11. He had a chill pill yesterday. #3
Poor Quinn. He hated when I was far from him for too long.
I hated being separated from him, too, although I still believed a little separation did us both some good—at least for my ability to get a full night’s sleep.
“Okay. I’ll get a lead on Janet, and you can chase me to her, and we’ll join forces, make sure she’s all right, and then have a spectacular fight. ”
“You want a spectacular fight?”
“I like making up,” I admitted.
Perkette snorted. “I told you you’re the reason you don’t get enough sleep.”
I flipped my middle finger at my friend.
“As do I, but we could just skip the fight and go straight to making up.” While humans lacked the ability to purr, my human-gorgon-incubus doohickey pulled it off with lust-inducing grace. “You just worry about finding Janet and making sure she’s safe.”
“I will,” I promised. “I’m giving Perkette the phone.”
She took my phone and put it to her ear.
“Hey, Sam. Despite her whining, she’s doing much better.
She curled up on the floorboard by the heater in a nest. It looks like the trick is to get her core body temperature up.
Half an hour after she got tucked down there, her symptoms started to ease up, so you don’t have to worry about that. I’m keeping an eye on her.”
I was about to undo all the good the heater had done, but Janet came first. I could land my stubborn ass in the ER for all I cared, but I was going to find out what had happened to Janet and why.
If my magic knew what was good for it, it’d cooperate without a fuss.
Getting out of the car, I slapped the map, blank paper, and jar of ink onto the hood.
I popped off the cap, picked out a stick of chalk, and took my temper out on it. It crunched in my hand.
I didn’t even need to vocalize my request; the instant the chalk left my hand, it erupted in a burst of golden light and formed a sparkling trail for us to follow. When it first appeared, it pointed due west, but then it altered its path to follow the road, which headed south. I frowned.
As always, my magic seemed to opt for the most direct route, but it’d taken the slightest detour to inform me which way we were really headed.
Huh. Maybe my magic had taken my unspoken threats seriously.
Why was the trail headed west when Janet worked in New York? I got back into the SUV. “You’re driving, Perkette. Tell Quinn she’s somewhere west of us.”
“West?” Perkette frowned. “But why would she be west of us?”
“That’s what I want to know.” I snatched my phone out of Perkette’s hand. “She’s west of us.”
“You just told me to tell him,” Perkette muttered.
“I’m indecisive and incapable of following through with my initial plans,” I replied. “Catch that, Quinn?”
“I did. What’s due west of you?”
“Give me your phone, Perkette.” I held out my hand and wiggled my fingers until she obeyed.
I pulled up her map app and zoomed it out, tracing a line directly west of us.
My brows rose. “Well, it’s not exactly due west, but possibly close enough for our purposes, and probably because we’re on a mostly westbound road, but I’d say Las Vegas. ”
“Probably something smaller between where you’re at and Vegas,” my husband replied. “But anything’s possible if she was taken by plane.”
“Wouldn’t it be hard to kidnap someone and fly them somewhere?”
“Yes. Or they have multiple drivers and are going without stopping.”
Shit. I hadn’t thought of that. “What do you want me to do, Quinn?”
“Find Janet and stay safe. No unnecessary risks. Please be careful.”
“I’ll be careful,” I promised. “You be careful, too.”
“I will. Get yourself a laptop if you don’t have one, go to a police station, and introduce yourself as Police Chief Bailey Quinn of the NYPD.
They’ll get you set up with everything you need, and I’ll be able to reach you on our internal network with files, permits, and everything you need.
I’ll get on the phone with the FBI and start processing jurisdiction expansion. ”
“Can we even do that?”
“It’s one of the perks of being a police chief, my beautiful.
We have a shit job, but there are limited numbers of us who can do our level of work because of the rating requirements.
And when it comes to one of our own? Yeah.
They’re going to give us jurisdiction. They’ll probably assign us agents to assist, too. If they offer you one, accept.”
“Only if they’re babysitting my puppy and kitten,” I muttered.
“I’m sure arrangements can be made. And Bailey?”
“What?”
“I owe you a spanking for working on the bomb squad without telling me. I’m so mad at you.”
His tone promised I would enjoy my punishment. “I was shot three times and demand additional punishment.”
His laughter warmed me even better than the brightest sunny day. “Consider your wish granted.”
He hung up, and I pointed at the trail of glowing, sparkling light. “We’re on the clock, Perkette. First, to the nearest store with laptops, and then we have to go to a police station. We have work to do.”