Page 52 of Hunted

“We’re not getting any credible hits. We’ve got people who are freaked out about the idea of being turned into lab specimens if the current hostilities with the feds increase, which okay, it’s a little hard to blame them there. And there are others who’ve been visiting the Rossi subforums in the werewolf chat rooms.”

River pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s more of a concern. Send those names to me.”

“You’ll have them within the hour.” London hesitated. “You should know that when Rowan tracked their devices and movements, we couldn’t come up with any credible leads linking them to the leak of Ellie and Hayden’s location last week. I know you don’t want to hear this, and neither did Vlad and Cris, but I think the leak came from the vampires.”

“Why is this the first I’m hearing about it?”

London growled. Actually growled. I exchanged a look with Fallon in the rearview mirror. She shook her head slightly. Oh cringe.

“Because I actually have other things going on in my fucking day besides getting back to you, River,” London snapped. “I know you think the sun rises and sets out of your ass, but I am Alpha of over a thousand wolves, a pack that it’s taking an exhaustive number of hours to rebuild, especially with the attacks, and the added burden of our being a staging area for the ALDD project protection detail.”

“I’m sorry,” I blurted. “I know how much you’ve given up to keep me and my team members safe. I’m so grateful. We all are.”

London’s voice softened. “You don’t have to be sorry, Ellie. Your research is something our pack wants to support.” Her voice took on a steely edge as she again addressed River. “But we’re all running on too little sleep, a lot of stress, and not nearly enough Torchy’s Tacos and good Texas barbecue. So bear that in mind when you get snippy about how long it takes me to file my reports. Or before you assume that it’s somehow my fault you didn’t hear about something when that information could just as easily have come from Cris or Vlad.”

“Fair enough.” River cleared his throat. “I appreciate everything the North Austin pack is doing for us. We’re very grateful. I’m sorry I don’t say that often enough.” He paused. No one in the car breathed. River chuckled darkly. “This is one of those times I’m glad my gift is still offline. We’ll check in with Cris and Vlad. Do you know if they had any preliminary leads?”

“Offhand, no. They’re both doing the same background checks I have.”

“I’ve started preliminary scans of the vampires on both Cris and Vlad’s teams,” Fallon said. “We’re also checking the North Austin pack as a precaution.”

“How far have you gotten?”

“Not as far as I’d like,” she admitted. “First we had to clear everyone on Ellie’s security detail. Then the next priority was to clear everyone with access to sensitive information that could impact the security of the protection detail. Since we’re short staffed and also having to work the Rossi investigation, it’s taking a while. Cris and Vlad have been allowing me to interview people on their teams who had access to protection detail information, starting with those in the most sensitive positions. Anyone who was unwilling to lower their mental shields to allow me to scan their mind was immediately reassigned until further notice.”

“Do we have a list of those people?”

“Yes. One is from Cris’s team, two from Vlad’s. We’re just not sure they’re the ones we’re looking for. There’s a lot of mistrust among vampires when it comes to werewolves, neural manipulators in particular. Both Vlad and Cris vouched for these people. It’s been slow going working through everyone, especially since I’m now lead on the Rossi investigation.”

“Okay.” River pinched the bridge of his nose and I reached over to rub between his shoulder blades. “Has Guillermo said when he’s sending someone else down to help?”

Fallon’s lips thinned. “No word on that. Cal is up in Dallas right now doing his mandatory training and he says the mood up at the Tracer compound is tense. Guillermo and Alek have been arguing. There’s rising dissatisfaction among the Tracers, talk of sedition, even.”

“You know that won’t pan out.” River sounded tired. “It never does.”

* * *

AN HOUR LATER IN THE SHOWER, a sick, shaky feeling had formed in my chest, stress from the day balling tighter and tighter until I couldn’t breathe. I rubbed my face, leaning against the cool tile as hot water sluiced over me, fighting to banish the intrusive thoughts playing through my head. Suddenly nauseated, I shut off the water and reached for my towel. I quickly changed into comfy sweats and a soft tank top and was tying my hair up in a messy knot on top of my head when my phone vibrated. I swiped to open the screen, flopping on my bed to pull on warm wool socks.

Hayden: I got your message. Sorry, Ethan and I were slammed earlier, and someone called out. You will be fine at the dentist next week. You do not have any history of bad reactions to Novocain.

Heart pounding in my chest so hard it was starting to physically hurt, I began to type.

Ellie: It’s just, I read this story online about a guy who had to get a filling and he lost his memory after. It was like in that Drew Barrymore movie, Fifty First Dates? Except his amnesia reset every ninety minutes. He couldn’t remember anything new after the day of the dental procedure.

Hayden: That isn’t going to happen to you. If that story off the internet (which I’m still deleting) is even true, I’m sure it’s a very rare case. You’re a scientist. Use your scientist brain and apply the math. Millions, make that billions of people get dental procedures done every year without anything bad happening. If this weird thing you’re describing was common, don’t you think we would hear about it more? Don’t you think the odds of you being okay are pretty high?

Ellie: But it could. I get that the chances are astronomically low. I’m just really anxious right now.

Hayden: Are Meera and Piper there? Can you go sit with them and watch a movie? Change the channel in your brain?

Ellie: They went out to dinner and a movie at Alamo Drafthouse. River is here.

Hayden: Okay. So go tell him you two need to turn on Battlestar Galactica and binge watch the Cyloids like the sci fi geeks you are.

Ellie: OMG. It’s the Cylons. I have duct taped you to a chair and made you watch all four seasons like ten times. We have known the truth of the Opera House. How could you possibly not know this by now?

Hayden: KIDDING. You know I’m team Halo/Athena. Those two are hot. What else happened today? What’s triggering you?