Page 95 of Touched

Landing quickly, I look around. The remembered state of my apartment has me grimacing.

Shit. It was a mess before we left. What did they do to it once we were gone?

Hauling ass up the stairs, I groan at the now non-existent door and broken frame. Taking in the utter destruction inside, I sigh and quickly unlock my hidden gun safe, storing everything inside. Then, I jump into the shower and wash off the stench of death, smoke, and whatever remnants of magick flower potion that could possibly be on my person before grabbing clothes and calling an Uber. My truck is still hidden back in the woods, and I don’t want to risk trying to fly and tearing my shirt. It’s one of the only ones the damn Trahans didn’t shred.

If anyone asks, I’ll just say my truck is in the shop. It’s an antique. With how many times it’s broken down on me in this hot Louisiana heat, they’ll believe it.

Within fifteen minutes I’m forcing my legs to walk calmly through the door and face Lieutenant Antoine.

“LeBlanc! It’s about time that your sorry excuse of a fuckin’ detective decided to show up!” Lieutenant yells as he slams a case file down on top of my cluttered desk.

Straightening my back and squaring my shoulders, I approach him. “I’m sorry, LT. I’ve been working on the case, but some personal things came up and I had to go out of town yesterday. I was checking in on some leads on the brothers. I’m close to figuring out who it is they’re working for… or, were working for, I guess. You said they were murdered tonight?”

I pray he doesn’t see right through me and know that I already know they’re dead… one by my own hand.

How the hell would I explain to him that I was able to magickally shield myself so that they couldn’t see me? And then, used some ancient fucking flamethrower to torch their warehouse. Oh, and an ax and sword to decapitate two of the fuckers.

Don’t forget… specially created silver wolfsbane infused bullets to kill the other one. You know, because they’re fucking werewolf creatures.

He’d have me committed!

Walking toward his office without saying a word, I know I have no choice but to follow. He talks as he walks. “I just got a call from one of our officers. He responded to a 911 call about a fire at the port from Derek Trahan. When he, along with a few other officers,andthe fire department arrived, they found the place completely engulfed in flames. The Trahans’ warehouse was destroyed. The fire department has it mostly out, but upon entry, three bodies were discovered. Two were decapitated and the third was killed with a clean shot to the heart. We’re assuming them to be the three brothers. We’ll have to wait for official identification from the coroner. They’ll have to use dental records. But since it was one of them who called it in, and their vehicle is still parked at the port, I think it’s safe to assume it’s them.

“We’re switching gears. This is no longer an illegal dealings investigation. It’s now a murder investigation. Homicide is already on it. But since you were lead on their illegal dealings case, they wantyouon it, too. With their mile-long list of enemies, and all of your previous intel, we have a lot of work ahead of us.”

Uh… Homicide. Shit.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the FBI was also called in.

Murders of a crime family at the port…

Son of a bitch.

And now… that fucking family is also supernatural. Or I guess Gifted.

Shit!

“What do you need me to do?” I ask. My voice sounds calm as I watch him reach for his coat. He pulls his keys from the pocket.

“I need you to come with me down to the coroner’s office. We’re meeting Homicide there. We need to see if there’s any evidence we can collect from the bodies. And then, we’re making a list of names of people you’ll need to question.

“A substantial section of the port is severely damaged. The warehouse is a total loss. I imagine whoever they were smuggling things in for will be poking around sooner rather than later. They’ll want to see if there’s anything left they can salvage. So, we need to get men down there to stake it out first. See who’s coming and going. Narrow down our suspects.”

Fuck me…

There’s no way I’m getting out of here tonight.

Of course, Aeris doesn’t have a phone so I can’t call her to let her know I’m going to be longer than I thought. Even if she did have a phone, it’s highly unlikely that the cabin will have cell service way out there in the middle of the bayou. I honestly can’t believe I had it before. I just hope she does as I ask and stays put there so I know she’s safe. At least she has Cyrus and Devyn with her so she’s not alone.

Now that the Trahan brothers have been killed, I know word will travel to whoever they’re working for and they’re going to have their sights set on us. I need to try and figure out what it is we’re up against with these unknown Dark Fae. At least we were able to be prepared this time to defeat the Trahans, but I have no idea what is needed and to do to take on and defeat Dark-fucking-Fae.

One thing is certain… no amount ofhumanNew Orleans police will be able to go up against them. I don’t want to see men and women I’ve been working alongside for all these years be obliterated by these evil creatures.

It’s now my duty to keep not just Aeris safe, but my entire station, too.

Will our Kindred bond allow me to communicate with Aeris?

I at least have to try.

---