"Getting our gear ready. I wanted to talk to you alone so, yep." She looked at the clock and then began to speak again. "And as much as I hate to, I have to go. Keep it close, Briar. It won't do you any good on a table when you are at the sink. It's small enough to fit in your lab pocket. Please, for my peace of mind?"
"I will," she said softly, picking it up again delicately. Slipping it into her pocket she looked to Lacey. "You should go before he comes looking for you. I'll send you the results of the autopsies to your tablet. When I have the identities I'll let you know as well."
"Thank you," Lacey murmured and left the woman. She hated to leave her but had to. When she caught up to Zhubin she pushed him into a supply closet and wrapped her arms around him to hold him tightly, shaking in reaction to what she had learned. Against his ear where only he could hear, she told him everything Briar had told her, including the name of the one who had harmed her.
Stroking her back, Zhubin rocked her in his arms, his entire body seemed to just wrap around hers, cradling her. "I'll take care of it, Lacey, no one will be the wiser, I swear it," he said, looking down into her eyes. "I promise, he'll never get near her again or anyone else for that matter. Ever."
"Thank you," she whispered with tears in her eyes. "I knew that you would, that's why I came to you. I trust you. I trust Ansell. No one else." Which was sad but so very, very true. "Is he?" she asked softly. "Mated to another? If so, how could he do that?"
"From what I know of him which isn't much, yes he's mated. But he doesn't like his mate and she hates him with a passion. I don't know why but I know that much. I'll do some digging and find out just what the hell is going on. In theory he shouldn't be able to be with another female but with someone that psychotic … " He gave a shrug.
"As long as you ensure that he never, ever touches another being in hate again I would be very thankful. Do not allow him to take away all that we have done, all that our people have gone through. I can't lose you before I even have you." Peace was such a delicate thing.
"You're not going to lose me or Ansell, little mate. I will be discreet and I will only talk to those I know will be as discreet. He won't be touching another living soul if I have anything to say about it. But in the meantime no discussing this, at all. You have a saying that seems fitting. Loose lips sink ships," he told her softly. "So no speaking of it, I will handle it all right?"
She took a moment and nodded. Breathing in, she licked her lips. "I trust you," she whispered. "I have always trusted you, as you very well know." She wanted to lean into him. It was so uncharacteristic of her but she wanted to receive comfort from him and that depressed her a little.
He pulled her into his arms, like he knew what she needed. His arms banded around her, one of his hands on her head, and he tucked her in closer. "How are you doing with all this, Lacey? It can't be easy knowing that one of my people hurt a friend of yours."
"I'm okay. I feel for Briar because she has a very, very long road of recovery ahead of her but she's a very strong woman and will pull back from it eventually. I just hate knowing that someone of your race could hurt an innocent. I never believed that any of you could do that and it's taking a great deal for me to handle that."
"You do know that I will never and have never harmed an innocent man, woman, or child, Lacey," he said softly. "This type of behavior seems more like that of a rogue. One of ours that is suffering delusions or having mental issues. Because of our added strength and other attributes it's very dangerous." He let out a sigh, his chest heaving and then depressing under her cheek. "We should go to the house. I need to call the Regent about this and we can also grab lunch and see where Ansell got to."
"I know that you haven't. I know that neither you nor Ansell would ever do anything that would endanger anyone. And that makes me feel remarkably calm and relaxed. You are good men, both of you. I love you for that even more than you can know. But for now it's time to be professional once more huh?" she asked with a smile.
"Sadly, yes," he said, drawing back from her. He cupped her face, his palms warm, as he stared down at her. "I love you as well, little mate," he said softly. With a light brush of his lips to hers he opened the door and stepped out. "Most of the evidence was destroyed, though the lab thinks they can salvage a few items. Unfortunately we will have a time to wait since they have to go at it carefully."
"We will take whatever time that we need. We will do whatever is necessary in order to ensure that we catch this asshole. We will do what it takes, because that's what we do. Right?" she asked happily.
"Of course it's what we do," he said with a smile. "Come on, let's get to the house. I need to report this and get things moving on the other end. Don't worry, my dad had contacts that can be trusted to keep everything low key. And whatever he finds he'll share so we can do our job on this end."
"That's a very good thing. It's good being you sometimes, huh?" she asked. She was happy that he had such a close tie to the Regents and all that, with his father and so on. "Let's get this over and done with, shall we?"
"On occasion it has been helpful, other times … " He fell silent. The look on his face told a different story before it cleared away. "For now let us hope it's for the good." He took the lead, moving ahead of her to the elevator, but stepped aside to let her into the empty car. Hitting the button for the main floor, Zhubin leaned back into a corner.
Chapter Eight
His day had gone from bad to hellish before he'd finally gotten the lead he needed. After the call from the Regent he'd spent time in one hole-in-the-wall after another. While he'd found that humans as a whole were rather accepting, there were many that just figured he and his were something to be eradicated. There were the holy groups figuring the influx of races was God's way of punishing them for being unfaithful. There were groups of rebels that figured if they killed enough of them off they'd leave Earth alone. Hell, there were even so-called followers or groupies, mainly women, who were making it their life's ambition to fuck everything non-human they could.
The fanatics, holy or otherwise, were easy enough to figure out. The groupies, though, could be twice as dangerous and you'd never see them coming through their words or actions. Humans were weird, plain and simple. Some days he questioned being amongst them. Others he didn't mind. But on a day like he'd just had, he wanted to kill them all and to hell with the ramifications. One thing that was constant was that humans were a pain in the ass.
Well, except for one or two. Lacey was one that he didn't mind now that she'd started to warm up and dropped the act. She was also his mate, a glowing reference for her as a human in his mind. She was also a good person. Oh, he knew she had moments where she could be as feral as any Luhpyne around but she also had moments where she seemed so vulnerable.
Walking out of the last bar on his list, Ansell scratched it off, reported in to AEDA headquarters and then moved onto the clubs. He was trying to be systematic about things. The AEDA knew he was currently on a job for the Regents which meant it overrode all AEDA directives. But they were also his backup and he'd assured his Captain that if he was needed they could call on him to step in and assist.
So far all he'd done was walk through noisy bars full of drunks and women trying to grope him in his search. Worse yet, he now had clubs, noisier and wilder than the bars, to go through. It was proving to be a long, long day. Moving to his vehicle, he keyed up his phone chip and called Zhubin to let him know that so far there'd been no luck, and that he was going to go another two hours and then stop over at the house.
Listening for a time, he hung up after a few more words. Lacey wanted to chat with him, which meant that she and Zhubin had obviously covered some of the basics. Ansell had to wonder, though, if his friend and brother in life had explained to her that unlike himself, Ansell was a much harder nut to crack emotionally. Zhubin knew everything about Ansell. But what he may have shared was still in the air. He'd have to talk to his friend before he had his chat with Lacey. Best to know what had and hadn't been said.