by RJ Blain
Packing up my laptop, I gave the woman my full attention. The sooner I finished with the red tape, the sooner I could make my way to West Virginia.
~*~
Six hours after I managed to extradite myself from Mayo Clinic, I pulled into the entry of the Fairview Chicago. I could’ve picked a cheaper hotel, but after an overlong stay at a hospital, a little luxury was at the top of my to-do list.
They also had decent security.
Once safely checked into my room, I flopped onto the bed and groaned. Fishing my cell out of my pocket, I punched in the numbers to Anderson’s house, but I hesitated before connecting the call. I’d wake the young CEO up, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
If I wanted to snoop around West Virginia in hunt of werewolves, I needed the kids. They knew where their mother had gone during the hunts. More importantly, I’d learn whether they had undergone the rituals or not.
Someone born to werewolf parents, rare as that was, often smelled like a werewolf. It didn’t mean they were one. But how had their mother managed to bring them both to term?
The change wasn’t kind to the unborn. Most werewolf pregnancies ended in miscarriage.
At least they did without a witch to aid them until the delivery. So who had helped their mother?
I drew a deep breath and pressed the green dial icon.
“The Anderson Residence,” a young boy answered. Alex. I felt my brows rise.
“Isn’t it a little late for you to be up, Pup?”
“Oops,” Alex replied. “Hi, Ms. Vicky. How are you feeling?”
I smiled. “I’m good. Get Mr. Elliot on the phone, tell Kitten I said hello, and get yourselves into bed.”
“Okay.” The phone hit something hard with a thunk. “Mr. Elllliiiioooottt! Phone.”
I had to give the boy credit. He had strong lungs.
“Aren’t you supposed to be asleep?” Anderson mumbled through a yawn.
“Oops.”
The phone clattered against something before a sleepy voice answered, “Anderson.”
“Sorry to wake you.”
“You’re not sorry,” Anderson replied with an undignified snort that was interrupted by another yawn. “It’s late. Aren’t your jailers supposed to keep you off the phone after your bedtime? What do you need?”
“Do you have plans for Sunday morning?”
“Not really. I was going to take the kids to the park, but we can reschedule…”
“How do you feel bringing them and meeting me in West Virginia?”
“West Virginia? Wait. Meet you? In West Virginia?” There was a brief pause. “They let you out?”
“I guess they ran out of reasons to keep me around,” I said in an amused tone.
“Okay. West Virginia? Sure. Can do, but you owe the kids a trip to the park.”
I chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind. You’re a gem. Thanks, Anderson.”
“That’s what you pay me the big bucks for, Vicky.” I heard laughter in his voice.
Narrowing my eyes, I rolled over onto my stomach, kicking my feet in the air. “You just want to go on a road trip, don’t you?”
“Ah, you caught me.”
“You’re such a child, Anderson. I’m going to go take a long soak. Do me favor and book us into a hotel? Pick whatever one you want. Just text me the address. One room for all four of us. We’re going to masquerade as a family of four.”
“When will you arrive?”
“Tomorrow night, probably late.”
“I’ll drive us there in the morning, then. I’ll text you with the confirmation.”
“Thanks.” I picked at the seam of the hotel pillow. “Have the kids given you any problems?”
“Not really. They’re starting to act a bit more kids now. But they’ve been good. A little skittish, but I can’t blame them.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take them off your hands soon,” I promised.
Maybe we’d have a chance to start over, if West Virginia gave me the answers I needed to keep them—and myself—safe from the Inquisition.
“Hey, Vicky?”
I blinked at the hesitancy in his voice. “What’s wrong?”
“Well, I know you’re all sorts of independent, but why don’t you and the kids stay at my place for a while?”
Few had the sort of courage needed to ask me something like that. Like the kids, I was different. Humans didn’t understand the predatory nature of a wolf.
Even human predators didn’t understand the feeling of being hunted. They avoided those who made them feel like prey. I was glad he couldn’t see my pained smile. He was right. I was an independent sort.
