Full Moon Rising (Riley Jenson Guardian 1)

He glanced at me. "Alan Brown."

Who was Director Hunter's second-in-command, and yet another vampire I didn't like. "You think he was pressured into accepting Gautier?"

Jack glanced at the screen again. "They've found no matches for recreational drugs," he said, then added, "Right now, I'm not sure what to think."

Somehow, I doubted that. I'm sure he had lots of thoughts about what was going on - he just had no intention of sharing them with me just yet. I tapped my fingers against his desk. "What would anyone have to gain by getting Gautier accepted here? He's an utter bastard, but he's also our best guardian, and has hardly set a foot wrong work-wise."

"Everyone knows Gautier wants my job, and eventually, the director's job. Maybe that's the plan." The computer screen beeped again. "No response to known prescription drugs."

Geez, the lab boys weren't kidding when they said they'd get on it straightaway. Either they'd cleared all the analysis machines just for this, or they'd had nothing else to do

"I told you, it was just a reaction to the champagne."

"Maybe." He didn't sound convinced. "They're going to run through listed experimental drugs. Could take a while, though."

I shrugged, then added, "I doubt if Gautier would get the director's job. I think the old cow has plans of being in that seat for several centuries."

Amusement creased the corners of his eyes. "I know for a fact she has. Which leaves my job."

"But for all intents and purposes, you only oversee the guardian division. You're not the true power here, she is."

"True, but I have control over missions, and that alone might be all Gautier wants. The power to go after whom he pleases."

That thought sent a shiver down my spine. "Don't you dare leave, Jack."

"Believe me, I have no plans to do so."

"Good." I hesitated again, half-wondering if by even asking any more questions I was dragging myself further into Jack's world. "Did you ever discover if he has any kin?"

"No. He apparently came from Perth, but nobody there seems to remember him."

"And no one here thought that odd?"

"Apparently not."

But Jack had - and had done nothing except watch and wait. I wondered who else he was watching. "What about the shooter?"

"It appears he doesn't have a past beyond five years ago."

That raised my eyebrows. I mean, what were the chances of two almost identical people also sharing a lack of background? "What are the police saying? They automatically do DNA testing when the remains are unrecognizable, don't they?"

"They do, but they're not saying anything because I put a hush order on it."

"Why? Okay, he resembles Gautier and he shot me, but hell, werewolves are always getting shot by crazies."

"As I said before, I don't believe in coincidences. Especially when Gautier seemed to know about the bullet wound. Why else would he have touched your shoulder like that when, in all the time you've been here, he's barely done more than exchange insults from a distance?"

I blinked, remembering the watchfulness in Gautier's eyes. He had been looking for something. And though he was a vamp and could smell blood as easily as I breathed, the fact that I'd shifted shape to help the healing along then taken a shower meant there was no blood - fresh or otherwise - to smell. And barely healed wounds weren't visible in infrared. "It might have been dumb luck."

"Dumb luck has nothing to do with anything Gautier does. So the next questions are, why did the shooter resemble Gautier, how is he connected to Gautier, and why did he shoot you?"

I shrugged. "Maybe he just hates werewolves."

Yet that wolf had called me by name - and how had he known where I lived? With Rhoan and me both working for the Directorate, our apartment wasn't listed in the any of the phone directories. And it didn't make sense for Gautier to have given him the information. If Gautier wanted me dead, he'd do it himself - and with sadistic pleasure

"That doesn't explain the likeness," Jack said

No, it didn't. "So you think they could be related, despite the fact we can find nothing about either of them?"