Echo Falls

by McDougall, Jaime

She all but shoved Elle into the nearest shop, a hardware store with an older man behind the counter. He straightened and sputtered a bit, stunned to have the trio burst into his shop. Phoebe smiled at him apologetically and then looked back out the street. Not satisfied that standing in the shop would do them any good, she urged Elle further inside.

  “Is there something I can help you with, ma’am?” the man said, scratching his head.

  Elle, who tried to console a now fidgety Charlotte, looked to Phoebe.

  “No, I’m sorry. Do you mind if we…” She looked to the door for a few moments before looking back at the man. “…just browse for a while?”

  His back stiffened. Pursing his lips slightly, he squinted out at the street, nodded and then looked back at Phoebe.

  “You go right ahead ma’am,” he said and leaned forward. “You just let me know if there is anything you need.”

  He arched one eyebrow suggestively – in a protective rather than lewd way – and then leaned back. She thanked him and he waved her off, then lifting a remote to turn up the volume of a small television he had propped up on the side of the checkout counter. Phoebe took Elle’s hand and walked a little further away so they could talk privately.

  “Just tell me what kind of trouble you are in so we get you out of it,” Elle said. Phoebe had the feeling Elle would have crossed her arms across her chest if she hadn’t been holding Charlotte. “You’re scaring me.”

  Phoebe put her hand to her forehead for a moment and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Or Charlotte.” She reached out and stroked Charlotte’s cheek. “I thought someone might be watching us.”

  “Why would someone be watching us? Phoebe, what’s going on?”

  She almost couldn’t hear Elle over the pounding of her heart. As if the chat with Liam hadn’t been bad enough, she hadn’t expected to put his threat to the test by running into Elle ten minutes later. And she had probably done the exact wrong thing by pulling Elle into the shop, but face to face avoidance wasn’t exactly her strong suit.

  How do I fix this? She rubbed her temples. “Elle, the less you know the better.”

  “Don’t feed me that line of bull,” she said, glancing at the shop owner. “Pack don’t keep secrets from pack. What’s going on?”

  Without thinking, Phoebe pulled Elle, Charlotte and all, into her arms and gave her a hug. Elle froze a moment and then hugged her back.

  “Please trust me,” Phoebe said finally, pulling back. “I need you to do something for me, and I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

  Elle pursed her lips.

  “You and Charlotte – especially you and Charlotte – need to stay away from me.” Elle opened her mouth to protest, but Phoebe held up her hand. “Just for a day or so. Most of the pack won’t even notice, but you and Will and Charlotte…”

  “And Aidan.”

  She looked away. “Especially Aidan.”

  “Not unless you tell me why.”

  She sighed, but Elle didn’t look about to budge. “You can’t tell anyone.”

  Elle sighed and then nodded.

  “Someone is following me.” She looked at paintbrushes hanging up on the wall next to her and touched the soft bristles. “He’s been following me for a while, and he’s made threats.”

  “If he’s threatened pack members, then Aidan -”

  “Aidan is one of the people he threatened.”

  Elle made a small ‘o’ with her lips. Then her eyes widened. “Mia was right, wasn’t she?”

  Phoebe lowered her gaze to the floor.

  “Oh, Phoebe.” Elle put her hand on Phoebe’s shoulder. “You should have told us. You can’t take on a Hunter on your own. Especially if the Hunter has threatened Aidan. He needs to know so he can protect himself.”

  She shook her head. “Aidan is only a target if he’s around me. Right now I’m entertaining enough for the Hunter. All I have to do is keep everyone else out of his sights and get to him before he starts getting bored”

  “You’re not going to do this alone.”

  “He followed me here. Thomas’s death is my fault. It’ll be my fault if he hurts or kills anyone else. If I don’t take care of this…” She looked at Elle. “I know how to trap him, but anyone I come into contact with could be hurt between now and then. That’s why I need everyone to stay away. Just until I have him trapped.”

  Elle shook her head. “I’m not good with secrets, Phoebe.”

  “You’re just going to have to be. If I get so much as near anyone in the police or in the pack, he’ll know I’m trying to plan something. I shouldn’t even be talking to you right now.”

  “What is he waiting for?”

  “To see if I’ll join him.”

  Her eyes widened. “But why? Couldn’t he have just forced you?”

  Phoebe shook her head. “I don’t know, but I’m not going to waste time worrying about it.”

  The women stood there in silence for a while, adjusting to the weight that had settled on them both. Neither of them felt entirely convinced they were doing the right thing, but they would do it, if for no other reason than that they were pack.

  “Go out looking sad and alone,” Elle said, ruffling up Phoebe’s hair a little.

  “Sad?”

  She nodded. “If the Hunter is watching, then we want to make sure he believes that you and I had a fight.”

  Phoebe hugged Elle and Charlotte again, whispering, “Thank you.”

  ***

  Liam watched Elle storm out of the shop, her face red, with her daughter in her arms. Phoebe left a few moments later, her hair mussed and gaze locked on the ground. Whatever had happened, Elle hadn’t wanted any part of it and Phoebe had one less friend for it.

  He didn’t like any of it, but he felt too exhausted to think about it.

