Chasing Fate (Sentinel & Guide)

Chapter 69

[[ : ) I look forward to your comments. Unedited. Been waiting on this chapter since day 1.]] 

"Nice." Casey Kurd's smile widened to both ears as he downloaded the image from an "anonymous" email. Kaylee Anne wasn't dumb enough to leave a trail to her work or personal email. She kept an alias on a journalism network just for things like this.

The image was purposely blurred. a few pieces of paper were in the shot, covering each other to prevent the high tech image software from dredging more information than she wanted released.  It wouldn't do well for her to drop all the information at once. There'd be no reason to pay the piper if it were sent up front. But he could make out the important bits. 

<<Lithica County Fire Marshall Arson Investigation Report
... In relation to the fire located in outer county near the border
... the body was of a male sentinel approx 6 ft in height....
...remains unidentified. Second victim is Jane Doe (Here a marker corrected to read Lafayette Robinson) ... who is to be interviewed under suspicion of arson with intent to kill.>>

Casey swiped over to zoom on the paper with the official looking seal.

<<Lithica County Police Department- Witness interview Miss A ( a label sticker covering the rest of the word labeled this as Lafayette Robinson as well) 

Relating to the night of ......
Miss A was detained in the county hospital in relation to arson investigation...
...Miss A repeatedly confesses to the murder of her sentinel>> 

The most visible part of the photo, unblurred and front and center was a picture of the Hammond's Heir guide, this time skinny and bald, with dead-looking eyes staring directly at the camera. The watermark was huge and immediately recognizable. NOGS-Federal. The picture was stamped with several different notations:

<< Intake identification photo. Extreme case, absolute isolation required. NO CONTACT>>

Oh, he wouldn't have to worry about rent for YEARS. 

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Jack sat with his arms crossed in the back of a nondescript Jeep, the kind with no separation from the elements, only a windshield and roll bars to meet safety criterion. Even nulls referred to this type of vehicle as a 'hunting car'. Due to the lack of safety features, most bonded sentinels wouldn't go near such a vehicle. Even now the driver was a null borrowed from the police department. The car rolled down the highway at a steady but slow clip, ten miles below the speed limit. It wasn't that they weren't in a hurry, but any faster and the wind would disrupt the scent. 

Behind them, three other SUVs contained Elliot, Neha,  and four more bonded pairs that constituted a small part of the Hammond strike team. These bonded sentinels and guides had been thoroughly trained for situations like this, often taking over the role from their parents. They all had different day jobs, so while the sentinels in the police stations and hospitals had their hands tied, they had more capability to assist. 

There was also some more raw power travelling with them. It wasn't that they didn't think Jack could take down this sentinel a second time, but that if anything had happened to Fate in the past 8 hours, the rampage would not be contained with one death.  Two alphas, sentinels with exceptionally powerful physiques were traveling along with them. 

They weren't bonded yet but their sentinel capabilities were relatively low. These were the kinds of men who went toe to toe with Jack in the ring. They'd at least be able to subdue him if it got out of hand. At least temporarily. 

If they couldn't, with Sigfried in the hospital, they'd have to get the Youngblood clan to send over their Alpha primes. They simply didn't have any others who could take on Jack in the area. They hoped it wouldn't come to that.