Cold Spell

by E. A. Copen

  “Okay, what’s next?” Jackie asked. “We still need to check out Justice’s ATV and either confirm or eliminate him as a suspect.”

  “You really think he’s involved?”

  Jackie shifted her weight. “I’m almost sure of it, Nic. I just can’t prove it yet.”

  Nic lifted his gloved hands and blew on them. “Dammit, I really didn’t want it to be him. We used to be friends, me and Justice.”

  “I’ll go wait in the ATV,” Bryce mumbled and marched off.

  Nic watched him go, frowning. The frown disappeared under the bottom half of a white ski mask as Nic pulled it up. “It’s my fault all this is happening. I didn’t want to kill a friend, even though I knew no good could come of this. I should’ve insisted that Justice leave town if he didn’t want to live within the confines of the pack.”

  “But that would’ve gotten you in trouble, too.”

  Nic studied her a moment before nodding. “Yeah, he’s more important to the community here. Runs the store. His family practically built this town while I ran south first chance I got. At least, that’s what they say about me.” He sighed loudly. “I’ve done my damnedest to help the pack build up a positive reputation here in town, but we’ll never be as helpful or useful as the guy who runs the only store in town. It was a lose-lose situation, and now the pack’s paid the price.”

  They stood a long moment in silence, waiting for Bo to come out of the house. He’d stayed behind a minute to help Osha with something, or to talk. Bo liked to talk.

  Nic stamped his feet, probably in an attempt to keep warm. Even dressed in as many layers as they were, and in heavy parkas and boots—which Nic had let Jackie borrow—the cold bit at their extremities. “I just wish I knew the connection between Tara and Justice. It’s weird that they were together the other day. I don’t understand why she went to him instead of talking to me directly.”

  The front door opened and Bo came out, rubbing his gloved hands together to keep warm.

  Jackie looked at her shoes. “I don’t want to speak ill of the dead, Nic, but Tara and Justice were having an affair behind David’s back. A long-standing one, from what I can gather.”

  Nic’s head snapped up, his full attention on her. “What? Tara? Gentle, fragile Tara?” He shook his head. “No way. She and David were the ideal couple. They loved each other more than life. If she was having an affair, why would she go crazy after David died? It doesn’t make sense.”

  “Guilt,” Bo answered quickly. “She probably feels she had a hand in David’s death, even if she didn’t cause it directly.”

  “I don’t understand how he could not know, Bo.” Nic tucked his hands into the pockets of his parka and shook his head again. “He’d smell something was off. He’d catch them. David and Tara were together all the time, and Tara was so sick, I don’t know when or how she would’ve had the time and strength for an affair.”

  Jackie shrugged. “Maybe she wasn’t as sick and fragile as everyone thought. She certainly doesn’t strike me as fragile. Why does everyone think that?”

  “Well, before her and David were mated, she was sick all the time. Not really any one thing, just sick a lot. Had trouble eating, getting out of bed. Just low energy. But when she was with David…” Nic jerked his chin to her. “You sure? As far as everyone was aware, no one in the pack had any connections to Justice. I forbade it.”

  “But Tara’s not pack,” Jackie said, nodding. “You couldn’t compel her to obey even if you wanted to. I’m certain, Nic.”

  “Depression,” Bo growled, drawing Jackie’s attention.

  “What was that?” she asked, leaning forward.

  “That’s what was probably wrong with her. Even you said it was common up here, Nic. Hell, with as little sun as this place gets, no one should be surprised.” Bo placed his hands over his mouth and blew into them. “Look, I’d like to stand around and talk all day, but it’s cold. Is there somewhere we can go to warm up?”

  “What about Tara’s place?” Jackie asked. “We haven’t searched her room.”

  “She wouldn’t go there,” Nic said. “She knows that’s the first place we’d look. It’d be stupid to hide out there.”

  “No, but we might find something useful.” She waited for the men to catch on. When they didn’t, she gestured wither her hands as if she were holding a box. “Justice has more motive than anyone to be involved in hurting the pack. If Tara was involved with Justice, and her husband was a victim, it’s possible she was involved in this somehow. Or maybe she knows something that we don’t, at least.”

