The Alpha and the FBI Agent

New Evidence

Clayton

I keep looking in the rearview mirror as I drive away from Frankie. I swear I see tears in her eyes as I get further away.

“Is Frankie your girlfriend, Daddy?” Lily asks from the backseat.

“No, Lily. She is -“ I pause, looking for the right word. “Just someone involved with the case I am working on.”

“If she isn’t your girlfriend, how come you kissed her?” Lily asks and flashes those big eyes at me, my eyes.

“It’s complicated, Lily,” I blurt out, and she rolls her eyes.

“I like her,” Lily smiles.

We continue the drive home in silence. Frankie keeps working her way into my thoughts. There is just something about her. I can’t get her out of my mind. I keep asking myself why I kissed her. We reach the house, and my mother is out front working on her flowers. Ranger is running around in the yard after some birds.

Mom looks up at us and puts her hands on her hips when she sees Lily. “Lily Grace Marshall, what did you do now?” She touches my daughter's cheek with a dirty glove.

“Grandma,” Lily protests. She giggles when Ranger runs over and pokes his nose in her side.

“She got in trouble for fighting with a bully who was picking on her friend,” I tell my mother.

“That’s my Lily,” My mother smiles.

“Anyways, I have to get back to work,” I tell my mother.

“Daddy kissed a lady,” Lily says while playing with Ranger. The dog barks happily when Lily throws his ball.

“Kissed who?” My mother tilts her head at me.

“Nothing. It was nothing, Mom. Just a person involved with the case I am working on,” I shake my head.

“A suspect?” Mom lifts an eyebrow.

“N-no, Mom. Don’t worry about it. I didn’t kiss anyone,” I protest.

“Yes, you did,” Lily argues. She demonstrates a kiss to her Grandmother.

Mom hands her a trowel. “Why don’t you plant those flowers for Grandma, Lily.”

“Okay, Grandma,” Lily smiles. She loves gardening with my mother.

My mother looks at me with a stern look. “Who exactly are you kissing, Clayton?”

I sigh. “It was a mistake, Mom.”

“Is it this Frankie?” She asks, and my mouth falls open. “You keep saying her name in your sleep.”

“I do?” I ask, mildly horrified. “She is the mayor of this weird little town where we found a body, and I don’t know there is just something about her.”

“Weird town?” Mom asks. “What’s it called?”

“What’s with all the questions, Mom?” I snort.

“Clayton, I am a lawyer.” Mom laughs.

“Right. The town is called Midnight Moon,” I answer her question, and her eyes go wide for a second, and then she shakes her head.

“Lily, space the flowers out a little more, sweetheart,” She instructs my daughter.

“Mom?”

“Go to work, Clayton.” She brushes me off.

“Mom,” I say louder. “You got a weird look when I mentioned Midnight Moon.”

Mom shrugs. “I worked a couple of cases involving them years ago. Don’t worry about it.”

I sigh. I hate it when my mother is evasive. My phone starts to ring, and I pull it out. “Marshall.”

“Where you at, Clay?” Eric responds.

“I’m at home. I just dropped Lily off.” I reply to him.

“Well, hurry back here, alright.” Eric urges me. “We have stuff to talk about.”

“Okay, I’ll be right there, Eric.” I sigh and hang up the phone. “I have to go, Mom.” I kiss her cheek. “Lily, you be good for Grandma.”

“Okay, Daddy.” My daughter responds.

I pat Ranger on the head, and he drops his ball at my feet and barks at me. I pick up the ball and give it a toss. “There you go, boy.” I turn and walk to my car.

It takes about thirty minutes to get back to the office. Eric is waiting for me as I walk towards our office. “What’s up?”

“You know that guy Roscoe, whose DNA we found at the scene,” Eric responds, and I nod. “Anyways, we think we found him.”

“Okay, are they bringing him in?” I ask.

We stop in the break room, and Eric fixes himself a cup of coffee. He drinks coffee all day at work. “They found where he might be. But they haven’t apprehended him yet.” Eric finishes fixing his cup of coffee, and we walk to our office.

“Okay, is that why you made me come back?” I laugh.

