After taking several photos, Jace went to his kit and grabbed a big evidence bag and shoved the pills and the headless bear into it, sealing it shut.
“Good catch,” he commented.
Without looking up from her inspection of the other bear, she nodded. “Thanks.”
He could sense her pleasure at his words.
“How did you know?”
She shrugged. “Like I said, years of knowledge of how drug users and abusers function.”
She was lying. He could tell instantly. He didn’t know how he knew, but he knew. There was something about the way her eyes shifted and the sound of her heartbeat that gave her away. He wanted to press her, but decided this wasn’t the best time. It was obvious she had her secrets. And who was he to pry them out of her?
“Okay, what can the pills tell us? Anything?”
“The pills can’t, but I can. I know who the players are that deal blue pandas and where they deal.” She gave him a half smile. “I just need to talk to my contact at narc and confirm.”
He liked her mouth. Full and sensuous. Kissable. An urge to lean over and press his lips to hers settled over him. He felt drawn to her. Like a bee to delicious honey.
She caught his gaze and her cheeks reddened. He wondered if she could sense his attraction to her.
Instead of grabbing her and crushing his mouth to hers, he took a step back and nodded. “That’s cool. That’s more than we had before.”
Thankfully, Lyra took that moment to bounce into the room. “Guess what? The maid did clean the room a day ago. Samantha hasn’t been home since yesterday morning.”
“We need to retrace her steps,” Jace said as he moved back to the bed and picked up the gym bag. “I think this Hard Bodies gym is the perfect place to start. I bet she was there yesterday. With a shape like hers, she definitely worked out every day.”
“Anything else interesting?” Lyra asked as she continued to rummage through the victim’s dresser drawers.
“Tala found a bag of ecstasy in one of the vic’s stuffed bears,” Jace informed her.
Lyra glanced over her shoulder at Tala and smiled. “Wow, you’re a regular little police dog, aren’t you?”
“Why would you say that?” Jace and Tala demanded in unison.
Lyra glanced from Tala to Jace then back to Tala, with her eyebrow arched in obvious curiosity. “Ah, no offense. I meant it as a compliment, as Jace knows very well.” She trained her intense gaze onto Jace.
He knew she was probing him and the situation. There was that sibling thing in play. The witch knew him inside and out. By the twitch of her lips, she could probably sense his growing attraction to Tala. If Lyra hadn’t sensed it before, his outburst in Tala’s defense had just made it clear.
He had to watch himself. If he wasn’t careful he was going to start marking his territory. He wondered if Tala had any idea how lycans worked. If she did, she’d be running for the hills and he would have no choice but to chase her.
Tala shook her head. “No offense taken. The comment just took me off guard. I’m not usually compared to a dog.”
“You’re lucky. I get it all the time,” Jace scoffed.
Lyra started to laugh. And it wasn’t long before Tala’s resolve broke and she was laughing, too. Jace looked from one woman to the other and couldn’t help the laughter from bubbling up to the surface, either.
In a matter of minutes, the three of them were doubled over in laughter. Tears streamed down Lyra’s face.
Jace’s comment hadn’t been that funny, but it certainly relieved the growing tension in the room and between the three of them. Something that had definitely needed to be alleviated before it got too serious.
When their laughter had died, Jace straightened and ran a hand over his mouth. “Okay, let’s finish up this scene here and go on over to the gym to see what we can dig up.” He took out his cell phone. “I’ll call Caine to let him know what we’re doing, see what he thinks. But I have a feeling we’re on the right trail.”
As he dialed, Jace locked eyes with Tala. She was staring at him, the green in her eyes seeming to glow. If he didn’t know better, he’d say she was tagging him, letting him know that she was interested in having him court her.
The only thing was, it was a purely lycan thing to do.
Chapter 9