I turned off the TV and closed my eyes for a few moments. There was a crack in my city, and hopefully we could seal it up before it completely divided everyone.
The food did taste like shit as I ate it, but I mustered on. I had a large appetite and would need to eat again soon. The animal spirits inside me needed sustenance all the time, so I ate every three hours, for fear one of them would take over and I’d maul some poor person’s family pet.
Once the food was gone, I dove my thoughts back into work.
“Where are you, Janie?” I whispered to her picture.
Chapter Five
Echo
I tried not to make any sounds as I moved about the forest. My bear paws were quiet with every touch to the ground, while my nose was high, searching the air for Janie’s scent.
All morning I’d talked to her family and friends.
She had a special power, and her power was knowledge. She could look at something once and remember everything, hence why she loved being a librarian. So much to learn, and she retained it all. Her parents loved her for who she was and accepted her the way she was. My parents would have been like that. Pop would have laughed when I got stuck as some creature, and Momma would have smacked him on the side of the head before trying to calm me down enough to change back.
I shook my head, not wanting to think about what could have been when I needed to focus on what was. I caught onto her scent when I was walking around her complex, mixed with something else that, at first, I couldn’t place, but the more I relinquished my other senses and used my nose, I figured out was apples.
There was only one place in our area that smelled like apples: Holland’s Apples.
The old orchard had been abandoned years ago. Going on my hunch, I drove to the outskirts of Seahill to the woods, and followed my nose to the old farm. I’d changed into a grizzly bear once I was close, leaving my clothes by a large rock pile.
The closer I got to the back of the property where old man Holland’s farmhouse stood, the surer I was that Janie was there. My broad paws made creeping through the woods quietly pretty easy.
My thoughts shifted and then my body changed: muscles shortening, bones shrinking, and wings grew from my arms.
Apparently, I was better suited as an owl. It had been years since I first changed into a creature, and while I typically had control over them, all the animals that lived inside my blood had instincts that I didn’t as a human.
Taking flight, I soared in the cold-as-hell wind and found the house ahead.
“Come on, girl, we know you’ve got the gift. Now tell us about the book!” I heard a man say as I landed quietly on an old tree by a window. Even closed, I could hear what was being said inside, with my heightened senses.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please just let me go,” a shrill, frightened voice cried. Janie!
“You won’t be saying that when the boss gets here and carves you up with his knives, will you, girl?” the man sneered, and I’d had enough. I wasn’t going to sit here and let them torture that girl.
I glided onto the ledge by a window and changed into an ant. Transformations were quick, so I was walking inside a crack between the glass and the wood in no time. Once inside on the second floor, I changed into a pit viper, slithering across the warped hardwood floors, using my infrared glands to see how many people were in the room below.
Three.
Janie was one, so that left two people to take down, so I can get her out of here and back to her family.
My body was smooth and silent as I descended the stairs one by one, watching for anybody who would catch me.
The two men who were talking to Janie walked off toward the cobwebbed kitchen to chat, giving me the opportunity to slither up to her chair. The men began to argue about how they were going to get the information out of Janie while I changed into a Macaw parrot. Their bite was hard enough to break bones and would make easy work of her bindings. Janie let out a little scream as my beak gripped the zip ties around her bound hands, snapping it in one bite.
Her hands were loose, but before she could try to run away both men came pounding back into the room. That wasn’t going to work. I shifted back into a bear, laughing hysterically inside at their faces as they watched me transform. Janie screamed and fell to the ground, scrambling on the dirty floor in terror. While I felt bad about scaring the poor girl, I had to do something about these men.
The shifting took care of it: both of them pissed themselves and ran away like little boys, leaving Janie alone in the old house with a large grizzly bear.
I had their scents and would find them shortly after I got Janie back home. Despite being naked, I needed to change back into a human form to help ease Janie’s fear, which was permeating the air.
Her eyes were wide as saucers as I became a human once again in front of her.
“My name is Echo Cross. I’m a detective for the Seahill P.D., and I’m gifted like you.” I willed my voice to be calm, letting her know she was safe. Tears started falling from her face, and whether my nakedness bothered her or not, she launched herself at me and cried hard. I held her awkwardly and patted her head. I wasn’t a big fan of touching.
“Okay, you’re safe, and we need to get you back home. Sound good?” I started to stand and pull her up with me.
She nodded, then froze. I started to ask her what was wrong when she blurted a string of words I wasn’t expecting to hear.
“I need you to take me to the Hero Society first. It’s urgent.”
“First, we need to let your parents know you’re alive, get a statement at the station, and then you are free to go where you want.” I did have a job to do. After she was gone, I would be hunting down those two men and bringing them in to be charged with kidnapping.
She took a step back and shook her head.
“This is more important. If you’re like me, then our very lives depend on it. I need to find them now.” Her voice was stern, which was surprising given her soft demeanor.
“I’ll make you a deal. I need my clothes back, then let me take you to the station, get all the info I need, then we’ll call Mr. Griffin for you. It’s not common knowledge where they are, but I do have his number. Deal?” I was getting impatient and cold, naked in a house that was drafty and falling apart.
“Deal.” She looked around, and I started walking toward the door.
“Where’s your clothes?” she asked, and I pointed toward the woods.
“Just follow me, please,” I told her, shifting back into a bear, which would keep me warm as we walked and also ready to take down those men should they come back. After we made it back to the rock pile where I had hidden my clothing, I quickly dressed in my signature black ass-kicker boots, black jeans, black shirt, and black leather jacket, and we hiked back to my car.
Chapter Six
Echo
Janie was compliant as I took down her statements and got everything into the system. But the moment she was free to go and call her parents, she made sure I hadn’t forgotten about our deal.
Call Phillip Griffin.
I wasn’t going to just give her his number and send her on her way, because I didn’t know what to make of their Hero Society yet. She was an innocent girl that’s wound up in shit, and I’ll be dammed if I let some superhero wannabes take advantage of her.
Not wanting to make the call inside the station, I suggested we go to my car for privacy, and have the call on speaker. She nodded, and we walked to my Camaro together.
“You sure?” I asked her one more time before entering in the number. She pulled her long hair to the front of her shoulder and started twisting it nervously.
“Yes.” Despite the actions of an unsure woman, her voice was completely confident.
Okay then. I finished putting in the number and hit dial.
Phillip answered after one ring.
“Afternoon, ladies, would you like to join me for some pizza at Pizza Pazza? I think this conversation is better suited for in person.”