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Another swig of water.

Some truths couldn’t be spoken out loud, no matter how much she wanted to trust someone with them. Some things were best left in the dark. But that little voice that always seemed to whisper to her begged her to say it, to share it with Teddi. She knew how to keep a secret, there was no doubt about that. Teddi didn’t have a big mouth and she wouldn’t take what Vera could admit to her lightly.

She slammed a wall down against the foolish call, silencing it. Teddi couldn’t fix this. There wasn’t anything left to fix. She had made sure of that. There was finding whoever killed Alex and then getting back to D.C.

Vera paused. There hadn't been a thought about D.C. since... she didn’t know. She tried to think when she’d stopped fighting her way back there and why didn’t it trigger that same intense need it always did.

"Whoever just attacked me."

Hissing against the tenderness of Teddi’s deft hands, she busied herself with finding something to wipe the blood coming from her nose again.

“You want to tell me how the hell you ended up outside?” Teddi asked softly but not kindly.

“There was a bird.” Teddi stopped.

“God, I can’t wait to hear this.”

Vera would’ve rolled her eyes but her pulse was pounding through them. She tried to explain. “I couldn’t sleep so I went outside. I heard an owl and the next thing I knew I was so far inside the forest I couldn’t see the light from the motel. I don't even know how far I traveled. It was--” she drank from the bottle of water Teddi pressed to her lips, “it was like my head went fuzzy. Like white noise, almost. I don’t know, I just kept walking, trying to find that fucking bird like my life depended on it.” Saying it back sounded even more insane than living it.

“What do you mean fuzzy? Like drugged?”

“I don’t know. Not drugged but not normal either. Everything went quiet until whoever it was that attacked me, started following me.”

“Did you get a look at him?” She hadn't and it infuriated her. They sat in silence as Teddi continued to clean her wounds, the scent of disinfectant sharp enough to keep her awake. Vera didn’t know what else to say, how else to explain it to Teddi when it didn’t even make sense to her. Something lured her out there and she was swallowed up in the forest before she even realized what happened. She could have disappeared and never been seen again.

It was that easy.

“They want us gone.”

“We’re getting close then,” Teddi murmured.

“Good.”

“Do you think you can swallow some pain pills?” A bottle rattled and two capsules were dropped into her palm.

“In a bit. I just… ” The adrenaline fully seeped away and the realization of how close she came to being killed speared fear into her heart.

“It’s alright. You’re safe. I think we’ll be safe for the night. You’re safe.” Teddi chanted the words as she worked, almost more to herself than Vera.

“If you hadn’t come outside I think he might've killed me. It would've been the perfect opportunity.” Teddi lifted the rag from her brow and stared down. Vera hated the way fear filled every inch of her face. Her hair was mussed from sleep and the strap of her tank top had fallen off her shoulder. She reached up and fixed it, pulling away when she caught sight of the bloody skin peeling off her knuckles. She didn’t want to get blood on her clean skin.

“Don’t say that. Jesus Christ, don’t say that. I think I almost had a heart attack seeing you lying on the ground.”

Vera closed her eyes again to escape the look Teddi gave her. It was the kind someone gave when they feared losing someone they loved.

“I’m alright. Pissed and hurting but I’m alright.” The compress moved to her neck. “Thank you.” The words nearly got caught in her throat beneath the cloth. This was what it meant to have a partner. To have someone watching her back on the job. To have someone cover her when she couldn’t do it herself. She chafed at the way she didn’t hate it.

“I risk my life for stupid shit and someone risks yours. I say we’re down two points against this asshole.” Vera made a sound of agreement.

Someone didn’t want them in Sylen bad enough to attack her. Someone who just had the opportunity to make her disappear until they left her lifeless body to be found. She was ready to sink her teeth into their godforsaken town and tear it apart, bit by bit, to find them.

Chapter 27

Teddi

“If you look that bad, I can’t wait to see what the other guy looks like,” J joked. Mackey sat next to her at her desk back at the OIA office on the video call.

They tried updating them on everything they learned so far but J couldn’t get over the scraped mess of Vera’s face and neck. Teddi couldn’t blame her. She nearly winced every time she looked at her.