“Perhaps I was showing off a little.”
“Here’s the deal. You stay in the house. I drop you off. I pick you up. If I show up and the ankle tracker is there but you aren’t, it’s over.”
“I’ll keep it on if you insist, but take a moment. Don’t you see the problem this ankle tracker presents? It’s a distraction for us, nothing more. It doesn’t benefit either of us. It only benefits them.”
“Them?”
“You know,” he said, eyeballing around. “Them.”
I actually understand his point. “I tell you what, Mister Smoke. You finish your meal, we go back to the house, lay out a plan, and we’ll see how it goes. Easy peasy?”
He dug into his omelet. “Good enough for me.”
Her phone buzzed. It was another text from her niece, Megan. Her heart stopped. The text read:
Sorry to bother you, but I haven’t seen Mommy in three days. I’m scared. A frowning icon followed.
CHAPTER 10
“What’s going on?” Smoke said.
Sidney pulled the sedan into the driveway of the house, put it in park, and looked at him.
“Here’s the deal. You go inside. You don’t leave.”
“Come on,” he said. “You’ve been frosty the entire ride. What’s going on? I can help.”
“Get your bag. Get out of the car. Get inside the house.”
Nodding and raising his hands in surrender, Smoke reached into the back seat and grabbed his duffle bag. He popped the door open to the sound of pouring rain outside. “Let me come.”
“I’ll be back tonight. Just go.”
Smoke stepped into the rain, shut the door, and dashed onto the covered porch.
Sidney didn’t wait to see if he went inside. She hit the gas, squealed out of the driveway, and blasted the car through the rain.
“Dammit!”
She was torn. On the one hand, she hated to let Smoke out of her sight. On the other, she didn’t want him in her personal business.
It took her an hour and a half to get to her sister’s apartment, talking to Megan the entire ride. The nine-year-old was tough, but scared. Sidney wheeled into the apartment complex, which consisted of twenty three-story brick buildings, a pool, tennis courts, and a gym—all of which were long past their glory days.
She parked, headed up the grass to the screened patio of her sister’s porch, and knocked on the metal frame of the screen door.
“Megan? It’s me, Aunt Sid.”
A cute little face peeked through the blinds, and its watery eyes brightened. Megan unlocked the door, flung it open, ran outside, and hugged Sidney.
Sidney picked her up and carried her inside.
“It’s all right. It’s going to be all right.”
Using her foot, she closed the door behind her and sat down on the couch with Megan latched onto her. Sidney’s heart burst in her chest.
Allison had better not be using again.
“All right, Megan, all right. You’re safe. I’m here.” She pushed Megan back and wiped the tears from her eyes. The little girl’s long brown hair was braided back in a ponytail. Her face was sweet and innocent with freckles on her nose. “I’m going to take care of you.”
“I-I was doing fine. I even made it to school the last two days, but the storm scared me. I thought Mommy would be home by now, but she isn’t. Do you think she’s mad at me?”
“No, no, no, of course not.” Sidney took a breath. Megan was a capable little girl. She’d learned how to take care of herself when she was little. An independent little thing. “She probably got lost again.”
“Will you find her, Aunt Sid?”
“I will.” She hugged her niece again. “I will.”
Her sister, Allison, was younger. She was a runaway. An addict. A mess. Sidney could never make heads or tails of her problems, but she always tried to protect her. No matter what, Allison stayed in trouble. It was heartbreaking and infuriating.
“Are you hungry?”
“No,” Megan said, “I had some cereal.”
“Do you want to go stay with Nanny and Grandpa?”
“Can’t you just stay here with me?” Megan looked at her with sad eyes. “Until Mommy comes back?”
“I’ll see what I can do, but I have to call Nanny and Grandpa first.”
Megan shrugged. She looked adorable. Little blue jeans. A flowery pink-and-purple shirt. “They’ll do.”
