Page 35 of Sin

“Yes, I’m pretty damn sure. Are we going to have a problem here, man?” Lewis’s hand went to one of the specialty weapons strapped to his belt. I didn’t know what it did, but knowing Blade, it couldn't be anything pleasant.

London appeared in the garage opening, shoving his phone away. He glanced between Lewis and me, taking in the scene, his expression hardening. “Problem?”

“No,” I said, wishing I could knock loose a few of those pearly whites of Lewis's. “No problem at all.”

London watched as Lewis activated the cuffs around my wrists, his expression unhappy. “Osborne’s sending a team to retrieve the bodies. They’ll be here in twenty.”

“Still no sign of Lucas?” Blade asked, coming to stand at London’s side.

He shook his head, frustration pulling down the corners of his mouth. “No, but what I don’t understand is how we missed him. I tracked him here, but their bodies,” he gestured to Jessica’s covered form and then vaguely above his head, “look to be dead by several days. I don’t get why he’d stay here after killing them off when he knows we’re looking for him.”

“Maybe he didn’t realize we’d figured out where Jessica was and was biding time until he moved on to his next victim?” Jinx suggested.

“Maybe,” London agreed reluctantly. “Something just doesn’t sit right with me though.”

I agreed with him. We were missing something. But what?

Chapter Seven

Will you be brave?

We made our way back to the inn, none of us eager to stick around Jessica’s home any longer once the retrieval team arrived for the bodies. Our team was rather somber on the drive, no one talking much, just lost to our thoughts.

I didn’t know too much about their previous missions, but I wondered how cut and dry they’d been. How much death they’d seen, if any.

I knew personally that I’d seen more than enough death in my life.

Monroe wasn’t a massive city, so it didn’t take us too long to arrive at our destination. Once parked, we filed out of the van and crowded into one of the rooms we rented for the night.

Lewis, London, and Blade got to work setting up some monitors in the room while Jinx and Mare left in search of snacks. I’d offered to go with them, but they’d rejected my offer. So then I’d asked if the others needed any help getting the equipment set up. Another no.

So I’d showered, sans shower curtain, while Lewis leaned against the closed bathroom door and sang some song about being the problem and something about staring at the sun but not the mirror. He was still singing it on repeat as we returned to the room, and I couldn’t help but feel like he’d picked that song specifically to mess with me.

Bored and more than a little frustrated at being the pariah of the group, I sat down on one of the two queen beds and flicked through the channels on the TV, searching for something to soothe my mood.

I settled on a cooking show and waited, regretting choosing this particular channel when the chef placed a large slab of raw meat on a cutting board, red juices pooling underneath it, reminding me of blood. When Mare and Jinx returned, their arms were full of snacks and drinks. Mare tossed me a candy bar, and because I hadn’t been paying attention, it smacked me right in the face. “Here,” she said with something close to a smile. “Got you this.”

Grabbing the chocolate bar from my lap, I said, “Thanks.”

Without acknowledging my response, she flopped down on the other queen-sized bed placed a few feet over, cracking open a can of grape soda.

Once the computers and monitor setup was complete, London moved to sit beside me, steepling his hands. Jinx sat on a leather armchair in the corner of the room with Blade perched on one of the arms, and Lewis had moved a desk chair to settle in front of their tech gig.

This room was far too cramped to be comfortable.

“I think,” London said slowly, choosing each word carefully, “that I need to track him again.”

“Absolutely not,” Blade said immediately, pursing her lips. “You’re still not recovered from using your powers before.”

London sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m well aware. But we were so close. So close.”

“If you use your power, you’re going to make yourself sick,” I pointed out. “And there’s no guarantee that you’ll even find him. He could be moving. Then you’d have used your power for nothing.”

“We should just keep searching camera feeds along the freeways,” Jinx said around a mouthful of chips. “Listen for any power problems or public disturbances, you know?”

“But what if I can find him faster?” London pressed.

“That’s a big if for such a risk,” I said, earning myself a scowl from London.

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