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Riley arched her eyebrows. “I think it’s safe to say that he doesn’t need the clinic’s services. Why would he hang out in the waiting room?”
“No idea, but... he’s talking to the woman next to him.”
“Can you hear what they’re saying?” Riley asked.
“I’m afraid I don’t possess the skills to hear a conversation that far away,” Colton said.
“Can you tell what they are doing?” Riley asked.
“The woman is uncomfortable. Humans see us as human, but instinct warns them that we are predators.”
“You give off a bad vibe?” she asked.
“Yes. Regardless of what that woman came here for, she will leave soon.”
Riley watched as the woman moved to the opposite side of the waiting room. When the reaper moved closer to her, she got up and exited the clinic. She stood outside beside the garbage can and took out her cell phone.
A man exited the alley, but stopped several feet from the woman.
Colton hissed. “That’s Edgar. He is Erwin’s brother. They turned at the same time.”
Edgar put his hands on either side of his mouth. “Miss, can I help you? Janice said you left before your appointment. If the man in the waiting room is bothering you, I can help. We have a side entrance if you wish. Janice will meet you inside and take you to an exam room.”
The woman smiled. “Thank you, for noticing. The man didn’t do anything wrong, but I was so uncomfortable.”
Edgar motioned for her to follow him, and ducked down the alley.
Colton grabbed Riley’s hand and walked toward the crosswalk. “He is keeping his distance from her so he doesn’t spook her. We need to follow them. I want to see this side entrance.”
Riley jogged to keep up with Colton’s pace, as he walked across the sidewalk. An older lady clutched her purse close to her body as they passed each other on the street. They reached the other side, and Colton pushed her behind him before they entered the alley.
Colton held up his hand. They couldn’t see the woman or Edgar, but they heard him speak.
“Just in there, Miss. Janice will take good care of you.”
There was a rustle and a clanking sound before the only sounds were that of the vehicles on Main Street and the beep of a horn.
Colton slowly entered the alley, looking for signs of Edgar and the woman. They passed a blue garbage bin with an oversized rat feeding on scraps beneath it before making their way to the back of the building.
Except for three full parking stalls, there was nothing there. Riley noticed the stairs to the rear entrance of the clinic. As she approached, she saw the black purse with a gold metal chain lying on one of the steps.
She rushed over and picked it up. Unfastening the magnetic clip before removing the leather wallet inside. “There is fifty dollars in the wallet, so this wasn’t a mugging.”
“Check the driver’s license,” Colton said.
Riley flipped through the credit cards before the license showed a picture of the woman they had seen in the clinic. “It’s hers. The woman we saw go into the alley.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Edgar doesn’t possess the ability to take a human into the pathway.”
“Are you sure?”
Colton nodded. “He and his brother were cougar clan members. He and his brother are receivers.”
“Could he have developed another skill since he left the cougar clan?”
Colton shrugged. “Maybe.”
Riley glanced at the rear entrance to the clinic. “They took her from outside the clinic. How do we find out if this location is random or if they are targeting women who frequent the clinic?”
