Dark Moon Wolf

by Sarah E Stevens

  “I can’t find anything. I can’t even tell where his head was,” she said, with a twist of the mouth as she heard her own words.

  “Okay.” I leaned over and sank my nose into Carson’s hair, trying to clear my mind and muster productive thought. “So now what?”

  “I’m not sure.” Eliza wiped her forehead and reached back to lift her hair off her neck. She twisted it into a knot and deftly tucked it in so it stayed up—a feat I could never have managed. “Well,” she said after a minute, “I guess we should get a late lunch and figure out the next step. I’m starving.”

  ****

  We didn’t really expect to sweep into Las Vegas, discover some crucial and overlooked piece of information, and single-handedly capture the bad guys. At least, that wasn’t a conscious expectation. But now that we’d come up empty, I realized for the first time we didn’t know what the hell we were doing. We’d found no clues. Nothing. We didn’t even know what to do next. For Eliza and me, it started out as a silent and somber lunch, but then Carson in his sometimes-contrary way decided to be the world’s happiest baby. Devouring my club sandwich and fries, I bounced him on my knee and he chortled and drooled and held onto a shiny spoon for dear life.

  Catching me in that weird moment of uncertainty and delight, my phone rang, Sheila’s picture flashed, and I answered the phone without thought.

  “Hey,” I said, feeling mostly relief to talk to her, regardless of my confusion about what to say.

  “Hi, Julie. How are you? What’s going on? I’ve been really worried.”

  “I’m okay,” I said, then paused.

  “Are you?” Sheila waited for a second and then rushed on. “I didn’t want to pester you, truly, but I’ve been really concerned. I haven’t heard from you in days. Almost a week. I know you’re spending time with Mac’s family—”

  “No, I’m not there anymore.”

  Shit. I froze, not knowing what to say. Then Carson managed to somehow throw his spoon halfway across the room and I laughed.

  “Oh geez, Carson. Sorry,” I called to the woman who’d been hit in the foot by the flying spoon. Thank goodness she wasn’t annoyed her lunch had been so unexpectedly interrupted. “Sorry, hold on…Carson just threw his spoon across the restaurant.”

  “Oh.” Sheila sounded confused. “Where are you?”

  “Las Vegas.”

  “Las Vegas?”

  “Yeah.” I glanced over at Eliza and decided to stick as close to the truth as possible. “I decided to come to Las Vegas, to see where Mac was killed. I thought it might bring some type of closure.”

  Sheila still sounded confused, though a bit warmer. “Has it?”

  “No, not really. You know how morbid I can get, imagining things over and over, replaying them in my mind? Well, somehow I thought being here would snap me out of it, but we visited the murder site and it still doesn’t seem real.”

  “‘We’ meaning you and Carson?”

  “Yes and Eliza Minuet. She grew up with Mac and wanted to come, too.”

  Carson chose that moment to morph into Ragingly Hungry Baby Who Needs to Feed Right Away. He started pulling on my shirt, making little crying gulps. I juggled the phone for a minute, then said, not without a feeling of gratitude, “Hey, Sheila, Carson’s hungry. I’ll call you back, okay?”

  “Okay…” Sheila hesitated. “Take care of yourself, Jules.”

  The rest of our meal passed in relative quiet, as Eliza and I were deep in thought. We discussed our options. Should we just call it quits and go home? No, we decided. Should we parade around town, hoping the people killing werewolves would notice Eliza and reveal themselves by attacking her? That was Eliza’s idea, quickly vetoed by me. Should we call Lily, admit we were in Vegas, and ask if she or the council had any ideas? That one was pretty much a rhetorical question, since neither one of us wanted to involve the council at this point. I still felt it highly probable someone from the council was involved. Should we track down the council investigators Tim Rogers and Kayleigh Anderson, in the hopes they would allow us to help with the investigation but not reveal our involvement to anyone else?

  We sat musing over the last idea, while we each nursed yet another glass of iced tea. Eliza hadn’t met either Were investigator personally, so it was impossible to predict what their reaction might be to a pair of amateur intruders. Under usual circumstances, the investigators would be unlikely keep our involvement secret from the council. Yet, in this instance, I wondered if self-preservation might work in our favor: Tim and Kayleigh must be alarmed by the fact two of their fellow Weres had been murdered while working on this case. Surely, it crossed their mind an internal traitor might be responsible and they could be the next victims. Unless, of course, one of them was the traitor. This latter thought gave us the most pause.

