Page 4 of Blood and Bone

“The Agency has jail complexes within major prisons all over the world, separate buildings which are manned by I.S.R.marshals. I did a three-month stint at Folsom myself as part of my training,” Eoghan replied.

Ari was surprised by that. “Really? Am I going to have to do that?” He glanced at his boss who shook her head.

“No, we’re too shorthanded right now. Normally, you would, but not now. That doesn’t mean you won’t have jail duty at some point in the future,” she said.

“Good to know,” Ari said. “By the way, I didn’t ask what kind of shifters they are.”

“Vandross is a common gray squirrel,” Eoghan replied with a smile.

“A squirrel?” Ari said.

Eoghan chuckled, reached over and pushed his jaw closed, making Ari frown at him.

“And her? Is Riversong a squirrel too?”

“No, she’s an opossum.”

“Of course, she is,” Ari said, sighing. He shook his head. “So, what happened to her after he was arrested?”

“She was arrested for harboring a fugitive but only did six months in jail. She was housed in her own reservation’s small jail. Her sentence was light when the tribal judge learned she’d been forced into fleeing with her boyfriend under threat of violence,” Priest said. “They also couldn’t prove she knew anything about his activities. Basically, she was one clueless opossum. In any case, once she got out and retrieved her kids from the relative who’d been watching them during her incarceration, she resumed her life on the rez.”

“So, why did we get called in now, Chief?” Eoghan asked.

“I was getting to that,” she said. “We got a call from her brother who is on the tribal council. Apparently, she and the kids have disappeared. When he didn’t hear from her last night, he went over to her small house on the reservation. It looked as though she and the children fled the house quickly.There were breakfast dishes in the sink, a dirty skillet on the stove, and some of the children’s clothes were missing.”

“Maybe she always leaves the place messy,” Ari said. “You said she missed a check-in with her brother?”

“Yes, since Vandross went away, he and his wife have played a larger role in her and the children’s lives. He called in the tribal police but they said we should be notified as well. I don’t know why but I want the two of you to go up there and sort it out. If those kids turn up dead or drained by vamps we could have a full-scale war on our hands. I spoke to the chief of police up there. He’s anxious to cooperate with us and he seems to possess some information that he didn’t want to pass on over the phone.” She looked at her watch. “If the two of you leave now, you can be in Tahoe by tonight.”

“That’s where her reservation is located? I thought you said it was in Redding,” Ari said. He glanced at Eoghan as he stood up.

“No, the vampire rez is in Redding. Her reservation is located near Lake Tahoe. Let’s go.”

Ari stood and then turned to give the chief a two fingered salute. “Okay, boss. See you soon.”

“Keep in touch.” Priest held out a bright orange Post-it note. “Here’s her brother’s name and contact information. Call the chief after you cross onto the rez and he’ll meet you at an agreed upon location. He says Riversong’s house is kind of tucked away and hard to find if you’re not familiar with the area.”

“Okay, Chief.” Ari took the note from her and then handed it to Eoghan.

“Keep me in the loop, Sapphire. Wordy is waiting for you in the armory.”

“Thanks. We’ll head out now, Chief,” Eoghan said. He met Ari’s gaze, offering the smallest of smiles before turning and walking out of the chief’s office with Ari on his heels.

“Do you think we could stop in the café and grab an egg sandwich on our way out?” Ari asked hopefully.

Eoghan turned to smile at him as they headed for the elevators. “You know, you’re very predictable.”

Ari returned his smile with one of his own, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was in earshot before leaning close to him. “If my boyfriend hadn’t melted my brain with the world’s most incredible blow job this morning, maybe I would have had the good sense God gave me to grab an English muffin or something before leaving the house.”

Eoghan snorted as they stopped in front of the elevator. He leaned over and pressed the call button before glancing back at Ari. “I like it when you spend the night at my house. That said, when are the painters going to be done with your unit?”

“I don’t know. Tomorrow? I have to ask Al because I have a couch being delivered Saturday.” Ari had moved into the unit beside Eoghan’s a month before, but their shared landlords had only now gotten around to having their painter friend come around to paint. Ari had been spending an inordinate amount of time at Eoghan’s place in the meanwhile and it hadn’t been a hardship waking up in his bed at all. Little by little he’d been buying furniture for the place since he hadn’t brought any with him. Back home in Lexington, Kentucky where he’d lived most of his life, he’d had only secondhand things which he’d picked up in thrift stores, so having some place new to decorate was a novelty he was really enjoying.

They collected their duffels and took the elevator to the level where the restaurant was located. As soon as they stepped off into the room, the smell of bacon hit Ari’s nostrils.He breathed in deeply even as his stomach growled. He loved the café where a variety of meals were prepared by chefs for the marshals as well as the support staff in the building. Eoghan grabbed coffee as Ari got into line behind Night, who often helped them out with her mad computer skills in the IT department. She turned and flashed a sweet smile at him, batting long lashes heavily outlined with black liner making her extraordinary eyes stand out. Night was quite young, and a wiz with a keyboard. Ari hadn’t been disappointed with her yet.

“Hey, Aristotle, how are you?”

“I’m real good, Night. Picking up a sandwich for Eoghan and I. We have an assignment, so we’ll be eating on the road again.” Sometimes it felt like they ate in the car all the time. They spent very little time in the office. The only time they did was when they’d finished a case like they had two days before. After a rare two days off in a row, they were now headed for Lake Tahoe, over four hundred miles from Los Angeles. And just like the chief said, he suspected they’d be on the road most of the day.

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