Page 10 of Arresting the Warlord

“Crank her up,” Uncle Jesse called.

A smile touched my mouth. The Jackass was perched on the hood. I hit the winch control button and the jeep jerked violently. Jake pitched forward and poof he vanished only to reappear next to me. “Nice try.”

Sergeant Thomas pulled up in an ancient SUV.

I hurried over to him.

Through the open driver’s window, Thomas said, “Yellowhorse says the victim was ripped apart and partially eaten.”

“Did the witness see anything?”

“No, she just found the body.”

“I’m coming with you,” Jake announced.

“But…”

Father cut me off. “We welcome your help.”

“What are you doing Father?”

“If we have an alien shapeshifter killing people, we’ll need their help. We don’t have the Coletti Empire’s resources, and I won’t let more people die unnecessarily.”Father stated firmly.

Father was right, but how long would it take the General or Jake to realize I wasn’t Navajo? The murders also gave the Overlord and Central Command a legitimate reason to interfere in Navajo Nation’s business.

A shuttle dropped from the sky and hovered over Spider Rock. General Jones was suddenly standing by the SUV. “My warriors will finish processing this crime scene. I want to examine the new victim. Have your officer take pictures of the area and send them to my scanner.”

Father tapped his commlink and relayed his instructions to Officer Yellowhorse. A couple of minutes later the General had his photos. He touched an icon and holographic images of the slaughtered woman appeared in front of us.

Damn. The woman’s injuries matched those of Jivo’s. We had an alien serial killer on our hands.

A frown shadowed the General’s features. “How many homicides did you work at Phoenix P.D. Jake?”

“Twenty-eight, Uncle Saul.”

Uncle Saul? Shit the Jackass was Jake Jones, the police officer who had single-handily stopped the Tai-Kok assault on south Phoenix. What had happened to turn the hero into an arrogant prick?

“CeeCee has solved four murders,” Father stated proudly.

What? Oh, hell no. I wasn’t working with the Jackass. Before I could protest Father assumed his Elder demeanor.“You will work with them.

“It won’t take them long to figure out I’m Italian not Navajo.”

“When you discovered Jake was Coletti you should have issued him a warning, but you didn’t. Why?”

The Jackass’s pissy attitude wasn’t a valid reason, so I went with,“He broke our laws.”

“They have done so before and you never used your gifts.”

With a sigh, I admitted, “I know. There’s just something about him that pushes my buttons.”

“You’re attracted to him. It is time you took a mate,”Father replied.

My jaw dropped.“What? I’m only twenty-four and I’m not hooking up with that jackass.”

“The spirits have spoken,”Father said firmly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

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