by Jae
Gripping the steering wheel with both hands, he sped down the street, away from the house and Rue.
Chapter 13
When Danny still hadn’t budged from his room at noon, Kelsey rang the light bell. She waited, but there was no response. Was he still asleep, or was he ignoring her? Either way, Kelsey couldn’t wait any longer. She needed to talk to him and get him to leave with her before Mrs. Mangiardi returned from grocery shopping.
She turned the doorknob and opened the door.
Danny wasn’t on his bed. He wasn’t in the room at all.
Dread crept up Kelsey’s spine and made her scalp tingle. Had Danny shifted and escaped?
No. If his First Change had happened, the air would be permeated with the smell of pain and wolf hair.
She crossed the room and pounded on the bathroom door hard enough to make the wood vibrate and Danny take notice if he was in there.
But everything remained quiet.
A cool current of air hit Kelsey’s overheated skin. The window was partially open.
Damn. She had kept an eye and an ear on the door to his room but hadn’t considered that he might climb out the window and shimmy down the drainpipe.
Shaking with panic and the rising need to shift, Kelsey hurried outside and immediately picked up his scent trail—peanuts, old smoke from one of his friends’ cigarettes, and a hint of wood that reminded her of Rue. The odors led past her borrowed car that was parked in the driveway. But when she passed the iron gate, the scent trail faded away.
Should she shift and try to pick up the scent trail with her more sensitive wolf nose?
After weighing the pros and cons, she decided against it. The pampered dogs of the upscale neighborhood would start an ear-splitting ruckus if they caught sight of a wolf invading their territory, and Mrs. Mangiardi would soon return from her trip to the grocery store. Kelsey couldn’t risk detection.
She turned in a circle. Where is he? Has he gone to see his friends?
Not very likely. After Rue had called their parents, the boys were probably grounded and maybe even forbidden from seeing Danny again.
Kelsey slid to a stop and pressed her hands to her temples. Think, think, think. Where else would he go? She quickly sorted through all the places she had run off to when something was troubling her as a child. But unlike Danny, she had never been alone. Garrick had always sensed when she was upset and convinced her to let him come along. An image rose before her mind’s eye of her hiking through the Siuslaw National Forest with Garrick. When she breathed in, she could almost smell the spicy aroma of Douglas fir, cedars, and pines trailing on a crisp breeze coming in from the ocean.
The mental image brought the answer to her question. The woodlot. It was the only place Kelsey knew that might be some sort of refuge for Danny. She raced to her room, grabbed her cell phone and keys, and hurried to the car.
* * *
The screeching noise from a circular saw set Kelsey’s shaky nerves on edge as she crossed the furniture company’s parking lot and hurried toward the woodlot.
“Stop!” someone shouted behind her. “This is private property.”
For a moment, Kelsey considered making a run for it, but then reason prevailed. She turned and faced the security guard.
“Let her through,” another security guard—the one who had brought Danny home—called. “She lives with Ms. Harding.”
Kelsey didn’t bother to correct him. When the first guard stepped back, she hurried into the woodlot before they could change their minds. Sure-footed, she stepped over knobby roots. From time to time, she closed her eyes, lifted her face, and let the light and shadows of the forest dance across her skin.
It’s been too long. She longed to strip off her shoes and feel the earth beneath her paws. Stop it. You’re searching for Danny. You’re not here to enjoy the forest. But she had to admit that Rue had been taking good care of her forest. The trees were strong and healthy. If only she had been taking such good care of Danny too. Kelsey sighed.
The muscles of her ears flexed as she listened to any sounds that might give away Danny’s presence. Above her, a squirrel chattered from on top of a white ash, complaining about the intrusion of a predator into its territory, but otherwise, everything remained quiet.
Kelsey slid her gaze over the shifting patterns of light on the forest floor. Up ahead, on a narrow path through the forest, she identified three sets of footprints. Was one of them Danny’s?
Nostrils flaring, she breathed in the smells clinging to nearby bushes and trees.
