“Why are you here?” he asked. His tone was matter of fact, but there was a hint of aggression, and his Beta scent was sharp, something grassy. It reminded me of my father.
“I’m looking for someone,” I said, trying not to sound defensive.
“Who?”
I considered my answer. Even if he was a cop, that didn’t mean he knew anything about the people living at the Center. I had a feeling I shouldn’t just divulge Bridget’s name.
“I’d like to talk to someone at the Center about that.”
“Too bad. You’re talking to me. Who are you looking for?” The aggression wasn’t a subtext anymore.
“Fine. Bridget Crawford,” I said. “Now can I please—”
He yanked me by the collar of my jacket and pushed me roughly into the fence. “What do you want with her?”
I tamped down the instinctive aggression. The last thing I needed was to be arrested. “She’s my coworker. She hasn’t been to work in three days, and she’s not answering her phone. We were concerned.”
The man’s face remained impassive. “How do you know where she lives?”
“Because I walked her home one day. Can you please tell me what is going on? Is she alright?” Panic had finally edged into my voice. I swallowed it back down.
The man studied me for a moment. “Can you confirm your employment?”
I pulled out my ID badge and thrust it at him. He examined it thoroughly.
“Bridget is safe,” he said, and some of the suspicion had left his tone.
Safe? “Safe from what?”
“Don’t worry about it. Go back to work.” He held my badge out to me, but I didn’t take it right away.
I wasn’t going to give up that easily. “That is not exactly reassuring. Can I talk to her?”
“Out of the question.”
I wanted to grab him by the throat and force information out of him, but I suspected that might make things worse.
“Why are you waiting out here?” I asked instead.
“None of your business. I’ll tell Bridget you stopped by,” he looked at my badge again, “Nathan Manalo.”
At that moment, his phone rang, and he thrust my ID card back into my hands. He turned away to answer the call.
I considered ringing the call box anyway and seeing if the Omega Center staff were more helpful, but I didn’t want to antagonize my new cop friend any more than I already had.
Frustration boiled inside me, and my inability to do anything made things infinitely worse. I would cut my losses and head back to the lab before Lisbeth replaced me, too.
I made it back across the street when the man called out to me again. “Wait a second.”
He jogged over as I paused on the sidewalk. He was holding out his phone to me. I looked at it blankly. “It’s Bridget,” he said, as if I was supposed to know that.
I snatched the phone out of his grasp. “Bridget? Are you alright?”
“Hi, Nathan.” She sounded tired. “I’m sorry Soren is such a… He’s just looking out for me.”
“Why is a police officer stationed outside your home? Please tell me you’re alright.”
She paused. “Someone showed up at the Center and threatened me. With a gun. They threatened Anvi, too, actually.”
