Dogs of War

by Geonn Cannon

  She motioned for her partner to continue upstairs and changed direction to meet Ari halfway across the lobby. She self-consciously touched her hair and smiled. "Ariadne Willow. God. You look really good."

  "You too," Ari said. "Civvies suit you. As does the hair."

  "Ah. The length or the color?"

  "Both, actually."

  Diana chuckled. "Thanks. Still getting used to it."

  "How long have you been off third shift?"

  "Oh, uh. About two years?" She nodded. "The exam came around and I figured what the hell, you know? Little did I know how often detectives get called out in the middle of the night. Joke's on me, huh?"

  Ari smiled. "Well, at least you get paid more the same for more work."

  Diana returned her smile. "Yeah... so, um. How are you? Still doing the private eye thing? I heard about the whole thing with the Gavins."

  Ari nodded. "Yep, still doing that. Still, uh... Dale is still working for me. We're actually together now."

  "Wow! Together as in... wow. That's great, Ari. I'm happy for you. And since we're talking about significant others..." She brought up her left hand to show off a ring. "I got this three days after the ban was lifted."

  "Oh! Wow. That is..." She laughed and shook her head. "That's amazing. Congratulations. So are you still Detective Rios?"

  "It's Macallan now. I took Lucy's name. We should have you and Dale over for dinner sometime. You would really like her, I think. And it would give us a chance to catch up." She stepped back to look Ari up and down. "Looks like Dale is taking care of you. I'm used to seeing you dressed like some thrift shop reject, discombobulated, strung out. Looks like you've gotten back on the straight and narrow. For the most part, anyway."

  Her eyes dropped and Ari knew that she was noticing the collar. "Oh, this. This is something Dale gave me. Kind of an inside joke. We didn't want rings, and all the meaning that comes inherent with that, so we decided this was the next best thing."

  "Aha. So, you get the collar. What does she wear?"

  Ari's smile wavered. "Uh, nothing."

  "Nothing? That doesn't seem fair. Someone might snatch her up when you're not looking."

  She could tell Diana was teasing her, but they hadn't even discussed an exchange. The collar had been Ari's idea; Dale proved her loyalty by putting it on her, and Ari proved hers by wearing it. Maybe there should have been something else, something that Dale could touch when they were apart so she could feel closer to her. She was annoyed she hadn't realized it on her own.

  Diana said, "Uh-oh. Sorry, I didn't mean to open up a can of worms there..."

  "No, you didn't. Sorry. I just spaced a little bit."

  "Uh-huh. So hopefully you're not here because you're in trouble."

  "No. I'm actually working with another detective. Kyle Lorne."

  It was Diana's turn to scowl. "You're working with him? On purpose?"

  "He seems pretty stand-up to me. For the most part." At least he had before she discovered he was a hunter, and he'd relaxed about showing his more brutal side. They had worked together on a handful of jobs and before wolf manoth brought out his bloodlust, he was a fine colleague.

  Diana shook her head and looked past Ari's shoulder as if viewing a montage of Lorne's Greatest Hits on the wall behind her. She finally shrugged and met Ari's eye again. "He rubs me the wrong way. Just don't put yourself in a position to rely on him, okay? And watch your back."

  "Watch yours," Ari said softly. "Speak of the devil..."

  Diana turned and saw Lorne stepping off the elevator. He had a file open in one hand, thumbing through it as he walked. Diana began to retreat and held up her hand in farewell. "I should catch up with my partner. It was really good seeing you again, Ari. We have to catch up again soon."

  "We really do."

  Lorne reached them before she could get away, and he nodded at her. "Detective Macallan."

  "Detective Lorne. I was just heading upstairs."

  "Don't let me stop you." Once she was gone, he lowered his voice. "Watch yourself, Willow. She might try to flip you."

  Ari frowned. "Flip me how?"

  "You know. She plays for the other team."

