Page 54 of The Tracker's Revenge
Obviously, I hadn’t told himeverything, but Em didn’t know that. She had no way of guessing how deep the rabbit hole went.
I started walking toward the parking lot. “I’ll take you back to your scooter, though I have to make a quick stop for some food. I’m starving!”
“Yeah, I was afraid you might eat me.”
“Mmm. AnEmcombo.”
We stopped by one of my favorite hamburger joints and ordered at the drive-through. Em was hungry too, though apparently not as much as me. She only ordered a kids’ meal, which she said was plenty enough for any normal person, and went on a rant about portion sizes in America.
It was easy for her to criticize my supersize appetite. She was petite and a Stale. She had no idea the amount of energy it took to do things like shift and, sometimes, keep from shifting. Red still wanted revenge for all those years she’d been caged.
I dug into my fries as soon as I got my food, but Em kept the paper bag on her lap, only sipping her water. Once we got back to The Hill, I parked around the bend from the agency, we got out of the car and met on the sidewalk.
“I guess this is goodbye,” Em said.
She seemed to be waiting for me to say something likeOh, no—not goodbye. Let’s be best friends, so it was awkward as hell. I didn’t have anything against her. She was nice enough, but, for some reason, she made me uncomfortable. Maybe it was because she’d been so pushy and desperate. It had been her right, of course, but I wanted to put what had happened at Liliana’s place firmly into the past as quickly as possible.
So instead, I smiled and said, “Um, I guess. Unless you’re ever in need of a mate.” I started walking toward the office and waved before turning my back.
A moment later I heard a small, sputtering engine come to life, and when I glanced over my shoulder, I caught a glimpse of a baby blue Vespa driving away, backfiring as if the carburetor was about to break. I breathed a sigh of relief and peeked through the agency’s window. The lamp on Rosalina’s desk was off, which meant she’d already gone home.
I sent her a quick text to tell her everything had gone all right with Tom, then strolled next door to see if Jake was in his place.
When I pushed the door, it swung open, and immediately, I felt the tension I carried on my shoulders dissipate. It made me realize I’d been going about my day in a state of alertness, waiting for the ball to drop. And now that the sun was going down and vampires would be free to prowl without their ridiculous UV umbrellas, I was glad not to be alone.
“Jake,” I called, my eyes roving around the space. It was nice. He had fixed it up quickly. There wasn’t much in the way of decor except for functional furniture—a desk, a few chairs, a set of cabinets—but the paint, new hardwood flooring, and detailed woodwork made the place feel professional and fresh. With all that had been going on, he hadn’t opened for business, and sometimes I wonder if he ever would. Maybe this was like his man cave or something.
“I’m up here,” he called from the loft.
I bounded up the steps, sipping my milkshake, then stuffing a handful of fries into my mouth. When I reached the top, I found Jake sitting in front of his impressive array of computers. He was typing away in front of one monitor while three others moved in a flurry of activity: images flashing, lines of text scrolling, lights blinking.
“What are you doing?” I mumbled, a lump of half-chewed fries squirreled away in my cheek.
Jake whirled his chair around, his nose twitching. “I smell food,” he said, his eyes flashing with hunger.
“Oh, no!” I pointed a finger straight at his nose. “You’re not taking my food this time.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I suspect you have a triple-decker.”
I blew air through my nose.
“Don’t be so selfish.” He crooked a finger and made acome heremotion. “Give me one of those patties, a few fries, and a sip of your milkshake.”
“Nah-ah, get your own damn food.”
“You would make a poor pack leader,” he said. “You’re supposed to take one for the team.”
“I wholeheartedly disagree. I’d be a great pack leader, and the team would take one for me. All the time.” I sat on a chair in the corner a safe distance away from him, set my milkshake and fries on an end table, unwrapped my hamburger, and bit into it. I gave a moan of pleasure. The hamburger was delicious.
Jake judged me hard with his silver eyes, then resumed typing on his computer.
“Who would’ve ever thought you would turn out to be a computer wiz?” I wiped my fingers on a napkin and stared at the intricate array of CPUs, monitors, cables, and several more devices I had no name for that filled the loft.
“It comes naturally to me for some reason. These days, with everything stored on the cloud, a lot of detective work happens behind the keyboard.”
“And what exactly are youdetectiving?”
He cringed at the word but let it pass without comment. “I’m just looking for anything that may shed some light on Stephen’s location, Damien’s death, the rhabo trade. Anything.”
