“I think I miss your sweet charm the most,” he said. “Anyway, I’m on it. I’ll let you know what happens.”
I switched back over to the boys and filled them in.
“We’ll meet you there,” Bryce said, then hung up.
? ? ?
When I arrived at the PD, there was no sign of surveyors, fake or otherwise, though I saw that orange cones and caution tape now cordoned off the valve. On the far side of the lot Cory leaned against his personal vehicle, an old but lovely Chevy Nova with a giant antenna on the trunk. I parked and did a quick in-passing assessment of the valve as I headed his way.
He lifted his chin toward the cones. “I asked them why they hadn’t posted an SG-243 placard by the work site,” he told me. “They said they’d go get it and skedaddled.”
“I doubt they wanted to get into a confrontation in a police station parking lot,” I said. “And what on earth is an SG-243 placard?”
Cory shrugged. “Some shit I made up. You don’t make sergeant without serious bullshitting chops.”
“Niiiice.” I grinned. “I also like how you’ve found the farthest possible place away from that asphalt patch, short of leaving the lot.”
“You think I didn’t consider doing just that?” he said. “I’m heading out of town right after work and didn’t want to risk that Bertha might get sucked into a black hole or eaten by a dragon or whatever the fuck else might happen.”
I gave him a blank look. “Who’s Bertha?”
He patted the trunk of the car. “This is Bertha. 1976 Chevy Nova. V-8 engine. Sucks enough gas to make a tree-hugger cry, but I’ve had her since college.”
“Uh huh. Why do you have ‘kasoxe’ on the license plate?”
Cory grinned. “K-A-5-O-X-E. I’m a ham radio operator. That’s my call sign.”
That explained the big horking antenna, and the arrival of Bryce and Idris cut short any further discussion. I introduced Bryce and Cory, but Idris veered straight to the valve, dropped into a crouch, and unslung his messenger bag from his shoulder.
Oh, fucking shit, I thought in sudden panic, please don’t pull Katashi’s arm out in the middle of the PD parking lot! To my undying relief Idris simply removed a notepad and pen, and proceeded to scribble notes while he muttered under his breath.
“He’ll be like that for a while,” I told Cory with a wince of apology.
Cory let out a resigned sigh. “I’ll tell people he’s an asphalt inspector.”
Sure beat the hell out of the truth.
Chapter 11
As soon as we made it home, Eilahn set to work adjusting the warding to respond to Tessa as an enemy. Ugh. I grabbed my laptop, flopped onto the sofa, and pulled up all the photos I had of Katashi and his people. After reviewing them for anything odd—such as a demon in the background—I emailed them to Cory as persons of interest along with a request to notify me if any of them showed up on his radar.
My phone buzzed beside me right after I hit send, with Sonny’s name on the display. Please let this be good news about Zack, I prayed as I picked it up. And if not that, I’ll settle for boring requests like a sudden need for toothpaste or toilet paper. “Hey, Sonny.”
“Got trouble,” he said in a strained whisper against raised voices in the background. “Ryan is here arguing with Zack. I think he’s trying to take him away.”
I shoved the laptop aside and shot to my feet. “Arguing about what? Where does he want to take him?”
“I don’t know!” he said. “They’re not speaking English.”
“Crap. I’m on my way. Do whatever you can to stall them!”
Szerain’s voice. Closer. Commanding. “Sonny. Put down the phone.”
“Let me talk to Ryan!” I shouted. The phone clunked. “Ryan! Szerain! Dammit. Talk to me!”
Son of a bitch. Szerain was doing a top-notch job of maintaining his position as Gigantic Fucking Loose Cannon. Holding my breath, I listened. Scuffling and a heavy thump. Szerain speaking in demon. Zack replying in kind. The rustle of the phone being picked up. Szerain speaking again in the background, my name followed by more demon. More jostling of the phone.
“Kara.” It was Zack, voice hoarse and stressed.
“Zack? Are you okay? What’s going on?”
He drew a shaky breath. “Leaving for a while.”
“Where to?” I jammed a hand through my hair in frustration. “For how long?”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.” He paused as Szerain spoke, clipped and urgent. “Out of time,” Zack continued. “I have to go. He’s taking Sonny as well. I’m sorry.”