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"Not just about Burrows" Jude had coency "It’s about Erin"

"Our ADA is muchhis fingers beneath his chin "Isn’t she, Jude?"

No shifter senses, but Pak always see about the Other

"Gus is sure she’s not demon, and I don’t take her for a witch" Pak’s black stare didn’t leave Jude’s face "You stayed with her in a hotel last night Does that mean she’s one of yours?"

Mine If only "It ot an asshole stalking her He’s Other Last night, he left a bloody e on her wall"

"I know"

Of course he did "She needs protection, the kind of protection the cops can’t give her"

A slow nod "But we can"

Dauy" Well, mostly he just wanted to kill him "Give me Daniels and Wynter" They were the best, well, after hiency was his baby If there were superiors to hiht even a whisper of their naents, he’d need Pak’s go-ahead

And if he didn’t get permission--screw it He’d find another way to protect Erin and to nab the bastard

"All right" Pak’s long, bony fingers reached for the phone The speaker clicked on and he ordered, "Send in Dee and Zane"

Yes

Normally, Jude hunted alone He liked it that way But this time, he wanted extra eyes Not eyes for his own back, but for Erin The better to keep her safe

Pak rose frohtened his jacket "Careful, shifter If you let the case get personal, you could find yourself in dangerous waters"

Too late He watched silently as Pak left the room When the door shut, he muttered, "It’s already personal"

One beat of time Two, then…

The door shoved open Dee ca fast "Hey, Jude! What’s up?"

Zane strolled in after her The guy always sees at a stroll When the door shut behind hiaze drifted between theht Watch

Dee Ms Sandra Dee Daniels But if any foolher Sandra Dee, she kicked his ass

Dee was small but deadly She could track a man across three states and barely break a sweat

And Zane Wynter Tall and lean, the guy kne to hunt and how to catch prey Dark hair, green eyes--a lie that, because Jude knew the cagey bastard really had de supernatural killers The guy loved playing on the dark side and playing with his prey

Dee stared, one golden brow arched "This got anything to do with all the action that went down at the ADA’s place last night?"

Noith Pak, Jude never knehere the guy got his info But with Dee, he knew the source Tony told that woman too much Jude was about twenty percent sure the two of them had been lovers at one ti beneath hihed "The neoman--Jude’s lady"

"She’s not mine" Yet

"Huh" Zane’s lips curved down "She huuy preferred to hunt Other, and he had a real deadly hunger for the deuy liked to kill his own Whatever Not Jude’s issue

Erin was his issue "The fuckup who is after her isn’t" Missed you

Zane’s gaze snapped to hiotten the deht?" Dee asked, rubbing a hand over the back of her neck

"Erin’s got a stalker Souy tracked her to a nen?" Zane whistled "Persistent, I’ll give hiive hi onto the conference table "Criuy broke in, wrote a h the folder and picked out the ie of the words MISSED YOU "Anihtened around the photo "This asshole a vaet to her, every time One day, that could come back to bite her in the ass

"No, a shifter" He rubbed his thumb across the scar on his lip After a moment, he dropped his hand and said, "Least that’s what Erin thinks"

"She’s seen him?" Zane jumped on that

Now Jude hesitated "The lady says no, but…" But he didn’t believe her

And he didn’t trust her, either

You don’t know ao carefully on this one, okay?" These two knew the score, and they understood what he was saying and what he wasn’t

"Where do you want to start?" Dee asked

"With Erin" Because everything was about her "We need to dig into her past--"

"And tear her life apart" Froht "Yeah Yeah, we do, but only her past life" The lady had worked hard for a new start, and he didn’t want her secrets spread "Don’t talk with anyone she works with yet Let’s just find out everything we can about Erin before she cae"

Flawed

He’d find out exactly what she’d meant by that

And he’d stop the asshole on her trail, too

"Bail is set for the defendant at two hundred thousand dollars"

"Your Honor!" Erin jue to Lorenzo Coleuy a ticket out of town? "The defendant is a flight risk!"

"He’s a pillar of the community," Lee Givens, the snake of a defense attorney fired, on his feet now, too "Despite the ADA’s attempt to slander h for an indictood old Lorenzo was a definite leader The guy had been running his operation for years, but the vice cops had finally gotten lucky and busted his ass when there had been a shit load of cocaine stocked in the back of his office

And the judge wanted to let hirand bail?

First Burrows, now this guy Were the judges insane? She’d had one judge aluy had been a nightmare for her in the courtroom Every time she’d been forced to appear before hiuy would do soh for a conviction!" Lee’s face flushed "My client alk on this, he will--"

The gavel slaavel at the defendant "Surrender your passport, Mr

Cole, but…"Your Honor--"

"Bail is set at two hundred thousand" Another hit of that gavel "We’re done here, Ms Jeronore the throbbing in her te, and with all the hell that had happened last night, she hadn’t gotten ht then

She grabbed her briefcase and shoved her files and notes inside She’d snag lunch from one of the vendors outside, then call Jude and see what he’d found out about the blood at her house

With one hand, she pushed open the courtroouard outside and then--