The Fugitives, A Dystopian Vampire Novel: Book Four: The Superiors Series by Lena Hillbrand

Milton cleared his throat. “Uh, listen. We looked into that missing file for that Enforcer injury? You remember the one?”
    “Of course I remember.”
    “Well, it seems this Superior, uh, Draven Castler?”
    “Castle.”
    “Yeah, well, we looked into his record and…I don’t know how to say this nicely, sir, but we know you’ve activated his tracer.”
    “And?”
    “And that’s illegal.” Milton shifted, looking uncomfortable. “We’re going to have to ask you to come on back. We figure you’re out there tracking him. Is that right?”
    Byron had never broken a law before, not even a small one. Not even one as small as lying to an Enforcer. But he was an Enforcer, so it didn’t really count. He wasn’t about to let the Law ruin this for him.
    For a moment, Marisol’s warning entered his mind. She’d be furious if she learned he was defying his boss’s orders, breaking laws to wreak the appropriate revenge on Draven. Marisol had liked Draven. Maybe she’d liked him too much, Byron thought, remembering his envy upon seeing his friend’s physique.
    “I’m just getting out of town,” Byron told Milton. “I needed a break, a little time away from Princeton, that’s all.”
    “And the tracer?”
    “What’s that matter? He’s a suspect. Someone will bring him in.”
    “I’m sorry, Byron. You know we have to follow protocol. I had to turn the tracer off.”
    “You can’t turn it off.”
    “It’s already done. Sorry, buddy. It may seem unfair, but we have to do it the right way, no matter who’s the victim. Even if it’s you.”
    “I’m not a victim.” Just wait until they saw what he was going to do to Draven. They’d see what a victim looked like.
    “You know what I mean,” Milton said. “I’d like to help you out, but I just don’t know what to think anymore. I’d hate to see you taken off this case, but the way you’re handling things, harassing suspects with no proof…”
    “No proof? Two trackers went out looking for him and wound up dead. How is that no proof?”
    “We don’t know what happened to them. We haven’t recovered the bodies.”
    “Did you find any evidence Draven was in the woods at all?”
    “I’m not sure you should be involved in this investigation.”
    “It’s my sap, dammit. What did you find?”
    Milton paused before answering. “We found the remains of a few fires. And…”
    “And what?”
    Milton cleared his throat. “We found the remains of a sapien infant.”
    “The baby. You found her baby.”
    “We think so.”
    “Did he kill it?”
    “We can charge him with it, yes. It’s hard to tell with saps how they died. So many causes of death, as you know. It had some broken bones, but the body was still in good condition, since it’s been so cold.”
    “So, what? Draven beat it to death?”
    “It had some bruising, but the main thing is, the body’s been drained. We can assume that’s the cause of death.”
    “So he killed my sap, but I can’t activate his tracer?”
    “It was a sapien, Byron,” Milton reasoned. “The first he’s ever killed. He’ll owe you restitution, and he’ll not be able to buy a sap for five years, but you know how it is. The laws aren’t real strict about that first kill. Accidents happen.”
    “But it was my sap.”
    “So he’ll owe you the fine instead of the government. And we can charge him with stealing a sap. That’s a big charge. But just because you’re the victim, that doesn’t change the Law.”
    “Dammit, Milton. Can’t you just let me track him down? You know as well as I do that he killed Lathan and Lapin.”
    “Sorry, Byron. Wish I could look the other way, but I can’t. I wouldn’t be doing my job.”
    That was a dirty little dig. Byron could hardly blame him for it, though. A year ago, he would have said the exact same thing if he were in Milton’s place. Hell, six months ago he would have said it. But things were different now. Now he’d broken a law, and it seemed a waste to