Page 47 of Escalating Alpha

Yeah, it always was when there was a mess.

Still, I thanked him and we headed out.

The flight over wasn’t long. I probably could have managed it in the jet… Maybe. I was fine for the quick takeoff and landings. When I knew it was training flights and just looping around the airport a bit.

Mostly that we were landing right where I knew we were safe. The problem had been with unsafe takeoffs or my abduction when we were supposed to leave. We had complete control of the airport my planes were at. There was no risk there.

It was where we could be going and the trip back fromtherethat were the problem.

And now that it was so public that I couldn’t fly in a plane, when I did it had to be without issue. I wasn’t there yet, so it wasn’t the time yet to try and push.

Soon though. I was pretty sure it would be soon though.

We had a greeting party when we landed, and they were so all over the place emotionally that I had to swallow down my annoyance.

“Nice of you to finally arrive, Chief Thomas,” someone with a St. Louis PD uniform said.

“You guys screwing up and making a mess for me to clean up doesn’t make it my emergency, Officer,” I said as I brushed by him and went to Terry Davis. “What’s the situation?”

She tried hard to hide her amusement and failed. “Apparently, I don’t have clearance to get anything, and if you were making them wait, I could wait too.”

I adjusted my neck and sighed. “Okay, who was the petty toddler who decided that?” I asked the gathered group. I sighed when everyone started talking at once and some shouting at each other. I nodded for Davis to whistle in a way that hurt my ears. “Well, glad that was unhelpful. Let’s start at the beginning then. Who found what first so I can unravel everything?”

A petite woman with black curly hair stepped forward and handed me her identification. “While we were chasing a suspect, we came across the first victim—”

“It’s not a ‘victim’ when it’s an OD,” the policeman who had spoken first to me snapped.

“And if you were able to determine it was an OD, there wouldn’t be a mess for Chief Thomas to come clean up,” she threw right back. “And you didn’t tell the local FBI that they were shifters. So she asked to start fresh and I will.”

“Thank you, Marshal Blake,” I said as I handed back her ID. “You found the first body and called in St. Louis PD?”

She told me how the clusterfuck really started and spiraled out. Basically, no one in St. Louis PD wanted to risk me coming there, so they ruled it an accidental drug death and went to move along.

Except the US Marshals stumbled across three more bodies in their “investigation.” St. Louis PD getting involved each time and promising they would handle it with the FBI and as they should.

“And why didn’t you inform the FBI?” I asked her, not hiding that I was ready to tear into her for that.

She tapped the files she was holding onto and met my gaze head-on. “I was ordered not to. Also, not to assist you in your investigation. Basically, to tell you to piss off and stay out of our investigation, not take it over, and focus on your OD’d shifters if you like your job.”

All while her eyes were dancing with amusement.

I liked her. In another life we could have been friends for sure, but we were from different worlds. Quite literally almost.

I held out my hand for the files. “I’ll make it clear with my brass what happened and who to chew. Hopefully, you’ve kept excellent records of your orders so I know where to start?”

“Of course,” she said, handing it over and then putting her card on top. “If you have any questions, feel free to call me, Chief Thomas. I have no experience in drug investigations, and I’d like to get back to chasing my fugitive.”

I heard her loud and clear, nodding that I understood what was going on. This was a ploy of the former president to get the federal funding allocated to police supes to another agency… One who had their noses up his ass whereas Galvin was clean. So her orders were stemming from trying to keep that idea alive and she clearly wasn’t on board.

“I appreciate that. Stop by and say hi if you’re ever in Chicago. We’ll show you a good time.”

She nodded but gave me a look that there was no chance in hell before she left. Fine by me. I liked my world and wanted to stay in it since we were on completely different paths.

I met the head of the FBI office there and all I saw was regret and frustration. Okay, so we were talking privately later. I focused on the St. Louis PD guy next. “Let’s see how bad your ass is going to be in the fire. Where are we going to claim our victims and get them transferred into FBI custody?”

“There’s no need for that when it’s just drug—”

“That isnot your call,” I snapped. “You have no jurisdiction over supes. It’s federal. Do you need me to use smaller words? It doesn’t matter if it’s murder, drugs, or someone stubbed their fucking toe. It’s not your call. Unless it’s traffic tickets or keeping basic order—you. Have. No. Jurisdiction.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Clear, Officer?”

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