Fox Afield (Madison Wolves)

by Robin Roseau

  "Oh god," Karen said. "Please let Angel go along."

  And with that, the tension in the room relaxed, at least a little. We had dinner, strategized, and then it was time for Angel and me to head to the coffee shop. Angel brought some of her books with her, and we would be there as teacher and student. No one would question that.

  I held leashes for Lara and Karen. Angel had Elisabeth's and Serena's. Angel had tried to goad Eric into volunteering for guard duty, but Elisabeth had overruled. Lara quietly told me that Eric would chafe if we'd put him through the same teasing I'd engaged in earlier in the day, and we were pretty sure we'd have to repeatedly demonstrate the harmlessness of the 'dogs'.

  When we arrived, the outdoor tables were full, but then one cleared out. The previous occupants gave us a wink as we passed them, and I realized they must have been a couple of Greg's folks holding a table for us. "He thinks of everything," I said quietly.

  Lara chuffed.

  There was a new wait staff person, a guy about nineteen years old. He eyed Angel appreciatively and tried, badly, to flirt with her. She was sweet to him, encouraging him. I tried hard not to laugh. Once he had taken our initial orders and stepped away, I told her, "Should I tell him you'd eat him for lunch?"

  "Oh, but I wouldn't!" she said. "Scarlett would be very upset if I ate anyone other than her."

  I almost choked on my water. Angel grinned at me.

  "Do not say things like that to me!" I told her. "You are my student, and I am not supposed to think about you having sex."

  "Oh please," she said. "I think after ransom night, we're past all that, aren't we?"

  I studied her. "Maybe we should be," I admitted. "But Angel, I am still new to all this teaching thing. And you're not an adult yet."

  "Wolves consider ourselves adults at sixteen," she added. "Human laws be damned. Chloe was the only one there who wasn't an adult. She's your only student who isn't an adult."

  Under the table, Lara chuffed.

  "All right," I said. "At school I am still your teacher though."

  "All right." She grinned. "We haven't talked since your wedding. Or more importantly, since your wedding night. So..."

  "So.... what?" I asked.

  "How many of your modifications are you still wearing? I see you haven't ditched the earrings yet."

  I began to blush.

  "Oh come on," she said. "You can't be embarrassed around me now, Michaela."

  "When it's your wedding, are you expecting the same thing?"

  "I will be very disappointed if you don't treat me like a wolf, Michaela," she said. "So yes and no. Some of the same things, but some of the things we couldn't do, as well."

  "I am really supposed to try to make you beg Scarlett to pay for you."

  "Yes. You ramp it up slowly and you don't back down until she pays."

  "You were easy on me."

  "Yes."

  "What if you were doing it now, tonight?" I asked her. I had gone years with suppressed memories, including memories of how to properly heal my own body. The day of my wedding, I had remembered them, remembered everything, and now I healed better than anyone else in the pack.

  "Now?" she said. "We wouldn't treat you exactly like a wolf, and because you still don't completely understand, we'd still be gentle. But we'd have carried it further. I also think you would last longer."

  She was speaking very quietly, so quietly even another wolf wouldn't have heard her.

  "All right," I said. "I am going to go inside and take photos and scope things out. I'll answer your question when I get back. See if you can get water for the dogs. Be careful of Lizzy; she has a thing for wait staff."

  Elisabeth huffed at me.

  "So it's Lizzy," she said, pointing to Elisabeth. "And-"

  "That's Elle," I said, meaning Lara. "This is Kay-kay. That that one is See-saw."

  Angel grinned. "Good names," she said. "Lizzy, Elle, Kay-kay and See-saw."

  "Right. You girls. Stay!"

  Elisabeth huffed.

  I went inside and used my phone to take photos of everyone there, being as subtle as I could. I took extra photos of anyone on a computer. I didn't recognize anyone from earlier. Then I asked at the counter for a couple of bowls of water for the dogs. When I got back outside, the waiter was trying to flirt with Angel again. From the expressions, the wolves were all amused by his antics.

