Unspoken (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3)(66)

“Maybe,” Perry said. “Look, you gotta tell them what you know, or you’re going to go down for a lot of shit.”

“I didn’t do anything but break into that school. What? Is that gonna get me sentenced to life?” Sarcasm rang from the guy’s voice.

“Don’t you get it?” Perry asked, his eyes turning gold. “You were helping that Stone guy, and that means you’ll be responsible for everything he did too. And from what I hear he’s a murderer.”

“Whoa. I didn’t hurt anyone. And hell, yeah, he’s a badass. And if I talk, he’ll come after me.”

“Then tell them what they want to know and let them catch him. If you go to jail, you know this guy is gonna think you’ll crater and talk. If he’s half as bad as you think he is, he has friends in low places. He’ll have you killed. Do you want to die?”

*

Thanks to Perry, it only took Chase and Burnett a few minutes to get the shape-shifter to spill his guts.

“I met the guy at the Get-Along Bar. It’s known to be friendly to half-breeds such as myself. He was vampire, but had a slightly weird pattern like … he had a bit of something else in him. He said his name was Michael Higby, but someone else told me he also went by Stone. I heard he hired a lot of down-on-their-luck bar patrons to do grunt work for him. That’s how I got here. But rumor had it he has a gang called the Bastards.”

“What kind of gang is it?” Burnett asked.

“I don’t know. Like I said, he was … vampire … Mostly, anyway. He approached me and said he needed a shape-shifter to break into a school. I was to spy on a—” He looked at Chase. “You. He wanted to know what you were doing at that school. It didn’t sound illegal. I thought you were like his long-lost kid or something. I was just trying to reunite a family, you know?”

“Just warms my heart,” Chase said, not so warmly.

“What does this guy look like?”

“He’s forty-something. Over six feet. Hasn’t let himself go to pot. Has brown hair and, like I said, has that pattern that’s just a little different.” He exhaled. “That’s all I know, so can I go now?”

“Uh, no,” Chase said.

Sam frowned. “But I didn’t do anything. I mean, yeah, I snuck into the school, but Higby or Stone or whatever you want to call him set it up. All I had to do was fly over the fence when he told me to.”

“And how did you mess with our electricity?” Burnett asked.

“He had one of his other grunt workers do something with the power lines outside your school. I … didn’t hurt anyone.”

“What info did you report back to him?” Chase asked.

“None,” the kid said.

Chase and Burnett looked at him in disbelief.

“I didn’t. I swear. You can check my phone. I was going to, but I got sidetracked by that chick. Then I saw my long-lost cousin.”

“What chick?” Burnett asked. “Did someone else come in with you?”

“No, the one that was there. Dark hair, vampire. Nice ass.”

Chase let out a growl.

The kid gave them a telephone number and the address of the bar.

“So what now?” Sam asked. “Can I leave?”

“Not yet,” Burnett said. “I’m sending in a sketch artist. Then I think we’ll keep you here for a few days.”

“But I told you all I know,” Sam said.

“Yes,” Burnett said, “but we may need you to help us snag him.”

“I didn’t agree to that.”

“You didn’t seem to like the idea of prison, either,” Burnett said.

Sam frowned. “I might as well be in prison. Why don’t you let me go back to that school? Has nicer scenery.” He smiled. “Especially that girl with the hot ass. Was her name Delia, or something like that?”

“You’re staying here,” Chase ordered.

Burnett walked up to Sam and held out his hand.

“What?” the kid said.

“Your phone,” Burnett said.

“Will I get it back?” Sam asked.

Burnett didn’t answer, and he and Chase walked out. The older vamp stopped and typed on his phone as if sending a text.

He looked at Chase. “You ever heard of that gang, the Bastards?”

“Never,” Chase said. “You?”

“No, which is strange, because we know the ones out there. But I’ll put out some feelers and see if we’ve got a new one in town.”

Another agent met them in the hall. Burnett handed him the phone. “Text me as soon as you have something.”

“Maybe it was just Stone’s way of impressing the kid,” Chase said, seeing the agent with the phone hurry away.

“I hope so.”

“Like I said before, I could leave the school and lessen the chance of—”

“Not yet.” Burnett’s cell phone dinged with a text. After checking it, he looked up at Chase. “You ready?”

“Yeah.” Chase followed Burnett down the hall. “You want me to go check out that bar?”

“No,” Burnett said. “He knows what you look like. I’ve already got two agents on the way there. We’re going to the morgue.”