  After we couldn’t drink another sip of iced tea, we finally pushed back from the table. Carson had fallen asleep and lay like a ragdoll over my shoulder, breathing sweetly.

  “All right. Let’s go see Tim and Kayleigh. It’s our best option right now.” Eliza waited for me to nod in concurrence, before reaching for her phone. “Now, I’m not sure where they’re staying, but I bet I can weasel it out of Lily.”

  “Without making her suspicious?”

  “Just watch me.” Eliza flashed a confident grin at me and hit speed dial.

  “Hi, Full, it’s Eliza. No, not yet, we’re still en route. Travel is sure a lot slower with a baby. Yes, true. Well, we wanted to check in on things with the pack. Any developments?”

  Eliza sat up straight, radiating sudden intensity that raised the hair on my arms. Her eyes narrowed.

  “When? And what’s the council doing about it? What about Tim Rogers, is he still in Las Vegas? Has he changed hotels? What precautions is he taking?”

  I heard Lily’s voice raise on the other end of the phone.

  “Yes. I know. I know, Full. Yes. It’s my job to take care of Julie and Carson. It’s the council’s job to solve the crimes.” Eliza sounded as if she repeated instructions and I heard slight anger burning under the docile language. She crossed her fingers and scowled across the table. “Yes, I promise. Okay, I won’t tell her. Yes, we’ll drive carefully and I’ll call you in a couple of days.”

  Eliza hung up the phone.

  “Dammit!”

  “What happened?” I demanded, “Was someone else murdered?” Conscious of my sleeping baby, I tried to keep my voice down, but injected urgency into the words.

  “No. Well, maybe. Kayleigh Anderson is missing.”

  “Missing?”

  “She and Tim were tracking some rumors about a feral dog sighting. Tim scouted on the ground and Kayleigh did some background work, posing as the owner of a lost dog, talking to the police, and the local pounds. She never arrived back at the hotel. No trace of her since yesterday.”

  I closed my eyes and sent fervent wishes into the universe for Kayleigh. My jealousy of her vanished, even if she was a hot, blonde Californian Werewolf friend of Mac’s.

  “Lily says Tim reported to the council immediately and changed hotels. Actually, she said, ‘He’s not staying at the Silver Token any longer.’ So, I guess we know where he stayed, if not where he is now. I wanted to know what else the council planned to do about this—if they sent more investigators or what—but, well, you heard the rest. Full was fairly adamant I needed to remember I wasn’t involved. Oh, she didn’t want me to tell you any of this, either.”

  I digested the story for a moment, in silence, before a thought occurred to me. “Are you going to be punished for going against your Full?”

  Eliza shrugged gracefully and flashed me a smile. “Perhaps. We can’t afford to worry about that right now; there are more important things at stake. Either there’s been another murder or Kayleigh’s in grave danger.”

  I glanced down at Carson and stroked his back gently. “Okay. So do we start at the Silver Token Motel?”

  Eliza’s voice held a grim note when she said, “A
ctually, I’d like to meet Suzy Zhang, the registered lone wolf in Las Vegas. I know Mac questioned her once, but I have a hard time believing all this activity happened in her own city without her knowing something about it.”

  “All right, then. Suzy Zhang it is. Right after we check into a hotel, okay?”

  Although I tried to hide it from Eliza, I felt a sense of relief, because chatting with a lone wolf seemed a lot safer than our other option. I would not give up this quest and retreat to Oregon, but I felt a twinge of panic about the whole situation. I was mostly worried about keeping Carson safe. His limp, sweaty weight on my shoulder, sleeping with such trusting abandon…well, I felt pretty mama-bear with some second thoughts about exposing him to danger.

  ****

  After a cursory motel check-in, a quick internet search revealed the address of our lone wolf and we were on our way. We used our time in the car to coordinate our story and set clear objectives for the encounter, so when we reached Suzy’s house, we were ready. Carson snoozed away, so I transferred him from the car seat into the sling and followed Eliza to the front door.

