Shadow Bloodlines (Shadow Bloodlines #1) (18 page)

“Why? We’re one people.” I was running out of things to say with the adrenaline coursing through me, but I wanted to give Amar plenty of time to find me.

“Luckily, I got you first. The prize. Your father and friends are only wanted dead.”

“W-why me?” Hadn’t Ms. Moor just wanted to kill me when she met me? And now she wanted me alive?

“Not only did you escape her and the Spirits of Blood, but you have
three
shifters,” he said the number with a mixture of loathing and longing. “She’s promised me we can extract your talents and give them to me. I don’t want your octopus shifter, but I’ll take your fox and spirit totem. Do you know how powerful I’ll be with four? Few of our kind ever had that many. I’d be invincible.”

The guy had a superiority complex. Maybe I could use that to my advantage. “How did you do that… fit through there?” I gestured to the crack. Come on, any time Amar.

He smiled, but it didn’t put me at ease. “My animal shifter is the one and only true shapeshifter. A sea cucumber.”

I must have made a face of amusement since his cheeks reddened.

“I can liquefy my body to squeeze through any gap, then rematerialize.”

“Fascinating.” Gross, when I saw it happening. I took a step backward then another when he didn’t move.

“Aren’t you curious about my spirit totem?”

“N-not really. I-I’m late for a meeting. Good luck with the oozing thing.” I shuffled another three steps.

“I’ll give you a head start, little one.” He cocked his head and sniffed. “Octopus and fox. Such a strange combination. But even your quick burst of speed or fox trot won’t save you from me.” His smile was feral. “I’m afraid you are no match for my cheetah’s running speed.”

When he leapt forward, I screamed and spun around.

The sea cucumber guy’s hand grazed the back of my shirt, but I sprinted away. He was right about being fast. I ran as hard as I could until my side ached. I couldn’t stop. Without looking, I felt him behind me. His pounding footsteps echoed mine. Soon I would tire out and he’d have me.

He wanted my shifters for his own? Was that even possible? But I had no doubt that if Ms. Moor extracted them from me, I’d be dead.

My breath hitched and I nearly stumbled over an electric cord a man was using to power wash his shop’s windows. He yelled something as I passed. I ignored him. My pulse hammered in my chest.

This shifter had killed two people in a matter of seconds. I had no doubt he wouldn’t balk at killing more if it got him closer to me. I didn’t want to endanger anyone else. Dodging a hanging plant, I ran at the blinking caution sign across the street. None of the street names or buildings looked familiar.

For a moment, I thought about using my fox banshee scream but figured it probably wouldn’t work against him. He wasn’t a blob… or at least not in his human form he wasn’t. And there were too many people around. If I used my gift, wouldn’t it hurt them? I couldn’t risk it.

At the corner, to my right, was a woman and twin boys. They toddled and laughed as she played peek-a-boo with them. I couldn’t go that way. Creepo might snatch one of those kids and I couldn’t live with myself if that happened. He’d caught the light, but I couldn’t go back the way I came. To the left was a graveyard. At least it was empty of potential victims. I needed help, but I wouldn’t risk someone’s life for my own.

I raced across people’s graves as I weaved through a cemetery filled with headstones. Behind me, the shifter cursed, but I didn’t stop. My legs burned.

After an intersection, there was a park and I gave the children and dogs playing a wide berth. No reason to allow any of them to be taken hostage, or worse.

A few feet later, I spotted the edge of the marina. Over my shoulder, the shifter had fallen back. He wasn’t as fast as he proclaimed or at least he wasn’t for the distance we’d run. When I reached the water’s edge, I skidded to a stop for a brief second. This wasn’t the place my dad’s boat had been. Across the water stood a bridge that shut off the water from the rest of the ocean. We had been at a marina that was crammed with boats, but this was wide open to the ocean.

Footsteps pounded behind me. The shifter.

Seeing a police station down the block, I sprinted toward it and dashed inside. Police officers and people dressed in everything from bathing suits to shorts, to three-piece suits turned and stared my way. I kept checking over my shoulder expecting the shifter to march through the doors. My body shaking.

