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I hadn’t even thought to take photographs or to ask her about them. I said as much.
“You were hurt,” Roger said kindly, as if reading the regret in my voice. “You had an injured partner, and your first thought was getting him to safety. Things like this are why we partner with the CPD”—he shifted his gaze to Gwen—“and greatly appreciate their help.”
“All in a night’s work,” she said philosophically.
***
Ten minutes later, Theo was rolled out of the treatment area with a very goofy smile.
“I feel really, really good,” he said as he was wheeled outside to the hospital’s front portico.
“You probably got the good drugs,” Petra said.
“Maybe,” he said, drawing out the word coquettishly, then turned that goofy smile on Gwen. “Should have gone on that date. Probably wouldn’t have gotten busted up.”
For a moment, her eyes softened, and the cop-like edge disappeared. “Probably. But there will be a next time.”
“Damn right. With good food and wine”—he slid his gaze to me, and the smile went pouty—“and fewer broken bones.”
“I didn’t break them,” I murmured. “And I told you to stay in the car.”
“You need a ride home?” Roger asked.
“He has a school bus,” Petra explained.
“A school bus?” Connor asked, glancing across the dark parking lot.
“I do not,” Roger said. “But I have four children, a wife, and two hundred-pound dogs. My vehicle fits them all.” He pressed a button on his screen, and after a few seconds of waiting, an enormous—well, school bus was the best description, really—rolled silently toward us, sleek and white as the literary whale, the gleaming exterior broken only by the long lines of tinted windows.
“Fully auto drive,” he said, beaming as doors opened and steps descended.
“It’s something,” Connor agreed, nodding in the way of People Who Liked Cars.
“Let’s get you in, buddy,” Petra said, and we helped Theo into the backseat.
“We’ll touch base at sunset,” Roger said.
We waved them off, leaving me, Lulu, and Connor alone in the lot.
I glanced at Lulu. “You need a ride?”
“Auto will be here in less than a minute,” she said. “But thanks. You really going to call Ariel?”
“Do you think she’ll give me grief if I ask her for a consult?”
“Of course she will,” Lulu said. “But that’s just her personality. She’s not so bad.”
“She got you into trouble. A lot.”
Lulu’s stare was flat. “Lis. Have I ever done anything I didn’t absolutely one hundred percent want to do?”
***
We waited until Lulu was safely tucked into the Auto. It was inching toward dawn as Connor drove the SUV back to his town house. I messaged my parents on the way home, told them what we’d seen, asked for any information they could provide. I sent a similar message to Uncle Malik. They proposed we meet at Cadogan House just after dusk, and I accepted.
That left only Ariel. I went three for three, sending her a message, too, and asking for whatever help she could provide. Giving her the chance to read and respond seemed less aggressive than just calling her up.
We made it to Connor’s neighborhood, Humboldt Park, with minutes to spare, hurried inside the tall brick town house, with its interesting mix of masculine and Art Deco furnishings. Being a shifter, or at least a shifter whose parents owned a business and invested wisely, apparently paid well.
