“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m curious. So she and Kale were high school sweethearts? What went wrong?”
She swallowed. “You know, I really shouldn’t be talking about this.” She looked around the restaurant, which was mostly empty. There was only one other customer on the other side of the room, and he had his head buried in the newspaper.
“I’m only trying to understand,” I said.
She looked around again, and then she sat down opposite me in the booth. “Well, people would always say that she was messing around with Hudson on the side. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it was always like she was theirs, you know? Like she belonged to both of them. It was that way all through high school, even after graduation. She went away to college, and both of the boys stayed here, but she came back, and then they all just carried on the same as they had been. Until…”
“Until?” I prompted.
She leaned across the table. “Well, no one knows. People think that it was that baby. When she got pregnant, well, those boys couldn’t take it anymore. They both wanted it to be their baby, you know? But it could only belong to one of them. And the one who was really the father is the one she was with when she died. At least, that’s what everyone thinks. But no one knows for sure.”
I thought back to earlier that morning, Kale yelling that Lila had been pregnant with his child, even though she’d been with Hudson. Was he simply in denial about the paternity of the baby, or were the rumors wrong?
“Anyway.” She leaned back. “I really need to get back to work.”
“Lila was with Hudson when she died, wasn’t she?”
“Well, she was alone in the car, but I think she was living with him.”
“Really? And where does Hudson live?”
“Oh, just around the corner, right in town here.” She smiled. “Hudson and Lila used to come in here all the time. Before that awful accident, of course.” She looked down at her hands.
“Right around the corner?”
“Yeah, on High Street. Little green house there.”
“Well, that is convenient to the diner,” I said.
She got up. “Let me put in your order.”
This time, I didn’t stop her.
* * *
There was only one green house on High Street, a dilapidated one-story number with a sagging porch. It actually looked worse than the other houses on the street, and those houses didn’t look very good either. If there had been more to the town, I would have said this was the bad part, but there were only a few streets, and none of them went on for longer than a block or two. There was a tiny yard in front of the house, and it was jumbled full of rusty bicycles and decrepit plastic toys that had to have been almost a decade old.
I wrinkled up my nose. Was Hudson a… hoarder?
Hudson, who I could hardly keep my hands off of, who was so sexy—
Well, but he was sexy because he was rough around the edges. I had to admit that. And it was clear that he wasn’t as well off as Kale was. I didn’t guess working for an auto shop paid extremely well. Still, why was his yard full of so much junk?
I casually walked by the house a few times, scoping it out to see if anyone was there.
Didn’t look like it, so I decided to chance it, anyway. After all, it wasn’t as if Hudson didn’t know me. If I showed up on his porch, I could always say I was coming to see him.
I knew that the best way to get into places where you weren’t supposed to be was to act as if you were supposed to be there, so I nonchalantly marched up the walk to Hudson’s house and climbed the creaking steps to his front door.
Inside, my heart was pounding, though. I didn’t want him to be there. I didn’t want to face him. The image of his hurt eyes still bothered me. I did care about Hudson. I barely knew him, but I felt like there had been a connection between us, something powerful.
I forced myself to look composed, even though I was falling apart underneath it all.
I tried the doorknob. If necessary, I did have tools to pick the lock, but it was hard to pick a lock nonchalantly, so I hoped that this was a small enough town that everyone kept their doors unlocked.
The knob turned in my hands.
Good. So far, so good.
I stepped into the house.
Inside, it was a different world than outside. The interior of the house was still shabby, but it wasn’t overly cluttered or messy. It wasn’t clean and orderly like Kale’s house either, however.
The door opened into a living room. It had dark wood paneling on the walls, and one of those old, boxy TV sets in the corner. There were two couches, both threadbare, both covered in crocheted blankets.
I didn’t think he’d keep the necklace in the living room, though. I’d search there last, if I didn’t get lucky elsewhere. So, I moved through the living room into a hallway. There was a kitchen to my left. I peered inside. It was decorated with sunflowers. Sunflowers everywhere. On the walls, on the hanging potholders, on the curtains, everywhere. That was a little feminine for Hudson, it was true, but maybe Lila had done it, and he hadn’t changed it. I doubted the necklace was in here, either.
I continued back the hall. The next room was a bathroom. It was periwinkle blue, with a fluffy blue toilet seat cover and a lacy shower curtain. Also quite feminine.
What if I was in the wrong house?
But then I noticed that the walls were covered in pictures of Hudson. They seemed to trace the span of his life, from birth all the way to high school. I peered at those pictures as I went further back the hallway, watching Hudson go from a gawky little grinning boy to an adolescent. But even as a teenager, he’d been husky and huge. He’d always had those shoulders.
This was his house, all right, but it wasn’t just his house. Hudson lived here with his—
“Who are you?” said a high pitched female voice to my left.
Mother.
I whirled and came face-to-face with a small, hunched woman. She was clutching a walker and there was a tube in her nose. She was frail, but she wasn’t as old as she appeared. She was sick.
