Blood on the Moon (The Federal Witch Book 7)

by T S Paul

  “I don’t know or care. We’re better off here. Look at all we’ve built here.” Gundi spread her arms around.

  “This is just the beginning. Give me another hundred years. We will do great things.” Adam hugged his sister.

  “Boss?”

  Adam let go of Gundi and spun around. Nate was running toward them from the house. “What’s going on?”

  Nate stopped at the edge of the platform and looked up. “The Witch and her people just entered Blood Moon.”

  Gundi cursed under her breath. “Send Bryan over there and gather up the newbies. We’ll give them a show of force they aren’t expecting.”

  Nate looked past her toward Adam. The alpha nodded, “do it.”

  “What do we do if she’s here to arrest us?” Gundi asked her brother.

  Adam let loose a growl. “This is our place. What laws have we broken? She’s just making things up. We control this town, not her.”

  <<< >>>

  The front of the place looked as though it had changed very little since we were last here. I could see the tops of RVs over the fence surrounding the parking lot. “This really was Bill’s favorite place to eat.”

  “He once told me he missed the food here more than any other place in the country. They never said he wasn’t welcome, but he didn’t want to cause trouble here,” Chuck spoke up as we pulled onto the lot.

  “Agatha, did you feel that?” Cat asked me.

  I nodded. “They found a stronger Witch to ward the place. Still using mercenaries though. I wonder how much this one charged them?”

  Closing my eyes, I sent a message to Pathfinder. The bracelet glowed for a moment as the anti-paranormal ward surrounding the restaurant shattered into nothingness. Casually I rubbed the gold band as if petting it. I did not want to draw Blake’s attention to my bracelets. They were none of his business. We still had no reason to trust him with all our secrets.

  “Park us somewhat close, Chuck. If this goes like last time, we might have a pack of angry werewolves on our tail,” I directed him.

  “Could that happen?” Blake nervously asked.

  Cat slapped him on the back. “Didn’t the Mer sisters teach you anything? When dealing with paranormals, most anything can happen. Nothing about this job surprises us anymore.”

  As a group, we left the SUV and stepped into the restaurant. I wondered how long it would take before they noticed who we were and called for help.

  There wasn’t a hostess at the station, so we seated ourselves. I nudged Cat and pointed toward the rear of the place. I could see that one wall was scorched very badly. They never covered it up that we were there.

  Looking around I could see several definite tourists in their Wally World hats, and extremely loud shirts and shorts. Something about Florida transforms people. They always look like they just stepped off a seventies-themed golf course. This was Tennessee, so most of them must be returning home. In the corner opposite to us were Sheriff Bowen and one of his deputies. I nodded at him and waved.

  “He doesn’t look happy to see us,” Cat pointed out.

  I replied to her. “Neither does the waitress.”

  A pretty, young looking girl, approached us and laid four menus on the table. Forcing a smile, she asked, “What drinks can I get all y'all?”

  We all ordered freshly-made sweet tea, a southern staple. I doubted they would spit in it or anything. Food was sacred.

  “That confirms what we suspected.” Cat touched my hand drawing my attention to the sheriff. He’d drawn out a phone and was in an animated conversation with someone.

  “He called the Pack House. Adam Moon is reaming him a new one. Sheriff Bowen looks like he ate something that is disagreeing with him,” Cat told me.

  You have to love Weres and their super hearing. It was an ace-in-the-hole that we’d used on more than one occasion. The waitress returned with drinks and asked for our orders. Since this was official, I ordered two large family packs of everything. Something else about Weres, they had bottomless stomachs. There was smoked jackalope on the menu, and I knew Chuck would want some.

  The food had just started to arrive when Weres began filtering into the restaurant. Sheriff Bowen was still sitting in the corner, but his deputy was long gone or preparing the posse. You just never knew how these things would go down.

  “I don’t recognize any of them,” Cat said quietly. Several dozen Were took many of the available chairs.

