Chapter Twenty Eight
High Tension, Hidden Enemies, and Hard Truths
Nick
“We need to bring in the team,” Matt says.
I’m madly pacing Elliot’s driveway, my wolf itching to take over again. I need to find Elliot. He couldn’t have been gone long.
I take a long breath, trying to calm the wolf down. We have time. He’s fine, none of the victims were killed right away. He’s going to be fine. We’ll find him.
I could talk to the neighbors. They may have seen something. Elliot is a suspicious bastard, he won’t leave with just anyone. But none of the neighbors saw anything in the other two scenes. I can may—
“Nick.” Matt blocks my way and grabs my shoulder, shaking me. “We need to get everyone involved. We’re running out of time.”
I nod. He’s right. “Yes, we need everyone,” I say. “I’ll call Serena. You call Meena. We need the force and the Bureau on this.” I take out my phone and walk a little distance away without waiting for Matt to answer.
Serena picks up after one ring. “C’mon, man. We still have two hours to—”
“I need help. Elliot’s missing,” I say urgently.
I can feel her straighten up. “Missing meaning he left you?” she hesitates.
“Missing meaning no one has heard from him since yesterday morning, and I came to check his place, and it’s… ransacked,” my voice breaks.
“Maybe he left in a hurry. Was he planning to go somewhere, and you forgot?” Serena rambles. “Because you can’t be saying what I think you’re saying, Nick.” Her voice is desperate.
I close my eyes. “I received a text from him saying he’s leaving for a conference that I know for a fact is fake.
The house is in chaos. There’s stuff here that doesn’t belong to Elliot.
And there’s a chair in the middle. It’s still empty,” I say, feeling drained, helpless for the first time in years.
Serena gasps but recovers quickly. Good, I need sane Serena right now. “Okay, who was the last person to see him or talk to him?”
I think about what Sam said. “I think it was me. I came from his place for that interrogation yesterday,” I remind her.
“Right. Did he say or do anything different? I know this is difficult right now, but I really need you to think, Nick,” she says.
I nod. He was acting weird, but it was because of the nightmare. Or maybe the nightmare was brought on by something. Maybe he’d seen the killer the night before? No, that doesn’t make any sense. He won't just stay here waiting to be abducted. My brain is not working.
“I don’t think so?” I tell Serena.
“Okay. That’s okay. So you decided to check on him because he wasn’t replying to you?”
“Yeah, and his friend called because he sensed something and insisted I come here.” That’s not true, though, is it? I was already planning to hunt down Elliot before Sam called. Why?
Everything comes back in a rush. The list of buyers. Elliot’s clinic being one of the first ones in the latest update.
I know why I ignored all the other names on that list and stopped at Elliot’s clinic. Why I suspected him immediately.
But why did Dominic?
Why didn’t he filter out the names like he’s been doing for months now? The list was updated two days ago, after all. Or did he do it and stop when he got what he was looking for?
Because he found the Vigilante Wolf Hunter?
Why not tell me then? Unless he wanted the Hunter all to himself. I think back to the last murders. He was in the city for both of the human murders. He could have easily slipped under the radar.
This is not enough evidence, though. I should not be doubting a friend like that. He has done nothing to deserve this. Except for going off the grid as soon as the Vigilante Wolf Hunter was found.
Except for the timing of Elliot’s abduction, which was exactly like the other two victims.
Except for the alarm bells blaring in my head, pointing me in his direction.
If this is true, Dominic’s been looking for Elliot for a long time. Way longer than me.
Doesn’t mean I’ll let him keep him.
“Nick? You still there?” Serena's voice brings me back to Elliot’s driveway.
“Hey, yes. Can you find out when Officer Dominic Adler’s last shift was?” I ask. I need something concrete before I go accusing not just an LAPD officer but also a Bureau agent of multiple murders and abduction.
“You have something?” she asks.
“Yes, but I need to be sure.”
