Kitty and the Silver Bullet

'Ben!'

But he was already marching back to the bedroom, where he slammed the door behind him. I curled up on the sofa and covered my face with my hands. What happened if I won this war, yet lost everything I was trying to save?

When my cell phone, sitting on the coffee table, rang, my brain rattled. All my nerves twitched. It was like I forgot what to do with it, then I rushed to answer.

'Good morning,' said Rick.

And so it starts. 'Hi.'

'What's been happening? Anything from Carl?'

'He went after KNOB,' I said.

'And?'

This was actually almost working. I ought to be pleased. 'Hardin has four of his wolves in custody. Carl got away. Hardin has people looking but they haven't found him.' I'm not sure I wanted them to. I wasn't sure they could handle a cornered wolf.

'And you're all right? Your people are all right?'

I hesitated, then decided there'd be time for the long version later. 'I'm fine. We're all fine. Anything happening on your end?'

'Yes. Charlie and Violet saw Arturo leave Obsidian. I want to move in while he's gone,' he said, and his voice was too calm. Vampiric, I realized. The city could be crumbling around him and his tone wouldn't change.

This felt like a trap. I could see it. We were supposed to draw Arturo out, not race into the heart of his territory. 'You can't take his stronghold. He'll have people protecting it—'

'It's his stronghold, which means he'll have to come back. I'll wait for him, then take him.'

'But Rick, where is he? Where'd he go?'

'I was hoping one of your people had spotted him.'

'I haven't heard anything.' I gripped the phone and gritted my teeth. My spike in anxiety seemed to be making up for his calm. 'This could be a trap. He leaves, makes it real obvious so you know about it, and as soon as you show up he busts your ass.'

'That's why I'd like you and Ben to come help me. And any of the other werewolves you can call on.'

My first impulse was to yell at him. Did he think we were his lackeys? Did he expect to be able to call on us the way Arturo called on Carl? But that had been the arrangement—an alliance to help each other. My getting cold feet didn't change that.

'What about Carl and Meg? Where are they?' I said.

'Again, I was hoping you'd have heard something.'

'Geez, Rick, what do you expect me to be able to do? I can't battle a lair full of vampires. I can't ask anyone else to do that.'

Ben had emerged and was leaning on the wall by the sofa, watching me, brow raised in a question. I found I couldn't look at him. But I could feel him, smell his presence washing over me.

The flavor of Rick's calm changed, taking on an edge—tension, held tightly in check. 'You can't quit now, Kitty. You're way beyond being able to back out of this. I'm moving on Obsidian, and you'll help me because you can't let Arturo win this.'

He was right. I'd set this series of events in motion. Backing out now would mean losing. This wasn't a game where I could pick up my pieces and go home. But I still didn't like it. 'Have you given any more thought about who your spy is?'

'I'm not convinced there is one. I think Arturo had one of us followed and got lucky with the warehouse. Listen to me. We trap Arturo—I only need to get him alone for a few minutes, and I need you to watch my back. Dack, Violet, and Charlie are already here. When Arturo's gone, he won't be able to help Carl and Meg. Then we can take them out.'

'Or we can take them out first—they're scared, we riled them up.'

'You've seen them, then? You've confronted them?'

I hesitated. 'Yes.'

'And they're still alive?'

'The cops were there, there were too many people, I couldn't just—'

'But you see, Kitty: I can. You've taken us this far. Let me carry us the rest of the way.'

I covered the phone and stared at the ceiling. Point of no return. I'd sped by it without even noticing.

Ben went to the door and picked up my backpack. He stayed there, waiting. He had a trunk full of gear that said we could do this. Damn Cormac and his armory.

I turned back to the phone. 'When should we be there?'

'Now.'

I hissed out a breath. 'Okay. Fine. We're on the way. I'm going to make some calls. You'd better keep your phone handy in case I find out this is all some horrible trick.'

'Will do. Park a block south of the building and I'll meet you.'

