At home, Ryenne exercised herself to exhaustion and then pleasured herself in the shower. In the morning, she repeated this pattern. She was determined to get control of her wolf. It was her body, dammit.

Her mom looked better this morning. More color in her cheeks, less pain etched into her face. “You look tired, sweetie. Are you getting enough sleep?”

“Yes, Mom.” She held out a plastic bag. “Here, I brought you these.”

Her mom pulled out a couple of paperbacks, a book of crossword puzzles, and a phone charger.

“Who’s your new bodyguard? He’s pretty cute.”

Her mom laughed. “That’s Officer Panza. Apparently, you put the fear of God into Officer Reynolds, and he quit yesterday.”

“Ha.” She shook her head. “And did Nick or Scotty personally introduce you to this Panza?”

“Yes, Ryenne.”

“Have you seen Dr. Nakamura?” Ryenne hadn’t seen him since the other day in the café with Gavin. But he worked nights and she spent the day with her mom.

“Yes, he comes in every night when he starts his shift and visits me every morning before he leaves. He’s very nice, Ryenne. You should give him and Gavin a break.”

Ryenne huffed out a breath. “I want Gavin to find his soul mate more than anything, Mom. But I also don’t want him to get hurt again. He deserves better.”

“He does,” Mom insisted. “And Taylor is better.”

“So, now you’re on a first name basis with him, too?”

“Of course,” her mom said with a bright smile. “You could be, too, if you tried to get to know him. In fact, tonight he said he’d bring me some mochi from his grandmother.”

“That’s great, Mom. I just want everyone to be careful. Your life is more important than our love lives.”

“Yes, I can see that’s been your philosophy this week, sweetie. But don’t force it on everyone else.”

Ryenne was indignant. “I’m not forcing anything on anyone. The fact is, you’re in danger, Mom, and I will do anything to protect you.”

“Even pushing your best friend and your boyfriend away?”

Ryenne swallowed a lump in her throat. She didn’t mean to push them away. “Some things are more important,” she whispered, taking her mom’s hand.

They each sat quietly for the next hour or so, lost in their own thoughts and activities.

“Speaking of Lucien,” Ryenne said.

“Were we?” her mom asked.

Ryenne ignored her comment. “I haven’t seen him in a couple of days. Has he visited you?”

“I think he prowls around inside and outside the hospital. He’s a lot like you.”

Ryenne frowned. “How so?”

“My protection is more important to him right now than anything else.”

Her words sent a stab of pain into Ryenne’s belly. She wanted nothing more than to spend her days and nights with Lucien, wrapped in each other’s arms, and talking like they used to. Hopefully, they could recover this once her mother was safe and they had brought down the Fangs.

Ryenne went back to checking emails and texting Gavin for updates on the case, and her mom went back to a book.

When the nurse brought lunch, Mom insisted Ryenne go stretch her legs.

Ryenne decided to listen because she hoped she could find Lucien. She just needed to see him, even if he wouldn’t talk to her.

It took her about twenty minutes, but she finally tracked him down on the ground floor outside the cafeteria.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hi.”

“Mom tells me you’ve been keeping the hospital safe for her.”

He shrugged.

“Well, thanks,” she said.

“Of course,” he said.

Right, she thought, anything for Willow. It wasn’t that she was jealous of her mom. She just wished Lucien would show her the same amount of caring that he seemed to feel for her mother.

Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out.

“Hey Scotty, what’s up?”

Lucien’s face hardened and he turned away. Ryenne reached out a hand toward him but let it drop. She listened for a moment then said, “I’ll be right there. Thanks.” She shoved the phone back into her pocket and searched out Lucien’s gaze. “They’ve brought in Tess for questioning. Do you want to come with me to observe?”

He shook his head. “I’m going to stay here and keep an eye on things.”

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”

He turned away and strode off further into the bowels of the building. She stared after him, wishing there was more she could say, but she’d already apologized multiple times and it wasn’t enough for him. She didn’t know what she’d have to do or if there was anything she could do, but she couldn’t worry about it now. Tess’s brother had rammed her mother with a car and Ryenne was determined to find out why and bring him to justice.

Straightening her shoulders, she lifted her chin, walked out of the hospital, and headed to Scotty’s precinct. It wasn’t far, so she walked, despite the heat of the day.

She reached the old stone building and marched up the steps between uniformed officers with weary eyes, handcuffed suspected criminals with defeat or defiance on their faces, and a varied collection of concerned citizens.

At the desk, she smiled at the sergeant. “Hey, Morales, haven’t seen you in ages.”

The young woman with tan skin, hazel eyes, and black curls hidden under her uniform cap smiled back. “Ryenne Cavanagh, I can’t believe you’re here. Last I heard, you were in Africa.”

