Wade side-eyed Casale and the immortals before reluctantly pulling out two RN hospital IDs, a detective’s badge, and someone’s watch.
Casale frowned at the hoard a scowling Wade set into Patrick’s hands. “What the hell?”
Patrick passed the items over. “Can you see that these get back to their rightful owners? Let’s skip the pressing-charges part.”
“You know, his file said petty theft, but this is ridiculous.”
Patrick gestured for Wade to walk ahead of him so he could try to keep an eye on the teen’s hands as they walked through the bull pen. “See you tomorrow.”
No one tried to stop them on their way out, though both Jono and Wade earned themselves a couple of curious looks. Patrick was sure everyone at the PCB had seen stranger things walking through the corridors, so the three ignored the glances as they left the building.
“Don’t even think about making a run for it,” Patrick warned Wade. “You try, and I’m sending Jono after you.”
Wade honestly looked too tired to get very far, but Patrick knew looks could be deceiving. Patrick and Jono flanked the teen on the walk back to the car, both of them remaining on high alert.
Jono hustled Wade into the back seat once they reached the Mustang. For once, they had no gift waiting for them in the car. Patrick didn’t know if that was because of the situation tonight or the fact the car was parked in the warded parking garage at the PCB.
Patrick tossed the keys to Jono. “You drive. I have to make a phone call.”
Jono nodded and got behind the wheel. Patrick let Jono worry about getting them home while he worried about how to get in touch with his former commanding officer, three-star Army General Noah Reed. General Reed still oversaw the US Department of the Preternatural, the military branch the Mage Corps was attached to, and was based out of the Pentagon.
It had been three years since Patrick put on his uniform for the last time as an active-duty combat mage, but Reed had always insisted he would be available if Patrick ever needed him. The general had worked hard to shield Patrick in the aftermath of the Thirty-Day War, and Patrick had long held suspicions that Reed knew he was indebted to the gods.
Dragons, Patrick had learned while serving in the Mage Corps, hoarded information like no one else.
When Patrick had left the Hellraisers, his old team had continued on without him, gaining new members after burying those who had died on the front lines. Patrick still kept in touch with the survivors, but even a mage didn’t have the personal phone number of a three-star general.
But he knew someone who did.
Patrick called SOA Director Setsuna Abuku, his boss and the woman who’d distantly raised him for ten years after helping secure a new identity for him as a child. Despite being in her fifties, Setsuna wasn’t a stranger to late-night emergency phone calls, and she’d already fielded one from him tonight.
“Yes?” Setsuna said, sounding wide-awake despite the hour. “What is it now?”
“Line and location are not secure. I need to speak with General Reed. It’s an emergency. Can you reach out and have him call me?”
“You haven’t requested communication with him in years. Why now?”
When Patrick had called Setsuna earlier to update her on the case, he’d left out what Wade was until he figured out what to do. He really only had one option, and that meant reaching out to those who could get him what he needed. He might not trust Setsuna, but they weren’t above using each other to get the job done.
“I found someone of interest to him. Just have him call me.”
Patrick ended the call, gripping his phone as he stared straight ahead. Jono braked for a red light and looked at him. “Thought the SOA was a civilian agency?”
“It is, but everyone that high up in the alphabet soup agencies are in each other’s pockets, including the military.”
“And Setsuna can demand an audience with a general just like that?”
Patrick leaned his head against the window, eyes darting along the street for any new threat. “He was my CO at the top when I was in the Mage Corps.”
“Ah.”
“You were military?” Wade asked from the back seat. “Are you kidnapping me into the military? Let me outta this car, man.”
Patrick scowled at the heavy hit against the back of his seat. “You put your foot through any piece of my car and you’ll regret it.”
“How? Gonna sell me off to the government? Fuck you!”
“No one is selling anyone to anything,” Jono said loudly as the light turned green and he hit the gas pedal. “Calm the fuck down, Wade.”
