Tracking the Bear (Blue Ridge Bears Book 1)(16)

“What floor is he on?” I whispered to Lucy as we made our way to the elevators.

“The fourth,” she whispered back. The door dinged and a crowd of students flooded out of the doors, all scattering in different directions. Some joined their friends in the others, while others hiked backpacks further up on their shoulders and headed for the doors, clearly ready for class.

We were alone in the elevator. I noted that Lucy kept a foot or more of space between us where possible. She was still angry with me, despite what she’d said. Or perhaps I’d scared her with my grim speech in the car. I wanted to close the distance, take her hand in mine.

But that was probably for the best. It would be easier to leave her at the base of the mountains that way. The closer we got, the harder it would be to leave her behind.

When the doors finally dinged open on the fourth floor, we were almost immediately accosted by a junior officer. She was fresh, straight out of the academy. I’d have bet money on it. They’d put her in street clothes, probably to make it less alarming for the children who lived in the dorms. It also helped she was five foot nothing with a sweet face and cute pixie cut.

“What room are you in?” she asked, pulling out a pen and a piece of paper. She said it with such practiced ease that I knew she’d been working this shift off and on for days.

“I’m not a student.” I said, digging my badge from my back pocket. I raised it to the light so she could get a good look at it. “I’m Lawman Chance Kassower with the Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi Coalition. I was called in to help on this case.”

Her face drained of what little color it had, and the acrid scent of fear wafted from her skin. The new girl didn’t like were-animals, it seemed. I gave her a fierce grin, baring all my teeth in her direction. Fear could be an excellent motivator. It made even the bravest man sloppy and slow to react. I took a step in her direction and she stumbled back.

“I’d like to speak with the officer in charge,” I said, advancing in her wake.

“H-he’s gone to lunch,” she stammered. “I’m supposed to keep everyone away from the room.”

That was fine. I’d seen the wreckage for myself. My main concern was the containment of this disaster. If Luke had infected someone, they’d be a ticking time bomb. They needed to be quarantined until the next full moon.

“Fine. I need to speak to any witnesses of the attack. Neighbors had to have heard something.”

“I did.”

I was surprised that I hadn’t heard the new woman’s approach. I turned to look, and I found myself staring at a tall, slim young woman. She had a tangle of black hair that looked like it hadn’t been washed in a few days. She had dark circles underneath her eyes and a long gash down her forearm.

So I’d been right. There were more victims, just waiting to be found. With the ferocity of the first change it made sense for there to be more carnage, more destruction, than there had been.

“Who are you?” Lucy asked, piping up for the first time since we’d left the elevator.

“I’m Sylvia. Sylvia McCoy. I’m a student.”

“I’m Chance,” I said, extending a hand to her. She took it and shook my hand briefly. I gestured to my side. “This is my partner, Lucy. We’re investigating what happened here. Could you please tell us what you told the lovely police officers?”

“You don’t have to say anything, Ms. McCoy.” The police officer interjected. “You’re human. They have no legal power over you.”

“I know that,” she said, rubbing at the gash on her arm. I was willing to bet that it had been deeper than it appeared now. Her skin would mend at an accelerated rate with the change on the horizon. She knew as well as I that her days as a human were numbered.

“Would you mind telling us?” I said quietly. “We can help you, if you help us.”

Her dark eyes darted from the police officer, to Lucy, and then finally back to me. She nodded slowly. “I’ll tell you. And only you.”

Lucy and the police officer protested at the same time.

“You can’t simply-” The police officer began.

“You can’t just leave with her-” Lucy spluttered.

“I can,” I said, glaring at them both. “And I will. This is important. There are lives at stake.”

I took Sylvia gently by the elbow and led her further down the corridor. She didn’t protest, merely shuffled along behind me. She led me a few doors past the crime scene, which had been cordoned off with police tape. I glanced back in time to catch a fleeting glimpse of Lucy’s face, contorted with outrage as Sylvia pulled me into her room.

It was small, not much bigger than the hotel room that Lucy and I had stayed in the night before. Sylvia sat down on her bed and she kept stroking the gash on her arm. Her fingers were shaking.

“What happened, Sylvia?” I prompted gently.

“There were only a few of us on the floor when it happened,” she began. “Almost everyone was watching the game. We were playing against Michigan State, you know.”

I didn’t really. The sports I followed weren’t usually played by humans, but I nodded anyway as if it made perfect sense to me. “But you weren’t.”

“No. My boyfriend and I, we were….” She flushed pink, and bit her lip. I gave her the ghost of a smile.