by Geonn Cannon
“Someone just tried to kill me.”
Val looked up, her eyes immediately locking onto Ari’s bruised throat. “Shit.” She pushed back her chair and pointed over Ari’s shoulder. “Bed. Now.”
Ari led the way, rubbing her neck as she sat down. Val paused to put on gloves before she began examining the injured area. Her brow was knit together in concern as she gently probed.
“What happened?”
“Someone made a noose out of some sheets.” She cleared her throat; it felt raw. “Caught me like a fish while I was in the bathroom. Strung me up. Tried to hang me using the stall door.”
“Kunz?”
“I don’t think so. She’s my number one fan now.”
Val said, “Okay, look here.” She used a penlight to test Ari’s pupils. “Was there any loss of consciousness?” Ari shook her head. “You said you were strung up. Did you drop?”
“No.”
“How long were you hanging?”
Ari tried to remember. It felt like minutes, but she knew that couldn’t be accurate. “Probably only a couple of seconds. No one else came into the bathroom during the whole thing.”
“That bodes well,” Val said. “Of course, if someone had come in and seen who your attacker was, it might have been helpful.”
“Yeah. All I saw were her shoes. They were blue. Why does the prison allow two different colors of shoes? Isn’t there... I don’t know, gang affiliations to worry about?”
Val said, “Mm, there are only two colors. Blue and white. They’re handed out at random, and people aren’t allowed to request a specific color when they get new ones. It’s not really worth it to use them as a symbol.”
Ari grunted. “That’s too bad. I was hoping I could narrow down the suspect pool.”
“You’ve really pissed off enough people that you don’t know who did this? Also, you’ve already spent more time in the infirmary than some women who have been in here for years. Kudos for that.”
“What can I say, I have a punchable personality.”
Val smirked. “I’ve known some people like that. I could have you stick around here for observation, but I don’t think you would take too kindly to that.”
“I don’t have to stay?”
“You don’t have to...”
Ari slipped off the bed. “I need to figure out who is trying to kill me before she takes another shot.” She took a step toward the door before she stopped. “Wait, you get to leave at the end of the day.”
Val held up her hands. “Whatever you’re going to ask, the answer is no. I don’t do errands for prisoners, Miss Willow.”
“This is a special circumstance.”
“They all are!”
Ari said, “I was framed by the same woman who is going to prosecute me. And I’m pretty sure she’s behind the attack, to make sure I never actually see the courtroom. Some serious shit is going on here. I have good people working to unravel everything on the outside, but they can’t do it alone. And I’m completely blind. I need to know what they’re doing. I’m not asking you to smuggle drugs or do anything illegal. I just need you to talk to them.”
Val sighed and put her hands on her hips. “Ariadne, I really wish I could help you...”
Ari’s shoulders slumped. “I understand. It was worth a shot, anyway.”
When she reached the door, Val said, “Those little girls...” Ari looked back at her. Val was looking at the table. “Where did you find them?”
“Melody and Jenna? The guy who took them had them locked up in his study.”
“He was going to kill them.”
It wasn’t a question, so Ari didn’t answer it.
“You saved them,” Val said.
“Yeah.”
Val rolled her head and stared at the ceiling in surrender. “Damn it. Okay, fine. What do you need me to do?”
#
Dale and Gwen were finally allowed to visit Diana, although they were warned to keep it brief. Dale had to hold back tears as she very, very carefully gave Diana the tightest hug that wouldn’t hurt her.
“Thank you,” she whispered, kissing the salt-and-pepper hair above Diana’s ear.
“I would do it again in a heartbeat. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Dale looked guiltily at Lucy, who squeezed her hand. “I married a cop. I know stupid dangerous stuff comes with the territory. I’m fine with it.”
“No, you’re not,” Diana said with a smile.
“No, I’m not,” Lucy admitted. “But I’m not going to change the woman I love.” She stroked Diana’s hair away from her face and smiled down at her. “I’ll just keep nagging her about always wearing her vest.”