  “She has a point,” Bo said with a sigh before turning to Nic. “But so do you. We need to check both places. Which one first?”

  “Why don’t you and Bryce go to the store? Jackie and I will check out Tara’s place together.”

  Bo frowned at her. She could tell he wanted to object to her spending any more time alone with Nic. Whether it was because he thought there was something between them, or because last time they’d gone off together he’d gotten hurt, she couldn’t tell. Either way, his concerns were unfounded. This was work. No matter how interesting she found Nic, work had to come before anything else. If Nic was half the alpha she thought he was, he’d respect that.

  Bo moved his jaw as if he were chewing on gristle before turning away. “Fine. We’ll go check the store and see if we can’t get some more information from this Justice fellow. Check out the ATV for any sign of that Mahaha monster. You go through Tara’s things and see if there’s anything useful. But if you do find anything, you’ll call me.”

  It wasn’t an order, not directly. Bo could use his werewolf power to slip a little compulsion into his tone if he wanted, but because they weren’t technically pack, all it did for Jackie was tickle the back of her neck. She didn’t have to obey, and he knew better than to expect her to do everything he said.

  She nodded just the same and folded her arms against her chest, tucking her hands into her armpits where it was warm. “Then it’s agreed. We’ll split up for now and meet back this evening to discuss our findings.”

  Chapter Twenty

  A little brass bell jingled as Bo pushed open the shop door and stepped inside. Heat hit him in a wall as he passed under a blowing vent above his head. Bo looked up at it, wrinkled his nose, and deduced that a filter somewhere needed changed. The air coming out was damp and musty. Snow had probably gotten into the system and melted. Warm air from the heater plus water in a poorly-ventilated space meant there was mold.

  “Help you, sir?”

  Bo lowered his attention from the vent to the young wolf standing at the counter he deduced must be Justice. Long black hair tied in a ponytail. Thick, high cheekbones and big round brown eyes. Like more than half the population of Barrow, this one was Inuit. Bo placed him in his late twenties or early thirties, which was old enough to know better than to cross his arms and meet Bo’s eyes like he was doing. Of course, Bo was in his territory, a strange wolf, unintroduced and a potential threat. Still, it made him take an instant dislike to Justice.

  In this situation, a big, bad alpha like Lou or Nic would’ve growled. What wolves like Nic didn’t understand was that sometimes it was beneficial for the top dog to lay down and let things play out. Going in like a hardass would just set off someone like Justice who thought the world owed him something. That boy had no idea what a real hardass was, but Bo thought he’d have the chance to find out before the day was over.

  “Yep,” Bo said, walking up to the counter, his boots thumping hard against the floor. “Need to find Tara and I’ve been advised you might know how to do that.”

  Justice’s eyes shifted from Bo’s face back to the door. He uncrossed his arms and wrinkled his nose. “What the hell is he doing here?”

  Bo glanced over his shoulder at Bryce. Interesting. Justice clearly thought Bryce was the bigger threat.

  Bryce raised his mittened hands. “Easy, Justice. I don’t want no trouble. Just want to find Tara before that storm ro
lls in.”

  “She ain’t here,” Justice said and pointed to the door. “So why don’t you just turn around and go back the way you came?”

  “What do you know about all this?” Bo leaned on the counter. He gestured to the air, but Justice knew what he meant. “Werewolves are dropping like flies around here. Whole pack is spooked. But not you. You, the lone wolf, the guy who should have more reason than most to tuck tail and run, your biggest concern is protecting your narrow view of the world.”

  “Excuse me?” Justice’s nostrils flared. Good. That meant Bo had his attention.

  “Whatever’s eating the pack, you don’t think it’s coming for you next? Hell, it should’ve gotten you first.” Bo glanced over at a display of homemade jerky. He lifted the little plastic door and took one out, waving it at Justice. “You see, this thing, whatever it is, is a predator. You’re a predator. I’m a predator. We eat the weak.” He gestured to the strip of jerky and took a bite, chewing and swallowing before he continued. “That means this thing considers werewolves weak. You’re food.”

