Fly By Night

Lieutenant Fallon Roxbury has a few secrets. His lover Sundown is a shapeshifter, and his entire Clan is under Fallon’s protection. He can usually handle the job but the universe has conspired to align a few unusual events. A body was found at the old rail yard where the shapeshifters once had a village, the clan’s nestlings are about to mature, and his lover and his police partner are suddenly behaving like best friends.

When the clan elders confirm the identity of the murderer, Fallon has more trouble. The suspect is one of the city commissioners and the evidence points to him killing more than once. It’s up to Fallon to find legally admissible evidence to connect his cold case to the more recent murder. He’ll need some specialized help for that, the kind only Sundown can provide.

Bit by bit Fallon gathers evidence, not only about the murders, but about the secrets Sundown has kept. It’s a sobering reminder that looks can be deceiving, and the shapeshifter he shares his life with isn’t human. 

****

Sundown looked puzzled. “Was I not thorough?”

“I think you did swell. Is the body all you found?”

“Was a corpse not enough, Fallon?”

I heard a note of wry disbelief in his voice. He’d been around me too long.

“It was plenty. I’m just checking in case you noticed something Chal you didn’t want to mention to anyone else but me.”

He set his soup aside and sighed. “I knew I should’ve conducted a more comprehensive search.” He went still, his eyes focused on something outside the room as he telepathically spoke to another of his kind. “I’ve instructed the Watchers to inspect the area.”

“Oh, great. Now Klun and his minions will meddle with anything they find.”

“No, they will not. I was very clear they should touch nothing without my permission, even if it is from before.”

I knew it. He’d tried to hide it from me but our bond continued to deepen, growing stronger. I had sensed something, and while I knew it didn’t touch directly on me, he didn’t want me to know about it.

“Before, huh? How about you explain that, shapeshifter.”