Durance by Lyn Gala Page 0,70
guidelines for this sort of situation.” Smith stood and put his files into his briefcase with jerky movements. Kavon half expected the man to start shouting.
Instead he walked out, his back stiff. Once the door closed, Halverson let out a big sigh. “Finally. He was a huge tosser. So, Director White, can I assume I have your support?” He turned on an incandescent smile. Kavon hated the man.
“No,” White said. “My department is not here to supply your manpower whenever you need backup. If you want to run an investigative unit, you need to learn how to manage your own resources. You cannot expect us to both share jurisdiction and run to your rescue every time you require more help. Now, I will speak to my agents, but I’m going to ask you to leave.”
Halverson’s mouth came open and then closed without a word coming out. Then he stood and tugged on his jacket and straightened his tie before he turned and walked out of the office, his emotions locked down.
White didn’t say anything until the door had closed once again. “How do you avoid killing them?” he asked.
“By holding onto the rules and realizing that having to arrest myself would be logistically difficult,” Kavon said. He avoided the council in part because he didn’t like or trust them.
White huffed, and Darren added, “That’s no joke. Even I hate Halverson and I don’t hate many people.”
“McLean worries me more,” White said. “I assume that this Native shaman is going to say something about our missing durance.”
“Most likely,” Kavon said, “but both our guides have been missing since Darren got out of the hospital, so I’m not sure we’re in a position to provide backup.”
Darren sat bolt upright. “If we have a chance to identify the human partner, then we have to take it.”
“When we don’t have guides?” Kavon asked.
“You’re the one who told me they were probably looking for our durance. If we find it, they’ll come back for us.”
“You assume,” Kavon said. “We don’t know that for sure.”
“We know that if we don’t take this chance, we’re giving the durance more time to hide or consolidate his power,” Darren snapped. “We can’t wait for the perfect time because that time isn’t going to come.”
Kavon pressed his lips together. He wanted to argue, but Darren was right. After a long silence, White asked, “Agent Boucher?”
Reluctantly, Kavon nodded.
White sighed. “Okay, then I’m going to sign off on this. If it goes south, we’re going to have to explain this decision to someone up the chain of command. Are you willing to do that?”
Kavon nodded. “Yes, sir. I would like to keep this quiet to avoid panic, but I know people will eventually need to know what’s going on.”
“I just hope you can offer some reassurances before first,” White said. “Go on. Find one of the council members and they can tell you where to meet this anonymous source they have.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Darren stood next to the vehicle and watched the traffic in the distance. Kavon looked calm and collected as he stood next to the closed Chinese grocery, but the bond quivered with something that felt like equal parts fear and anticipation. Darren wished he could look cool under pressure, but that was not one of his super powers.
Les came over and leaned against the SUV near Darren. “So the wasps keep catching sight of a powerful guide. I get the feeling it’s one of the docent, but don’t quote me on that. I haven’t been working with Salma long enough to have this trick down that well.”
“And Salma?” Darren asked.
Les grimaced. “Still stuck in California. Weather report has the storms moving out later today, but the airport is giving commercial aircraft priority for takeoff slots. I’ve never seen Salma so angry.”
“Why do you think I avoided talking to her?”
“Bruh, she would never take her temper out on you. You walk on fucking water with that woman.”
“Exactly,” Darren said. “When she talks to me, she has to edit herself. If she’s talking to you, she gets to say everything she’s actually thinking.”
“Huh.” Les huffed. “You actually have a point.”
“I do, sometimes,” Darren said dryly. He elbowed Les.
Les elbowed him back. “Luckily she did most of her swearing in another language, so my virgin ears weren’t exposed to the horrors of profanity.”
“If it was a foreign language, how did you know she was swearing?” Darren asked.
“Trust me, swearing always sounds like swearing.” Les pointed at a car turning into the empty parking lot.