The odor of bitter almonds wafted around a black cherry tree, and the minty scents of wild herbs permeated the air. Beneath it all, the scent of peanuts and human sweat lingered.
Kelsey’s heartbeat sped up—but only for the two seconds it took her to realize that Danny’s scent was fading already. Her shoulders drooped. He must’ve been here last night.
Another scent caught her attention. She inhaled the aroma of pine and ocean. Is that…? She parted the branches of a shrub and peeked at the clearing beyond.
Rue was sitting on a moss-covered tree stump. Gone was the confident businesswoman Kelsey had seen so far. With her elbows on her thighs and her head in her hands, Rue looked pensive and sad. She was staring at a red oak next to the tree stump.
What is she doing here? Clearly, Rue wasn’t working. Had she met Danny in the woodlot and had another fight with him?
Whatever had happened, Danny wasn’t here anymore.
Just as Kelsey wanted to let go of the branches and quietly back away, Rue straightened and looked up. Her gaze zeroed in on Kelsey as if she could sense her presence. “Kelsey! What are you doing here?” Rue stood. The sleeves of her shirt were rolled up. Leaves and sawdust clung to her slacks. She took off her hard hat and ran a hand through her wild blond locks.
Kelsey stood frozen, still holding on to the shrub’s branches. She couldn’t look away. Even in her mussed state, Rue was amazingly attractive. Cut it out. You’re in enough of a mess as it is. She shook herself out of her stupor and stepped onto the clearing.
Rue frowned. “Were you looking for me?”
“Um…kind of. Burt said you’re here.”
“Yeah, I was…checking on the trees.”
Kelsey didn’t need her nose to know that Rue was lying. The only tree she had checked was the oak.
Rue slid the back of her fingers over the gray-brown bark of the red oak. She stroked the tree as if it were a lover—or a beloved child.
Tilting her head, Kelsey watched her.
“Danny and I planted this tree about six years ago,” Rue said after a while.
“I thought you only moved here two years ago?”
“Yeah, but even before I moved the headquarters here, I traveled to our woodlots in Oregon and North Carolina several times a year. I used to take Danny with me.” One corner of Rue’s mouth lifted into a half-smile. “Every time, I intended to get some paperwork done while Danny watched a DVD on my laptop, but we always ended up playing hooky and roaming the forest together.”
The dusty smell of nostalgia hit Kelsey’s nose. That’s the difference between us. I regret so much of my past, and Rue talks about it as if it was a perfect fairy tale. Again, she could scarcely believe that this woman would ever hurt Danny. Rue was stubborn, ambitious, and dominant, but Kelsey had also seen glimpses of a softer side. How did the two sides of this woman fit together?
If his scent trail was any indication, Danny had stopped to touch the oak too. Despite their constant fighting, a bond existed between him and his adoptive mother.
Kelsey bit her lip. And I’m about to break that bond and steal him away as soon as I find him. She pushed back the feelings of guilt. That bond wouldn’t enable Rue to help Danny when the time for his First Change came. It might not even keep her from hurting him.
Finally, Rue turned away from the oak. “But that time is long gone. Now he’s angry with me all the time. Ever since Paula...” She shook her head.
Rue squared her shoulders. Her scent dimmed as if she was trying to shut off her emotions. “So why were you looking for me?”
“I…” Kelsey scrambled to find an excuse.
“Is there something wrong with Danny?”
“No, I-I just—”
“What’s going on?” Rue leveled a hard stare at her. “Tell me. Now!”
Kelsey’s thoughts raced. One thing was clear: Danny hadn’t just gone to hide out somewhere for a while. The boy wasn’t stupid. He had left the house despite being grounded. Now he would be in even more trouble once he returned, and he knew that. He doesn’t want to come back. He’s run away for good. And Kelsey didn’t know him well enough to have any hope of finding him. Not without some help from someone who knew where he might go.
She made a split-second decision and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, hoping it was the right choice. “Danny’s gone.”
“What? What do you mean—gone?”
“I searched the whole house. He’s not there. I think he climbed out the window.”
