Page 15 of Cast in Shadow
“They have one.”
“Of course they do.” He kneeled and picked up a copy of a handwritten letter. “What about this?”
“It’s from her grandmother, dated seven years ago. It’s the only communication we found between the two.”
“But it’s a letter. Is the grandmother not part of the pack?”
I rocked back onto my heels and stood. “No. According to what we were able to dig up on her, she doesn’t have a pack. Lives alone about twenty miles south of the city.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Outcast or runaway?”
“No idea. The files don’t go that deep.”
He held up the letter. “My gut says Naomi will try to find her. A wolf’s pack is part of their identity, and since she’s still so young, she’ll try to find the next best thing.”
“Family.”
He nodded.
“Alright then. In the morning, I’ll head out to find the grandmother. I need you to coordinate with Echo from here while they look for the girl.”
“Naomi.”
“I know her name.”
“Then use it, Senna.” His nostrils flared just a little. “She’s a person. Whether she lives or dies in the next few days, nothing will change that fact.”
I rubbed my lips together to prevent the angry retort that was sitting on the edge of my tongue from darting out. This wasn’t the first time he’d challenged me about keeping my distance on a case, but this felt different, especially after the way he’d lingered in my room earlier.
Or maybe I was the one who felt different.
I pointed to the open door. “Coordinate with Echo. I’ll call when I have something on the grandmother.” My clipped tone must have been enough to make my point, because he gave me a curt nod and left my office with his wide shoulders set in stone.
When the door closed behind him, I let out an irritated huff and stepped back, resting my ass on the edge of my desk. I didn’t have the time or the patience to deal with him pushingme when I had the shifter girl and Megan Navali to worry about.
And let’s not forget about Emerson.
“Oh, why don’t you just fuck right off,” I snapped at the voice in my head.
I stared at everything for a while longer, then gathered the papers and slipped them all neatly back in the stiff manila folder. The clock on the wall told me it was almost three in the morning. Which meant Nguyen was running on shit for sleep, and I’d just tacked another mission onto his already loaded schedule.
No wonder he wasn’t happy with me.
Once we found the girl and got her somewhere safe, I would order him to take a few weeks off. We all needed time to decompress, and he’d been on the job without a real break for too long.
I could take care of Megan on my own. She was stronger than I’d anticipated, and it would be tricky steering clear of the Brethren, but it would be manageable. We just needed to get tabs on her again.
7
The grandmother’s cabin was a place straight out of a fairy tale. Just not one of those watered-down, safe for modern children, kind of fairy tales.
Green moss slicked the bowed wooden shingles, and the whole roof sagged dangerously. The squat stone walls looked sturdy enough, if a person ignored the way the mortar between the rocks was chipped and cracking, at least where it was visible. It was hard to tell when most of the thing was covered in climbing vines that stretched up the full height of the wall and disappeared beneath the eaves.
Not exactly promising.
Stepping out of my Jeep, I closed the door quietly. I wasn’t trying to be sneaky, just polite. Adult wolf shifters had keen senses, even in human form, and I had no doubt she already knew I was out here. She’d probably heard me turn onto the dirt path leading up to this decrepit little place a quarter mile ago.
At least she was home. Well, someone was home. The magic surrounding the place felt feminine enough, but there was anunderlying current to it that raised my hackles. No wolfish pun intended.