“Partly, but I just didn’t want you to get in trouble with the boss for taking a long lunch.” Eric leans back in his chair. “So, how was your lunch?”

“I had to pick up Lily from school. She got in trouble again.” I explain to Eric.

“Again?”

“Yeah, she got into a fight with a bully picking on a friend,” I explain.

Eric sighs. “So you took just Lily to lunch?”

I hesitate. “Yeah, we got some tacos.”

Eric nods with a smirk. “Just Lily.”

“Yeah, Eric. Just Lily.” I respond. “Don’t we have work to do?”

“So, that chick from the weird town wasn’t with you?” Eric prods.

“Did you have me followed?” I glare at him.

“We were concerned. Our guys couldn’t even get into that town. The security there is tight. But you were spotted with that woman. So-“ Eric trails off.

“She is just helping me with the case, Eric,” I tell him.

“Was that before or after you kissed her?” He asks with a raised eyebrow. “You know you can get in big trouble for that, right, Clay?”

“I know Eric. It was a mistake. I assure you. There is something weird about Frankie and that whole town,” I sigh. “I won’t see her anymore.”

“Right,” Eric rolls his eyes and sips his coffee.

We buckle down and get to work for about an hour or so. Eric leaves to talk to someone, so I am left alone in the office. The phone rings. “Agent Marshall.”

“Agent Marshall, this is the front desk. There is a Francine Abernathy here to see you,” the security guard tells me.

My heartbeat increased a bit. So much for not seeing Frankie again. “Send her up,” I mumble into the phone. I pinch the bridge of my nose. ‘I will keep it professional,’ I remind myself. There is a knock at the door, and I see her in the door frame. She is dressed in the same outfit as before, but she looks more beautiful to me.

I stand up to greet her. “F-f-Frankie,” I stutter, and she laughs.

“Sorry to just show up unannounced,” she smiles so brightly, and I cannot form words. I point to a chair beside the desks, and we both sit down. Nothing else is said as her blue eyes turn almost black for a moment. She shakes her head, and her eyes turn blue again. I watch as she sets a large tote bag on the desk. “I uh,” She pauses. “Another body was found. That’s why I had to rush home,” She says.

“Another one?” I lift an eyebrow, glad I can form a sentence again.

Frankie starts to pull plastic bags out of the tote. “Yeah, we collected evidence at the scene, and I took pictures,” She states.

I eye the bag. “You collected evidence?” I laugh.

“Well, yeah, isn’t that what you guys do?” She shrugs. “Anyways, I was wondering if you guys could run DNA.” She pulls out a USB drive. “My coroner also took pictures of the body and sent me his report.”

I take the drive and set it on the desk. “You guys were really thorough, weren’t you?”

“I don’t like that members of my pack-“She pauses. “I mean, town are being murdered.”

“I understand. I wouldn’t like it either,” I touch her arm. The usual sparks make me pull back. “How do you not feel that?” I ask her.

“I feel it,” she nearly whispers.

“Why does that happen every time I touch you?” I ask.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you the truth.” She sighs and looks at me with those blue eyes that sometimes turn black.

“And how come your eyes change colors?” I ask.

“My moods change.” She replies quickly. “So, can you guys do anything with this stuff?” She gestures the bags.

“I’ll take it all to the forensics lab,” I tell her. “Do you think the two deaths are connected?”

She nods. “I have a feeling that the person who killed these two is the same one who killed my father and brother,” She explains.

“Roscoe Graves?” I ask, and she stiffens. “You do know that name, huh?”

She slowly nods. “It’s complicated.”

“I’m all ears,” I lean back in my chair.

“Roscoe is supposed to be dead. My father supposedly killed him, but-“ She trails off.

“Your father supposedly killed Roscoe, but he isn’t dead?” I ask. “Did they have beef?”

Frankie chuckles dryly. “You could say that. Roscoe had beef with a lot of packs- I mean towns.”

“Other towns?” I snort.

She shakes her head. “You’ll never understand,” She stands up, gathers up the bags, and stuffs them in the tote. “I don’t think this will ever work.”

