The precinct was a frenzy of activity when Keegan arrived. Leeroy didn’t give her anytime to linger upstairs with homicide before he was tugging on her arm and dragging her down to SIU.
“We got a line on where Bryton might be hiding out. Ethan Newton has a piece of property that was foreclosed on but no one has bought the land. It’s on the outskirts of Misery and there has been a lot of odd activity according to one of the nearest neighbors.”
Keegan took the proffered papers and scanned over them. “Then what are we waiting for? We need to get down there and get him before we can’t.”
“We need confirmation and Biggerson almost has the DNA typed out.” Leeroy shrugged, “Boss said we don’t make a move until we know that we have the right guy. Biggerson said she’d have results read for us in an hour or so and if any one tries to rush her then she could and I quote, ‘f*ck things up and no one wants that’.”
Keegan ran her fingers through her hair in frustration, “So we wait.”
“And we find out that Mr. Anderson,” Gary snickered under his breath at the Matrix reference, “Is indeed out on abandoned property thanks to yours truly. Just took a quick fly over in my favorite form and he’s holed up by himself for the time being. Melinda is out there with a couple of the homicide guys keeping watch on the place.”
Keegan felt a wave of relief pour across her chest. “We need to make sure he stays alone and no one spots our guys. We don’t need to loose the little momentum we have.”
“Judge Malone granted an arrest warrant.” Matt jumped the last step on the stairs waving a piece of paper in the air. “Apparently he thinks we have enough even without the DNA evidence. The teeth molds proved to be just enough I guess. We’re getting the task force team together and planning how to go about getting him. Leeroy, Gary, Melinda and your self are going to be split across the four entry teams.”
“Four?” Keegan repeated as they all headed up the stairs and towards the group of detectives and officers who were standing waiting for instruction.
“The property spans six acres,” Matt answered. “We need the man power and the insight you guys have.”
The sun was setting when they made it out to the abandoned property. All the officers taking part in the take down were huddled together in the woods waiting for orders from detective Hollis.
From what Keegan could see from between the gnarled branches of the trees the grass had grown over across what had once been the front lawn. There were juts of rotted stumps, shrubs had grown wild and thorns threatened to scratch at their legs.
Keegan and the rest of the spooks hung towards the back of the crowd while Matt brushed passed the rest of the street officers up towards the front. He was patting the Velcro of his vest in place as he moved in between detectives and officers. His voice was steady and he commanded the groups and instructing them on what, when and where they needed to be. Com units were passed out to SIU and the main leaders of each of the groups.
“You don’t move unless I tell you to,” Matt barked out. “Any mistakes and we can lose him. We can’t afford to do that. Not now. We are taking Bryton Anderson down tonight.”
“Morne, you got anything to add?”
“He’s going to hear us,” Keegan informed the teams. “As a shifter he’ll know we’re out here. The objective is to get as close to the house as we can to eliminate the possibility of him shifting. The closer we get the better chance we have at a clean arrest. Move quickly, quietly and be ready for resistance.”
“You hear her.” Matt gestured for everyone to get into position. Within minutes the teams would have the house surrounded and hopefully have Bryton Anderson in custody.
Once they were all in position Keegan sucked in a deep quiet breath. Her chest expanded against the tight hug of her bullet proof vest as she waited for the go command. She stood directly behind Detective Cassidy and Leeroy flanked her side. They stood close enough that she could smell the crisp after shave of Detective Cassidy with every anxious breath she took. The grip on her gun was loose and relaxed. She could hear the moan of winter’s wind, whistling in her ears around the ear bud used for communication. Everything was so quiet but as soon as the count started everything magnified.
Matt’s count was loud and clear through the ear bud but probably no louder than a whisper as he spoke the words out loud. With his word everyone in her group moved through damp grass and gnarled bushes with stealth. She could see the team opposite adjacent to hers moving in a tight group, darting around trees and bushes up towards the house Bryton had holed up in.
