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The mess I was left with when Sienna took off with Stan took a couple hours to sort out. Ultimately, it was out of my hands, and I got to go home while the non-supernatural detectives took over checking traffic cams and getting in touch with next of kin. Turns out the girl in the crash was none other than Catherine Willis’s daughter, Samantha. Catherine being a heavy hitter in both the political and business arenas. Mrs. Willis gave the officers an ear full when they got hold of her. I was not envious of those guys. She’s a dragon lady if ever there was one.
I got home late, but I fell asleep quickly and came out of it feeling refreshed and ready for the day. Sienna hasn’t come by this morning. It’s something I’ve noticed with her. When she has a date with Stan, I end up going to work alone.
I miss the lattes. Is that shallow? That’s shallow. It’s true, though.
Really, I’m glad she’s happy. She deserves to have someone to dote on her and love her. I wish it weren’t Stan, though, if I’m being honest. That guy... there is something not right with him. I can’t put my finger on it. I catch him throwing me looks sometimes like he’s trying to provoke me to do something. I have no idea what that might be, but he always tries to needle me when Sienna isn’t looking. He’s on his very best behavior when she is focused on him.
I don’t like him. He knows it. If he doesn’t, he’s an idiot and I’ve overestimated his intelligence. But my friend is happy. Even better, she’s happy with someone who is not me. I want this to work for her.
Am I ignoring red flags in favor of someone taking her off my hands?
A sigh escapes me as I open the glass front door to the precinct. I carry my very own latte that I picked up myself—yes, I can do that. I should say something to her, shouldn’t I? Tell her I’m not sure about this new guy? But she’s happy, for the first time since I turned her down. She’s into someone who can love her back. I want that for her.
I want that for me. I want her to have someone so I can stop walking on eggshells, watching every word I say near her for fear of her taking it the wrong way.
I love Sienna. Like a sister, but love, nonetheless. I enjoy being with her. I want good things for her, but... being her friend is exhausting. Making sure everything stays platonic is exhausting. I hate saying that, but it’s true. I’ve been doing this for years now, and I’m relieved her romantic attentions are placed on someone else.
“Agent Reyes, conference room, now,” a familiar voice barks as I get to my desk. Sienna is conspicuously absent. She’s running late? That’s something that never happens.
“Director Doyle, sir.” I greet him with a respectful nod in his direction. “I’ll be right there.”
Director Thomas Doyle is my superior. Sienna and I receive all our assignments from him, but he’s not usually here. He stays in Washington D.C. mostly, but when he shows up in person, it’s for a good reason, though he checks in from time to time. I wonder which it is at the moment. I wasn’t expecting to see him, so that doesn’t give me much confidence. I have a sneaking suspicion I’m about to get a dressing down. This time, I might deserve it.
I make my way to the meeting room as Sienna stumbles through the door. I catch her eye and point to the conference room we’re going to, so she knows to head there straight away. She nods, straightens her blouse and makes her way over. I hold the door open and wait for her.
We go toward the seats around a long table, just Director Doyle, Sienna, and me. Being in the conference room I expected to be in here with more people, it being only us, doesn’t bode well.
“Take a seat,” Director Doyle instructs, waving a hand at the empty chairs around the table.
“To what do we owe the pleasure, Director? I didn’t know you were scheduled for a visit,” I ask as I take a seat, Sienna sitting close beside me. I register her closeness and file it away. Are things not so great with Stan, after all? She hasn’t made a point of being close to me like this since she met him. I edge away as subtly as I can.
“I’m here to check on the Medusa situation. My superiors are concerned she hasn’t been caught yet. Since they’re up my ass about it, I’m up yours. What’s the status?”
Sienna tenses beside me.
Shit.
She won’t be okay with half-truths. Before she can speak up, I jump in and pray that the good Lord will forgive me for lying to my boss. It’s for a good cause. That has to count for something to the Almighty, right?
“We’re stuck, sir. Our leads have dried up. We’re still hunting around, but every person who knows about her either ends up stone or is tight lipped about her. Most of the witnesses see her as some kind of savior. They don’t want to talk to us.”
“Savior? She’s a killer. We need to bring her in, now,” he says, punching a finger into the table with vehemence.
“I get that, sir. What if...” I trail off. Am I really going to do this? I’m still not one hundred percent sure about it, but — “What if she’s not what we think she is?”
The clicking of a pen repeating over and over tells me Sienna is about to combust with anxiety. I know she’s not on the same page as me on this. She wants to bring Alice in, preferably in chains, and whatever device will bind up her powers. She stays quiet, though.
“What are you talking about?” Doyle asks in a terse tone.
I clear my throat.
“Well, Director, what we hear from witnesses is that she’s saved them from abuse. Some of these women say they were being, or about to be sexually assaulted when our culprit showed up and saved them from it. Others insist she’s helped them find a place to live or someone willing to hire them when they were hard up after a domestic violence issue. Yeah, she kills people, and she’s working outside the law. I won’t dispute that. But what if we have her all wrong? What if we could get to her and sway her to our side of things? She could be an asset to this department.”
Doyle scoffs, sitting back in his seat as though he’s already done with the conversation.
“Hear me out. If we had someone as powerful as she allegedly is, we could do our job faster, safer, and without siphoning power from other supernaturals. It’s only a matter of time before the public finds out about our little subdivision, and how we capture our perps. They won’t like it. If we had someone like her on board, we could avoid that part. She could help us, and we wouldn’t need to power up.”
He levels a flat expression at me, mouth turning down in the corners, but doesn’t outright reject the idea.
