Tim nodded in response, and slid a large, black backpack off of his shoulders. He set it down on the floor with a loud thud, and unzipped it quickly. Then he pulled out a large, black object that almost looked like a gun from an arcade hall. It was oversized and almost cartoonish, and when Tim flipped a switch on the bottom it whirred to life with a series of beeps that sounded similar to the start of a video game. Tim handed the gun to Mr. Astor, who held it reverently between his hands and paced back and forth in front of Silver for a few more moments, making sure that she could see the large gun-like object clearly.
Silver’s curiosity burned, and she desperately wanted to know what, exactly, Mr. Astor was holding. But she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had piqued her interest, so she sat very still with a scowl on her face and said nothing.
“I’m sure you’re wondering what this is, Silver,” Mr. Astor finally said, pausing to look at her. “Here, I’ll show you.”
Mr. Astor, in one lightning movement, pointed the gun straight at Silver’s head and pulled the trigger. Silver winced and ducked her head, but her reflexes hadn’t been quick enough. A bright red beam shot from the muzzle of the gun and hit Silver square in the face, blinding her momentarily.
“Warning, confirmed shifter,” the gun’s computer announced in a loud voice.
Silver felt her heart dropping all the way to her feet. Mr. Astor had the eye scanner! And it was apparently working. Despite her resolve to not react to Mr. Astor, Silver couldn’t keep herself from looking up at him in horror, her eyes wide and disbelieving. Mr. Astor and Tim both let out long, evil laughs, and Silver’s blood ran cold.
When Mr. Astor had finally settled down enough to speak, he pointed the scanner at Silver again and pulled the trigger once more. This time, Silver didn’t flinch, but Mr. Astor smirked as the computer once again announced. “Warning, confirmed shifter.”
“Since you were so curious about my war against shifters, Silver, I’m sure you won’t mind being recruited to help the cause? We need to get the public stirred up a little bit, to put more pressure on the mayor to get on board with this little war of ours. Wouldn’t you love to sacrifice yourself to the cause?”
Silver felt her heart pounding in her chest. “What are you talking about?” she finally asked. It was the first thing she’d said since Mr. Astor walked into the room, and, apparently, he was pleased with her response because he chuckled.
“What I’m talking about, Silver, is this: the mayor has a big safety summit coming up. I’ve been trying for ages to get him to let me present on the dangers of shifters, but he hasn’t been interested. Now, however, he’s lagging behind in the polls. With election season quickly approaching, he’s trying to find a way to stir up support. And there’s not much out there more sensational than the idea of shifters attacking the city of Chicago. The only problem is, a lot of people don’t even know shifters exist. That’s where you, and this scanner, come in.”
“Shifters aren’t dangerous,” Silver spat out. Despite her resolve to keep quiet, her anger was beginning to bubble over. How could this evil, awful man sit here and talk about shifters attacking the city? The real protection Chicagoans needed was against crooks and cronies like Mr. Astor.
To Silver’s surprise, Mr. Astor laughed. “Oh, I know. Shifters just want to live and let live and all that. I have to admit that it’s true. When I first discovered shifters, the idea of animals walking among us made me nervous. Yes, even me, a smart, strong, capable man, was worried. Of course, I did a little research and educated myself, and realized that shifters aren’t all that scary, after all. They’re weird, yes. But not scary.”
“Then why are you on this crazy crusade to get rid of them?” Silver asked. There was no use trying to pretend that she wasn’t interested in the issue anymore. Mr. Astor had caught her attention, and he knew it.
“Because, my dear Silver, putting fear in people’s hearts is the quickest way to control them. And I want control. I want power. So does the mayor. If I help him get more power, I’m next in line. It’s a ripple effect. Next week, I’m going to strike fear in the heart of every citizen of Chicago. I’m going to make them fear for their lives, and make them believe that getting rid of shifters is the only answer. The mayor will make them believe that reelecting him is the only way to ensure shifters are gone and Chicago is safe. And when the mayor is reelected, and owes that reelection to me, I will have the power I so desperately seek. I can handle him like a puppet. He’s close friends with the President, you know. I’m going to have influence all the way to the biggest leader of the free world, Silver. And it’s going to be fucking glorious.”
