Abraham nodded. “You did damn good work—”
“And now there’s another crime going on, and the Griz are the target. I know for a fact that they didn’t poison Detroit, but someone sure as hell wants it to look like they did.” He pushed out of his chair. “You say they want me out of the fight? Don’t give them what they want. Let me finish what I started. Let me find the proof. If it’s Frankie or Raoul or the whole damn pack, then I’ll arrest them all. I swear it.”
They stared at one another for a long minute. Ryan let the force of his drive burn through his entire body as he stood there vibrating with the need to see this through. Captain Abraham leaned back in his chair and studied him. His expression was thoughtful without giving anything away.
“You’re going to do that all by yourself? Detective Lone Wolf taking down the baddies.”
Ryan winced at the phrase. “You know as well as I do that sometimes it comes down to one man.” Or wolf. Or bear.
“Sometimes,” his boss agreed. “But you’ve shot your wad this time, Kennedy.” He grimaced as he stood up. “She outplayed you. It happens. You’re out of this fight, but the rest of us aren’t. Let us finish what you started. We’ll make sure that justice is served.” He cocked his head to one side. “That is our job, too, you know.”
“Captain—” he began, but Abraham shook his head.
“Go home. Get some sleep. That’s an order.”
Ryan waited, knowing there was more. Eventually, Abraham sighed.
“You’re on desk duty pending an investigation. This is big stuff, Kennedy. An entire city was poisoned, lots of people died. Everything has to be by the book, and that means you stay out of it.”
“And what if I’m the only one who can keep this from escalating into an all-out war?”
“Then I’d say you were thinking like them. You think it’s just you when you’re actually part of a larger team, and I’m not talking about the police. I mean the justice system. I mean the National Guard who are helping us out. I mean the whole damn city of Detroit that has stopped rioting and is finally starting to pull together. So pull together, already. Work with us, not against us.”
“So let me work—”
“You’ve given your best shot. Now it’s time for you to rest and recover. That’s teamwork.” He wrapped a thick arm around Ryan’s neck and squeezed. “Have a little faith in your team.”
What was he supposed to say to that? Captain Abraham was right. He either worked within the system or outside it. And he was no lone wolf, rogue agent, or vigilante to take the law into his own hands. So what if the system didn’t need him right now? That meant he could take a breather and sort through his feelings for Frankie. Then after all the dust settled—and he could think again without hungering for more serum—he could decide what to do next.
That would be a good plan if it weren’t for one simple fact. He was the only shifter cop in Detroit. The only representative of the legal system who could stop a shifter war. And if he found out that Frankie was Mata Hari in the process, then that would make his feelings real damn clear.
But he couldn’t say any of that to his captain.
“Okay,” he said, doing his best to look compliant. “I need some food anyway.”
“How about you start with a shower?” the captain said as he opened the interrogation room door. He waved over a waiting officer. “Simpson, give Kennedy a ride home, will you? And pick up a pizza on the way. My treat. And stay a while, just to be sure he eats it.”
The young officer stepped forward quickly and accepted a twenty-dollar bill from the captain. His expression was an innocent grin, but all three of them knew the truth. Officer Simpson was Ryan’s babysitter. He’d drive Ryan home, feed him pizza, and keep Ryan locked inside until told otherwise.
Five minutes passed as they called in the pizza order then got in a squad car. Ryan responded politely to everything the young man said, agreeing to the escort and the pizza with as much good grace as he could fake. Once inside his home, he showered, then ate while Simpson kept up a running commentary on the Tigers’ chances this season. Turns out the kid was a huge baseball fan and as pleasant a babysitter as could possibly be managed.
He really didn’t like drugging the guy’s soda with the ketamine he kept on hand just in case a twitchy gang member visited him at home. And he sure as hell was going to pay for that later. But he was the only one who had a prayer of stopping a grizzly-wolf war.
So he knocked out the very young Officer Simpson and left to get some answers.
Chapter 17
The late afternoon sunshine was pleasant on Ryan’s back as he walked away from his apartment building. He’d gone to the right out of habit, but a block away, he had to make a decision. Where exactly was he headed?
His first instinct was to find Frankie, but she was either hiding out or at the wolf community center trying to talk to her father. Everything she’d done so far was to get her brother out of the way, so he doubted she’d go head to head against Raoul. She would have done it already if that were an option.
If she was hiding out, he’d never find her. If she was at werewolf central, then he’d be a fool to walk in blind. He needed more intel and backup before he tried that. So he hauled out his phone and dialed up the Griz. Alyssa answered on the second ring.
“Ryan, are you all right? I’ve been following the police chatter. I’m going to kick that bitch’s ass for abandoning you.”
It was gratifying to hear someone else get angry on his behalf, and yet he couldn’t stop himself from defending Frankie. “She thinks she can stop the wolves on her own.”
“And how’s that working out?” Alyssa grumbled. “We’re suiting up to meet with Emory Wolf right now. Supposed to be a ‘talk sense before there’s a war’ thing, but I think something else is going on. It would be good to have some police backup.”