But the kids didn’t need independence. They needed stability, and I needed time to finish healing.
“Okay, Elliot. Thanks. I’ll take you up on that.”
Anderson made a spluttering noise. “What?”
“We’ll stay with you awhile,” I replied, trying my hardest not to laugh at his reaction.
“Vicky, Vicky, Vicky. We spent the past three days writing up a list of reasons. . .”
My laughter bubbled out of me. “My, my. May the stars forbid such effort going to waste. Very well, Mr. Elliot Anderson. You may work hard to convince me properly in West Virginia tomorrow night. Good night. My bubble bath awaits.”
“Sleep well, Vicky. See you tomorrow.” Anderson hung up.
I stared at the black, partially shattered screen of my cell before tossing it on the bed. Was I getting soft in my old age? Probably. Still, I couldn’t deny the warm, fuzzy feeling at the idea of sharing a home with someone—even if that home wasn’t mine.
Chapter Twenty
Anderson and the kids beat me to the hotel in Charleston. He was stooped over the dark oak of the front desk in the lobby while Emily and Alex clung to his legs. I strolled across the entry, a carry-on tossed over one shoulder and my laptop bag in my hand.
The kids stood, heads dropped and nodding as they struggled to stay awake.
The wolf in me saw easy prey, and I shifted my stride, sliding my sneakers across the floor. When I got in range, I leaned forward and blew in Anderson’s ear. “Boo.”
The sound he made was a blend of a gasp and a squeak. The scent of fear tickled my nose. The receptionist grinned at me.
Emily and Alex lifted their heads, their eyes owl-wide. After a few moments, they threw themselves against my legs. Without my sturdy werewolf constitution, I suspected they would’ve floored me. They didn’t make much noise, just as a pair of puppies waiting for an Alpha’s approval would do.
“Hey, Pup. Hey, Kitten,” I said, struggling to keep a hold on my bag as the two unbalanced me. A wide-eyed Anderson freed me from the straps. “Thanks, Elliot.”
“Great timing,” he replied, managing one of his quick, rueful smiles. “Please don’t do that.”
The receptionist hid her laughter behind a cough. I smirked at my prey. “What can I say? Easy target.”
My wolf was pleased with the hunt, despite its quick, bloodless conclusion. Maybe it was the awareness that the full moon was on the rise, but I twitched with the need for action, not peace and quiet.
Maybe my wolf and I wanted to test Anderson. If he wasn’t prey, what was he?
A mate?
I nodded to the bemused receptionist, who finished checking us in. Taking the kids by the hands, I studied the young CEO. Unless I was careful, he was going to have an interesting weekend, complete with a crash course on the existence of werewolves.
For an unpartnered bitch like me, prey and mate were interchangeable. Then again, maybe Anderson would be safe—this time. I hadn’t picked a mate in the past hundred and fifty years. I could control myself.
One way or another.
“Room 106,” the woman said with a smile before giving us directions.
Anderson thanked her before turning to me.
“Where’s your car?” I asked.
“Out front. I’ll get the bags after we get settled. Come on, kiddos
. Time to go.” Anderson made a shooing gesture with my bags. Emily and Alex detached from my legs, bounding down the hall. “How was your drive?”
“Tiring. Yours?”
“Pleasantly uneventful.” Anderson turned his attention to the kids racing for our rooms. “Keep quiet. There are other guests trying to sleep.”
“Yes, Mr. Elliot,” the chorused, slowing to a more sedate walk.
“While Mr. Elliot fetches the bags, why don’t you two tell me what you did this week?”
As soon as Anderson opened the door, both kids spilled in. They didn’t quite squeal as they kicked off their shoes at the door and flung themselves onto the nearest bed.
“Shh,” I chided. Emily hit the bed first. Alex landed a moment later, launching his sister off of the bed. She hit the carpet with a thunk loud enough I winced.
