“When this is over, you and I are gonna have us a talk about this,” he promised ominously, though it didn’t sound quite like the threat it could’ve

been. “What about the entity? No, wait,”—he lifted a hand to forestall her answer—“what about those fuckers who ambushed us? Did any of the CCTV cameras catch them?”

“No, sir.” She’d double-checked her facts before coming to see the general, knowing she had no more leeway. “The garage is under construction, so the security cameras were down. We’re still going through the material on the confiscated phones, but so far no luck.”

Even the most hardcore voyeurs had scattered once the shooting had started. Good thing, too, or civilian casualties would’ve been even higher.

As it was, two bystanders had been killed and six wounded. Leandra had been forced to contact the Commander in Chief, who’d put a gag order on the press and local police citing national security reasons. The Internet was already buzzing with speculation anyway, but most of the theories out there were going the terrorist route, not even close to the truth. So far, the situation was under control, but she doubted they could afford another public shootout.

Young yanked on the dressing again in irritation. “Damn it. Only reason they’d drive into that garage was to switch cars. You put Cabrera on it?”

“Yes, sir,” Leandra confirmed. “Only three vehicles got out before we sealed off the area. We’re tracking all of them.” Might as well give him a full report. “The Chief of Police threw a fit, by the way. So did the mayor.

And the press.”

The restless fingers paused for a moment. “How’s the kid?”

Not the first question Leandra had expected, but something shifted a little when he asked, made her feel even worse for screwing him over. She cleared her throat, uncomfortable with the feeling. “She’s fine. No lasting damage. We’ve put her in quarantine just to be on the safe side and are running tests, but it doesn’t look like it got to her.” And thank God for that, because if the alien had jumped into the child, that would’ve been an ethical and tactical nightmare. “Her parents were already lawyering up when we got to them. It’s taken care of.”

Mr. and Mrs. Padilla had been convinced to accept a generous financial compensation rather than go to court. They’d also signed an airtight non-disclosure agreement. They hadn’t wanted to at first, but

Young’s staff had turned out to be scarily efficient in making problems go away. Emphasis on “scary.”

Young nodded, accepting that without further questions. “Did the CID

find anything we can use?”

And there he went, tug-tug-tugging again.