by Lola Kidd
She shook her head. “No, you fed me enough already.”
They put on their shoes and left the house. On the front step, she turned and hugged him. “Thanks for everything last night. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
His animal tugged hard deep inside. He had his arms around her, but he felt like he was a thousand miles away. He felt weird. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something wasn’t quite right about this whole thing. He should be over the moon but he felt …sad. Depressed even. It was so odd just five minutes earlier he’d gotten fantastic news. He was happy—he should be happy—so why didn’t he feel that way now?
“You’re welcome. I’m glad I could make it easier for you.”
They separated and went to their own cars. They went the same way for the most part, with him following her until he turned to head to the station. The rest of the drive he hadn’t been able to shake the feeling, and he was in a downright sour mood by the time he walked into work.
“Wow, you’re early,” Rhett said when he sat down. “Guess all you needed was a feminine touch to get your ass going in the morning, huh?”
“Yeah, yeah. How’s Nolan?”
“Looking better already,” Beau told him. “It’s still going to be a few weeks until he’s all the way recovered, but he’ll probably be released by the weekend. He’s incredibly lucky you two were there. He was able to give them half the money, which might have saved his life too. I bet they were happy to get at least a little paid down on the debt and they might have gone easy on him.”
“I can’t believe how close we came to a murder,” Zach said. “Things are getting out of hand in our little hamlet.”
Beau shrugged. “Almost doesn’t count. We’ve come close before. More times than makes me comfortable. Speaking of humans, how are things with your little project?”
“Going okay. She’s leaving town tomorrow and she’s going to keep me updated on what she’s doing.”
Rhett squinted at him. “Am I hearing you right, Zach? She’s leaving without finding anything out and she’s going to keep feeding you information? From the tone of your voice, I assumed you were saying something awful.”
“You heard right. It’s a great stroke of luck. I just feel...I don’t know. I feel something.”
“Something bad or good?” Beau asked.
“Neither? Both. I don’t know. Just some type of way about her leaving.”
Beau and Rhett exchanged a look and Rhett cleared his throat. “You know, your job is basically done at this juncture. You can’t do anything more really. So if you wanted to spend her last night in town doing personal business instead of working, nobody would blame you or get mad.”
“No, I’ll stay on the case until she’s gone.”
“Right, but you don’t have to be so professional for one moment. I mean, we’ll forgive you for taking a few hours off.”
Zach rubbed his eyes and sighed. “What are you saying? You think I’m going to mess this up because I’m not taking a break? It’s been like two days. I’m fine.”
Rhett shook his head. “You really are obtuse sometimes, son.”
“I think Rhett’s saying you could take her on a date if you want.” Beau chuckled. “If you want, and not for the project. For yourself.”
“Why would I want to do that? I don’t want to lead her on any more than I have to.”
“Obtuse.” Rhett sat at his desk. “Just ruminate on what I said. The choice is yours.”
“Sure. Thanks boss.” Zach looked at the paperwork on his desk. What were Rhett and Beau getting on about? He didn’t want to ask Tally out; he wanted her to leave Lake Magnolia in one piece and stay that way. This was not a personal thing, it was professional. Purely professional.
Chapter Fourteen
Tally easily spotted Lydia and her brother at the coffee shop. They were both very beautiful and easy to spot. They had an air of cool calmness around them. Surprising given the reason for their meeting. The way Lydia appeared on social media wasn’t an act; Tally could see why people gravitated toward her.
“Hi again,” Tally said, sitting down with her bagel and espresso.
“Hi, this is my brother Vaughn,” Lydia said. “We both really wanted to thank you for everything you did last night.”
“You saved our brother.”
Tally waved a hand. “He’s a shifter. He would have been okay and it was the least I could do. The KOPs who found him are the real heroes.”
“We heard what his dealer did,” Vaughn said. “We know he pulled a gun on you. That must have been very scary. To still have the wherewithal to call the police after that is incredibly brave. Nolan may be a shifter but you aren’t, and you could have been hurt last night.”
“I don’t know how we can thank you, but maybe giving you a little more of the story might help,” Lydia said. “Vaughn is a little older than me and while still very young, he at least remembers some of the stuff that went down that day.”
“Oh my gosh.” Tally put her hand over her mouth. “That would be amazing. I mean, you don’t have to thank me anymore after this. Seriously, I was going to leave town without much to show for it, but any little bit of information would really brighten my day.”
“It isn’t much,” Vaughn warned. “I was much too young to get any information and when I got older, I saw that there wasn’t much to find out. So I can only tell you how it seemed from my prospective as a little boy and some things I gathered on my own.”
“That would be fine. And I assume this is all anonymous.”
“Of course,” Vaughn said. “You must know that it isn’t appreciated when shifters talk to humans about our affairs.”
“I did not know that but I should have assumed it.”
Duh. She didn’t think of it because as far as she knew, there were no shifter secrets. This made her wonder just what else shifters were hiding. She knew that some of them had the ability to compel humans but that it wasn’t a very widespread ability and it was frowned upon to use it, in some places even illegal. But now she wondered, was all that a lie? Did shifters use magic on humans frequently? It hadn’t happened to her yet, but she wondered if that was because she wasn’t getting close to the truth. Time would tell.
