ‘irritate, annoy, and/or piss off,’ then, yes, that’s what I’m afraid of.” Jack gave him a pointed look, which only seemed to amuse him more.
“Fair enough.” Luca nodded, his face falling in to more somber lines. “I brought Kingston in first to read the scene, and he’s just finishing up.”
Disbelief wound through Jack. His boss was kidding, right? “Merek is on his honeymoon.”
“Not for another couple of hours, he’s not.” Luca rolled his shoulders in an expressive shrug.
The man was a machine, that was all Jack could think. Even for a vampire, that was cold-blooded. He shook his head. “That’s fucked up.”
“That’s the job.” Not an ounce of remorse showed on his boss’s face. “It’s not as if I’m having him cancel anything. He’ll make his flight.”
“Chloe might kill you if you dicked with her honeymoon. If she didn’t, her aunt definitely would.” He might not know either woman that well personally, but they were Standish witches. Enough said.
Cavalli snorted, but he didn’t argue the point. “It’s your case when Kingston leaves, so I’d suggest getting everything you can from his reading before he goes.” Cocking his wrist, he looked at his Rolex. “I have another case to check in on. One that’s going to have the media crawling all over it. I would imagine there’s a press conference in my very near future.”
“Have fun with that.” Jack folded his arms over his chest. “What makes the case a media magnet?” People died every day, and it might make the paper, but it hardly called for a press conference. Or involvement from the FBI. Most murders fell under the jurisdiction of the police.
“That Karsen actor guy was murdered at a sex club last night. Naked and doing some things that most humans find a little disturbing. The police asked us to step in and provide them with a little extra manpower considering the media frenzy shit storm that’s coming.”
“You going to be okay out there? The sun’s bright today.” The Pacific Northwest was probably one of the more hospitable environments for vampires on the planet. The amount of fog and cloud cover they had annually made it more likely vamps could go out during the day. Today was not one of those days.
“My car is in the garage here, and the club has underground parking.” Luca shrugged and didn’t mention the heavily tinted windows on his vehicle. “I’ll do the press conference indoors.” He nodded toward a door off the living room. “And here’s Kingston.”
The door swung open, and Luca flinched as the light flooded in from the backyard. He took a quick step back when a shaft of sunshine hit his shoes. Peyton, the werewolf agent Jack had seen with Tess the night before, stepped in. His cool gaze took in Luca’s movements, but he said nothing, which was his normal operating procedure. He nodded and moved aside for Merek.
The warlock’s face was pale, his mouth pinched. Jack arched his eyebrows. “As trite as it sounds, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Merek grimaced. “The ghost of Christmas future, maybe.”
That sobered Jack up, and he pulled out a notebook to write down anything the other man might have to say about the situation. Merek’s precognition was the most powerful anyone had ever heard of, and Jack had quickly learned to pay attention when the man spoke about his visions. “You saw another victim coming?”
“Not exactly.” His smile was nothing short of dour. “I did see a few interesting things about our guy, but not much.”
Surprising. Kingston was usually spot-on and clear when he had a vision. This was the first time Jack had ever heard him say he wasn’t certain about the details. He wasn’t sure what to make of that, but he filed that piece of information away for examination later. It might be important to their case, whether he knew it yet or not.
“I need to go.” Luca checked his watch again. “I’ve called in Grayson, as Merek requested. We’ll have her for as long as we need her, or so your former captain assured me. He was most accommodating.”
If anything, Kingston looked even grimmer. “Good. She needs to be here.”
“Grayson? Detective Selina Grayson? As in, Merek’s old partner?” As in, the elf Jack had spent the night screwing like a mink in heat? The reminder sent a wave of lust rolling through his body. He’d been actively not thinking about her since the moment he’d left her, and that had only been made possible by the knowledge that he’d have her in his bed again tonight.
“The one and only.” Luca turned for the door that led to the garage. “She should arrive within a few minutes. Her house isn’t that far from here.”
Neither was Jack’s, thankfully, since she wasn’t at her place right now.
Possibilities nagged at Selina the entire drive over to the address the captain had given her. The FBI wanting to see her was not how she liked to start her day. Law enforcement agencies more or less played well together, but generally speaking, she liked batting for her own team and having everyone else stay out of her way.
Then again, how often did anyone ask her what she wanted? In this job, she went where she was told, but since it gave her something constructive to do with her old age and let her bust bad guys for a living, she’d take it. A century ago, this career path hadn’t even been an option for a woman. She sipped from the cup of coffee she’d swiped from Jack’s house. It had either been shower and steal his coffee, or not shower and stop at Starbucks on the way.
Reeking of sex when there were werewolves in the vicinity was not something she was willing to do. She had no shame in her sex life, but there was no need to advertise. Especially when many of these people knew the scent of the man she’d been shagging.
Pulling up to the curb behind a long line of police vehicles, she draped her badge from a chain around her neck and stepped out to survey the crowd that gathered outside the yellow caution tape. Nothing out of the ordinary besides the Normal gawkers, but the police and /or FBI would have a few telepaths listening in on human thoughts to see if anyone had seen something they shouldn’t. Tweaking Normal memories was standard operating procedure in cases like this—it kept everyone safe.