She wanted to do things to her that she was sure Kamari wouldn’t want. They rarely did want that.
“What’s up with that?” Sydney put a hand on her shoulder distracting her and she growled at her. Sydney pulled her hand back with a lift of her brows.
“None of your business,” she said.
“Your animal is closer to the surface than mine or Sam’s. If she’s not into your games, you’ve got to stay away from her.”
She brushed Sydney’s hand away. “Step off, girl. I don’t need advice from you on how to handle my issues.” Yeah, her animal was closer to the surface because she’d had a very nasty firefight when she was a teenager. The hyenas had nearly killed her, but fate hadn’t been ready to call her home.
“Just watch yourself. It’s clear she’s into you, but she might not be into your shit.”
Mica growled and walked away. Climbing into her SUV, she cranked it and headed in the opposite direction Kamari had gone. She knew what was going on, well partly.
Her animal was dead set on claiming Mari, but there was more. She just didn’t understand why her coyote was so determined to force submission. She wasn’t even sure why Kamari had taunted her to try a few minutes ago.
But yesterday had to be a one-time thing for both their sakes. If she allowed herself to be blinded by that wolf and her intriguing smell, silver-animal eyes, and good pussy, she could miss something that led her pack into a war they couldn’t win.
The Coalition would have the numbers and Cambrie’s power couldn’t corral them all.
Her hands trembled on the wheel as she imagined Kamari’s bright eyes and seductive smile. She loved the feel of her tightness around her fingers and the look in her eyes as she took her.
She yipped and tightened her grip. Her control around the woman had been good before she’d had her, but now the animal was in control. And it was half feral at the idea of not having Kamari.
Mica pulled to a light and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. She fished her cell phone from her pocket and put in a call to Mallory. She hadn’t talked to her or Samarra since yesterday. They’d both been unavailable this morning.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Brynn. Have you seen Mallory? I’ve been trying to reach her and Sam all morning.”
“They’re at Samarra’s business residence,” Brynn told her. “Any good news? I think we’re going to be looking at a battle with the Coalition otherwise.”
“A little. I’ll fill you in later,” she said and ended the call. It wasn’t enough, so she’d have to make Kamari turn over whatever else she had.
****
Standing outside the small house rented by Amy, just outside the wolf den, Kamari’s phone vibrated in her pocket. With an annoyed grimace, she pulled it free to see who it was, even as she noticed a few of Amy’s neighbors preparing to leave and some kids playing street hockey.
“Hello?”
“Hey, girl,” Randy said briskly. “Someone’s put in a call to McGill about you and your sister.”
“I don’t care,” she said coolly. “I’m not doing anything wrong.”
“He’s not too happy. He’s been trying to reach you.”
“I’ve been busy. What do you have for me?”
“Eight men and two women with Jerry as part of their first names live in Snow Fur and Mystic. But there are too many to count if you add in the ones from Stonington.”
“Narrow it down to the ones that live closest to the Mystic and Snow Fur areas.”
“Did that and there are another five men and three women,” Randy confessed.
“What about the women whose names I sent you?”
“The women are all dead. All cold cases that go back at least ten years,” Randy told her. “The first one was killed ten years ago, and the last one more recently.”
“How recently?”
“Her name was Amy, and she was killed two weeks ago in Hartsland. She was listed as a Jane Doe, but she has a sister who was killed in Hartsland eight months ago.”
She frowned. “How do you know?”
“Her sister worked there for a firm called Ryder Software, and Amy apparently contacted the FBI for help saying the local law was trying to cover it up.”
“Let me guess, they refused,” Kamari said angrily.
“No basis,” Randy told her with a vein of sympathy.
“Right. Is it possible those women were the work of a serial killer?” The times between their murders could be exactly what they appeared to be, and totally unconnected to her sister and Isa.
“I don’t know, but all of the women were either from Mystic, Stonington or Snow Fur at one time.”
“M.O.?”
“Uh, let’s see. There’s noth—oh wait, each of the women were clawed to death by some kind of wild animal, and at each site there was animal fur and what looked like it could have been pieces of a necklace, but nothing like that was found. Their ages ranged from seventeen to twenty-seven, except Amy. She was thirty-one.”
The gold chain bits could have been overlooked or even ignored, but the claw marks—
“Where were the marks? Face? Torso?”
“Both. That is, some were on the face, some the upper body, and some the lower body. All of the women had been raped and beaten.”
“Multiple rapes?”
“Only two of the reports indicated bruising and damage consistent with multiple attackers,” Randy confessed.
“Is there a guess about how many?”
“There were only two sperm samples, and this was in the girls found in Stonington and New York.”
“Send me the files,” Kamari murmured. Stonington wasn’t that far away and neither was New York.
Her thoughts were churning now as she recalled some of the cities from that scrapbook.
“Randy, I know you’re busy, but if you have time check Massachusetts, New York, Vermont and even Maine for similar deaths of females in that age range as well as other cities in Connecticut.”
“If you’re thinking there is a serial or two at work, then you really need to talk to McGill and let him handle it. If the same person killed your sister, then he’s within their jurisdiction now.”