Ryenne waved a hand. “Yeah, I had a case out there and was then in Paris with my boyfriend for a while.” At the words, her stomach clenched. Was Lucien still her boyfriend?

“Oh yeah, Scotty was bummed when he heard about that boyfriend,” Morales said.

Ryenne’s brow furrowed. “Bummed? Why? We were long over by then.”

“Yeah but he always held out hope you two would get back together someday. It’s much less likely if you’re dating some hot Frenchman.”

She wondered if it was part of why Lucien was upset. It wasn’t just her behavior. He must’ve been able to read Scotty’s attraction to her, and it made Lucien worry that her flirting might be more than only a result of her transition. She needed to find a way to make it up to him.

“We should get a drink sometime soon,” Morales said while buzzing open the door for Ryenne.

“Definitely.” Ryenne smiled.

As she passed through the station, she greeted several other cops she had come to know over the years. Shifter hunting meant she came in contact with the police on a regular basis. While some cops didn’t appreciate a woman hunter, and some didn’t appreciate anyone doing what they considered their job, most cops recognized that shifter hunters filled a need in society and they were pleasant to her.

She found Nick and Scotty standing outside a closed door. Ryenne peeked through the window behind them and saw a shock of red hair. “You got her.”

They nodded.

“Where was she?”

They exchanged glances and Ryenne realized it was something they did around her quite a lot. With a sigh, Nick spoke up. “We found her near your mother’s apartment.”

Ryenne’s forehead wrinkled. “Why would she be there? Mom is in the hospital, which she must know since she helped put her there. And Lucien is staying there.”

Scotty’s eyebrows jumped into his hairline. “Trouble in paradise?”

She ignored him. “Have you already questioned her?”

“Not yet. We were waiting for you,” Nick said.

She nodded her thanks. They were being a lot more open with her on this case than they’d be with anyone else. Professional courtesy, she supposed, and maybe a bit because of her history with Scotty. Maybe Morales was right. Scotty had been hoping for an Act Two with her, so was giving her information cops didn’t usually share with civilians.

She and Scotty had never been together in any kind of serious way. They’d flirted for years and had slept together a couple of times. But she’d never gotten the feeling he wanted more, certainly not a relationship. Then again, she’d never been open to a relationship, with him or anyone, until she met Lucien.

Relationships were hard work. Before Lucien, she’d never felt the need to work that hard. But now she did want to. With every fiber of her being.

“Okay, let’s get to it,” she said to cover her thoughts.

Scotty went into the interrogation room and Nick opened a door next to it and ushered her into a dark room only lit by the fluorescent light coming from the interrogation room. As soon as Ryenne stood in front of the glass, Tess raised her gaze to it. A human wouldn’t have known she was there, behind the one-way mirror, but shifters had heightened senses and could see beyond the brightness and therefore behind the reflectiveness on Tess’s side. Would she know it was Ryenne? Probably. Ryenne and Tess had been within close proximity and now knew each other’s scents.

Scotty went through the usual preliminaries, turning on the tape recorder, stating the date and time, introducing himself, etc. Then, “Where were you on the evening of June 20th at around five p.m.?”

Tess widened her eyes and shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“That day doesn’t stand out to you?” he asked.

She made a movement with her mouth. “Should it?”

“It’s the day your brother rammed a car into Willow Cavanagh.”

Tess didn’t respond and her face was an expressionless mask.

“Do you have any knowledge of your brother’s actions on that day?”

She shook her head.

“Please answer in words for the tape recording,” Scotty said.

“No,” she said.

“And where were you when your brother struck Mrs. Cavanagh with a stolen car?”

“I don’t know. I already told you.”

“This was the night Ryenne Cavanagh saw you across the street from her mother’s office building and chased you a couple of blocks until you jumped into a van.”

Tess’s gaze snapped to the mirror and her lips curved into a snarl.

“Do you remember that, Ms. O’Brien?” Scotty asked.

“No,” she said, her gaze still—impossibly—on Ryenne’s.

“What if I told you we have witnesses who can place you on Eighth Avenue at 60th Street at around 5 o’clock on June 20th?” he asked.

She returned her gaze to him. “Do you?”

Goosebumps developed along Ryenne’s bare arms. Tess’s green eyes glowed with a kind of maniacal pleasure. She clearly enjoyed playing games with Scotty and with Ryenne.

Before Ryenne knew about the Fangs, she had tangled with Tess a couple of times, had had to save humans from her, so she knew Tess was a killer. For rogues to play with humans like Tess did, there had to be some kind of pathology. But Ryenne hadn’t realized how deep it went. Tess was a sociopath, and they were unlikely to get anything out of her.

She tapped on the glass.

“What are you doing?” Nick asked.

