***
The damage was obvious the moment she pulled up to the embassy. She shoved bills into the driver’s hand.
“Wait, this is too much!” he said, but she just ignored him and rushed from the car as best she could in her condition.
There were lots of people around, most of them shifters, judging by the height, muscle mass, and the confident way they carried themselves. She’d never truly understood the phrase “moved like a predator” until she’d seen a shifter walk. It was tough to express in words, but they didn’t just move their legs. They sort of stalked, prowled, and hunted. The wolf shifters were the most noticeable, but even in the bears she could see it.
“Excuse me, miss, but you can’t be here,” one of them said, moving to stand in her way.
Rachel came to a halt, peering past him up the steps and into the lobby of the old motel that had been converted into the Cadian embassy. She could see huge black marks on the walls and ceiling, but couldn’t tell if that was from smoke or fire.
“Where is he?” she asked, looking around him some more. “He was supposed to meet me earlier today, but he didn’t. He never came. Is he okay? Is he all right? Did he die in the fire?”
The guard’s face instantly went neutral, betraying absolutely nothing about his emotions as he reached out gently to touch her shoulder.
“There was one casualty, ma’am, but I need to know who you’re looking for before I can tell you if it was the person you’re searching for. Do you have a name?”
“What?” she asked, looking up at him. “Yes, yes of course. It’s Hector. He’s one of the guards here.”
She watched as the man’s face flashed briefly with anger and then once again closed itself off to her, a mask of expressionless stone.
“No, ma’am, Hector did not die in the fire.”
“Oh thank goodness,” she said, reaching out to steady herself on the concrete that ran vertically up the sides of the stairway, creating the level platform and walkway at the top.
“Are you all right?” the shifter asked, reaching out to help her.
“Yes, yes I’m fine. I was just…Hector was supposed to meet me, and then he didn’t. Then I found out that there was a fire and someone died, and I just…I just assumed the worst,” she said, working to regain her composure.
“I understand,” the guard said, his voice still not revealing much.
“Where is he then? I’d like to talk to him.”
Rachel saw the guard visibly steel himself before he spoke. Whatever it was, she realized, he knew it was going to cause problems.
“I’m sorry, but he isn’t receiving visitors right now.”
She frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
This time anger did flash through the guard’s eyes. “Exactly what it sounds like.”
“Excuse me?” she snapped suddenly, stepping up close. He wasn’t the only one caught off guard by her aggressiveness. Internally Rachel was panicking, wondering why she was getting so worked up over her insistence at speaking with Hector. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she’d spent all morning getting ready and then he’d bailed, or that she’d missed her group support sessions in favor of seeing him. Perhaps it was the simple caustic attitude of the shifter in front of her who was being nothing more than an obstinate pain in the ass. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter, because she was about to verbally throw down with him, and he was going to regret it if he didn’t start giving her some better answers.
“Give me one good reason why I can’t see him?” she pushed when he didn’t respond right away.
The guard’s eyes tightened, and then he gestured behind him. “Take a look around. At all of this. This is all Hector’s fault. He’s the one who caused all this.”
Rachel inhaled to say something more, but she was interrupted before she could.
“Martin, go take a break.”
The third voice entered their conversation from the side. A shifter came up and touched the guard on the shoulder, gently pushing him away. Rachel traded one last glare with him before he turned and stormed away.
“Don’t mind him,” the voice said. “He’s just under a lot of pressure and hasn’t had much sleep.
Rachel turned to see who it was, and her attitude immediately improved as she realized she knew who it was.
“I know you. You’re, um, Gray, right?” she asked, fumbling for the name of the man who had driven her on her first date with Hector the other day. “You’re the leader of the guards.”
“I am,” he said. “And I know you’re probably looking for Hector.”
“Yes. Marvin wouldn’t let me see him.”
“Yeah, Martin can be a little bit of a stickler for the rules,” Gray admitted. “But in this case, he’s correct. You can’t see Hector.”
“Why not? Marlin said that this was Hector’s fault?” she asked, motioning to the building behind Gray. “That’s not true though, right? Hector didn’t burn the place down? Why would he do something like that?”
Gray sighed and raised a hand to stop her as she started to work herself into a long-winded ramble, and Rachel stopped, nodding briefly in thanks. She took several slow, deep breaths, forcing herself back under control once again.
“Hector didn’t try to torch the place, no,” Gray began once she was better. “But he was on duty last night. It was his responsibility to ensure something like this doesn’t happen, or that it doesn’t get out of hand.”
“What happened then?” she asked. “It looks pretty bad to me. Someone died. How is Hector at fault?”
“Because he wasn’t at his post when it happened. He’s confined to quarters now.”
Rachel opened her mouth to say more, but the look on Gray’s face made her stop. His eyes had gone hard, the bright blue orbs glittering with anger and frustration. There was more to this story, she could tell. Gray wasn’t happy with what was happening, but neither was he against it. Conflicting emotions warred in his eyes as she watched, and something told her that now wasn’t the time to push her case. She needed to maintain a good rapport with Gray if at all possible, since obviously Martian boy hated her guts simply because she liked Hector.
“I see. Will you pass on a message that I came to see him then?”
Gray looked uncomfortable with the idea, but he didn’t say no.
Rachel nodded once in thanks, and then turned to go, frustrated at the entire situation. She needed to talk to Hector, to help him figure this whole mess out. But how was she supposed to do that when even his friends seemed to think he was at fault?
What had happened last night?