I stand up and grab her arm. “What? What don’t you think will work?” I get into her beautiful face.

“Us,” She whispers and looks away from me.

I don’t know what comes over me, but I lean and press my lips against hers. The sparks and tingles from the action make me deepen the kiss. Her arms wrap around my neck, and she moans happily. A strange growling noise also comes from her. “Did you just growl?”

“It was Hazel,” She mumbles, and my eyes widen.

“Hazel?” That was the name of the wolf from my dream. I ignore it for a moment and continue kissing Frankie. I wrap my arms around her waist. I am surprised at how muscular she is, and I want to see her without clothes.

Our kiss is interrupted by someone clearing their throat. “Seriously, Clay?” My partner’s voice cuts in.

I pull away from Frankie to look at Eric. “Hi, Eric, she brought us evidence,” I say quickly.

“In her mouth?” Eric folds his arms and raises an eyebrow. He eyes Frankie, and I feel an intense moment of jealousy.

“No, uh in her bag,” I point to the tote bag.

Eric snorts. “You are lucky I was the one that caught you,” He steps towards Frankie and holds out a hand. “Special Agent Eric Gibson. I am this dipshit’s partner.”

Frankie shakes his hand. “Frankie Abernathy,” She states.

Eric looks at me. “The same Frankie Abernathy that is mayor Midnight Moon?”

I nod. “Yeah,” I mumble and look down.

“Hmm,” Eric sits in his chair and eyes the tote Frankie has. “So, what did you bring us, Frankie?”

She looks at me, and I nod. “We found another body on our land, and I brought evidence.”

“Evidence?” Eric asks with sarcasm. “You are a detective too?”

Frankie narrows her eyes. “No, I just thought it would help, considering both bodies were mangled similarly.” She pulls the plastic bags out of the tote again and sets them on the desk.

“What are we supposed to do with those?” Eric snarks.

“Quit being an ass, Eric,” I snarl at my partner.

He looks at me and throws up his hands. “We don’t have time for amateur detective work, Clay.”

“Hear her out, Eric,” I argue.

“We took blood samples and stuff like that,” Frankie tells Eric. “I also had my coroner give me files on the autopsy.”

“So you think these two deaths are connected?” Eric asks her, and she nods. “And what evidence do you have for that?”

“They were killed similarly,” Frankie states. “And found close to each other.”

Eric nods. “We’ll consider it. How come you didn’t call in the second body?”

Frankie shrugs. “We usually take care of these things ourselves. But if you don’t want to help-“ She snarls.

“We’ll help,” I blurt out. “Won’t we, Eric?”

He rolls his eyes. “Whatever, Clay.” His phone rings, “Agent Gibson?” He nods. “Okay.” He looks at me. “They caught Roscoe Graves. They are bringing him to interrogation.”

Frankie stiffens, and her eyes widen. Then a strange growl comes from her, and Eric tilts his head.

“Was that you?” He asks her.

Frankie shakes her head. “I didn’t do anything,” She mumbles.

“Anyways, leave your evidence,” Eric stands up. “We have a suspect to question.” He walks out of the office.

Frankie takes a deep breath and looks at me. “We’ll test it and get back to you,” I tell her. She sets the bag down and starts to walk towards the door. I grab her arm and force her to turn to me. “Can we have dinner tonight?”

A faint smile spreads on her face. “Are we even allowed to have dinner?”

“Not really. You are technically a suspect.” I lean down and hover near her lips. “This is a clandestine thing.”

She giggles. “Sure, we can have dinner. My mother will be mad. I am supposed to have dinner with her and my sister.”

“Clayton!” I hear Eric shout from outside of the office.

“I better go before I get busted,” I release Frankie’s arm, and a whimper falls out of her. I peck her lips. “I’ll call you, okay?”

She nods. “You better go.”

I hesitantly out of the office, keenly aware Frankie is following. My heart races, and I have trouble thinking of anything else. I reach the outside of the interrogation room just as a pair of agents walk in with a man in handcuffs. A fierce growl comes from behind me, and in a flash, Frankie is attacking the handcuffed man. “Frankie!”