Catching a Coyote

by Serenity Snow

  “Macho.” She sighed and shook her head.

  Mallory tugged Cordelia’s hand away as the officers hurried up the walk.

  “What’s going on?” A brunette asked, her gaze going from Mallory to Cordelia. “We got a call of shots fired and a fight.”

  “We were attacked,” Mallory muttered. “I’m pretty sure one of them was a woman. She shot at us.”

  The blond man that joined them cast a look around the scene. “Looks like water balloons.”

  “Someone threw water balloons at you?” the female cop asked carefully, face pulled into a question.

  “At first, and then a wolf attacked,” Cordelia said. “It ran off.”

  “After you wounded it,” the male cop said. “I smell blood.”

  “I’ll go call it in and get CSU out here,” the female said. “We’ll need statements from the two of you.”

  The woman turned her head and used the communications device attached to her jacket. The static was followed by a loud screech and they all let out a cry.

  “Fuck,” the woman muttered.

  “Use your department issue cell,” the man said.

  As she made her call, the man turned back to them, whipping out a little notebook.

  “Okay, let’s go over this from the top. Do you have an idea of who might have been behind this?”

  “Not that you guys care, but yeah,” Cordelia muttered.

  “Ma’am, I’m here to help you, so try to lose the attitude,” he said coolly. “Who do you think did this?”

  “Larue McDaniels,” she said angrily. “She left me a message before this happened. She said she was going to kill Mallory and beat the crap out of me.”

  “What? Mallory demanded. “She sent you another message after I messaged her?”

  “Of course, she did,” Cordelia said angrily. “I just didn’t know she’d be out here waiting to attack us.”

  “Are you sure? McDaniels is on duty.”

  “I’m sure she sent me the messages,” Cordelia muttered. “My phone is right here, but it’s not like it can back that up except for the messages. I’m sure she wouldn’t have someone else texting me that she’s pissed because she was arrested or whatever by Mystic PD.”

  “I’ll have to check that out,” he said. “But let’s get on with it.”

  “Right,” Cordelia grumbled. What should have been a fun night was turning into one hell of a bad idea.

  Chapter Fifteen

  By the time they’d finished talking to the police, gotten checked out at the clinic, and driven to an isolated little cabin, Cordelia was a little tired and hungry. The skylight above the small table next to a window brought in the starry night, giving the meal a romantic feel.

  “Some evening,” Mallory said as she sat across from her, a glass of wine in hand.

  “Why were you looking at my phone?” Cordelia asked carefully.

  “You were in the shower, and I just wanted to see who it was.”

  “Why? You’re not my bitch,” Cordelia muttered. “You had no right.”

  “I was trying to help,” she snapped and set her glass down. “And don’t raise your voice to me.”

  “Why not? We had sex. No strings. No after obligations, so don’t try to pull that Domme shit on me. You don’t get your cake and a forkful of it, too.”

  Mallory growled at her and Cordelia hissed.

  “Was this before or after the messages came in?” Cordelia asked in irritation.

  “I only picked up your phone when the message came in.”

  Cordelia doubted her and wondered what Mallory had been looking for but decided to let it go and guard her phone more carefully next time.

  “You pissed her off worse,” she said with a hard sigh. “But at least you got her to tip her hand. I doubt they’ll find fingerprints on the devices they removed.”

  “She’s a cop,” Mallory said and took a swallow of her wine. “She would have used gloves.”

  “She thinks she owns me, and we haven’t even kissed,” Cordelia snapped. “If they don’t do something with her, she’s going to actually kill me. That cop in Mystic said these things always end badly.”

  “They do,” Mallory agreed on a sigh. “But we won’t allow her to get to you. You should move.”

  “Where?” Cordelia exclaimed, a note of hysteria in her tone.

  “Here.” Mallory motioned with her free hand.

  “Here? Whose cabin is this?”

  “It’s a pack house,” Mallory said. “Some of my pack mates use it when they need privacy. It’s on the edge of my pack’s lands.”

