Rise & Fall (THIRDS 4)

“Thanks, partner,” Dex said dryly. “You sure you’ll be okay?”

Sloane’s voice was sincere when he answered. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“Okay. I love you, you know that?”

“I know.”

Dex could hear the smile in Sloane’s voice. How could something make him feel both wonderful and horrible at the same time? “Good night.”

“Good night, Dex.”

Sloane hung up, and Dex sat there for a moment wondering what the hell he was doing. He had an amazing guy waiting for him at home, and he was about to sleep on some pimp’s reject couch in a makeshift base in the basement of his ex-boyfriend’s catering company. Scrolling through his phone, he found a text from Austen.

No updates.

Dex had to move quickl

y. If Seb started feeding algorithms into Themis on Ox Perry, something was bound to pop up. Dex was onto something, he just had to figure out what it was. He went back to the table and went over his notes, going over every detail until he was all but falling asleep and drooling on his map, but he shook himself off and continued. He made a mental note to bring a coffee machine. Checking his list for the hundredth time, something suddenly jumped out at him. It might be nothing, but then again it could be everything. Two of the streets had ice cream shops. One street had a pizzeria. Another had a bakery. Then a confectionary store. A children’s clothing store. A kid’s book shop.

“The guy’s got a kid.” No wonder Perry kept getting sighted in the area. He had a child somewhere around there. Finally, Dex had something. A Google search later, and Dex was grinning. There was an elementary school in the area. He picked up the sandwich and took it back to the couch. Damn, this couch was fugly. Not even tacky, just really fucking ugly. Even Cael wouldn’t go near the monstrosity in his Therian form to scratch it, and his brother loved clawing furniture. Tony had replaced three couches, two armchairs, six sets of curtains, and countless other furnishings while they’d been growing up. Cheetah Therians were incredibly curious. They also liked climbing, touching, clawing, and chewing.

Tomorrow he’d get up early to stake out the school in case Perry showed up. Sloane would most likely be sleeping in because of the meds, so it gave Dex some time. He’d also have to stop by the office and visit with PR for a while. He never thought he’d be glad they called. As Dex ate his sandwich, he checked his watch. If he went to sleep now, he’d get about four hours of sleep. Once he was done eating, Dex lay down, stared at the exposed ceiling, listened to the whir of the boiler in the small room next door and told himself he was doing the right thing. The thought of Hogan getting his claws in Sloane was enough to have Dex digging his nails into the couch cushion until his fingers hurt. There was no way Dex would let that son of a bitch get near Sloane. He fell into a restless, dreamless sleep.

Early the next morning, Dex headed for Queens, and Maspeth Elementary. He parked in front of a residence the next block over and turned off the ignition. From here he watched the yellow school buses drive past as they dropped kids off, as well as parents walking their children to the school. Parents were scattered in small groups, chatting to each other while their kids ran around, jumping handrails and climbing fences before their parents could notice and drag them away. It reminded him of when Tony used to hold on to the handle of Dex’s backpack while trying his damn hardest to keep Cael from climbing anything and everything he could get his chubby little fingers on. More often than not Tony would end up with one of them under each arm, carrying them inside to their classrooms, and dropping their little butts on their chairs before greeting the teacher and wishing her luck.

One lone figure stood on the sidewalk looking down into the basketball court filled with kids screeching and playing as they waited for the bell to signal the start of another school day. Maspeth was a good school, and it accepted both Human and Therian children. Dex’s research had informed him it was more concerned with the education of its students and not their species. It was hard to believe segregated schools still existed. They were private schools and fell under the same laws as religious schools, so not much could be done about it.

Today was Dex’s lucky day. Ox Perry was wearing a baseball cap and sporting a beard, but Dex recognized him. Was the guy being inconspicuous because he knew he was being hunted or because he wasn’t supposed to be here? Considering Dex couldn’t find any information regarding Perry having a child, Dex wondered if maybe Perry wasn’t granted access or visiting rights. Well, there was only one way to find out.

Dex got out of his car and set the alarm before casually making his way over. He came to a stop beside Perry who took a subtle step to the side.

“Hey,” Dex said with a friendly smile.

“Hey,” Perry replied warily.

“My name’s Agent Daley. I’m with the THIRDS.” Dex showed his badge. He was risking exposure, but he had a feeling Perry wasn’t about to go running off to tell the THIRDS. As Dex suspected, Perry’s eyes widened, and he took a step back, like he was going to bolt. But his gaze moved to the basketball court, and a conflicted expression came onto his face.

“Easy there, Perry, I’m not here to arrest you.”

“Look, I didn’t have anything to do with the Order. Reyes approached me months ago, and I told him to fuck off. I don’t want to have anything to do with him or the others. The whole Humans against Therians shit was a lifetime ago. I was a stupid kid. I made a mistake.”

“I don’t think Beck Hogan sees it that way. He’s looking for you.” Dex followed Perry’s gaze to the court, surprised when a little girl waved at Perry with a big-dimpled smile. From here Dex could make out a black tattoo on her neck. Shit. No wonder Perry didn’t want to get mixed up with Reyes. He had a Therian child.

“Is she your daughter?” Dex asked.

“Yeah. Her name’s Beth.”

“She’s adorable.” Dex couldn’t help his smile as the little girl screeched and laughed with her fellow students, her pigtails bouncing with her. His smile faded when he once again spotted the tattoo on her neck marking her as a wolf Therian. He understood the need for Therian laws the same way he understood the need for Human ones, but there were aspects he didn’t agree with. Justified or not, marking adults was one thing, but children? The whole classification thing had never sat well with him.

Doctors claimed the process was painless for the kids, but Dex called bullshit a long time ago. He remembered when he and Cael had been kids, the way Cael had screamed and screamed when they’d marked him, big, fat tears rolling down his pink cheeks. He’d cried until his throat was sore and his voice hoarse. The whole thing had been terrifying for them all. Dex had been forced to wait outside the CDC Therian Registration office after trying to punch the doctor for hurting his little brother. Tony had been stone-faced the entire time. His dad had never been big on the whole classification thing either. He’d taken them out for ice cream afterward.

“Beth’s my whole world. Lana, her mother, was a wolf Therian. A nurse. I met her ten years ago when I ended up in the hospital after someone hit a gas main at one of the sites I was working at. The explosion knocked me out. When I woke up, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. She was so beautiful. We started talking and then dating. I couldn’t lie to her about my past. I cared about her too much. After everything I’d said and done, she forgave me. Two years later, we had Beth. It was unexpected, but we were so happy. I was going to ask Lana to marry me.”

“What happened? If you don’t mind my asking.” By the look on Perry’s face, it was clear Lana was no longer with him.

“Lana was pre-First Gen. She lived through the mutation caused by Eppione.8,

but it caused a lot of health issues. Her immune system was slowly deteriorating. She caught an infection after childbirth and passed away a few weeks later.”