Savvy Negotiator (Untraceable Succubus Book 2) Read online

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  Five women of “questionable professions” have been murdered, and that means Acadia Collins—according to her new alias—is heading to Denver. She tries to avoid mixed areas, but corporate also wants to expand into the area.

  It seems a dangerous move to make when she has an ancient vampire interested in her and vowing not to let her go. And then there’s the fact ISLE wants her and the stern looking, dedicated agent she met seems unable to let her go either.

  Add to that the club’s horrible, the owner’s a pig, the security’s dangerous, the dancers are jealous witches, and Denver PD is trying to force her to do their job, but she’s dealt with and survived worse.

  The killer is moving fast, and she’s late to the party, which means there are a lot of balls in the air, and when a few more are thrown at her, it’s only a matter of time until something gets dropped, and hopefully that doesn’t land her with a bullet to the brain.

  Untraceable Succubus is a murder mystery series where the sex is hot and often and the main character kicks some serious ass on the road to finding out if she can have real love in her life even if it comes from multiple men.

  1

  “News just broke on five murders—three hookers, two strippers,” Lewis informed me. He was a glutton demon that worked at Heavenly Entertainment and my normal “handler” for cases. It kept things and lines cleaner if only one person was in contact with me when I was undercover instead of a bunch that might draw attention.

  It also meant he had the unfortunate job of informing me when people were being murdered.

  “Where?” I sighed, my voice coming out a bit whiney. “Lewis, I just sank into a hot tub with some pricey volcanic ash stuff that’s supposed to cleanse me in every way, and I fully intended on enjoying it and doing nothing else tonight.”

  “I’m sure the owner will reimburse you,” he chuckled, and I had to agree. The owner of Heavenly Entertainment was about the exact opposite of what most assumed when they thought successful corporate big boss and rich person. “Five dead, Jasmine.”

  “Yeah, I heard,” I grumbled. My cover with them was Jasmine Stewart, and everyone from corporate referred to me as that even if the owner, higher ups, and attorneys knew it wasn’t my real name either. They’d made damn sure it was the most stable and deepest cover I had at least. “I get to whine a bit. I’ve been back three days. Three days, Lewis. And now you want me to jump in on a case that’s got a murderer going after hookers and strippers? Why is there only news now? That’s a lot dead before the media got wind.”

  He sighed heavily, and I braced for impact, as that never meant good news. “Strippers were in the suburbs and hookers in the city so different police departments, and we know how they don’t like to talk as they should.”

  “Where?” I groaned, guessing I wouldn’t like the answer.

  “Denver.” He sighed again when I started cussing. If it was a city with suburbs, odds were it was a mixed area, and Denver certainly was. “Yeah, it’s mixed. No human only this time.”

  I wracked my brain and came up blank on the time there. “It’s nine here so it’s early afternoon there?”

  “Yes, one there.”

  “Where are you at? We don’t have anything there, do we?”

  “I just called in my team,” he muttered as I heard typing on the keys. “No, we don’t, but we’ve wanted to. We’ve been scoping out a few of the clubs, and the one I think we’re picking is bad. You will enjoy beating the owner and maybe a few others around there. It’s right downtown.”

  “Wait, I thought you said the strippers were from the suburbs?”

  “No, the bodies were found there and they didn’t get ID,” he clarified. “It’s sort of a clusterfuck. I’m not going to lie. And it’s not a small area with tiny murder rate.”

  “But we’re sure it’s the same person?”

  “Yup, bullets match the same gun and it’s the same way.”

  I swallowed loudly. There was no good way to die, but guns could kill us too whereas I could take a human trying to choke me. And even if they didn’t kill me, the bullets were a bitch to heal from. “How?”

  “Execution style. Strips them naked, ties them up with their own garments, and pops them in the back of the head. Shit, that’s fucked up.”

  “It always is,” I sighed. “You guys are securing what I need?”

  “Yes, someone’s already working on the apartment and car, and we’ll get your stuff from Emily and have it delivered. We need your new packet.”

  I almost asked for him to come and get it, but only I could come through the portal in my apartment. “I’ll bring it in. Can you tell Kiera I’m sorry but I can’t attend the buffet she set up for me? Apparently I’m heading right back into the thick of it.”

  “Yeah, I’ll let her know. You can’t still swing it?”

  “Five women are dead,” I muttered.

  “Yeah, they are, and the timeline is fast. It’s looking like a month from the first if they got all their info right now.”

  “Who’s taking point?”

  “Denver PD. They got the first case and all the victims are from the city, so the suburbs and county PD are backing off.”

  “Got it. Damn, I so wanted a buffet.”

  “Kiera throws the best ones,” he moaned. “She had a fab setup for us, and seriously, I just basked in all the gluttons wanting the max they could have from the awesome spread she had laid out. The club makes a killing on those, and we get everything we need. She had Almas caviar at this one. Do you know what kind of people that drew in?”

