“Dee, we’ve talked about your eye-for-eye punishments before,” he murmured.
“Yeah, we talked about how they work. ”
Phones rang in the background. Jude caught Zane’s voice, the guy was talking to Pak. “Cut through the crap. Did you find anything we can use on this guy?”
Dee’s mouth tightened, just a bit, and her focus shifted back to Erin. “I found out you were working the biggest case of your career and all of a sudden, you seemed to lose your nerve.”
“What? I sure as hell didn’t. I’ve never lost—”
“Two missed court appearances. Five late arrivals. You didn’t have your witnesses ready, and when it came time to step up to the plate in the Trent case, you struck out.”
Dee could be a vicious fighter, one who went right for the jugular when a person least expected it.
Jude lifted his hand toward Erin because the lady looked—
“You don’t know me,” she snapped at Dee. “You get on your computer and you sneak around and you think you’re looking into someone’s life and you’re learning about them. Well, you’re wrong. I worked my ass off on that case. I did everything I could, but Trent had an in with Judge Harper. Court times kept changing, with no notice to me. Witnesses vanished, and even though I did my damned job, that bastard walked.”
Dee didn’t back down. He’d never seen the woman back down. “And when you were in the middle of this case, fighting to get that abuser locked up, that freak out there made first contact, didn’t he?”
“What?” Erin shook her head.
“I saw his pattern. The attacks on the people around you. When someone hurt you, pissed you off, or just got in your face, he attacked. This case was the deal breaker. You were fighting on your own, getting knocked around by the judge and the defense attorney—and that guy out there made his move…on you.”
Jude wrapped his fingers around Erin’s shoulder. “Is this when he made first contact?” Dee was the best research agent he’d ever met, and the best attacker he’d ever seen in a bar fight.
A nod. “Yeah, yeah. I-I was working three other cases at the same time, but the Trent case was the one eating me alive.”
Echoes of frustration. Anger.
Dee tapped her chin. “He found you on that case.” Her gaze drifted to Jude as she eased into her chair and leaned back.
Like the lady didn’t have a care. “Jude, I’d lay odds that if you went to that city, used your usual finesse, you’d be able find him through that case.”
The beast inside jerked on his leash. Hunt. “Oh, I’m sure I can finesse my way in Lillian.” Finesse had to be slang for biting and clawing his way to some answers. His shoulders rolled. “Looks like I’ll be taking a road trip.”
“You mean we will.” Erin’s determined voice.
Dee’s eyes widened. “Uh, civilians don’t normally go on hunts.”
Erin flashed her perfect smile, then punched down at Dee’s desk. Her claws plunged into the wood. “Not your normal civilian.”
“Dammit! ” The human glared at them, hands fisted on her hips. “New desk, Donovan, got that? I expect a new freaking desk! I will go to Pak with this, don’t think I won’t!”
Erin’s dainty hand lifted. The claws were gone. Nice control. “I’m going with you,” she told him.
Despite the little show she’d just given, he shook his head. Claws really weren’t going to do the trick on this one. “No.”
“I’m paying you. I go.”
He braced his legs apart and stared her down. “Twice before, I’ve had clients bitch to ride shotgun with me. The first guy wound up with two broken arms and a concussion.”
“’Cause hunts aren’t for civilians,” Dee chimed in.
Erin’s gaze didn’t waver.
“The second guy,” Jude continued, “died on me.”
Her lips parted.
“Lucky for him, I managed to bring the ass**le back.” But for that five minutes when the guy had lain lifeless, Jude had been nervous as all hell. A dead client didn’t pay.
“’Cause hunts aren’t for civilians,” the too-helpful Dee said again.
Erin’s nostrils flared. “I’m tired of standing on the sidelines and being afraid. Things are changing for me, now. I know that city. I’ve got connections that you don’t. I can help you.”
“You can get killed.” And if she slipped away from him, well, nervous as all hell, really wouldn’t be how he’d be describing the—
“And if I stay here, without you, what’s to say the bastard won’t make a try for me?”
“If he comes, I’ll be by your side.” Zane sauntered in, halting close to the now ravaged desk.
“Hell, no.” Erin’s hair whipped as she shook her head. “Not an option.”
“Look, I can explain about yesterday.”
“Not an option.” Her hand lifted toward him, palm flat. “And it’s not because of that bullshit yesterday. It’s because you can’t handle this guy.”
“Shot down,” Dee murmured and it looked like she was biting back a grin.
And Zane looked insulted. “The day I can’t handle a shifter is the day you can—”
“He’s a wolf.”
“—throw my ass in the grave. What? A wolf shifter? ” Not fear in his voice. More like shock.
Dee whistled. “I am so jealous. You get all the good kills, Jude.”
He slanted her a quick glance. The lady needed some therapy.
“What’s your power scale, demon?” Erin asked and her voice was loud. It seemed like the gloves were definitely off now.
Jude figured it was a good thing the office was pretty much deserted. Most of the agents were out on their own hunts.
Choking out a laugh, Dee shook her head. “You can’t ask a demon that. I mean, it’s like asking a man the size of his di—”
“High damn enough!” Zane cut through, face reddening.
But Erin’s lips curved down. “Doubt it. If the stories are true, a wolf shifter can take down a level ten demon. Are you really up for that?”
“Hell, yeah, I—”
“I’m going with Jude.” Her steely words sliced through the air. “So all this doesn’t really matter. My life, my choice.” Her eyes had begun to glow.