  “I’m not doing anything to draw its attention.” Justice tried to grab for the jerky in Bo’s hand, but Bo jerked it away. “You know you’re going to have to pay for that.”

  Bo ignored his objections. “Thing about predators is they’re mostly lazy. Even the lion picks off the weakest prey first. The young. The injured. Those who wander off all alone. Lone wolves, so to speak. So my question is, why is this thing ignoring the easy prey to go after a more difficult meal?” He took another bite of the jerky.

  “How the hell should I know?” Justice shook his head. “Maybe Nic did something to piss it off.”

  Bo gestured to Justice with the jerky again, tapping him on the nose with it. “Or maybe you’re doing something to keep it away. What’s your secret, kid?”

  Justice put his hands on the counter and leaned forward, putting his nose even with Bo’s. “I’ve got no reason to answer any of your questions.”

  A smile spread over Bo’s face. “Boy, I ain’t asking.”

  For a long minute, Bo thought Justice would make his day more interesting by taking a swing at him. It’d been a while since he’d been in a fist fight with another wolf, and he wouldn’t mind taking this one down a peg. He wouldn’t kill him if it came to it. Probably.

  Instead, Justice leaned back and lowered his head, averting his eyes to the countertop. “I’ll tell you what I told Nic last night. He came asking if I knew any stories about monsters that might fit what’s going on.”

  “You can save it,” Bryce said from the doorway. “We just came from talking to Osha. We know it’s a Mahaha.”

  Justice shook his head. “That’s bullshit, man. Just stories. It ain’t real. You can’t believe anything Osha says. She’s too old.”

  “I believe in what I can see.” Bo tapped his pointer on the counter. “And what I saw? It had to be the Mahaha. It fit. I think the stories are real. At least part of them. If they are, then someone here in Barrow turns into that thing. Someone who has a reason to hurt Nic’s pack.”

  “And what? You think it’s me?” Justice looked from Bo to Bryce and back. “I don’t believe this bullshit. Look, I got issues with Bryce. Yeah, I own that. I don’t like being shown up by a homo. But when I was in that pack, the pack was life, man. I loved that pack. Loved Nic like a brother. I’d have done anything for him. Still would if he’d let me. It’s him that cut me off, not the other way around.”

  “And if you pick off the members of the pack, one by one, you make Nic look like a weak alpha,” Bo said. “You make Bryce look weak. You, you’re an alternative. The rest of the pack can come to you, start fresh.”

  Bryce shifted his weight and turned his head away.

  “It ain’t like that! I wouldn’t hurt the pack just to get at Bryce!” Justice leaned forward again. “And besides, I heard there was an attack last night, right? Well, I was with Nic last night. I got a damn alibi. I’m not the monster!”

  “Yeah, about that…” Bo finished the stick of jerky and stood up straighter. “Gonna need to have a look at that ATV of yours out back, boy. Seems the Mahaha lost an arm last night. Left a trail of blood that stopped suddenly at the road. Someone picked it up.”

  “It wasn’t me,” Justice snapped. “I dropped Nic and Jackie off and headed home. I had an early delivery this morning and didn’t want to oversleep. Plus I knew I wasn’t wanted around the pack. Why would I hang out?”

  Bo shrugged. “Mount whatever defense you want. I’m still going to look at that ATV with or without your permission, though things’ll be a lot better for you if you give me the keys.”

  “You going to kill me over ATV keys?” Justice inched closer to a gun hanging on the wall.

  “I will if I even think you’re going to reach for that weapon.”

  Justice froze in place.

  “Now, is there anything I should know before I go sniffing around your ATV, kid?”

  He raised his hands in surrender. “The keys are in my pocket. I’m going to get them out.”

  Bo grinned, showing teeth. “Wise move.”

  Justice reached into his pocket and pulled out a small set of keys that he tossed across the counter to Bo. “That opens the shed where I keep it. You mind if I go out back with you so at least I can make sure this fag doesn’t touch anything? I ain’t leaving nobody alone in my store, least of all him.”

