Chasing Fate (Sentinel & Guide)

Chapter 67

[[Unedited but very fun]]

Sentinels that turned to a life of crime often had an upper hand. They were meticulous due to their heightened senses, and rarely left definite evidence. Jack could expect the same as he entered the room where Fate had been abducted from. There were signs of the struggle, and the heavy copper scent of his father's blood. 

If he concentrated, he could catch the faint chemical scent of the chloroform, but that would be inadvisable. Neha and Elliot stood behind him. It was dangerous for him to survey a scene without Fate. He was at an extreme risk of succumbing to Finchausen's if he tried. The most sensible course of action would be to let Elliot review the scene for him, but the alpha in him just couldn't trust anyone else to do it. 

This was a slap in the face, no, worse than that. Some other alpha came into his territory like it was nothing, and stole his guide like it was nothing! This was a blow to his status as a sentinel, as a prime, as the senior alpha of his whole clan. 

It was a declaration of war that he would handle very personally. 

Jack closed his eyes and refocused again, digging into his sense memory of Fate and how she calibrated him. When he reopened his eyes teh room was clearer. He began to pick out details. 

His father had struck the perp in the mouth, causing a splatter of blood. This all happened near the doorway. As expected, there was a bit of blood on the door frame. Jack squinted. He'd seen plenty in his time in and out of the ring, and something seemed a bit off about this blood. 

"Elliot, what's the time for coagulation, like congealing?" 

"In this environment it tends to dry out first, we dehumidify the place. Why?"

Jack pointed to the frame," Have someone in the mortuary check this out. Doesn't seem right." 

Just as quickly Jack turned around, looking for anything else he could find. The IVs that had kept Fate hydrated was unhooked, the little needle set back into the top of the bag so that the system wouldn't set off the alarm. The heart and blood oxygen monitor had been disabled, everything had been removed from her before she was taken, even if hastily tossed near the hazardous waste bin. That couldn't have happened if there was a struggle from her. She was still asleep when she was taken out of the hospital. 

But she wasn't a toddler that could fit in a bag. How could he have gotten her out with no-one noticing? The hall had been in night mode, so the staffing was light and the hallway had been darkened, but there were still nurses on duty. 

But they'd only been alerted when Elliot, the only sentinel doctor available at the time, came upstairs and smelled too much blood. His father's voice was measured and low, it's unlikely the nurses noticed the argument, and the chloroform meant that his father was unconscious before he could make enough noise to alert them. 

It was...meticulously planned. 

Jack took another deep breath. It was easy to notice what was extra in a crime scene.  Any sentinel would try their best to remove and obfuscate any evidence, down to the hair. But that was also their downfall. 

He'd learned this at a young age, stealing cookies from the cookie jar, he'd cleaned the counter of every stray crumb, then washed his face and brushed his teeth until he could not smell even a stray hint of chocolate. Smug, he'd boldly asked for dessert after dinner, only to face his father's knowing laugh. 

"You cleaned up so well, even better than your mom had left it.Sometimes the lack of evidence is the clearest of all. Now  you'll be using those skills to do the dishes young man."