“He can kiss my ass,” she said coldly. “He was the one who said he couldn’t help me.”
“You could taint the case and if your sister was one of the victims, you might hinder prosecution and prevent them from catching her killer. Do you really want that?”
“I’m not farting at McGill. Hit me back if and when you can. And send me whatever you have on the Jerrys. Don’t tell me you just looked them up because I know you didn’t.”
“Will do.” The line went dead, and Kamari blew out a breath.
She shook her head hoping this didn’t turn out to be connected even as she checked her email after a look around the neighborhood. One couple was still at their SUV while another was pulling out of the drive and the kids had gotten a little louder.
The list of Jerrys was there, and she went through it hoping something jumped out her. She’d need to get pictures to go with the names and a little more info than the two liners Randy had included.
Her biggest problem was that three of the Jerrys lived out in what she’d learned was wolf country. She’d never be able to get to them unless they came out of their den, and she didn’t really have time to stalk each one.
She’d have to narrow the list down.
Kamari put her phone away and looked up to find the vehicle pulling away and made her way toward Amy’s house as the kids grew louder.
She slipped around to the back of the house, glad there was no fence of any kind to bar her way. A look around showed no sign of anyone watching so she removed the keys she’d taken from Isa’s purse and tried them until one fit.
The house smelled stale and musty as houses did when closed up too long. The hallway of worn wood stretched out before her, and she began striding along it.
Peeping into the first room she came to, she fo
und a neat kitchen with a pot rack over a small island. Kamari moved on, stopping in the next room, a sitting room that was as neat as the kitchen. She spied a desk and went in to search it.
Kamari searched the rest of the house saving the bedroom for last. It was intriguing with its palate of red and black. The queen-size bed had been left unmade and a pair of lacy panties had been tossed over the sheets. The tear in them suggested they hadn’t come off easy.
She supposed if anyone had been here they’d been neat and tidy not wanting to draw suspicion from Amy’s family.
A look in the dresser revealed lingerie and neatly folded t-shirts. Kamari lifted a few items and then felt around beneath the items in back finding a lavender scented sachet and a neatly wrapped square of lace.
Kamari removed and opened it. Inside she found a locket with a heart key and thumb drive on the gold chain. The note was pinned to panties so she carefully detached it.
Isa, my love,
These are the answers, the last piece of the puzzle. I know you didn’t want to believe, but it’s true. You don’t have to do anything with this. In fact, don’t. Jerry will kill you and your entire family if he even suspects you have this.
Then, he’d probably blame it on the coyotes like he did Connie’s death. Bastard had her killed just to set them up. He was never anything but a sociopath, and you’ll see that here.
I’ll see you at the club. I want it to be a weekly thing. I know, but I’m tired of hiding. We’ll talk then.
I love you,
Amy
Kamari opened the locket and found a picture of the two women. She set it aside after removing the thumb drive and slipping that into her pocket.
She did a cursory check of the nightstand before moving onto the closet where she found a pretty pink bag in back hidden behind a suitcase. Kamari brought it out of the closet and went through it smiling at the sexy dress-up clothes she found.
“No wonder Isa was being trained.”
She was pulling out the last item when something dropped out of it. Kamari reached into the bag for it and her brows lifted.
A little diary with the word Dream etched into it.
A sound outside grabbed her attention and Kamari heard voices coming upstairs.
Chapter Nineteen
She went still, not wanting them to hear her and drew in the scents. One of them was familiar, but it wasn’t Ella. The sticky sweet perfume that was often too strong and more of a turn off than a magnet drifted closer, though the footsteps were masked by the carpet.
“What are we supposed to be looking for?”
“Amy’s mother said she kept a journal,” the other female voice said. “We find that and we’ll likely find what we’re looking for.”
“I still don’t know why we’re doing this, Candy. I mean, what does this have to do with Isa or the pack?”
“Isa spent a lot of time here in the last six months and Caddy said Isa had something she was using to blackmail Jericho into giving her what she wanted.”
“Which is?” The other woman’s tone was skeptical.
“She knew who killed Connie, and she was threatening to take it to the coyotes and say he knew and was keeping it from Connie’s family.”
“Why would he do that?” The woman demanded.
“I don’t know, but she’s just trying to hurt him because he didn’t want her,” Candy said. “You saw her with him, always in his face acting like he was hers.”
“She hasn’t done that in about seven or eight months, though. I think someone’s reaching.”
“Caddy doesn’t have an ulterior motive if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“Well, someone does, because I’ve heard a few rumors that Jericho had allied with those stinking hyenas which would have broken all kinds of faith with Snow Fur,” the other woman said. “I’m not helping you, because if that’s true, Jericho is an asshole, and he’s probably very well aware of who killed Connie and why.”
She heard a loud slap and moved from the closet.
“Why would he do that?” Candy demanded.
“He’s an asshole, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had something to do with Isa’s death if he thought she had something on that hyena thing. I’m sure he’d never want the pack to find out how disloyal he really was.”