Diana looked down at her chest. “Yeah, I don’t think you’re going to have to nag very hard after today, sweetheart.”
Dale kissed them both on the cheek and made Diana promise to take it easy. “We’ll take care of it from here on.”
“But if you need anything--”
“You’ll be our last resort.”
When they got back to Gwen’s house, Dale opened her laptop and added everything she knew about Hector Cook to the file she had built. GG&M kept him on their payroll for years just so they could use him for something like this. He was a sacrifice in a game they hadn’t even known they would be playing. How many other people like Cook were being paid by the firm? Dale looked up their history and found multiple occasions where lawyers - usually not Cecily Parrish - provided pro bono representation to small-time career thieves. Break-ins, car theft, vandalism... she counted at least four different defendants who were kept out of prison by GG&M.
Milo leaned over the back of her chair and examined the screen. “Are you... is it legal for you to be in these records?”
“Let’s say it is.”
Milo kissed the top of Dale’s head. “I love you, girl.”
Dale made a note of each name on the list and did searches for their current whereabouts. A year ago, Scott Riddy had been sentenced to twenty years for kidnapping and murder. Five years before that, a man named Henry Gordon pled guilty to another murder. Dale made notes of the victims in each case. It seemed like GG&M had a bad habit of collecting bodies.
She had lost track of time when the doorbell rang. She snapped out of her investigative tunnel vision to realize Hannah and Mia were cooking dinner. Gwen touched Dale’s shoulder as she passed on her way to answer the door. She peered through the window before she undid the lock.
“May I help you?”
“Wow. I was going to ask to speak with Ariadne Willow’s mother, but I don’t think I have to. Gwen, right?”
“Yes?”
Dale had gotten up and approached the door. The brunette at the door looked nervous, tugging at the sleeves of her red jacket as she introduced herself.
“My name is Valerie Byrne. I’m a doctor at King County Correctional.”
Dale was now at Gwen’s shoulder. Without looking, Gwen reached out and touched Dale’s hand. “Should you be here right now?” Gwen asked.
Valerie laughed without humor. “No, definitely not. But it’s special circumstances.”
“Is Ari okay?” Dale asked.
Valerie looked at her. “You must be Dale. Ari is okay. But she was... there was an incident this morning.”
Dale squeezed Gwen’s hand.
“She’s relatively fine. But someone tried to hang her in the bathroom.”
“Hang her?” Gwen said.
“Damn it,” Dale said. “I knew it. I fucking knew it.”
Valerie linked her fingers together, head hung almost sheepishly.
Gwen said, “Oh, come in. Please.”
“Thank you.” Valerie came inside and looked toward the kitchen, acknowledging the women there before she drifted into the living room. Gwen closed the door and joined her. Valerie took a seat while Gwen and Dale remained standing. “Ari told me about what she believes is happening. That she’s been framed, and the person behind it is trying to tie up the loose
ends.”
“And you believe her?”
Valerie shrugged. “I saw the bruises on her throat myself. Prisoners don’t generally get attacked like that in their first week.” She put her hands in her jacket pockets and then seemed to remember something. “Oh, canidae. I know about the canidae. I’m the one who... I gave Ariadne a drug that can halt her transformations.”
Dale walked across the room and hugged Valerie. She didn’t think about it, she just felt it was something that needed to be done.
“Thank you.”
“Sure. I’m... there are other canidae who are in the same situation.” She looked into the kitchen again. “Ari told me she didn’t have a pack.”
Dale stepped back from the hug. “These are friends. They’re from England.”
Gwen said, “You’re not canidae?”
“No. It’s a long story.” She cleared her throat. “Ari wants to coordinate. She needs to know what you know, and vice versa.”
Dale said, “Well, I just found out GG&M has a stable of criminals they use to cover up their own crimes. It seems reasonable they have someone who was willing to turn herself in the same day Ari went to prison. Then she just waits for a signal.”
Gwen said, “Dale, you were listing the people who were likely to be GG&M’s sacrificial lambs. Were any of them women?”