  “That was too strange,” the occupant of the passenger seat said. “Something’s up.”

  “No matter,” he said.

  “I think it matters. They’re planning something.”

  His aching muscles and tired eyes left him with only the energy to glare at his companion.

  “I don’t understand why you’re giving her time to plan something. If you want her that bad – and I don’t understand why you do – then just take her. Use her or whatever want and then kill her. Enough waiting around. A day. I can’t believe you gave her a day.”

  He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “You have obviously never played chess.”

  “Chess? What does chess have to do with this? Just kill her already.”

  “Neither you nor she are worth my time or energy right now. Get out.”

  After a moment of hesitation, his companion left and he settled in for a little nap. Phoebe would be going home and staying there. He only had to wait until she called, because she would. He knew her better than she knew herself.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  When Phoebe told Elle why she and the others needed to stay away, Phoebe had lied in two ways. The first lie had been an outright one; she’d said she knew how to trap Liam. In reality, she had no idea what kind of trap could even lure him, let alone trap him.

  The second lie had been a lie of omission. She hadn’t told Elle that Liam had also killed her brother. If Elle had known, she would have never agreed to keep things quiet. As it stood, Phoebe still didn’t know for sure if their agreement would last, but hopefully it would last long enough.

  As much as she needed him to stay away, she wished Aidan would knock on her door. He had called a couple more times but she didn’t answer, leaving her feeling empty and lost. His calm reassurance could have done a lot to steady her nerves.

  She only had to return the phone calls or answer when it next rang and he would be with her in minutes. Yet knowing what it would cost her if she did stopped her. She had played with his safety enough.

  The walls of her apartment seemed closer now, and she longed to open a window. But she didn’t dare. He would be watching.r />
  “Damn him!” she said, tossing her wastebasket across the room. Crumpled papers with half-formed plans scattered across the floor and she looked at them, willing them to give her some sort of inspiration.

  The prospect of coffee sounded tempting enough to get her away from her desk. She tried not to let the groceries remind her of Aidan as she mixed the instant brew with some milk and then poured hot water in. Instead of staring down at blank paper, she turned on her laptop. If she wanted to come up with a plan, she had to free her mind.

  She brought up all the photos from the wedding she had downloaded. Weddings were always her favorite. With the exception of a few odd moments here and there, everyone looked so natural and happy. The bride looked radiant, the groom confident, the wedding party excited and the parents proud. Everyone enjoying the happy event.

  Currently, the bride was enjoying a three week honeymoon touring around the Greek Isles. The couple would be drinking champagne, eating fine food and not dealing with a single care in the world.

  “Maybe I should have run away to the Greek Isles.”

  She came to the end of the photos and found the ‘silly’ shot she had taken into the night. She couldn’t see Liam, as the eye caught things the camera did not, but she knew he was there in that photo. Staring back at her. Amused with her like a little boy amused with a toy.

  Or could she see him?

  Reaching into her purse, she plucked out a wet wipe and cleaned the laptop screen. Perhaps the picture hadn’t been that bad and the screen just didn’t help. For good measure, she wiped over the keyboard and the sides of the screen as well, passing over the built in webcam.

  She paused.

  Though her laptop came with a webcam, she’d never used it. No situation had ever called for it. A small piece of protective plastic still covered its lens and she plucked it off, an idea forming in her mind.

  She might just be able to get Liam after all.

  ***

  Aidan hung up when Phoebe’s standard ‘please leave a message’ played yet again. He frowned and tossed his phone on the table. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what he had done wrong. She had lied. She withheld important information. Yet here he sat in the café, feeling the guilty fool for calling her all day and not getting an answer.

  Every instinct in him told him to go talk to her face to face and figure out what was going on. The wolf in him wanted to catch her, claim her and make her his. If he was honest with himself, his human side wanted that as well. Yet work and now pack matters had kept him from doing that, and she refused to answer her phone. He’d just have to wait until after this meeting to talk to her.

  His impatience surged as he checked his watch again.

  Will’s mood seemed to echo his own as they sat in Sophie’s waiting for Axel to show up. He’d called them, saying he had some leads on their Hunter but nothing more than that. They would have left by now, but as the police still had little to go on, they needed all the information they could get.

  Even if he was over an hour late.

  There had been a few strides made with the murders by the police. They’d found some new connections between evidence gathered at the crime scenes. None of them linked a single person to Thomas, but they were still working on the assumption that Thomas was the fourth murder rather than a new one entirely. Now the evidence supported that.

  Unfortunately, they were more or less settled on the idea of a drifter murderer. That was true enough, if they had a Hunter, but it would make the arrest all the more difficult. Even if the pack did track him down, it would be hard to get him behind bars.

  Axel finally made his way to the booth followed closely by a young woman. Will stood up, moving to sit beside Aidan. The other pair sat down next to each other, though the woman didn’t look to be all that appreciative of the close proximity. She looked a few years younger than Aidan and had auburn hair that had been hacked here and there to end as it hit her shoulders.

  She all but scowled at him as she placed three pictures on the table. Two men and one woman had all been captured with striking clarity in the color photos.