She heard a thud and then a dull cry before going to the window and tugging it up. Kamari sighed deciding not to interfere in a fight between packmates. Anyway, she’d have to explain what she was doing here and how she’d gotten in.
So, Kamari tossed the book down and jumped, aiming for the grass. She landed in a crouch and felt a twinge in her ankle as she rolled and came to her feet. Kamari tested it and it felt good enough to move.
She heard growls from inside the house and picked up the book as she made her way from the backyard and tugged her phone from her pocket to dial 9-1-1.
Her call was brief, giving nothing more than the pertinent information as she made her way casually down the street.
****
Mica found both alphas in Samarra’s office when she arrived. Delaney was sprawled on the couch looking a little tense with a bottle of water in hand. Mica nodded to her and Delaney lifted the bottle to her.
“Brynn said you were looking for us,” Samarra commented as Mica joined the alphas in Samarra’s office.
“Yeah. I have something, but it’s nothing to help Mallory,” she said. “It might cast some doubt on Jericho’s motives for going after you, though.”
“Well?” Mallory demanded.
“First, Mallory, I have to ask you something,” Mica said deciding to broach the subject with care.
“What?”
“Why was Isa at the club that night?” Mica asked. “I’d never even seen her there, but I have good reason to believe you were training her.”
Samarra threw her friend a look and Mallory sighed.
“I was training her, but things had gone a little further than I planned. She and I had had sex a few times. Amy didn’t know, but there was nothing special between us.”
“How long ago was that?” Samarra demanded.
“A month,” Mallory said coolly. “I was still training her at Amy’s behest, and we were keeping it quiet.”
“That was the call you got that night?” Samarra asked.
“Yeah. I figured she wanted to stop her training, but Isa said she needed to talk to me about something.”
“Did she say what?”
“She’d witnessed a murder and had proof. She wanted some advice.”
“Did she give details?” Mica asked.
“She’d seen two girls raped and murdered. She was bringing proof. I told her I’d help her.”
“So, you saw her?”
“No. I was with Sam. I was going to our room after,” Mallory admitted. “Why?”
“Your tie was found in the room. The one with the M tie pin.”
“I’ve been missing that for a week,” Mallory retorted. “I just assumed I left it in the room after a session and one of the girls found it and kept it.”
“Someone did,” Mica demanded despising Mallory for being so careless, but then how could she have known this could come back to bite her in the ass? “Who knew you were training her?”
“As far as I know no one other than Amy ever saw me with her,” Mallory said.
“If I suspected, then someone else knew,” Samarra commented.
Mica frowned. “Kamari said she found a note. I’m not sure exactly what she found in Isa’s purse or the locker.”
“Just ask her,” Mallory ordered. “You two have a connection. It’s easy to see.”
“I tried.”
“Why’s she holding back?” Mallory asked. “She has no stake in this does she?”
“Not really.”
“Her sister—”
Mica drowned out Samarra’s commentary as she considered why Kamari was holding back. She’d said she didn’t want to hurt her pack. So why? Kamari had no reason
not to trust her if she wasn’t a mole for Jericho or whoever Jerry was.
“Afraid my wolf will tame your coyote?”
Mica laughed and it was a low sound tinged with humor. “You can’t handle me, let alone tame me.”
“Maybe not, but can you make me submit?”
The wolf was challenging her.
Damn.
How had she missed that?
Kamari might not be aware of it, but their animals knew the one thing the women didn’t want to accept or admit.
“Fuck.” She didn’t need this kind of canine game right now.
“What?” Delaney asked warily.
“Kamari did give me some footage of Connie’s murder and her murderer,” Mica said. “Candy was present when it happened.”
“Who did it?” Samarra demanded.
“You won’t believe it so have a look.” tugged her phone from her pocket and brought up the file and handed the device over.
If that wolf wanted to be made to submit, she’d make her because she damn well wasn’t done playing with her.
“There’s someone else in the room,” Mallory said cutting into Mica’s thoughts.
“We’ve only heard three voices,” Samarra said.
“Rewind it, Mica” Mallory ordered. “That’s not Powell’s hand. He stepped back after he finished killing her.”
She rewound the video and let it play again.
“There’s just the hint of a tat on the arm,” Samarra said.
“Oh, my god,” Mallory said after a few moments of watching the video again. “What the hell is he up to?”
“With the Coalition?” Mica asked with a frown. Connie had mentioned the Coalition at the start of the video as she talked to Candy before Powell and the faceless stranger arrived.
“No,” Mallory said softly. “This isn’t just about getting Gray Tail. Jerry killed someone.”
“And Isa knew it,” Samarra said. “So did Connie.”
“The question is, is it Jericho or one of his buddies named Jerry?” Mallory quizzed tightly.
“We’re going to have to be careful digging through this,” Samarra said. “There’s a Jerry on the Coalition.”
“Delaney, get on that,” Mallory said. “The Coalition probably isn’t in on whatever Jerry and Jericho are up to. They’ve probably been blackmailed into moving against us, so we need to find out why and stop it.”
Getting Nawty With the Coyote Page 10