03 - You Only Live Nine Times by E A Price Read Free Book Online Page B

had stirred something in him.  Not a competitive side, more like a yearning to give her a reason to stick around.  After all, if he just handed her the case he wouldn’t see her glorious round behind for dust, and a deep clutching in his chest told him that would be bad.
    So, yeah, early that morning – after a distinct lack of sleep – he had hit the gym, eaten a truly awful egg white omelet and had arrived early at the precinct to bend the ear of his captain.  The captain always came in early on a Tuesday.  He put in an appearance and then swanned off for his weekly golf game with his brother-in-law.  All Raf had to do was make some noises about the uproar that it would cause if people found out that their loved ones were in danger of being mutilated.  Raf hadn’t liked himself for it, but he had pushed the shifter hating angle.  It wasn’t hard for the captain to imagine that humans would be pissed to know that the SEA was investigating it and not the LLPD.  The captain was prejudiced enough to believe right off the bat that a supernatural creature had done this – he couldn’t fathom what a human would want with dead body parts and there was no way that Raf was going to explain it to him.  And the thought of angry complaints that the LLPD weren’t doing anything to protect their deceased loved ones… it was enough for the captain to push back his golf game, by an hour so that he could sort out the jurisdiction issue.
    Raf nodded his head at the captain who was pretending to be discussing something with Georgia, and trying his darnedest not to make it seem obvious that he was ogling Isis’ long legs.  “My captain’s insisting that I work this case.”
    “Indeed?  Well, why don’t we see what my boss has to say on the matter?” she murmured sweetly, before yelling louder than holy hell.  “Blondie!  What’s taking so long?”
    A rumbling grunt answered her followed by the heavy tread of someone big – very big .  Possibly the largest guy Raf had ever seen strode into the office, slipping his phone into his pocket.  The air was thick with fearful awe as the giant surveyed everyone.  One of their patrol officers, at six-foot-four, was nicknamed bigfoot, but he seemed average compared to this guy.  He had to top at least seven feet and was built like a pro wrestler.  Or two pro wrestlers - the guy had muscles to spare.  Sure enough, he did have blonde hair, although Raf doubted he would risk calling the hulk blondie any time soon.
    “Checking up on Erin again?” asked Isis of the giant.
    “Making sure she’s staying in the office,” he replied in a deep bass.  “She better not be out in the field.”
    “Awww, papa bear,” she cooed.  Raf in spite of his clear disadvantage of being a foot shorter, and he assumed at the very least a hundred pounds lighter, had the distinct urge to pound the giant right in his granite-like jaw for eliciting that cooing sound from Isis.  For some reason he didn’t like her cooing at any man.
    He snorted and then eyed Raf, dispassionately.  “Gunner Christiansen, SEA,” he rumbled.
    “Rafael Silva.”
    “My boss,” added Isis.  She looked over at the captain who was staring open-mouthed at Gunner.  “Hmmm, mine’s bigger than yours.”
    “It’s not the size that matters,” offered Raf, surprised at his own audacity.  Or maybe he was just keen to prove to Isis that the huge man didn’t bother him.  She didn’t seem to want to rein in her frisky behavior, so why should he?
    “Yes, all men would like to believe that,” she scoffed.
    “Isis,” growled Gunner.  “What has the director told you about taunting colleagues?”
    Isis tapped her bottom lip with a red-lacquered nail.  “That it’s fun and I should do it more often?”
    “The exact word he used was don’t.”  Gunner huffed and ate up the floor between him and captain with two large strides.  In a daze, the captain allowed his hand to be thoroughly shaken by the