“Not that I’d found yet. But who knows how many there are that I just haven’t uncovered?”
Valerie said, “I want to help as much as I can. If someone really is plotting to kill a prisoner, it’s worth a little risk to keep everyone informed.”
Dale said, “How is she doing?”
Valerie looked at her. “Outside of a bad habit of making people hit her...”
Dale laughed. “Yeah, that’s my puppy.”
“She’s doing well,” Valerie said gently. “She misses you like crazy.”
Milo came downstairs, slowing when she saw the stranger. “Who’s this?”
Gwen said, “Dr. Valerie Byrne, this is Milo Duncan. Milo, Valerie is the doctor at the prison.”
“Ariadne?” Milo said.
“Someone tried to kill her this morning.” Dale managed to keep her voice even and emotionless.
Milo’s posture straightened, her shoulders squaring as her eyes darkened. She took a deep breath and let it out so slowly she seemed to be deflating. She went into the kitchen and placed her hands flat on the counter. She stared at Mia until their eyes met, and then she held her gaze.
“Go home. Tonight.”
Mia furrowed her brow. “We’re...”
“Go home. Take the rest of the pack with you. Be on a plane in the next few hours.”
Hannah said, “Milo...”
“Milo,” Gwen said, “what are you doing?”
Milo walked to Gwen and cupped her face with both hands. “I’m doing what should’ve been done the night Ari was arrested. I’m not blaming you for not doing it, babe. We didn’t know how far this would go. But the hag tried to kill Ari, Dale, and Detective Macallan all since this morning. Who knows what the hell she’s going to do tomorrow if we don’t stop her?”
Gwen gripped Milo’s wrist. Dale was startled to see how hard the grip was; Milo seemed to be in sincere pain.
“Don’t,” Gwen said.
Milo didn’t flinch, but she pressed her lips together. “You’re hurting me.”
“I’ll chain you up in the basement if it’ll stop you from doing something stupid.” Her eyes were watering. “I can’t lose you, Millicent.”
“Let go of my hand, Gwyneth.”
Dale stepped closer. “Mom, let her go.”
Gwen closed her eyes in defeat. “Damn it...” She released her grip, but maintained the touch, drawing Milo’s hand to her lips. She softly kissed the red skin where she’d been squeezing. “I’m sorry.”
Milo kissed Gwen’s forehead. “It’s been a rough week. You’ll make it up to me when it’s all over.”
“Will I?” Gwen asked. “Will you be around?”
“I swear.”
“It might not be up to you if you go running into the fire right now.”
“What would Ariadne be doing right now if it was any one of us in her situation?”
A tear rolled down Gwen’s cheek. “That’s not fair.”
“That’s exactly right.” Milo kissed her, then pulled her into a hug. “I love you.”
“I love you. So much.”
They stayed like that for a long moment before Milo stepped back. She looked at Mia and Hannah. “Get the others, go to the airport, change your flights. Be in the air as soon as you can. I don’t want any of you getting in trouble if this goes sideways. You were already planning to go home, so we just have to move up the timeline a bit to make the alibis work.”
“We can’t leave you, Milo,” Hannah said. “And I won’t walk away from my debt to Dale.”
“Go,” Dale said. Hannah started to argue, but Dale shook her head. “No. Get out of here, stay safe. You think I jumped in front of a bunch of hunters with guns to save your life just so you could throw it away later? Go home. Be with your partner. Do that and I’ll consider the debt paid in full.”
Hannah looked like she was about to cry. Mia put a hand on her shoulder and nodded to Milo. “We’ll start packing now.”
Dale had an arm around Gwen’s waist for support. “What do you need from me?”
Milo said, “I want Cecily Parrish’s home address.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cecily’s sprawling living room was mostly dark, save for a few running lights under the shelves behind the seating area. A large picture window looking out over the driveway was next to the main entrance. The kitchen was on the other side of the stairs, and it also had a few dim lights to prevent full darkness from filling the space.