“Right, so when we were small our mother Yolanda tried to kill us,” Vaughn began. “It was a normal day and then all of a sudden she changed. Shifting wasn’t odd, but it was like the air in the room changed the moment she became a lion. We all felt it. Our older brother tried to get us out and took the lioness’ attention to give us time to get away.”
Vaughn paused, shuddered, and took a breath before continuing. Lydia put her hand on his arm. “It was a very scary experience and we don’t talk about this often.”
“Never. We never speak about this,” Vaughn corrected. “Anyway. Lydia and Nolan got out but I stayed in the doorway and told them to go for help. They ran to a neighbor’s house. The lioness closed in on our older brother and had him backed into a wall before Mom was able to take control again. She was out of her mind when she realized what happened. She had to be sedated.”
“What happened when she came to?”
Vaughn shrugged. “We don’t know. We never saw her again.”
“Ever?” Tally thought back to the file she’d seen. “But I thought she went home after being released from the hospital. She didn’t disappear until a few months later.”
Lydia shook her head. “No. She was gone right after that. Our neighbor kept us until our aunt was able to get to town.”
“Mrs. Gerno and her family were close to us the entire time. She might be able to tell you something. If she’s willing to talk. She’s a human but that doesn’t mean much. She has shifter children and is married to a shifter,” Vaughn said. “But it’s worth a shot. She and her husband still live in the same house.”
Lydia wrote an address on a napkin and slid it over to Tally. “It isn’t far. Nothing is in this little town.”
�
�Thank you. You’ve been immensely helpful. I’m sorry about your brother too. He may be an addict, but he didn’t seem like a bad person.”
“He isn’t,” Lydia sighed. “Just a little misguided.”
Vaughn snorted. “Our ever-optimistic sister. Speaking of Nolan, we need to get back to the hospital. He should be awake soon and it isn’t so hot to be in the hospital alone.”
“Of course.” Tally stood up and shook both of their hands. “Thank you again.”
Vaughn smiled. “You really are something. Have a great day.”
Tally quickly finished her espresso and bagel. She ordered an extra-large coffee to go and punched the address into her GPS. It was only a few blocks away as always. Small towns may be dull but getting around them was super easy. The house was very quaint and adorable. It was an established neighborhood with giant oak trees and all the houses were very well maintained.
She didn’t go to the Gerno house right away. She took a look at the Lionhearts’ old home. She couldn’t see much since she didn’t want to trespass, but it was very ordinary. It was bizarre to think that this was almost the scene of a very gruesome murder. She knocked on the Gernos’ door and waited until a very nice-looking old woman came to the door.
“Yes?”
“Hi, I’m Tallulah and I’d like to speak to you about your old neighbors the Lionhearts.”
The old woman huffed and then slammed the door in Tally’s face. That wasn’t so bad actually. At least she hadn’t said anything mean, and from her reaction, Tally knew she must have some information.
She knocked again but no one came to the door. “I got your name and address from Vaughn and Lydia. I just finished talking with them at the coffee shop. They told me about the incident with their mother when they were children. They didn’t know much and told me to ask you and see if you would be willing to talk to me.”
“Why would Vaughn and Lydia talk to you?”
“I helped Nolan and they spoke with me as a thank you.”
The door opened a crack. “You’re the human who called 911? The reporter woman?”
“Yes, that would be me.”
The door opened a little more. “I don’t know anything really, so I can’t be much help either. No one knows what happened that day.”
“Okay. Can you tell me anything about the time leading up to that day? Was Mrs. Lionheart acting strange? Or in any way out of the ordinary?”
“Sort of?” The woman hesitated as she searched for the right words. “She wasn’t acting strange so much as complaining of ailments which for a shifter is odd in itself, and even stranger for her. She rarely got sick. But she was steadily coming down with something and kept sending the kids over.”
“Ailments like what?”
“Headaches. Migraines really. She would be laid up for hours with the blinds drawn and the house quiet. It was so strange.”
“Okay. Anything else?”
“You really shouldn’t be digging into all of this. Those poor children have been through enough. With their mother up and leaving it was really traumatic for all of them. I don’t see why you’d want to make them revisit that awful time.”
“I’m not going to be asking any more of them. I was just trying to tie up any loose ends on something I’m working on. Just one more question?”
The woman nodded. “Fine. But I really don’t know more.”
“Nothing about the incident. Can you tell me when Yolanda Lionheart left?”
She thought. “I would say it was about three or four months after the incident. Her sister had just moved back to town and then a month or so later she disappeared.”
“With no warning or anything?”
“Nope. We even had plans to take the children to the movies that weekend. But then the oldest came to my door one morning saying there was no food in the house and could he have some breakfast. The kids didn’t call their aunt because they were sure their mother would be back.”
Tally nodded. “Okay. Thank you for talking to me. You’ve been very helpful.”
“Thank you for helping Nolan. He’s a troubled boy, but he isn’t a bad person.”
“I’m sure. Have a great day.”