“For any of that to matter, you need to find her,” he states in a frigid tone.
“I can’t follow leads I don’t have.”
He grunts an affirmative but won’t voice it.
“Fine. We’ll table it for now. She hasn’t had any fresh kills in the last week?”
I shake my head, Sienna shifting in her seat. Josh’s dad was more than a week ago, right? I’m not quite lying...
Doyle nods.
“If you haven’t made progress with the Medusa case, what do you have for me?”
“We’ve gotten a tip about a gang. The top gang in the city, the Chupacabras. We’ve heard that they’re running a drug cartel, human trafficking ring, and other seedy operations in the city. After some digging, I found out their leader has a heritage of witchcraft. There’s a rumor that he has some of the gift. He also has a few weak supernaturals in his hierarchy. Witches and elementals, by the sound of it, maybe one shifter. “
“I’ve heard of them,” he says, sucking his teeth in thought. The points of his fangs press against his lips in a stomach churning way.
Oh, I should have mentioned—Doyle is a vampire. Usually, he’s asleep by now. Vampires, despite pop culture depictions, can survive the sun, but they are weakened during the day, and they sunburn easily. Not to a crispy pile of ash, but a sunburn never felt good to anyone. “That’s a large organization. That’s not something we can act on and take care of in one fell swoop.”
“I’m aware, sir. They do have a pattern, though. We know generally where they keep their headquarters, and their leaders meet every couple months to take care of pressing business for the group.”
“Is there a meeting upcoming?”
“We believe so. In about a week.”
Doyle considers for a long minute, and I sense Sienna’s eyes boring into me. She wants to spill about Alice and where this tip came from. I feel it. I glance at her with a subtle shake of my head. She jerks her head forward, her jaw hardening, but keeps quiet.
“You think it’s possible to cut the head off the snake, so to speak?”
“I do.”
“Very well. Let’s see to it. I’ll accompany you to the operation. Do you know who you can recruit that would be well suited to a supernatural fire fight? I guarantee they won’t come quietly,” he says with a dry expression.
“Actually, Sienna and I recently came into the acquaintance of a couple of people that could be very helpful. They aren’t part of the police force, but one is a security liaison, and the other is a powerful magic user. They would be excellent assets for the mission.”
Sienna looks at me open mouthed, and I nudge her foot with mine to make her stop looking so shocked. She stutters a bit but catches on.
“Yes, sir. I’ve recently started seeing someone. His name is Stan. He’s a freelance security analyst. He helps some big names figure out their holes and plug them up. I’m sure he would lend us his skills in getting the operation up and running safely,” she says in a rush, giving too much information. A blush creeps over her cheeks at the moment I suspect she realizes she told our director about her love life.
Doyle takes no notice of the slip.
“Good, bring them in. It’s not exactly procedure, but the bureaucrats won’t care as long as it gets results. Let’s nail down the timeline and location. I’ll get in touch with special forces, and we’ll take down this group.”
A secretary knocks before poking her head in.
“Director Doyle, I have an urgent message for you.”
He lifts a hand, and she places a slip of pink paper into his waiting palm. His eyes run over it, his teeth clench, and he crumples the paper before sticking it in his pocket.
“When this is settled, you have a new investigation to start.”
“Sir?”
“That was a message about another missing supernatural. They’ve been disappearing with some regularity from various places around the country. Three disappeared on the west coast six months ago, all from the same area. They were never found. The same thing happened two months later from another area in the Midwest. It’s happened again here on the east coast. We haven’t alerted the public because we have no idea what is going on. This is one too many. I want this to be a priority when we’re finished with the gang. In addition to your ongoing investigation of Medusa, that is.”
“Yes sir,” I answer. Sienna glares at me but remains quiet. I hold in a sigh of relief.
We spend a few more minutes working to nail down as many details as we can without the entire team of people, and all the solid information. Doyle appears to be gung-ho about the endeavor. Doubtless, taking out a group like this will look good for him, and since we can do it quickly, all the better.
Sienna and I finally leave the conference office to start our in-depth investigation to get the details about the gang’s whereabouts and habits.
“I’m not okay with this, Jay,” she hisses when we get back to our conjoined desks.
“With what part?”
“Lying to the Director about what we know of Medusa. This is wrong, Jay, and you know it. We should turn her ass in.” She’s snarling at me like a wild animal. I knew she didn’t like Alice, but I hadn’t realized how deep her dislike ran.
“She’s trying to be better,” I say in a low tone.
“Says who? We haven’t found another statue, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t still doing shit!”
“Keep your voice down,” I warn. “She hasn’t had a chance to do anything. She’s been with me, or with the two of us almost every night.”
Sienna goes a purple color, her fists clenching as she sits down.
“And how exactly would you know that?”
I swallow hard, knowing she won’t like this.
“She came for dinner at the orphanage with me, and I walked her home after. The night before that we met with her at the bar, and I talked to her later that night, too. The only opportunity she had was last night because I was cleaning up that wreck. If something had happened, we’d have heard by now. She’s trying, Si. Give the girl a chance. She could help us with this.”
“Jay. You’ve lost your damn mind.”
She sits down in a huff but doesn’t continue the argument. Instead, she seethes in silence, doing her research and only speaking to me when she can’t get around it. I work around her, doing my part in gathering intel, but the tension is grating.
I can’t get her last words out of my mind, even as the day winds down to a close and I make my plans for the evening. Plans that involve the very woman in question.
She’s right. I have lost my damn mind.