  "Other..." She blinked in surprise when she realized what he meant. "Wow. I knew the year had changed, I just didn't realize it had changed to 1955. You can say she's a lesbian, Lorne. And..." She stopped herself. Could it be possible that he didn't know she was dating Dale? That she was even gay? He'd driven them home after a case, he'd heard them call each other sweetheart. Then again, there were people who could explain away any evidence. Still, what kind of detective was he? She decided to just say, "It's not a crime."

  "Didn't say it was a crime. Free to be you and me, don't ‘h' number-eight and all that. I'm just saying that you might want to watch your step around her. You never know when they might be recruiting."

  "She's married. Pretty sure I'll be fine."

  "Right. Married." Lorne sighed and held up his file. "Got some info on that wolf we took down last night. Want to take a look?"

  "Yeah, absolutely."

  "Victim's name was Logan Ahearn. He was a chef at some hoity-toity place in Redmond. Turns my stomach thinking of a wolf making my food." Ari struggled not to scoff at the hypocrisy, considering the fact he and his cronies were poisoning her people. "Not like I could afford to eat there anyway. And get this, he's got a family of little wolflettes living on Yarrow Point. You ever meet anyone who lives on Yarrow Point?"

  "I think I'm about to." Lorne raised an eyebrow. "Come on, you think she'd talk to a cop? Even if it was self-defense, you're the guys who killed her husband. Let me go check her out, see what's going on. If she's a wolf--"

  Lorne shuddered. "She's a wolf, trust me. Humans don't marry wolves. God, how sick would that be?"

  Ari clenched her jaw and forced back her initial response. "Yeah. So I'll go check it out and let you know if the family's been infected as well."

  "Sounds good to me. Not like I have time to run off to Yarrow anyway..." He took the page with the address out of the file and handed it to her.

  "Is the department going to reimburse me for gas and the toll bridge?"

  Lorne smiled. "I'm lucky if they reimburse me for that stuff. You're doing one this as an extracurricular activity, not as an officially-hired consultant. But I tell you what, since you're doing this as a favor to me, I'll buy you dinner sometime."

  Ari said, "Wow, two dinner invites in ten minutes. I'm really going to save a ton on groceries this month."

  "Two? Who else invited you to dinner?"

  She cursed herself mentally for the slip. "Uh, Off-- Detective Macallan."

  "See? What did I tell you? Watch yourself, Willow." He winked at her as if to indicate his homophobia was meant playfully, then started toward the elevators. "Let me know what you find out."

  "Will do."

  Ari checked the file as she walked, using the map on her phone to figure out where exactly the Ahearn family lived. She sent Dale a text to keep her informed of where she was going and what she was going to do. She was definitely going to meet with Logan Ahearn's widow as she had told Lorne, but she also planned to find out how he was infected and protect his family from suffering the same fate.

  She drove across the floating bridge and thought about the distance between Ahearn's home and the place where he'd been killed. The entire city of Seattle was between the two locations, which meant it was unlikely the victim had been chosen at random. Ahearn had called the victim by name so either he sought out a specific victim or they'd been together when Ahearn was dosed with the wolfsbane. Ari found herself hoping for the latter; if he was at a business dinner or hanging out with friends there was a smaller chance his family would be at risk from something in their home.

  As Ari arrived on the peninsula, she realized that even though she'd grown up with a wealthy mother, and despite being taken under the wing of another rich woman in Glory, she now understood there was still a whole higher level
of money that she'd never gotten close to achieving. Yarrow Point was an enclave of the super-rich, their sprawling homes hidden behind artfully landscaped hedges and bushes that shut out the plebian world. She caught glimpses of private basketball and tennis courts behind towering walls of privacy foliage, and could smell the chlorine from swimming pools tucked away out of sight. These were the people who had private docks in their backyards for when they felt like tooling around Lake Washington.

  Ari ignored a No Parking at Any Time sign next to a row of dumpsters. She looked down at her sweater and slacks, which had seemed so nice in Dale's bedroom, and felt self-conscious as she walked down the winding driveway to the Ahearn home. It was tucked away at the bottom of a slope, only a small segment of it visible from the road. As she came around the curve, however, she saw that it hugged the curve of the land like a serpent, large picture windows reflecting the still waters of the lake.