She ignored the way thorns caught on the leg of her jeans and cut into her calves. Instead she focused on the main objective of being here and completing this mission tonight. They were going to get Bryton and prove that he was the monster killing his prowl members.
They weren’t more than a few feet from the house when the front door tore open. It slammed against the wall and dust shook free from the siding. Every member of the task force froze as the sleek muscular form of a leopard darted out from the house and lunged towards the closest group of people. Keegan heard the raw screams of fellow officers going down as Bryton in his shifted form lashed out. Bullet proof vests weren’t going to save any of them. Leopards went for the kill when they felt threatened. A leg, the neck or even the arm would provide the carnage they were hoping to produce. They would cut off the main vessels of life as quickly as they could before moving on to their next target.
The air shifted around Keegan as the task force split from the tight groups they were working in and everyone tried to understand what they were seeing from across the yard. Matt’s group had scattered and one of his guys had taken a heavy hit from Bryton. Blood was seeping through the gash across his neck. And there wasn’t any possibility that he would be alive by the time paramedics got to him. The wind carried a soft gurgling sound and she could already taste death at the back of her throat.
Gunfire echoed around her. Most of the task force began to search for some semblance of cover from Bryton while they cowered in fear from the shifter. They didn’t know how to handle a shifter in its animal form. They panicked and it only served to excite him more.
Keegan shouted out orders for homicide to stand down and let SIU handle it. She could already see Gary, Melinda and Leeroy emerging from the groups they had been appointed to and moving closer to the leopard. Gary’s eyes glowed in the dark while he darted from between trees and closer to where Bryton had decided to take his stand.
Melinda tucked her gun back into its holster and her bones began the painful dance of shifting. Her entire body contorted and crumbled to the ground in a tangle of snarls and growls until there was a light gray wolf standing with her teeth barred and ready for a fight.
Leeroy moved to Keegan, placing his palm on the back of her neck. “Do what needs to be done.”
Keegan met his bright blue eyes and nodded. She understood what he was giving up and for her to stop Bryton from killing anymore people. She wasn’t going to let anyone else die tonight. Her grip loosened on her gun as she focused in on Bryton. She let her power call out to him. She let it brush out with a silent threat hoping to distract him enough to keep him away from the rest of the humans out here.
The roaring snarl and the way the leopard turned towards her let Keegan know that she was successful. The returning raspy growl from behind her wasn’t what she expected. Melinda stood on four legs, her hackles raised and teeth exposed. Gary stood next to her, his fingers woven through the fur and soft hisses passed from his lips and Melinda’s claws dug deep into the moist ground. It looked as if she were waiting for his permission to attack.
Chanting in her mind Keegan called out to the beast inside of Bryton, trying to stop him from killing anymore. The words repeated in her mind, willing to stop him. Instead, the leopard shook its head as if there were a mosquito buzzing in his ears. Bright yellow eyes focused in on Keegan and the leopard charged her.
She stopped chanting in her mind and began chanting out loud. She ignored the yells from other officers on scene. She focused on the leopard in front of her. Bryton rushed her before pulling out and disappearing into the foliage behind her.
Melinda’s growls filled her ears and they were running after him. Keegan moving faster than human thanks to Leeory’s aid and Melina and Gary keeping stride with her as she burst through the dying branches and after Bryton.
She motioned for Melinda and Gary to move in a wide arc hoping to cut Bryton off. With her gun in hand Keegan spotted a blur of spotted fur and she chased after him. Her heart was pounding in her chest and no matter how fast she ran, she lost track of him. Keegan stopped and concentrated on the sounds around her and extended her senses. Death waited in the darkest corners of the woods and Keegan followed the call.
She had stumbled over the body of a fallen officer when she spotted the spotted blur heading back towards the house. She pushed herself up off of the ground and ran after the leopard.
A loud burst of gun fire greeted Keegan as she burst forth from the woods. She saw Bryton attack one of the detectives who had bravely left his spot of safety to try and stop the shifter.
