by Laura Ryles
“No, I insist.” Orin stood up and walked over to the door and held his arm out for Tala to walk in front of him. She walked back up the hallway and was waiting to be buzzed back into the lobby when Orin walked up right behind her. Too close behind her. Tala whirled around and backed into the door. “Ms. Woods, one more thing.” Orin said as he placed his hand on the door above her shoulder.
“Yes,” she said, hoping he couldn’t hear the fear in her voice.
“Digging up the past will only hurt you. Let things lie. The pack has moved on, you should too.” He leaned his head down and sniffed at her.
“I’ll take that under advisement,” she said, straightening herself up off of the door. “Can you have her buzz me out please? Thanks.” She turned to face the door. Orin let out a low laugh as he stepped back and then the door buzzed. Tala snatched the door open and headed for the waiting area to find her friends. As soon as she was through the door, she felt a wave of relief. She was surprised to find Lark with her feet up in Drew’s lap and Drew’s hand halfway up Lark’s leg when she got to them. As soon as they saw her, they both jumped up like they were afraid she’d see.
“Guy’s, I’m half-human. I’m all for this!” she said as they tried to hide their guilty looks.
“So, how’d it go? You know, with Orin?” Drew said trying to hide his shamefaced grin.
Chapter 10
“Ugh, I’ll tell you in the truck. Let’s get out of here.” The three of them headed to the truck. Once they were on the road Tala described the conversation that she and Orin had while the others listened and offered opinions or advice when solicited. In the end, the three of them all agreed on one thing. They needed to keep looking. Tala’s phone started to ring in her bag. She took it out.
“Hello.”
“Tala, are you okay?”
“Ander? Yes, I’m fine. Why?”
“I had the most awful feeling a few minutes ago. I kept trying to figure out what it was, but everyone here seemed to be fine. Then it hit me, I must have been feeling you.”
“Well, I’m fine.”
“What were you doing about ten minutes ago?” Ander asked.
“Actually, I did feel threatened. Orin was sort of standing over me like, I don’t know, like a dark, menacing, big bad wolf.” Tala said for lack of a better description. “He sort of sniffed at me and told me to leave the past alone. It did scare me a little. Well, more than a little if I’m honest.”
“I’ll ring his neck! He doesn’t know who he’s messing with. I can be there in less than twenty-four hours if I shift and run there.”
“Ander, no. I’m fine. He didn’t put a hand on me, and I don’t think he would anyway. It would look bad.”
“I’ll tear him apart,” Ander said, the rage in his voice beginning to subside.
“I know you would,” Tala said, trying to appease him. “More importantly though, you said you felt it. Like, you felt my fear at the same time I felt my fear?”
“I think I must have. We must have a very strong bond. I’ve never heard of anything like this before.”
“You know, the other day when we were on the phone, I thought I felt something from you too. Maybe it’s growing.”
“I guess it could be. At least now I’ll know if you’re in trouble, right? And I can come rescue you, like a damsel in distress,” Ander laughed.
“Haha. Yeah, if I remember correctly, the last time we were in a jam, I was the one doing the rescuing,” Tala jested.
“Ouch! My pride,” Ander laughed. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, I’m sure. We’re about to go to the Tax Commissioner's office to get the bill of sale from the land deal. Lark and Drew are both with me. I’m fine.”
“All right. I love you. It would kill me if anything happened to you and I wasn’t there. Maybe I should come.”
“No, Ander, I need you there with the Tundras. I trust you to take care of our pack.”
“Fine, I’ll stay here, but if I feel that you're in danger, I’m coming.”
“Oh, you’re so dramatic.”
“Me? Who was it that was just cornered by some creepy guy and sending out ‘help me’ vibes to their mate? Umm, you. I’m going to say that was definitely you.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault we’re mystically connected across countries. I didn’t send them on purpose either.”
“I know. Go do what you have to do, so you can finally come home to me, and your new pack.”
“I’ll call you later, okay? I love you.”
“Okay. Good-bye, Tala. I love you too.”
When she hung up the phone, the other two passengers in the truck were staring at her. Tala hadn’t even noticed when they pulled over. They were now sitting outside of the County Offices.
“Wow, you’ve got it bad,” Lark said with a smile growing on her lips.
“Right? You’re one to talk,” Tala countered with a very deliberate look at Drew, who was sandwiched in between them.
“I want to know what you and Ander were talking about. What’s growing?” Drew asked, trying to refocus their attention.
“Our bond,” Tala replied. “He can feel it when I’m scared now, all the way from Canada. Isn’t that crazy?”
“Seriously?” Lark asked.
“Yeah, that’s what he just said. He said that he could feel it when Orin had me cornered at the door.”
“That’s insane! I’ve never heard of anyone being able to do that,” Lark replied. “Is that normal?”
“What’s normal? I’m a half-human, shape-shifter, with a mate bond to the son of a man who was trying to have me kidnapped and murdered. Is anything ever normal?”
“Yeah, good point,” Lark conceded. “Are you guys ready to go in then?”
“Sure,” Drew answered.