But after several breaths, my mind rationalized that he would have followed me in by now. I collapsed into an empty chair.

A mature policewoman came over to me and patted my shoulder. “Are you okay dear?”

“Y-yes,” I said between gasps. “I…just went for a… jog and got lost.”

Her white hair was trimmed short and tucked behind her ears. Even though her skin was shallow and loose, her brown eyes were full of sympathy and brightness. “Would you like some water?”

I shook my head, grateful that the evil dude hadn’t followed me inside.

After a few moments, when I could breathe without taking gasping breaths, I thanked her. “Um… I’m trying to find Wharf’s Bar?”

“Oh dear, you are a few miles from there.” She leaned back as if not believing I came all that way. “If you didn’t corkscrew around while you were lost.”

Shrugging, I said, “I am terrible at directions.”

“Here. Let me get you some water, then I’ll drive you back. Okay?” Without waiting for my reply, she marched to the water cooler in the corner and filled a paper cup.

My hands trembled as I took the cup from her, but I mumbled a thank you. The water was cold and felt refreshing. Maybe I was more exhausted than I thought.

“Come with me.” She took out a set of keys that looked like they were to every lock in the city. “Gerald, I’ll be back in a few minutes. Got to take this girl back home.”

I followed her out of the police station and outside to a police car.

Seeing my face, she laughed. “You can ride up front with me.”

Part of me was still nervous about the shifter guy, and I glanced around as I fastened my seatbelt.

“Are you okay?”

“W-what?” I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. Just trying to memorize where everything is in case I get lost again.” Or a crazy murderous shifter comes after me.

“Where are you from?” She started the car and we jimmied out of the parking lot. “Can’t quite place your accent, except to know you aren’t from around here.”

“Texas.” I figured it was best not to give my hometown, and my state being as big as some countries was easy to use that as an answer. Who knows what Ms. Moor or even that shifter would do to her. The less this kind woman knew about me, the better.

“I’ve got a cousin moved there after the last hurricane. Up near the panhandle.” She turned a corner. “Can’t say I blame him. All of us heave a collective sigh whenever hurricane season is over. Other than that and crime, this place would be paradise.”

Nodding, I bit my lip as we drove. Several more lights later, I recognized the saloon with the fish over it. “We’re getting close.”

“Yup. Once you’ve been here awhile, you’ll get to know the landmarks. They can help you find your way.” We past the saloon and took a left. “How long are you staying?”

“Not long. Just visiting … my dad. He and my mom split when I was young.” I picked at the lint on my shorts. “Figured it was time to spend a few weeks getting to know him.”

“Who’s your dad?” She pulled up to Wharf’s Bar and put the car in park. “I may know him.”

“Thank you for the ride. I’m sure I won’t get lost again.” I put my hand on the door handle to leave when her hand snapped on my forearm.

“Don’t get out yet!”

“What? Why?” I glanced around. Pedestrians and bikers meandered through the street, but I didn’t see creepy shifter guy. At the corner, I spotted Amar and Jacqui. Where was Dad?

“I can’t believe it.” The policewoman dug out her gun and clicked on her car’s two-way radio her gaze never leaving a group of people outside Wharf’s Bar. “This is car one eight-four, I’ve got a suspect who slipped away from a one-eighty-seven and a three eleven…copy.”

Who was she talking about? I didn’t know what the police codes meant, but I knew by the tone of her voice and her insisting I stay in the car, it wasn’t for a jaywalker. Rolling down the window, I waved to Jacqui and Amar, but they didn’t notice me.

Turning back, the policewoman listened to the radio while it crackled and garbled response came back asking her to keep the suspect in her view, but not to engage unless absolutely necessary. She frowned at me, then I followed her line of sight and noticed she was watching the group of people surrounding Amar and my best friend.

Then I stared back at the crowd to figure out who she was watching. He was dressed in the same tattered blue jean shorts from when he cooked omelets this morning. His brown hair looked a shade lighter in the sun, and his beard was completely gone. Dad.