***
Sidney didn’t stick around after her mother arrived. Keeping the reunion short, she hit the road and headed to Allison’s ex-boyfriend’s … Dave was his name. According to Megan, he’d been coming around and staying over from time to time. The last time she’d seen Dave and Megan together, it hadn’t ended well.
If she’s with him, I might kill both of them.
She drove the car into another neighborhood a little better than the one where she’d left Smoke. The sidewalks and driveways made up the edges of well-kept lawns. Leaves were in piles and bagged at the end of the drives. She pulled along the sidewalk across the street from Dave’s house, 104 Dickers Street. The windows were barred. The screen door was a wrought-iron security door. The garage door was closed.
Somebody’s made some changes since the last time I was here.
She checked her phone. Smoke’s beacon remained in place.
He’d better be there.
The blinds were shut, but light peeked out at the corners. She waited. Dave was a dealer. A clever one. He moved small quantities to subsidize his government assistance. He hadn’t worked in years—or ever, for all she knew. She waited another hour. Cars splashed by. Water poured into the grates. It was 2:15 p.m. when she looked again. She needed to get back to Smoke. She needed to find her sister.
I need to put an ankle tracker on her!
She drummed her fingernails on the steering wheel. Chewed on her lip.
Aw, screw it.
She popped the trunk, opened her door, and stepped out into the rain. From the trunk she grabbed an umbrella and opened it up. A car rolled by, splashed her legs, and pulled into Dave’s driveway. She noted the plate.
A couple of young men in hoodies jumped out of the car and rushed onto the stoop. One started pounding on the door. The other was yelling.
“Hurry up! It’s cold as hell out here!”
The door opened. Sidney hid behind the umbrella until she heard the door close, then made her way across the street and waited beside the front door on the stoop, craning her neck toward the window. The voices were muffled, and the driving rain splattering all around drowned out the details. She closed the umbrella, shook it off, and waited. Ten minutes later, the door opened. She stepped back and whipped out her badge.
The dilated eyes of the young men lifted toward her.
Sidney held her badge up and said quietly, “Disappear.”
The two scurried through the rain without a glance backward.
Sidney caught the door with her umbrella and slipped inside.
“Shut the door, you idiots!” a voice said. Dave appeared in the foyer. His eyes widened. He dropped his can of beer. “Aw shit! How’d you get in here?”
Sidney closed the door behind her and locked it.
“Hey, hey,” Dave said, holding his hands up and backing away into the living room. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Sure you didn’t, Dave. Sure.”
Dave wasn’t a bad-looking guy. He had a mop of brown hair and strong features. A scruffy beard. The plaid pajama pants and Bob Marley T-shirt did little to enhance his demeanor. His eyes were weak and yellow, and he smelled like reefer.
“You can’t be in here,” he said. “It’s illegal.”
“Where is Allison, Dave?”
His eyes flitted around the room. A bong sat on the coffee table in front of a new plush sectional sofa. A video game was playing on a seventy-inch flat-screen TV.
“I haven’t seen her.”
“Do you remember what happened the last time you lied to me abo
ut her?”
Grimacing, he rubbed the white scar on his forehead.
“Yes.”
Sidney got closer and bounced the handle of the umbrella on his shoulder.
“Don’t make me use this.”
“What are you going to do with an umbrella?” He laughed. “Let me guess. Stick it where the sun don’t shine and open it?”
“Aw, that’s my darling Dave. Smart-ass dope head and everything.” She stepped on his toe. “You know what, Dave? I really like your idea.”
“You would, seeing how you don’t have any of your own.” He tugged his foot out. “And as I recall, you got into quite a bit of trouble the last time you barged in here, didn’t you?”
“Oh, you gonna call your uncle again, the congressman?”
“Yep.”
“Hmmm,” she said, tapping the umbrella on his shoulder. “I think he’s in danger of losing this next election. Yes, I’m pretty sure he’s done for.”
“No he isn’t. He’s up in the polls.”
She smiled.
“I’ll take my chances.”
She brought the umbrella handle down between his eyes.