  Wow. That kind of stung.

  Mallory hadn’t even bothered taking her to her own home.

  “You’ll be safe here. The property is patrolled by my pack.”

  “Oh.”

  “And you can ride to the club with me unless you want to take a few more days off.”

  “No,” Cordelia replied with a shake of her head. “What good will that do? Larue will probably just harass me over the phone.”

  “She can’t get to you in the club, Cordi. I promise.”

  “Call me Cordelia, Mallory,” Cordelia said softly. “The nickname is a sign of intimacy that neither of us wants.” Cordelia picked up her fork and dug into her meal.

  “Don’t be a hard-ass,” Mallory muttered.

  “I’m keeping it real for both of us,” she replied.

  She was already falling in love with Mallory. Increasing the intimacy would only make it that much more difficult to stay just friends.

  The mind didn’t always keep reality and truth separate when the heart got involved.

  That was a risk she couldn’t take.

  ****

  Mallory didn’t sleep at the cabin last night. As a result, she was outside of it now with the sentries who guarded their territory. The old trees towered above them, the fragrant needles of pine scenting the air while the heavy oaks reached over them like a canopy. Some of the trees were losing leaves while others were merely changing into their winter best.

  “We have a guest,” Mallory told the four men and Brynn. “I want a guard making passes on this area on a regular rotation, and when Cordelia is present, I want a guard on the place at all times.”

  “Gotcha,” Brynn said.

  “Is she one of us?” one of the men inquired.

  “No. She’s my lover,” she said, and she didn’t know why. Well, she knew the alpha’s woman would get more attention than a normal guest, but her command would have been enough.

  “I’ll make sure the right people are assigned with Brynn’s okay,” one of the other men said.

  “Go to it,” Brynn agreed, and he nodded.

  “She’s being stalked by a jackal cop. McDaniels.”

  “That dude is bad news,” the coyote next to Brynn said softly. “She was part of Jerry’s inner circle, and she’s close to Bradley. I think they might even be related.”

  “Thanks for the heads up,” Mallory said, giving him a glance before turning her gaze on Brynn who nodded subtly.

  “Are we going to be babysitting her in town?”

  “No,” Mallory said giving the speaker a cool look. She didn’t like his attitude and made a mental note to keep an eye on him.

  “Set up the duty, Carpenter,” Brynn said. “Everybody back to work.”

  They headed off, leaving Brynn and Mallory alone.

  “Delaney wanted a word with you, so you can let her know you want a look into Larue, and I’ll take care of Butler.” She referenced the guard with the questionable attitude.

  Mallory nodded. “Thanks.” It was better to allow Brynn to deal with some of the dissenters so they’d realize Mallory had trust and confidence in Brynn and her ability to do her job.

  “You look more relaxed despite last night’s festivities,” Brynn teased. “I guess she was as good off stage as she is on it.”

  “Shut up,” Mallory muttered with a smile. “It was just what it was.”

  “Huh?
That doesn’t sound good. She couldn’t have been that bad.” Brynn frowned, and Mallory growled, not pleased with the fact Brynn had even thought of Cordelia in a sexual way.

  Cordelia wasn’t hers, but her animal wanted to claim her, despite the woman’s reluctance to get too close. But she was fighting a losing battle and Mallory knew it.

  “Let it go,” she said. “Tell Delaney to meet me in my office. I’ll be there in ten.”

  “Will do,” Brynn said.

  “Get some supplies out here. I don’t want the girl to starve.”

  “On it,” Brynn said and chuckled as she loped off.

  Mallory grunted. This wasn’t anything. Cordelia had reminded her of that last night, and she wasn’t about to challenge it. On the other hand, she wouldn’t deny herself the sexual comfort Cordelia offered.

  Mallory headed into the cabin finding it quiet. The scent of soap drew her to one of the two bedrooms. The door was half-closed, and she pushed it open to find Cordelia standing in the middle of the room naked.