  Bo considered telling him where he could shove his request, but decided it’d do no harm to have Justice with them outside. If anything, it’d be more convenient. The boy couldn’t take off through the front door as soon as they went through the back.

  He walked toward the back door of the store, gesturing for Justice to follow. “I want you where I can keep an eye on you anyway.”

  Behind the store stood a faded blue shed with double doors and a tin roof. Tire tracks over packed-in snow reminded Bo that Justice had been out the night before. Of course, he already knew that, and knew that Justice had the perfect opportunity to intervene.

  Bo scented the air and found it full of all kinds of smells. Salt, ocean, frost, wet cardboard. No blood though, at least not yet.

  He slid the key into the lock and unbolted the shed doors. True to Justice’s word, a brown ATV sat inside, similar in make and model to the one Nic had been driving around. Walking around it, Bo didn’t see or smell any blood, though it wouldn’t have been impossible to clean off and hide with the right combination of chemicals, chemicals which were all present in the shed.

  Bo walked to the passenger side and squatted by the door. A tiny sliver of crimson colored the area below the door. He might’ve dismissed it as rust if he hadn’t been looking for blood. Maybe it was rust, and he was just being overly attentive. He slid a finger over the red streak and some of it rubbed off, leaving behind what looked like scorch marks underneath. It matched the way the creature’s blood had burned through the floor the night before.

  Definitely monster blood. Bo cast a casual glance back at where Justice stood a few paces away, arms crossed, feet spread wide in a defiant stance. Bryce had gone to stand over by the driver’s side, as far away from Justice as he could manage. As far as Bo was concerned, Justice was guilty, but he had to satisfy more than his own standards. If he killed Justice, he’d have to explain himself to Lou and present ironclad evidence. He’d need more than a black spot and a tiny speck of blood.

  Bo opened the passenger door.

  The interior was ruined, the leather on the passenger seat eaten away. The floor too had a big, gaping hole as if someone had dumped metal-eating acid on the floorboards. A large section of it was just gone. Around the hole and destroyed leather, Bo found a dark stain accompanied by the undeniable bloody ice stench of the Mahaha. Justice had picked up the Mahaha, there was no longer any doubt in his mind.

  But why would Justice pick up the Mahaha? Why even be involved? Why…

  He paused as his thoughts trailed off, a realization coming to him.

>   There was one person who hadn’t been accounted for during the last attack, the same person who would have had access to the pack, someone who could easily come in and out of the house and would’ve been able to bypass any wards Nic had put in place.

  He spun toward the entrance to the shed to confront Justice, but he was too slow. Something big and metallic slammed into the side of Bo’s head and he went down, the world swimming in a sea of blurry pain. A baseball bat, he realized too late and raised a hand to try and grab for it.

  Justice lifted the bat over his head. “Sorry about this, old man.”

  The next hit was a doozy, the impact hard enough that it sent Bo’s head one way and his body another. The last thing he saw before blacking out was the bloody bat coming down at his face all over again.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  J ackie stood beside Nic, rubbing her arms as he unlocked the door.

  The second house that belonged to the pack was a little larger thanks to the addition on the side that served as David and Tara’s suite. It seemed it had been added to the house as an afterthought. The addition stood up on stilts, just like every other building in town. This one, however, had a brand new wooden ramp leading up to the back door, which really looked like a front door.

  He finally finished working the key in the frozen lock—a difficult task with mittens on—and pushed open the door. “After you,” Nic said, holding the door open.

  Jackie stepped past him into a small all-purpose room. To the left sat a loveseat next to a space heater that’d been unplugged. That explained why the room was cold. An unfinished puzzle sat on the small coffee table, the image a knight fighting a dragon with fire all around. It was mostly done except for a small part in the center. Jackie thought she could probably finish it in a few minutes, but it wouldn’t help her locate any clues, if any even existed, so she resisted. One pillow was tucked against the side of the loveseat, the kind of pillow that belonged on the bed and not decorating the living room. Scrimshaw decorated the wall in varying sizes. The style looked like what Osha had given Bo, but maybe there were several in town who used similar styles.