  “The way I see it, you have three suspects. Based on movements, what I could find out with background checks, cross-referencing the crime scene reports, instinct, and personal methods.”

  Aidan arched his eyebrow, wondering for a moment what ‘personal methods’ were before deciding he’d rather not know. He’d hate to have to arrest someone he had just met.

  “You work quickly,” Will said.

  She regarded him coolly. “It’s what I do.”

  “This is Cinder,” Axel said. “She forgets things like introductions when she’s working.”

  Cinder ignored Axel and focused on the photos.

  “You can rule her out,” Will said, taking one of the photos away. “She was in the hospital with her mother the night Thomas was murdered. Elle was with her.”

  Aidan half expected Cinder to make some excuse like not having time to get all the background checks done, but she took the photo and ripped it up. If anything, she looked satisfied to see someone knocked so easily off the suspect list.

  “I don’t recognize them,” he said, picking up the two pictures and studying them closely. He passed them over to Will to confirm neither of them looked familiar. He paused on the picture of the man sitting in his car. The guy looked like a vagrant, unshaven with messy sandy blonde hair. Even in the picture he could see the dark circles under the man’s eyes. Instinct said something bad about this guy – and not just because he looked in need of a shower and some sleep.

  “Maybe you’ll recognize some of these.” Cinder brought out three more photos and placed them on the table.

  “These are pack members,” Aidan said and looked up at Cinder.

  “Thomas’s personal notes mention thinking the Hunter has a pack informant. I think he’s right and that one of these people is it.”

  Aidan and Will exchanged looks and then Aidan picked up one photo and passed it to Cinder. The group fell silent, Axel and Cinder studying their folders, Will glaring at his coffee and Aidan staring out the window.

  Aidan tried to tell himself that he’d always known the informant to betray them in some way, but he’d expected more. Unfairly expected, granted, but expected nonetheless. Someone in his pack had failed, meaning his leadership had failed.

  “Who do you think the Hunter is?” Will asked Cinder.

  She studied the photos of the two men for a few moments before selecting the picture of the man in the car. “Him. If you agree, I’ll begin looking for his base.”

  Aidan nodded but took the photo and put it in his pocket. He would ask Phoebe to confirm when he next saw her, which would have to be sooner than either of them wanted.

  Phoebe, he thought, looking out the window. Why didn’t you tell me before?

  He’d been stupid and intentionally blind all along. He’d assumed that Phoebe being a werewolf had been the sole cause of him thinking that something didn’t add up with her. He’d been so shocked when she had revealed herself that nothing else seemed to matter. But it did matter because she’d kept secrets that endangered the pack. She’d kept secrets when he’d opened up his world to her. Had she lied about other things as well?

  He frowned, anger beginning to well up inside him as he shifted his focus and glared down at the table. Anger felt better than hurt. Anyone who said that lying by not telling wasn’t lying was an idiot. If anything, those lies hurt worse, and he clenched his fists so he wouldn’t slam them on the table.

  Hadn’t he promised to do anything in his power to protect her? Hadn’t he, despite his anger, called her to give her the chance to explain? Yet she hadn’t returned a single call and would discover that he wouldn’t call anymore. He would have Will conduct the official interview for the case. The time had come to cut ties.

  Unless that’s what she wants.

  He went cold as the thought flew through his mind.

  Sensing the ch
ange in Aidan, Will stopped talking and looked at him. However his questions became lost when Elle walked in the door, pushing Charlotte’s pram in front of her. The moment she saw Aidan, her eyes widened. She knew he had some questions that she would have to answer.

  Without saying a word, Aidan got out of the booth and waved her over. He put Charlotte’s pram next to Will and then pointed Elle to a booth at the opposite end of the café.

  Will began to stand up, but Aidan stopped him with one look.

  “Stay here and work out what to do about the Hunter. I need to talk to your wife.”

  Will’s jaw clenched and unclenched, but he didn’t say a word. Aidan had no doubt that Will would have taken him on in a heartbeat if he sensed any genuine danger to his wife, but Aidan made it clear with his tone that this was pack business.

  Even so, only when Aidan and Elle had sat down did Will finally focus back on the case.

  Aidan sat across from Elle and asked if she wanted anything to drink. She shook her head. If he had been less angry, he might have been able to calm himself to deal with her in a way befitting a pack leader. But the fact that she looked more guilty than afraid made him anything but calm.

  “Tell me.”

  She licked her lips and swallowed, not meeting his eyes. “This is going to sound trite, but you’re going to have to be more specific.”

  If she had been any other female other than his second in command’s mate, she would have earned a reprimand. But knowing her not only for her rank but as a good woman, he knew she wasn’t trying to be intentionally dull. She just needed help with how to start.

  “I’m guessing you’ve figured out Phoebe is the one being hunted. She brought the Hunter here.”

  She took a deep breath and nodded.

  “I’m also guessing that she managed to convince you to betray the pack and keep secrets.”

  “I only spoke with her this morning.”

  “Is your phone broken?”

  She lowered her head.

  “I respect a secret shared between two women, but when it puts the rest of the pack in danger it becomes my business.”

  She sighed. “She is trying to keep the pack out of danger.”