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"I . . . I don't know. What am I doing here? Who are you?" Puzzled, I looked around. I was in the astral, that much was apparent.>Shaking my head to clear away unwanted thoughts, I motioned to the others, and we headed up the walk after Chase. He motioned for us to stay back--
he had the badge, after al --and then knocked at the door. Nothing. He rang the bel . Nothing. After a few minutes, he ordered one of his men to bust it open, and they broke in, Chase holding a special revolver that I recognized as bearing silver bul ets--the only kind that worked al too wel against werewolves.
After a moment, a light went on, and Yugi motioned for us to enter. We trooped through and stopped in the middle of the foyer. The dingy little apartment would be nondescript except that a struggle had obviously taken place.
Books were scattered on the floor, chairs knocked over, an end table smashed. Blood had dried against one wal and was splattered on the floor. The room was thoroughly trashed, and I blinked as a sudden wash of scent rol ed over me. Immediately, I turned tail and raced outside.
"What's wrong?" Chase poked his head through the door.
"You can't smel it?" I winced, my head hurting. "Wolf Briar. The place reeks with it. Whoever took Saz, used Wolf Briar. And I don't think it's been two ful weeks--because that crap would have dissipated by now."
As I stared at the open door, a sick feeling raced through my stomach. Someone was picking off beta wolves in the area, and al the evidence pointed toward murder. Before I could react, the stress of the day flattened me like a steamrol er, and I turned to the side and vomited over the edge of the landing.
CHAPTER 12
The rest of the evening passed in a blur. The FH-CSI team made an excruciatingly thorough pass through Saz's house, but this time they hit pay dirt, discovering a number and address for his sister. I waited on the periphery, watching them comb the carpets for evidence, take blood scrapings, dust for fingerprints, and do whatever magical procedures it was they did. I knew they were working on a method for tracing magical signatures, but it hadn't been ful y developed yet.
Menol y and I leaned against one of the wal s, while Vanzir took a turn outside, looking for anything he might be able to find. Two of the officers were conducting a door-to-door, questioning residents for any information they could glean.
"What do you think is going on?" Menol y asked me.
I shook my head. "Want to make a bet somebody's making Wolf Briar and needs beta wolves to pump up on steroids? I have a bad feeing we aren't going to find Saz or Paulo or Doug. At least not alive and in one piece."
"Delilah?" Chase came over, holding a piece of paper. "I was wondering if you would go with me to talk to his sister. It would probably help to have another woman along, and you'l get your info right now instead of relying on what my men and I bring in."
I nodded. "Yeah, but we'l al come. Menol y and Vanzir can stay in the car." I didn't want to ride in his car, alone with him. Not right now.
He nodded. "Here's the address. Let's go. My men can finish up here."
Saz's sister lived in a slightly better section of the city. The lights in her house were on, though we were pushing nine P.M. by now. As I slipped out of the car and joined Chase on the sidewalk, I thought this had to be one of the worst parts of his job.
"You ready?" He straightened his tie and cleared his throat, popping a Listerine strip into his mouth. He handed me one. "When delivering bad news, have good breath. It's bad enough to be associated with bad news. Hygiene counts."
I popped the strip in my mouth, wincing. The taste was too strong, though I liked it, and after a moment as it melted on my tongue, I asked for another.
He snorted and handed me the pack.
We headed up the path, climbing the steps to the cottage house, where Chase pressed the doorbel . A moment later, a woman in a pair of sweats answered the door. She had a baby propped on one hip, and in the background, we could hear the sound of shrieking children. They were either having a lot of fun or were pissed as hel .
"I'm Detective Johnson, ma'am." Chase flashed his badge. "Are you Madge Renault?"
She nodded, looking suspiciously at the badge. "Yeah, what is it?"
"Do you have a brother named Saz Star Walker?"
The irritation on her face gave way to fear, and she opened her mouth in an O as she stepped back and motioned us in with a nod. "Is he . . . is Saz in some kind of trouble, Detective?"
We fol owed her into a tiny living room overflowing with toys. A large dog sniffed at my ankles and let out a sharp yip then ran off to play with three very messy but happy-looking children, who al appeared to be under the age of three. But their looks could be deceptive--Weres aged slower than humans, though for the first fifteen or twenty years they grew at what appeared to be a normal rate. Then the aging process slowed drastical y.
She tried to clear off one end of the sofa, and I quickly stepped forward to help. Giving me a grateful smile, Madge retreated to a wooden rocking chair and shifted the baby to her breast, where the child began to feed.
"I'm sorry--but my husband works evenings, and with five kids . . . it's hard to keep things clean." She brushed back a strand of hair from her face, and I caught a look in her eyes that worried me. Madge Renault was reaching a breaking point. I made a note to send out someone from the Supe Community Council to see if there was anything we could do to take the burden off--if only a little. We had been discussing setting up a sliding-scale day care for Weres in the area, and it was about time we fol owed through.
"Mrs. Renault, I need to ask you some questions about your brother."
The apprehension returned to her face. "Yes. What's wrong? He's okay, isn't he? Saz is a good kid; he doesn't get into much trouble."
Chase shook his head. "As far as I know, he hasn't gotten himself into trouble with the law, Mrs. Renault. The problem is that he seems to be missing, and we found signs of a struggle at his apartment. We're trying to pinpoint the last time anyone talked to him and find out if he said anything that might give us a clue where to find him."
