Sui Generis – 50

 

Randulf sensed when Lew's mood soured and knew it was his fault. I shouldn't have sounded so… critical. He's doing what he's supposed to and was only pointing out what I can't see from where I am at the moment.

::Give me a visual, please.:: Seconds later, he saw what Lew was seeing and nodded. ::Do you have a feel for where she could be going?::

::There are houses up ahead, well-spaced from what I can see. Possibly one of those.::

::Shades of Fedor,:: Randulf grumbled. Then when Lew asked, he gave him a brief rundown about where Fedor had held Brand prisoner.

They remained silent after that while Lew continued following Alanna's trail. Randulf stayed well behind him, as he had since they'd started.

::I was wrong.::

::Meaning?:: Randulf asked when Lew didn't elaborate. Lew gave him a visual of where he was at the moment.

What Lew showed him was a small strip mall. Randulf presumed that during the day it probably teemed with people but now, being close to four in the morning, it was dark, except for scattered streetlamps and lights over the doorways. Then Lew gave him another visual, this time from in back of a building at the end of the mall. From the sign painted on the wall beside the door, was supposed to be a large self-storage outfit. There were cars in the lot, and people coming and going through the rear door. Randulf's first thought was the place had to be housing a rave.

::She's in there?:: Randulf asked.

::Her trail leads here.::

::So she's going for two kills in one night. Strange.::

::My thought too,:: Lew agreed, ::unless…::

::Unless?::

::If she's as insane as Antton said, she could be planning to take out another human just to thumb her nose at the council and the Enforcers—leave a trail for us to follow, thinking we'd be too late to stop her. I doubt she knows Antton has a police contact who let him know the moment the last body was found.::

Randulf thought about what he was saying. ::If you're right, and I think you might be, we have to stop her before she latches on to some unsuspecting male.::

::No kidding,:: Lew replied tightly. ::Stay where you are until I get inside and see what's what.::

::Lew,:: Randulf cautioned, ::be damned careful and don't try to play, you should excuse the expression, the lone wolf.::

Lew chuckled low. ::Wasn't planning on it. Believe it or not, I do know my limits.::

::I know you do. I just… Never mind. Are you going in now?::

::Yes.::