She told him what she’d realized about Tess. “You can keep her here all night. You could deprive her of food and water. It won’t matter. She won’t turn on her brother and she won’t tell you anything. Even if it wasn’t her brother who hit my mom, she wouldn’t talk. She’s enjoying this game too much. And, she hates humans.”

“What do you suggest?” Nick asked just as the door opened and Scotty stepped in.

Ryenne pushed past Scotty and gestured for both cops to follow her. She led them to the farthest corner from the interrogation room. “Why not cut her loose and we’ll follow her?” Ryenne suggested.

Nick and Scotty looked at each other as if asking each other’s opinion.

“We’ve got nothing to hold her on,” Nick said. “No proof she had anything to do with the attempt on your mother’s life, no proof she stole the car. We might as well give it a try.”

“You got a couple of detectives who are good at surveillance?” she asked.

Scotty looked to Nick again. “How about Mal and Tommy?”

Nick nodded. “Good choices. One man, one woman, each with team experience. They can communicate by radio.”

Ryenne shook her head. “Tess is a shifter. She can hear better than humans, which is why we’re as far from her interrogation room as we could get. No radios.”

It was decided. Hopefully, Tess would lead them right to her brother Joseph.

***

Scotty went back into the interview room to continue questioning Tess so she wouldn’t suspect their true plan and to give Ryenne and the two detectives time to get into position. In the meantime, Nick brought Ryenne over to two desks facing each other where two cops, a man and a woman, quickly stood at his approach.

“This is Detective Beth Mallory,” Nick said, “but everyone calls her Mal.”

Ryenne shook hands with the woman several inches shorter than herself with pale skin and dirty blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. Like Ryenne, Mal’s looks were probably her best cover. No one would ever suspect this tiny woman was a cop.

Then she turned to the man who was at eye level with Ryenne. He was balding with a bit of a paunch.

“This is Detective Brett Thompson,” Nick said.

“Detective,” Ryenne said as she shook his hand.

“Call me Tommy. Everyone does.”

Ryenne nodded.

The three worked out a quick strategy and they all went outside, Ryenne waving to Morales as she passed, and took up three different positions close to the precinct so they could cover every direction.

About ten minutes later, Tess came out of the building and turned east. She walked at an unhurried pace, seemingly carefree, never turning to look over her shoulder. Never glancing into shop windows to see if anyone was following her. Almost as if she didn’t care if they did.

Which told Ryenne everything she needed to know. Tess wouldn’t lead them anywhere. As usual, they would get nothing from her.

Tess ambled along for three blocks then went down into the subway.

Ryenne cursed under her breath. Tess would be a lot harder to track unnoticed underground. She’d recognize Ryenne in a heartbeat, if Ryenne wasn’t careful.

Ryenne ducked into a shop and watched as Mal and Tommy walked past, Tommy speeding up to make sure Tess wouldn’t get on a train before he could join her. Ryenne counted to thirty after they passed her shop and then followed them down into the subway, taking her time, trying to look as nonchalant as Tess had.

She saw no sign of Tess as she approached the turnstile. She used her MetroCard and then searched out either Tess or one of the detectives to determine which platform Tess had gone to. As usual, Tess’s hair gave her away, especially on the dark platform. She stood directly under a light, her red hair like a fiery halo around her head.

Ryenne waited in the shadows until the train came. Tess got on, Tommy entered the next car, and Mal hung back. Ryenne jumped into the farthest car from Tess before the tone that signaled the closing doors, and watched Mal jump into Tess’s train car at the last possible second.

It had been too easy. Tess was either leading them nowhere or into a trap. If that were the case, Ryenne didn’t think Tess would have made it so easy for the cops to follow her. She would have lost them at the first possible moment and led Ryenne, alone, into a trap. So she was safe for now.

The train was heading to Brooklyn. Tess was probably going to her apartment. Ryenne pulled out her phone and texted Scotty. His reply came almost instantly that Tommy had texted with the same thought.

As expected, Tess got off at the subway stop closest to the apartment she shared with her brothers in Brooklyn. Ryenne got off and melted into a group of people and went up the stairs with them, although she had no doubt Tess knew she was there.

At street level, Ryenne walked at a brisk pace past the O’Brien apartment building and to a darkened doorway across the street and several doors down. From there, she watched Tommy stride past the O’Brien building and Ryenne’s own hiding spot, to the next corner where he turned.

Tess came into view before Tommy turned the corner, with Mal behind her. Tess went up the stairs to her building and as she put the key in the lock, she turned suddenly, and caught Ryenne’s gaze. And smiled.

“Bitch,” Ryenne murmured under her breath, hoping Tess heard.

She walked back to the subway stop and waited for the two police detectives.

“Tommy and I will take turns keeping this place under surveillance,” Mal said.

Ryenne nodded but it didn’t matter. They’d have to find Joseph another way.