Keegan stepped up her chanting. The words were louder and the will behind them stronger. She watched the way Bryton’s body contorted as he tried to fight off the hold she was starting to gather over him. His head snapped back and forth, struggling to clear his mind of her influence.
Bryton snarled and he focused in on her. His claws dug into the ground before he was moving to attack. Her gift wouldn’t be of any use now, not if it hadn’t stopped Bryton. She watched as he tore past her and she whirled around to see Detective Hollis batted to the ground.
A thousand thoughts raced through her mind as her body reacted instinctively. She flicked the safety off her gun and took aim. There was no other way to end this. People were going to get in its way and they were going to die. There wasn’t going to be anymore death. She couldn’t allow it. Finding a clean shot, Keegan pulled the trigger and she pulled it again. She watched the way the leopard stumbled in confusion over Matt’s body. Blood began to mat its fur within a matter of seconds and Keegan knew who the man hiding beneath the skin of the beast was going to die. She stood shocked and her ears ringing from the sound of the gun shot. Her hands shaking at the thought of killing another supernatural, even in order to keep her fellow policemen safe from harm.
Keegan ran towards Matt, not caring that Bryton was still alive. When she was close enough she could see the darkness in the leopard’s eyes. Even in his last moments Bryton understood what was happening to him. He was going to die and he wasn’t going to go without hurting the person who brought him down. Bryton lowered his paw and Keegan heard the shriek of pain coming from Matt. Matt had his hands pressed below the vest he was wearing and against his stomach. He curled to his side to shield himself from further injury but there was no helping him now. Keegan took a deep breath and fired her gun one last time into the neck of Bryton Anderson and watched as the leopard collapsed off to the side of Matt.
Keegan slid to her knees next to Matt, her hands instinctively pressing against the wound at his neck and her eyes darting to the leopard that lie dying on the ground next to them. She pressed harder against the gash as she watched Bryton took his last breath with a shudder. Ignoring the dead leopard next to her Keegan looked around her to find some kind of help. “Call an ambulance! I need help! Please?”
Grabbing at the walkie on her belt she fumbled with pressing the right buttons with blood soaked fingers, “Officer down towards the eastern end of the scene! We need immediate medical attention!”
Keegan dropped the walkie talkie on the ground and pressed her hands back to the wound that was bleeding worse, his stomach. She felt the sting behind her eyes as his blood started to seep through the cracks of her fingers. It wouldn’t stop. The sound of two more gun shots echoed in her ears and she looked up to see the leopard shifting back from death and into its human form. Even as she saw the man she killed, she couldn’t find it in herself to care. She didn’t care about anything but the way Matt’s frightened eyes stared at her desperately hoping that she could do something more to help him. Keegan tried to smile reassuringly at him, telling him she was going to make sure he was okay.
“I’ve got you,” Keegan whispered as she pressed harder against the wound. “You’re going to be okay. I promise you’re going to make it. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Okay?”
The message went awry and tears were streaming from the corners of his eyes. Detective Cassidy was shoving her out of the way and placing towels on his belly and barking out orders to one of the men standing near them. They stood there stock still not doing anything for the fallen detective. Keegan scrambled to kneel at Matt’s head, and leaned over so he could see her. She placed her bloodied hands on his cheeks, “Hey, none of that. Me and Cassidy we’ve got you. He’s your partner and he is not going to let anything happen to you. Okay? You’re going to be okay. We’ve got you.”
Keegan grimaced at the way he ground his teeth together from the pain before he spoke, “Hurts. It hurts so much.”
Matt’s face turned from a heavy shade of red and drained to pale white as the strain of his muscles slackened and he gasped for air. Keegan glanced down to see Cassidy working franticly. More fabric was added to where he had started. Keegan gave up trying to understand how adding more towels and pressing them against the wound would help Matt. She focused on the man below her, “I know it hurts. But you are the strongest man that I know Matthew Hollis. You are going to be okay. You are going to make it out of here alive.”
He shook his head against her hands, “Burns.”
Keegan swallowed down her fear and the need to just scream about what was happening. She leaned down and wrapped her hand in his. “You just hold tight Matt. You’re going to be just fine. You hear that? Help is on the way.”