“Give me two minutes,” she says and disconnects the call.
I dial Dominic’s number, knowing before the message even starts that it’ll go straight to voicemail.
Because now that my brain has made the connection, it won’t accept anything else.
If I look at the facts separately, there’s nothing really pointing towards him, other than the obvious fact of having Elliot’s name on the list, unless he wanted me to see it.
But there are small details, like the fact that he had access to all the information about the case, which helped him stay a step ahead, always.
“You think it was Dom?” Matt’s voice startles me.
I turn to find him frowning at me.
“Why would he do that?” he asks.
“Because he thinks Elliot is the Vigilante Wolf Hunter,” I say. I realize my phrasing is vague, but I need to focus on getting Elliot away from Dominic right now. I can’t deal with everyone’s opinions about whether he deserves our help.
Matt’s eyes go wide. “Why the fuck would he think that?”
“Because Elliot’s clinic was one of the regular buyers of the drugs.”
“Oh, god. The killer has gone completely off the rails. Didn’t you say there were over a thousand buyers?” he argues.
I don’t miss his slip, but I don’t blame him. “Matt, listen. This is hard to believe, I know. But can we just—can you just trust me?”
Matt nods. “Always. What do you want to do now?”
I sigh in relief. “Do you have Dominic’s Bureau-issued number? Call him,” I ask him when he shows me his phone.
It goes straight to voicemail. It would have been weird if I wasn’t expecting it because we’re not supposed to keep it switched off. “Maybe it got discharged,” he says, voice small like he’s trying to convince himself.
“I tried him yesterday, too. He didn’t pick up,” I tell him.
My phone buzzes with a text.
Serena: Officer Adler applied for an unplanned leave yesterday.
Where were these instincts when I was following Elliot, or when I literally had him in my arms, being his normal contrary self? Trying to pull me in and push me at the same time.
My breath comes in hard. No time for this right now. I’ll get to deal with him later.
“Dominic applied for leave yesterday,” I tell Matt. “Let’s start with checking his home.” I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and hope he’s there.
We walk back to my car. “I’ll drive,” Matt says.
“No—”
“Dude, I want us to live long enough to find Elliot. Just give me the keys.”
I sigh and hand it over. I need to make more calls, anyway. It would be easier if I didn’t have to focus on the road.
Serena texts again. Do you want me to take the team to Elliot’s place?
I get another call before I can respond to her.
“Bree?” I ask, confused.
“Oh, thank god, you picked up. I found something I think you need to hear,” she says.
I put the phone on speaker even though Matt can hear everything well enough without it. Force of habit. “Go on,” I say.
“So, since we didn’t find any suspects in the last pool of people related to the werewolf victims, I decided to go deeper.
I’d collected the wills and past marriage certificates of all the victims,” she says.
“I was going to look at them later, but then Meena called a few minutes ago, so I thought I’d take a quick look before we wait for further instructions.
Guess who was on the will of the woman who was killed by the Vigilante Wolf Hunter before we could arrest her for multiple murders? ”
“Dominic,” Matt breathes out.
“Yes, how did you know?" she asks.
“No time,” I interrupt Matt. “Listen, can you get me the addresses of every property Dominic owns or rents around here?”
“Sure. I’ll get right on that,” she says.
“Thanks, Bree,” I say and disconnect.
“He must have deleted all his traces from everywhere we could have looked because he knew we were on the right track,” I grumble.
“But I still don’t get why he went after Elliot,” Matt says. “Oh, wait. He knew you were stalking him.”
I tilt my head in confusion.
“He heard us back at your apartment, remember? Maybe he thought you suspected him of the murders.” Matt nods.
Well, in that case, he’s smarter than I am, isn’t he? And that’s as good an explanation as any. But something else hits then.
Was it my conversation with Matt that shifted his interest away from that stupid game and to Elliot? Fuck. Am I the reason Elliot is in danger?
