Page 6 of Hell’s Half Acre

“Good. We have a body at Old Fort Jackson. I have no details, other than Savannah’s finest wants y’all to go take a look at it.”

She had no idea where that was, but Luke had been in Savannah a lot longer and seemed to know every part of the small city. “Given that Luke is turning the car around, I’m going to say that we’re on our way.”

Bernadette laughed. “Give cutie pie a big ogle for me when he gets out of that car.” She made a purring sound.

Sorcha screwed up her face. She was glad Bernadette couldn’t see her expression. The last thing she’d ever want to do was offend her new friend and coworker.

For all her outrageous behavior, their second-in-command was a brilliant detective whose past was as guarded as Sorcha’s. She could respect that. And the more she knew about the affable lieutenant, the more Sorcha adored her.

Clearing her throat, she glanced over at Luke. He hung up his phone before she spoke to Bernadette again. “You know, I think he can hear you.”

“Y’all are in a moving convertible. I doubt it. Even if he does, it’s not like he doesn’t know I covet that luscious body. Pretty sure everyone wants a piece of that.”

Bernadette wasn’t wrong. From what Sorcha had seen, fending off hands and ogles was Luke’s natural state of being. Oddly enough, it never seemed to bother him.

Being half hellhound, he held an unnatural allure that caught everyone’s attention. Even she had a hard time resisting him at times.

But Luke was her partner. She would respect him as such, and they’d never be anything more than friends. If only he’d quit flashing that sexy smile at her.

Bernadette was right. Luke was irresistible.

“Tell Lieutenant Horndog that she can ogle my ass later. We have a crime scene to explore.”

“What?!” Bernadette sounded offended, but Sorcha knew better. It took a lot to offend their lieutenant.

“I think that’s Luke’s way of telling me to get off the phone.”

Bernadette snorted. “All right. You two be careful and let me know what’s going on. I don’t like being in the dark.”

Neither did Sorcha. She put her phone down and grabbed her paperback-sized reMarkable tablet from her purse. Turning it on, she pulled up an Infernal Affairs report form and began filling it out.

Luke shook his head. “You’re not really starting your paperwork already…are you?”

“Yeah. Not like I won’t have to do it later.”

“You’re such a suck-up.”

“With you as my partner, someone has to be. Did you ever finish your report from our first case?”

“No. What was I supposed to say? The fairy queen wanted to make me her boy toy, and upset the old world order? I doubt Reyes wants that in print. I definitely don’t want anyone to see it and put me away.”

He had a point. Trying to explain to anyone that they’d solved a paranormal case involving a fey queen, raven mockers, and vampires would stretch what tiny little credibility their agency had.

Sadly, Infernal Affairs was pretty much the laughingstock of all “legitimate” agencies who had no idea what they actually dealt with. It was easier to mock them than accept the fact that there were things in this world that no one wanted to talk about, let alone define or experience.

“So what did you put in your report?” Luke asked.

“That the trail went cold. I listed it as unsolved.”

He snorted at her words. “You think your boyfriend is going to accept that?”

She didn’t miss the hatred in the word boyfriend. Because Luke swore Rory was Nephilim, Luke hated the homicide detective they worked cases with. “Rory’s not my boyfriend.” Though it wasn’t from any lack of trying on Rory’s part.

Since their last date had been interrupted by a crime call, Rory had been asking her for a repeat. There was no real reason not to go out again. She liked Rory. He was handsome, sweet…

And not Luke.

He’s your partner. Don’t even think about it.