When Cecily came in, she stepped out of her heels and pushed them to one side before continuing on in her stockings. She went directly to the kitchen and retrieved a bottle of wine without looking at the label. She had just started to pour when Milo, who was sitting in an armchair in the darkest corner of the ground floor, aimed a remote at the stereo and turned it on. She had adjusted the volume before Cecily arrived so, when it came to life, some kind of electronica music shrieked to life loud enough to make Cecily drop the bottle.
She cursed in an ancient language and spun around, preparing for an attack. Milo turned off the stereo and tossed the remote casually onto the couch.
“No version of my first name works with Willow.”
Cecily narrowed her eyes.
“I’m not saying marriage is even on the table at this point, you know? Or that either one of us are going to change our names if that did someday happen. But I was sitting here waiting for you, and my mind just wandered some. Milo Willow. Millie Willow. They’re just both garbage, aren’t they?”
“You’re the wolf who came to the office,” Cecily said.
Milo nodded. She came forward, hands in her pockets. She was wearing a long black coat that was a little big on her, but she made it work. It was unbuttoned to show the white button-down shirt and black slacks she was wearing underneath.
“I expected you a lot earlier. But I guess you had to unwind, eh?” She sniffed the air. “They smell young. Hope you checked their IDs before you defiled them.”
Cecily smiled, the predator in her coming out. “They consented.”
Milo kept her face neutral to conceal her disgust. She wanted to appear calm and collected, even though her wolf was raging at the back of her mind.
“Have you come to make another deal for your friend?” Cecily asked. She was fully relaxed now, eyeing the spilled wine with regret. It had fallen on the counter and was now slowly pumping dark merlot into the grout.
“I’m here because today, you came very close to killing three people I hold very dear. Well... two of them, anyway. I don’t really know Diana. I’m sure she’s a great lady and all, we just haven’t spent much time together. But Ari got hurt in prison b
ecause of you, and Dale had a fucking gun aimed at her head. Dale Frye. She’s one of the sweetest, best people I’ve ever met, and you had someone aim a gun at her. I’m inclined to tear you apart for that alone.”
Cecily said, “Then why haven’t you? I half expected one of you mutts to show up here in wolf skin to try to take revenge.”
“I thought about that. I really did. But there’s disadvantages. Like I couldn’t have pulled off that stereo trick if I was the wolf. And we wouldn’t have been able to have this little conversation.”
Cecily retrieved the paper towels to clean up the spill. “I do appreciate the human touch.”
Milo grinned. “Oh, and there’s the other thing. Wolves don’t have fingers.”
Cecily looked up as Milo drew the taser from her coat pocket. She fired and the prongs shot out, stabbing Cecily in the shoulder and upper chest. The voltage made her jump back, slamming her hip against the island before she hit the ground. Milo advanced on her so the prongs wouldn’t be pulled out by the fall. Cecily jerked and danced on the kitchen tile, eyes wide and staring over the top of her head at the windows over the sink. Milo knelt down next to her and stared impassively at her until the seizures became mild twitches.
Milo snapped her fingers in front of Cecily’s open eyes to make sure she was unconscious. “Okay,” she said. “We’ll talk more in a little while. You just... you should have told the bastard Dale was off-limits. You don’t... you shouldn’t have threatened to hurt her.” She chewed her bottom lip and thought hard for a minute. “Gwen Duncan doesn’t work much better, either, you know? Ah, well. We’ve got plenty of time to work that out.”
She patted Cecily’s face with her palm, a very mild slap, and stood up to prepare the second half of her plan.
#
Cecily was startled back to consciousness by the ground sliding out from beneath her feet. She instinctively grabbed hold of the bar in front of her to keep from falling and discovered her wrists were bound to it using zip ties. She almost tripped over her feet trying to keep upright as the fog lifted from her brain and she realized she was on the treadmill in her home gym. Her bare feet slapped against the belt. She was still in her work clothes, and her skirt was less than ideal for running. Fortunately the machine was nowhere near the highest setting.