“The DHS?” The older human looked unsure. “No one said you were coming. When did—”

“Do you have evidence to support this was not a terrorist attack made on American soil?” Jade interrupted, stepping forward slightly. The man blinked.

“I...no, not really. We’re still—”

“Then it is possible this was a malicious attack carried out by extremists.”

“I suppose.” The human sighed and looked away, flustered. “Look, we don’t really know what we have yet,” he admitted. “The evidence we’ve gathered so far has been...strange. The inspector has been trying to keep everything under wraps until we figure out what really happened here. If you want, you can check out the evidence tent at the end of the road. See the weirdness for yourself.”

“Thank you,” Jade said, and gave a brittle smile. “We will do that.” She started to turn but paused, staring at the human as if surprised he was still there. “You may go now.”

The two men retreated, practically scrambling over each other to get out of the house. They fled, slamming the door behind them, and strode away down the road without looking back. Jade, standing at the edge of the room with her arms crossed, allowed herself a triumphant smirk.

“Damn,” I said as the Eastern dragon turned back. “That was impressive. I guess I’m not the only one with a master’s in BS.”

She smiled. “The DHS does have a public website,” she said. “They list their mission statement, job offers, history, everything. When Wesley told me how we were getting onto the crash site today, I did my research. But yes.” Her smile widened. “If it is necessary for our survival, I have been known to ‘bullshit’ with the best of them from time to time.”

I snorted a laugh. “Wish you were around a couple years ago. I could’ve used the help. Anyway...” I glanced out the hole in the wall, down the road where the two men had disappeared. “Shall we track down this evidence tent and see if we can uncover what the hell is going on?”

The evidence tent wasn’t hard to find, being a large white structure at the edge of the road and the only building that wasn’t charred, scorched or burned to the ground. Humans in suits and white coats were swarming in and out of it, but other than flashing my badge at the entrance, we didn’t really get a second glance. Inside, metal shelves ran the length of one canvas wall, each of them holding boxes marked with labels in clear plastic bags. Immediately, Ember headed to the wall, her innate curiosity no doubt driving her forward, while St. George hovered at our backs, watching the crowd. Grateful that the soldier was keeping an eye out, I walked up and peeked into one box.