“Yup,” said Tala. The three of them got out and walked into the building. They stopped to look at the map of offices at the front door before heading towards the Tax Commissioner's Office. When they walked in, there was soft bluesy music playing. They walked up to the counter and Drew rang the bell for service. A gentleman appeared, holding a stack of files.
“Can I help you?” he asked the group standing on the other side of the counter.
Tala stepped forward. “We would like to find the record of a land deal from last year, either a bill of sale or the current deed. Can you help with that?”
“You’ve come to the right place. To get a copy of the bill of sale will cost ten dollars. Do you know either of the parties’ names or the date on which the bill was signed?”
“One of the parties would be Clay Woods, and the other party would be…,” Tala looked over at Lark. It took a second but Lark finally realized that Tala was waiting for her to answer.
“Oh, sorry. The other party would be Groshung Properties,” Lark said.
“Okay, give me just a sec and I’ll see if I can find it,’ said the fellow behind the counter.
“Do you really think this is going to help?” Drew asked as they waited.
“I don’t know, but I think it’s worth a shot,” answered Tala.
“What if it doesn’t?” Lark asked, looking at Tala with genuine concern.
“Then I guess we’ll keep looking. I’m not sure where we would go from here though. We definitely shouldn’t give up.” The young man returned from the back room with a sheet of paper.
“That’ll be ten dollars please.” Larke started to pull the cash out of her pocket.
“No. I got this,” Drew said, reaching proudly for his wallet. Lark rolled her eyes and she and Tala exchanged grins behind Drew’s back as he leaned forward to pay the young man. Drew took the paper and handed the man his money. Then all three of them turned their backs to the counter and huddled around the sheet of paper that Drew held out so they could all see.
“I’m not even sure what we should be looking for,” Drew commented.
“Me either,” Lark replied. When Tala didn’t speak, they both looked over at her.
It was clear that she had already found something on the page that they didn’t see.
“What is it?” Drew questioned.
“The date,” Tala answered.
Drew looked at the date and read it out loud.
“February twenty-second, 2018,” It only took a second for it to hit him as well, and then he said “Oh.”
“What?” Lark looked puzzled. “February twenty-second, so what?”
“That’s the day my dad died,” Tala answered.
“Oh. I’m sorry Tala. I didn’t know. But... wait, so he sold this land and died on the same day? What are the odds of that?”
“Not much. That’s one heck of a coincidence, don’t you think?” Drew put the question to the group.
“No, I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I think someone is lying,” Tala skimmed over the rest of the document. The signature of the buyer was a Mr. George Marsville, CEO Groshung Properties. She looked over at her father’s signature and noticed that it didn’t look quite right.
“Hey, Drew, look at the signature.”
“Clay C. Woods. Yeah, what about it?”
“My dad’s middle name was Kameron, with a K, not a C. He didn’t sign this.” Tala stated as she headed for the door. Lark and Drew exchanged looks and then followed. Back in the truck, the three of them sat in silence for a moment before Lark finally spoke.
“Where do you want to go now, Tala?” she asked.
“Do you have a library here?”
“Yeah.”
“Does it have computers?”
“Yeah.”
“With internet?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s where I want to go next,” Tala replied.
“What’s at the library?” Drew asked.
“I want to look up Groshung Properties and this Marsville guy,” Tala said with resolve. The library was so close, they could have walked from the County Office Building instead of driving. Once there, they headed inside.
Lark showed Tala where to sign in to use the computers and then showed her where they were. They all sat down at a computer of their own. Tala opened google and typed in George Marsville first. No matches in the state. She decided to look him up on white pages. No George Marsville there either. Finally, she decided to move on to the company name. She typed in Groshung Properties. The first five matches to her query were ads, but the sixth was a webpage for a company called Groshung Properties. Opening a new page, she found what looked like a short bio of the company. Scanning over most of it, she came to the conclusion that it didn’t say anything of consequence. There was no number or address.
“Finding anything?” Drew asked from the computer beside her.
“No, not really.” Tala answered. A small woman with glasses and an arm full of books walked past them. Tala assumed she was the librarian on duty and called out to her.
“Excuse me, ma’am?” Tala tried to say it quietly. The lady turned around.
“Yes, dear. What can I do for you?” The woman walked over and sat her books down next to Tala’s computer and looked at the screen in front of her.
“I’m trying to find some information about a company that bought some land around here. I found their webpage, but it doesn’t really tell me any of the stuff I want to know.”
“Well, what exactly do you want to know about them? That would make it easier for me to help, if you could tell me exactly what you’re looking for.”
“I guess who owns it, would be a good place to start,” Tala answered her.
“Okay. Well, that’s easy enough. If you go to the Secretary of State’s website, you can look up a company by name, and it should tell you when it was registered, and who owns it, its address, and if it’s still active as well.”
“Oh, that’s great. Thank you.” Tala typed in Secretary of State in the search bar and when she clicked on the site, sure enough, there was a way to search for businesses by name. So, she typed in Groshung Properties, LLP. There it was. She scrolled through the information until she got to the owner’s name. Pipton Real Estate, Inc.
“This says it’s owned by Pipton Real Estate,” Tala said, looking over at the librarian beside her.
