SHIFT (Mackenzie Grey #1)

by Karina Espinosa

  I was snapped out of my thoughts when someone slammed their hands on top of the desk I was sitting in.

  “When were you going to tell me about James?” Amy said, startling me. I thought she was at school.

  “Jesus, Amy, wear a bell next time.”

  “Don’t change the subject. Why are we still carpooling with him? It’s not like we have a car and he wants to ride shot gun,” she said and I forgot I hadn’t told her I was playing girlfriend during winter break. Crap. With all this wolf business I forgot about regular problems.

  I looked around the squad room and luckily no one was paying attention to us. We were working on a major case at the moment so everyone was neck deep in work.

  “Well the thing is…” I whispered and she arched an eyebrow. I teetered under her intense glare. With a hip jutted out, she tapped her small right foot, waiting for my answer.

  “Today would be nice, Kenz.”

  I sighed. “Fine. He hasn’t told his family about our break up.”

  “Mackenzie!” She shrieked and that got us a couple looks.

  “Shhh!” I pulled her down as we hovered over the desk. “Are you trying to get me fired?”

  “Sorry,” Amy rolled her eyes. “But this is a big deal and total bullshit. You don’t owe that loser any favors.”

  “I know, I know,” I mumbled just as Detective Michaels walked up to us.

  “This isn’t the place to socialize, Grey!” he barked as he pushed my rolling chair to the side and logged on to his computer that I had been using. “We have another reported kidnapping, but this time in Spanish Harlem. Do you want to tag along or are you done for the day?”

  It was only 11 AM. James wouldn’t be done with his last final until late in the afternoon. My eyes switched between Amy and Detective Michaels, and my decision was easy. I’d tackle the beast later. “I’m tagging along.”

  “Get your things and let’s go,” he clipped out and I scrambled to grab my stuff and follow him out.

  “Mackenzie!” Amy yelled and I waved her off.

  “We’ll talk later at the apartment!” And with that I was out the door and hustling to catch up.

  Detective Garrett Michaels had been a cop with the NYPD for twelve years and for the last three, he’d been assigned to the Major Case Squad. At the beginning of the semester, his partner had transferred out and he drew the small stick when it came to babysitting the intern. At first he really disliked me—like a lot. But I’d like to think I’ve grown on him. Hopefully, at least, I needed a passing grade.

  I rode in the passenger seat of his unmarked car as we weaved through mid-day traffic.

  “So what’s the skinny on this kidnapping?” I asked. This was the fourth case in less than a month and we were starting to think they were connected. We just hadn’t found a pattern yet.

  “Thirty two year old, Caucasian male, he was last seen two nights ago and presumably taken from right outside his home.”

  I nodded and pulled out a notebook from my messenger bag. I skipped over a few pages until I landed on the page that listed the rest of the victims. Two women and one man—now two men. They were all different ages, races and came from various economic backgrounds. No pattern.

  “I don’t get it,” I whispered mainly to myself.

  Michaels grunted. “Who you tellin’? Don’t beat yourself up, Kid. It’s just a stall. We’ll get a lead sooner or later.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “You know how much I hate it when you call me Kid.”

  He chuckled. “I know. I do it on purpose, Kid.”

  I groaned.

  “Relax. You have one more semester with me and then I don’t have to see your ugly face again,” he said and I rolled my eyes.

  “My face? What about yours? Your mug is so ugly not even Scooby Doo could solve that mystery.”

  “Ha. Ha. Very funny, Grey,” he deadpanned. “Give yourself a point.”

  “Yes!” I excitedly reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the little black book that Michaels kept his booty-call numbers in, but also held our “shit-talking” tally. He was currently in the lead with thirty seven and I was now only five points away from catching up.

  “Don’t add an extra point! At the end of every shift I count to make sure you aren’t cheating.”

  “Get a grip, Michaels, you’re still in the lead.”

  “Hurry up and put it away, we’re here,” he said as he pulled up to a spot in front of a water hydrant where he wasn’t supposed to park.