“You’re out of your mind,” Silver said.
“Call me crazy if you want, my dear. All the great leaders were called crazy at some point. It doesn’t matter what you think of me. What matters is that I can use you to convince everyone that shifters are real. It doesn’t matter that you aren’t actually a shifter. I can pretend you are, and the eye scanner will help me do that. You’re a famous ballerina here in the city, and your recent breakup with my son made you even more high profile. You’re exactly the person I need to show everyone that shifters have infiltrated our society.”
Silver didn’t say anything. She furrowed her brow in confusion as she processed what Mr. Astor had just said. “What do you mean it doesn’t matter that I’m not actually a shifter?” she asked, her tone cautious.
Mr. Astor laughed. “It doesn’t matter that you’re a mere human weakling, Silver. The scanner isn’t working properly, of course, but no one else needs to know that. Here, watch this.”
Mr. Astor raised the scanner and pointed it in Tim’s direction. The red light flashed across Tim’s face, and the computer said, “Full human, no danger present.”
Then Mr. Astor handed the scanner to Tim, who scanned Mr. Astor’s eyes. Once again, the computer said, “Full human, no danger present.”
Silver was still confused. The scanner seemed to be working fine to her. It had properly identified her as a shifter, and the two men in the room as humans. But then Mr. Astor opened the door to the room a crack. “Alice, get in here,” he said.
A few moments later, a young woman in a white lab coat stepped into the room. Silver’s bear nose quickly identified the woman as fully human. But when Mr. Astor raised the scanner and pointed it in Alice’s direction, the flashing red beam was followed by the computer’s announcing “Warning, confirmed shifter.”
“Thank you, Alice. That’s all,” Mr. Astor said. Alice, who didn’t seem at all fazed by the fact that the scanner had just incorrectly identified her as a shifter, nodded and left the room.
“She’s not a shifter,” Silver said, crossing her arms. Mr. Astor and Tim both laughed.
“Of course not, and neither are you,” Mr. Astor said. “There’s no way we’re going to have the scanners properly working in time for the safety summit, so we just rigged them to identify females as shifters and males as full humans. You’re going to be the only female on stage at the safety summit, so it works out perfectly. Everyone will think that the scanners work, and that you’re a shifter. Fear will fill the hearts of the people, we’ll buy a little time to get the scanners working properly, and—best of all—your life and career will be ruined. No one will ever want to watch you dance again, once they know that you’re actually a big, bad shifter. I’d say it’s a win-win for everyone. Well, except for you. But you’ll be a martyr for a good cause.”
Mr. Astor and Tim laughed again, and Silver’s mind started putting pieces into place. Mr. Astor thought she was a full human. He had no idea that she was actually a shifter. And he was going to try to trick all of Chicago into thinking the shifter gun was working. Silver struggled to keep down the panic that had started to rise within her once more. If Mr. Astor went through with this, her career would indeed be ruined. But even more frightening than that was the fact that this could start a full-blown witch hunt for shifters. In that moment, Silver
wished more than anything that she had insisted to the other Fur Coats that they clue their parents in to what was going on. Now, there was going to be no warning, and no chance to prepare a response. Shifters would just find themselves under immediate attack. Silver was too young to remember living through any widespread attacks on shifters, but she’d heard enough stories to know that these things escalated out of control with lightning speed. She had to find a way to warn everyone, but she had no idea how she was going to manage that while locked away in a secret room in Mr. Astor’s house.
Mr. Astor seemed pleased with her silence, and he continued chuckling as he turned back toward the door to leave. “Come on, Tim,” he said. “Silver just discovered she’s a shifter. Let’s give her some alone time to process her new identity.”
Mr. Astor and Tim left, leaving Silver alone in the dark once more. She tried to focus on coming up with a plan, but it was hard to feel like there was anything that could be done while chained up to a wall. Even shifting wouldn’t help her here. The metal of the handcuffs was too thick, and Silver wouldn’t be able to break free even using the energy and power from shifting.
