by Carmen Fox
I got up. “Listen. I understand that raking over the past is tough, and talking when everything in you screams for action is frustrating, but we’re nearly done here. Would it be possible for me to see Raven’s room?”
“Of course.” Birdie scuttled up from the sofa, her face ashen.
Drake’s dominance waned.
If it were my choice, it would rage on. Drake had defended me. No one had ever done that. Most of the time I took care of business myself. It was expected, and I was good at it. Hell, I was proud of it. My father was the first to insist I fight my own battles, but just once it would have been nice to know someone cared enough to shield me. Just once, I wanted to not be at DEFCON 1 around other werewolves.
I signaled Drake to remain with the husband, and followed Birdie up the stairs.
She pointed at the first door on the left. “This is Ralph’s room. We were going to turn it into a guest room, but I couldn’t bring myself to pack up his belongings.” She turned away and let out a small sigh.
These people had been put through the wringer. Birdie wasn’t so different from my dad. He also hung on to tokens of the past as if they could take him back to a time when his loved one was still alive.
I was five or six when Mom died, too young to fully understand what had happened. How a man could love her without ever having spoken to her, and how he could kill her because she loved my father and me instead of him. What I did get without any need for an explanation was that when love and death collided, the fallout was on a nuclear level.
Love was like a drug that brightened the world for a while, but the minute it left, as it inevitably did, all that remained were pointless souvenirs and a dull, dark existence. But the true victims were the forgotten ones, the other sisters and brothers, or the sons and daughters who spent their lifetime trying to matter again.
“And this is Raven’s room.” Birdie stopped a few feet short of the door. “It’s exactly the way she likes it, so please don’t disturb anything.”
“I won’t.” I waited until she’d gone back downstairs before I opened the door.
The young woman who lived in the room I entered was tidy, exact, and more like me than I’d thought. We were both victims of a lost love, and we were both anal about keeping everything in its place. To be fair, she didn’t have enough possessions to cause a mess. Her closet was small. Three pairs of shoes stood in front of the almost empty shelves. A violin case leaned against a chair, which stood in front of a stand with sheet music.
Pinned to the corkboard above her desk was a schedule, which revolved around violin practice. Other than that, the walls were bare, probably because Raven was too old for anything cutesy. Music books lined the shelves. Not a TV or game console in sight.
If this room truly represented Raven, she abided by a set of rules. The only question was if these rules were set by her, or by overbearing parents. Understanding this aspect of her mind would tell me whether it was likely she’d run away and, if so, why.
My phone rang. “Hello?”
“Kensi? Hi, it’s Natalie. From the library.”
“Oh. Um. Hi.”
“I was wondering if you wanted to meet for a late lunch tomorrow if you’re still around? I figured you probably don’t know anyone yet and I could give you the scoop on the town.”
After a day with Drake, human company was exactly what the doctor ordered.
“That sounds great. All I need are the time and place.” I grabbed a piece of paper from the memo block on Raven’s desk and jotted down the details Natalie gave me. “Great. See you tomorrow afternoon.”
I’d known Nat was a diamond the minute I met her. At worst, I’d have a break from work and wolves. At best, I’d make a friend and catch the one-oh-one on the human portion of town.
I rummaged through Raven’s drawers, checked behind the organized papers and pens. Even someone like her—or like me—kept guilty secrets, the personal stuff with meaning. Photos. Movie stubs. Letters. Junk to outsiders, but valued possessions to us.
The space under her bed was empty, and the mattress didn’t yield anything either. A diary would have made my life too easy.
If this were my room, where would I hide my treasures? The floorboards looked solid, and the furniture was sparse. Besides, I’d want to keep my stuff close by, not hidden in a place that required a tool belt.
I stepped back over to the desk and lifted the bottom of the corkboard off the wall to feel behind it.
Bingo. Two photos were taped to the back. I retrieved them and straightened the corkboard as if I’d never been here.
In the photos, Raven sat on grass between a guy’s knees, her arm outstretched for a joint selfie. A tree with full foliage in the shape of an almost perfect sphere stood in the distance behind them. Long dark hair curled around her smiling face. Brown eyes glanced up from under full lashes. Her necklace shimmered in a deep blue, more sapphire than topaz.
The photo in Jonah’s file hadn’t done her justice. Shoot. When pretty women disappeared, the chances of a stranger being involved increased. A guy who’d sweet-talked her, an offer for fame that was too good to be true, or a sicko who stuffed her into his trunk—suddenly, these became potential alleys I had to explore.
The man wasn’t anyone I recognized from Birdie’s photo album or Raven’s social media presence. He looked older, maybe early to mid-thirties. Asking her parents about his identity would be pointless, because they were obviously clueless about who their daughter was or who she hung with. Maybe Drake could help.
I slid the photos into my pocket and returned downstairs.
Drake, Birdie and Pike got to their feet.
“Ready?” Drake asked.
“Yes.” I took Birdie’s hands between mine. “Thank you for letting me get to know your daughter a little.”
“Of course.” Birdie beamed her flushed face at me. “If you need anything else from us, please ask.”
Drake coughed loudly.
