Page 70 of Soul Sucker

“Look, just think about it, will you?” He retreated behind his desk and pretended to shuffle his papers around.

She studied him closely. “Are you really that desperate not to fuck up this case?”

A muscle flexed in his jaw. “If that’s what you want to believe, go ahead. I’ve made my position clear.”

She folded her letter, then stuffed it into her pocket. “And I think I’ve made mine clear too.”

She turned and walked out, back to the sanctity of her office where she sat down and tried to make sense of the horrible, awful mess her life had become. Had she secretly decided to take the match OCOS offered her? Was that why she was so angry when she realized it was Vadim? Shouldn’t that make it better? Sheknewhim. He was a great cook, had an awesome bod and tolerated her far better than the average person. How the hell had he gotten mixed up in this and why was he willing to go through with it?

Another far more awful thought occurred to her. Had the SBLE connived with OCOS to produce Vadim as her mate? Was her government determined that she stay sane enough to finish investigating this case? Vadim’s superiors certainly didn’t love him. Was that why he’d been so furious? Even though he hadn’t shared his earlier suspicions with her, this was no picnic for him either. Ella let out a shaky breath and considered her options. She could leave early and have everyone wondering whether she’d finally cracked up, or she could tough it out, show everyone—and by everyone she meant Morosov—that she wastotallyin control.

A knock on the door made her sit up straight. “Come in.”

Liz put her head around the door. “Are you okay?”

Ella found a smile from somewhere. “I’m good. What’s up?”

“Feehan’s called a progress meeting.” Liz made a face. “I’m not sure why because there isn’t any, but it makes him feel better.”

“I’ll just get some more coffee and I’ll be right there.” She heaved herself to her feet and joined Liz in the hallway.

“Are you sure you’re okay, hon?” Liz asked. “Alexei said you were shouting at Vadim earlier.”

“What’s new? You know how we are. I definitely need more coffee.”

“You can’t afford to alienate him, Ella,” Liz said quietly. “He’s important both to the case and to you.”

“So I gather.”

She went into the conference room carefully avoiding looking at the whiteboard, which still showed pictures of Christa and Laney. Unfortunately, it meant she found herself looking straight at Vadim, who still reverberated with fury. She put her coffee on the table and got out her cell. She’d play a few rounds of zombie golf while she waited for Feehan to show up.

Eventually Feehan called the meeting to order and asked for updates. Sam raised his hand and Feehan smiled at him.

“What do you have for us?”

“I’ve tracked down a couple more of the empaths that graduated with Ella.” Sam consulted his notes. “Both of them are dead.”

Ella winced.

“By what cause?” Alexei asked.

“Jennifer Barton took an overdose and Maria Cordova was in a fatal car accident.”

“Do you have any more details?”

Sam looked up. “What else do you want to know?”

“Were there any suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths? Police reports, autopsies, that kind of thing?” Alexei said patiently.

“I can find out.” Sam hesitated. “It does seem weird though, doesn’t it? All these empaths dying so young.”

“Tell me about it,” Ella said and then became aware that everyone was staring at her sympathetically. “But Sam has a point. The death rate for my particular graduating class does seem remarkably high, even for empaths.”

“Anything else?” Feehan looked around the table. Everyone shook their heads. “Well, keep looking, Sam. I’m sure we’re going to find something soon.”

Everyone except Sam and Ella stood up and started to leave. Ella looked over at Sam’s glum face. “What’s up?”

He heaved an exaggerated sigh. “I wanted to get home early today. It’s the weekend.”

---