  “Some of them must be the new class. This should be refreshing. Let’s eat. Maybe this time we’ll get to finish the food before they throw us out,” I replied.

  I had to give the Moon’s credit. It really was some of the best barbecues I’d ever had. Including what Mongo had made for us. I could tell Chuck liked it by the way he was full-on stuffing his mouth. Blake was the funniest of our little group. He was actually trying to eat a rack of beef ribs with a knife and fork.

  “Just pick it up and eat it, Blake. You’re making it way too hard on yourself like that,” Cat told the man.

  “Not all of us want barbecue sauce all over their uniform,” Blake pointed to the whirlwind that was Chuck.

  “He just appreciates good food. While he cooks a mean steak, barbecuing escapes him. Plus, the last time we were here, he didn’t get to eat his fill. I doubt we’ll get to take any leftovers so eat up,” I instructed.

  “And why wouldn’t we allow you to take food away?”

  The new voice caused me to look away from Blake and into the bluish-green eyes of Adam Moon.

  “Strange things happen sometimes,” I replied to him as I wiped sauce from my mouth.

  “We haven’t broken any laws,” Adam stated as he pulled out a chair and sat at the table directly across from us. He was sitting cowboy style with the back of the chair in the front. It covered his vitals with a wooden shield and allowed him to escape backward if need be. Smart of him.

  “I’ve never said you have. Ask your buddy Bowen over there. I’m not here for you. Just like I wasn’t last time. That incident was all on you,” I replied.

  “You tried to burn us out! How is that my fault?” Moon shouted at me.

  Calmly, I answered him. “We were only here for food. If you remember, a member of my team had been here before and thought we’d like it. It was you and your sister over there that objected to, and failed to follow the pack rules about law enforcement officers. Trust me when I say that if I had wanted your place burned down, I would have done so.”

  Many of the pack members around us stirred. I could feel just the edge of their change. It was like a sour taste on the tip of my tongue. Last time we were here I had to work at it to prevent both Cat and Chuck from changing and starting a fight. That was then, and this is now. My Magick was much more under my control and backed up by Defender and Pathfinder. My gold colored companions had already built a ward around the place that belonged to me and reinforced my Magick. Under my breath, I muttered a quick incantation.

  Adam Moon froze in mid-speech and looked around the room. A large number of his people looked confused and somewhat scared. “What did you just do?”

  “I calmed them down. This isn’t the time or place for claws and fangs. I told you before. We aren’t here for you. Why make us arrest you?” I asked.

  “You’re missing someone. Where’s that nosy human you had with you last time? Bill something?” Adam asked.

  I felt sadness come over me at his words. “Bill’s no longer with us. He was assassinated just a few days ago while recovering in a hospital.”

  Gundi spoke up. “Sorry for your loss. If you see her, convey my words to his wife. She and he were nice people when they stayed with us.”

  “I will. She witnessed the shooting and is still broken up about it. We told the sheriff the reason we’re here. The FBI’s been tracking a serial killer across three states. We believe he’s here, either among the humans in town or as part of your induction ceremony. It’s our job to hunt him down,” I informed Moon.

 
“You know nothing of our practices and ceremonies. How could a killer infiltrate any pack? Precautions and fail-safes prevent that. You’re crazy!” Adam spat at me.

  I sighed. It would be the hard way then. “We know enough. Someone gave us a very nice description of all of it, including your ‘hunt.’ It must have been hard to leave Forrest’s army and stay here. He was riding off to another adventure leaving you in the middle of nowhere.”

  “How? No one in this town would talk to you. I ordered… They wouldn’t dare!” Adam stumbled over the words.

  “Agent Blake over there found someone in City Hall that gave us the entire low down. I know pretty much everything.” I smiled. We didn’t really have the entire picture, but he didn’t know that. Being part of a Were Pack myself I knew how to tell the truth, but not the whole truth. Werewolves could smell lies.

  Adam accused me. “You lie. I can smell it on you.”

