“We got a hit,” Aiden’s voice cut through the silence.

“Where?” Liam asked.

“Some little town named Gavinmire,” he sighed.

Liam wrinkled up his nose. “Really, a small town? Do we have any reports of irregulars there?”

“No, but it is a college town. They might not have reported in to the API,” Liam frowned. The pair were field agents for the Agency for the Protection of Irregulars, the API. “Strange though, the last time we lost the trail, it was on the southern border, but this town is North, like almost Canada North.”

“How long will it take us to get there?” Liam asked, already grabbing his go bag.

“If we catch the next flight, just before daybreak,” Aiden replied fetching his own bag.

“Right. Do you think the API will spring for business class? We’ll need to be alert if we want to catch that monster.”

“I doubt it, this lead is tentative at best,” Aiden frowned.

“Fine,” Liam grumbled.

The API did not pay for business class, and Aiden didn’t bother dishing it out this time. He could sleep after he checked the evidence the Gavinmire police had gathered and determined that the case was not connected to their agency’s problem. The agency did pay for a good rental car, and a decent room at a hotel just outside of the small town.

The sun was peaking over the horizon when he arrived outside the police station. “Leave the talking to me?” Aiden sighed.

“What? Why?” Liam asked.

“Um, because you act like an ass around most regulars,” Aiden grumbled. “And I want this to go smoothly.”

“I do not,” Liam argued.

“Name the last time you were nice to a regular,” Aiden said. Liam opened his mouth to respond, “And being polite to the airline staff doesn’t count. That is a given.”

“Right,” Liam frowned. “It’s not intentional.”

“I know, but we need to play nice until we know if this is connected to our case. You can go back to being Mr. Grumpy Face when this is over.”

“I am not—!” Liam started.

“Yes, you are. All you care about is the job and your personal project,” Aiden sighed, “Not that I blame you.”

How could he blame him? If their positions were reversed Aiden would be just as agitated as he was. The best part of his job with the API was the travel. He didn’t care so much about the destinations, but the people. If he found her, then he could stop feeling lost. Where had she gone? “Right. Let’s get this over with.”

Aiden nodded and led the way inside the Gavinmire police station. “Liam Peterson and Aiden Ward, I assume?” an older man asked from a doorway in the back of the large room. “I was told to expect you.”

“Yes, we heard about your recent murder case. It raised a few flags in our system,” Aiden spoke smoothly, shaking the man’s hand.

“Right, come into my office. The detectives in charge of the case will be here any minute, but in the meantime, why don’t you tell me what raised your attention?” the man was obviously the police chief if the sign on the door to the smaller office was any indicator.

“Well, to be honest, it was the dismemberment and obvious lack of drug or gang connections,” Aiden lied easily. Yeah, the dismemberment was a problem, but not what raised their flags. Raven and feather, those simple words brought them here. “Could we see a list of the evidence collected thus far?”

“Sure, we could use all the help we can get. Detective Hughes and Simmons are a persistent bunch but if the killer is from out of town, you could probably give us some insight,” the chief said quickly, printing off a few pieces of paper. “To be honest, we don’t have much to go on. It rained before we found the body, so forensics has proven to be a challenge.”

Aiden frowned looking at the list, “That’s a shame. What’s with the feather listed on this report?”

“Detective Hughes found it next to the more intact arm during a search of the park. We’re not sure if it is part of a signature or if it is just a coincidence,” the chief sighed.

“Right,” Aiden frowned. Obviously, someone thought it was important if they input it into the database. Was it the Detective Hughes or the other one? Or was it one of the other officers that were filing into the station? “We’ll have to look over all the evidence with the detectives in charge of the case to see if this is connected to ours.”

“Sure,” the chief waved at a couple of officers as they entered the building. Liam turned around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the two detectives they would have to work with temporarily. One was a well-built blonde man, but the other was female. Something about her…he looked closer. All the breath left his lungs as he took in the woman’s appearance. Was this her? He had to know. She certainly looked like her, black hair that was smooth like silk, eyes like emeralds, pale skin, and a thin but obviously well-muscled body. His body reacted the same to her as well. Could he have found his soul mate in this little town? No, it couldn’t be, but he had to know for sure.

“Hi, Chief,” her voice sounded the same too. Could it really be her? “Who are the suits?”

“Agents from a special task force. Our case caught their attention,” the man replied, Liam almost snarled when he heard affection in the man’s voice.

“Right,” she sounded worried.

“We can take them to the medical examiner’s lab first and then come back to the evidence locker,” the male detective said, eyeing him with distrust. Had he been staring? The woman appeared uncomfortable.

“That sounds like a fabulous idea. I hope you will share whatever information you can with my detectives, but I understand if you have to get permission from your boss first. I know that bureaucratic nonsense can get the better of all of us,” the chief seemed wary of their presence now.

“I’m sure that we’ll be able to share relevant information if it is connected to our own case,” Aiden lied. They wouldn’t be authorized to say anything if it was connected to that monster. Regulars were never to be initiated without approval except in cases of emergency. When they left the chief’s office Aiden added, “My name is Aiden Ward, and my partner’s name is Liam Peterson.”

