Hotter After Midnight (Midnight 1)

McNeal wrapped his hands around the arms of the chair. Leaned in close. “I gave you an order, Smith. It’s not personal, but it sure as hell will be if you don’t start doing exactly what I say on this case.” He stared into her eyes a heartbeat of time, then softly said,

“Are we clear now?”

“Oh yeah, Captain, we’re clear.” The Arctic had to be warmer than she was right then.

McNeal sighed and stepped back. “All of you, in my office, now.”

Brooks and Smith looked surprised by the order as they moved to obey, but Colin knew what McNeal was thinking. If there was anything abnormal—as in Other abnormal—he didn’t want the rest of the station hearing about it then.

A few moments later, McNeal closed the door behind them with a soft click. “I’ll take the file.”

Brooks tossed it to him. McNeal flipped it open, read quickly, a furrow appearing between his eyes. “Unrecognizable? Not human? What the hell? Did the evidence get contaminated?”

Smith stiffened. Her entire body seemed to turn to stone before Colin’s eyes. “My evidence is good.”

Yeah, and he and McNeal both knew it.

McNeal scanned the file again. “Canis lupus—what is that, some kind of dog?”

“No,” Smith told him, biting out the word. “It’s a wolf, a gray wolf.”

“You’re saying a gray wolf attacked Myers?” Brooks asked, peering over McNeal’s shoulder to get a better look at the file.

“No, I’m not saying that.” She began to pace in front of them. “The analysis couldn’t match up the hair that I found on Myers, not completely.”

Not completely. Colin knew what was coming, but he knew he had to play it clueless. “Look, either the hair is a wolf’s or it isn’t, what are you—”

“It matches with part of a gray wolf’s DNA, but—” She licked her lips, glanced at each of them quickly. “It also has unknown DNA.”

“Ah, unknown?” Brooks shook his head. “Unknown as in—”

“Not human. Not animal. But some sort of really strange combination of both.”

Shifter. Colin coughed delicately, caught McNeal’s eye. “Umm, Smith, are you telling us that a werewolf attacked Myers?” Cause, yeah, that was pretty much what had happened.

She stopped pacing, stood in front of McNeal’s desk, lifted her hands, and said, “Honestly, Gyth, I don’t know what the hell I’m telling you. I’ve never seen anything like this before, and I just—I don’t have an answer for you.”

“Maybe the hair was planted,” Brooks suggested, pursing his lips, “to throw us off.”

“There were claw marks on the body. I called in an animal specialist. The marks match up with a wolf’s.”

McNeal snapped the file closed. Tossed it onto his desk. “I’m not going to the DA and telling him that a werewolf killed Myers.”

Smith opened her mouth, then shook her head.

Uh-oh. “What is it, Smith?” She was holding back. He’d seen that expression on her face before.

“Not just Myers,” she muttered. “The reporter too. I found more of the hairs on her.”

“What in the hell is going on here?” Brooks demanded. “There is no way some rabid wolfman is going around the city killing people!”

Actually, that was exactly what was happening. And now they had proof. Definitive proof.

Unfortunately, it was proof that would never make it into a courtroom.

“The evidence has to be compromised,” McNeal said flatly. “Either it was tampered with at the crime scene or it was exposed here—but it’s no good to us.”

“No, my evidence is—”

“Compromised. Now, we need to put a lid on this thing before word leaks to the press that our evidence in this case has been tainted.”

Smith sucked in a sharp breath.

McNeal stabbed a finger in the air. “Now I want you three to get to work and find me evidence that I can use.” He glared at them, then snarled, “Now! Go! ”

Smith threw him a look of disdain before she turned on her heel and marched out. Brooks followed her, and Colin trailed on their heels.

“Gyth, wait.”

Colin stopped at the door. His hand reached out, pushed the thin, wooden door shut. He glanced back. McNeal was feeding the file into his shredder. He arched a brow at the captain. “There are gonna be other copies of that, you know.”

“I’ll take care of them.” He exhaled heavily and sank into his chair. “I need you to find this bastard, Detective. I can’t have him terrifying my city and leaving a trail of dead humans in his wake.”

“Yes, sir.” But it was a hell of a lot easier said than done.

“Find him, Gyth,” McNeal repeated, “and do whatever you have to do, but stop the bastard. ”

Just after five that evening, Emily arrived at the station, her palms damp with sweat and her heart racing.

Gyth had called her twenty minutes ago. They had a suspect in custody for the break-in at her place. A kid who’d been busted for shoplifting and who just happened to have her address scribbled down in his wallet.

Talk about your lucky breaks.

Her gaze scanned the station. She didn’t see Colin. Where was—

“Afternoon, Dr. Drake.”

Brooks. Emily turned around, didn’t bother forcing a smile. “Brooks.” Her heart raced even faster. “Tell me, did you have a nice morning investigating me?”

He met her stare levelly. “I’m working on a murder.”

Like she didn’t know that.

“I have to follow every lead. Check out all suspects.”

“And is that what I am now? A suspect?”

“Not anymore. Colin and I talked to your mother, her neighbors, they all backed up—”

“C-Colin talked to my mother?” She’d known, of course, that he’d have to go with Brooks to follow up on her alibi. She understood that he was doing his job. Hell, if their positions were reversed, she’d have done the same thing. And she even understood why Brooks had originally suspected her. She hated the guy’s attitude, but she wasn’t stupid. She understood.

But the sudden image of Colin talking to her mother. Oh no. That couldn’t have gone well.

A faint smile curved his lips. “Don’t worry. They just talked about the case.”

Too late. She was already worried. “Where is Colin? He called me about a suspect in the break-in.”