by Erin R Flynn
And being shot. Can’t forget that one.
“That’s really fucking good,” I praised after another sandwich. I thanked the agent who brought me migraine meds and moved onto some of the sides in between washing down the pills. “I’m okay. Sorry to worry you.”
“You were pacing the office crazy fast as you gestured wildly,” Brian muttered as he sat in the chair in front of the desk. “I was already on my phone too, so I didn’t see the text Dain was sending that you weren’t hearing him and something was wrong.”
“Stress,” I grumbled. “I felt like when the images and worry overwhelms me and my brain sort of short circuits. It was like that but just piling and piling. I can’t believe some of the stuff I told him. I don’t even remember it all.”
“He said you were talking pretty fast so he didn’t catch it all,” Emilio comforted. “Plus, you were jumping all around. Don’t worry about him. Refuel and eat some more, and we’ll get through one thing at a time. Melicent checked in that the interrogations are going well, and she’s having a blast plotting the eco gym idea. Everyone’s fine, and one step at a time.”
I realized he was saying that because of whatever I’d rambled to Dain. I nodded, glad when there was more food and the migraine pills kicked in.
Once I inhaled all of lunch, I headed to the bathroom, sighing when I saw how much of a hot mess I was in the mirror. I undid my hair and rinsed the blood off in the sink as best as I could. Paper towels didn’t really cut it for drying that much hair, so I did my best to wring it out and then spent a few minutes using the hand dryer as a hair one.
There was a knock at the door, and I found Brian there with a different shirt for me. I thanked him, glad it was better than Carter’s undershirt that I’d gotten blood on. It was a woman’s v-neck t-shirt, but it was fine and worked with what else I had on since I hadn’t gone skirt and heels knowing we were raiding the law firm.
First thing when I was done, I got caught up on what was bothering me most. Emilio filled me in on the latest shooting. No one else on our side had been hurt, and we’d gotten all the baddies. Those who we hadn’t killed—and we’d killed most of them—had been arrested by NYPD because it was a normal, human hit situation. They were all booked and in jail and their normal lawyers were busy since we’d raided the law firm.
Good. Done and done and not our problem besides reports to fill out and statements to give. Which I did first to get it off my plate.
The one thing books and movies never showed the maverick or badass do was the paperwork. It was like that whole section of the job was cut out, and it always made those of us in law enforcement roll our eyes. Even the cool kids had to fill out the reports and give statements about what happened.
And there were a lot of them. If I printed out and stacked all of the reports and statements I’d given in my several year FBI career, I could make a house for someone.
But we got through it. Several hours later and we were all done. The rest was up to NYPD and the city to handle the mess and damages, which we’d get blamed for, but we hadn’t started it.
Still, it would be our fault. It always was.
Several people arrived with Joe’s Pizza, and it was worth the hype, some of the best pizza I’d ever had. But I was a Chicagoan, and my pizza choice was always a deep dish pizza pie. However, I would give New York props on their pizza. It was damn good.
We worked through dinner and into the night, going over the Russian mob storage unit… Everything. There were reports, photographs, maps of units and bodies found, matching cases to what NYPD had missing and new ones. We had to match files to confessions and put together who was notified and which bodies could be released to families. It was a lot and exhausting.
Finally when we’d made a huge dent, Brian called it a night and I agreed, thanking everyone for coming in on a Saturday since it wasn’t like we got overtime like normal office jobs. We headed back to the hotel, and I took a long shower with Brian, knowing he needed it and to take care of me after what I’d gone through.
“Not even a scar,” he whispered, running his fingers over my torso where I’d been shot. “I can’t stop seeing it. I’m sorry. I know this isn’t about me.”
“You went through it too, and it was a bullet meant for you,” I forgave, understanding it was hard. We kissed for a while, and then I couldn’t keep my eyes open, glad when someone said they’d dry my mane and I got to rest. I was out before the hair dryer even turned on.
The next morning we were up and ready to go early, knowing that people were waiting on us to put more together. And given the piles of shit all over, it was like we needed to get some of it settled.
“Aren’t you glad you missed the paperwork last time?” Sands joked as we arrived back at the office with tons of food.
I saw Brian gave him a look of horror to match mine. Yeah, I’d missed the paperwork in Memphis because I’d almost been killed. Sands seemed to realize what he said and apologized, muttering about needing coffee. Fine, I forgave it because I knew he meant it.
And I was dying for coffee too, glad at least we were in casual clothes since it was a Sunday. Plus, Sands and his teams were auditing every case the New York office had, and that was an especially horrible job. Matching who was dirty with what cases might have been closed prematurely was just a huge mess.
Then again, the clean New York teams helping us were also liaising with NYPD and answering whatever questions they could for Sands. So that wasn’t fun either.
All around, none of it was fun.
I got right back into the storage unit mess, glad that at least local agents were going to be the ones giving out the notifications going forward given it wasn’t my backyard. Plus, it was the least they could do given it was their office that hadn’t handled what it should.
The ancients with me then were basically gophers printing up interrogation summaries that were okay for all eyes or files and finding out what went with what case.
