Bumble

by Connie Suttle

  "Is Marco doing any better?" Ashe cut into his ham.

  "Not really. No."

  "Did you meet him?"

  "The investigator?"

  "The Enforcer." Ashe bit into a chunk of ham.

  "He seems nice enough. Taller than your father by a couple of inches. Dark hair, dark eyes. Looks strong."

  Ashe was chewing so he nodded at his mother. He figured the nice comment was to keep him from thinking that an Enforcer was scarier than anything he'd ever met before. "What about the investigator?"

  "Denise says it's somebody from Dallas named William Winkler. I think she knows more than she's telling, but that's Pack business."

  "Mom, the Pack has a Grand Master and the vampires have a Council. What do the shifters have?" Ashe stopped eating for a moment to ask the question. He'd never really thought about it before.

  "We don't have anything," Adele sighed regretfully. "We're too scattered and disorganized. The vampires are all vampires, the werewolves all werewolves. Shifters can be almost anything. We're all different, so there's never been any movement to band together. Can you see all the lions getting together, or all the horses or caribou?"

  "There are shapeshifting caribou?"

  "In the north. They're quite common there. We're so scattered it would be extremely difficult to organize. These paranormal communities have been the best we could do so far."

  "How many communities like this are there, Mom?"

  "Not a lot, and they're all here inside the U.S. Europe still hasn't tried it; I think they're waiting to see how we do."

  "Sounds like an experiment." Ashe was turning Nathan's words around, making them sound like idle curiosity. He was rewarded with an answer.

  "We sort of are," Adele lifted her fork. "That's why it's so important to find out who killed James and why. The answer might determine whether Cloud Chief stays together or disbands."

  "That's possible?" now Ashe was worried. He and Sali would be separated, he just knew it.

  "Ashe, don't worry, all right? Things will work out. Finish your breakfast."

  The day was busy at Cordell Feed and Seed, just as Ashe expected it to be. He rang up customers. Talked about the advantages of this piece of equipment over that. Listened sagely as an old woman spoke about the different kinds of tomatoes and then sold her two dozen plants, as well as squash, zucchini and watermelon seeds. His mother worked tirelessly with the more difficult tools and plants, between helping with bags of feed and fertilizer. Both of them missed lunch and Ashe was starving by the time the workday was done.

  "Come on, we'll run by the grocery store and I'll broil steaks," Adele hugged Ashe as they walked toward his mother's old truck. Dinner was finished and Ashe had eaten every scrap of his T-bone, salad and mashed potatoes when Aedan walked through the door into the kitchen, a tall, dark-haired vampire right behind him.

  "How was your day?" Aedan sat down at the table just as he always did. "This is Radomir, Enforcer for the Council," Aedan invited the other vampire to sit down with his family.

  "The store was extremely busy. We had a good day and missed lunch, so I fixed steaks." Ashe noticed his mother was chatting nervously, something she seldom did.

  "What time do you normally rise, Mrs. Evans?" Radomir asked, leveling a dark gaze on Adele. Ashe watched as his mother lowered her eyes. She was worried and too frightened to look Radomir in the eye.

  "Around five-thirty. Aedan usually wakes me," she replied, staring at her hands.

  "Aedan and I may be busy, so please set an alarm clock for tomorrow morning."

  "Of course," Adele whispered. Ashe didn't like that his mother felt so uncomfortable, but he felt helpless. His father couldn't say anything, because Radomir worked for the Vampire Council. He wondered if Sali were feeling the same about the investigator the Grand Master sent. Ashe itched to phone Sali, but that was impossible as long as Radomir remained inside the house. He could easily listen to any conversation, and Ashe wasn't allowed a cell phone to make a call from outside the house. His father said he could have a cell phone on his fifteenth birthday. Until then, his parents felt that Ashe was just too young to have one.

  "I'll clear away the dishes," Ashe lifted his plate off the table and walked toward the sink. He could try to instant message Sali on the computer, but Sali didn't have his own computer, as Ashe did. The conversation might not be private.

  "Here, honey." Adele stood and took her plate to Ashe. Together they loaded the dishwasher and wiped down the stove and countertops. Radomir and Aedan were still sitting at the kitchen table when they finished.