  “If you smell anything, it’s this mustard sauce you make. Do you sell it individually?” I asked.

  Gundi smiled at me. “We do. I’ll get you our gift catalog.”

  “Who spoke to you?” Adam’s face was starting to change color, and his eyes were taking on a yellow color. He was moments away from the change.

  I made a circular motion with my right hand. The spell began bleeding the anger off the alpha leader. “I believe he called himself Eddie Moo. I’m sure you’ve met him.”

  Adam deflated for a moment. “Damn Vampires.”

  Many of the surrounding wolves began looking around when Adam mentioned Vampires. They were very rare in rural areas.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a female Were sitting near the end of our table watching every move that Chuck made. Our big Were was oblivious to everything as he started wiping sauce off his face and clothing.

  “Chuck? Is that you?” The woman stood up and peered at him.

  Gundi left her brother’s side in a flash and was at the woman’s half a second later. “Do you know this man Sybil?”

  “Yes, he’s the son of our old neighbor.” Sybil sat back down at her table.

  Chuck looked shocked. He gazed at the woman in wonder. “How did you get here? The last time we spoke, you were still in Louisiana.”

  Sybil hung her head. “Your Uncle Robert killed Henry. They tried to cover it up and say he challenged him, but you know that’s crazy. My Henry could barely kill the moles in the yard.”

  Gundi leaned down with fire in her eyes. “Your uncle is the alpha of her old pack?”

  “Most likely. He’s a real tool. I haven’t been home for more than seven years. It doesn’t matter to him that I’m in law enforcement. I can’t see anyone without his permission. Is there anything I can do to help, Sybil?” Chuck asked.

  Sybil shook her head no.

  Adam looked at me and then at his sister. She shrugged and held up her hands to him. Looking back at me he replied, “Work with the Sheriff. You have my permission to investigate.”

  Cat looked at me and gave me a nudge. “We better look outside for flying pigs. They may have crapped on our car.”

  Gundi Moon snorted loudly and covered her mouth.

  Chapter 17

  It was all Jack could do not to run from the restaurant. The Witch said they were hunting a killer. How did she know he was even here? He made sure to listen to all the conversations in the room. If they were that close, did they know for sure it was him?

  Keeping his voice low, Jack spoke to Red, “Do you believe this crap?”

  “It makes sense to know the truth, dude. Getting arrested is bad enough. How’d you like to get arrested for doing something stupid? Since we know this guy’s here, we can help catch him. We need to find out if there’s a reward. I could use new headers for my bike,” Red remarked.

  “But…” Jack never got to finish his thought. One of the pack’s enforcers stepped over to them and shook his head.

  That’s all it took, one glance in their direction, for the enforcers to act. A small part of Jack’s brain had to admire them for that. Neither of his fathers had that amount of leadership or organization down within their respective packs.

  He didn’t know what to do now though. If he stuck around here, he was going to help the woman who had killed his father hunt down him. There was a twisted sort of irony there that he didn’t understand.

  Jack could almost punch himself for his stupidity. He was so close to ending this craziness. So close.

  “Stupid child. I wish you’d never been born. Your father was the devil incarnate.” Bethany Pepin’s voice echoed through his head once more. Those were the words his mother spoke to him the last time he saw her.

  Jack thought about that visit and smiled. It was a good thing she paid for hurting him, but he screwed it all up. She was supposed to take the curse off him. He could remember her screams though and remember them very well indeed...

  <<<>>>

  The pack was destroyed, and its demise had been over for several weeks before he first heard about it. When he’d left town at eighteen, Jack had nothing to his name. Rather than running the risk of his brother killing him, he slipped out of town the first chance he had.

  For several years he ran with some local gangs and other criminal elements. They taught him how to jack cars, pick locks, and how to find fences or manipulate the local Martelle lists. Those were the easiest for getting rid of stolen merchandise. Just post an advertisement for it and wait for the call. Meet in an out-of-the-way place, and it was cash in hand.

