by S. J. Harper
Zack slowly reaches out for the file.
I hold my breath.
“It’s a kid,” Johnson says. “A seven-year-old. The son of Roger Maitlan.”
“The real estate mogul?” Zack asks.
Johnson nods. “One and the same.” He stands up, pulling open his desk drawer. He hands my gun to me. “Your flight leaves at noon. You can pick up your boarding passes at Southwest’s counter. You’ll have plenty of time to review the file on the plane. I suggest you get packing.”
It’s our cue to go. Zack and I rise in unison and head for the door.
“Agents?”
I turn back. “Sir?”
“Eyes on the ball,” says Johnson.
“Yes, sir,” I say.
More agents have arrived in the office. All eyes are on us. Some call out “Good job” and “Way to go,” even clap us on our backs as we pass. My skin crawls at the hypocrisy but I have no choice but to smile and accept their congratulations. The girls are home and safe. The secrets of the supernaturals have been protected. My relationship with Zack is the only casualty of a case that to our fellow agents was a roaring success.
Zack stops at his desk. He opens a drawer, shuffles some papers around. He’s taking his time, as if avoiding having to get into the elevator with me. I wish I could say something to make this right. I realize bitterly I never can. I push the call button and the doors instantly open. I step inside. Turn around.
Just as the doors begin to slide shut, Zack steps in. “As soon as the case is over, I’m going to ask Johnson for that transfer again. And I’m going to keep asking until I get it.”
I turn to him and blurt out what’s true. “I don’t want you to leave.” I reach out, my fingertips brush his. “We’re good together.”
He pulls back, folds his arms across his chest, shakes his head. “I don’t know how to work with a partner I can’t trust.”
“I’m sorry. I know you don’t understand. I wish I could explain.”
“But you can’t,” he says.
I’ve gone over this in my head a thousand times. My conclusion is always the same. I know Zack, and I know Demeter. Her threats wouldn’t scare him. But they should. This is a fight Zack won’t win.
“It’s not safe. It’s better this way.” I try for a smile.
“Is it?”
I nod. “I’d say trust me but—”
The doors open. We step out, then head for the parking lot. Zack pulls a pair of sunglasses from his inside breast pocket and slips them on. I can no longer see his eyes.
“Johnson’s right. We have a job to do,” he says. “Nothing you say now is going to make a difference. What you did can’t be undone.”
“But maybe in time . . .”
He’s not looking at me. He’s looking out at the parking lot.
“Maybe in time,” I repeat, then step off the curb.
“Emma?” His voice is brusque. “I shouldn’t have left you high and dry. I’m sorry for that.”
I check the time. I wonder whether the carpet in Zack’s apartment has been replaced. “I understand.”
“Want a ride to your place?” he asks. “I can drop you off.”
“Thanks.”
Zack hands me the folder. We climb into the SUV.
It’s all so familiar, and all so different.
I open the file.
We have another case. I have another chance.
Zack pulls out onto Aero Drive and starts to head south on the 15.
My eyes are on the picture of a missing seven-year-old boy but silently I’m reciting the words I do every time I go out on a new case.
Redemption could be one rescue away.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
S. J. Harper is the pen name for the writing team of Samantha Sommersby and Jeanne C. Stein, two friends who met at Comic-Con in San Diego and quickly bonded over a mutual love of good wine, edgy urban fantasy, and everything Joss Whedon.
Samantha Sommersby left what she used to call her “real-life” day job in the psychiatric field to pursue writing full-time in 2007. She is the author of more than ten novels and novellas, including the critically acclaimed Forbidden series. She currently lives with her husband and cocker spaniel, Buck, in a century-old Southern California Craftsman. Sam happily spends her days immersed in a world where vampires, werewolves, and demons are real, myths and legends are revered, magic is possible, and love still conquers all.
Jeanne C. Stein is the national bestselling author of the Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles. She also has numerous short story credits, including most recently the novella Blood Debt from the New York Times bestselling anthology Hexed. Her series has been picked up in three foreign countries and her short stories published in collections here in the U.S. and the U.K. She lives in Denver, Colorado, where she finds gardening a challenge more daunting than navigating the world of mythical creatures.