Free Shrike (Book 2): Rampant by Emmie Mears Page B

would hold it straight out without any help.
    We're in the finally-deserted salon of Timothy Strand's flat. The blood pool has gone sticky, and the morning light brought with it a flat downpour of rain mixed with snow. My whole body feels stiff, and I allow myself to stretch a bit. The scene around me is all too familiar by now. Body. Blood. Blame.
    I force myself to look Trevor in the eye instead of staring between them. "Aye, I reckon I sussed that one out." 
    She must have used an incredibly powerful one to drop me like that. I felt little fizzy jolts for the next two hours after I woke up with one of the bobbies prodding me. 
    One had a hand on the tie to my mask, and I almost broke his wrist hitting it away.
    They both backed up a few feet after that.
    "Why didn't your surveillance team see her go into the flat?" I know why; they were about as subtle sitting outside Strand's home as a TARDIS in the middle of the High Street. But I don't say that. I don't want to make this worse. The whole thing's a bloody cock up, and it's no one's fault but our own underestimation of Granger.
    You'd think we'd learn.
    I tell myself she won't catch me with my knickers down again. Stun me once, shame on you.
    I'm not going to get to the shame on me bit.
    Trevor takes off his hat and runs his fingers through his hair. "They must have been trying to make me look bad."
    "I'm sure that's it." I resist the urge to roll my eyes. "What next?"
    "Unless you've figured out a way to clone yourself, I'll get some better surveillance and give them a crash course in being stealthier. You check up on the list members as much as you can."
    "Anyone with them during the day?"
    "Granger's only hit people at night so far."
    "Exactly. She's not stupid, and she's not always that consistent. Make sure you've got people on round the clock."
    He nods. The two final forensic workers exit the flat, leaving Trevor and me alone here. 
    "How are you holding up?" The question bubbles out of my mouth before I can stop it.
    Trevor blinks at me, then replaces his hat and straightens his spine. "I'll sleep a lot easier once we get Granger."
    "Won't we all." I don't tell him that before tonight, I've actually had two decent nights of sleep. I wonder if Taog was able to sleep with me gone all night. My money's on no.
    "We're not incompetent," he says after a long pause. "I've got my best people on this. The longer this goes on, the more people will get scared."
    "Do you think we've heard about all the murders?" It hasn't occurred to me to ask about that yet. What if Granger's hit more people we just don't know about? Some of the folks on Macy's list try to stay off the grid — maybe they wouldn't be immediately missed. Or don't live in areas where someone would notice an intruder. 
    "I've wondered the same thing, but there's no way for us to know. It's no like we can see every house and flat in Scotland."
    "Can you send someone to check up on the people who aren't living in the city?" 
    "If we can find them, aye. I'll put detectives on it."
    There's a silence as both of us contemplate the situation. Granger got away again. It's likely Macy didn't give me a full list of people Britannia wants silenced, and Granger could easily hit people whose names aren't on it. I think about the Gu Bràth security detail that is kept for Taog, and I suddenly feel a lot less confident about their abilities to keep him safe.
    The need to get home to him almost overwhelms me. If I crawl through his window to see naught but blood and broken glass and a body…I shudder, and this time not from my muscles recovering from thousands of volts of electricity.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    nine
     
    Even though Saturday is my day off, I can't bring myself to try and sleep when I return to Taog's flat.
    He's half-heartedly poking at a document for Gu Bràth on his laptop, and I don't remark on the fact that I've seen him highlight the same paragraph three times.
    The day