I’d have to wait until sundown to call him, but I also didn’t want to let him know that I had company tonight. I’d wallow in my self-pity and hope that everything passed tomorrow. Maybe, just maybe, the suspension would lift after twenty-four hours. An agent could hope.
I walked into my house and saw Merick sitting on the couch watching the news. “You’re home early.”
“Glad to see you’re making yourself at home.” I motioned to the television. “You been watching this all day?”
He nodded. “Saw you shoot the half-changed werewolf. Your suspect I assume?”
“Not mine anymore. I’ve been suspended until they can clear the details.” I sat down on the couch. “Simon is coming over tonight, so I assume you’ll be wandering around as Osiris?”
He shrugged. “If you’re going to have company, I might make myself scarce and go contact some of the members of the Cult. I have some things that need to be cleared up with them.”
“You’re also going to check on Nick for me.” I made it more of a statement than a question. We had already discussed that, and I hoped he was planning on keeping his word.
“Yes, and check on the Nick situation. What time is Simon going to be here?”
“Said he was going to grab some pizza. I told him not to come, but he didn’t listen.” I turned off the news. “I don’t want to see this repeating.”
“You could take a vacation—“
“Because my last one turned out so well. Nope, I’ll stay here and work on my parents’ case. Until Levi decides that he needs me.”
Merick shook his head. “He’s not going to change his mind on that.”
He was probably right. “Wishful thinking. I don’t know how to sit around idly.” I went to the kitchen to find food. “I guess I could catch up on my reading, see a movie or something.”
He followed me. “You aren’t being idle, you have a full case downstairs that you need to piece together. Take the time and go through that step by step.”
“Can’t you help me with some of that? You said you studied my file with the Cult, isn’t there something in there about why you guys murdered my parents?” I opened the fridge and closed it again after finding nothing that caught my interest.
“That’s not in your file. I’m sorry Abigail, that’s not something I know about. I know that your father summoned a demon at one point, and I believe that’s why the Cult was sent after him. But your mother?”
I held a hand up. “I was told that they were killed for their research.”
“That’s the only thing that makes sense when it comes to your mother.” He shrugged. “I’ve looked into it before, but like you, sometimes information is hidden from me.”
I raised a brow. “Even your higher-ups don’t know?”
“I don’t know if they would share with me.” He shook his head. “And I won’t ask because that would bring more suspicion onto you, and I know you don’t want to do that.”
That was true. “Okay fine, but that’s a key piece of information that would help me out.”
“I’m sure you’ll get past that.” He shifted into his cat form and trotted off. The doorbell rang a moment later, and I wondered what kind of spell Merick had set up that alerted him to visitors, but not me.
I looked at the screen on the security system and saw Simon standing there with pizza. I opened the door and grabbed the box from him. He held up a brown paper bag. “I brought you wine and whiskey. I wasn’t sure what you’d want tonight.”
“That was a sweet gesture, but like you guys, I can’t really get trashed. So I think just a glass of wine will work. I’ll save the whiskey for another night.” I shut and locked the door behind him. “I’m sorry if I got your pack in trouble at all.”
He shook his head. “My side of the pack came back when called. Now the other side of the pack…some of them ended up arrested after the fray, because they refused to leave the grounds.”
“Before I left it seemed like everything was broken up. How many were arrested?”
“Thought you were off the case.” He put the bag on the counter. “Do you really want to spend all night talking about it? Because unless you give me information, I don’t want to. Especially since I don’t know who they put on the case and if they are going to be able to solve it.”
“Maybe they will just move on to another pack and become another PIB agent’s problem.”
“I don’t think I’d wish that on anyone’s pack.”
I heard the sorrow in his voice. “You know, there’s another way I could help.”
“How?” He pulled the wine out.
It was barely noon, and I was going to have a glass of wine and possibly relax a little…if I wasn’t fretting over my job. “Are you and Levi still allies?”
He nodded. “We are, he made that deal with the pack before Greg was killed. I continued to follow up with it because I know it could help us in the quarrel. Why?”
“I just need to get his permission on something.” I smirked. “But I could work it as one of his people. As long as I work it solely as one of Levi’s people and PIB doesn’t know about it.”
Simon shook his head. “That’s risking your job.”
“Anything I do for Levi risks my job. No one realizes that.” I handed him a corkscrew and pulled out two wine glasses. “The other option is to sit around until they decide if I can come back or not. It’s going to be hard to prove that I had all rights to shoot the suspect when he disappeared during the riot.”
Simon nodded. “Give it a couple days, and I’ll see if my pack can come up with any witnesses to prove that your statements aren’t false.”
“Talk to Travis. He might be willing to help.”
“He hates you.” Simon opened the wine.
I nodded. “Yes, but he cares for his pack. And therefore he’ll help.”
“There’s something you know that I don’t.” He met my gaze, and I held up my hands. “Not really my place.”
“Okay, fine. Give me a couple days and we’ll see if we can’t get you back on the case.”
I rolled my eyes. “And what do do I until then?”
“You’ll think of something.” He walked to the table, and we started to eat. His eyes landed on my collarbone. “Did you get hurt at the protest?”