Crack!
“Ow! You bitch!”
Crack!
“Ugh! Stop it!”
“Stop it what?”
“Sid!”
Crack!
“Agent Shaw! Okay? Agent Shaw!”
“Dave, this is the last time that I ask. Where is she?”
He swallowed hard and looked away.
Sidney made it over to the coffee table, picked up the bong, and started to pour the water out on his new couch.
“Be nice, now. I didn’t do this. I swear it’s not my fault.”
“Where IS she?”
“I-I…”
Sidney dropped some more water on the sofa.
“Aw …” Dave moaned.
“If you like, Dave, I’ll be more than happy to confiscate your inventory.”
“Not without a warrant.”
She poured out the bong and dropped it on the couch.
“Dammit, that’s new!”
She took out her phone.
“I’m out of patience. One call, and a swarm of local law enforcement will be here.”
“You wouldn’t dare. Not after the last time.”
She started to dial.
Dave turned tail and ran up the steps.
“Allison! Allison! Run!”
Sidney surged up the stairs and stormed down the hallway just as Dave jetted into a bedroom and slammed the door behind him.
Sidney pounded on the door.
“Open up! I’m not playing any games! Get out of there, Allison!”
“Screw you, Agent Shaw!” Dave yelled.
She kicked the door in.
Dave stood inside an unkempt bedroom with the window wide open. One leg hung outside the sill.
She grabbed him by the arm, jerked him inside, and wrestled him to the floor.
“No more games, Dave.”
“You’re too late,” he said, laughing. “She’s already gone.”
She checked outside the window. There was a deck and stairs that led down into the backyard. There was no sign of Allison.
“She left you a message, Sid,” Dave said, sitting up and rubbing his head.
“Really, what was that?”
He giggled. “You are so stupid.”
“Am I? Why is that?”
She heard the rumble of a garage door opening.
“Because,” Dave said, “she was never up here to begin with. It was all a distraction, you stupid b—”
She socked him in the jaw, rocking his head back to the carpet. Whap! She dashed downstairs and opened the front door. A jungle-green Jeep Wrangler sped out of the garage down the street and disappeared around the corner.
“Damn!”
CHAPTER 11
Sidney rushed to her car and slung open the door. Taking a seat, she glanced back at Dave’s house. A blind in one of the top bedrooms peeked open. She saw the faint outline of two fingers.
Wait a minute.
She took a second and closed her eyes, envisioned the Jeep Wrangler speeding away. There was a lone driver hunched over the wheel. Big. Husky. Allison could have been hidden in the back seat. Or maybe not. She had a feeling. An instinct.
That little dope-headed witch is still in there.
The garage door started to close.
Crap! Move it, Sid!
She couldn’t let Dave lock her out again. And she dared not force herself in, not after the last time. She was probably in enough trouble already. She sprinted across the street, right in front of an oncoming car. It squealed to a stop, and the driver laid on the horn. She kept moving, eyes intent on the lowering garage door. She wasn’t going to make it. She made a decision and did a stupid thing.
Sidney drew her gun and slung it under the garage door. It skidded over the driveway, clearing the opening by inches and disappearing inside. The door stopped, rattled … and began to lift. She heard a voice inside scream. Up the door went. One foot. Two feet. It stopped and renewed its descent. Sidney rolled underneath it and inside. She spied her gun, scrambled to it, and found Dave’s wide eyes.
“No!” he said, making his way back inside through the door. “No! Get out of here!”
Sidney snatched up her weapon and charged the closing door that was slamming shut. She lowered her shoulder and plowed into it. The impact jarred the door open. It jarred Dave.
“You get out of here! This is illegal!”
She drove her knee into his crotch. She shoved him inside the garage and watched him spill onto the floor, cry out, and writhe. She slammed the door shut and locked it.
Upstairs, she heard footfalls scampering over the floor. There was something about them—lithe, child-like, familiar. She made it upstairs in seconds. A woman with long dark hair, blue jeans, and a black T-shirt ambled across the hall into another room and stumbled inside the door.