  "Is there anything I can get for you?" Adele asked Radomir.

  "I am fine, Mrs. Evans."

  "Then Ashe and I will go downstairs and watch television." Radomir inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement, so Ashe went down the stairs ahead of his mother, who closed the middle door behind her. Neither spoke until they were inside the living room downstairs. Ashe's mother closed that door as well.

  "Mom, is Dad gonna be okay?" Ashe had to work to keep himself from trembling.

  "I hope so," Adele replied. Ashe didn’t miss the tiny crease of worry between his mother’s brows.

  Ashe watched one program with his mother before asking if he could go to his room to read. Adele gave permission so he walked down the hall toward his bedroom. He'd heard the kitchen door open and close ten minutes after he and his mother walked downstairs, so Ashe knew Radomir had gone out with his father. Standing in front of his dresser, Ashe quickly turned to mist, hoping mightily that his mother wouldn't come to check on him and find him gone while he was out.

  Discovering that his father's information was correct, Ashe slipped through the barest of cracks around doors to leave the house. Once outside, he lifted high into the air to look around. Spotting his father and Radomir in the pasture behind the house, Ashe zoomed his mist in that direction.

  "No other scents were found?" Ashe hovered over their heads as Radomir asked questions.

  "No. I wasn't here initially, but when Nathan and I went out after the others left, we only found evidence of the boy, the little female panther, Micah Rocklin, Marcus DeLuca and Benjamin Billings," Aedan explained. He stood amid knee-high prairie grass, arms crossed over his chest as he examined the spot where James' body had been found.

  "Who was first at the scene?"

  "After Cori, I believe Marcus and Benjamin were. Micah came after they arrived."

  "Hmm." Radomir walked around the area, sniffing for scents and searching for clues with sharp, vampire sight. "Too much time has passed," he said after a while. "The scents are confused now and any clues are obliterated."

  "I feel the same." Aedan sounded defeated and Ashe wasn't used to that. His father was always strong and confident. This worried Ashe more than he wanted to admit.

  "Are they prepared to show us the body tonight?"

  "Yes, I only have to call Marcus and they'll meet us there."

  "Then we will go now."

  Without a word, Aedan lifted his cell phone from a pocket and hit a number on speed dial. Ashe heard it ringing just as well as he might if he still had corporeal ears. He heard Marcus' answer, too. "We're ready to see the body, if you're free," Aedan said.

  "We'll meet you there in twenty minutes," Marcus's voice was soft, but Ashe heard. Ashe followed his father as he strode purposely toward the house, Radomir beside him. Tossing good sense and caution away, Ashe misted inside his father's SUV as Aedan and Radomir loaded into it. Ashe was going to do what none of the others his age could—he was going to see James's body first-hand.

  Marcus and a werewolf Ashe didn't recognize stood outside the O'Neill's barn when Aedan drove up. Ashe figured it was the Grand Master's investigator, William Winkler. Black-haired, black-eyed and taller than Marcus but not quite as tall as Aedan or Radomir, William Winkler moved with an easy grace that spoke of power and confidence. Misting away from the SUV as soon as his father opened the driver's side door, Ashe followed closely behin
d Aedan as the two vampires approached the werewolves.

  "Aedan, this is William Winkler," Marcus introduced the investigator. Aedan offered his hand and the tall werewolf clasped it firmly.

  "Mr. Winkler and I already know one another," Radomir said, shocking Marcus, Aedan and Ashe.

  Chapter 6

  "We met several years ago," William Winkler explained. "And call me Winkler, everybody does." Ashe found he liked the werewolf investigator. He put everyone at ease, whereas Radomir seemed more stiff and formal.

  "Come on in; I have the key." Marcus held up the key in question. Ashe followed invisibly as Winkler slid the barn door back and walked inside. The others followed the werewolf investigator's lead. The O'Neill's walk-in refrigerator had a bright light that blinked on when the door opened. Grateful for the light and for the discovery that he didn't feel the cold when he followed his father inside the refrigerator, Ashe might have gasped his surprise if he'd been corporeal; James had died as werewolf. Somehow, he expected James to be, well, James.

