The Rogue Hunter's Mate [Paranormal Protection Unit 10] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Honor James Page B

the men and women and served them up to his college buddies. Fucking sick,” the detective said. “Tried to kill his sister when she came home early. Thankfully she got away but she was still hurt pretty badly when he threw the blade at her.” He shook his head and added, “Come on. I will introduce you to Ms. Parker. Just be careful. She’s shaken very badly right now.”
    Stunned for a moment at the name, Z followed the detective to the elevator. It had to be a coincidence. But he knew it wasn’t. Fucking people were still messing with his life. Now it was Quincy and Talon. He’d be having words with them later. Walking to the security office, he waited as the detective cleared him and they walked inside. Her scent hit him in the gut, hard. Fucking hell. Moving behind the other man slightly Zaidu waited as Crumbs got Beth’s attention and went to introduce the two of them.
    Bethany looked up and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him. “Zaidu?” she whispered and watched the man. “Why are you here?” she asked softly and looked to the detective.
    “This is Special Agent Zaidu Metzger. He has some questions to ask you, Ms. Parker. He needs to clear this up and make sure that this isn’t a part of a serial that he’s looking for. Are you all right with answering his questions?” Detective Crumbs asked softly, his very demeanor changing when he was around the woman.
    Ignoring the possessive manner of the detective, Z just looked at Bethany. She was pale, looked shaken but well. She wasn’t his concern no matter what anyone thought and if the detective wanted her, better for her. “We heard about the incident in the garage and wanted to ensure it wasn’t something tied to one of our cases,” he explained to her quietly. All he said was the absolute truth. It was just a version of the truth as they all knew it. “I just need to ask a couple of questions if you’re up for it so I can get this filed away one way or another.”
    Bethany nodded. “All right. Sure. Whatever questions you have I will answer them.” She looked to the detective and the officers. “Would you mind giving us a few moments? That way I can answer his questions as quickly as possible.”
    The detective hesitated but nodded. “We will be just outside the door.” He looked to Zaidu. “She’s all yours.” Waving the officer out, he followed her, closing the door softly behind him.
    Bethany frowned as she looked to Zaidu now. “We know who did this and believe me, he’s a monster, but he’s not the kind that you normally deal with, Zaidu.”
    “So Detective Crumbs explained,” he told her quietly. “Q is verifying everything now. We had to be sure. It is unfortunately reminiscent of another case we have open still. Unfortunately, with the cover I have to use on occasion, even if the cases are not related I still have to go through the motions.” He shot a look to the door and shook his head. “He’s quite interested in you,” he said to her. He could hear the detective’s heartbeat and breathing and knew the man was literally plastered to the door. “He’s out there waiting for any excuse to come in to rescue you.”
    Bethany rolled her eyes. “I made it clear to him a couple of years ago when Brian came up with another excuse to try to get his sentence overturned that I’m not interested,” she admitted. “I think I’m one of those women who were just simply born to be alone.” There was a sadness when she said those words, words that hinted at failure and pain. “But such is life.” She shrugged a shoulder and looked to him. “According to what I’ve overheard Brian killed three guards and escaped. So at least now you know that this is fully a human matter, sadly.”
    “I seriously doubt you were born to be alone.” Just not his. “And it is a human matter, but I have to ask why you say ‘sadly’?” It was an odd thing to say and it set off his radar that there was something more going on that he