Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

come here anyway and was
     putting up with the sergeant’s hand on his arm to speed things up.
    “This bastard says he’s one of yours,” the sergeant said.
    “He is. What—”
    Rule got a finger jabbed in his direction. “You tell him to quit fucking with my scene.”
    “Don’t fuck with the man’s scene, Cullen. What did you learn?”
    “Pretty sure there are two scents. One’s definitely elf. I’d have to Change to be
     sure about the other one. Lily’s scent is there, too. It stops where it meets theirs.”
    “She was carried off, then.”
    The sergeant scowled. “Elves? You’re fucking crazy.” Without waiting for a response
     he swung to speak to the older officer. “What do they say about his fucking ID?”
    “He’s legit.”
    The sergeant shook his head morosely. “Elves. Shit.”
    Rule had to agree. “We need to find Hugo. He may be boarding a ship about now.” Though
     Rule suspected that had been part of the bait—make it look as if Hugo was about to
     vanish to draw Lily out here. “What was…ah. These people should be able to help.”
    Rule had called Special Agent Bergman on his way here. She’d just badged her way past
     the officer at the end of the street and was headed for him, trailing two of her agents.
     Rule started for her.
    “What’s this about Special Agent Yu being missing?” she demanded as she drew close.
    “I believe she was taken from here after her guards—and about four dozen other people—were
     incapacitatedmagically. Special Agent, a ship is about to depart that may have our prime suspect
     aboard. I need you to stop it.”
    “Yeah? Well, I need you to tell me what you were doing at Hammond Middle School tonight
     that broke several windows, burned some of the bleachers, and left bloodstains on
     the floor.”
    Rule wanted to howl. “Let me guess. You received an anonymous tip.”
    “Right now I’m talking to you, and I want a really good explanation, or you’re going
     to be wearing restraints like that oversize Adonis who’s following you.”
    “Lily has been
taken
and you’re playing right into—” Rule’s phone sounded. This ringtone he knew. He snatched
     it from his pocket, and maybe he moved too fast, because one of Bergman’s agents drew
     on him. He snarled at the man and thumbed the phone’s screen. “Yes.”
    “Sorry I couldn’t call sooner,” Ruben said. “There was a bad situation in Baltimore.
     People died. What’s happened?”
    “Lily’s been kidnapped. I need a ship stopped.”
    “All right. Which one?”
    C ONGRESS kept talking about rescinding or lessening the strength of the emergency provisions
     that gave Unit Twelve agents an unprecedented level of authority. As usual, they couldn’t
     agree on how to go about it. Until they did, when the head of Unit Twelve said jump,
     authorities both local and federal had to start hopping.
    Ruben had the
Valkyrie
held in port so it could be searched. Odds were that Hugo wasn’t on it, but they
     couldn’t afford to assume that.
    Special Agent Bergman was temporarily seconded to the Unit. Ruben had no Unit agents
     available for the case, and this would, he said, keep the chain of command tidy. She
     took Rule’s statement about the events at Hammond Middle School, but she stopped talking
     about restraints.
    Jasper, Chris, and Alan arrived. Then Mike showed up, four-footed. Once he was back
     on two legs, he told Rulethat Hugo had had a car parked in the alley—a beat-up 1990 Jetta—and Mike had Changed
     so he could try to follow. He’d kept up at first, but cars are faster than wolves
     if they don’t bog down in traffic. Hugo had lucked out on the traffic, which hadn’t
     yet backed up, and he didn’t mind breaking the speed limit. Mike had lost him, but
     he did have the license plate number.
    The cops put out an APB on the Volkswagen, but Rule didn’t expect much from that.
     The man would have ditched it by now.
    As all this happened, more and more people woke up. A few were transported—two of
     those who’d been in vehicles when they passed out, a woman who’d cut her leg somehow,
     and a man who’d hit his head on a table. He’d been in the bar next to Dingos. The
     effect, whatever it was, hadn’t been stopped by walls, so some of those inside nearby
     buildings had been affected. Most, however, were unhurt.
    Throughout all this, the pressure inside Rule kept building. None of it was helping.
     None of it got him one inch closer to finding