  A minute after the doorbell rang, we sensed movement behind the rippled glass windows beside the door. After a pause, we rang again and a woman’s voice called out, “Who is it?”

  I shot a glance at Eliza wondering if Suzy Zhang was always so cautious, if she sensed a fellow Were had come to visit, or if she was nervous because of the recent incidents.

  As per our agreed-upon story, Eliza spoke clearly, “We’ve been sent by the council and we need to speak with you.”

  After a slight hesitation, the door opened a crack and a middle-aged woman looked out at us. She had thick black hair that might have been beautiful, had it not been for what I might unkindly call a poodle-perm, making her appear about twenty years older than her actual age. Her outfit didn’t help: pleated jean shorts and a t-shirt with appliqués of flowers and butterflies. The t-shirt was tucked in, and she wore a braided leather belt. So, in sum, she looked exactly like what we discovered she was: a fairly dowdy elementary school teacher who lived alone and had a bunch of cats. Both Eliza and I were surprised by the cats, considering Suzy was a Were, albeit a crescent moon. I quickly understood why she’d decided pack life wasn’t for her. In fact, I could hardly imagine a less likely Werewolf.

  “I’ve already spoken to several investigators sent by the council,” Suzy said softly. “I don’t think I have anything else to say that could possibly be helpful.”

  “Nevertheless,” said Eliza and, as if that was somehow an explanation, she pushed the door open and stepped into the house. Suzy shrank backward, and I honestly wouldn’t have been surprised to see her lie belly-up on the carpet to placate Eliza’s wolf.

  Suzy smiled uncertainly and said, “Of course, of course, come in, please,” after the fact. She gestured to the couch in the front room.

  Eliza stalked across the carpet, spine straight, and settled onto the edge of the couch in one easy motion. Three or four cats sprang out of room as soon as she entered. I followed her, feeling kind of sorry for Suzy Zhang, who probably became a lone wolf so she didn’t have to deal with Weres traipsing through her living room. Suzy looked slightly puzzled by me, then actually shrank back into herself even further as she scented Carson. Yes, Carson, my oh-so-intimidating just-turned-four-and-a-half-months-old baby. Yes, a full moon wolf, but come on.

  “Start by telling us exactly what you told the other council investigators,” Eliza commanded.

  Suzy took a seat on the edge of a rocking chair, smoothing her shorts over and over again in nervous action.

  “Um, I told them I don’t know anything about all of this.” She glanced at Eliza and hurried on, “I mean, the first investigator? He told me there’d been, um, a Were who killed two people when in wolf form? But I didn’t know anything about it and I still don’t. My life right now revolves around my school, my home, my friends—I lead a quiet life—I haven’t come across anything or sensed anyone—any other, uh, you know, Weres. I mean, every once in a while, there will be some scent of, uh, one who’s probably here on vacation. But never any pattern, any repeated particular Were or anything. Never anything near my house. Or, at least, not until you council Weres started coming.” Suzy’s eyes widened and she hastily added, “Not that I mind, of course. I’m happy to help the council, it’s the least I can do, really.”

  “Hmm.” Eliza leaned back. After shifting weight for a minute or two, Suzy glanced at me as if looking for aid. When Eliza spoke again, she jumped.

  “What specific questions did the other investigators ask you?” Eliza asked.

  “Oh. Well, the first one asked me about certain dates and what I was doing and if I’d sensed anything out of the ordinary. The second group, well, they were mostly interested in the time surrounding the murder of that first Were investigator. They asked me a lot of questions. I don’t think I was very helpful, though…”

  Somehow, none of that surprised me, especially the fact she hadn’t been helpful. I raised my eyebrows at Eliza as our gazes met. Surely there wasn’t much reason to continue with this poor, nervous Were?

  “The third investigator,” Suzy continued in her small voice.

  “What?” I interrupted her.

  “The third investigator? He focused on the other three, because he was checking up on their performance for the council.” Suzy’s voice became even more hesitant.

  “Ah, yes.” Eliza continued to lounge on the sofa. “And what did you report to him?”