After several hours of worrying and fruitlessly trying to think of a way to change her current situation, Silver finally fell asleep. It was beginning to look like her only hope would be for one of the Fur Coats to realize she was missing and find her before the press conference. But the odds of that were pretty low. It sounded like the press conference was in a few days, and Silver wasn’t sure that a day or two was long enough for someone to realize she was missing, let alone find her.
Getting out of this mess was going to take a miracle of some sort.
Chapter Eighteen
Jack parked his hovercar in the visitor parking of Silver’s condo building, and climbed out of the vehicle with a smile. He held the huge bouquet of roses carefully, trying to avoid crumpling any of the petals or sticking himself with a thorn. He hoped Silver was home. He’d tried texting her several times this morning, and then again this afternoon when she woke up. So far, she hadn’t responded. Jack had never been the type to demand that people answer texts and phone calls right away, so he let it go easily, figuring Silver was busy. He tried to remember if she’d said anything about having any dance rehearsals, but he couldn’t think of anything she’d said she had planned. He shrugged as he stepped into the elevator to ride it up to Silver’s condo. He would be disappointed if she wasn’t home, but she could always just leave the flowers in her condo as a surprise if she wasn’t there. Silver had programmed the computer for her condo to allow fingerprint access by any of the Fur Coats, so Jack could easily slip in and out.
Jack rang the electronic doorbell when he arrived, but Silver didn’t answer. He placed his hand on the security panel, and the computer’s British voice greeted him. “Welcome, Jack Tanner.”
Jack stepped inside, and, despite knowing already that Silver wasn’t there, he called out her name.
“Silver? Sil, are you home?”
There was no answer, so Jack walked toward the kitchen and dining room. He would leave the flowers on the table for her as a surprise. When he reached the dining room table, he found a dirty plate sitting on it, next to a cold cup of half-drunk coffee. From the crusty appearance of the plate, it looked like it had been there at least a day. Jack frowned slightly, surprised by the mess. Silver didn’t usually leave dirty dishes around, especially for more than a day. Even if she left in a hurry, she would have picked up the dishes right away when she got home. An uneasy feeling started creeping into Jack’s gut.
Jack set down the flowers on the table to look for a vase. The motion caused the table’s computer screen to roar to life, going from a wooden-look to the last screen Silver had been looking at—a detailed spreadsheet. Jack frowned when he saw that the spreadsheet document was a to-do list with yesterday’s date on it, and several boxes left unchecked. Silver was a fanatical list-maker, and took great pleasure in checking items off every day. If she didn’t finish a task she crossed it off and typed it into the next day’s list. But several of the boxes on this list were left unchecked, even though the list appeared to be a day old. One of the unchecked lines said. “Call Jack to ask about getting theater tickets for Friday night.”
Jack immediately knew something was wrong. He hadn’t heard from Silver, even though he had been on her to-do list. And her to-do list hadn’t been updated for a day. Jack frowned as he pulled out his phone and ordered it to call Silver. The call went to voicemail, so Jack then asked the phone to call Storm. Storm picked up on the second ring, sounding surprised to hear from him.
“Hey, Jack. I can’t remember the last time you actually called me. Having a girlfriend seems to be making you a lot more sociable.”
“Yeah, sorry. I’m not much of a phone person. But actually, my girlfriend is the reason I’m calling you. Have you heard from Silver today?”
“Um, no. I texted her to see if she wanted to grab dinner, but she hasn’t answered me. I figured she was busy hanging out with you. New love and all that.”
Jack’s frown deepened. “I actually haven’t heard from her either. I’m getting worried. I’m at her condo right now but she’s not here. And she left an unfinished to-do list from yesterday on the table screen.”
There was a long pause. When Storm finally spoke, she sounded worried, too. “Yeah, it’s a little unlike Silver to not text me for a whole day. And it’s definitely unlike her to leave around unfinished to-do lists from yesterday. Maybe we should see if anyone else has heard from her. I’ll call Grant and Juno. You get to deal with Bash.”
