Canyon nodded.That’s us. I’m on first watch. Get some sleep.
Timber whipped his shirt off, then his boots and his belt, then his pants and folded it all in a neat pile. He shifted with his socks still on and jumped up into the cab of the truck through the open window, where he curled up and fell asleep in the passenger seat.
Canyon mentally mapped out patrol points and started walking them. Wulf’s screen flared bright from near the truck and he wheeled over fast to catch up.
Looks like it’s me and you, Wulf.
:Me and you, Canyon—
Wulf slowed and quietly kept pace next to Canyon, making him grin.
Wulf was good company.
63—Once Bitten
“He’s like a statue,” Eventine said.
She and Harlan were in the duty truck, heading west on I-90. Conri had driven toward Chicago for an hour, barely moving. At one point, he’d checked his phone, taken the next exit, and headed right back for Serenity.
“The witch fed him a potion,” Harlan said, his voice tight.
They’d been tossing out ideas of what could be going on during the entire drive. Conri didn’t answer his phone or his radio. They hadn’t tried to pull him over. They all wanted to see what he was up to, and if the witch was controlling him, how was she doing it? What were the limits of her power?
Chatter on one of the portable radios called their attention—Mac directing his team. They’d found Conri’s tail a while ago—a pickup truck with one older male driving—and this guy was leading them on a high-speed chase through Rockton, 22 miles north of Serenity. The truck license plate came back as stolen.
Ahead, Conri’s blinker went on for the first Serenity exit.
“First exit,” Eventine radioed to her team. They followed Conri down the exit and stopped at the stop sign, where Conri turned toward town. Conri pulled into Fox Valley Apartments and parked. Harlan pulled into a nearby spot. Eventine craned her neck to keep eyes on Conri. He chugged from a water bottle, then got out of his truck.
Harlan pointed at the door he was heading for. “Sage Greene’s place.”
“Sage White,” Eventine corrected him, with a glance at his face. He raised his lip and growled at the name, his eyes onConri. He despised Abigail White and he didn’t like that a One True Mate might be related to her.
“Fox Valley apartments,” Eventine told her team. “We’re staying clear for now. Crew, you and Dahlia park on Hackle Street near the exit. Sergeant Rockford, you and Officer Adin park on Nocturnal Drive near the entrance.
“10-4.”
“10-4.”
Conri got out of his truck, moving stiffly to Unit 112. He pounded heavily but slowly on it, not stopping.
“Think she’s Conri’s mate?” Harlan asked.
Eventine shook her head. She didn’t know what to think. The KSRT and patrol officers had been to this apartment several times over the last week, looking for Sage White. No one had ever answered the door, and they couldn’t find her anywhere.
“Sage!” Conri shouted, pounding. “Sage! Open up!”
Conri kept pounding. A door on the floor above opened and a beefy man called out, “Hey, you shut the fuck up down there!”
Conri kept pounding. The beefy guy looked over the railing, then pointed at Conri. “You! Hey you!” Conri ignored him. The guy went inside his door, then came back out and whipped a sloshing beer can over the railing at Conri. It hit him in the back of the leg, making him stop pounding on the door. He stood there with his head down, arm raised, fist poised to knock.
Harlan opened the door, his eyes on the man on the second floor, who was already gearing up to throw something else. “This fuckin’ guy,” he muttered, heading for the stairs.
“I’ll bring patrol in,” Eventine said, getting out of the vehicle with the mic in her hand. “Sergeant Rockford and Officer Adin move in for civilian interference on the second-floor balcony.”
“10-4”
Harlan found stairs and ran up them. Eventine dropped the mic on the passenger seat and stayed near the vehicle, her eyes on Conri. Far down the corridor, from the building’s fitness center, a door opened and a woman came out, wearing leggings and a sports bra, sweat glistening on her bare shoulders and arms. Eventine kept an eye on her, intending to head her off if she got too close to Conri, but Conri had already noticed her. He lurched that way, filling all the space in the corridor, his head down and his posture aggressive. The woman saw him coming and she faltered, then backed the way she had come. Eventine sprinted that way, telling Harlan inruhi, but shouts reached her from the second floor—he was fighting up there. She looked up to see he had the civilian in a headlock.