I shook my head. “No. A vampire attacked me. He decided to take a chunk out of my collarbone.”
“Holy shit Abby, you didn’t tell me there was a vampire involved in the case.” His eyes grew wide. “That changes everything.”
“Hold up cowboy. It’s not associated with your case. It’s a loose end from a past case.” I shook my head. “I’m fine. It’s not a big deal.”
He blinked at me a few times. “Not a big deal?”
“Nope. So let it go please.”
He nodded slowly like he was thinking of arguing. “How’s living back out here?”
“It’s nice. Quiet and I don’t have to worry too much about my neighbors if something happens to my house.” I kept my voice as light as I could while I picked at my pizza. I tried to keep up with the small talk, but my mind was whirling about my job and how I was going to manage my life without working at PIB if it came down to that.
Simon touched my hand. “Abby?”
“I’m sorry, what?” I met his gaze. “I was just thinking.”
“You’re dwelling on being suspended.”
I pulled my hand away. “I am, because PIB is my life. It’s everything I’ve dedicated my time to. It’s what I’m meant to do, and it might be ripped away from me because I shot a suspect in front of a crowd and caused a riot.”
“Boss Man will see that it was in defense and you’ll be back in no time.”
But would his higher-ups see the same thing he did? “I’m not so confident about the people above him. He’s right; I screwed up our reputation by shooting a werewolf at a protest. We’re supposed to be helping you guys by being your police. Not shooting random wolves.”
�
��He wasn’t random though.”
“The press won’t see it that way.” I shook my head. “I might as well plan on just working for Levi from now on.”
He chuckled. “You’re being a bit dramatic. See how it shakes out and go from there.”
“I know.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Thanks for the pizza and wine, but I’m really not up for company all day.”
“I know. I have to get back to the pups anyways.” He shook his head. “They are a handful.”
“I’m sure. I’ll let you know if I get reinstated, and if I don’t, please work with the agent assigned to your case.”
“I’ll give them the best I can.” He nodded and stood. “Let me know if you need anything, even if it’s just company.”
He was being sweet, and it reminded me of when we tried to date, of course that went down the drain when he became alpha. “Of course. Thank you.”
I walked him to the door, locked it after he left, and then went downstairs. Merick was right. I could use this time to solve my parents’ case.
I stood in front of my investigation board with my hands on my hips. I’d printed out the pictures of Mario’s board and pinned them under my timelines with question marks all over the place. Why was he concerned about my parents’ deaths? What on earth was he trying to link to the king? He’d used different colored threads for connections on his boards like I had, but I didn’t know what they meant. If I could figure out the connections he made, I might be able to figure out what he knew about my parents.
I touched the picture of them in the morgue and my heart fell. They were cut down so young in life and just because of accusations from a cult. Everyone made mistakes; they could have easily turned a blind eye to my dad summoning a demon. Hell, I knew a pair of frauds that managed to summon a demon, and they were still alive and well.
I’d put up a picture of Merick to the side of my timeline. He was connected to everything somehow as well, but he said he answered to someone. I assumed it was within the Cult. The priest maybe? That Oliver originally wanted me to kill? I pulled a sticky note out and put a question mark on it, pinning it close to Merick. I tied a blue string between the two push pins to resemble a working relationship.
My phone rang and I picked it up without looking. “Ag— Abigail Collins speaking.”
“I saw the news.” Levi’s voice came across the receiver. I hadn’t been paying attention to the time and hadn’t realized that it was sundown already.
“Glad to know you’re in a position where you can watch the news. Not too busy with dead bodies and victims?” I let the bitterness sound in my voice.
“What happened at the riot?” He ignored my question.
“You saw the news, not much else to tell. They suspended me until they can decide on if I did the right thing or not.”
He sighed. “And what are you doing in the meantime?”
“Debating on continuing my case as one of your people instead of a PIB agent since it involves the wolves.” I looked at my board and debated on asking him about some of the blanks, but then thought better of it. “My car was recovered at the protest grounds. It’s smashed.”
“Do we know who did it?” His voice became muffled. “I’ll be there in a moment.”
“No, Detective Mason had it dusted for fingerprints, but I won’t know anything else until they come back. I’m not expecting anything. Do I have your permission to continue the wolf case as one of your people?”
“Yes, I have to go. They found another lab.” He hung up on me and I wondered if ‘lab’ was what they were calling the experiment rooms. “Good to talk to you. Yeah, I’m fine, no the wolves or the humans didn’t hurt me. Oh, my victim disappeared by the way.” I rolled my eyes.
“That good of a phone call?” Merick asked as he came down the stairs. “Oh look, I’ve been added to the board again. With a bright green sticky note and a giant question mark. Trying to decide who my superior is?”
I shrugged. “More like who you are taking orders from. If you don’t have anything helpful to say, you can go back upstairs.”
“I came down to check on you. I’ve been back for a couple hours, and you’ve been down here muttering to yourself since then. I was starting to get worried.”
“I was just filling my time trying to make sense of Mario’s board. But now that I have Levi’s permission to pursue the wolf case as one of his people, I’m going to go explore the protest grounds.”