The tears I expected didn’t come. Instead, she picked herself up off the floor and jumped back into the fray. With the same ferocity of puppies in the den, they wrestled, complete with little growling noises instead of actual conversation. Chuckling at their antics, I poked my head into the bathroom.
A jacuzzi dominated most of the bathroom’s floor.
Score.
If the jets couldn’t soothe away the aches and pains from a hard day of travel, nothing could.
“Hey, Vicky. You hungry?” Anderson waddled through the door, pulling two large suitcases behind him.
“Did you bring all of the clothes in your house?”
He laughed. “Not quite. I didn’t know what you had planned, so I thought I’d come prepared.”
“We are going hiking,” I announced.
“You brought me all the way up from Atlanta to go hiking?”
“I sure did.” Anderson’s incredulous reply reminded me of how I had reacted to the favor Mark had asked. I bit back my surge of anger. If it weren’t for Mark, Samantha would still be alive.
I smothered my grief along with my fury.
Grief had to wait until I found a way to protect those who still lived and were being hunted by the Inquisition. The Inquisition and their Inquisitor lackeys didn’t care about my loss. They wouldn’t wait for me to move on before they struck again.
“Why are we going hiking?” Anderson asked, sitting on the edge of the second bed, safely out of the romping range of the two kids.
“I may have found a connection between the victims,” I said, digging my laptop out of its case and setting it on the desk. While it booted, I grabbed my overnight bag, digging out my new pajamas and set them on the desk next to the laptop. “Well, at least some of the victims. Not all of them. Samantha doesn’t fit the pattern.” While my voice didn’t quite crack, I heard the grief in my tone. Part of me wanted to wince away from it.
The rest of me, my restless wolf included, wanted to howl our grief so all could hear of how we’d been wronged.
Anderson got up to hover over my shoulder as I pulled up the spreadsheet showing the financial records of all of the victims, excluding Samantha. “Okay, what am I looking at?”
I jabbed my finger at the merchant accounts for the transactions. “This is a store located in the mountains.”
“And all of the accounts have records from this merchant?”
“They sure do,” I replied, adjusting the spreadsheet filters to show only transactions associated with the store’s ID. “What I’d like to do is get every record we have from this store and compare them with our other employees. It might give us a clue who might be targeted next.”
“That’s not going to be easy or legal,” Anderson warned.
“Neither was pulling these records to begin with, but we did it anyway. We have a responsibility to our people, Anderson. If it lets us protect our employees, it’s worth it. I don’t care why they’re out visiting West Virginia. That’s their business. However, if their visiting this store is linked to their deaths, it’s worth pursuing. My only concern is to stop more people from being killed.”
“I understand. I’ll call Amelia and see wh—”
“Not Amelia,” I interrupted, shutting my laptop with a thunk. “She’s been hit hard enough, covering this first set of transactions. Contact Natalie, the CEO of Oleran’s branch. She’s straight laced, but as soon as you tell her why we want those records—that we have a chance of finding out who murdered our people and why—she’ll bend enough to help us get them.”
“Amelia has been under a great deal of stress. It doesn’t feel right cutting her out like this, though.”
I shook my head. “Too much stress. We can do this without burdening her. I think it’s time to bring Natalie in on this.”
“You’re marking Natalie to be Amelia’s replacement, aren’t you?”
Twisting around in my chair, I looked up at Anderson, arching a brow. “What makes you say that?”
“Call it a hunch.”
“Amelia won’t live forever. None of us will, Elliot. When Amelia’s ready to retire, I want Natalie ready. It’s time to test her mettle. It’s time to see if she understands the difference between staying within the lines of the law and doing what’s right.”
“And violating our employee’s privacy is right?”
“How many funerals do you want to attend, Anderson? How many children do you want to see torn from their mothers or fathers? How many mothers do you want grieving for their sons and daughters?”
Anderson flinched.
I reached up and gave him a solid swat on his shoulder. “Look at it this way. Here’s your chance to be a hero.”
“I’m not sure I’d call this heroic,” he admitted.
