Avenging Angel (The Fallen #4)(25)

Overreacted? The dude needed to try again. “You shot her.” That fact still pissed him off. Tanner kept his hands down. The better not to punch the jerk again. Breaking in a new partner sucked. Especially when the guy was human, and Tanner had to constantly watch his step with the fellow.

“She was a suspected killer,” Jonathan defended himself. “Coming at me with a weapon—”

“A table leg.” The anger broke through his voice. “She had a table leg, not a gun. We could have taken her down without lethal force.”

“Maybe.” Jonathan’s shoulders straightened. “If she’d been human.”

Oh, the f*ck, no. The guy knew? With an effort, Tanner kept his face blank.

“Since she wasn’t human, since I’d dealt with her kind before, I knew we’d both be safer if I took the shot.” Jonathan rubbed his jaw. “I figured the punch and a mild concussion were worth saving our asses.”

You didn’t save us. Tanner kept his voice mild, yanking back the anger now. “Uh, partner, I think you might have hit your head harder than anyone thought when you fell. Have you, um, been talking to the department shrink about the non-humans out there?”

Jonathan’s lips tightened. “Her body vanished from the morgue. The doctor who was treating her? He’s vanished, too.”

No, Cody had just headed back to his home in the swamp. He’d done his job and gone back to his life.

“They just misplaced her,” Tanner said, and he strode toward the front of the house. Time to get this guy off his property. “Bodies don’t just vanish. They put the wrong toe tag on her. She’ll turn up.” A story he’d used before. And eventually, “Marna Smith’s” remains would turn up. The ashes they were gonna use for her should be ready any day.

Only, Jonathan didn’t seem to be buying his story. “Why are you pretending? I know about you.” The guy was following him. Good.

Tanner just kept walking. It figured he’d get partnered up with the one human cop who thought he knew the score in New Orleans. Keeping his voice bland, Tanner said, “You know I’m a cop, big deal. That’s pretty obvious to all the uniforms at the precinct.”

“I know you’re a shifter.”

Tanner laughed and tossed a glance over his shoulder. “A what? Man, you’re crazy.”

“Why do you think I asked to be partnered with you? I. Know.”

They were at the front of the house now. Tanner pointed toward the street and the waiting black truck. “I think you need to go home and have yourself a real, nice long sleep. When you wake up”—he offered a smile, one he knew held a hard edge—“I bet the monsters will be all gone.”

Jonathan didn’t move. Sighing, Tanner looked at him, and he found the human staring up at the second floor of the house. At the open window.

“Time for you to leave,” Tanner gritted. He’d about exhausted his quota of friendliness for the month.

Jonathan continued to look up at that window. Fine. Tanner would give the guy some help. Tanner slapped his hand down on Jonathan’s shoulder. “This way.” He pushed him toward the truck.

Jonathan’s lips thinned, but he didn’t fight, not anymore. He climbed into the truck. Cranked the engine, then asked, “Don’t you want me to tell you . . . how I know about you?”

“Since you’re spouting bullshit, I don’t really—”

“I saw you shift. Two years ago, way back on the Highland case.”

Tanner remembered that case. Like he’d ever forget it. The husband had flipped out on his wife. Trapped her and the kids inside the house. Set the whole place on fire around them. The flames had been so high that the cops at the scene hadn’t been able to get inside the home. The fire trucks had been too far away, and they’d all been afraid that Thomas Highland would kill his family before help could arrive.

So Tanner hadn’t waited for help. He’d gone behind the house. Shifted, and jumped right over those flames. He’d thought no one had seen him. He’d been so careful.

Not careful enough.

“You did a pretty good job of setting the scene. The wife and kids were hysterical, and with all the smoke, they didn’t really even know what they saw,” Jonathan said as his fingers drummed on the steering wheel. “And you sliced the perp’s throat wide open.”

Claws were good for that task.

“Then you put the guy’s knife in his hand, to make sure it looked like he’d offed himself.”

Tanner just shook his head. “That’s a real good imagination you’ve got there—”

“I saw you. I saw it all.” Jonathan’s fingers stopped tapping. “And I’ve kept your secret all this time. So cut the crap, man, and start dealing straight with me.” The engine revved. “We both know the hell that’s hiding in this town. I can help you, but you gotta start trusting me.”

Then Jonathan was gone. Racing away with a flash of his taillights and a roar of his engine.

Tanner waited until he was sure that the guy was good and gone; then he headed back for the house. He’d have to deal with his partner later, no getting around that, but for now, he had something more important waiting.

Someone.

Once inside, he strode up the stairs. “Marna!” The house was tomb quiet. Her scent hung lightly in the air.