Hudson lives here with his sick mother! I thought, feeling wretched all over again for hurting him.
“Hi there,” I said, offering the woman a hand. “I didn’t know anyone was home. I’m a friend of Hudson’s, and I thought I’d surprise him.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Surprise him? With what?”
“Um… with my presence,” I said. “Thought he’d like to see me.”
“I don’t believe you,” said Hudson’s mother. She glared at me. “You’re not from around here.”
I guess it was really obvious that I didn’t belong.
She ripped the tube out of her nose and leaned close. She sniffed me.
I tried to pull away, but one of her bony arms shot out and grabbed me, holding me in place.
I tried to keep my voice steady, but I was starting to get freaked out. Something about this skeletal woman made my pulse race. “I’m sorry I disturbed you. Obviously, it’s a bad time. I’ll just be going now.”
She looked up at me. “You’re a wolf.”
I gave a mighty tug on my hand, yanking out of her grasp. “It was, um, very nice to meet you.” I backed away.
She pointed at me. “You’re a werewolf. But you’re not from around here. How do know Hudson?”
I shook my head, backing down the hall. “I have to go. I’m sorry that I came into your house.”
“Who are you?” yelled Hudson’s mother.
I tripped over the couch, then turned, and hurried out the door. I ran down the steps and back to the sidewalk. Something about that woman had given me the creeps.
CHAPTER TWO
When I got back to Kale’s house, my Beetle was parked in the driveway. I parked Kale’s car beside it, and got out to inspect the car. There was a piece of paper under the windshield wiper with my name on it. I snatched it out.
Car’s fixed. Payment for labor is taken care of. Do everyone
a favor and get out of town, it read. It wasn’t signed.
I shoved the scrap of paper into my pocket and went into Kale’s house. I found him on his computer in the living room. He barely looked up when I came inside.
“Just leave the keys by the door,” said Kale. He had hooks for his keys there.
“Um,” I said. “My car’s in the driveway.”
“That’s nice,” said Kale, in a tone that meant he wasn’t actually listening to me.
“Did you pay for the labor?”
“Huh?” He turned around.
“Did you pay for my car to get fixed?”
He furrowed his brow. “Your car is fixed?”
I sighed. That was a no, then. “Well, I guess I don’t really have any reason to stay in your house now.”
He considered. “Guess not.”
I smiled tightly at him. “I’ll get out of your hair.”
He shrugged and turned back to the computer.
I felt annoyed with him for not paying more attention to me, even though he’d been this way ever since I got here. Even though he’d just found out that I’d been fooling around with another man. Even though none of it mattered, because he was just a job, and I was just here to find that necklace.
Goddamn that necklace.
I had gotten nowhere with that. How had I been here for days and still not found the freaking thing?
But I couldn’t very well continue to sleep at Kale’s house. Not with my car fixed and parked outside his house. I went downstairs to the bedroom, grabbed my bag—which was conveniently packed now—and mounted the steps to the top level.
Kale was still on his computer. I stared at the back of his head.
“Well, goodbye then,” I said.
“Yep,” he said.
He hadn’t heard me. I considered stalking over to him and forcing him to look at me, forcing him to say goodbye. I remembered the way it had felt to lie in bed with him, his lips pressed against mine, his arms wrapped tight around me. It had seemed, then, that there was something between us. Something real.
But he’s just a job, Piper. Get a grip.
I went out the door without another word.
My car handled just fine. The power steering was definitely fixed. I drove back into town. I didn’t know where to go. This was turning out to be the most difficult job I’d ever done.
I drove up and down the main street a few times. Eventually, I kept going, and I came to a strip mall of sorts. It contained a grocery store and Family Dollar. I parked in the parking lot and got out my phone.
Someone answered on the first ring. “You got it?” said an eager male voice.
“Is this Sal?” I asked, feeling wary.
“Of course this is Sal. It’s my phone, ain’t it? You got it or what?”
“I don’t,” I said.
Silence on the other end of the phone. Disappointed silence.
“Look, this is a more difficult job than I might have expected. I have no idea where that necklace might be. I got into the boyfriend’s house, and I searched it from top to bottom. If he’s got it, it’s not in his house.”
“He has the necklace,” said Sal. “He’s got to have it.”
“Not in that house, he doesn’t. And he doesn’t have a storage unit or anything like that.”
“How about in a bank, then? Maybe a deposit box?”
“I don’t rob banks,” I said. That was a special skill set. One that I hadn’t cultivated.
A sigh. “So, what are you saying?”
I hesitated. Should I tell them about Hudson and the possibility of his having the necklace, or should I cut my losses and move on? I didn’t have a good plan for proceeding on this job, but I also didn’t have a good plan for paying back my retainer.
“You ain’t backing out, are you? Because we paid you a chunk of change up front, and you promised that you’d deliver—”
“I know what I promised,” I said.
“But now you’re saying that you can’t do it.”
“I’m saying…” Okay, what the hell? Might as well sink myself further into this mess. After all, maybe it could be easy. Maybe I could find the necklace in Hudson’s house and be out of here in a day or two, rich and fancy free. “It seems that Lila might have had another love interest,” I said.