“That’s odd,” the librarian said. “Try looking up that company.” Tala typed Pipton Real Estate into the business search bar. Pipton Real Estate...Owner, Broadview LLC. “How strange. It usually gives the individual's name that has registered the company, generally the owner. I’ve never seen it give a business name like that. I suppose it’s not unheard of though, for a business to own another business, right?” The lady laughed and stood back up from crouching over Tala’s computer. “Is there anything else you need, dear?” she asked.
“No, ma’am. Thank you for your help,” Tala answered her.
“So, what does that mean?” Lark asked Tala after the librarian had gone about her business.
“I’m not sure. I guess I’ll look up Broadview LLC.” Tala typed the new name into the search bar, and again it came back with a business name for its owner. Grant Co. Inc.
“Grant Co.?” Lark asked loudly after Tala read the name out.
“Yeah, that’s what it says,” Tala answered.
“Look up Grant Co.. You’re not going to believe this.” Lark was looking at Tala like she’d just seen a ghost. Once again, Tala typed the new name into the search bar. The new entry popped up and there it was in black and white on the computer screen before her.
“Grant Co,... owner, Orin Grant. Not Orin, Orin?” Tala questioned, turning to look at Lark in disbelief.
“No way,” Drew spoke out on the other side of her.
“Way,” Lark said, nodding her head at the two of them. “That’s Orin’s side business. Or it was. He used to do construction jobs on the side before he became Sheriff a few years ago, then he stopped doing it so much because he didn’t have much free time after he was voted in as Sheriff. I thought he had just closed the business down. Apparently, he’s more enterprising than I thought.”
Chapter 11
“What do we do now?” Drew asked. Then he looked at Tala and waited for a response.
“I’m not quite sure. This doesn’t really prove anything. We need solid proof to show the pack. Something that Orin can’t talk his way out of.”
“I don’t know if we’ll find anything there, but Orin does have an office in his house. There might be something there,” Lark offered. “He invited the pack over right after he bought the new house and dad said we had to go out of respect for Orin as our Alpha.”
“How are we supposed to get in his house? It’s not like he's just going to invite us over and show us all of his super-secret business transactions,” Drew said caustically.
“Let’s talk about this in the truck,” Tala nodded towards the door.
“Right,” Lark said. The three of them got up and headed out to the truck. When they were all safely in the vehicle, Tala sat up and faced the others.
“I overheard Orin say that he was going to take Cindy to Red’s tonight to go dancing. I think that we should go to his house and look around his office,” Tala said.
“Are you crazy? He’s the Sheriff! We’ll go to jail,” Drew tried to reason with her.
“Only if we get caught,” Lark said with a devious smile.
“Great! Now if I say no, I look like a wuss,” Drew whined.
“That’s right,” Tala said. “So, you have no choice but to say yes.”
“Fine. What’s the plan then?” Drew asked, resigning himself to the idea of losing to two women from now on.
“I think Lark should go to work as scheduled at two this afternoon. She can call us when Orin and Cindy show up at the bar and then you and I can go to Orin’s in your car. No one will recognize it. We’ll break into the back of the house while no one is home and snoop through his office.”
“In theory, that all sounds great, but what if there’s an alarm? What if someone else is there? What if something happens and Lark doesn’t see them leave and
they come home and catch us? What then?” Drew looked like he was about to start panicking already.
“I’m willing to risk it,” was all the reply that Tala gave.
“I’m in,” Lark said. “I’ll make sure that he and Cindy stay at the bar as long as I can. I’ll give them free drinks if I have to.”
“Okay. I guess we’re all going to be criminals now,” Drew laid his head back as Lark started the truck up and headed back towards the Greens’ home to drop Tala and Drew off. When they reached the house, they all got out and went over the plan again in Lark’s room while she got ready for work. After she left, Tala and Drew had nothing to do but wait for her call. They sat in the living room watching TV with Oakley, eyeing each other nervously every few minutes.
Finally, at around five-thirty, Lark called Tala’s ancient cell phone.
“Okay, they’re here,” Lark breathed into the phone when Tala answered. “Get going. I’ll call if they leave.” Tala hung the phone up and nodded at Drew in a very subtle way. Oakley eyed them suspiciously.
“Uh, Oakley, we’re uh, we’re going to town for a bit. See you later,” Tala said.
“All right. Take care.”
“We’ll try,” Drew commented. Tala made sure to grab her bag on the way out the door. Lark had given them directions to Orin’s house before she left for work so now all they had to do was follow them. They reached the driveway that they supposed was Orin’s and Drew asked, “What’ll we do with my car? We can’t just park it in his driveway, someone might notice it.”
“You’re right. Let’s park down the road a bit, and walk through the woods,” Tala replied. So, they drove on and parked about a mile down the road, on the shoulder as if their car had broken down. They got out and traipsed off through the woods in the direction of Orin’s driveway. When they came out of the woods into the clearing and saw the house, the two of them couldn’t believe their eyes. Lark was right, his house was huge. Three stories with a four-car garage, a barn, a boat, an RV, and a couple of four-wheelers, and that was just the stuff that they could see. This wasn’t the house of a small-town sheriff, that was for sure. They walked as quickly as possible to the back of the house.