  "So, he went down fighting, you think?" Radomir was speaking directly to Winkler, as if he valued the werewolf's opinion. Ashe realized that this was both unusual and true. Radomir and Winkler not only knew one another, they respected each other as well.

  "Couldn't be otherwise," Winkler agreed. Radomir leaned in to examine the deep claw marks running across the young werewolf's torso.

  "These are impressive wounds, but surely they wouldn't have killed him," Radomir observed. Ashe was sickened by what he saw. Globs of dried blood covered strips of fur and skin that had been cruelly torn from James's body. Eyes that still shone golden in the artificial light were nearly closed but not completely. The tongue was blackened and hanging from the mouth. Ashe stared at James's lengthy canines. Sali's weren't that long, but Sali wasn't fully grown as a werewolf, either.

  "They didn't kill him," Winkler agreed. "But the boy died somehow. Now, all we have to do is figure out how and why. One of our werewolf physicians is coming in from Chicago next week. He'll perform an autopsy. Perhaps he can tell us what really happened here."

  "I would like to be present when the autopsy is performed," Radomir said. Ashe might have gulped if he'd been solid. No way he'd want to see that. No way he could stand there and watch without tossing his lunch.

  "I intend to be here as well," Winkler agreed.

  "Both of you are confident this isn't the work of a vampire?" Marcus asked.

  "Yes. A vampire would have shredded the boy. These claw marks aren't deep enough." Radomir pointed out the deepest of the gouges. Ashe estimated they couldn't be more than one or two inches deep. "What about the girl? The panther shapeshifter?" Radomir asked.

  "We sniffed her for blood and only found it drying on her clothing when she knelt down beside the body. No blood under her nails. I've questioned her and believe she's telling the truth, but I was waiting for you to place compulsion for the whole truth." Winkler nodded at Radomir.

  "I will do this Monday evening. Arrange it for me, please." Radomir spoke to Marcus.

  "I'll call Nathan," Marcus said. "And I and the boy's father will be present when the physician examines the body."

  "As you wish it," Radomir agreed. Ashe got the idea that it might be extremely difficult to surprise or gross out Radomir the Enforcer. He couldn't decide whether that was truly frightening or really cool. Then, anxious not to be locked inside, Ashe zipped out of the refrigerator ahead of the others and waited next to the SUV until his father opened the driver's side door.

  His father and Radomir were silent as they drove toward Cordell. Ashe was shocked—he imagined they'd go back to the house. They didn't. Ashe was becoming frightened; where were they going? He didn't find out until Aedan stopped to get gas for the SUV at a truck stop off I-40. Radomir and his father were driving to Santa Fe.

  Longing to be in two places at once, Ashe watched his father's SUV pull away from the gas pump, driving toward the exit that would take him toward New Mexico. Turning his mist southward with a mental sigh, Ashe reluctantly headed toward Cloud Chief.

  Wishing later that he could have timed his trip from the interstate back to his home, Ashe became himself again inside his bedroom, noting that the clock said eleven-thirty. He'd made good time, no matter how you looked at it.

  "Ashe, are you in bed?" his mother tapped on the door ten minutes later.

  "Getting into pajamas now," Ashe called out.

  At the breakfast table the next morning, Ashe itched to tell Sali what he'd seen and heard the night before, but that would get him into trouble. Ashe felt he might burst with all the secrets he was keeping lately, but there wasn't anything else he could do without getting into serious trouble. Why were his father and Radomir driving to Santa Fe? That made no sense.

  Ashe had found his mother reading the note his father left for her the night before when he'd come upstairs for breakfast. Aedan didn't tell her where they'd gone, just that they'd be back on Sunday if possible. If Aedan hadn't said something while pumping gas about how long it was likely to take to get to Santa Fe, Ashe wouldn't have known either. His mother was terribly worried and Ashe couldn't tell her where his father had gone. This had to be about Terry and Randy Smith, Ashe decided. They'd lived in Santa Fe. But what did that have to do with James's death?

  "Ashe, will you settle for a bowl of cereal for breakfast?" his mother sounded defeated, just as Aedan had the night before.