“Allison!”
Two bare feet slipped into the frame, and the bedroom door started to close. Sidney stopped it with her foot and shoved it open. She looked down at her sister. Allison was a smaller version of herself, but soft and supple. She was shaking. Her face was sad. Tears streamed out of her eyes. There were needle tracks on one arm.
“I’m sorry, Sid. I’m sorry.”
“Shut up,” Sidney said. “Do you know how long it’s been since you left Megan?”
“A day?” Allison sniffed.
“Three days!”
“No,” Allison said, shaking her head. “It, it can’t have been.”
“Well, it has.”
Allison started to bawl. Tears streamed out of her sunken eyes and over her pouting lips. “I’m a lousy mother.”
“You’re a lousy sister too. Get up!”
“What? Why? I’m not leaving. I don’t deserve to go back.”
Sidney reached down and grabbed her arm.
“Get up!”
Allison jerked away. “No!”
Here we go. Her little claws are coming out.
“I’ll take you out of here in handcuffs.”
Allison pounced on her legs and drove her to the floor. Sidney cracked her head on the door frame, drawing spots in her eyes.
“No you won’t!” Allison screamed. She sprang out of the door.
Angry, Sidney snatched her sister’s ankle and climbed onto her back.
“Get off me! Get off me! Dave!”
Sidney wrenched Allison’s arms behind her back. Her sister squealed. She bound up her wrists and slipped the flexi-cuffs on her. Allison resumed her bawling.
“Get up. I’m not carrying you.”
“No,” Allison said with a defiant sob. “No.”
She grabbed Allison by the ankles and started dragging her toward the stairs. Her sister kicked at her and yelled.
“I hate you! I hate you, Sid! I hate you! Why can’t you mind your own business? Why can’t you leave me alon
e!”
This wasn’t the first time the sisters had gone round and round. It all started in their teens. Allison liked to party. She liked the attention. She liked boys. Drugs. Excitement. Sidney bailed her little sister out time and again. It got old. It had made her mom and dad old.
“Why don’t you grow up, you little brat! You have a daughter. Go to church and find Jesus or something.” She hauled Allison down the carpeted stairs.
“Hey!”
“Get up, then!”
At the landing, Allison started to rise. She eyeballed Sidney. She spat in her face.
Sidney slapped her across the jaw, and Allison stumbled back to the floor. Her little sister wailed. “I hate you, Sid. I hate you.”
Sidney dragged her to her feet and said, “You don’t hate me. You hate yourself.”
***
Family. It mattered, even though her sister was a wild one who often ruined the best-planned Thanksgiving. Sidney loved her sister, even though for the last decade she’d wanted to choke her. And there was Megan. How could Allison neglect Megan? The little beauty was about one step from a foster home if she and their parents didn’t intervene.
Please God. Please don’t let that happen.
Sidney pulled into a gas station alongside the pumps. It was evening now, and she’d just spent the last three hours helping her parents get Allison settled down. They were all distraught, and none more so than Allison had been when she was finally reunited with Megan. She had shaken all over and sobbed, begging forgiveness. All Megan had said was, “It’s going to be okay, Mommy.”
Megan was a strong little lady.
Sidney whipped out her credit card, pumped gas, ran inside the station, and grabbed some coffee. Black. No cream. No sugar. No straws. She dropped two bucks on the counter and left, ignoring the greasy-haired clerk’s toothy smile at her.
Creep.
She racked the nozzle, grabbed her receipt, and hopped back inside the car to lean back against the headrest and take a long sigh.
Lousy weather. Lousy day. I should have transferred south when I had the chance. What was I thinking?
Family. She rubbed the knot on the side of her head.
Love hurts.
She took a sip of coffee and checked her phone. Smoke’s location hadn’t changed.
The Supernatural Bounty Hunter Files Collector's Set: Books 1-10: Urban Fantasy Shifter Series Page 5