The sound of sirens were growing closer and Keegan felt hope blossom in her chest.
“The ambulance is almost here. You just have to hold on for me.” Keegan ducked down and pressed her lips to his forehead. “Okay? Just hold on for me.”
Matt clenched his eyes closed, “Hurts so much.”
“I know,” Keegan gripped his hand tighter, “But you have to fight. You have to keep fighting. Just keep fighting for me.”
“Don’t know…” Matt gasped out before the remaining color drained from his cheeks, his eyes rolled back into his head and the grip on her hand loosened.
“Matt?” Keegan felt her voice break on his name. She nudged at his cheek, “Matt? No, no, no. You have got to wake up. Matt! Don’t you dare do this to me! Matt!”
A pair of arms pulled her away across the dewy grass and away from Matt. She felt her entire body jerk and fight against the hold. She needed to get back to him. She needed to be with him. She couldn’t stop the way she was shouting Matt’s name until her voice and throat grew raw.
“Morne, the paramedics have him. They’re going to take care of him.” Keegan looked up at the man who was holding her. Detective Cassidy looked just as worried as she was. “They are going to make sure he makes it. He’s going to make it. He’s got to.”
The detective sounded like he was trying to convince himself of that rather than just convince her that Matt would be okay.
She watched as the paramedics loaded him up and into the ambulance before they took off down the road. Everyone who had been present at the crime scene stood watching as the blue and white lights tore down the street. As soon as it disappeared more police cruisers appeared taking the ambulance’s place.
The hospital emergency room was a whir of energy by the time Keegan had arrived. Doctors and Nurses urged sick patients through and parents silently panicking about the child in their arms. Keegan passed a woman struggling to get her boy to settle and set her badge on the counter. Her hands were still caked with Matt’s blood which had grown tacky and thick on her skin. Her shirt and pants were stiff with blood.
“M’am do you need assistance?” The admittance nurse looked up with wide eyes.
Keegan shook her head no. “Detective Matthew Hollis was brought in a little while ago.”
“He has been brought in to surgery.” The nurse parted with the information too easily. She stood up and disappeared around the corner before opening the doors. “I’ll bring you to the surgical waiting rooms.”
Nodding her thanks, Keegan followed the nurse silently down the hall. She noted the nearest restroom so she could attempt to wash up before she was being ushered inside a room that housed Detective Cassidy. He sat bent over with his head in his hands.
Taking the seat next to him, Keegan let out a soft breath. Without much thought she did what her mother would have done. She reached out and offered the little bit of comfort she could give. She grasped the detective’s hand in hers and stared across the room. Her voice was raw when she spoke. “He’s going to be okay Cassidy.”
He looked doubtfully over his shoulder at Keegan, “How do you know that? You saw the same thing I did. That monster just tore into him. It wasn’t just his belly, it got his neck too. If he survives the blood loss he might die from being infected. He might not survive that.”
“He’s strong,” Keegan whispered as her hold tightened on Cassidy’s hand. “He is also a stubborn a*shole. He isn’t going to die.”
“I know the statistics Morne,” Cassidy choked as he tugged his hand out of Keegan’s grip and hid his face from her. “Most people die from being infected if they’re an adult. He might be one of the toughest guys to make it into homicide but the amount of blood he lost. I don’t know if he’ll be able to make it.”
She watched as his shoulders shook and his breath hitched. She sat stone faced and just as terrified as the man who tormented her. She wasn’t going to give up on Matt though. She couldn’t.
“Matt is strong,” Keegan repeated pulling at Cassidy’s hands to get him to look at her. “Even if he is infected what matters the most is the fact he is not like most other people. He is good, he is a fighter and he never gives up. That is in his favor. Matt is going to make it through this. You have to believe that.”
“Why does it sound like you are so unsure of your self?” Cassidy looked over at her, his eyes filled with tears. “Why do I feel like you are afraid he isn’t going to make it through no matter how tough you say he is?”