  I snorted. “She always draws in people with money. Tourists that have the money, want the party, and to go wild where they can’t at home. I swear to fuck I’m going to beat this murderer for messing me up.” I sighed again. “Can you ask someone to get me more than costumes this time? I need some local hooker outfits, and it’s cold there, right?”

  “Not like Canada,” he promised. “But yeah, it’s gonna get cold there and fast.”

  “Damn mountains,” I grumbled.

  “I thought you liked snow and the cold?”

  “You think I get a nice fireplace and awesome tub at these apartments rented for me for a stripper cover? Working at the crap places we take over? Or now I’m a hooker too.”

  “Right, good point. I’ll make sure they check the heat is good at least.”

  “Thanks. Thick heels on the hooker boots so I can run. I still o
we that guy on your team that got those platforms and crazy stilettos a few cases ago. Seriously? Most people can’t walk in those, and he gave them to me knowing I’d have to chase people.”

  “He was fantasy shopping and has since been reprimanded. There is a new change that you will like when you come in.”

  “Intriguing,” I purred. “Does it involve me sitting on your lap and feeding?”

  “Don’t tease. Fuck, don’t tease me like that, Jasmine,” he groaned.

  “Sorry, I’m hungry,” I grumbled. I’d needed to feed after my last two tiny meals, but I hadn’t worried about it since I had a buffet coming. Now I didn’t though.

  Shit.

  I finished with my bath and changed my glamour to match my Jasmine look before getting dressed and activating the portal so I went right into Heavenly Entertainment corporate headquarters. Security was good and no one could portal into anywhere except the front desk. I nodded to one of the regulars but almost stopped when I saw a yummy new cheetah shifter.

  No, no feeding at work. That could be trouble.

  And I’d learned that one the hard way.

  Still, I gave him a wink after he checked me out.

  “Dude, don’t even think about it,” the guy warned him as I pushed the button for the elevator. “That’s Jasmine Stewart. Like the VP of Acquisitions and Expansions Jasmine Stewart with the big corner office and a whole department under her. She introduces herself as the expansion coordinator, but she’s way more and tight with the owner.”

  “Shit, she’s a legend,” he muttered. “She can spy on me all she wants.”

  I bit back a smirk as the doors opened and flashed them a smile. “Cub, I would wear you out too fast and ruin you for any other woman.”

  He apologized, both of them giving me shocked looks I’d heard him. Demons were stronger than most any other supe, more powerful too, but they normally had us beat on hearing and other senses.

  I wasn’t a normal demon though, and especially for one so young it made no sense I was so powerful.

  “Hey, perfect timing,” Lewis greeted as he came out of his office. “Packet?” He thanked me as I handed over the envelope with everything I’d already picked up from Tracey. It was smart to get outside sources for the covers and keep the company clean from any of that. “I also helped put the word out Gino was dirty and sold someone out.”

  “I knew you were my favorite,” I teased, looping my arm with his. In most offices that wouldn’t be okay, and while Heavenly Entertainment took sexual harassment and acting properly in the workplace seriously… We were demons. Most of us were supes in corporate, and it was hard to act too stiff when a lot of the employees got naked regularly. “What’s this new change?”

  He guided us around the corner from his office, almost to my big one as the whole floor was my department, and stopped by double doors. “The place we took over a few cases before had everything under the company. So it’s all ours now and he’s in jail for confessed murder, so he’s a bit busy.”

  I slowly nodded, thinking about it. “I didn’t realize everything was under the company. He had a swank house.”

  “Yes, so we now have a new corporate vacation place for anyone who wants to use it.” He opened the doors with flair. “And you now have a huge fucking closet of undercover clothes including hooker wear for all your needs.”

  I burst out laughing. That was the understatement of the year. They’d taken one of the meeting rooms for brainstorming and turned it into what looked like a crazy person’s gigantic closet. The kind that horded.

  “Depending on how you want it set up we can reorganize, but for now, we just brought in everything that was new,” he told me.

  I raised an eyebrow. “There was more?”

  “Yeah, lots. The guy had like six mistresses and a wife who ignored it. She’s in jail too, and well, he sold her out too so, yeah, we own it all now. So far we pulled out what was new and in your size. Not new or not your size we’re sending to clubs. Either they can use some of this for work or they can give it as bonuses for those who deserve it. Here too. There were some gowns over ten grand several people said.”

  “Save me a few of those in my size because I’ve had to slip in to swank events and then we’re scrambling for something to help me blend.”

  “You already have a corner now,” he told me, pointing over to there. “So pull out what you want and we’ll get it to your new place.” He waved me off when I opened my mouth to ask something. “I have several examples of what hookers in winter wear.”