  He had graduated to biker gangs when he finally heard about the war in Arbor. Driving from California to Arkansas takes a long time on a bike. Especially when you’re ‘working’ your way across the country. Money doesn’t just grow on trees.

  Jack rolled into town in the middle of the night. The town was a shadow of its former self. After the fourth or fifth burned out house or building, he stopped looking for sights he remembered.

  For just a moment he considered stopping in to speak to Sheriff Geri, but he’d ridden a lot of roads and broken a lot of laws since he was last here. He sat across the street from the station considering his next move. The packs were broken here. All three went down according to what he’d heard and the local newspapers he found.

  Nothing explained the missing people and burnt or darkened houses, but he didn’t think it was pleasant. Originally, he thought to trade on his name here and find a place with what was left, but now he was stuck. This place was too poor and broken for him to rob anyone. But his mother still owed him. She owed him for a life of abuse and pain. For that, he was going to make her pay.

  The Pepin house sat upon a hill in what used to be a nice neighborhood. Like many of the other suburbs around town, the houses showed signs of gunfire and flames.

  There was a new car in the driveway and lights on in the house. Jack killed the engine and coasted to a stop out in front. Since the yard was on a hill, Joshua Pepin had created a sort of flat yard at the top in front of the house. The downward slope was walled off with garden timbers and stone making a literal wall in the front.

  Jack could remember jumping off the wall as a child. That was when he still went to school and had friends. For one reason or another most Were families homeschooled their children. School districts classified Weres as Special Needs children and were not prepared for a child who might strip and wolf out in the middle of class. Humans cannot be turned into a Were accidentally, but the old myths still caused problems. Weres are a completely different species.

  Keeping to the shadows as much as possible, Jack walked up the driveway and peeked in the window of his family home. A flash of brown hair caught his attention in the kitchen. She’s home!

  The back of the house was problematic. Jack could remember his father placing motion sensors there. During his criminal years, he’d bypassed any number of the devices, but those were the older models. If Bethany had upgraded them, he would have to enter the house the hard way, through the front door.

  Ch
ecking the side of the house, Jack slipped around the corner. He kept his body very low and hugged the wall. The older models of motion sensors were set to not trip in the presence of small animals like dogs or cats and had exploitable blind spots. Looking up, Jack could see a spotlight complete with sensor aimed at the corner of the yard.

  Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a common sticky note pad he bought at a gas station in town. All he needed to do was cover the sensor, so it never registered the movement. He kept his body pressed against the wall and ever so slowly covered the small panel with a small piece of paper. With his other hand, he pressed the sticky part to hold it in place. His next task was getting inside.

  The house had two exterior doors in the rear. A garage entrance that his dad used for lawn care crap and an old-fashioned sliding glass door. As far as Jack could tell the door was still there.

  He knew from his burglary days that there were only a couple of ways to open a locked sliding door from the outside that didn’t involve a heavy rock. He’d forgotten tools, so prying the door open was out of the question. It was pretty easy if you had even a good screwdriver to do it with. Why people kept using these things when they were so easy to bypass amazed him. Peeking inside he could see his mother watching TV in the den. There wasn’t even a stick in the rails to prevent the door from opening. Stupid woman!

  Carefully, Jack leaned on the door and lifted up using his hands on the glass as support. His leather gloves stuck to the door and provided traction. He heard a faint ‘click’ as the lock snapped down on nothing but air. Nudging it open was now easily done. Within moments he was inside.

  Jack was running on total instinct at this point. His initial plan was to ring the doorbell and just confront her. Now he was in the house beyond the-point-of-no-return. He was committed now.

  Keeping low to avoid being spotted, Jack peeked around the kitchen counter into the room his father called the den. Joshua Pepin once used it as a meeting place for his inner circle and where he laid down his judgments. The desk and throne were gone, replaced by a large couch and TV. His mother sat with her feet up, sprawled across it.