“Because,” Keegan licked her lips, “I’m afraid of what it means if he isn’t strong enough.”
After Keegan and Cassidy dozed off in the waiting room the nurses urged them out of the hospital and to go home so they could clean up and get some proper rest. They wouldn’t be any help to their friend if they were dead on their feet.
Cassidy had an arm wrapped around Keegan as they walked through the parking lot to their cars, “You know he is going to pull through.”
Keegan starred into Cassidy’s eyes, the deep blue eyes seemed darker than before. She could feel the fear and the desperate slice of hope he was clinging to just as hard as she was. Leaning closer into the warmth of the detective Keegan sniffled, “If he doesn’t I’m going to kick his ass.”
Cassidy shot a confused look at Keegan before his face cleared and he started laughing. “That’s right. You could kick his ass.”
It only took a moment before they both sobered and leaned in closer towards each other. Cassidy led Keegan to her car and he stood between the door and the body of the car. “Try to get some rest. Tomorrow isn’t going to be fun. Not for any of us.”
Keegan licked her lips against the wind that scratched at her cheeks. She nodded and squeezed Cassidy’s arm. She knew as well as he did that they would not be able to sleep. The thoughts of how Matt was doing. Going back over what happened twenty times over wondering if they could have done something to stop Bryton from what he did. She would go over every what-if that popped in her mind. She would continuously think about the fact that maybe if she hadn’t relied on her power to stop Bryton and just done what any normal cop would have done and just shot him, then maybe Matt wouldn’t be in the situation he was in. Things would be different. They would be okay.
“Tomorrow is going to be hard,” Keegan’s voice cracked just thinking about the statements they were going to have to make. The internal investigation that would no doubt start because of the fact that a suspect was killed during a take-down and other officers were killed in the process. There were so many things that went wrong and someone would be held responsible for the mistakes and the deaths that had occurred. “I’m not the only person who is going to need rest.”
Cassidy didn’t say anything after that. He just nodded and closed the car door for her. Keegan watched as Cassidy moved to his own car with his shoulders hunched in and his head ducked towards the ground. As soon as he disappeared into the darkness of his car she pulled out from the hospital parking lot and headed home.
Her house was empty. She could barely stand the silence as she moved through the living room and into the kitchen. She poured her self a tumbler full of vodka and threw it back without much thought. She poured another glass as she tried to breathe past the burn sliding along her tongue and throat.
Looking down at her shirt Keegan barely made it to the sink before she was throwing up the drink she had just swallowed down. She was still covered in his blood. She needed to get it off. Tearing her blouse off, buttons trickling against the floor, she ran cold water over the worst of it.
The water turned from dark pink to translucent but the stains were still there. It wasn’t enough though. No matter how much blood disappeared from the shirt more remained. She dug through the cabinets frantically. She dumped a bottle of peroxide on the fabric and gagged at the smell. The tiny bubbles turned from a foamy white to pink. She doused the shirt under running water and felt her chest lighten at the sight of more blood disappearing.
Staring down at the left over smears of blood Keegan gave up. She threw the offending shirt across the kitchen ignoring the fact that it landed at the foot of the refrigerator. She pressed a hand to her chest as she toed her boots off leaving them standing in the kitchen as she headed towards the living room.
The throw and pillow she had given Matt were still lying on the couch, bunched up. Keegan pulled her service belt off and dropped everything on the coffee table in front of her before she curled up on the couch. She pulled the blanket over her legs and up to her chin. She brushed her nose against the pillow and the earthy scent filled her.
Her eyes stung remembering how scared he had looked. She felt her chest ache and her hand pulsed with the memory of the tight hold he had on her before he couldn’t keep fighting.
He was going to make it. Keegan had to keep reminding her self of that. He was strong and young. He was going to push through. Keegan knew that. It just hurt so much to see him hurting so badly and not being able to fix him. All she wanted was for Matt to be at home and asleep in his own bed, not struggling to make it through the night in a hospital room.