“Copy that.” She clicked off the handheld radio in her hand and sat it down. “We’ll get you, this time, Jack Bender.”

My head turned from her to my dad and back. “W-why are you after him?”

“He was a lead suspect in a murder case in Virginia ten years ago, but fled before we could apprehend him.” She unfastened her seatbelt as if she was readying to burst out of the car.

“H-how do you know he had anything do with it?” My dad couldn’t be guilty. Not like the shifter guy who had chased me. Mom wouldn’t marry someone like that even if they were a shifter like her.

The woman looked me up and down. “Who did you say your dad was?”

Did she see I had the same colored hair as my dad? “Um… Duncan. William Duncan.” Jacqueline would just have to get over me using her dad’s name in place of mine. “He just moved here a few months ago and invited me to tag along.”

As if she didn’t believe me, her eyes narrowed. Then she nodded to my dad who stood talking with Jacqui and Amar. “That man there is a suspect in a crime. Last I saw him before transferring here last year, he was standing naked over a dead body, and covered with blood.” She shook her head. “If that doesn’t seem suspicious, I don’t know what does.”

I couldn’t answer her.

The radio crackling made me jump.

“Won’t be long now, the other cop cars are a few streets away.” She gazed at me like she wasn’t sure what to do with me.

I had to get out of here and warn him. It would do us no good if he got thrown in jail. Later I would ask him to tell me what happened with the dead body.

“Stay put.” She unlocked her door.

“Wait!” I almost reached to snatch her back but thought better of it. “I-I see my dad over there.” My finger pointed to a random man two blocks down. “I’ll run over there and tell him we need to leave. The fewer people on the street when you capture the suspect, the better… right?”

“Ok. But stay with your dad. Don’t even go near that man.”

I nodded as I scrambled out of the car. Amar turned my way and his worried face changed into a smile. But I had to make the cop think my dad wasn’t anywhere near them.

“Dad!” I called out as I dashed across the street to the stranger. Waving frantically, I beamed as a few people turned my way, but my fake Dad kept reading the newspaper. Feeling the cop’s eyes on me, I grasped the man’s arm as he grunted.

“You’ve just won a free drink at Wharf’s Bar. Come with me to claim your prize.”

“B-but I’m not thirsty.” He stopped despite my yanking on his arm. “Let go.”

“Okay, fine. How about a coupon for a free meal?”

The man raised his eyebrows. “Is this a trick?”

“No, no.” I flipped my hair over my shoulder in what I hoped looked like I was flirting with him, but just being a silly teenager to the cop behind me. “Just come across the street to the bar and Wharf will give you a ticket to use anytime for a free meal.”

He narrowed his eyes, but he started to move with me in the direction of the bar. Pretending I was shooing a fly, I gave a hand single to Jacqui when I saw them crossing the street toward us. Hopefully, she recognized it from our earlier teen years when we’d sneak her dad’s dirty magazines into her room and had to hide them when her mom knocked on the door before poking her head in and asked what we were doing.

Please get the message
.

She whispered something to Dad and Amar. Both men glowered, but stayed underneath a convenience store’s porch while she kept walking. She’d told them because of my hand signal that something was up and to wait. When she met up with me, she stood an arms-length apart while the light flashed
Don’t Walk
. If the police lady was still watching, she’d think Jacqueline was pondering which way to go.

“What’s up?” she asked loud enough for me to here. “Who’s the dude?”

“Get my dad out of here. The cops are after him.”

The man beside me hissed and jerked away. But when he turned away from me, Jacqui snatched his arm. She’d be able to make him forget this whole conversation.

“Why?” She asked.

“No time to explain right now, we just have to get my da—”

“Stop where you are!” A policeman’s voice boomed through a bullhorn.

Dread twisting my stomach, I looked behind me. Five cop cars blocked off the street. Their lights were flashing and all of them had officers leaning out of their cars with guns pointed at my dad.

We were too late.