14

I pulled in and found the Volvo in the driveway. Shit. I jumped out of my car and pulled out my gun. I went through the open door and heard thumping upstairs. I went up quietly and stopped outside the door. The thumping continued. I inhaled then let the breath out slowly. I kicked the door open and saw a figure dressed in black about to hit Conya again. "Police, freeze!" I shouted.

He whirled and launched himself at me. I shot him but it only grazed his shoulder. At least now my team can't say I've never shot anyone before. Then he was on me. I twisted and got him off. We both stood and watched each other. He threw a punch but I caught it and twisted. Hard. His arm broke with a snap! He cried out but didn't go down. Not that I expected him to since he didn't go down when the bullet grazed him. Hell, he hadn't even made a sound! He went to sweep my legs out from under me but I jumped and tackled him. He drew his knee upward and the air left my lungs. While I was trying to breathe, he slammed my head into the ground which made me see stars. I grabbed his broken arm and twisted it. I know it's cruel but I don't care. I need to save Conya. He howled in pain and slammed my head into the ground again. I know I was bleeding from a gash in my head too. I heard sirens in the distance before he finally succeeded in knocking me out. I looked at Conya as the world faded into darkness.

When I came to, Conya was hovering above me. I groaned. My head was killing me. "Are you okay?" She asked.

I forced myself into a sitting position. My head seriously felt like it was going to explode. "Yeah, I'll just have a headache tomorrow." With some stitches thrown into the mix. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, thanks to you. That was Night Wolf, wasn't it?"

"Yes," I said as I leaned my head against the wall. I closed my eyes as I fought the urge to throw up. "I thought I had heard sirens before he knocked me out?" I muttered.

She sighed. "You did. It was an ambulance. They go down this street a lot to get where they're going. It scared Night Wolf though so he took off. Are you a cop?"

I opened my eyes. "I'm Detective Edward Zone. Night Wolf is the killer I'm after."

She nodded. "I thought he only killed kids?"

"Not anymore. He goes by heights. Five foot six was the next one and he only goes after brunettes."

"Oh."

I looked at my phone which was three feet away. It must have fallen out of my pocket while I was fighting Night Wolf. I really couldn't bring myself to move yet. I looked at Conya. "Could you grab my phone for me? I can't exactly move yet and I need to call this in."

Thirty minutes later, I was having my head sewn up while my husband paced outside the ambulance. I wouldn't let them take me to the hospital. "Jasp, I'm fine," I said for the third time.

He stopped. "Are you sure? Why didn't you bring anyone with you?" He said with both anger and concern in his voice.

Huh, I thought my team would be pissed but turns out Jasper is the one who's angry. "I didn't know he'd be there. Besides, he now has a broken arm and a graze from a bullet."

He glared. "You should have called for backup when you saw that car!"

Noah came over. "You should have but we found the bullet. It still has blood on it so we're sending it to the lab."

I nodded. "That will only help if he's in the system though."

"Yeah, but it's a huge step in the right direction."

"If we get a hit we can get a warrant and maybe send out a bolo," Amanda said as she came over.

The medic sighed. "I'd say you should go home but I have a feeling you wouldn't do that."

I smiled. "Nope. I have stuff I need to do." I got out of the ambulance. Though to be specific I was just going to send my team out then go home and rest. "How's Conya?" I asked Amanda.

"Fine. She only had bruises. Looks like you got the worst of it."

I snorted. "Better me than her. Though it was an ambulance passing by that saved us both."

"That's not how Conya sees it."

I sighed. "She's still his target. We need to put her in witness protection."

"I know. The boss is working on it."

"Good." I turned to Jasper. "At least another body wasn't added to your workload."

He glared. "You mean two bodies. One of which would have been my husband!"

"I'm fine, Jasp," I said tiredly while sending Amanda a look to leave us alone. She nodded and walked away.

"You almost died!"

"It's my job," I said looking him in the eye. "We both knew what this job entailed when I got started."

"You should have brought backup, Edward," he snapped.

"I know." I hugged him. "I only didn't bring anyone because I thought we had time. He caught me off guard. I won't let that happen again."

He hugged me back. "You better not or I'll kill you myself."

I grinned. "With what?"

He smirked. "Why ruin the surprise?"

I rolled my eyes. "I can see the headlines: ME KILLS HUSBAND FOR LETTING DOWN HIS GUARD," I said laughing at the thought of that happening.

Jasper laughed. "I'll make sure they use a good picture."

I chuckled. As long as it's not me in a tix."

"There goes that plan."

We both laughed. "Dono't worry. If you killed me, I'll haunt you," I said smiling.

He smiled. "Then I'll have to find something that keeps ghosts out."

I shook my head. "Of course you would."

Hilda came over. "Sir, Conya knew all the girls. She has pictures of them. She also gave us the name of the website she used to get in touch with Night Wolf. Noah said he'll look into it. She gave us her phone and laptop too."

I nodded and sighed. Back to work. "Good. I want you and Julian to start door-to-door. Amanda and Noah will deal with the electronics."

"Why will we be doing door-to-door when no one died?"

I felt a prick of frustration. Please, tell me she won't start questioning all my orders. "I want to know if anyone saw him leave or anything else. You don't always need a body to do door-to-door, Hilda."

She nodded. "I see, sir."

I sighed again. "You can call me Edward."

"I can?"

I shrugged. "Everyone on my team goes by their first names." A habit I won't stop because Amanda and Noah would both be Detective Tenor.

"Okay." She walked off.

Jasper turned to me. "What are you going to do?"

I smiled exhaustedly. "Take the rest of the day off."