“I am. Believe me, I am. I don’t have the energy to show it, okay? I’m exhausted,” I confess. Because, unlike her, I have two full-time jobs and two killers on the loose.
She sighs. “I know it’s bad. But we’ll find the killer,” she nods firmly. “We’ll solve this.”
I nod back. Wehaveto. There’s no choice. I won’t let another killer roam around in my city for years like the Vigilante Wolf Hunter. Fuck, it can’t be a good sign that I’m using that name now, too.
“Are you sure you want me to drop you here? I can drive you back to your place after you’ve picked up Mickey, if you want,” Serena offers when we’re closer to Sloan’s place.
“No, no, it’s fine. Sloan will drop me, or I’ll take a cab,” I wave her off. I’m not going too far, anyway. Elliot lives a short walk from Sloan’s, a fact that I’m going to keep a secret for as long as I can. Elliot is not ready for Sloan yet, at least not the version he’ll get now that she knows about us. Besides, we’re having a little team meeting here because it was time someone else hostedfor once.
Sloan is just getting in with Mickey when we park in front of her place. She saunters over to the car.
Serena’s breath hitches. I turn to find her eyes wide and jaw hanging open. I bite my lips to stop smiling and elbow Serena. She recovers quickly.
I get out of the car to give an excited Mickey some scratches.
Sloan walks around us to talk to Serena. She doesn’t even look that good right now, all sweaty in her tank top and running shorts. Then again, I doubt I’ve ever thought of her as anything more than annoying and evil.
“Hey, is Nick using you for free labor?” Sloan asks.
I roll my eyes and tune them out, giving all my attention to my good boy. He would never talk smack about me. “Who was the best boy today?Yess, you! Because you’realwaysthe best boy!”
After a minute, I turn to find Serena stepping out of her car, looking shy. I take a second to identify the expression on her face because I’veneverseen her look shy before.
Should I be stopping this, whatever it is? But wouldn’t it be more fun to see how this plays out? Who am I to tell twogrown women if they should interact with each other or not? Or visit each other’s homes, because that’s what Serena is doing right now.
I follow them in, Mickey in tow.
Sloan’s home is the perfect extension of her personality. Loud, warm, comfortable, and bursting with mismatched bright colors.
“Coffee?” Sloan asks Serena once she has settled on the bright yellow couch. “I can make tea too, if you’d like that instead,” she offers.
“Can you?” I ask, confused.
“Yes, Nick, I drink tea, too. Sometimes,” Sloan says primly.
“I’ll have the tea then,” I challenge.
Sloan narrows her eyes at me.
“Coffee is fine for me,” Serena says meekly.
“Then you’re having coffee too,” Sloan says, already walking toward the kitchen.
I sit down next to an awkward-looking Serena. Mickey is slumped in one of the thousand dog beds in the living room, enjoying the show.
“You think I’m being too obvious?” Serena asks.
I can already imagine Sloan’s ears perking up at the hint of drama. “You’re fine. Tell me about the hunch you were talking about before you went on the tirade about the case,” I nudge her.
“Oh, right, so this is such a long shot, but I was thinking, the two victims are not related at all, right? They’ve apparently never met. But they could have. The second victim was dating your friend’s sister. And all of you are friends with the werewolf show’s producer.” I tilt my head, my heartbeat picking up. “What if they met at one of the show’s parties or something?”
I internally blow out a relieved breath. “I asked Isabel if they’ve ever been to one, remember?” Of course, I did. Confirmed it with Cami and everything. But it’s still scary how close Serena is to the truth.
“Fuck,” Serena says sharply. “I completely forgot that,” shegroans.
“It’s alright, dude. We can use everything right now. No hunch is bad,” I assure her.
She nods.
