Page 21 of The Evening Wolves

John shook his head. “We don’t know.”

When Shaw spoke, his voice was subdued. “They prey on people who are helpless. People who can disappear, and no one will care. In St. Louis, they were using a homeless shelter like a feeding trough.”

“Kids, too,” Theo said. “It happens all the time. Kids who don’t have a responsible adult in their lives, or kids whose parents just don’t care what happens to them. They meet someone. That person pretends to care about them. It doesn’t take long before they trust that person. That’s maybe the most messed-up part of a lot of trafficking; the victims go along willingly, either because they trust their trafficker, or because they think it’s their chance at a better life.”

Auggie was rubbing Theo’s back, studying his fiancé. When he spoke, though, the words were for everyone. “There’s a lot of rural poverty out here. A lot of people—kids and adults—who could disappear, and nobody would ask too many questions.”

“And that’s why we’re not going to let them get away with this,” Emery said. “They think they can get rid of John and keep doing what they’ve always done. We’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“I’ll reach out to my contacts again,” Tean said. “I didn’t have any luck when we were here before, but someone has to know something about the wildlife trafficking side of their organization.”

“The drugs, too,” Theo said. Something flickered on Auggie’s face—something Emery couldn’t read, but that seemed to make sense to Theo. He closed a hand around Auggie’s, but he didn’t look at him as he said, “I should have thought about that earlier. It’s not just people and animals; organizations like this, they usually have ties to drug cartels. I might know someone. And I’ll see if I can pick up anything at school, ask about kids who’ve withdrawn or been truant.”

“This jabroni who fingered John-Henry,” North said.

“His name is Emery,” Shaw said. “He’s right there.”

Red darkened North’s cheeks as he rounded on Shaw.

Emery couldn’t have sworn to it, but he thought, just maybe, Shaw winked at him.

“I know what his name is, you knob. And that’s not what I meant.”

“Well, I’m sorry. You’ll have to be more specific.”

“I don’t need to be more specific. I need not to have a pansy-assed jamoke permanently glued to my dick-cheese—”

“North,” John said with a kind of strangled desperation.

Grace Elaine was watching North with something approaching interest. Glenn, of course, was on his phone. Cora’s eyes were huge.

More red rushed into North’s face, and, sounding like he was choking on the words, “This clown tool and I will look for him, see if we can figure out who’s paying him to lie.”

“Oh, that guy who fingered John-Henry. I thought you meant—”

North got a hand over Shaw’s mouth, and Shaw dissolved into giggles as the two of them began to wrestle.

Emery was surprised to see a smile—a real one—cross John’s face.

“I’m going to come up with some uniforms for us,” Jem said. “They’re going to be fire. One thousand percent spandex, super tight around the junk, probably some sort of bubble-butt extender for you, Emery, oh, and they’ll definitely show off our abs.”

“Nothing can be one thousand percent,” Emery said, “and you don’t have abs. I’ve seen you without a shirt.”

Jem turned an outraged look on Tean.

“You’re very handsome,” Tean said in what Emery thought was supposed to be a reassuring tone. “And strong.”

“Well, yeah, but my six-pack.”

“Of hash browns,” Auggie murmured.

“Auggie!”

Auggie grinned, chewing on the collar of his shirt—and, in the process, exposing his ultradefined stomach.

“I stood up for you when North wanted to ship you back to Twink Island.”

“What is Twink Island?” Theo asked.

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