  Werewolves mature significantly faster than human teenagers do. Angel easily had him eating out of the palm of her hand. I sat back down, lowering the water bowls for the furry wolves. Angel didn't even glance at me, but continued to manipulate the poor boy.

  "Michaela," she said. "This is Peter. He just graduated high school but will be going to Northland College in the autumn."

  "Pleased to meet you," I said.

  "Peter told me to be sure to let him know if we need anything. He was really impressed when Elle played dead for him."

  "Oh," I said. "You got her to play dead? That's usually Lizzy's trick."

  I watched for a few more minutes while Angel continued to wrap Peter around her little finger. When finally she released him, he was totally lost.

  "You are so naughty," I said. "If you promise to do my chores for a week, I won't relay any of that to Scarlett."

  Angel laughed and pulled out her phone. "Hello, Michaela," came Scarlett's voice from the phone. "I had to go on mute to avoid letting him hear me laugh."

  "Damn it," I said. "Always one step ahead of me, Angel. How long has she been listening?"

  "You're wondering if I tried to get you to talk about your wedding night in front of her?"

  "Yes."

  "I did."

  "Oh, very naughty," I replied. "All right. It's just the seven of us, after all."

  Scarlett giggled.

  "I am still sporting everything you guys did, and Lara deeply hopes I will keep it that way. And, by the way, Lara has promised to maintain the things done to her as well."

  Elisabeth, Serena and Karen chuffed from under the table.

  "That is all I will say." Then I paused. "Except, well, I liked it."

  The wolves chuffed again. Lara began gnawing gently on my leg.

  "Hey, Elle! Knock it off! You know what happened last time!"

  She looked up at me and winked. I stared into her eyes and wondered when we'd next be alone.

  "By the way, Angel," I said. "I am moving my kayak down to Benny's along with my fishing gear. I'm bringing the rest of my outdoor gear home. I presume the enforcers won't mind if you leave your kayak where it is."

  The wolves under the table grew very still.

  "I'm sure you could leave yours there, too," Angel said. Elisabeth chuffed quietly.

  "I know," I said. "This is better. A clean break." But Angel saw the look in my face, and she clasped my hand.

  "Right," she said.

  "Benny is renting me space for a very reasonable rate. If you want to move yours with mine, I'll pay your rent, but I'm sure there's no reason you would need to do that unless the enforcers need that space. Scarlett, you too. I suppose you'll need to talk to the enforcers. I still have a key to Benny's, but you don't. I don't know how much we're going to be up here in the future. I don't have anywhere to stay now."

  Elisabeth sat up and set her head on my lap. I pushed her away. "Off, Lizzy," I said. She huffed her displeasure but lay back down.

  I fiddled with my phone and forwarded to Greg and Gia the pictures I had taken so far. Angel and I continued to take photos of people as they came and went, and Angel took a bathroom break to take more photos, possibly catching other body language or people who had pulled out laptops who hadn't had them earlier.

  Angel opened her books, and I put on my teacher hat, but we kept up our diligence, watching the people coming and going.

  We sat there for a couple of hours, ordering more food and drinks periodically, and covering far more of Angel's school materials than was necessary. Angel and I alternated taking trips inside the coffee sho
p for more photos and to scope things out. One guy looked dodgy to me, but he left long before Greg called. Still, I got a lot of photos of him.

  A car pulled up to the curb in front of us, but no one got out. I saw the guy inside on his cell phone, so I decided he must have pulled over to take the call safely. I ignored him after that.

  Greg called. "He's there."

  "I haven't spotted him," I said. "I'll take more photos."

  I got up and made sure I got photos of everyone inside who was using anything that could be used for sending and receiving email. Absolutely no one looked suspicious. A few minutes later, Greg called me back. "He's gone."

  "No one has left," I said.

  "Maybe just shut down his computer," Greg said.

  "No. Could it be someone on a phone?"

  "No. It's a laptop."

  "Greg, I swear, it's not anyone here."