  Cordelia hissed, and Mallory leaned against the doorframe to admire the view of her lithe frame.

  “Why’d you get the ink?” she asked nodding to Cordelia’s hips.

  “I didn’t,” she replied. “I mean, I got drunk when I was sixteen and did something stupid.”

  Mallory studied her, allowing the coyote to take in the scents of air. Finding nothing tainting the sweet scent of jasmine, she let it go.

  However, Cordelia had averted her gaze and the words sounded more practiced than natural which made Mallory deduce that was another lie. So, what was Cordelia hiding about her past?

  “I guess your bad judgment is a curse,” she said as Cordelia pulled on a simple black bra.

  Cordelia met her gaze, a blouse in hand. She lifted her brows, her eyes enigmatic. “You never made a bad decision or three in your life?” she asked coldly. “This thing with Larue—her deranged behavior has nothing to do with me deciding to go out with her.”

  “Not strictly, no.” Mallory stepped into the room and crossed to her. “You’re lovely and dance with such confidence. You make them want you.”

  “That’s my job. It keeps the rent paid.” Her tone was frigid now as she pulled on her shirt. “Can you loan me a car to go to my apartment? I want to get the rest of my clothes.”

  “I’ll take you,” she murmured. “But I have a meeting first. After that, we’ll get you fed.”

  “Thank you, but you don’t have to fawn all over me, Mallory,” she replied. “I can take care of myself despite how things look.”

  “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not thinking you can’t take care of yourself. On the contrary, I’m curious. My coyote wants to know what you’re hiding from her.”

  “Nothing.” Her tone was bland now as she picked up her pants and got into them. “I’m just a stripper.”

  “What do you want to do with your life in five or six years?”

  “Whatever comes next.” Cordelia shrugged. “I’m not too picky or too ambitious. I just want to live and let live.”

  A slight scent change.

  An interesting moment to crack, but why?

  “I’ll be back in an hour,” Mallory told her and glanced at her watch. “You’re free to explore, just don’t go too far.”

  She didn’t respond, and Mallory left, wondering about this strange woman. What was it about her that made her such a curious specimen?

  Mallory made it to her office in ten minutes to find Delaney waiting for her. The other woman’s warm coloring and curious eyes made her wonder what Delaney had picked up in her scent.

  “What is it?” She unlocked her office door and stepped inside. The spacious room was tidy with a black leather couch along one wall and two chairs before her desk.

  “I turned up something that might be something or might not,” she said.

  “On which subject?” Mallory asked as she moved to her desk.

  “Treasure. I’ve got a friend checking out something on Bradley and his resort. I might have intel tomorrow.”

  “Then tell me about Cordelia.”

  “Okay. The normal background on her was to just check out what she told us and make sure she wasn’t in trouble with the law.”

  “She wasn’t.”

  “No.” Delaney shook her head. “A second look though brought up a few flags for me. I’m assuming you’re assuming she’s connected to Bradley.”

  “I’m thinking,” Mallory agreed, sitting down.

  “My problem here is simple,” Delaney told her. “I found six women that could be your girl until I narrowed it down. I’ll send you the file of the woman I think is your Cordelia.”

  “She’s just a dancer who might be a problem, Delaney,” she said evenly.

  “She’s an Irish born American girl named Misty O’Bannon-Big Hawk. Her father came up in connection with a yakuza boss named Yamamoto. Nasty son of a bitch who’s got a lot of kills to his credit and some he’s rumored to have carried out with his bare hands.”

  “What’s he do for the Japanese mob?”

  “Accountant,” she said. “His wife was also an accountant, but her father was arrested and gave up his boss. Testified and was killed. The wife gave testimony as well, but she and her daughter Cordelia vanished.”

  “What happened?”

  “About six years ago her mother was killed, and Cordelia was tapped to testify,” Delaney answered. “I’m still pumping that well to see what comes out, but she didn’t make it to trial. She was killed in a house fire along with her federal bodyguards and Yamamoto’s son.”

