The Darkest Kiss (Riley Jenson Guardian 6)

"Yes," Cole and I said together, then shared a grin. I have to say, I was liking this relaxed version of Cole a whole lot more than the sourpuss I'd first been introduced to months ago. Although maybe he was opening up more because we had gotten to know each other a bit better through our on-the-job sparring.

I continued on into the back storerooms. There had to be a small kitchen in the back somewhere, because I could smell coffee. And it wasn't top-shelf stuff, if that smell was anything to go by. Either that, or the percolator needed a good cleaning.

But underneath that almost burned aroma, other scents ran. Leather and man and, softer still, orange and jasmine.

And underneath them all, a scent that made my wolf soul twitch.

Cat.

It was faint, but it was there. Our murderess had definitely come this way, though the scent wasn't strong enough to suggest she was still here.

I came across the cop first - a tall man with blond hair leaning casually on one of the shelves. He straightened when I approached. "Directorate?"

I nodded, looking past him as I showed him my badge. Rollins was huddled on a kitchen chair, pale hands wrapped around a coffee mug. "Has Mr. Rollins said anything?"

The cop shook his head. "I just gave him a coffee to calm his nerves."

"Thanks." I slipped past him and walked over to Rollins. He didn't react, so I squatted down in front of him. "Mr. Rollins? I'm afraid I need to ask you some questions."

He looked up, brown eyes haunted. "I saw her, you know."

I raised my eyebrows. "You saw the woman who killed your boss?"

"Well, she was with him in the front window when I arrived, so yeah, I presume it was her that murdered Frank."

"Did she see you?"

He snorted. "Hell, yes. She paused and waved at me. There was blood smeared all over her hands and skin."

"She was naked, then?"

He nodded.

Not only a killer, but a brazen one, who seemingly didn't have any fears about getting caught. "Where were you?"

"Sorta standing in the middle of the road, a little shocked. I mean, it's not every day you see your boss and a babe making out in the window."

No, I guess not. "Were you the only one watching?"

"There was a drunk." He shrugged. "Most of the traffic kept zipping by. One of them almost ran me over. People in cars generally don't take much notice of what's going on around them."

And if they had glimpsed the naked woman, would they actually have believed it? Or would they have thought it a mannequin? "What happened then?"

"She jumped out of the display area and I presume she walked to the back of the shop. There were no lights on in the store, so I couldn't be sure, but she certainly didn't come out the front."

"Did you enter the shop?"

He shook his head. "I called the cops, and waited out the front. If she could kill Frank - and he wasn't responding to me banging on the window, so I had to presume he was dead - I wasn't taking the chance of confronting her alone. I mean, I'm half Frank's size."

Wise man. I waited while he took a sip of coffee, then asked, "Is there another exit besides the front door?"

He shook his head. "Only the window above us."

I looked up. The window in question was maybe one foot square in diameter, and wouldn't have been large enough for a woman or a cat the size of a tiger to get through. But the latch was undone and the woman had gone, so this had to be her exit point.

Which meant we had a shifter who could actually alter the size of her beast. Interesting.

"Did you see her well enough to give us a description of her?"