  I gave him the look he deserved. “Yes, thank you, I’ve played the role enough times to know what hookers wear in fall and winter. I was going to ask if you had background on the new owner yet.”

  He turned that look right back on me. “Why? So you can dig thirty times deeper and then show us how much more you found and make us feel bad at our jobs?”

  I winced. I did do that. “I’ve never said that. You pull credit checks and company information. I hack a shit ton more. You guys shouldn’t do that as you’re on company servers. I send it to you because you should know it all and if it falls in your lap, that’s not your fault.”

  “I’ll let you know when we feel the difference,” he drawled. “I do have the club’s page up and all the dancers listed so you don’t match too much to anyone else.”

  “See, you are good at your job. I always forget that,” I praised. “And you do all the ID shit way better than I do.”

  “Yes, yes, I’m fabulous and I already ordered food to be brought over because if I interrupted your bath, I’m going to at least feed you.”

  “Wise beyond your years,” I teased him, knowing he had at least a hundred years on me.

  “A Dylan Hammond called to speak with your last cover, saying he might have the name wrong, but he was looking for the expansion coordinator. We gave him the run around, but he doesn’t seem to be the normal one who will give up after one maze of bullshit.”

  “Wow, he gave me a whole three days before he stalked me too,” I drawled, rolling my eyes. “Keep giving him the run around, and if you want to hint I’m fairly annoyed he’s bugging the corporate office, go right ahead. I told him I’d call him if I felt I could trust him. He’s going to attach me to this company in a way I don’t want.”

  “I’ll let upstairs know so they can handle it,” he muttered, getting this was bigger than someone who wanted another night with me.

  Yeah, like he was going to lead ISLE right here to look for me if he wasn’t careful.

  Idiot.

  Food and his team started arriving, and after I apologized for bringing them after hours, we jumped right in. I dove into sweet and sour pork as I checked out the page. The container was gone after I did some more research on the area. I changed my glamour to deep rainbow hair and light, light green eyes along with a soft tan.

  “Wait, hold up on that,” Lewis told me as he brought something over. “Two of the hookers didn’t seem to work the corner. They were high class girls.”

  “Every big name singer and actress does colored streaks or rainbow hair,” one of the women who helped on making the background said. “That’s an expensive dye job right there, not a cheap one. It will get her noticed fast, and it’s fucking sexy on her.”

  Lewis held up his hands in surrender. “Just wanted to tell you before we started. We do have a condo in Denver, so you are getting that fireplace and big tub. The cover is you’re housesitting for a ‘friend’ while getting settled.” He smirked at me. “It will explain the locked office you don’t ever go in, but of course you do because it will have your setup.”

  “Still covers me if I get guests I don’t plan for, good job,” I praised. “Okay, so I’m going to a shit club because I can make money anywhere and they will come to me. I work some corners and parties. Got it.” I bobbed my head a few times. “Get me a list of clubs the ballers go to. Also make the memberships high end like my possible sugar daddy’s been treating me well while he’s
with his family or whatever but I get my own spending money.”

  “Perfect. We can work with that,” she agreed, the others nodding. “It also means you get a range of clothes.”

  “Make sure it’s a swank gym. That’s always the best place to get me the needed dirt.”

  “Fine, but I’m also doing the full range of your backgrounds too,” Lewis muttered. “I don’t like this variety of super shitty strip club to high end call girl. We’re picking the club with the most dirt we’ve found, but we’ll give you a backup just in case.”

  “I’m offended you think I need a backup.”

  “It’s a titties out club,” he told me. “And they can make the dancers do it there.”

  I snorted. “They can, but they won’t make me. I’ll handle it. Just make sure it’s the club we want.”

  “It is. It’s got the best location and a lot of possibilities in the area if it got cleaned up a bit. It shares a parking lot with a diner for sale that’s been on the market for a while and a foreclosed apartment building where I’m sure bad things happen. This wasn’t the club that had a murder from, that one’s even shittier, but it’s going tits up very soon, and the location is shit. Like gang territory shit.”

  “Tits up, cute,” I drawled, knowing he liked his puns.

  I went through the pictures, changing tops several times so it didn’t look like I’d somehow taken all my everything with the same top. I also changed my hair a bit like normal. Some pictures the coloring of my hair would be faded and a few before I got it. Those were the more professional ones in case I stepped in shit on this case.

  It wasn’t hard to do that when working this many angles and stepping into someone else’s territory while staying on the outskirts since I wasn’t an actual cop.

  After I picked out my new wardrobe, I snagged several containers of food and promised to come back in the morning to pick up everything for my new life. Damn, and I’d just gotten used to the right time zone and now I was going eight hours behind. Then again, that would work for the cover like I’d just flown in from somewhere in Europe like a mistress off her leash.