Pike stepped forward and bowed. “Thank you for your help, my lady.”
My lady? Pike’s new-found civility was Drake’s doing, no doubt.
“We’ll be in touch.” I headed along the corridor, which was decorated with framed pictures of their children. School photos, judging by the cheesy grins and generic gray backdrops.
At the door, Birdie gave Drake another hug. “Don’t be a stranger.”
Once again, he smoothly escaped her embrace. “I’ll see you soon.”
Drake and I filed down the drive. The heat had hit its predicted high, according to my app, which was a good thing because the dry air made breathing more difficult. Another degree or two, and I’d need an oxygen tank.
Drake grabbed my arm and dragged me behind the tree. “Why didn’t you use your dominance when Pike challenged you?”
His scent blocked all others, his broad shoulders narrowed my world.
“You told me to go easy on them.” I yanked myself free. “Besides, dominance is such a heavy-handed approach, don’t you think?”
“I admire your grace under a full-on assault by an alpha or a protector.” His gaze drifted up to the dark blue sky, then back to me, and he exhaled undiluted frustration. “But Pike’s neither. A heavy hand would have put him in place and reassured him.”
“He’ll be reassured of my abilities when I find Raven.”
He took hold of my arm again. “Listen, princess.”
I surged up to him and stood nearly nose-to-nose. “For fuck’s sake, stop calling me princess. It’s Kensi. And while we’re at it, don’t tell me how to do my job, unless you want me to tell you how to do yours.”
He let out a low growl that skittered down my spine. “Whatever you say.”
“Good then. Now let’s get going.”
I stormed to the other side of the truck. This recent blowout was going to be one of many, unless both of us learned to chill. But that wouldn’t happen until I made him understand I was every bit the potential alpha he was. If not by nature, then
by title.
In fact, this was my gig, not his. I was the one who was meant to boss him around.
We climbed into the truck, hot and stuffy as it was, and avoided looking at each other.
“Find anything in Raven’s room?” Drake’s tone had returned to normal.
I fished the photos from my pocket. “She hid them behind the corkboard.”
“Leo said he’d searched the room.”
“He’s never been a young woman with a no-nonsense father. Know the guy or the location?”
He angled the photo. “I know the place. It’s by the lake, about twenty minutes from here by car. Lake Marvin.”
“And the guy?”
“Hang on. Dammit. That’s Cody. We went to school together. A mixed school.”
“Girls and boys?”
“Werewolves and humans. Cody’s human.”
I took the photos back. “You say that like it’s important.”
“It is. For Birdie and Pike, it definitely would have been.” He started the engine.
Cody looked cute and a little dirty in the way girls liked. Thick eyebrows, messy hair, worn-out jacket. Human or not, he was a crush waiting to happen. At least this explained the apparent age difference between Cody and Raven. Cody lacked the benefit of age-defying wolf genes, which is why he looked close to thirty-three, thirty-four.
I stretched out my legs and lowered the window. “I’m the second cavalry, huh? Your second chance of finding your buddy’s sister.”
Drake used his override to roll the window back up. “You could say that. We struck out. I talked to Sable and everyone from those days, at least the wolves—some of the humans have long since left town—but nothing came of it. Leo searched their house and came up empty, too.”
“School was a long time ago.”
“I told you. Our community is tightly knit. Once you know someone, you know them. And there’s not enough people here to meet new ones all the time.”
“Tourists. You told me yourself about how much this area offers in terms of nature. And Raven was heavily into protecting the environment, so even with meddling parents, she could have crossed paths with strangers.”
“How do you know about her interest in the environment?” He didn’t sound happy I’d uncovered stuff about Raven without his help.
“I’m a P.I. It’s what I do.”
Despite my glee at getting one over on him, Drake didn’t strike me as incompetent. If he wanted to, he could charm the pants off an old lady. And anyone he couldn’t twist around his little finger would feel his dominance.
What were the chances of my succeeding where he hadn’t?
My advantages were years of experience and a natural aptitude for snooping. The ability to navigate human habits would help me in my mission. Drake and Leo might have given the wolves a semi-decent look-see, but by their own admission, humans hadn’t been on their radar. That meant thousands of potential witnesses even in a small triangle of towns like this. It also explained how their population had been upgraded from minor annoyance to prime suspect in Raven’s drama.
Maybe Jonah had known what he was doing when he’d crammed me and Drake into the same boat.
I flicked my index finger at the photos. “I’d like to talk to this Cody.”
Drake pressed a button and the radio display lit up. “That’ll have to wait until the day after tomorrow. I promised my brother I’d look in on him.”
“I assume that can’t wait?”
“No.”
I rolled the window down again and fanned my head with the photos to drive home the message that I needed ventilation. “I have little choice then, do I?”
Not that I didn’t have plenty to do at home. My email inbox had to be bursting with messages that needed my attention, plus I still had to call hospitals and morgues.
Once again Drake closed the window and then reversed out the drive. “Give the air a moment.”
I eyed the vents. Perspiration coated my back and without a flood of cooling air, I might end up glued to the seat forever.