  "I'll make instant oatmeal for both of us." Ashe went to get the packets out of the pantry and put the water on to boil in the kettle.

  "You were supposed to be coming back from Six Flags today," Adele said absently as she drove toward Cordell. "It's funny how things got so messed up, isn't it?"

  "Yeah." Ashe muttered. So many lives had changed in the past week. He wondered how many more might be affected before it was over.

  The store was busy, just as predicted. Ashe watched the store while his mother had a sandwich inside the tiny kitchen in the back. He knew she was making phone calls while she ate, but he couldn't hear with all the noise from customers and outside traffic. When Adele came out to take over, she sounded more depressed than before. Ashe thought she might have left a message on his dad's cell since he'd be asleep somewhere. At least Ashe hoped his dad was sleeping somewhere. He'd never really worried about his father until now.

  "Mom, it'll be all right," Ashe took his mother's hand as they walked toward the truck after closing for the evening.

  "Honey," Adele Evans stopped at the edge of the sidewalk where the old Ford was parked, "I wish I could say that for sure. There are so many things you don't know." She pulled him to her and hugged him hard.

  "Will I ever know those things?" Ashe, nearly as tall as his mother, searched her eyes with his.

  "You seem so grown up most of the time." Adele rested her forehead against his. "Maybe when you're older, you'll know those things." Pulling the truck keys out of her sweater pocket, she unlocked the door. "Get in, Ashe. We'll find something to cook at home."

  Dinner was tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Ashe didn't complain; he just had an extra sandwich. He washed up afterward, too, so his mother could lie down—she had a headache. Ashe listened while Adele walked into her bedroom and shut the door.

  "Ashe, meet me at the place behind your house where they found James." Sali's voice was soft over the phone. Ashe had gotten the call and as soon as his mother knew it was Sali, she hung up the extension.

  "Why?" Ashe was puzzled.

  "They're done with it, so we can go poke around."

  "Sali, do you think you'll find anything that the others haven't? We're not supposed to go out there." Ashe wasn't sure about this. He'd gone the night before as mist and his father and Radomir hadn't found anything. What could Sali hope to do?

  "Just meet me there, okay?" Sali hung up.

  "Sali, you're gonna get me killed," Ashe muttered, hitting the off button on the cordless. Nevertheless, Ashe was at the proper spot, waiting for
Sali to arrive ten minutes later. He'd misted through the cracks, just as he'd done the night before. Twilight was falling and the light was fading when Sali came trotting up, completely naked.

  "Sorry. Ran most of the way as Wolf," Sali panted an apology.

  "Here." Ashe slipped out of his jacket and handed it to Sali, watching while his friend tied the windbreaker around his waist. According to Sali, all werewolves lost their modesty when they began the change. "What are we looking for?" he'd stayed away from the exact spot, electing to lean against a fencepost not far from the actual site while waiting for Sali to appear.

  "Anything, dude. Cori is terrified that she'll be accused when she didn't have a thing to do with it," Sali said, walking toward the site. "I can smell it, Ashe. Death. It was here. At least for a while, even though it's fading."

  "Sali, I am in awe of your amazing nose," Ashe said truthfully.

  "All werewolves have it," Sali said distractedly. He was busily sniffing around.

  "I can only use my eyes," Ashe said, and started looking right behind Sali.

  "Dude, I can't find anything." Sali kicked at a clump of dirt half an hour later. The sun was now completely down and all Ashe had was fading twilight in which to see anything. That meant he almost didn't catch the tiny glint as the dirt that Sali kicked rolled away.

  "What's that?" Ashe jumped toward the rolling ball of dirt, grabbing it before it was lost in six-inch weeds and dead grass.

  "Just dirt," Sali said.

  "No, I saw something." Ashe turned the lump of dirt over in his hands. "See?" he wiggled the shiny bit of metal that had caught his eye. It broke away from the dried dirt, but Ashe had to rub it between his fingers to discover it was a button.

  "Looks like a button from somebody's jacket," Sali carefully examined the small gold disc. Werewolves had good night vision, so he could see it better than Ashe. "Not from anything I've seen Cori or James wear," Sali added.

  "It's not big enough for a coat button," Ashe added what he could.