Page 70 of Fire Dancer
“Yes,” I said. “It has a new owner, but my requests for information at the agency have all been rejected.”
That drew a lot of raised eyebrows, so I went on quickly. “Every time I put in a request related to one particular individual, it’s rejected. Even some requests I thought were unrelated — a trace on the license plate of that bear shifter, for example — have been rejected, which makes me believe they are related to the same person of interest.”
“And that person is…” Ty stirred his hand impatiently.
“Victor Jananovich. A vampire.”
No one reacted, except to look to Kyle, who shook his head curtly. Apparently, Jananovich had managed to keep himself off their radar so far.
“Why would the agency reject requests for information regarding this vampire?” Lana asked.
“I suspect an insider.”
It was the only thing that made sense. Jananovich had to have an insider smoothing the way for him at the agency, in the same way that Angelina Saint James had tampered with agency files on behalf of Harlon Greene.
I nearly jolted with a sudden realization. Angelina, a vampire, had used her position at the agency to further Harlon Greene’s interests, using my ex-partner, Nash, in the process. Angelina was no longer with the agency — in fact, she was no longer with anyone, having been zapped by a lightning bolt at Pippa’s ranch — but maybe Harlon wasn’t the only criminal Angelina had sold favors to.
I stared into space, thinking. Had Jananovich gotten Angelina to engineer the restraining order too? The timing fit, because that had been months ago, before Angelina had been outed as a double agent.
Someone cleared their throat, and I forced my focus back to the shifters before me.
“Months ago in LA, I was working on a different case that put me on the trail of Victor Jananovich. Let’s just say he’s a problem vampire.”
Cody’s sunny attitude darkened. “We had a vampire problem a few years ago.”
Everyone went silent, and it was a while before I worked up the nerve to ask, “What happened?”
Ty shrugged. “Problem solved.”
Cody’s chest stuck out an inch farther. I took it he’d been the one to do the solving.
A phone rang, and Ty looked around, annoyed, until he realized it was his own. I half expected the device to melt under his wilting look, but when he saw the caller ID, his demeanor did a one-eighty.
His lips cracked into a smile, and his eyes danced when he turned the screen to Lana. Then he cleared his throat, got to his feet, and wandered to the back door, rumbling, “Give me a minute.” His voice changed completely as he addressed the person on the other end of the line. “Hiya, pumpkin.” He paused. “Sweetie, now is not the best time…”
It was like one of those split-personality psycho movies, but with a really sweet alter ego.
“Okay, but just one…” Ty went on, wandering out of earshot.
The others looked at one another, barely hiding grins.
Cody laughed. “He has to sing his daughter a lullaby.”
I stared out the back door. I couldn’t picture that guy singing, let alone a lullaby.
Soren bristled at me, as if to say,Real men sing lullabies. You got a problem with that?
Hell no. My dad was a badass fire fighter and smoke jumper, and I’d loved his lullabies. I’d always figured I would sing them to my own kids someday.
My chest squeezed. The way things were going with Pippa, I might never have kids.
Then I thought back to our kiss and the way she’d held me. Maybe if I closed this case and put Jananovich away forever, I could be the kind of partner she wanted. I could help around the ranch and spend some more time at her workshop. I could actually use weekends as weekends and not just the chance to clock overtime…
Never had I been as tempted. But it all hinged on one bigif.The one about putting Jananovich away forever.
My jaw hardened. Back to priorities.
Ty wandered back in a few minutes later, looking as grim and remorseless as ever. But, ha. Now I knew his terrible secret — that under that tough exterior, the guy was a pushover, at least when it came to his kids.