At least we’d made progress. Taking a day to do my due diligence and meet up with Nat could only help. I shoved the pictures into my pocket, yet even this small movement felt like taking a bath in my own sweat.
Drake swerved around two kids playing ball on the street. Why didn’t his face glisten?
A grumble behind the dashboard led the way for the first blast of icy air. At least it vaguely blew in my direction and dried my front.
“Tell me about the wolf outside the library.” I held my hands and arms into the air stream and guided it up to my face. “Did you model for it?”
“They asked, but couldn’t afford me. It’s a recent addition. The unusual number of wolf sightings in the area hasn’t gone unnoticed. But since a heavy werewolf presence fends off natural wolves, there have been zero attacks on humans. Their superstitious community concluded the wolves are their friends.”
“That’s handy. So no one goes out with guns to ‘protect’ themselves?” I added air quotes.
“Five years ago, an old rancher went out hunting under the pretense he was protecting his livestock. The law never got involved, but the rest of the town made his life so unbearable, he was forced to move. Our pack didn’t have to lift a finger to get rid of him, and no one’s tried to hunt since. Plus, humans stay largely out of the woods, which means we can run free anywhere.”
One day, I’d run free, too. Maybe I’d come back to this place and challenge Drake to a race. By then, he’d probably be mated, have a handful of ankle-biters, and forgotten all about me.
Unless I found a way to make myself more memorable to him...
But I wasn’t here to socialize or seduce unsuspecting men. Besides, Drake might be out of my reach. He’d shown zero interest in me, and while I didn’t lack sexual confidence, I was a realist.
“Tell me about the locals,” I said. “How much tension is there really between werewolves and humans?”
“It varies. It used to be just us with a lot of land to call our own. Marlontown is still werewolves only. Denville and Robson’s Creek are the rookies and started out as human communities. Then, with the loss of private land in Marlontown, some of us were forced to move into the new towns. Mostly, we get on with things and don’t concern ourselves with our neighbors. Jonah’s the one dealing with the worst of it.”
“You mean the land issues.”
“Yeah, that’s a sore spot.” He hooked the tips of his fingers into the bottom of the steering wheel and still avoided any of the bumps in the road.
“Why does Jonah need to sell land? The pack’s making their own money, right?”
“First off, we need cash for emergencies and to pay off the drifter hunters.”
I twisted my face into a grimace. “I hate those guys.”
The few drifter hunters I’d met had assumed that, since I lived among humans, I was a drifter, too. Once I had to get my dad’s protector involved to make sure a particularly stubborn hunter left me alone. Since then, I’d been carrying a license that evidenced I was allowed to do as I pleased while still enjoying my alpha’s protection. This was all the more embarrassing since my alpha was also my father. Not many grown werewolves needed a permission slip signed by their dads.
“The hunters got a job to do, same as everyone else.” Drake shrugged. “Drifters don’t necessarily obey human laws, and the risk that they will expose our existence is real.”
“No, I get they’re needed, but so are taxes, and I’m not a fan of those either.”
“I used to be a hunter for a few months. Before I started working for Jonah.”
“Oh. Sorry.” If I ever published a book, I’d call it How to Never Make Friends but Piss Off People. “I guess you’re not as creepy as the hunters I’ve met.”
“Not as creepy, huh?” He chuckled. “Do they make cups with that slogan?”
“I seriously didn’t mean to offend you.” Damn. “Anyway. Did your people move to Denvill
e and Robson’s Creek because the pack needed the money?”
“The 2013 flood didn’t pass Marlontown by. We didn’t have the money to rebuild our pack members’ homes, so the town council in charge of the Triangle offered to resettle them to Denville, and in turn, took away the land the original buildings stood on.”
“That hardly seems fair to Jonah. It was his land.”
“And his responsibility to do what he must to ensure his people have a roof over their heads.” Drake’s voice left a melancholic, almost sad, note hanging in the air. “Anyway, our main problem is the government. Businessmen see untapped potential in our towns and want to build malls and condos, and encourage large companies to build here and create jobs. The political bigwigs put pressure on us to sell, claim they must seize land in the public’s interest, or even dispute our ownership. The paperwork, the lawsuits, the negotiations, they all sap the life from our bones and the money from our accounts.”
“That sucks.”
“That totally sucks, dude.” He gave his voice a teenage twang.
“Very funny.” I shoved him, but not hard enough to make him lose control of his truck.
Drake’s playful side was new, and I didn’t disapprove.
“We’re here.” He pulled onto my street and rolled up to the curb. “I’ll pick you up at lunch time. Say, around one?”
“Okay. Enjoy family time.” I got out and waved goodbye before walking up to my house.
He didn’t drive off until I’d closed the door. No, he’d learned his lesson.
Seven
That evening, I checked my fridge. It was stocked and the TV worked, so my “day off” might not be a total disaster. I was lounging in my old jeans with a strappy top and dug into a pot of mascarpone ice cream. The crime drama on TV was a rip-off of a book I’d read not long ago, but kept me moderately interested.
At quarter to seven, the doorbell rang, just as Detective Blaze got ready for the showdown.
I placed the ice cream aside and padded to the door.