I shoved the phone in my pocket. When I reached the door, Ben handed me my bag.

'We're going to Obsidian?' he said.

'Yeah.'

'Then let's go.' He was outside before I could say anything. Like I'm sorry.

In five minutes, we were on the road. Ben drove, his attention focused. Not looking at me, not saying a word. I wanted to cry. But I had those calls to make.

'Shaun, it's Kitty.'

'What's happening?' he said, his voice urgent. We'd all been waiting by our phones.

'Rick's moving, but I need some eyes. Any word where Carl and Meg are?'

'Someone's watching the house. I'll find out.'

'And if anybody spots Arturo, I want to know about it.'

'Got it. I'll call back in a minute.'

He was straightforward. Reliable. A good lieutenant. I'd been lucky, finding him when I did. Or maybe my instincts were better than I thought they were. Some of my instincts, anyway.

I was torn between wanting to make more calls, and wanting to leave the line open for Shaun and Rick. I risked one. Cheryl answered the phone.

'Hi, Cheryl?'

'Kitty, oh my God, are you okay? Is everything okay?'

'I was going to ask you the same thing.' I couldn't tell anything by her voice. She still had the hysterical edge going.

'Everything's fine here. Dad left the hospital after dinner. Mom was asleep. They've still got her doped up pretty good. But everyone's fine. We haven't seen anything.'

Good. 'That's what I wanted to hear. I have to get off the line, but I'll call again. Maybe I'll wait until morning if everything's okay.'

'Be careful.'

'Thanks.'

I clicked the line off and waited for Shaun to call back.

Ben kept looking in the rearview mirror, repeatedly, more than the average driving maneuver warranted.

'What is it?'

'I think we're being followed.'

Oh, that was almost funny. I twisted around to look out the back window. 'Are you serious?'

'Could you be a little less obvious?' Ben said.

'But this is hilarious. We're being followed? Really? Do I get to shoot out the window next?'

'Kitty, sit down.'

I faced front and sat. By then, we'd pulled off the freeway at Colfax and turned east.

That was when the red and blue flashing lights started.

'Great,' Ben muttered, shifting the wheel to pull us over to the curb. 'Unmarked police car.' Sure enough, a dark sedan, unmarked and unremarkable, pulled up behind us. The lights flashed from a panel on the back of the sun visor, behind the windshield.

'I, uh, don't suppose we could outrun 'em?'

Ben gave me another look. The annoyed look that had become so common. He said, 'No situation has ever been improved by trying to outrun the cops.'

The sedan's driver side door opened. Somehow, I was unsurprised when Detective Hardin stepped out.

I put my hand on the door handle, preparing to pile out to confront her, but Ben said, 'Don't. We've been pulled over, we're going to sit and wait like good little citizens.'

He helpfully rolled down the window. When Hardin leaned in, she was smiling.

'Hi,' she said.

She was supposed to be one of the good guys. She may not have believed it, but we were all on the same side. I couldn't let her hold us here. So I did the only thing I could—I let my big mouth get the better of me.

'Detective—what the hell are you doing here? Are you still following me?'

I should have guessed that she was used to me by now. Her expression didn't flicker. 'Yep. You seem to know where all the interesting people are.'

Great. Just great.

She went on. 'Those guys we caught today seem perfectly willing to rat out everyone involved. They just want to be let out before Tuesday. What's Tuesday?'

'Next full moon,' I said.

Hardin winced. 'Right. Got it. So. Who are you going to see now?'

Then my phone rang. I swore, as soon as this night was over I was going to shove it down the garbage disposal.

'Yeah?'

'Kitty, it's Shaun. Becky tried to call Mick—he was watching Carl and Meg's place. But we can't get hold of him. Something happened, they may be on to us.'

'Mick was out at their place?'

'He was supposed to be.'

'Look, the cops have someone staking out their place and haven't seen anything. Would Mick have followed them into the hills?'

'Maybe.'