“What do the other people who tested blue do now?”
“They don’t. They didn’t survive their training.”
On that note, Warden stood and left the room. Bryn stared at the closed door.Wonderful.I am well and truly fucked.
Chapter One
Three years later
Boston, Mass.
Detective Gunnar Ericson sat in the passenger seat of his unmarked pool Chevy and checked his watch. “It’s almost midnight, they’d better be paying us overtime for this shit show.”
“You gonna turn into a pumpkin when the clock strikes twelve?” Gunnar’s partner, Detective Maeve O’Riordan, grabbed another donut from the box on the dash and adjusted her position behind the wheel.
“Did you take the last jelly one?” Gunnar prodded the remaining selection.
“Yep. Pregnancy privileges.” Maeve patted her rounded belly. “Gotta take advantage while I can.”
“You’ve been taking advantage since you knew you’d conceived. Does Cash know what a monster he’s created?”
“He went out last night to buy me pickled eggs. At two a.m.”
“True love.”
“Shit. That’s him, isn’t it?” Maeve threw the donut box on the rear seat. “Guy on the left.”
Gunnar stared at the two men exiting the casino he and Maeve had been staking out. As a lupine, or wolf, he had far superior eyesight to someone without the active gene, especially in low light conditions and at night. He had a wide field of view, excellent peripheral vision, and could detect the slightest motion. “Good spot. I’ll go get him. You take the car to the end of the block. If he runs, he won’t get any further than that.”
“Deal. No biting.”
“Funny.” Gunnar levered his six-feet-five-inch frame out of the vehicle. He made it half way across the street before he was spotted and the suspect took off. Gunnar grinned. “I do love it when they run.” He loped away in pursuit and hadn’t reached anywhere close to his top speed before he caught the guy, bringing him down with a full-length tackle around the knees. “Guess what, asshole? You’re under arrest.”
Maeve pulled up alongside him and leaned out of the car window. “Can I be of assistance?”
“I’ll let you arrest this idiot, as it’s your last day and all,” Gunnar said as he got to his feet, dragging the perp with him. He cuffed him before shoving him against the car.
“Coolio. I called in a black and white to come pick him up.” Maeve read the guy his rights in a bored tone. “Out of interest, why did ya run? Have you been taking your own meth? You had to know he’d bring you down in seconds. I mean…look at him.”
“Goddam wolves.” The guy spat on the sidewalk.
“Ooh, you want me to add hate speech to your rap sheet?”
“Fuck you, lady.”
“I’ll take that as a yes. My work here is done.” She polished her nails on her sleeve.
They waited until a couple of uniformed cops showed up to take charge of their prisoner then headed for the precinct.
“I am so ready for this shift to be over,” Maeve said, pulling into an empty spot in the parking lot.
“Me too. Boss said he wants to speak to me in the morning, which is never good. Guess I’ll get a new partner for a while.” Gunnar leaned across to give Maeve a hug. “You get off, I’ll finish up the paperwork.”
“And that’s why I love ya. Also, I hid a piece of my goodbye cake in the back of the breakroom fridge for you.”
“Chances of that still being there…”
“It’s in a box marked fecal samples.”