  I grabbed our waiter and asked for more water for the wolves then returned to Angel. The car that had been at the curb was gone again.

  "Greg," I asked. "Would it have to be someone inside?"

  "No," he said. "Just someone close."

  "Like a car that parked at the curb?"

  "Oh yes," he said after a minute.

  I sighed. "I didn't get photos."

  "Neither did we," he said. "Sending a car. Get back here and we'll talk about it."

  "Angel," I said, pulling out my wallet. I gave her a couple of twenties. "Please go get our bill paid."

  She nodded and disappeared inside.

  Finding the Car

  Eric arrived while Angel was still inside. I bundled the wolves into the back, then waited by the door for Angel. She took the back seat and gave me the front.

  "I looked right at him," I muttered.

  "Who."

  "Our guy. He was parked in the spot you were at."

  Lara shifted to human and began pulling on clothes. "No one thought of that," she said. "We should have."

  I stared ahead. "There was a car before, too. I heard it leave. I didn't pay it much mind. Oh god, if anything happens to Virginia, it's my fault."

  "No," said Eric. "It's not. It is the fault of the people who took her, and only their fault."

  "He's right," Lara said. "Or else it's all our faults. I sat there with you the entire time, and I didn't even notice the car. I was watching people and using my nose."

  I turned to look at Lara. "When we find them, what happens?"

  "It depends on what we find," she said. "And what evidence we can produce. We will gather the evidence we can until we can prove at least to ourselves that we have the right people. If we can use that evidence to convince law enforcement, we'll give Robert a chance to decide what we do. If we're stuck with evidence that law enforcement can't use, we'll handle it ourselves."

  "If we handle it ourselves?"

  "There will be bodies."

  "If we handle it, I am going."

  "Greg and I will take your request under advisement," she told me. "You will now say 'Yes, Alpha', Michaela."

  "Yes, Alpha," I told her. "But this conversation isn't over."

  "I didn't think it was."

  * * * *

  "We got proof of life," Greg said the moment we were in the door. "She's alive, and voice analysis suggests no more stress than might be expected for the situation. We're analyzing for background noise, but that will take time."

  I began smiling broadly and hugged him. "Thank you," I said quietly.

  "You're welcome," he said. "God, I hate assholes like these. I am going to enjoy taking them down."

  "Are we going to?"

  "Oh yes," he said. "We're definitely going to take them down. Now, let's you and I go somewhere quiet and talk about the car you saw." He addressed the room. "No one else talk about it. I want your impressions unconfused by comparing notes."

  He led me next door, and he already had a camera set up to record the interview. He told me where to sit, then he sat opposite me and turned on the camera. He picked up a pad and asked me to describe what I had seen.

  I gave an overview. I set the scene, so to speak, then explained about a car pulling up. "He was on his cell phone. I thought he had pulled over to make it a safe call."

  Greg nodded, taking notes. "Keep going."

  "I looked at him for a moment, but he was just talking on his phone, so I stopped paying attention. He left while I was inside, scoping out the people on their laptops."

  "Did you see him using a computer?"

  "No, but I wasn't looking at him anymore."

  He began to pepper me with questions. Describe him. I couldn't. Was he white? Yes. Bald? No, but thin hair, not long, but not shaved, either. Old? No. Maybe 20-something, possibly low 30s. He went on.

  "Okay, tell me about the car."

  "Dark color SUV. Dark blue or green, I think. A little dusty."

  Greg did the same thing about the SUV as he had about the guy, pulling a little more information from me. "Any particular smells?"

  "Not to me," I said.

  "Sounds?"

  "Nothing in particular."

  "So he didn't need a new muffler? Did you hear the engine knocking? Anything scraping?"

  "No," I said. "None of those."

  "All right," he said after more questions, some of them repeats. "Send Lara down next."

  I went back to the main room, sent Lara down to see Greg, then said, "I am going for a walk." I waited for the protests.

  "We're coming with," Elisabeth said.

  I stared at her before nodding.