“You too.”
Tally went back to her car and quickly scribbled some thoughts into a note on her phone. So the police report was wrong and the children had lied. Why? They had to know Mrs. Gerno was going to tell a different story. The mother had been home for longer. It seemed like such a silly lie. Either way, she had left her children and disappeared. There must be something here, but she didn’t know what exactly. This whole story was turning into a confusing mess.
Maybe she should extend her trip so she could find out more. She would ask Zach what he thought.
Chapter Fifteen
The day had been short with not much to do so it had felt ages long. By the time Zach left the station, he was sure he’d aged at least four years. By the time he got to his house, he was feeling more like himself again. Good thing because there was a surprise waiting for him in his driveway.
“Tally? I thought we were meeting up tomorrow,” he said, getting out of his car.
“We were, but I needed to talk with you tonight. I think I’m going to extend my stay in town.”
Never had he felt such conflicting and confusing emotions. His animal was excited to hear she’d be staying. His human half was too a little bit, but mostly he was nervous. The only reason she’d want to stay would be if she found something useful.
“Why? I mean, is there anything here you can use?”
“Maybe. I’m still feeling a little out of sorts after the gun thing, but I think there might be something there with the Lionhearts. I talked to a neighbor and it looks like the police report was wrong. She didn’t leave right away. She came back after going to the hospital.”
Zach knew that. She wasn’t even really gone. His cousin had found out that Yolanda was in the neighboring town Abbott. Which wasn’t a fact that anyone wanted to get out. It would hurt her children to know that she’d been so close and never come to visit them. He understood. She was afraid of hurting them. He didn’t know the whole story since he hadn’t spoken to her, but Beau had wanted to do the same thing when he was having his troubles. It was a whole mess. Beau had even shifted more times. Yolanda had only had the one incident as far as they could tell. But Beau had almost a dozen.
If he thought about it too much, it made Zach very uneasy. That was why a large part of him wanted Tally to go even though he was fond of her. This wasn’t something that needed to be meddled in.
“You’re kidding. How did you find that out? I’ve known Lydia my whole life and she never said anything about that. Vaughn either.”
“They don’t talk about it much. It was only a few months. I mean as far as they’re concerned it’s the same thing. Their mother is gone. Doesn’t matter exactly which day they tell you it happened.”
“Do you think it’s important?”
“Maybe. Why’d she leave? She was fine coming back even after it all went down. So why up and leave three months later? Maybe something happened.”
Zach shrugged. “I don’t know. This doesn’t seem to be much. Who else could you speak to in town that could help you with that?”
“I don’t know. I was hoping you might have some ideas or maybe we could come up with a plan together. I need someone to bounce ideas off of and you’re the closest one to me and know the most about the case.”
“I’m flattered. We can sit down and think about it after I shower. It’s been a very long day.”
“I thought you might say that.” Tally popped open her trunk. “I brought food. It’s my turn to pay you back for taking care of me.”
“You don’t have to do that, especially after what happened last night.”
“But I want to,” she insisted. “I’m not some kind of helpless little flower. I can do something for you too.”
“Fine. I’m way too tired to argue and I’ll never turn d
own a home-cooked meal.”
“Keep that in mind after you taste my food,” she warned with a grim laugh.
“Hold on now. You aren’t going to poison me or something?”
“Probably not?”
Once inside, he set her up in the kitchen and showed her where everything was. “If you need anything else, just come to the bathroom and holler.”
“Okay. See you in a bit.”
She was making a simple meal and he had complete faith that she wouldn’t screw it up...or at least not all of it. He spied salad fixings in her bags. Even if the main dish turned out awful, he had some chicken thawed out and could grill it up quick. It would be fine. She’d also brought ice cream and toppings. It had to be a sundae bar. Which was very cute. He wondered how all-out she was going.
He took his good sweet time showering and toweling off to give her time to get everything set up. He also took the time to think of what the hell he was going to tell her. How was he going to lead her next move in such a way to keep her from finding anything out but also not tipping her off to his ulterior motives? Not that he was totally sure what those even were anymore. He did want to keep her out of their business, but he also really wanted to keep her safe. And something else...something he didn’t quite know yet, but he had a sinking feeling it wasn’t going to be anything good in terms of his current situation.
Zach wanted to keep this professional. He had a feeling that the longer Tally stayed in town, the less professional he was going to be. The less professional his feelings would stay. His animal was starting to overpower him. It had already managed to take control and hit the ground, twice, when she was involved. How long before the deep passion it had for her overwhelmed him? How long would he be able to ignore it and keep those feelings stuffed down? Not much longer he feared.
Getting her out of Lake Magnolia would be amazing on so many fronts for him. But his animal didn’t want that at all. It wanted to keep her close. Keep her where they could keep an eye on her and make sure she was safe. Because there was no telling what she’d get up to away from him. Once she left town, who knows when he’d see her again. In the back of his mind, he was also aware that if she found out he was playing her, he would never see her again. Another reason to get her out of town. The less he was around her, the less chance she’d find out about his lies. This was all starting to get complicated. Much more complicated than he’d ever imagined it would get.