Morning had barely brushed across the sky when a heavy knock against the front door tugged Keegan from the restless doze she had fallen into after spending hours trying to scrub Matt’s blood from her blouse. No amount of cold water, peroxide or detergent could get the reminder of what happened out. Her breath caught in her chest when the heavy knock sounded again. She clambered off the couch and yelled, “Just a minute,” before she darted into her room to pull on a tee-shirt before she opened the door with glazed eyes. Two suited detectives stood on her doorstep.
“Detective Morne?”
Keegan eyed the man with a weary eye. He was tall, lithe and he reminded her of a mouse. His partner made her think of a bulldog. In the way his pudge and roll wasn’t anymore of threat to her than his red rimmed eyes.
“What can I help you with?” Keegan rubbed at the corner of her mouth where drool had dried.
“I’m Detective Gros and this is Detective Conway we are with IAB. May we come in?” They both flashed their badges. Keegan barely gave them a cursory glance before she gestured them in.
“I’d offer coffee or something but you guys beat my alarm clock.” Keegan showed them to the living room and immediately their eyes focused on the shirt she had given up with and threw out of the kitchen in a rage. “So what can I help you with?”
“We need to get your version of events on last night’s failed arrest that resulted in the death of three officers and caused injuries to several others.” Detective Gros was blunt and didn’t bother sugar coating what they were after.
“Where would you like me to start?” Keegan asked as she pulled the throw that she used the other night to cover Matt with and wrapped it around her shoulders. She closed her eyes against the earthy scent that she breathed in.
“When everything started to crumble,” Detective Conway prompted. “The suspect, Bryton Anderson had exited the house he had been staying in. What happened then?”
Keegan rubbed a hand over her forehead before she started. Her eyes glued to the floor in front of her. “When the suspect exited the building he charged for the closest group of officers. That happened to be the alpha team.”
“Who was leading that team?” Detective Gros interrupted her.
“Detective Hollis led that team,” Keegan closed her eyes as she answered. “The officers scattered once one of them were physically harmed. I don’t remember who it was that was first hurt but as soon as I heard the screams everyone else heard them and they scattered for some sort of protection.”
“But you didn’t?” Keegan looked over towards the bulldog, her eyes flashing in anger.
“No, as a member of SIU we are trained not to back down and search for cover like mundane officers. My men and I broke off from the scattering tactical groups and headed towards Mr. Anderson. Melinda shifted into her second form and Gary was next to her the entire time, keeping her calm and waiting for my instructions.”
“But you never gave any instructions did you Detective Morne?” Detective Conway retorted. His voice was unforgiving.
“No,” Keegan confirmed, “I didn’t. Leeroy knew that if he combined his energy with mine there was a possibility that we could stop Mr. Anderson before anyone else got hurt and we would not have to use deadly force against him.”
“How did that work out?” Keegan could feel the satisfaction Gros got from asking her that. He knew exactly how combining their energies worked out. It didn’t.
“It didn’t. I wasn’t fast enough or strong enough to stop and enraged alpha.” Keegan licked her lips and focused in on the man sitting across from her. “Instead when Mr. Anderson charged at me in his shifted form I did the only thing I could in order to remain alive when I realized I didn’t have enough time to not harm the suspect.”
“You killed him.”
“I shot him,” Keegan corrected. “He was still alive when he attacked Detective Hollis. It took several more gun shots for him at actually die. So if it was my bullet that killed him, I don’t know. I was more concerned with keeping Detective Hollis alive.”
“Well,” Both of the men stood up tucking there notebooks and a recorder into their pockets. “Several officers of homicide were required to be tested for infection because of their exposure to both Mr. Anderson’s blood and detective Hollis’s wounds. But it will please you to know that your actions weren’t for naught. Detective Hollis made it through surgery and appears to be healing up well.”
Keegan felt her throat begin to close and her eyes began to sting with unshed tears. She didn’t bother leading the men to the door, they knew the way just fine. Instead she curled up on the couch and rested her head against the blanket and the arm of the couch.