“Alright,” Jack said, even though he was groaning inwardly. Calling Bash to ask where his sister was would be an interesting conversation. Jack had a feeling that Bash would jump on the chance to blame him for anything that might have happened to his sister. But Jack’s worries about Silver were much stronger than his desire to avoid a confrontation with her brother, so Jack hung up the call with Storm and dialed Bash.
“Well if it isn’t Jack Tanner,” Bash said when he answered the phone. “I hope you’re not calling to tell me that you’ve already broken my sister’s heart.”
Bash chuckled, and seemed to be in a jovial mood. Jack wasn’t sure whether that would help or hurt him once he blurted out that Silver seemed to be missing.
“No, Bash, I haven’t broken Silver’s heart, and I don’t intend to. But she is the reason I’m calling. Have you heard from her today? No one seems to have heard from her since yesterday morning, and I’m starting to get worried.”
Bash stopped laughing. “No, I haven’t heard from her. Which I thought was a little strange because she usually texts me a few times a day. I figured she must have just been having a busy day. The last time I heard from her was yesterday afternoon. She sent me a picture of her bike with the lake in the background, telling me it was a beautiful day for a bike ride and that I should get off my ass and join her. I texted her back that I had to work, and I never heard from her after that.”
Alarm bells were really going off in Jack’s head now. “Something’s wrong, Bash. It’s not like Silver to not talk to anyone for this long. Storm is calling Grant and Juno right now, but I get the feeling that they won’t know where she is, either.”
“I’m calling my dad,” Bash said, his voice suddenly sounding tight and worried. “I swear to god if anyone did anything to Silver…”
Jack wanted to protest that alarming Silver’s parents so soon was a bad idea. But he knew it would be useless to try to dissuade Bash. Silver’s family was extremely tight-knit, even more so than most shifter families. If Bash had it in his head to call his dad, he was going to call his dad. Jack worried, though, that this was going to result in the clans back home discovering the eye scanner threat.
But as soon as Jack had that thought, he realized that maybe Silver going missing was actually related to the eye scanner situation. His heart started beating faster.
“Bash, where was Silver when she tex
ted you that picture?”
“Just north of Foster Beach,” Bash said. “There’s a sort of secluded grassy area there where she likes to go lie in the grass on sunny days.”
Jack was already running toward the door, leaving the bouquet of roses forgotten on Silver’s kitchen table. “Bash, get ready to go. I’m coming to pick you up and we’re going to go look at that spot to see if there are any signs of an attack or struggle. You can call your dad on the way. Silver is still alive, I can feel it. But she’s in trouble. We have to find her.”
“I’ll be ready and waiting,” Bash said. Then he hung up the phone without another word.
Jack took the elevator back down to the parking lot, willing it to move even faster than it already did. He had been tempted to just take the stairs, but, even at his quick pace, eleven stories would take him much longer on foot than it would on the high speed elevator. Still, he hopped anxiously from one foot to another as the elevator descended. When it finally reached the garage, after a ten second trip that felt like ten hours, Jack ran to his hovercar and hopped in, quickly telling the computer to head to Bash’s condo at top speed.
As the hovercar started zooming away, the computer screen lit up, indicating Jack’s phone was ringing.
“Call from, Juno Harrington. Call from, Juno Harrington.”
“Answer call,” Jack yelled out, his heart pounding. Maybe Juno had heard from Silver, and everyone was getting all worked up for nothing.
“Jack?” Juno asked, her voice sounding frightened. Jack’s heart sank. Juno definitely wasn’t calling with good news.
“I’m here,” Jack said. “I’m guessing Storm got a hold of you? Have you heard from Silver?”
“No, I haven’t. But this morning the head scientist and one of his apprentices came in to the lab to check on the scanners again. They took one of the models we were working on, even though it definitely isn’t working properly. They said something about how Joe’s little slut is going to pay for embarrassing the family. I’m not sure what their plan is, but—”
Trouble in a Fur Coat (The Fur Coat Society Book 1) Page 15