  We stood in front of a dilapidated building that appeared to house at least twenty apartments. As we got out of the car, I discreetly took a good whiff of air and couldn’t smell anything distinctive. I perked up my hearing but there were too many people inside the building to pin point anything threatening. Opening the front door to the lobby, the stench of cigarettes and mold smacked me in the face. I tried to hide my discomfort as we went toward the elevators. A dirty white sheet of paper was taped on the elevator doors with the words, “Out of Order” and we ended up climbing seven flights of stairs to the designated apartment.

  Garrett’s breathing became labored by the fifth floor, and I laughed. “Keep up, Old Man.”

  “Yeah, yeah, just keep going,” he said from behind me.

  Once we made it to apartment 7B, I knocked on the door and waited for a response.

  The locks on the door began to unclick and a woman with wild chestnut hair peeped through the crack of the door.

  “Can I help you?” she mumbled.

  “Hello, I’m Detective Michaels and this is Miss. Grey, we’re with the NYPD and we’re here in regards to the kidnapping of…John Hancock?” Michaels read the name from his notebook in confusion.

  I had to hold in my laughter. John Hancock? That could not be someone’s real name—we were getting played. I listened to the woman’s heartbeat as she spoke and waited.

  “Y-yes, c-come in,” she said and pushed the door wider. Her eyes were the size of tennis balls as she saw me for the first time. “Y-you can’t come in!” She pointed a dirty finger in my direction.

  “Excuse me?” I shot back feeling insulted.

  “Do you two know each other?” Michaels asked.

  I shook my head.

  With speed that matched my own, she was now only a hair breath away from me and I could smell the six cups of coffee she had today.

  “The children of the moon are not welcomed in my home,” she muttered.

  I held my breath until Michaels grabbed the lady and pulled her away from me. I kept my face neutral but couldn’t stop my racing heart. Who the hell was this old kook?

  “Grey, why don’t you canvas the area and see if you find anything?” he handed me a couple of evidence bags and nodded toward the stairs.

  Without saying a word, I headed back down toward the lobby.

  “Wait for me by the car!”

  “Yeah,” I yelled back. “Have fun with that crazy bitch,” I mumbled and tried to curve the urge of punching the wall. I couldn’t let my anger get the best of me.

  I exited the building, putting on my winter gloves and tightening my scarf. Even though I wasn’t cold, I still had to keep up appearances. New York winters were not to be taken lightly.

  After walking around the block—twice—Michaels still hadn’t come down and I was getting antsy. What if that crazy lady did something to him? No. I’d wait fifteen minutes before I’d barge in. I leaned against the unmarked cop car and crossed my arms over my chest just as something caught my attention. Directly in front of me was the apartment building’s unkempt garden area with bare bushes and dead flowers. Scattered around were soda cans and other garbage but a pinkish piece of paper stood out to me. It was cut out in a weird shape and nothing was written on it.

  I pushed off the car and walked toward the item in question. Squatting in front of it, I pulled out a pen from my coat pocket and lifted the paper—except it wasn’t. I knew I shouldn’t have done what I did but I just had to know. I too
k off my gloves and touched it.

  It wasn’t paper—it was skin.

  Shit.

  Michaels emerged from the building looking exhausted and annoyed, which meant I couldn’t joke with him right now.

  “Let’s go, Grey. This was a waste of time,” he said as he went around to the driver side of the car.

  “We can’t,” I said as I stood on the sidewalk. “Garrett—”

  “Mackenzie, I don’t have the patience for this right now, get in the car!”

  “Shut up and let me finish a goddamn sentence!” I barked and could feel my face turn beet red in anger. It was no easy feat to keep a werewolf temper down. “I found something and you need to call it in.” I lifted the plastic bag that held the evidence I’d found.

  “What is it?”

  “It might be John Hancock—it’s skin.”

  His eyes widened a fraction and he reached for the radio in his pocket to call for backup.

