Faith just stepped out onto the porch and shut the door behind her. "Detective. I appreciate that you are simply doing your job. I also understand that you are doing your best with limited resources. It's nothing against you," she held up a hand to stop his protest. "It's just a fact that smaller towns like this and government services in general aren't funded at a level that would prove actually useful. And even when it is, that money is usually spent on toys and shiny initiatives that politicians want rather than what the people actually need. That's nothing against you."
"Miss Latham–"
"The fact is that Marc and Aldric have investigative resources that you simply don't have access to," Faith mentally flailed around a little, trying to find a way to make it sound even vaguely legal that their vampire clanmate hacked the ATM camera already and was probably hacking the police database right this moment to track down the car. "They've already contacted an investigator who is trying to find more information about the people you showed us yesterday. We think that's who took Kaylee and that Jake was just grabbed as leverage or something. No, we haven't heard anything from the kidnappers. No, we don't know why they would target Crissy or grab Kaylee and Jake. What we know we heard from the doctor at the clinic who’s taking care of our friends who were injured. As soon as we have anything for you to work with or names for you to hunt down and arrest, we'll be sure to let you know."
Faith tried not to look incredibly nervous and guilty of lying, which probably made her look shady as hell as the detective let her finish her little rant. When she wrapped it up, he looked faintly irritated, but impressed despite himself.
"I see. Well, I suppose I should tell you that we know the names of the two men in that photo we showed you yesterday. Jesse Honeyford and Justin Simmon. Honeyford is the brother of a man named Greg Honeyford, who happens to be known to many as Mister Greg when he's teaching preschool. Greg Honeyford is currently in custody in your hometown, and the local police there are interrogating him, but unlike his brother, his record is fairly clean. It seems that all the trouble he's ever gotten into is due to his older brother.” Lincoln fixed Faith with a hard stare. “If you know anything about these men, now is the time to tell me."
Faith blinked at him. "You arrested Kaylee's preschool teacher?"
"That's what you got out of that?" Detective Lincoln's eyebrows rose.
"I'm sorry, detective. I'm just a little bit stressed," Faith ground out. "Was there something more vitally important in there somewhere?"
"Well, there is the fact that the police are far from useless in these situations. We have a BOLO out for Honeyford and his known associates. If that is who has your sister and your niece, as well as Mr. Keller's son, I would be very concerned. Jesse Honeyford is not someone to be taken lightly, and is not someone to be confronted unprepared." There was an edge to his voice that hinted at something, and Faith wasn't in the mood for subtle.
"If you have something to say, Detective, say it. You have about two minutes before I go back inside."
"Please don't let your friends rush out and think that they can affect a rescue. That’s a job for the police, who have the skills and training to rescue hostage victims. If your investigator finds Honeyford's location, please call me with that information. Don't try to go in yourselves."
Detective Lincoln gave her a hard stare as an SUV rolled up the drive and almost skidded to a stop on the gravel parking area. A cloud of dust billowed up between the car and the porch, but the sound of several doors closing was clear as a bell. Out of the dust cloud five people emerged, and Faith couldn't help but think of action movies. All four of them wore some version of cargo pants and a dark t-shirt. Two of them wore matching heavy leather jackets and one had his head shaved in a short mohawk that made her think of that guy from the A-Team.
They all smiled at Faith as they reached the porch and the mohawk guy and the one that looked kind of frighteningly bland walked inside like they lived there, but the biggest of them turned to stand behind her and the small woman in the spiked leather jacket that matched the mohawk guys' coat leaned on the porch railing.
"Having trouble, Miss Faith?" the man asked in a voice that left no doubt as to what he would do if she said yes.
Faith wasn't sure how the guy knew her name, but she just nodded a greeting at him like they were old friends, and shrugged. "Not really. Detective Lincoln was updating me on the status of his investigation, but he was just finished. Thank you for all your hard work, Detective. If we hear anything that will help you, we'll let you know."
Lincoln glanced at the man behind her, then at the woman who was for all the world just hanging out, one hip propped on the railing. With a look back at Faith and a deep sigh, Lincoln just shook his head sadly and turned and stepped back down to the driveway and climbed into his car.
As the sound of his engine receded into the distance, both wolves– because Faith wasn't foolish enough to think they were anything else– tipped their heads and continued listening before nodding in satisfaction. The woman turned and grinned broadly.
"I like your style, lady,"