Rue hurled her hard hat across the clearing. “Goddammit! If I find him, I’m going to wring his neck!”
Rue’s anger hit Kelsey’s nose like a blast. She took a step back. An image of Rue choking Danny, just as Jorie had seen in her dream, rose in her mind’s eye, and she shivered. Was she doing the right thing by telling Rue, or was this what would lead to Rue trying to kill Danny?
Rue marched toward the woodlot’s exit.
Kelsey picked up Rue’s hard hat and hurried after her.
Not breaking her stride, Rue pulled her cell phone from her pocket. Her thumbs flew across the tiny buttons, and then she paused and waited.
But her cell phone stayed silent. No answering message from Danny. He had either turned his cell phone off, or he was ignoring Rue’s text message.
“Damn.” Rue’s jaw muscles bunched as she pressed a number on the speed dial. “Reva? It’s me. Cancel my appointments for the rest of the day. Yes, yes, I know, but it can’t be helped. Tell Richard to take care of it. I’ve got a family emergency.”
Rue nibbled on her lower lip, and Kelsey detected a hint of worry beneath Rue’s anger and her forceful nature. Then Rue shoved open the gate and stormed toward her Mercedes. She pressed the key to unlock her car and threw a glance over her shoulder. “Go home. I’ll send you a check.”
Oh, no. Kelsey couldn’t let Rue send her away. Not when Rue knew where Danny might be. “I can’t just go home. I feel responsible.”
“Bullshit. You’re not—”
For once, Kelsey interrupted her. “You told me to keep an eye on Danny, but I let him get away. Please, let me help you find him. I won’t be able to focus on anything else until I know he’s back home safely.”
Rue turned. She regarded Kelsey for long seconds. “I don’t have time for this,” she mumbled more to herself. Scowling, she thrust her finger in the direction of the passenger side. “Fine. Get in.”
“Um, I’ll just follow you in my car,” Kelsey said.
“Get in or get lost.” Rue opened the driver’s side door and slid behind the wheel. “I’m not wasting my time waiting for your car to catch up with mine.”
Kelsey’s chest constricted, and she sucked in air as fast as she could.
“Suit yourself.” Rue shut the door. A second later, the Mercedes’s powerful engine roared to life.
“Wait!” Kelsey dropped the hard hat, raced around the car, and pulled open the door. With shaking legs, she sank into the passenger seat.
Rue stepped on the accelerator as soon as Kelsey had closed the door. She pulled out of the parking lot and raced down the street, ignoring the speed limit. “We’ll check on his friends first.” Rue glanced at her watch. “If they’re not skipping classes again, they should be at school right now. They go to a school for the deaf an hour from here.”
“Even if they know where Danny is, do you think they’ll tell you?”
Rue sped up even more. “They better, or I’ll make sure their parents ground them until they graduate—from college!”
* * *
Visiting the school had been a waste of time. Neither Justin nor Tom had seen Danny since last night.
Rue cursed under her breath—then hit the brake without warning.
The car screeched to a stop, and Kelsey was catapulted forward. She screamed as the seat belt tightened across her chest and pressed the last bit of air from her lungs.
The stink of burned rubber and her own panic sent her heartbeat into overdrive. She ducked down and threw her arms up to protect her face from the glass and the caving-in roof. The itching in her forearms shot up her shoulders and down her legs until she felt the hairs along her limbs lengthen. Her joints ached.
Calm down, calm down. Don’t shift!
“Kelsey.” A touch to her shoulder grounded her in reality. “What’s wrong with you?”
The hair on Kelsey’s arms retreated. She straightened and looked up.
The car’s roof hadn’t caved in, and the windows were unbroken. They were parked at the side of the street, not sinking to the bottom of a river.
Rue leaned over the center console to regard Kelsey. “What’s wrong?”
Oh, Great Hunter. Kelsey frantically rubbed her brow and ran her hands along tingling forearms. “I’m okay.” She gasped.
“You don’t look okay,” Rue said, still lightly touching Kelsey’s shoulder. “You look like you’re having a panic attack.”