“What?”
“Speaking of which,” I said, “you guys didn’t tell me that Lila went to school around here. I assumed that since she was part of your family, she grew up with you guys, further north?” That was the way these werewolf packs did. They lived in big family groups.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Just that Lila went to high school around here.”
“So what?”
“I guess it doesn’t matter,” I said. “The point is, I have another lead on the necklace. But the cover I was using to get into Kale’s house doesn’t wash anymore, and I have nowhere to stay.”
“You gonna get to the point as to why you’re calling me? You haven’t found the necklace, but you’re still on the case, so why are you—”
“I need you to book me a hotel room. I don’t have a credit card with me, and I don’t have much money.”
Sal snorted. “You want me to throw more money at you? When you’ve produced nothing?”
“You can take the hotel room out of my payday. How’s that?”
“You got nerve, girl. But all right, fine. As long as you bring me that necklace, I’m willing to play whatever game you want.”
* * *
I didn’t get a hotel right in town, figuring that would be too conspicuous. Instead, I had Sal book me something about forty-five minutes away. It was the closest thing I could get without being right on top of them.
Once checked in, I sprawled out on the bed, face down, fully clothed, and tried to think of what the heck I was going to do now. I needed to get into Hudson’s house, but I didn’t know how I was going to manage that, not with his mother there. From the looks of things, it didn’t seem as if the woman really left the house very often. She seemed very ill, so she wasn’t exactly mobile.
I’d probably have to wait until she was asleep. But that was a problem, because Hudson would be asleep too, and the necklace was probably somewhere in his room if it was anywhere.
If I hadn’t blown everything this morning, I could have gotten into the house on some kind of pretext, claiming to be inspecting for insects or electrical failure or something. But his mother would recognize me now.
The other thing was try to get Hudson to take me into the house willingly. But I didn’t see how that would work. He was pretty angry with me. I didn’t think he was going to forgive me easily. Maybe, if I stuck with it for some time, he’d get over the fact that I’d slept with Kale. But I didn’t really have that kind of time. Besides, that sounded like more trouble than it was worth. I wanted to get into the house and search it. I didn’t want to run another seduce-and-manipulate mission.
It was the inconvenience that turned me against it, anyway, not the fact that I didn’t want to do something like that to Hudson.
I rolled over on my back, sighing, and thinking about how gorgeous he was. How raw and male. His thick arms. His broad shoulders.
Damn it.
Well, I was going to steal from him, so it didn’t matter how I felt about him.
Time passed, and I didn’t get any bright bolts of inspiration from heaven. I went downstairs to the hotel restaurant and ate dinner. I had a couple of drinks with dinner, and then I went back to my room. I’d hoped that distraction would help. It sometimes did, when I was having a particularly difficult problem. Thinking about something else would jar my subconscious into giving me the perfect solution. But not tonight. Tonight, I was getting a whole lot of nothing.
As darkness fell, I felt the moon before I saw it.
It was full—or, well, nearly full. There were three wolf moons every month. The actual full moon, and the days immediately before and after. This
was the the night before the full moon, and if I hadn’t been through the Sullivan Foundation training, then I would be shifting into a werewolf right now.
As it was, I knew how to resist my wolf. The animal within me was antsy. I could feel that it wanted out. It was like an itch at the back of my neck, something eager and energetic clawing me there.
But I had learned to say no to it. I could keep myself under control.
It was a little uncomfortable and distracting, however. I wished that I didn’t have to deal with it at the same time I was trying to formulate a brilliant plan, because I couldn’t quite concentrate on anything fully. It required too much of my attention to keep my wolf in check.
When I was younger, this hadn’t been a problem. I wasn’t even aware that I was a werewolf. My parents kept it from me. They were actually my adoptive parents. I’d always known that, but I hadn’t known that my parents were so desperate for a child that they’d adopted a little misplaced werewolf.
Back twenty-five years ago or so, there had been some attacks on various branches of the SF, and lots of werewolves working for the institution had been killed. However, the attackers had somewhat of a conscience, and they left the werewolf children alive. They even placed the children with adoptive families. I was one of those babies.
The thing was the attackers were natural/illegal werewolves, and they wanted the children to stay that way. In fact, it was a condition when they placed the children with their adoptive families that the families never attempt to register the children with the SF.
So, I grew up without knowing I was a wolf and without any SF intervention.
Even after I went through puberty, which is when most wolves begin shifting, I didn’t change on the full moon. Sometimes, on full moons in my teenage years, I remember feeling the strange, itching feeling. But I thought it was just an urge to rebel. I thought it was normal.
It turns out that I’d never shifted because I’d had an alpha wolf. And apparently, alpha wolves could keep their beta wolves from shifting. But one night, he couldn’t. Or he didn’t. I don’t know, because I don’t know who he was. I only know that I shifted into a wolf one full moon, out of nowhere.
Under a Raging Moon: Part Two Page 2