Lover Beware 04 - Only Human

there, simmering beneath Only Human
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    the surface. Waiting. "It wasn't one of the Nokolai who did this."
    "You can tell by the scent?"
    "Just as you could tell an Englishman from a Hawaiian by the way he looks."
    She exhaled once, sharply. "So what does this mean? I don't know how to sort one lupus from another by clan. I didn't know there were any other clans around here."
    "There aren't, not officially. But lupi travel on business or for pleasure the same as everyone else. It's customary for clans to offer hospitality when asked. My clan may be hosting the one who did this right now." He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "We aren't that far from Clanhome, as the crow flies—or the wolf runs. He could easily have cut across the hills after he killed."
    "That occurred to me. Rule." She gripped his arm. "You are not going to punish him yourself. If you want your people to be treated the same as everyone else, you have to be subject to the same laws. Justice from the courts, not private ven-geance."
    "Your courts have never given us justice. And this ..." He turned away, thrusting his hand through his hair. "I thought this was political, and so subject to your laws. Now ... it may be a clan matter."
    "What do you mean?"
    "Leidolf may be moving against Nokolai." There was so much he couldn't tell her. "It happens. Clans have warred in the past."
    "Killing random humans is a mighty roundabout way for one lupus clan to declare war on another."
    "My father supports the Species Citizenship Bill." His smile was grim. "Do you think only humans oppose full citizenship for lupi? There are those among my people, too, who hate the idea. Citizenship means Social Security numbers and all those computers keeping track of us. It means limits, changes to some of our customs. They don't want to be that visible—or that subject to human law."
    "Whoever did this is going to end up very visible. I'll see to that." Anger boiled up suddenly and she paced in front of him, taking short, jerky steps. "She had two sons. I don't know their names yet, but one is in the Navy. The other has a wife 276
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    and child. Once I've learned who they are, where they live, I'll have to tell them their mother is dead because someone had a political point to make."
    He put a hand on her shoulder. She was all but vibrating with anger. "Killing has always been a political tactic for some. Why do you work homicide when it hurts you this much?"
    She shrugged him off. "I don't know what you mean. I'm a cop. It's what I always wanted to do."
    "It hurts you to see life wasted." Again he asked, speaking softly, "Why homicide?"
    "Because murder is the worst! It doesn't kill just once. It throws out waves of destruction that poison so many lives."
    "This happened to you. Someone you loved was murdered."
    "My friend. My best friend. Sara Chen."
    He ached. It took all his control to keep from reaching for her, holding her. But she wouldn't want that, not here and now.
    "How old were you?"
    "Seven. A man grabbed her on the way home from school one day. I saw him snatch her. They found her body a week later. They arrested him a week after that." She swallowed. "I followed it in the papers. My parents didn't like that—they thought I was hurting myself, that I was obsessed and should let it go. I couldn't."
    "No. I can see that. What happened?"
    "He never went to trial. The police were sloppy. They didn't secure the evidence properly. Seven months later, he killed again. That time, the cops did it right. He didn't get away with it."
    She'd given him a piece of herself, something important wrenched up from deep inside where it still hurt. He lifted a hand and rubbed his knuckles along her cheek slowly, thank-ing her. "This woman isn't dead because you were sloppy, Lily. You know that."
    She blinked. "I didn't mean ... I don't think it's my fault."
    Yes, she did. But she was pulling back now, embarrassed that she'd revealed so much. "That's good. I admire your passion. And your courage."
    Oh, definitely she was embarrassed now. She turned away, trying to get her cop face back. "The point is, the law has to Only Human
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    be the same for everyone. Fuentes has to matter as much as Charlene Hall. And whoever killed them, for whatever reason, has to be stopped."
    "Of course. Aside from the personal injustice of murder, if there's sufficient outrage it will affect the vote next fall. Especially if there are killings elsewhere."
    She stopped moving.