Page 7 of Klora (Mates of the Mylos #6)
CHAPTER 7
KLORA
“Satellite imagery we analyzed in the immediate area shows the bus turned into a back alley. It looks as if they had giant vinyl stickers on it that they simply peeled off and were placed in a nearby dumpster before emerging, hoping to confuse us. I have a subroutine scouring the footage so we can track where it is in real time and apprehend those in it,” Xeranos said, speaking through our kunnarskyns. “However, footage I obtained from the shopping center shows the white plastic bag in the dumpster was left by a white, unmarked van. The good news is, a similar van pulled into the alley close to the loading dock of an empty business next to the one the bus was stopped at. It looks as if they unloaded some of their team along with our two hostages there and then possibly took them away in the van. Another set of subroutines is following the van, both from the alley where the bus left and from the plaza where you’re currently at.”
That was very good news.
“Send officers to the business the bus stopped at and changed appearances,” Sachuu ordered. “Have them scan the premises in case they’ve hidden them there inside the buildings and are trying to trick us.”
I nodded. “Humans are experts at wild goose chases,” I confirmed. “It’s a common tactic shown in many of the vids.”
It was a sign of just how agitated the L.T.C. was that he didn’t ask me why anyone was chasing gooses or anything like that. I got it. I was feeling it myself. I definitely was not going to rewatch any of Alien Nation for a while myself and my craving for a lollipop to at least distract my mouth kept growing stronger.
“I’ve got tacos,” a uniformed officer said, coming up to us with a bag. “Courtesy of Flamin’ Hot. The guy who owns the food truck pulled up and dropped them off, said his sister is studying to be a doctor thanks to her scholarship, so wants to pay it forward. The mall is having someone bring us drinks out.”
My stomach growled, smelling the meat and delicious spices. Okay, maybe my mouth was wanting food in it and it wasn’t just me needing a distraction.
“Xeranos, please send the owner of the truck and the mall our thanks,” Sachuu requested softly, accepting a wrapped taco.
I grinned happily, also taking one.
“Take two,” the officer encouraged. “He left a huge amount for everybody here and asked me to say that he was on his way to his usual spot so everyone else working the case not here should swing by if they can so he can feed them at no charge.” Sachuu blinked. “This is rather spicy,” he said.
I tasted mine. “Oh, this is perfect!” I enthused as soon as I swallowed. “Too bad there’s no sour cream to add,” I muttered.
“At least we know not everyone hates us,” Sachuu reminded me.
“That’s true. Lot of folks hate us for being cops and you guys for being aliens. And you two get the double whammy,” the officer said, “being both aliens and cops.”
He held two more tacos out to me and I accepted them.
“One is fine for me, thanks. It’s delicious, but I find I have very little appetite at the moment.”
I looked over at him pityingly.
Then this happened and his work life became as abysmal as his current home life. If I ever found my mate, I would make certain to tell him everything so he could only get mad if he didn’t like how things were. Not blind side. Though Sachuu had told us he had just gotten carried away in the moment and then couldn’t figure out how to confess. Uh huh, we’d all heard that before, but usually from persons we arrested. I did feel sorry for him though. He was a brilliant investigative officer and especially skilled in intelligence gathering by reputation, but really needed to work on not messing up when it came to himself and his personal life.
Though it probably was just a blip , I thought consideringly as I finished the last bite of my first taco and began unwrapping my second. A well meaning omission of information, kinda like when McGarrett’s mother forgot to mention she raised Wofat. Okay, maybe not exactly like that…
“Quit daydreaming,” Sachuu snapped. “They’re here with our drinks. Throw away your used wrappers, grab a drink, and come on. You can finish the rest on our way back to our dropships.”
“We have a new lead?”
“We do. Just set autopilot to follow me. Otherwise, knowing you, you’ll drop half of that on the controls.” He took a long slurp of whatever soda they’d given him through the paper straw, then spun on his heel and began walking away.
He’d said it without any censure in his voice, so I stared at his retreating back for a split second while taking what looked like an orange soda. I took a swig. Yep, definitely orange and they needed to recharge the gas thing that made the bubbles. He’d cracked a joke, right? Man had jokes. Ha! I hurried after him, not wanting to actually get him upset with me. Especially when things were starting to look up. We had a new break, got free tacos and drinks from allies, and if this was a vid, this is where we’d get our big break and recover the hostages safely while arresting the bad guys. It could happen, right?