  The back door opened as Ari approached, and a pretty woman in a blue dress stepped out to intercept her.

  "Hello, may I help you?"

  "Mrs. Ahearn?"

  "I work for the Ahearns."

  Ari said, "My name is Ariadne Willow. I'm a private investigator. I need to speak with Mrs. Ahearn about her husband."

  The woman's demeanor changed. "Should I prepare her for bad news?"

  "Yeah... I would."

  "Stay here for a moment." She turned and went back inside, and Ari was left alone in the driveway. She supposed it was a driveway, at any rate, even though it was long enough to qualify as a side street. It curved along the slope of the lawn to end at a three-car garage with a basketball hoop over the middle door. She tried to remember if she'd seen any luxury cars parked on the street near the crime scene but Queen Anne wasn't exactly a slum. Luxury cars wouldn't have looked at all out of place there.

  The door opened again and a surprisingly tall, unexpectedly young woman with pale brown hair came outside. She wore a giant sweater that appeared hand-knit swaddled her torso, leaving only her hands and legs exposed. She pushed her sleeves up to her elbows and crossed her arms as she looked at Ari and seemed to mentally process the reasons for her to be there.

  "Something happened to Logan."

  Ari couldn't tell if it was intended as a question. She was stunned at the idea Lorne hadn't had someone break the news. "Yes, ma'am."

  "You'd better come inside."

  She turned and went back into the house, leaving Ari to catch up with her. She paused just over the threshold and saw the first woman sitting in the small office just off the living room. Mrs. Ahearn had gone into the kitchen and Ari followed her. "Would you like something to drink?"

  Ari said, "No, thanks. Mrs. Ahearn--"

  "Serena."

  "I'm sorry I have to tell you this, but your husband was killed last night."

  Serena stopped next to the kitchen island and rested her hands on the marble. She bowed her head and took a deep breath. Ari stepped closer and put her hand on the woman's shoulder, shocked at how much taller she was up close. Ari herself was five-seven, but she still only came up to the new widow's shoulder. Serena closed her eyes and curled her fingers on the countertop, her chest rising and falling with each slow intake of breath and measured exhale.

  "How did it happen?"

  "A police officer shot him."

  Serena looked at her, a wave of hair blocking most of her face, but her eyes were clearly visible. "Why? What was he doing?"

  Ari looked toward the front of the house where the other woman was working. "Jacqueline isn't listening. She knows better. And I can tell from your scent that you're one of us. So let's not beat around the bush. What happened to my husband?"

  "Do you know about wolfsbane?" Serena shook her head. "It's a drug being used by a group of hunters to turn canidae into feral monsters. That gives them permission to kill us in cold blood. They've been dosing us through food, drinks, I've even heard a rumor that they're trying to aerosolize it. When one of us inhales or ingests it, we go feral. Then the hunters swoop in to save the day by taking us out. Your husband was under the influence of it last night. He was shot by a detective."

  "God, this is so unbelievable. You said this wolfsbane gives hunters a reason to kill us. What did Logan do to make the officer open fire? Do I even want to know?"

  Ari hesitated. "Do you happen to know where he was last night? Do you know who he was meeting with?"

  "He was visiting one of the men who invested in the restaurant. We had a bit of a downturn last year but things were improving. He wanted to thank Mark for staying with us."

  Ari said, "Marcus Kurtz?"

  Serena began to nod but stopped mid-motion. "Oh, God. Please don't tell me."

  "Sorry."

  Serena swallowed hard and pushed away from the counter. She went to a teapot sitting on the stove and took a cup off a hook. "This is unbelievable."

  "Ah," Ari said. "I would be careful about drinking that..."

  Serena looked at her cup. "This is from a brand-new bag. I opened it myself this morning."

  "Where did the tea come from?"

  "I don't know." She found the bag in the cupboard and looked at the bag. "Illinois. I've been drinking it all morning."

  "I guess it should be fine. Just be careful about what you buy and where you buy it." She eyed the fruit on the counter. "I'm guessing most of what you buy is organic?"

  "Yes."