I shake my head and ask Serena to send a team to Elliot’s place and find Dominic’s known addresses on the down low. It’ll be quicker to find them legally.
My phone lights up again, this time with an unknown but familiar number.
“Please tell me he’s with you,” Sam pleads as soon as I pick up.
“He wasn’t home. But I'm sure he’s fine,” I say. It comes out unconvincing even to my ears.
“Fuck,” Sam groans. “Tell me what’s happening, Nicholas.” His voice is commanding.
Matt raises an eyebrow in a ‘what the fuck?’. What the fuck, alright. But I try to be nice. People behave unusually in emotionally distressing situations. I can give him the benefit of the doubt. “We’ll find him. Don’t worry,” I say softly.
Matt parks the car in front of a small cottage-style house. I get out and close the door behind me.
I look around, ignoring Sam. It’s a well-maintained house. Trimmed bushes, clean yard, and bright paint.
“I’ll check if he’s in,” Matt says, walking up to the porch.
I nod to him.
“...condescending. I can help,” Sam is saying when I focus on him again.
“Listen, Sam, I’m already working on finding him. I’ll call you when I have something,” I say, interrupting whatever Sam was on about, and I go to disconnect the call.
“Is it the killer who murdered that actor and another person?” I hear him before I can disconnect.
I immediately pull the phone back to my ears and walk a few feet away, out of Matt’s earshot. “What do you know about him?” I ask quietly.
“It’s him, isn’t he? Fuck,” he groans again. “I was sure my theory was wrong. How could this be happening now? When we stopped?” he rambles.
“What theory?” I ask.
“Nothing, okay. Just tell me if you have anything. I promise I can help,” he says, his voice desperate.
“I think it’s the new LAPD officer, Dominic Adler,” I blurt. I don’t know what compelled me to tell him. Maybe it’s desperation recognizing desperation.
“Why?” he asks curiously. But it sounds more like a professional curiosity than a general one.
“Because I’m sure he found out what Elliot was doing. His girlfriend was killed by a drug-induced heart attack last year,” I say. Sam clearly knows a lot more than I’d let myself believe.
“What will you do if you find Elliot?” Sam asks, sounding helpless.
“I haven’t decided yet, but it won’t be worse than what Dominic has planned for him,” I say matter-of-factly.
He sighs. “Alright, give me a few minutes,” he says, defeated. He disconnects before I can ask what will happen in a few minutes.
I shake my head and walk over to Matt, who’s now standing near the small shed next to the house.
“No one’s home, but the place smells off,” he says, his eyes trained on the shed.
I walk closer to the shed and take a long whiff. “Too much disinfectant,” I say.
“Maybe he’s really into cleaning?” Matt tries.
“You really don’t want to believe it’s him, do you?”
Matt rubs his face frustratingly. “I believe you. I did even without the evidence. You know that. But I don’t know how I’ll believe anyone else ever if this is true,” he confesses.
Same, Matt. Same.
My phone buzzes with a message from Serena listing three properties Dominic could be keeping Elliot in. “We need to split up,” I tell Matt.
I get another text from Sam. It’s just coordinates to a random place. No, not random. It’s one of the addresses that Serena just sent.
Who the fuck is this guy?
Just because he got one of the addresses right doesn’t mean he knows what he’s doing. Maybe this is the only one he could find. It would be stupid to ignore the other two. We can’t afford to be wrong.
But I still find myself removing that address from Serena’s text when I resend it to the Bureau Agent group chat.
Matt’s phone buzzes.
“Call Bree and have her and Camilla take you to the first address, and Sloan and Marcus can take the second one,” I rattle off, already walking to my car. “I’ll take the third one.”
“I can come with you,” he offers.
“No, I don’t want Bree and Camilla to go alone.” They’re not really prepared for a combat situation like the rest of us. “I’ll call Serena on the way,” I assure him.
Then I’m off, hoping against all odds Sam wasn’t talking out of his ass.