Page 67 of Hunted

“I don’t see any record of—”

“I’m sending them to you now. The person who got the intel for me said the files have been scrubbed from the system. Whoever is slowing down the Rossi investigation knows how to cover their tracks.”

“Okay, I got them. Give me a minute to look this over.”

It didn’t take long. I was halfway through reading the second page when Alek swore. “And you won’t tell me where you got this?”

“That’s irrelevant.”

Alek was silent for a long moment. “What’s your read on this?”

“We need to find out who altered the files.”

“Agreed. Who do you think is behind this? Gut feeling. Off the record.”

I sighed, not liking what I was about to suggest. “The Tracer power structure has been fundamentally unstable ever since Blackout was deployed. Wolves with unstoppable magic were suddenly left powerless. Weak as humans. Tracers are Alpha wolves. That push to claw your way to the top of the pack is bred into our blood. We’re handpicked from thousands of applicants for those very qualities—and this sort of scenario is the perfect storm that could see the Tracers destroyed. By sowing mistrust and paranoia, whoever is doing this will cause the pack to tear itself apart. Maybe it’s not even about being pro-Rossi. He’s just the distraction someone is using to take out enough wolves between themselves and the number one spot at the head of the Tracers.”

“Or alternately,” Alek suggested, “whoever is behind this could be planning to use Rossi as a pawn to take out you, me and Guillermo, thinking they’ll be able to dispose of Rossi once he does. They have no idea how dangerous Rossi truly is.” He sighed. “Give me time to look into this. And I’ll send you updated case files on Rossi personally.”

I thanked him and we hung up. My phone immediately buzzed with an incoming call from Cris.

“What have you got?” I rubbed my temples.

“Is this line secure?”

“Hang on.” I keyed in a five-digit sequence to start August’s scrambler code. “Okay. Go ahead.”

“We sent teams to check out those two safe houses you gave us. Nothing on the one in Phoenix. Our team in San Diego observed a shifter who matched the description of Lorenzo Rossi leaving the property a little while ago.”

“How close did your people get?”

“I’d say pretty close considering they grabbed him a block away as he was about to enter a Starbucks and dematerialized him to the hotel room we’re using as a staging area.”

“You have him now?”

“That’s affirmative.”

“Tell me you scanned him for trackers.”

“We wrote that playbook, wolf.” Cris sounded amused. “He’s clean. Do you want to talk to him before we take him to my mother?”

“You know I can’t read him over the phone. I won’t be able to get in his head and he’ll know that for damn sure since his brother has the same powers I do.” I exhaled, staring out at the rolling green hills leading out towards downtown Austin in the distance. “Okay. I know how I want to play this. Patch him through.”

The video call connected through a link on my computer a minute later. The room was dark, the figures moving within it difficult to make out. Eventually the light adjusted. The camera focused on a scared looking kid. Dark brown hair fell down into his eyes, but I would have recognized the sharp cheekbones and hard jut of his chin anywhere. He was Rossi’s brother, without a doubt. He was duct taped to a chair, and fidgeting like mad. Christ. He barely looked old enough to be out of high school. If that. At my nod, the vampire behind him ripped the duct tape from his mouth. The kid gasped in air like a beached fish, looking like he might throw up.

“I’m River Caldwell. We’ll skip the part where you pretend like you have no idea who I am or why we picked you up.”

“Fuck you.”

Great start.

“I’ll make this very simple. We have no interest in you. Your brother is wanted for the murder of over a dozen vampires and several shapeshifters and humans in the last month alone. He’s orchestrated bombings across Texas and New Mexico that have caused the nation to go on high alert and for President Payne to restrict the rights of law-abiding vampires and shapeshifters. He must be stopped. Right now, you are our only link to locating him.”

Lorenzo Rossi began to hyperventilate, for just an instant looking eerily like West had back in high school when Ethan had spilled cereal on whatever latest Game of Thrones novel he’d been reading. “I told the others, I don’t know where my brother is. We’ve never gotten along.”

I tilted my head. “But you’re aware of what he can do, his mind reading and projection abilities?”

Lorenzo studied me warily. “That’s hardly a secret.”