“Alone, after dark?”
“Unless you want to come with me?” I offered. “We have someone skinning wolves. Do you really think they are doing it during the day?”
He gave me a look. “I’m not going. Take your gun. Call Simon and let him know what you’re doing. The wolves don’t like the Cult, so I’m not getting involved.”
“Mm, and yet you’re still in my home and I despise your Cult.” I started up the stairs after him.
“You still judge people individually. You’ve seen that I’m not out to hurt you. If I were, you would have shot me by now.”
That much was probably true. “Alright. I’ll be back in a few hours. You do…whatever it is you do. Does this mean I can stop buying you cat stuff?”
“Please.” He cracked a smile, and it was one of the first true smiles I’d seen.
I grabbed my bag and walked out of the house. My drive to the protest grounds was quiet. No one called, no one pestered me about the case, and no one wanted anything from me. I parked my Hummer in the same spot I had earlier that day and jumped out. The streets were empty now. The construction equipment gleamed in the moonlight, giving it an eerie feeling. I walked down the middle of the road looking for my bullets. Nothing.
I used safety rounds so if it went into the wolf, the bullet should have stayed there. However, not even my casings were still around. Which made me wonder if someone else had picked them up. Maybe for evidence. I was hoping to find my bullet with some blood on it for a trace. No luck. Which made me wonder if I had hit the wolf and he was off somewhere healing, or if he died elsewhere. Three bullets should have been enough to take him down.
I turned to the wolf side of the protest. That wasn’t where he came from, he came from the human side, holding a wolf pelt. Apparently, the humans found that normal because they hadn’t gasped or anything. Maybe they just thought it was an extreme protest. I spun and started in that direction. Something. Anything had to give.
I tromped through the streets of downtown, looking for something that might give me a clue. A faint howl…no, a whimper went through the air, and I turned to follow it. I kept hoping it’d continue so I could follow it long enough to figure out what was going on. A boarded up restaurant sat at the end of the street, but lights flickered through the cracks. Someone had taken up residence there, and I doubted it was a homeless person. I drew my gun and pointed it at the ground. If they were wolves, they’d hear me coming. If they weren’t, then I didn’t want to accidentally shoot a scared human. I was in enough trouble as it was.
A step sounded to my left, and I turned to see what was there. Nothing. My heart pumped in my chest as sounds continued to move around me in the dark. I started to regret my choice of not calling Simon to back me up in this. Of course, he told me to wait a couple days before I pursued this so he might not have come.
The front door of the restaurant creaked open. I moved behind the pillar of the building next to it and held my breath. “Send his pelt to the pack leader.”
My heart sank. Another one of Simon’s pack? Or was it the other part of the pack that was now being attacked? I knew the voice. Joshua, or I guess Zachary. There were a few grunts of agreement and the door shut again. Zachary walked off in another direction. I could have gone after him. I could have shot him again, but I heard a groan from inside the restaurant. Loud enough to tell me the person was in pain. The wolf. There had only been two people standing out front of the restaurant. I could take them on if I could catch them by surprise. Or I could wait until they walked out w
ith the wolf pelt.
Bide my time. I didn’t need to be torn up by wolves, and since I was working under Levi and not PIB, they could also kill me without PIB batting an eye. Pass me off as a ‘wrong place at the wrong time’ case, since I was suspended. If they weren’t from around here, they might not be scared of Levi.
The two came out after a few minutes, and they both disappeared down the dark alley. Apparently, they weren’t too worried about whoever was in there wandering off. Of course, if you skin a wolf, did the human counterpart lose skin? I didn’t know how this worked. I waited another moment and crept towards the door. Nothing else around me moved. A howl came from the distance, but I paid no attention to it.
I walked in, keeping my gun by my side until I saw Travis strapped to a table. I holstered my gun and ran to him. He was in human form, his eyes barely opened. Red angry patches covered his skin reminding me of razor burn. I knew that the wolves could heal quickly, so I had no way of telling if this was the original amount of damage. He muttered something and I took his hand. “It’s Abby.” I assured him. “Can you walk?”
A small bob of his head gave me his answer, and I hoped he was sane enough to know what he was talking about. I unbuckled the straps that held him down, and he slowly sat up, cringing and wavering as he did. His massive body swayed to the side as he started to stand. He was going to take me down if he put all his weight on me. I put one of his arms over my shoulder, and helped him stand. He leaned on me for a moment, before straightening up for the most part. He kept his arm slung over my shoulder and we shuffled out of the house.
Travis collapsed on me a block away, and we went tumbling to the ground. I pulled out my phone and dialed Simon.
“Abby, I’m kind of dealing with something right now…”
“I need you to come downtown, five blocks east of the downtown PIB building. Now, or send someone who is close.”
“Abby, I’m trying to find Travis, he’s not answering—“
“Simon.” I snapped. “He’s with me. I have him. Send someone.”
He paused for a moment. “You can explain when I get there.” He disconnected and I pulled Travis further into the shadows and kept watch, hoping the wolves wouldn’t return and hunt us down by his scent.
To Skin a Wolf Page 13