Page 47 of New Nebraska Heat

As my eyes fluttered shut, a tear spilled over my lashes.

Bryce

“Yes, of course,” I spoke urgently into my cell. “I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t important. Yes. I’ll keep this between us. Come on, it’ll take you five minutes.”

Morgan sighed down the phone’s crackly line. “I’m not sure. Can’t you just call him?”

“Would I be asking you this favor if he was answering his cell?” I didn’t actuallyhaveDagger’s number—he and I weren’t that close anymore—but Morgan didn’t need to know that. “So? Come on chief, you have the time. We both know your team is going to keep taking a pounding anyway.”

The chief, an aging lion shifter, let out a long sigh through the line. “Give me a few minutes. You owe me one though.”

Having arrived at Dagger’s precinct around twenty minutes ago, a quick check with the grizzled desk sergeant had made it clear Dagger had bullshitted me and whisked Serenity off somewhere else. Now Police Chief Morgan, was having to tear himself away from the predictable outcome of his college football game—the NewLincoln Sentinels and their star quarterback, Jaxon Hemming, had been dominating Morgan’s New Grand Island Tornadoes from the get-go—and make a call to get Dagger’s GPS location.

Under human-made legislation, all New Nebraska cops had to consent to a microchip implant under their skin so they could be easily tracked in case of emergency assistance or disappearance. Or, in some cases, if they were suspected of being on the take. Really, if you asked me, humans just wanted to keep close tabs on any paranormals allowed to own guns.

The average civilian on the street was denied access to this top-secret locator information for obvious reasons. A crook’s wet dream would be knowing where all the cops were at any given time.

As I pressed my cell against my ear, watching from behind the safety of six-inch-thick bulletproof limo glass, three bulky shifter patrolmen dragged a handcuffed suspect from their cruiser and began wrestling him through the station’s front entrance. He was hissing at the cops, lunging with a forked tongue and snake fangs.

Ugh, thankfully wrigglies were not that common.

I’d felt about as beloved as a wriggly myself earlier in the evening, when Serenity had abruptly ended our mind-blowing encounter, made fake yawns and see-through excuses about excess carbs before launching herself into her bedroom. I should never have taken things so far. But the heat of the moment had extinguished rational thought. My rampant desire in that moment had ratcheted up my body’s unnatural heat to intense levels, stronger than I’d ever experienced. The strange surges of power certainly hadn’t helped me keep my cool.

Tomorrow, I’d be sure to give another emphatic apology. The odd thing was, Hunter had assured me that he’d smelled her arousal, and his shifter senses were sharp. She’d apparently been into it… or at least parts of it. I had a sinking suspicion that Hunter leaving the room had changed her mind. Or maybe I’d overwhelmed her—

Morgan came back on the phone. His grumbles over the NLSentinels had stopped and he sounded serious as a heart transplant. “Corner of Bullworth and Albany. That ghost town down by the river. But I don’t think anyone’ll have a problem finding Dagger’s location. Just follow the sirens and the flames. Several cruisers have already been dispatched. Fire trucks and ambulances on the way.”

“Shit! What the fuck’s he done now? Okay, I’m on my way.” I’d given my word to be by Serenity’s side tonight, and now she really needed me to keep that promise.

Morgan’s tone turned stern. “Bryce, the last thing they need down there is your goddamn, twenty-five-foot stretch getting in the way. Leave it to the professionals. I promise I’ll keep you updated. Stay away from there, okay?”

“Okay, okay, understood. Thanks, Morgan. Keep me posted. And thanks.”

The screen between Gerald and me had been down the whole time. I rarely kept chats secret from him. “I take it you heard the location?”

Gerald’s wolf shifter hearing was as sharp as ever, despite his advancing years. “I did, sir. Corner of Bullworth and Albany, pedal to the metal?”

“Hell yes. Floor it.” There was no way I was reclining on a couch waiting for news when, thanks to that clown Dagger, Serenity could be in real danger. As the car revved, I tapped a new contact on my cell. Hunter was going to hit the roof, but he had to be told.

Hunter picked up on the second ring. “What’s he done?” he asked in grave growl.

I massaged my nose bridge, irked at Dagger for making Hunter’s irrational and immediate suspicion justified. “He pulled a runner with her, probably showing off.”

“‘Probably’ my ass. That fucking puffed-up panther’s taking her on a tour of Dagger’s Greatest Moments. Which means some shit-stained motel room where he shot up a murderer or—”

“A burning building?”

“WHAT?!”

I winced, ear ringing. “That’s all I know, but it came from the chief’s mouth. I’m heading there now. I’ll text the address. Cool off and come meet me—”

“Oh, I’ll be there all right. And as soon as I’ve got Serenity safe in my car, I’m kicking off that shit-eater grin of his and putting his head through the wall of that burning building.”

Click. The line went dead.

I looked toward the driver’s seat. “Gerald, I’m more than prepared to pay a fine for every traffic violation in the book if necessary.”

He got the message.