  "Make sure you wash it carefully before you eat it. Things like bananas and apples... things that come with natural safety wrappers, those should be fine. But tea or soup can have a pinch of something nasty mixed in. Anything someone else prepares for you should make you wary."

  Serena shrugged and took a drink. "These hunters. How are they operating? How can they just go around killing us?"

  "They're ordinary people for the most part. Police officers, bus drivers, mailmen. They put themselves in a position to be attacked and then claim self-defense when they pull the trigger. If you're asking how they justify sacrificing innocent bystanders, then you're asking the wrong woman. Do you have any idea how your husband might have been exposed?"

  "If it could have been anything he ate or drank..." She looked out the window as she thought. "He was always sampling things at the restaurant. It's amazing he didn't weigh five hundred pounds. It could have been anything that crossed his table. Oh, God, if it was in something he served then he might have helped infect some people. They have to be warned."

  Ari said, "I'm doing my best to warn as many canidae as I can. If you have any kids..."

  "Two kids. They're still away with their grandmother... they went out for Christmas and to celebrate the new year." She anticipated Ari's next question. "Ireland. We thought they should get in touch with their roots."

  "They should still be warned. And if you don't mind keeping them out of school for a while, they might be safer staying right where they are. And we should warn Jacqueline about it as well."

  Serena said, "Does it affect humans?"

  "It gives them a stomachache sometimes, but nothing worth noting."

  "Then she'll be fine. Jackie doesn't have to worry about infection."

  Ari kicked herself for not noticing earlier when Serena had casually mentioned the assistant wasn't like them. "She's not canidae?"

  "No. We hired her about six weeks ago as my personal assistant. I'm an artist... the gallery sent her over."

  "Do you trust her?"

  Serena said, "Yes," but she hesitated and looked as if she was saying it because she didn't have quite enough evidence to say no. She looked toward the other room with a wary expression as Ari slipped off her stool.

  "Stay here." She walked slowly through the living room and peered around the corner into the office. Jacqueline was on a laptop with her back to the door. She was small but well-muscled, her black hair cut short. Ari wished there was some telltale sign, a tattoo or a bracelet which indicated someone was a hunter. Lorne said he'd grown the beard in honor of wolf manoth, but w
hat did would a woman do? Cut her hair to avoid having her vision impeded?

  She sensed the scrutiny and turned around to find Ari watching her. "Hello. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

  "Ariadne Willow. I'm a private investigator. I'm working with Detective Kyle Lorne. Know him?"

  Jacqueline's mouth twitched slightly toward a smile. She lowered her voice and leaned closer. "Ah, yes. Lorne... I've heard of him. You can tell him everything's under control here. Serena's a fighter but I know I can overpower her when the time comes. I've been holding back until her little brats get home--"

  Ari had heard enough and was ready to take the hunter out, but movement from the corner of her eye stopped her. She turned toward the kitchen and saw Serena standing in the doorway. She was swaying slightly from one side to the other, her head hanging forward as if she was sleepwalking. Jacqueline stood up and moved to see what Ari was looking at.

  "Damn. Did you let her open a new bag of tea? She normally opens a new one every Saturday. This screws up my time table a little bit."

  Serena stumbled forward. "What are you talking about...?"

  Jacqueline ducked back into the office just as Serena lunged for her. Ari caught the taller woman's hands and twisted her away, using her own weight to change Serena's trajectory into the living room. They tumbled over the back of the divan, rolling onto the floor. Ari landed underneath Serena, who straddled her waist and wrapped both hands around Ari's throat. Ari's feet were still on the couch and the awkward positioning gave her the leverage necessary to somersault Serena onto the coffee table. It was sturdy enough that it didn't break, but Ari doubted it was very good for Serena's back.

  Jacqueline returned with a gun drawn. She aimed it at Serena and cocked the hammer, but Ari slammed into her just before she managed to pull the trigger. They hit the living room wall, arms tangling until Jacqueline pistoned her flattened palm into Ari's chest to knock her back. They struggled for the gun briefly but Jacqueline gained the upper hand by dropping into a crouch and shoving her shoulder into Ari's gut. Ari was thrown back and forced to let go of the gun.