Hotter After Midnight (Midnight 1)

Then her focus shifted to his neck, to the neck that had been ripped wide open.

“I-I need to see Captain McNeal.” She rose to her feet, swaying for a moment.

Is the guy human? His teeth snapped together as he bit back the question. It was his damn case. He needed as much information as he could get, and he didn’t want the doc and the captain keeping him in the dark.

He had a killer to find, and whether the guy was just a crazy-ass human or something more, he needed all the information about the perp he could get.

He lifted his hand, motioned for McNeal, and watched as his captain hurried across the room.

“Ah, Colin, can you excuse us for a minute?” He reached for Emily’s arm.

Colin stepped in front of him, effectively blocking his move. “I wanna hear what she’s got to say.” His eyes met McNeal’s.

A muscle flexed along McNeal’s jaw. “I’ll let you know the doctor’s opinion—”

Not good enough.

Emily pushed past him, stopped beside the captain.

Colin slanted a quick glance at her, then said, “I wanna know what the Monster Doctor thinks.”

She jerked, a slight but telling movement.

So did the captain.

McNeal’s eyes narrowed. “How much do you know?”

“Enough.” Most folks didn’t know about the creatures that lived right next to the humans, didn’t know about the dangerous world that existed in the shadows.

People thought monsters lived in horror movies. Thought that life was about birthday parties, Christmas trees, and summer vacations.

But he knew better. Hell, he’d lived most of his life in the darkness that everyone else feared. He knew the smell of evil, had seen firsthand just how perverted the world could be.

Yeah, he knew about the monsters.

After all, he was one of them.

McNeal glanced around at the other cops. At least five other officers—three men, two women—were in the room. He jerked his thumb toward the kitchen.

Emily nodded her understanding and led the way to the white swinging door.

No cops were inside. The kitchen had already been cleared.

McNeal waited until the door swung shut behind Colin, then he growled, “This doesn’t go past the three of us, got that, Gyth?”

Colin nodded.

“Good.” McNeal leveled his stare at Emily. “Well?”

“He was human.”

A grunt. “Good. At least I don’t have to worry about the ME finding two hearts inside the guy….” He blew out a hard breath.

“After a couple of times, those explanations get harder to make.”

Yeah, he just bet they did. Colin kept his attention on Emily. “So, Doc, any ideas about what might have done that to him?”

She nibbled her lower lip for a moment, then said, “It could have been an animal attack, maybe a dog—”

But the captain was shaking his head. “The owner of the house has one of those fancy security systems with cameras trained on the doors. We’ve got a picture of the perp—a guy in a black hood who was smart enough to keep his damn face hidden—and there’s no animal with him.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed.

“So what do you think, Doc?” Colin pressed. “What kind of thing could have done this?”

Her head cocked to the side and she studied him with that too-knowing gaze of hers. “Well, Detective,” she finally murmured, “the way I figure it, there are three prime suspects.”

He didn’t speak, just waited for her.

She held up one finger. “A vampire.”

A second finger. “A demon.”

Third finger. “Or”—she stared straight into his eyes—“a shifter.”

“A shifter?” McNeal whistled softly. “What kind of shifter would do that?”

Her shoulders lifted in a faint shrug. “A bear. A panther, any kind of wildcat really, or…a wolf.” Her green eyes were still on him.

Watching, weighing.

Judging.

With an effort, Colin managed not to squirm.

McNeal made a faint hmmming sound. “Is there any way to tell for certain?”

“The ME might be able to tell if it’s a shifter.” She pulled off her glasses, polished them absently on her shirt.

Colin blinked. Oh, he liked her without the glasses. She looked softer, sweeter, like—

“He can look for animal hairs. Compare the radius of the bite marks to let us know what we’re looking at.”

Colin raised his brows, impressed. The doc might specialize in mind games, but she knew a bit of forensics too.

Her gaze drifted to the white door that stood between them and the den, between them and the body. “There is so much rage here,” she whispered softly. “I can feel the echoes.”

And just how the hell could she do that?

The doc was a bigger mystery, and a hell of a bigger threat to him, than he’d originally thought.

“You have to find this guy.” She swallowed, straightened her shoulders and seemed to shake off a heavy weight. “Before he does this again.”

Colin stiffened. “Again?” He repeated softly. So far, they just had one body. Sure, the killer had obviously been in a fury—there was blood everywhere, pooled near the victim, smeared on the walls, the furniture, but that didn’t mean they were dealing with a serial—

“He’ll do it again.” She sounded absolutely certain.

McNeal swore beneath his breath. “You sure?”

“Yes.”

Colin stepped toward her, stepped right in front of her so that barely an inch separated them. “And how do you know that?”

“Because now he’s gotten a taste for the kill.” Her gaze held his. Her breath blew lightly across his skin. Her scent, the light, fragrant scent of roses, filled the air around him. “Once a creature like this gets a taste, there’s no going back.”

The good doctor sure as hell sounded like she knew what she was talking about. But he hoped, hoped with every fiber of his being, that she was wrong.

Because if one of his kind really was off on a killing spree, then the humans were screwed.

Chapter 2

She couldn’t get the dead man out of her head.

Emily stared blankly at the flickering TV screen, a bowl of Dutch chocolate ice cream in her lap, a spoon gripped tightly in her fist.

She’d left the crime scene long ago. Been driven back to her office by one of the patrolmen on duty. She’d thanked the fellow, very politely, then gotten into her car and traveled home. And she’d been shaking the whole time.