  I stepped out, Elisabeth at my side, Karen and Serena flanking us. I picked a direction that would take us to the waterfront, not saying anything. Elisabeth sent Karen and Serena further from us then quietly said, "What's going on?"

  "I just wanted to stretch my legs."

  "Why are you moving your things from the house?"

  "It's not my house anymore, and I don't want to ask permission to access them. Lara told me she would arrange to move the things I was keeping. She assured me you weren't claiming my kayak."

  "Of course not. You wouldn't have to ask permission."

  I took a deep breath before responding. "A clean break is best. You may grill Lara if you want anything else on this topic, and she will share whatever she feels is appropriate. You may tell her I said that. This conversation is over."

  Elisabeth didn't respond immediately, and we walked briskly for several blocks before she said, "I'm sorry."

  "For what?"

  "Making you pay such a heavy personal price."

  I stopped, turned to her, and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. I pulled her towards me, which really meant pulling me to her. "I said this conversation is over!" I pushed her away, releasing her. "I am struggling to keep ransom night from putting a permanent rift between us, Elisabeth. Being reminded of what you took from me isn't going to help with that process. This conversation is over, and you will never bring it up again. Do I make myself clear?"

  "Yes, Alpha," she told me after a brief pause.

  I took a deep breath. I caressed her cheek once, and said, "Thank you, Elisabeth. And thank you for watching out for my safety and my friends." I started off down the street. "I am bad company right now. I am sure Serena and Karen can keep me safe, if you would rather be elsewhere."

  "Are you asking me to leave or giving me the option."

  "Giving you the option."

  "I'll stay."

  "Thank you," I said again quietly.

  We reached the waterfront then turned to walk down it. "Is this a bad idea? I've been seen around here a lot."

  "Don't look like you're scoping anything out," Elisabeth said. "Look like a tourist or a resident instead."

  "And what are you?"

  "Another tourist," she said.

  "You guys don't look like tourists."

  "They aren't watching for anything like this," she said. "We're fine. Stop worrying about it."

  We walked slowly along the waterfr
ont, looking out over the lake that I loved so much. We hadn't gotten too far when I said, "Is there something I should be doing to help?"

  "You could roam the streets randomly hoping to spot a car you barely recognize or hoping that when you walked past, you heard Virginia's voice coming faintly from someone's basement at the exact time you walked past."

  "Am I keeping any of you from something more productive?"

  "We could be in fur roaming all over the neighborhoods with our noses, but I bet we'd get picked up by animal control long before we caught the scent."

  "Are you going to recommend we do any of those?"

  "I believe you need this walk," she said. "You're going to have more to do on this. But now it's time to let other people do their parts. You need to do what is necessary so you'll be ready when it's your turn again."

  We walked on for several minutes. I felt lost. I didn't know my place in the world anymore. I was getting real tired of the pity parties I seemed to hold with some frequency. I needed something to focus on instead.

  "I don't like this look, Michaela," Elisabeth told me in a quiet tone.

  "I promise I won't ditch you tonight," I said.

  "And tomorrow?"

  "I don't know who is going to piss me off tomorrow, so I'm not ready to make promises for tomorrow."

  "You've made promises to me before," she replied. "You seem to be good at breaking them."

  "Situations change," I said. "I am sometimes forced to react without having opportunity to first apprise people to whom I have offered promises."

  "Pretty answer," Elisabeth replied.

  "I need something to do," I said. "I'm having a good pity party in my head right now."

  "There are a few hours of daylight remaining to us," she pointed out. "We could use them."

  "How would we do that?" I asked her.

  "We have several kayaks a short drive away."

  "If you weren't babysitting me, what would you be doing?"

  "Babysitting Lara."

  "I think it's time to walk the dogs again," I said.

  She tightened her lips but said nothing.

  "Off-leash," I added.

  "What did you have in mind?" she asked.

  "It might be a long shot, but we're not doing anything productive down here. You have a nose. I have ears. I think we should at least attempt to use them. We might get lucky. It's not a big town, after all. Unless you have a better idea."