I wasn’t sure what I was about to hear in that conference room, but everyone at the table looked extremely serious, so I surmised the news couldn’t have been good.

“Okay, let’s start by filling Blanca in on what she doesn’t know,” Knox began.

“I’ll do that,” Trent volunteered, turning toward me as he took a deep breath. “Bear shifters don’t usually kill humans. We can be hot-tempered in bar fights and things of the like, but murderous rampages aren’t really what we’re known for. So, when we saw the three murders, we knew we were dealing with a problem. When I captured the shifter, he didn’t respond to anything; he only exhibited aggressive behavior.”

“It was the same when I tried questioning him and then he started transforming back and forth,” I said, trying to work things out in my head as they were presented to me.

“Yeah, about that: it’s not supposed to happen that way. We can’t change only one part of our body; it’s full-form or nothing for us. I couldn’t make my hands bear paws even if I tried, but somehow, he can. That was when I knew something was wrong. So, I called in Ramon here to have his blood tested.”

“So, you weren’t really testing for the victims’ blood?”

“No, lo siento. I actually tested those as soon as we got them and identified all three victims. This shifter definitely committed the murders. But we had to stall somehow to keep him here, so I could figure out what was going on with him,” Ramon interjected. He looked apologetic; they all seemed to, but I understood. I knew they didn’t want to keep all this from me, but they had to for the sake of their clan.

“So, have you figured it out yet?” I asked.

“Es complicado. I know what’s wrong, but I don’t know what it is. Whatever has infected this guy is destroying him. His blood cells, his brain cells, they’re all turning black. Trent even watched in my lab as whatever this infection is, literally started eating the shifter’s blood cells. It looks like the infection is taking over his body by devouring his cells and reproducing its own. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Es increíble; also, scary.” Ramon sighed heavily as if telling us his findings released a weight off his shoulders.

“Do you have a hypothesis about where this infection might have come from or how he got it?” Knox asked. He looked very concerned and I guessed even he must be afraid of this unknown infection.

“The only thing I can think of right now is that it’s something he picked up in the environment; maybe a new type of virus? He has no wounds that would make me believe he was bitten or stung by something, but he’s a shifter, so his body probably healed the infection site quickly, if that was the case. Perhaps it was an airborne pathogen and it traveled through his respiratory tract? I could keep examining him, but…”

“But what?” Trent, Knox and I all asked at the same time.

“We would have to kill him. He is unresponsive at this point, aggressive, and overall dangerous, but if he is dead, I can perform an autopsy and maybe I can gain more information about the infection,” Ramon responded bluntly.

“We can’t kill him; he’s one of us. Only the conclave can grant us that permission. If we do it and they find out, we will be put to death ourselves.” Knox said, shaking his head.

“But we can pretend he died!” I exclaimed. “I could tell the FBI that he killed himself. Bashed his head into the wall without anyone realizing? I could tell them that I left disposing of the body to you guys and that the blood samples revealed that he was indeed the killer. I fill out the paper work and case closed. Acadia gets to keep the shifter here and you can observe him that way.”

“Hmm…she has a point,” Trent said, looking to Knox for his opinion.

“It could definitely work. And once we have more information on the infection—as much as can possibly be obtained—we can present him and everything we’ve learned to the conclave for final judgement. If this is something that has the potential to affect our community, they should know about it.”

“The conclave?” I interjected.

“The conclave is the council of elders of all shifters. They adjudicate issues that arise within the clan.” Trent responded.

“It will be difficult to do all this testing while keeping him alive. We’ll need a two-person team assisting me every time I go in for more samples.” Ramon was considering the possibility at first, and then he finally agreed. “But yes. It could work”

“Then it’s settled. Ramon will give Agent Gianni the blood sample paperwork proving the shifter to be the murderer. She will fill out the case work as if he died and present it to her chief. And we’ll bring this to the conclave to get their take on things,” Knox repeated the plan back to everyone to make sure we were all on the same page, and we were. We all nodded in agreement and Knox pronounced the meeting adjourned.

Ramon turned to Knox and started discussing plans for the shifter, while Trent turned to me with a forlorn look.

“So, what does that mean for us?” he asked, his eyes to the floor.

“Don’t worry, I have a plan for that, too. I’m going to step outside and make some phone calls,” I whispered and got up, exiting the room and stepping out into the cold, crisp air.

I dialed 1 on my phone.

“Chief Caulwell.”

“Hey Chief, it’s Agent Gianni. I have news about the Acadia case. The suspect is deceased; he bashed his head into the holding cell and collapsed. By the time anyone noticed, he was already gone.” I tried to make myself sound as believable as possible.

“Weren’t Alex and Gerard supposed to be watching him?” The chief sounded angry and I didn’t want my boys to get in trouble for this.

“They were tired, so I sent them to their hotel rooms to get some sleep. It was me who was supposed to be watching him and when I heard the banging, I thought he was just banging on the bars and trying to get someone to let him out. I apologize, sir.” The only way I could think of making this go smoothly was for me to take the blame.

“I can understand that, Agent Gianni. Well, you know what to do. Just fill out the paperwork and I’ll have a helicopter there for you tomorrow.”

“Actually sir, I was wondering if I could take my vacation days now?” I winced, hoping it wasn’t an absurd question after what I just told him.

“You? A vacation? You’ve never taken a vacation before!” The chief sounded genuinely surprised.

“All the more reason to take one now. I have sort of fallen in love with Acadia. And with the investigation, I wasn’t really able to enjoy it very much. I would very much like to do that now, sir. If it’s okay with you, of course.”

The line was silent at first, but then the chief spoke up.

“I’ll see you in three weeks.” Was all he said and hung up.

“Yes!” I exclaimed, jumping up and down.

“What’s all the excitement for?” I heard Trent approaching and immediately stopped.

“That was me getting three weeks of paid vacation to stay here with you in Acadia!” I smiled brightly, running into his arms and hugging him tightly.

“Awww, only three weeks?” he teased, but I heard a smile in his voice as well.

“Well, we’ll see how things go. Don’t push it.” I warned with a smile.

“Three weeks sounds amazing.” Trent whispered and tilted my chin up to kiss him.

I just knew that those were going to be the best three weeks of my life.