“Stephanie Hughes,” the woman’s voice vibrated within his body. It was her, it had to be. If it wasn’t, he wasn’t sure she existed any more. “and Hale Simmons.”

“We’re here,” the man said gruffly. Liam didn’t like him.

“I don’t have anything new for you yet,” the woman within the building said from somewhere down the hall. Hale walked down the hallway with Stephanie. Liam followed close behind. “I said — oh. Why didn’t you say we had visitors?” The medical examiner was a stout middle-aged woman with thick auburn hair.

“Aiden Ward and Liam Peterson,” Aiden introduced them, “We’re here about the murder victim.”

“Yes,” she turned away abruptly and pulled a white sheet off one of the metal slabs. Liam held back his instinctive wince at the sight and the trace that emanated off the body. The victim appeared to be a regular, but the killer was definitely a monster.

“Any indication of weapon?” Aiden filled the silence.

“No, there are no serrations on the bones. I’ve never seen anything like it,” the medical examiner shook her head. They examined the body for a while longer before leaving again. Stephanie was walking ahead of him, just out of his reach. He wanted to touch her, just once. One brief touch would be enough to tell him if she was his missing soul mate. He would demand to know why she had left so suddenly, without warning. Then he wouldn’t let her go, never again. He shook his head. The detective might not even be her. He needed to get ahold of himself.

“I’ll go get the evidence box,” Stephanie said as they entered the room. Hale led them to a pair of desks, close to the chief’s office.

“What can you tell me about Detective Hughes?” Liam tried to act casual.

The man narrowed his eyes in suspicion, “Why?” the man almost growled. If he didn’t smell so human, he would have suspected him as an irregular.

“She looks familiar,” Liam said with a shrug.

“Right,” the man’s suspicious gaze grew more so.

“Is she dating anybody?” Liam asked, trying to pass off his interest as purely physical.

“That is none of your business,” the man stood taller taking a step towards him.

He struggled to keep his calm at the man’s non-answer. Was this man her boyfriend as well as her partner? Didn’t police have a policy against that? Before he could reply, Stephanie was walking up to them, holding an evidence box. “We don’t have all that much. The rain probably washed away any relevant evidence.”

He made a move to take the box from her. Their fingertips brushed and he knew what he suspected was true, but why wasn’t she reacting the same way he was? Why didn’t she seem to recognize him? What had happened to his soul mate? The only thing that remained of her was her name and her appearance. Why had she left all those years ago? He busied himself with sitting the box down and going through the contents with the two detectives and Aiden. His eyes were immediately drawn to the feather. It looked like a raven’s feather, but it wasn’t. It was much more sinister than that. They hadn’t identified the monster yet, but it was obviously feathered at least some of the time. Damn, this case was connected. It was a blessing and a curse. He could have time to get close to Stephanie Hughes again, find out the truth behind her sudden departure. But he had to solve this before the two detectives got too close, before the killer struck again. He had to be quick about it, stop this monster without alerting the regulars or his soul mate, especially since he didn’t know why she didn’t seem to remember him.

“I need to go interview the owner of the art gallery to find out what time the victim left, see if anybody seemed unusually interested or aggressive with her. I’ll check with her classmates after that,” Stephanie announced.

The other detective got a slightly panicked look on his face, “I should come with you.”

“Don’t be silly, Hale. You need to help those two go over the evidence and statements, and learn what you can from them as well,” Stephanie brushed his concern off. What was she thinking, going out in the field by herself with a monster like that out there?

She didn’t give her partner a chance to argue before slipping out of the building. Liam was itching to follow, but Hale was watching him like a hawk. “You worry about her?” Aiden surprised him by speaking.

The detective looked taken aback. “Who wouldn’t?” he shot back.

“I assume you have a reason,” Aiden replied.

The detective closed down again. Great. He would get nowhere like this. “Let’s focus on the case,” the man said coldly.

“Right,” Liam managed. “Not much to go on,” he added.

“Next of kin live too far away, and neither had heard of any problems in their daughter’s life. Of course, they didn’t know about her boyfriend, so I don’t know if they would have known. So, is this connected to your case or not?” he said bluntly.

“It might be. We’ll see about having our files sent over to look for a pattern,” Aiden replied smoothly. It was a half lie. They would have files sent over, just not complete ones. The monster seemed to target irregulars and regulars alike, both genders, the victims were almost always in their late teens to mid-twenties. A few were outside the range, but not by much. There didn’t seem to be any method to the selection of victims, but maybe they would be proven wrong.

Liam hoped the monster would move on without delay, stay away from his soul mate. He wouldn’t be able to live with it if his soul mate was hurt by this monster. She was within the age range of the targets, as was her partner. They must have advanced through the ranks quickly to become detectives so early in life. He knew Stephanie was bright before she had vanished, but the question of her disappearance was nagging him. Why had she left?