her, but she tamped it down. “I... ”
Stanley ripped the knife from her grip. His hands banded around her arms painfully. “What did I tell you?”
He stepped in her space, and spittle sprayed across her face. “No fucking funny business.”
He shoved her back, and she stumbled. Behind Stanley, Davis and Jerry flanked him like some schoolyard posse, staring down their noses at her with flat, emotionless eyes. Movement snagged her attention back to Stanley, and she found herself staring down the barrel of his weapon. Her eyes bulged, and she choked on a sob.
“You’re not going to like the consequences.” He cocked the trigger and shot.
4
Jaxx sped down the streets approaching Lucas’s neighborhood. Burned-out cars sat in overgrown, vacant lots, and every second place had its windows boarded. A few men sat smoking on their porch and eyed him as he passed. He knew he could handle himself, but these parts of town were no place for a human to wander alone in the dark.
The moon inched higher into the night. Lucas would shift soon. Alone. Untrained. Unprepared. If Lucas hadn’t taken precautions, his female and child would be in danger. Slowing the revs on his bike, he turned down the street, saw Lucas’s car in the drive, and frowned. If Lucas was home, why the hell wasn’t the were answering any of his calls? He rolled up the curb and parked his bike. He removed his brain bucket and unzipped his leather jacket.
Lights beamed from the surrounding homes, and he could smell the aroma of various foods cooking. Details noticeably absent from Lucas’s house. He walked up and rapped on the door. Not surprised when there was no answer, Jaxx pulled out some tools and picked the lock. Senses amped up, he stretched them further, seeking information. Where are you, Lucas?
He pushed his way through the door, looking around the room. A three-seater couch faced a small television. Nothing remarkable jumped out to him other than the pungent odor of cleaning chemicals. Under the strong stench of the chemicals, a light, feminine odor concentrated under a cushion. He crouched, lifting the fabric, and pulled out a worn brown teddy bear. Drawing the bear to his nose, he could smell residual fear.
An odd sensation fluttered to life in his chest, and it took him a moment to realize it was fear. He found he didn’t particularly like the feeling. He’d never allowed humans to get close enough to matter. Somehow over the years, Lucas’s female, Leila, and daughter, Milly, mattered to him. Hell, he had owed Lucas a life debt after the human had unknowingly saved him from hunters years earlier. It was why he’d broken protocol to save him.
Jaxx put the bear down and stepped over a remote control in the middle of the floor. Parts of the carpet still looked damp. He squatted and ran his hand over the fabric, bringing his hand to his nose and sniffing. Grunting, he jerked his hand away. Bleach. Interesting. Jaxx peered into the kitchen and frowned. Despite no obvious damage, something seemed off. He walked over the linoleum, and his boot kicked a small fragment of glass. It wasn’t unusual for humans to break things. Yet that knowledge didn’t stop him from inspecting the windows. He eyed the back door; the crystal-clear surface told him someone had replaced the glass. Recently. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to make the place appear normal.
He walked down the short hall, inspecting the family photos covering the walls. Some pictures were with Lucas and Leila, some with Milly at different stages of the young girl’s life. To his right a closed door with solid-pink letters spelling Milly were splayed across the ply. He pushed it open and saw the bed was unmade, and a small cluster of toys sat around a table with cups in front of them.
By the dwindling smell in the air, it had been longer than twenty-four hours since Milly had been in her room. He backed out and continued to the only other room in the small home. A double bed with rumpled sheets sat to the side of the modest room. Small handcrafted knickknacks dotted a dresser along the wall with more pictures of family. Clothes lay haphazardly in a pile on the floor. The scent of sex perfumed the air, but no signs of Lucas or his girls. Heading back to the front door, a reflection of light flashed from the floor. He tilted his head,