  It took over two hours for the troops to canvas the area and re-interview the crazy bitch upstairs who I learned was named Jane Hancock. John was her son. She’d given a wacky story to Michaels about how her son was taken by a shape shifter. I was starting to understand why he’d gotten so frustrated—the lady had a couple screws missing—which sounds absurd coming from a shifter but her whole story was nuts. She said her son was part Fae, in other terms, he’s a fairy.

  “What’s going to happen to Ms. Hancock?” I asked Detective Michaels as we waited for CSI to finish cleaning up.

  “They’re taking her in for a psych evaluation. They didn’t find any drugs in her apartment so she might have a mental disability. We’re still not sure if she even has a son, it could be all in her head,” he said and looked to me. “Good catch today, Grey. I guess there might still be hope for you in the force.”

  I snorted.

  “But the next time you tell me to shut up, I’m dropping you from your internship.” With that he walked away and left me to flick him off. The jerk.

  “I saw that, Grey. Now go home and enjoy your holidays.”

  It was late in the afternoon when I made it back to James apartment where I found Amy sprawled out on his couch waiting for me. Her flaming red hair was picked up in a messy bun and all her tattoos were covered up by her winter clothes.

  “It’s about time your ass came home. You can’t avoid me forever, Kenz.”

  “I’m not trying to avoid you, we had a break in the case today and I found it!” I was so giddy I was about to jump out of my skin—no pun intended.

  I took off my coat and pushed Amy’s legs aside so I could sit beside her.

  “Kenz, I’m happy for you, really,” she started and I steeled myself for what was coming, “but when were you going to tell me James was coming home with us? You don’t owe him shit. Don’t do the bastard any favors.”

  “I know, but—”

  James burst into the living room where we had been sleeping for the past couple days and he was out of breath and sweating—which would be fine if it wasn’t cold outsides.

  “What the hell—”

  “Kenz!” he yelled when Jonah, Jackson and Sebastian barged into the apartment behind him, filling it with their oppressive frames. I wanted to giggle but had to swallow it. James looked like the nerd he was in high school standing next to these guys. But right now was not the time to be thinking about that.

  “I swear, the bad guys always get you just as you’re about to make your getaway,” I said as I threw my hands up in the air. This was total bullshit. I was not even two hours away from leaving this damn city.

  “Who the heck are these guys, Kenz?” James squealed and Jackson grabbed him from the collar of his coat.

  “We wouldn’t have found you if this loser didn’t reek of your scent. Is he your boyfriend?” Jackson asked. I didn’t answer right away because I was watching the reaction of the other two werewolves in the room. Jonah’s features turned so dark, it betrayed the smirk on his face. Sebastian’s upper lip curled into a growl but that was nothing new. He seemed to always be brooding—he looked the same and that sort of ticked me off too. Why should he care, he had V.

  “Scent? What are you guys, dogs?” James asked and my face fell. Wrong thing to say. I looked at James who saw my widened eyes and he realized he might have made a boo boo.

  “Dogs!” Jackson exclaimed and was about to either throw him across the room or punch him. I grabbed James before he could do anything, and with strength that I’m sure shocked James out of his stupor, I pulled him behind me where Amy was. She was silent but I didn’t have time to check on her.

  “You guys need to get out,” I said with as much authority as I could muster.

  “You didn’t answer the question, Mackenzie. Is he your boyfriend?” It was Jonah who asked and I could see his eyes had lost the soft pools of chocolate and were now a bright gold. Holy chizz.

  I swallowed whatever spit I had left in my dry mouth, squared my shoulders and stood up straighter. These fools weren’t going to intimidate me—well that’s what I told myself.

  “Yes, he’s my boyfriend.”

  And all hell broke loose.

  Amy shrieked like a damn whistle, James grabbed onto my shirt like the pansy he was and Sebastian and Jackson, held on to an out-of-control Jonah. He hadn’t wolfed out but his canines were out and he was snapping them at us—well mainly James, my pretend boyfriend.

