Page 72 of The Tracker's Rage
Chapter 26
The next morning, Iarrived at the office in an Uber. All night, I had slept like a baby in Jake’s arms, but I was disappointed to find him gone when I woke up. Being next to him was such a comfort, and the memory made me smile from ear to ear.
As I walked up to the agency’s door, I found that it was still locked. It was already 8:30 AM, and it was strange not to find Rosalina already there making phone calls and lining up appointments. I unlocked and walked in, checking my cell phone to see if I’d missed any messages, I didn’t find anything. I was about to dial her number when I noticed a note on the desk.
“Running a few errands. Will be in around 11 AM,” the note read.
Again, I couldn’t help but wonder what she was up to and why she wasn’t telling me about it. I couldn’t blame her. I hadn’t been the best of friends lately, nor the best of partners. For all I knew, she was out at a job interview.
Oh, crap!What if that was it? What if she was seeing the writing on the wall and making contingency plans? She was good at those.
“You always have to be prepared, Triple T,” she always said.
Witchlights!I needed to get my act together or I might lose her, and what would I do without her? That sounded like a nightmare. I knew I could do this on my own if she decided to leave, but what fun would that be?
“Nope, not going to let that happen,” I said, turning on my heel and heading out the door.
I got another Uber, and this time got the driver to take me by The Chained Wolf to pick up my Camaro. I found it right where I’d left it. As I drove past the club entrance, I saw that the broken windows had been boarded up and police tape blocked the door.
Lately, the cops had been dealing with a lot. What had happened at Ulfen’s club was not an isolated incident. Skirmishes between werewolves and vampires were not unheard of, but lately they’d been happening more often than not.
The vampire leaders continued to blame the werewolves for rhabo trafficking in the city and killed anyone they found selling the drug on the streets. Recently, they’d switched to bigger targets, though, hence the attack on Ulfen’s club. I probably needed to talk to Tom to see what he was doing and tell him what I knew. The poor man might be chasing his tail trying to find a lead on Stephen when we already knew for sure he was behind this.
Twenty-five minutes later, I stopped in front of Damien Ward’s house. I sat in my Camaro surveying the sidewalks, searching for a chunk of red hair that might point out Jenson’s presence here. I didn’t see anything suspicious but didn’t let my guard down. Even as I called Mom to check how she was doing, my eyes scanned my surroundings, and my sensitive ears registered every noise.
Mom was doing better, up and about trying to cook. Dani was still hanging out with her to make sure she got enough rest and took her medicine. I promised to go visit her as soon as I could. Dani didn’t seem to mind the time off, but it wasn’t fair that she should be the only one taking responsibility. I was sure Lucia was no help, and Leo got off scott-free, gallivanting all over South America or who knew where. I hadn’t heard from him in a long while, and I was starting to worry. He always emailed at least once a month, but lately it had been nothing but radio silence from him. I needed to check with Dani and Lucia to see if he’d messaged them.
After disconnecting the call, I got out of the car and walked toward the five-story, decrepit-looking building. I stood in front of the door, rang the bell, and waited.
To my surprise, Eric Cross opened the door. He gave me a raised eyebrow and scanned me from head to toe. “You didn’t show this morning.”
“Hi, good morning to you, too.” I put on a smile that showed no teeth.
He continued to stare at me.
“You said I could train with you whenever I wanted.”
That didn’t erase his scowl either.What the hell?!Had he said one thing and meant another? Had he been expecting me to show up every morning at 4 AM?
