Page 8 of Lone Wolf

Evan adjusted the roller clamp to increase the flow into his veins. His vision sharpened and he felt the first premonition of clarity in a day or so. “I’ve never seen me drunk either.”

Joey’s glare hardened. “Whatever happened or didn’t with your father, you need to compartmentalize that shit and deal with it on your own time.” She picked up the rugged phone beside him and flung it into his lap. “You’re X. Grow a pair.”

“Listen to sugarbritches,” Tommy said. “’N’ I’m gonna spit some truth at you, too.”

“I’m not in the mood for—”

“No. Fuck that. A friend’s a person who’s right when they tell you you’re wrong.” Tommy had inexplicably repositioned his phone camera so only a single eye peered out with speakeasy intensity. “So listen up, honcho. Whatever’s got you spunfucked, you gotta snap to and get back on yer feet. You know how, too. Start small.”

“Small?” Evan said. “‘Small’ doesn’t happen around me.”

A sudden blare erupted from his crotch: DONCHA WISH YER GIRLFRIEND WUZ HAAAWT LIKE ME?!

The RoamZone, with a Josephine Morales–amended ringtone.

Her lips parted slightly to show the hair-thin gap in her front teeth.

He glared at her. “You really thought it necessary to—”

DONCHA WISH YER GIRLFRIEND WUZ HAAAWT LIKE ME?!

Joey touched her fingertips to one ear. “Sorry. I’m having trouble hearing you. Mayhaps you should pick up, as is your sworn responsibility.”

Miserably, Evan set the RoamZone on his knee and pressed SPEAKER. He tried to muster energy but his voice still came out flat. “Do you need my help?”

“Yeah,” a young girl’s voice said. “My dog went missing.”

5

Loco

Joey stared at Evan. On her phone, Tommy’s visible eye rolled and then the screen went dark as he cut the connection.

Evan sighed, the RoamZone heavy against his thigh. “How did you get this number?”

“Duh,” the girl at the other end of the line said. “It’s Sofia. Andre’s daughter.”

Sofia Duran, the eleven-year-old daughter of Evan’s half brother.

The half brother who drank too much and—like most folks who’d grown up in the foster system—had a hard time staying out of trouble. The half brother Evan had saved on a prior mission and helped reunite with his daughter. The half brother whom Evan had largely and happily ignored since then.

Sofia lived with her mother, Brianna Ramirez, Andre’s ex. Evan had met Sofia all of once, and as far as he knew, she had no idea that they were related. Despite coming up together in the Pride House Group Home, Evan and Andre had only learned of their blood relationship recently themselves. They’d reconnected in the midst of a homicidal onslaught, which might be strange for some people but for Evan was relatively normal.

Evan tugged the needle from his arm and stood up. “Sofia, you can’t call this number. It’s not for you.”

“Why not? I heard Dad talking and he said it’s for people who are upset —”

“It’s not for people who are ‘upset.’”

“—and Loco ran away and I can’t find him.”

Evan pinched his eyes, his headache threatening a comeback. “Loco.”

“Dad got him for when he can’t be with me. He’s my whaddayacallit? Volitional object.”

He bent his arm to put pressure on the puncture spot. “Transitional.”

“He’s not a object though. He’s my dog and he ran away two days ago and I can’t find him and what if a coyote or a hawk got him or someone took him.” Her voice wobbled and Evan thought, Here we go.