two have your badges on you?” the agent challenged.
Pat nodded and glanced down at his jacket. Luckily he never entered this realm without a spell designed to fool human eyes into believing they had seen whatever identification he needed them to see. He might hate situations like this, but he was prepared for them.
“Let’s see them. Slowly. One at a time. You first,” Derrington told Pat.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Grey could scarcely believe his eyes. The badass woman of his dreams was here at another one of his crime scenes. It occurred to him that it might not be real. He might still be snoozing on the plane right now. He was certainly sleep deprived enough.
She had looked delectable in that thigh length couture she’d worn while kicking his ass. But she looked even more amazing in skin tight jeans, a black leather vest and boots.
Her presence was making it difficult for him to concentrate. And that was dangerous in his line of work. He narrowed his eyes on her companion and tried to focus.
The man kept one hand up as he slowly reached inside his jacket and pulled out a leather wallet, flipping it over so Grey could see. The badge blurred before his eyes for a moment, and he blinked.
He really needed to get to a hotel and get some sleep.
His vision cleared and the badge resolved into what he recognized as a PBPD shield beneath a card identifying the man as Patrick Sparrow.
He nodded, relaxing his guard. “Sorry about the weapon, Officer Sparrow. You can’t be too careful. Especially when you’re dealing with an unsub like this one.”
“No need to apologize, Agent. As I said, I know we’re not really supposed to be here.”
Grey holstered his gun and raised a brow at Scarlett. “Officer Thresher? I believe we’ve met,” he said with a lopsided grin.
Pat’s eyes widened in an admirable semblance of surprise. “Holy shite. You’re the FBI guy she attacked down in Largo?”
“Oh she told you about that, did she?” His curious gaze travelled back to Scarlett. “Why didn’t you identify yourself as a police officer the last time we met?”
Scarlett cleared her throat, trying not to appear as nervous as she felt. She was still reeling over seeing him again. Not to mention she had no idea what to do if he asked to see her badge. She didn’t know what kind of Seelie magic Pat had up his sleeve, but she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to be able to pull one out of her ass.
Pat nudged her and she realized Derrington was still waiting for her to respond. “Uh. I was at my brother’s wedding,” she said huskily. “I wasn’t on duty and I’d been drinking. And to be honest, I was mortified that I’d attacked an FBI agent. I just wanted to get out of there before there was any more trouble.”
The words flowed easily from her lips because they were mostly the truth. She silently thanked Pat for his quick thinking in setting up such an easy story for her to play along with.
“Do you do that a lot?” Grey asked with a dimpled grin.
“What? Drink?” Scarlett asked defensively.
Grey’s laughter was a rich, smooth sound that resonated in her core. “No. Get into trouble,” he clarified.
Scarlett realized he was teasing her and a slow warmth infused her as she drank in his smile and returned it with one of her own.
“I am trouble,” she returned softly.
“I don’t doubt that for a second.” Something flashed in his dark eyes that made her heart skip a beat. “And I definitely want you on my side the next time I’m in a fight.”
“You just name the time and place, Agent Derrington,” she replied.
“Please, call me Grey,” he requested.
“Grey,” she intoned, “I’m Scarlett.”
Jesus, it made him a little hard just to hear her musical brogue caress his name. Grey swore to himself. If she ever physically caressed him like that, he’d probably explode.
Pat watched as Scarlett flushed prettily beneath Derrington’s gaze. Well he’d be damned. She was actually flirting with a male—a human one. He’d have never believed it if he hadn’t seen it for himself.
And from what he’d seen of Derrington’s bio, the guy might just be perfect for Scarlett. Now how to keep the two of them together for a while?
Pat cleared his throat. “I don’t want to step on any toes,” he hedged, “but it’s obvious this case and the Largo one are serials. Otherwise the FBI wouldn’t be involved.”
Grey sighed and ran his hand over his skull trim. “I usually work with the county sheriffs instead of the local PD’s. But it’s no secret what kind of monster we’re dealing with here. And frankly, the more local cooperation we have, the easier it’s going to be to catch this guy.”
Pat smiled. “I’m real happy to hear you say that, man. Like I said, my girlfriend lives right up the street from here, and Scarlett’s brother and sister-in-law live less than a mile from the victim in Key Largo. We’ll do anything we can to help. This psycho is hitting a little too close to home for all of us.”
He frowned as if a thought had just come to him. “Hey, I don’t know where you’re bunking tonight, but can Scarlett and I buy you a drink before you head out?”
“I may not be the best company,” Grey warned. “I’ve had about three hours of sleep in the last three days.”
The FBI agent looked uncertain. But Pat could tell from the smile he flashed Scarlett that he didn’t want to refuse a drink with her no matter how tired he was.
“That’s rough,” Pat sympathized. “My girlfriend’s waiting for us to get back, and her penthouse is in the hotel just up the street. A drink there would be quick and we’ve got an idea about the case we’d like to bounce off of you. I promise we won’t keep you long.”
Grey glanced around the bedroom. That familiar herbal smell lingered in the air. It was driving him crazy that they hadn’t been able to identify it yet. But he couldn’t do anything about it tonight.
His flight had arrived too late for him to meet with the lead detective at the sheriff’s office. And he would probably be better off waiting until tomorrow to look at the scene with fresh eyes.
He was about to accept their offer when his phone rang. “Excuse me,” he said, leaving the room to take the call in private.
Scarlett waited until she heard Grey talking in a muffled voice from the other room, and then turned on Pat with a hiss.
“What the hell are you doing?” she demanded in a tight whisper. “First you swore we wouldn’t get involved with the human police, and then you go and offer to show him my badge?” she spat incredulously.
“Calm down,” Pat insisted in a low tone. “If he’d wanted to see your badge, my spell would have made sure he’d seen