Syak don’t have panic attacks. Get yourself together. The pressure on her chest finally eased, and she turned toward Rue. “No, I’m fine, really. I just don’t like cars very much.”
Rue slid her hand over the Mercedes’s steering wheel as if caressing it. “What’s not to like?”
“I was in a car accident when I was seventeen, and I haven’t been totally comfortable in a car since then,” Kelsey said.
“Oh. Sorry to hear that. But I promise I’m a safe driver.”
“Why did you hit the brake?” Kelsey asked.
“Look at that.” Rue pointed at a SUV in a nearby parking lot.
Kelsey studied the dark green Jeep Grand Cherokee, but except for a broken side mirror, she couldn’t detect anything special about the SUV. “What about it?”
“It’s mine,” Rue said, her jaw a tense line. “And I know I didn’t smash the side mirror or leave it here. Danny must have taken it. I thought he’d learned his lesson about stealing my keys. Guess not. God, just wait until I get my hands on him.”
The anger in Rue’s voice made Kelsey shiver. Was this why Rue would end up hurting Danny?
They got out of the car.
Kelsey wanted to bend down and kiss the ground, but she forced herself to follow Rue over to the SUV instead.
The Jeep’s doors were locked, but it smelled strongly of Danny.
She looked around.
There was no sign of Danny anywhere, nor any indication of where he might have gone. With all the smells of the city and the strong emotions emanating from Rue, her nose had trouble picking up his scent trail.
The sounds of laughter and bustling humans drifted over from a nearby mall, but Kelsey doubted Danny was in the mood for shopping. Most Wrasa didn’t like crowds anyway.
Rue stared at something behind Kelsey. “Goddammit! I bet I know where he is.”
“Where?” Kelsey asked.
But Rue was already striding across the parking lot.
Kelsey whirled around.
A silver-and-blue bus with the Greyhound logo was just pulling into the parking lot.
Oh, no. A feeling of dread skittered down Kelsey’s spine. If Danny had left not just the city, but the state, they would never find him. She hurried after Rue.
Waiting travelers cursed as Rue pushed past them, Kelsey following in her wake. Rue ignored the complaints and elbowed her way to the ticket booth.
&nbs
p; The area around the ticket booth smelled of peanuts.
Yes, yes, Danny was here!
“Ma’am, please step back and wait your turn,” the young man behind the counter said. “You can’t just—”
“Have you seen a fourteen-year-old boy, dark hair, about this tall?” Rue held up her hand to indicate Danny’s height.
“No, ma’am, now would you please leave.”
No! Don’t let him send you away. Kelsey stepped closer to Rue until their shoulders touched.
After digging through her wallet, Rue slammed a photo against the glass wall separating her from the young man, making the pane rattle. “Have you seen this boy?”
The young man’s gaze veered from Rue’s face to the photo and back. “You aren’t with the police, are you?”
“No, I’m his mother. Now answer me. Have you seen him?”
The man hesitated for another moment, but under Rue’s demanding stare, he finally gave in and took a long look at the photo. “Never saw him.”
The knuckles of Rue’s hand holding the photo went white. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. But I just went on duty. Wait.” He turned toward his colleague, another young man who just slipped into his jacket and prepared to leave. “Hey, Mike. Have you seen him?” He nodded toward the photo Rue still held out.
Mike stepped closer and squinted at the photo. “Yeah, he was here. He bought a ticket to New York City. One way.”
One way. Kelsey’s knees weakened. He’s not coming back.
Rue smashed her fist against the counter, again making the glass pane and the man behind it tremble.
He reached for his phone. “Ma’am, if you don’t leave right now, I’m calling the police.”
“Great idea! Then you can tell them how you sold Danny a ticket even though it’s against company policy to let minors travel alone.”
“It’s only against our policy if they’re under fifteen,” his colleague Mike said.
“Danny’s fourteen!”
The young man’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed. “His ID said he’s twenty-one.”
Rue waved the photo around, almost hitting Kelsey in the face. “Does he look like he’s twenty-one?”