"Good morning," Machiko Ericson said as Jack entered the conference room.
"Hey." He yawned and rubbed his hands over his face. His cybernetic eyes never felt gritty the way his real ones used to, of course, but all the other symptoms of sleep deprivation were present.
"Mornin', Boss." Corona ducked through the door, followed by Taura. Neither of them looked quite as tired as Jack felt, but Taura was shivering again. They took seats on either side of Jack as he plopped down at the big oval table. Corona waved at something off to the left and Jack looked up and found Ralphie and Rocky Spunkmeyer sitting at the end of the table.
"Oh, hi. Sorry, I didn't notice you there."
"Hiya, guys." Rocky chuckled. "You look like you had a long night."
"Eh, we stayed up later than usual." Jack aimed a lopsided grin at Corona. "It's my fault."
"I gotta take some of the blame." Corrie giggled and swatted him on the ass with her tail.
Jack grinned, then he arched an eyebrow at Machiko. She somehow gave the impression of being sleepy without letting it show on her face. Maybe it was the way her steel-gray hair, normally kept in a bun so tight that merely looking at it made his scalp ache, was currently tied into a simple ponytail with numerous stray hairs all over.
"Still," Jack muttered, "we were both expecting to get more than ninety minutes of sleep."
"So was I," Taura grumbled. "You were louder than usual. The noise kept me awake until you were finished, and then I was too … distracted to fall asleep."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Corona scooted her chair around Jack and leaned over to put her arm around Taura. "The apartment we're in must have thinner walls than the one we had before."
Taura shrugged. She glanced at Jack and looked as if she was about to say something, but she thought better of it and just stared at the table.
Corona raised a brow ridge at Jack but he didn't meet her gaze. He managed to suppress the sigh that almost slipped out. Let's not get started on this again.
"I'm sorry to drag you out of bed at such an early hour." Machiko stood and folded her wings around her shoulders to keep them out of the way. She walked over to the counter behind Rocky and Ralphie, stopped in front of the coffee maker in the corner, scooted a tray of foam cups over to it, and picked up the carafe. "Something came up."
"Of course." Jack slumped forward and propped his chin on his hand. "What went horribly wrong this time?"
"Someone busted into a chimera shelter on 334th Street and grabbed two of the residents and a guest," Ralphie said, and smiled as he accepted a cup of coffee from Machiko. "Thanks." He took a slow sip and brushed a hand through his shoulder-length black hair. "After reading the police report, we figured they were cops or military. Or maybe a security team from one of the big corporations. But I've been talking to the cops and if they were involved, they're not admitting it. Or the ones I spoke with simply didn't know about it."
"I'm thinking it was someone else," Rocky said. She took a cup from Machiko and placed it on the table. "A couple kids of some very wealthy people got roughed up, and if some cops had done that, their careers would be shitcanned so fast it'd cause a time warp. The cops know that, so I doubt they had anything to do with it."
"Probably corporate security, then," Jack mused. "Or mercs."
Machiko passed out cups to him and the girls, took one more for herself, and returned to her seat.
"Or a team of criminals," Corona said. "Maybe they want ransom."
"Yeah, that's another possibility."
"I'd be inclined to agree if not for one thing," Machiko said, gazing into her coffee and turning the cup slowly. "The people they abducted were two chimeras and one human. I hate to say it, but we're not worth much money. If they wanted ransom, they would've grabbed more of the rich humans who were there."
"So the ones they did grab must've been targeted for a reason." Taura crossed her arms tightly over her chest, trying to stop her shivering and twitching. "I don't suppose the police report said anything about a motive?"
"Nope." Rocky sighed and brushed a lock of her wavy orange hair away from her eyes. "They just took brief statements from the witnesses and left it at that. To be fair to the police, the people they interviewed seemed less than eager to answer some of their questions."
"So you'd like us to have a talk with the witnesses?" Corona said. "See if we can get more answers from them?"
Machiko nodded, then she glanced at Taura and added, "I'd like you to get into the shelter's security camera network, as well as any cameras you find on the streets around the shelter. Maybe that'll help us identify the intruders, or at least give us an idea of where they went when they left."
"I'll get on it as soon as we arrive."
"Good. Well, if there's nothing else …?"
"Actually," Corona said, "I got a voicemail from Detective Ramirez on the way over here. She was kinda vague about what she was doing, but said her daughter might be at risk because of something she's investigating. She asked me to guard her if it becomes necessary." She met Machiko's gaze. "Her daughter, Kim, is a friend of mine. I hope it won't cause any problems if I help her out."
"As long as it doesn't interfere with your investigation, I've got no problem with it." A haunted look crossed Machiko's gunmetal face before she regained her composure. She reached out and patted Corona's hand. "I've lost too many friends to say no."
"Thank you." Corona smiled, but looked worried at the same time. "I called Lola back, but she didn't answer. I hope she gets my message soon."
Machiko nodded. "If necessary, Kim can stay in one of our safe houses."
"Thanks, I'll let her know." Corona stood and turned toward the door. "We'll get right on it."
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