The LA team had arrived yesterday and worked through the list of local shifters with Melicent and her people to get a complete picture of who was clean, who was sent off, and who needed to be tracked down. There were very few left and unaccounted for, but they would stay the next several weeks while two teams of clean, non-human New York FBI were flown out to Chicago for training.
It all made my head hurt if I was honest.
The Miami team was helping me, and the DC team was working with the ancients and regular FBI to fill it all in. Finally by about lunch time, everything we could do with the storage unit and the freezer graves was handled. All that was left was six unidentified bodies, and they would be added to the pile to be sorted through and try to match up later. The rest of the notifications were ready to be handled Monday, and we’d put it all in order.
I think we all made a point to want that handled first, as it was pretty gruesome, but also, there were families waiting for news on their loved ones. Sure, they didn’t want to hear they were never coming home, but not knowing was a different level of hell than grief, as false hope was evil in so many ways.
More people arrived just before lunch, and then lunch arrived via the fairies who seemed to feel bad they couldn’t help, which really made me happy they cared instead of just being ordered by Laila.
I thanked them as they brought box after box for us, giving Jonik a look in particular that I knew he’d been behind it. But I was at work, so no play time. He looked relieved to see me though, which I didn’t understand until after they left.
Right, I’d been shot the day before.
I sat down with my tablet and earbuds to handle what was for my eyes only as Division Chief of the non-human FBI. I loaded up the fox Alpha’s interrogation—or Madam Fox, as a bunch of us were calling her now—and dug into my food as I took notes of what I’d need to get into more later. Or warn Galvin because she was a treasure trove of more than anyone wanted to know.
I was about twenty minutes in when I felt the level of agitation in the
room rise. I paused it and took out my earbuds as I cleared my containers and reached for another burger, enjoying the amount of unhealthy food I got to eat on the trip at least. Someone would make me go back to protein shakes and granola once I was home.
“Is that all she does is eat? How uncouth,” a woman grumbled.
“I’m a shifter and I’m Alpha,” I drawled. “I’m sorry you’re not properly educated that my metabolism is at least six times faster than yours, but I was shot yesterday, and the protein and carbs help my body after healing that.” I glanced over and saw the gorgeous woman who didn’t have a hair out of place or a stray thread and raised an eyebrow at her. “And I can reply to you in over a dozen languages, so uncouth is a bit relative.”
I turned back to my food, clearly dismissing her and whatever bullshit she undoubtedly came with.
“Chief, we’ve got everything scanned from the storage unit and sent to Jennings so his team can get it all in your system,” one of the SAiCs from Miami told me. “What’s next?”
I thought about that a moment. “I want someone to get on the phone to call the agents giving notifications tomorrow so they can dress or drive or plan their day better. Then I want an update on the gulls and foxes at my office. I know they’ve been sitting on a lot to let out next, but at least check if something hit the top. And then I want full lists of everything that was seized from all the busts sent to Monroe, as he needs that.”
“Got it,” he muttered, jotting the list down. “I’ll let you know when it’s done.”
“Good job. You guys are jumping around and all over, and I know that’s hard.”
He smiled at me. “Your office trained us well.”
“Well, giving you shitty training would just be rude,” I snarked, about to focus back on what I’d been doing and my burger. The tension rose again, and I glanced over at Sands who was frowning. I was hoping it didn’t involve me, but then his side and the other side—including the perfect woman—all glanced at me. “What’s up?”
“They’re requesting to see the interrogations of the Russian mob,” he answered.
I raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, and I requested a foot rub and some Korean shaved ice, but I’ve not gotten that either.” I glanced between the sides. “Who are they even?”
The woman gave me an extra annoyed look, but Sands answered. “This is Celeste Blumstein, Assistant District Attorney of New York.”
I snorted. “No. Why would they get to see them?” I gave her a look like she was slow. “There’s no need for you to see them.”
She returned the look to me. “There are several, Ms. Thomas. For one, we are allowed to see all interrogations for crimes in New York.”
I opened my mouth to answer, but Brian came into the main area with a few people and she spotted him. Not only did her heart rate pick up, but I could smell the pheromones coming off of her from ten feet away. And she was a loud broadcaster. I got a few images from her and swallowed my annoyance.
“Bri, your ex-girlfriend is here to annoy me,” I drawled. “I leave it to you to handle.”
Sands looked like he was losing the battle not to laugh while Celeste wanted to kill me. Brian looked over to where I was pointing and frowned. He opened his mouth but then closed it before coming over to me and lowering his voice.
“What was that?”
I met his confused gaze. “Nothing. I didn’t know you worked in this office for a few years, and now ex-girlfriends are showing up who still hold the torch for you. You get more and more out of me all the time, but you’re still a vault.”
He sighed. “We went out on one group date thing and had drinks a few times. I would hardly call her an ex-girlfriend. And you know more than you think. There’s just been too many surprises all around this trip.”
“That’s fair,” I agreed. “She wants to see the council interrogations. It’s not happening.”
“Why can’t we see them if you’re not hiding anything?” she demanded, her eyes focused on me.
