Chapter 185

I make phone calls while I speed toward Portland. Mom and Estelle head to Jasper’s to check on him and Katie. Dad goes to my place to make sure Zara isn’t alone for too long. No one has seen or heard from Kara since she left home at one p.m.

The sun is already set by the time I get to Portland. It’s been an unseasonably cold day below the freezing point. The air is colder since we are closer to the water. I park on the abandoned street, pull on my coat, and hop out of the Range Rover. The wind bites at my skin, forcing me to pull my collar up and steel myself against the weather.

The familiar smells of piss, stale vomit, and a lingering ketamine mixed with rogue werewolves hang heavy in the air. I don’t know why Kara would come back here, but I hope I’m wrong. I hope Les calls and tells me to come home because they found her at the Cozy Up Cafe playing connect the dots on a children’s menu. I grab my work bag out of the trunk and head to the intersection.

“Rocky, keep an ear out fo