“I’ll sign off on it once you’re finished and get it to a judge. We can execute the serve once Ross is back. We’ll need some time to prep a team of agents to go out there anyway,” Maricela said.
“I’ll need to be there.”
“It’ll blow your cover,” Priya warned. “I doubt Takoma will be pleased if it gets out he’s working with the government.”
“He doesn’t believe he’s working with us. Anyway, we can spin it that he’s not helping us, we’re helping him, especially if he’s a target.” Spencer knew Takoma wouldn’t like either story, but Spencer’s job had to come first here. “I won’t let agents go alone into a place where one has already been possessed.”
“We’ll get things sorted on our end, and I’ll keep you updated, Director,” Maricela said.
“Very well,” Priya said.
Maricela ended the call a couple of minutes later. She leaned back in her chair, frowning at Spencer. “I don’t care for being kept out of the loop, Bailey.”
Spencer bit his tongue on the words he wanted to say in favor of the political ones to smooth everything over. “I didn’t do it with the intention to harm the case.”
“I know. I can appreciate what you did for Ross today, but if you’d been more forthcoming before now, perhaps this might not have happened.”
Spencer really wasn’t in the mood to argue over that point again. “I’d like to get started on that warrant paperwork.”
Maricela stared at him in silence for a long moment before dismissing him with a wave. “Keep me updated.”
Spencer didn’t promise anything, knowing he couldn’t. He left Maricela’s office for the one he’d been assigned for the duration of his stay. As soon as he had the door closed behind him to the borrowed office, he called up Mallory, who answered on the second ring. “Change of plans. I’m heading back to Black Diamond later today, and I’ll need one of your people to come with me.”
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
“This feelslike déjà vu all over again,” Spencer drawled as Makai ducked into the car beneath the downpour, water dripping off his jacket. The weather had taken a turn for the worse as the afternoon wore on into evening, but he’d made good time to the SOA field office.
“It wouldn’t if you let me sit up front,” Makai said.
Fatima stuck her head between the front seats and licked her nose as smugly as she could.
Spencer laughed. “You want to fight her for it, be my guest.”
“No, thanks.” Makai drew in a deep breath before frowning at Spencer in the rearview mirror. “Smells like vampire in here.”
Ah yes, the joys of werecreatures and their heightened preternatural sense of smell. “I’m an SOA special agent, remember? I’m around all kinds of people.”
Makai grunted at that but thankfully didn’t pursue that line of questioning. He went in a different direction that was no less of a headache. “Heard you had an interesting day at work.”
“Not because I wanted to.” Spencer pulled into the street, mindful of traffic in Downtown Seattle at this hour. It wasn’t quite bumper-to-bumper, but it was getting there. “The paperwork afterward was thankfully boring, and I never thought I’d ever like that part of my job.”
“Heard on the news an agent was attacked.”
“The news is nosy.”
“That’s the nature of news. They didn’t mention how the attack happened, but it wasn’t an active-shooter situation.”
“Are you going to keep making statements until I confirm or deny them? Which, to be clear, won’t happen.”
“Just curious if you’re going to admit it was a demon.”
Spencer wished he could deny that. “I’m not talking about what happened at my agency.”
“So itwasa demon.”
Spencer scoffed, hitting the horn as someone cut him off. “Pleading the Fifth here. Might be up for some road rage though. Fucking asshole doesn’t know how to use his blinker.”
“You didn’t have any fun the last time we experienced that.”