I sighed, realizing this wasn’t going to be over unless I really handled it. I stood and closed out my tablet, tucking it in the back of my pants so no one tried to look at what was on it. I brought my burger with just to annoy her. I took a bite and made her wait while I chewed, noting Sands’s amusement, so he wasn’t a fan of her either.
“We have nothing to hide on any of the cases we work, but we still don’t put it all up on YouTube,” I reminded her. “You don’t have clearance to see them. Sands doesn’t have clearance to see them unless I allow it, and he’s a division chief like me, ADA Blumstein.”
“That may be how things work in Chicago, Ms. Thomas, but here in New York we follow the rules and the DA’s office reviews all the pertinent information on cases.”
I snorted, taking another bite, being petty and making her wait again. “You can’t even follow the rules of calling me my title, ADA Blumstein. And we’ve found a hell of a lot of non-rule following all over New York. But I absolutely agree you’d need to see them if they were your cases. They’re not. They’re federal, and reports will be sent to the US AG’s office and they can see the interrogations if needed.”
“I’m telling you to hand them over, Thomas.”
“And I’m telling you that you don’t have that authority. Your boss doesn’t have that authority either. You don’t have clearance. You’re not trying these cases. Am I not speaking the Queen’s English here, or do you need me to go slower?” I bit back a smile when her eyes flared with anger. “Which ones specifically are you even trying for?” I draped my influence over her, getting to the root of the problem.
“The fox interrogation,” she answered.
“You said the Russian mob one,” Sands complained, giving her a hard look. “That has to do with the Ukrainians that you’re prosecuting for shooting at us. The fox has nothing to do with it.”
“No, but I’m sure there’s some sort of dirt her or her office doesn’t want to get out,” I purred. I tossed my empty container and wiped my hands. “You’re not prosecuting the Russian mob ones. Nor the cartel. Nor the Triad. Nor the fox. If you need something on the cases you are actually going to be assigned, please let me know, ADA Blumstein. Otherwise, the DA himself can contact my boss and he’ll tell him no as well.”
I caught a few flashes from her when she got extra angry I was dismissing her. Normally I would let it go, but she was really pissing me off.
“It was nice meeting you, ADA Blumstein,” I said sweetly, holding out my hand to her.
She looked at it like it was a snake, hiding her revulsion pretty well, but I knew I wasn’t the only one who saw it.
“Why won’t you shake Division Chief Thomas’s hand, ADA Blumstein?” Brian asked, catching on.
“The conversation isn’t over,” she replied easily. “No matter how dismissive Thomas is being, this matter is not resolved.” She blurted out a bit more when I draped my influence again. “And she’s an animal. How you allowed yourself to be touched by an animal disgusts me.”
“How uncouth of you to say that in a professional setting,” I purred. I took back my hand and pulled out the tablet. “I’m just going to go back to watching the fox’s interrogation and do my actual job. You should try it.”
“We will file an injunction on that video,” she threatened.
“Bad call,” someone chuckled quietly, meaning her trying to go toe-to-toe with me.
Yeah, it was. I lost all patience, tucking the tablet away and pulling out my phone. I held up a finger to her as I connected to Haton’s cell directly, which she gave me for times issues had to be handled immediately.
“Aliens yet?” she drawled.
“Councilwoman, I apologize for bothering you, but I have a New York ADA here demanding copies of interrogations, namely our Alpha fox. I know you aren’t sitting in the interrogations personally, but I wondered if there was anything about the DA that’s disconcerting that he would immediately send someone to try and get it.”
She snorted
. “Put me on speaker.” I did, telling her as much. “Your DA not only hired the foxes and had sex with them against their will, as none of them were willing to be prostitutes, but he has some interesting predilections. He also takes bribes to lose evidence and let certain people walk who donate to the right campaigns. So he’s going down. I suggest if you’re not involved, you start vying for his job instead of protecting him.”
“Oh, not her,” I chuckled darkly. “She won’t shake my hand, and she’s disgusted Chief Havers lets an animal touch him when she wants to.”
“Well then, fuck off, you stupid human,” Haton sighed. “Female wolves are some of the most attentive and loving creatures there are. There is no one better Chief Havers could want. You look at him and think you want him, that you’re better than Seraphine and you deserve him. She looks at him and wonders if you would be better to him, better for him, and could make him happy.
“But the minute you show some trait not good enough, she will scorch the ground around you, making it clear you don’t deserve him because he only deserves the best. If I know her and wolves, she has been doing her best to hide any problems from getting shot so he doesn’t feel bad when she took the bullets for him. So yeah, look down your nose at that, you fucking moron. I’ll have someone get into this DA stuff and contact Galvin.”
“Thank you, Councilwoman. I will keep sending you updates and any topics we need people questioned on.”
“We’re looking so forward to that,” she drawled.
“I know the feeling, believe me.” We hung up, and I felt a lot of eyes on me. I cleared my throat and glanced at Celeste. “So yeah, you know the way out. Use it.” I turned to go back to my work, and Brian moved in front of me, smiling down at me.
“See, you were always meant to be a wolf because she described you when you were human too.” He cupped my cheek, shocking me with the touching at work. “But don’t worry about me. We’re worried about you. And I didn’t forget your request. I just changed it a bit.”