  “Um. I told him they’d been very thorough, asked a number of questions, it wasn’t their fault I wasn’t more helpful—I just don’t have any information. He made sure they’d given me a way to contact them if I thought of anything else, so I said, sure, they left their cards and the number for the Silver Token motel.”

  “Do you still have their cards?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Did this third inspector leave his card?” Eliza asked with studied nonchalance.

  “Uh, no. But I’m sure he meant to.” Suzy smiled at us.

  Eliza gave a dubious hmmm. “Rose, who did the council say they’d sent? It’s slipped my mind. Was it Ben or Dave?”

  With a start, I realized Eliza meant me. We’d agreed not to use our real names for this bit of sleuthing.

  “I can’t remember. It’ll come to me in a minute. Wasn’t it Ben?”

  “His name was Taylor, Taylor Dunn,” Suzy said helpfully.

  “Of course. Taylor. Well, we’ll have to check with him next.” Eliza’s grim gaze met mine.

  “Taylor…is he the tall one, dark hair?” I addressed my question to Eliza.

  Suzy said, “Oh, no, he’s blond, with a beard, only average height.”

  “I think you met him in Boston last year, remember?” Eliza said and I nodded.

  Eliza stood. “Now, Suzy. This is important and I need to make sure you understand me clearly. The council is worried we have a traitor within our midst, someone in league with these murderers. We’ve been sent to keep tabs on the situation and the other investigators do not know we’re involved. We need to keep it that way. If anyone else comes here to talk to you, do not mention Rose and I were here. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, of course, I won’t mention you were here… I didn’t even catch your name and I won’t mention Rose’s name. A traitor in the council?” If possible, Suzy looked even more nervous.

  “Don’t worry. You’ve been safe so far; there’s little reason for concern.” Eliza nodded briskly and headed for the door, trailing me in her wake.

  Carson woke as we reached the car, and his mood seemed much better than ours. I strapped him into his cow-print car seat and wrapped his fingers around a teething toy he’d probably drop in two minutes, but his random attempts to stick it in his mouth might amuse him for that short time. Eliza slid into the passenger seat and shushed me when I got into the car.

  “Wait until we’re out of here,” she said.

 
; “Okay. But where are we going?”

  “Let’s head back to the hotel and regroup.”

  A few blocks away from the house of Ms. Suzy I-did-have-something-interesting-to-say Zhang, I asked the most obvious question. “Do you think Taylor Dunn was really sent by the council to check up on the other investigators?”

  “No. Good job getting a description, by the way.” Eliza flashed me a smile.

  “Thanks, I had given her up for useless when she mentioned the third investigator. Do you think he’s the same Were Tim and Kayleigh were tracking, the one who kidnapped Kayleigh?”

  Eliza shrugged. “I hope so. May the moon guard us if we’re dealing with too many rogue Weres here—especially since a number of human accomplices are involved.”

  “I wonder if they had the Silver Token staked out. It may have only been a matter of time before Tim or Kayleigh—or both—were abducted.”

  Neither of us had any more to say. And Eliza didn’t comment on the long and circuitous route I took back to our hotel.

  Chapter Eleven

  When we drove into the parking lot of the motel, I felt jumpy and Eliza cased the vicinity with narrowed eyes. I’m sure Eliza’s super Were senses worked in overdrive. Me, I found myself glancing around with my humble human eyes, seeking shadowy figures skulking about. I was so focused on these imagined stalkers, I almost missed her.

  Sheila stood arms akimbo in the middle of the walk, right in front of the row of room doors. Her blonde hair streamed loose halfway down her back and her white tank top made her look even more tanned and toned than usual. She wore jeans and red lizard-skin wedge sandals—the ones I knew she wore when she needed an extra jolt of Sheila-ness—and she looked both pissed and worried.

  “Sheila!”

  Eliza glanced at me, then followed my gaze. Her forehead wrinkled. “That’s Sheila? Your friend Sheila?”

  I pulled the car in and opened the door. As I stepped out, Sheila strode forward, lifting her hands up to the sky.

  “So here you are,” she proclaimed loudly. “My best friend who drops off the face of the earth and leaves me no choice but to follow her to some cheap motel off the Strip and demand answers.”