“They might never know it, but you’d be a hero to the ones who don’t have to suffer through the loss of their loved ones. Chin up. We might not be doing something completely legal, but at least we’re doing something. If it saves even one life, it’ll be worth it.”
“Even if we spend the rest of our lives in prison?”
“That’s why we try not to get caught, Elliot. Are you going to call Natalie?”
His eyes met mine. He sighed, low and long. “I’ll call.”
~*~
The ringing of my cell woke me. With bleary eyes and a head full of cotton, I swiped my finger across the damaged screen. “Hello?”
“Ms. Hanover? I’m sorry to wake you. It’s Dr. Engleburg.”
I sat up, and the covers fell off of me and onto Emily. The girl didn’t stir. Anderson’s snores rumbled in his chest. “It’s fine. What time is it?”
“Just after five in the morning,” the doctor replied.
I slipped out of bed and stalked into the bathroom. The tiles were cold beneath my feet. I shut the door. “Okay, what do you have for me?”
“I’m sorry it took me so long to get in touch with you, Ms. Hanover. I didn’t want to call until I all of the results were in.”
“That’s fine. That was a good judgment call.” Locking the bathroom door, I put the toilet seat down, sat, and stretched my feet out to rest them on the jacuzzi. “What can you tell me?”
“When I ran the initial autopsy, I didn’t find anything conclusive to indicate that Samantha died of anything other than natural causes. However, what you told me matched with her physical condition. She was in extremely good shape for her age. Her physical health was on par with someone twenty years younger. She shouldn’t have died from a heart attack, Ms. Hanover. So, as you requested, I had a closer look.”
“Find anything?”
“Her blood tests came back with an oddity.”
“An oddity? What sort of oddity?”
“Whatever killed Samantha wasn’t natural, Ms. Hanover. It isn’t something I’ve seen before.” Dr. Engleburg sighed.
“Give it to me in layman’s terms.”
“The official labs on the blood tests were inconclusive, but I ran a series of tests on my own. I ruled out things like anemia early. It was when I started comparing against infectious diseases that I found something interesting.”
“Diseases, D
r. Engleburg?”
“Yes. There are quite a few organisms and diseases which live in the bloodstream. Some are harmless, some aren’t. At first glance, I thought it was just some form of virus. With heart attack victims, the labs don’t look too closely at all of the various things in the bloodstream, you must understand. They won’t usually report things like basic colds unless it was a factor in the cause of death. Some think that’s too much work.” Dr. Engleburg fell quiet.
“Go on.”
“This is going to sound like an insane question, but bear with me a second.”
“Just ask,” I snapped.
“Did Samantha go to any zoos or get in close proximity with any monkeys in the days before her death?”
“No. Why?”
“Because after a close comparison of infectious diseases and the organism in her bloodstream, I found a similar match.” I heard a chair squeak on the other end of the line. “ There are some notable differences in what I found in her bloodstream versus Zaire ebolavirus, fortunately for all of us.”
“Zaire ebolavirus? You mean ebola? The disease from Congo?”
“The same.”
I felt my eyebrows rise. “Ebola is a pretty nasty disease, isn’t it? How did Samantha get it?”
“Remember,” Dr. Engleberg paused. I waited for him to continue. “It’s not exactly Zaire ebolavirus, which is good for us. From what I can tell from the samples I’ve taken and the experimentation I’ve done, it isn’t contagious, for one. It’s non-aggressive compared to the real ebola. They just look similar under the microscope. But, here is where it gets interesting. It does seem that this organism had attacked certain parts of Samantha’s body, including her heart. There was no sign of actual hemorrhaging, except for a small spot in her heart. In normal conditions, that’s called a murmur. It was low grade, but on second examination of her heart, there was a high concentration of these ebola-like cells.”
“So this disease killed her?”
“So it seems, Ms. Hanover. Unfortunately, without an extensive amount of research into this new organism, I can’t tell you any more than that. I’ll be blunt: What do you want me to do with the samples of this disease? I’ve never seen this before. It could be important. It might not be.”