“You and I both know that’s nothing new,” I said to reassure him.
His lips formed a flat line. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’ve been out working on this case for days. Do you have anything to show for it?”
Did I? Once I found this killer among us, would I be able to bring him to a court and get him convicted of his crimes? I couldn’t bring zombies to the jury or else they would all run screaming. The only way I could do this the legal way would be to force Addie to be a witness.
I could handle this another way. My beast reminded me that was the way of the supernatural world. It seemed to have this truth coded into its very being. I could hunt this killer down and put a stop to him once and for all.
No. I wasn’t going to do that. Justice would have to work in our favor. I just needed a bit more time to gather the evidence that would put him behind bars forever.
“There was another death, sir. In Syracuse. I need to confer with the homicide detective there, but I have reason to believe that the two murders are connected.”
The captain’s lip curled. He didn’t like working with other precincts. There were always variables that he couldn’t control. It was a weakness of his that often slowed us down.
Hell, I didn’t have time for this!
The killer’s scent tickled my senses. I was so close to finding out who the traitor in our midst was, but the captain’s interrogation held me at bay. If I couldn’t get to the killer quickly, Addie would be in danger.
It occurred to me that I’d left her alone. She was out on her own.
“You’re about as hard to hunt down as Bastien is. Where has that man been lately?”
Frozen, I could nearly hear the creak in my neck as I slowly twisted to look back at the captain. Lip curled into a disgruntled snarl, he shook his head disapprovingly. He flung his hand in the air.
“I figured the two of you were skipping out on work together. I wouldn’t put it past you to sneak in some drinks at a dive bar when no one was looking.” The captain met my gaze. “You do have a history with alcohol, and you’re looking like you’ve been three sheets to the wind for weeks now.”
“That’s only because I left my clothes in an alley all day.”
The captain recoiled at my words. When he opened his mouth to speak, nothing but flabbergasted gibberish came out.
I stepped into the captain’s space. “You’re telling me Bastien has been out of the station this whole time?”
Brows arching in confused concern, he leaned away from me. “Y-Yes.”
There was no way. That bastard was myfriend. He couldn’t be the killer. I knew Bastien longer than anyone else in my life. Though there were shadows in that man’s eyes, I never took them for anything other than the weariness that tugged at everyone here.
Though I wanted to believe the best of my friend, the evidence spoke for itself. I thought of the hat that was never far from his head. I’d always thought he was hiding his receding hairline. It never occurred to me that he was covering his head from the spirits of the dead the same way that Addie did.
There was still a chance that I was wrong. I shoved past the captain and ignored his blathering as he called out to me in frustration. If Bastien’s desk smelled like the papers I’d found at the scene…I didn’t want to think about the implications.
A killer hiding right under my nose this whole time. I wasn’t the man I wanted to be. No matter how I tried to keep my precinct safe, I failed them time and time again. I’d failed Paige by allowing her to get hit by a drunk driver. Now, there was a chance that I’d failed Addie, too.
I didn’t need to reach Bastien’s desk to know. The scent hit me before I even got close. My beast rose with a vicious growl. Inside me, the beast gnashed its teeth. The creature was ready to spill blood. It had ahold of my need for justice and was busy warping it into a desire to kill.
I rocked back.
While I refused to give in to my beast’s bloodlust, I knew I couldn’t wait until I’d gained control of myself. The captain cried out, exasperated, as I shoved through the door again. I left his commands behind. He could berate me later.
Right now, I had a killer to catch.