AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And he strode to his office, slamming the door shut so hard the entire floor shook. My friends watched me as I passed by them on my way to him, giving me thumbs up and sorry smiles, which I didn’t mind at all right now. My hands were shaking by the time I knocked on the Chief’s door, and he didn’t even answer. I walked in anyway.
“Where the hell have you been, De Ver?” he said as soon as he saw my face. “I’ve been waiting for you for fiveminutes!” Except, the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes suggested he’d waited fivehoursinstead.
“I was in the bathroom,” I said, pushing the door closed behind me.
“You picked a hell of a time to piss,” he mumbled.
“What happened? Do the scouts have something?” I asked, half hopeful, half terrified. I hadn’t had my phone with me, so I had no idea if someone had emailed me.
“They do. We’ve got four different werewolves confirming the scents of two of these plants.” He pressed his finger onto a piece of paper, which I assumed was Crackdown’s ingredients list, though I couldn’t see it. My heart fell all the way to my heels. “It’s in the Hudson, inside one of the ships. We’ve got no visual, but the scent is going to have to do. We got the search warrant approved from the high ups.”
Oh, God. I knew it! I knew those people on that ship were responsible. Michael Sullivan hadn’t lied—he’d actually told me the truth. “Then what are we waiting for?”
“For you to finish peeing,” the Chief said, almost growling. I didn’t even care. We had a location—actual proof, and a search warrant. This day couldn’t possibly get any better. “We’re taking fifty soldiers with us, as well as some officers. I don’t want to take any chances.”
“You’re coming, too?” That was a surprise. Not that it was unheard of for the Chief himself to get out in the field, but it was rare.
“Of course. We’re dealing with high fae. And if we’re lucky, we’re going to run into them tonight.”
I beamed. “And if we don’t, there’ll be plenty of people to interrogate until we get a name.”
The Chief nodded. “Go. Get ready. We leave in an hour.”
“Thank you, Chief,” I said, turning for the door, when…
“Hold on, De Ver. You wouldn’t happen to know where Dane is, would you?”
Every inch of my body froze instantly. All the hair on the back of my head stood at attention, too, even before I faced him again.
“Umm…no. Why would I? I don’t know where Dane is.”
The Chief narrowed his thick brows. “Well, you were on that mission together. I thought maybe you kept in touch.”
I shook my head so hard, my neck hurt. “No, no. We didn’t. I don’t know where he is.”
The Chief held my eyes for the longest second of my life before he nodded his head. It was like a spell let go of me all at once. I opened the door, thinking it was done—I was saved, and the Chief didn’t even suspect anything. But…
“Here’s what I don’t get,” he said. “Why would you lie to me about Dane, De Ver?”
I don’t know how I managed to turn to him again or even speak. “Sorry, Chief. I’m not.” I walked out and closed the door fast like my tail was on fire.
The fifteen feet from his office to my desk had never seemed longer.
“What happened?” Hunter asked. “Do they have something?”
I nodded, sitting at my desk.
“Oh, no,” said Patricia. “How bad is it?”
“It’s not bad,” I forced myself to say—andfocus. “We have a search warrant. The Chief is coming with, together with fifty soldiers.”
“Holy shit,” Hunter said.
“Then why are you so pale?” Patricia said, squinting her eyes at me.
Thankfully, Eva took it upon herself to answer and save me the effort.
“Of course she’s pale—I’m pale, too. Fifty soldiers—that means the Chief is expecting something big to go down,” she said and shivered visibly.
