Taylor ran a hand over one of the shelving racks. “Bastards,” he said, checking the other bags for tears. “William said his dadvisits some shady people on the edge of town. It’s why he was up in the woods on his own.”
Johnny shook his head as he crouched to look under the end table. “Fucking hell, poor kid. I hope Kat follows through on a foster placement.”
Taylor hummed, pulling out his phone to call Isla. “Me too. I swear to God, if I find out he’s been given back I’ll go round to the house myself and take William out of there.”
Johnny shook his head. “Pretty sure that’s the literal definition of child abduction.” He frowned and reached under the table. When he pulled back he had a cylindrical carton in his hand. “Talcum powder.” He held it up so Taylor could see. “Probably cutting the drugs with it. Don’t disturb any more of the bags until Isla gets here.”
Taylor grimaced. “Fitting, I guess. But where’s the rest of it?”
Johnny shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine, but it doesn’t look like they’re manufacturing the drugs here. The dealers are probably using Jill’s house as storage, coming and going as they please.”
Taylor sighed and pressed his phone to his ear. Isla answered after the second ring. “Sargie? We’re gonna need you to come down to Clydesdale Close. We’ve got a bit of a situation going on here.”
Luckily, Jill was happy enough whilst they waited for backup, but not so much when a nice doctor greeted them at Falkington A&E. The city paramedics scowled as they waltzed past the long queue of wheelchairs and stretchers, because it seemed that NHS waiting times were a complete mess no matter which hospital you rocked up at.
The blanket Johnny had slung around Jill’s shoulders was dripping with sweat, her face and neck bright red and her pupils completely blown. Taylor could actually hear her heartthudding, which for a woman her age was a one-way ticket to Heartattacksville.
The doctor thanked them profusely and said, “We’ll run tests on her right away. It’s good you recognised the signs—her blood pressure is through the roof. We’ll administer the anti-toxin once she’s stable. God, it makes me sick.”
Taylor nodded, giving Johnny a sideways glance as the blood pressure cuff inflated automatically around Jill’s skinny upper arm.
“Did you know they’d developed an anti-toxin already?” Taylor whispered.
Johnny nodded silently, which made shame twist in Taylor’s gut. Maybe he would have known if he’d watched the news or checked his work emails from time to time. God, he really was a shit police officer.
“Honestly, you should see some of the cases we have coming in,” the doctor continued, scooting closer to Johnny on the blue plastic bench. “The behavioural disturbances in some of the older folks, or even just those with weakened immune systems.” The doctor shivered. “People have been overdosing on this stuff and they don’t even know it. Spikings, alphas taking it to make their knots last longer, omegas thinking it’ll increase their chances of pregnancy… It affects betas the worst because they have the lowest hormonal baseline and they think it’ll help them experience a heat or rut. It doesn’t work like that and people just don’t understand the fire they’re playing with. The sugary sweet smell is the synthetic pheromones created by the drug.”
Taylor levelled his eyes at the doctor. “But is Jill going to be okay?”
The doctor nodded. “I hope so. She’s strong for her age, and, as much as I hate to say this, it sounds like she’s been micro-dosing for a while. Love Dust particles are so fine they getinto the air and settle in an almost invisible layer on surfaces. Seriously, clean your equipment before you put it on again.”
They left the hospital after that, even though the nurses were quite obviously making goo-goo faces at him and Johnny from behind the workstation. Usually Taylor would have leant into that, maybe gotten a couple of numbers out of it, but the way Johnny bristled and marched him out of a side door made him drop his head and keep walking.
Their elbows touched during the drive back to the police station, Johnny’s knuckles brushing his thigh every now and again. They were small touches that happened every fucking day, but now Taylor was aware of every single one of them.
He swallowed as they pulled up next to a sparkly new squad car that had been delivered that morning, his throat hot and thick with tension. “Hey, JP?” he said, running a thumb over his own lip.
“Yeah?” Johnny replied, so casually, like he hadn’t just postured his way out of the hospital with Taylor at his heels like a good little mate.
“Are you sure we’re good?”
“Yes,” he replied, running his eyes up and down the entire length of Taylor’s body.
Had he always looked at him like that? Like he wanted to eat him with a side of rice? Taylor sucked his teeth and turned to look out the front window.
“Okay. Good. Good to know.”
A few seconds later Isla pulled into the car park in her Ford Ranger, Amil and Wendy getting out of the back with masks and gloves on. Amil threw them the middle finger.
“Good to know he’s warming up to you,” Johnny said with a smirk.
Taylor snorted, unbuckling his belt. “I think that means he likes us, believe it or not. Or maybe he’s just pissed about the lift thing… and now the Love Dust thing.”
As if to prove his point, Wendy swore loudly as she heaved a block of Love Dust out of the back of the car. Amil was scribbling notes onto a clipboard as Isla retrieved a sack-truck from one of the garages. She pointed at Johnny and Taylor, then at the mountain of drugs in the back of her car.
“Guess we better help,” Johnny said, cracking his knuckles. “But make sure you keep your mask on.”
Taylor smirked, his tongue poking out between his teeth. “Why? Worried I’ll take you into the woods and fuck you after all?”
