“He didn’tsaythey were trying to make girlfriends,” Vance said. “But I don’t think we can rule that out as Denny’s real motive, considering how many failed human relationships he’s had this year alone.”
“Some girl named Tracy dumped him just last week. The night you guys first showed up in the bar,” I added.
“So maybe he really is trying to make himself a ‘bride,’” Austin said.
“For the record, we’re calling that the Weird Science scenario,” I added. “Because I’d much rather picture myself as a model sucked off the pages of a magazine than as a patchwork corpse brought to life by a bolt of lightning.”
Austin shrugged. “Either way, it’s disturbing that that’s a common theme in some men’s fantasy lives.”
“Here, here.” I lifted my empty shot glass and mimed a toast.
“Mywife,” Bishop growled, and the lack of focus in his gaze told me he’d tuned us out. “Yvette was the goddamn love of my life, and he thought, what? That he could just infect her andtakeher for himself?” He glanced at Austin. “Did he think she’d just leave us for the asshole who bit her?”
“We’re not going to know what he was thinking until we can interrogate him. Where do we stand on that?” I asked, turning to Tucker. “I assume, since Austin is here, rather than staking out Cam Senet, that he wasn’t home?”
“We don’t actually have an address for him yet,” Tucker admitted.
“Why? Is he not registered with the census?”
“He is, but there’s no record of him ever actually living at the address he provided. Because it’s a laundromat, attached to a Greek restaurant in downtown Buford.”
“Goddamnit,” I swore. “No one checked that address, when he registered it?”
“No, because that’s never been the policy.” Vance’s voice was low and calm in response to my anger. “We’ve never had reason to verify addresses for voluntary registrants before.”
“Okay, does anyone here think it’s coincidence that he used a fake name and a fake address?” Bishop demanded. “Or can we please all agree that this Denny—Cam Senet—needs to be buried out in the woods somewhere? Assuming there’s enough of him left to put in the ground, when I’m done with him.”
“I agree that the case against him is pretty damning, at least circumstantially. Our top priority right now is finding him and bringing him in.Alive,” I added with a sharp look at Bishop.
“Have you filled Titus in yet?” Tucker asked.
“No, but I left a message for him to call me. I feel like this isn’t the kind of thing you say over voice mail. Or email.”
“How did he know about Yvette?” Bishop glanced at each of us, silently demanding an answer. “Denny, I mean. I get that he found his other victims right here in the bar, from talking to the regulars?”
Ouch. True, but…I flinched at the reminder that Denny had likely been operating under our noses the whole time.
“But Austin and I aren’t regulars. I’d never laid eyes on the bastard before we got here. So how thefuckdid he even know my wife existed?”
I had no answer for him. Not even a theory.
“The only other shifter she even knew was Nolan Blake.” Bishop stood, aggression pouring off him like fog rolling in from the ocean. “He must have said something about her. To Billy. Or even to Denny. Do we know if Nolan knows Denny? Are they friends? Drinking buddies at the bar?”
“All of the regulars know each other,” Vance said. “I’ve seen you drinking with half a dozen of them in the past week.”
“So, theydoknow each other?” Bishop persisted. “Nolan and Cam?”
“Sit down,” I said.
Bishop spun to glare at me, fists clenched, and the tension in my office was suddenly too thick to breathe through, as Vance and Tucker seemed to swell up behind him. Taking up more than their fair share of space in my defense.
“Sit,” I growled without leaving my chair. Without even leaning forward. “Unless you want me to have you removed.”
Bishop’s gaze narrowed on me, and I could practically see him assessing the situation. Trying to decide how far he could push me.
Finally, he sat.
“It is entirely possible that Cam got Yvette’s name from Nolan Blake,” I admitted. “But that doesn’t mean that Nolan intended to be providing him with a victim. Considering how difficult it is for most of the regulars to maintain a relationship, he could very well have been talking about the ones he knew to be successful. Trying to spread hope.”
