Keri Arthur - Embraced By Darkness

"Jodie Carr?" I asked, stopping beside her bed and digging out my badge.

"Yeah. What's it to you?"

I held my badge in front of her. "I'm here about Adrienne."

She finally looked at me again. "Why? What is she to you?"

The slight edge in her voice had my eyebrows rising, if only because it oddly seemed to hint at jealousy. "Her alpha has asked me to investigate her disappearance."

She snorted. "That bastard didn't give a damn about her, not as long as she obeyed his edicts and behaved like a girl should."

"So he had a suspicion you and Adrienne were lovers?"

She blinked, and for an instant, fear slithered across her face. Not that I blamed her. I'd spent many years afraid of Blake and his get.

"Why the fuck would you think something like that?"

"Because it's true? Few people would try to kill themselves just because they believed a friend was dead."

She looked away and didn't say anything.

"Look, her father thinks she's in serious trouble, so any information you can provide might just help bring her back."

"She won't ever come back."

"And why would you think that?"

"Because she's dead."

I blinked. "Her father doesn't seem to think so."

"Her father is a goddamn moron. He doesn't know Adrienne. He never has."

"He's a clairvoyant. That would give him—"

"Nothing," she spat. "Nothing compared to what I have."

"And that is?"

"Love." She closed her eyes. "She's dead. I can feel it."

The pain in her voice had me wanting to reach out and comfort her, but I had a strong feeling any such move would be rejected. "What story was Adrienne working on before she disappeared?"

"I'm not really sure. It was something to do with the club—something she saw there." Jodie shrugged. "She never really talked about her work much at home. That was our rule."

"What club arc we talking about?" Even though I'd already guessed the answer, I asked the question all the same. Better to get a sure answer than to be proved wrong later. "Mirror Image?"

She nodded.

"So they do allow humans and werewolves to intermingle sexually there?"

"Yeah. There's a no claws or violence rule, though. Anyone seen getting a little too heavy with a human gets thrown out." She looked at me coldly. "Don't tell me you're one of those wolves who believes a no-mingling-with-the-humans rule is safer for everyone?"

"I've seen what a werewolf in a sexual frenzy can do to another wolf. A human wouldn't last."

She snorted. "You misjudge the strength of humans."

"Or you're overestimating it."

If there was one inescapable fact in this world, it was that werewolves were stronger than humans. We might not be able to rip someone apart limb by limb, but we could rent and tear and brutalize. And if we were in the midst of moon fever, we might not even realize we were doing it until it was all too late.

Given that one inescapable fact, I was betting the humans who went into Mirror Image signed some type of waiver before they were allowed to enter. Letting humans and wolves intermingle in a sexually charged environment had to be asking for trouble. Especially during a moonrise.

Jodie didn't argue the point. Just looked away again.

I studied her for a moment, wondering just what Adrienne had seen in a woman who wasn't only human, but who was all delicate angles and bones, then asked, "Is the club monitored?"

"Heavily. Cameras and nonhuman bouncers everywhere."

With nonhuman bouncers, they didn't really need that many cameras. Most of us could scent trouble long before it started. But maybe the owners were just being cautious. Or maybe they got off on watching others have sex.

"Did you and Adrienne go there often?"

She sniffed. "It was one of the few places we could go and not be worried about who was watching. There's not many choices for those with human partners."

And for damn good reasons. "And you didn't notice anything odd or out of place during your time there?"

"No."

"When was the last time you saw Adrienne?"

"At the airport. She was going to Monitor Island to chase a lead."

"Don't suppose she mentioned what sort of lead?"

"No, but she was excited. She said it could make her career."

Or break it, as the case may be. "Did she contact you at all while she was away?"

"Every night. The last time she was a little deflated. I gathered she couldn't find anything good for her story." She paused, and took a shuddery breath. "I was supposed to pick her up from the airport, but I got held up in traffic. She wasn't there when I finally arrived, and I thought she'd gotten tired of waiting and caught a cab."

"But she never arrived home?"

She shook her head. "I reported her missing two days later."

"Why two days?"

"Because she's disappeared before, but only for a day or two. She usually comes home after she's blown off some steam."

I wouldn't have been surprised if Adrienne's past disappearances coincided with her more aggressive tendencies. A careful wolf might be able to curb her instincts most of the time, but violence was a part of our soul, and sometimes it just needed to come out.

"I don't suppose you remember what were you doing when Adrienne first started investigating the club?"

"You know she did a newspaper piece on it, don't you?" Yes.

"She hated doing that, you know. She preferred crime stuff, investigative reporting. She was good at it, too."

"Then why did she do the entertainment piece?"

"She had no choice. Her old boss retired, a new guy came in. He decided she was more suited to reporting entertainment than crime."

"I'm surprised she didn't quit if she felt that strongly about it."

"Oh, she was intending to, but she wanted to be sure she had another job to walk into first."

Then she was more sensible than me. There were times in the past I'd quit over jerk bosses, and had been left for weeks scrimping for a dollar to buy my next coffee. Of course, this was well before I joined the Directorate.

"So in the process of researching for the article, she discovered something that teased her instincts?"

"No. It actually happened after the article was published. The owners were pleased with what she wrote, and gave her an invitation into the Executive Room—which is a private dance area for special guests. We were coming out of there when we ran into someone coming out of the private room opposite." She paused, and blinked away the sudden spark of moisture in her eyes. "Adrienne had a talent that went beyond the pack's clairvoyance. She could sense things about people. Catch glimpses of their thoughts or their actions through touch. When she bumped into that man, she uncovered something that had her excited."

"You didn't ask what she discovered?"

She snorted softly "Of course I did. Wouldn't you? She just said that she'd hit the story jackpot, and would tell me more when she was certain."

"She obviously never did?"

"No."

"And you have no idea why Adrienne went to Monitor Island?" No.

"Did it involve the person she ran into at the club?"

"I told you, I don't know . Why do you keep asking me stupid questions when I've already told you I can't help you?"

Because I'm trying to find out what happened to her. Trying to prevent it from happening to anyone else . But I kept the words inside. It wasn't hard to guess that Jodie was speaking out of anguish more than any desire to be unhelpful.

"What plane was Adrienne supposed to arrive home on?" I'd need to check if she ever actually boarded it.

"A five PM Qantas flight."

"And there's nothing else you can tell me? Nothing she said or did that seemed odd to you?"

"Nothing at all." She looked at me then, eyes red rimmed and brimming with tears, "Just go away, and leave me alone."