  “And why do you think this is Treasure?”

  “She’s one of two. The other one is a dancer who’s living in Texas. Same age, same birthdate, and same birth place,” Delaney said. “She can’t be in two places at once. Course, I could be wrong and she’s girl number three.”

  “Tell me about three.”

  “She’s elusive. No real past to speak of just a few odd jobs dancing in clubs. Deceased parents,” Delaney said. “Goes by the name of Fancy Treasure when she does dance.”

  “I’ll get prints on Cordelia.”

  “That could help if she’s in the system, but something tells me your girl’s not a criminal. So, I’m going to need something more.”

  “She has a tattoo on her hip. Flowers.”

  “That I can work with, but if you can find out where she’s from that will be a help, too.”

  Mallory snorted. “The girl’s keeping her past close to the vest. All she’s told me was that she was a runaway.”

  “Then she’s probably the elusive number three.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “I told you last night, I have to be careful,” the man said in a cold tone. “I can’t just go snooping around her office.”

  Cordelia pulled up short in her slow stroll as she explored not far from the cabin.

  “The stripper? Hell, I don’t know if she’s fucking her or not. Even if she is, it’s not serious. Mallory never gets involved with those hoes.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “No. I’m not going to mess with that girl with her so close. Mallory will know. I’m part of her security detail… Listen, I’ll see what I can find out. If the girl knew anything, she’d have spit it out by now. Isaiah, stop worrying. Fine. I’ll take care of her the first chance I get.”

  Who could have seen me that night?

  Cordelia flashed back to the night Isa had been killed. The scent of blood and sweat had drawn her from the locker room that night. The whispers had kept her in place as every hair on her body stood on end.

  She’d learned to pay attention in case anyone learned who she was and told Yamamoto where she was. She knew he’d pay to get his hands on her considering she’d killed his only son.

  “She was the only one that night,” he said. “I’ll get something on Treasure or whatever the hell her name is. Mallory will be digging into her life anyway and with any luck she’s just like Adalyn. A fugitive.
Jenner will be more than happy to kill her himself.”

  He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, but didn’t bother to glance around. He was too arrogant and too comfortable to say he was betraying his alpha.

  “I can’t do anything about her—wait. That wasn’t part of the deal. Besides, what if he finds out I killed his sister? Wait … I can’t do that. If Mallory finds out, she’ll rip me apart herself if Jenner doesn’t.”

  He shook his head, fear marring his face for a moment as he paced.

  “Okay.” Stress filled his voice. “I’ll take care of Treasure, but after last night I don’t think she’s going to be that easy. She killed Robert. I saw her. She’s a coyote or a wolf too… No, I didn’t see her kill him, but I saw her gut him. And he’s dead.”

  I’m going to do worse to you when you come after me.

  “Get Larue to take care of it… I have to go. I smell Mallory coming.”

  Cordelia aimed a finger at the ground. Slick.

  The ground beneath her feet turned to ice, and she slid back the way she came, jumping over a log and landing on the slick ground which took her sailing over the terrain toward the cabin.

  Her eyes widened at the sight of a low-hanging branch.

  “Levitate,” she murmured as she shifted her weight, allowing the momentum to carry her forward.

  Cordelia flipped over the branch and landed deftly on her feet. She sailed around a stand of trees and glided to a clearing that led her right up to the steps of the cabin. Cordelia jumped to avoid tripping on the stair.

  She faced the icy track and pointed her index finger at it.

  Retract.

  The ice faded, leaving behind some wet, and she dashed inside. Cordelia took a few minutes to calm her breathing as she removed her jacket and tossed it back on the couch where she’d thrown it last night.

  As she stood there, Cordelia went over the sparse bit of conversation she’d heard. She had to tell Mallory, or she had to get out of town.

  Behind her, the door opened and Cordelia jerked around. Mallory stood there wreathed in light. Her face held no sign of what she might be thinking.

  “Are you ready to go?” Mallory asked.