  “Heel!” Sebastian barked and it was like watching a well-trained dog react. He didn’t actually heel like one but he stopped his thrashing; his chest rising and falling like he was short on oxygen. “Enough with the twenty one questions. Where the hell do you think you’re going, Mackenzie?” Sebastian asked. I looked at him and his eyes were glowing, they weren’t the pale blue I’d seen before. What’s up with these guys and their eyes?

  “I’m going home. It’s winter break and my family is expecting me for the holidays,” I kept it short and simple. They could do their worst, but there was no way I was missing this trip home. I barely talked to my parents as it was, I had to show up for school breaks.

  “Where is home?” he asked with a hand still holding Jonah back.

  “Cold Springs. Upstate New York.”

  “You can’t go alone,” Sebastian said and his words woke my feisty best friend from whatever daydream that trapped her.

  “She won’t be alone, you asshole!” she said as she pushed past me and stood up to the big, bad wolves in all her five-foot-four glory. “You can’t just come barging in here, filled up with testosterone and shit, and expect her to do what you say. Fuck that noise,” she said and I giggled at how badass Amy was. Not even a trio of werewolves could make her quiver.

  “And you are?” Sebastian asked and she crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Amelia Elizabeth Fitzgerald, bitch, and don’t you forget it.”

  I smirked with pride as I watched the range of emotions that crossed through all three of their faces. From shock, to anger, to respect. Jackson’s was the funniest, he was awestruck. Oh boy.

  James’ grip on my shirt tightened, reminding me that he was still scared and hiding behind me. I rolled my eyes. “Let go of me, Jameson,” I whispered and tried to shrug him off. He whined a little but released me.

  “Trust me, we won’t, Amelia,” Sebastian said and I thought I saw a smile he was trying to cover up. “Will you be going to Cold Springs with Mackenzie as well?” I was shocked at how…nice he was being to her. Why didn’t he talk to me like that?

  “Yes,” Amy said with conviction. For the last three years, she’d spent winter break with my family since her parents were usually on some fancy vacation in Europe and didn’t pay attention to her when she was there. Amy came from a wealthy family, but her appearance wasn’t something they condoned. With all the tattoos and piercings, they wrote her off as a screw up. Funny enough, Amy was probably one of the smartest people I’d ever met and was at the top of her class. It was their loss if they didn’t recognize her brillia
nce. She’ll be running the world pretty soon if she gets her way.

  Sebastian’s gaze turned from my best friend to me and he no longer looked friendly. “I can’t let you go alone, Mackenzie,” he said as his face twisted in rage, like I’d done something. Man, I can never win.

  “Oh come on!” I expelled. “I’m not even part of your Pac—,” I caught myself before I said something in front of James that could land us both in hot water. I didn’t know what their rules on human knowledge were, but I preferred not to test it at the moment. “Packet,” I corrected and felt incredibly stupid. I didn’t have enough time to think of something better. “I’m not part of your packet, so you can’t dictate what goes in it.” Someone save me, please.

  Amy whirled around and raised a pierced eyebrow at me. I rolled my eyes, exasperated. What did they expect? I couldn’t be witty all the time, sheesh.

  “Then you’ll take another document from the packet with you,” Sebastian said, playing along with my analogy, but he wasn’t happy about it.

  “Oh no! No, no, no, no way!” I said like a child. I swore, I was throwing too many tantrums lately. What was up with me?

  “This isn’t negotiable, Mackenzie. You don’t understand everything yet, but hopefully by the next full—by the next week or so, you will,” he said and cleared his throat.

  “Kenzie, what the hell is going on?” James whispered behind me. Jonah lurched forward again but Jackson had a good hold on him as he continued to stare at an oblivious Amy. I chuckled. He was totally smitten.

  “I’m sorry, James, I’ll explain everything to you later,” I said and put a hand on his arm, directing him to the bedroom. A growl came from someone behind us—most likely Jonah—but I didn’t look to see who it was. I was nervous about leaving Amy in the room alone with them but I had a funny feeling that Jackson would protect her.