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“Clearly this India girl has killed her friend and run off!” DI Zael is insisting. “She’s a werewolf. The girls must have argued about something or other. The werewolf lost her temper and killed her human friend. That poor girl Rachel never stood a chance!”
“They were foster sisters,” says Storm. “It’s unlikely that India would have accidentally killed Rachel after all these years.”
“They were drinking for hours,” says DI Zael. “Maybe she got into a drunken rage.”
“And where is she supposed to have got the murder weapon from?” says Remi. “Do you suppose she was carrying a butcher knife in her handbag?”
“Agent Bronwyn is right,” says Leo. “This looks like a planned crime. Not a crime of passion.”
“This is supposed to be a joint task force!” DI Zael snaps. “But it looks to me like you are running away with your own theories.”
“That is not our intention here,” says Storm in a reasonable voice. “We have every intention of cooperating with your team, but you have to accept that we are more experienced and better equipped to handle crimes involving otherkind.”
“And we’re more experience handling crimes involving humans,” says the young police guy standing staunchly beside DI Zael. “Rachel Garrett’s uncle is the mayor of her home town, and he requested a joint task force for this investigation. It won’t look good if you try to push us out.”
“With all due respect, Sergeant Lowry,” says Remi tersely. “Rachel Garrett’s uncle is also India Lawrenson’s uncle. And Agent Storm has just said nobody is trying to push you out.”
“Foster uncle,” says Sergeant Lowry. “It’s not the same.”
“We’re wasting time debating this while the murderer is getting away,” says DI Zael. “There’s no sign of India Lawrenson. She is clearly on the run.”
His words infuriate me. India had been so excited about Rachel’s birthday just three days ago. She’d been so careful ab
out choosing the right gift. And now Rachel is dead and India is missing and this buffoon is intent on calling her a murderer without a shred of proof!
“How do you know India isn’t a victim too?” I snap. “How do you know she isn’t out there somewhere, scared and alone and desperate for help? Or dying? Or dead!” My voice rises to the verge of hysteria at the last word. India can’t be dead. She can’t be. I’d told her to stay safe like it was a joke.
I turn to Storm. “We have to look for her. What if she’s injured? We need a search party.”
He holds up a hand to calm the flow of my rushed words. “It is already in progress.”
“Scared and alone?” Sergeant Lowry huffs. “That’s unlikely. Not if she’s capable of savaging her friend like that. We don’t want another rogue werewolf on the loose. Not with the Wolf-Claw Killer already out there. The press will have a field day.”
“India is a person,” I snap. “Not just some werewolf. You should be able to see that even if the press can’t.”
“We’re not prejudiced,” snaps DI Zael. “Sergeant Lowry here is a werewolf too. But I expect you knew that, given you’re a psychic.”
I look at Sergeant Lowry with fresh eyes. He is muscular and trim, with short black hair so straight that his gel has inadvertently turned it into little spikes which he keeps trying to smooth out. He looks just like any other guy.
I had missed all the signs. He is standing well back from Leo, his eyes averted. He’d not met Leo’s gaze once in the time I’ve been here. He’d not raised his voice against Leo. I’d always wondered about Leo but never found a chance to ask. This must mean Leo is a dominant werewolf. So dominant to Lowry that Lowry is keen to avoid all possibility of friction.
Lowry must be a lowly omega werewolf. It can’t be easy for him to be in the room with a dominant werewolf who is not of his pack. I know some werewolves work for the Agency, but I had never thought about them working for the human police before.
“Good,” I retort. “I hope that means you’ll be giving India a fair chance.”
“There is no proof that India Lawrenson is anything but a second victim,” says Storm firmly. “And we will treat her accordingly until we find reason to treat her otherwise. Is that clear?”
Sergeant Lowry nods. DI Zael does so more grudgingly.
“I plan on expanding the search today,” says Storm. “We will be including civilian volunteers who are familiar with the local area. Remi will organize the search teams. DI Zael, any people you can spare will be welcome. And if you can send us all the CCTV footage right away, Agent Monroe will go through it.”
“My people are taking a look at the footage as we speak,” says DI Zael tersely. “We’ll let you know if we find anything.” He stalks out of the room, Sergeant Lowry trotting at his heels.
“I’ll join the search team,” I tell Storm eagerly.
Storm hesitates a fraction of a second before nodding. “Fine, but stay out of DI Zael’s way.”
Chapter 6
