I pawed at the dirt. Smooshie got in on the action, and she managed to move a lot of earth in a short amount of time. I roared, which sounded more like a baby’s scream. Smooshie stopped digging. I inhaled deeply. It was faint, but I definitely smelled tobacco. I pushed the dirt around some more and found a crumpled brown cigarette butt.
It confirmed one thing to me: even if a lot of these holes had been made by gophers, some of them were created by a man or woman. Someone who smoked. I dug some more, but there wasn’t any other human clues. It could have been dropped casually. Old man Mills maybe, hanging out in his woods. Squirrel hunting or watching while he had a cigarette.
Smooshie pushed against me. I pushed back and rubbed my cheek against her face. She rewarded me with a quick swipe of her wet tongue across my nose.
Ick.
I gave her a gentle head butt, my let’s go gesture. I stretched my legs and took off at a quick lope. In a few seconds, Smooshie had caught up to me. I didn’t run full speed, because while dogs are fast, cougars are faster, and I didn’t want to leave my girl behind. The breeze on my fur made me feel freer than I’d felt since leaving home. It wasn’t that I missed Paradise Falls. I didn’t. But I missed being able to shift when I wanted and not worrying about whether someone would catch me.
As we raced from the back of the woods toward the trailer, I pulled up short as I heard a vehicle crunching down the gravel road.
Crap. Crap. Crap. Why did people keep showing up unannounced? Just because I didn’t answer my phone didn’t mean I was dead. Sheesh. And why couldn’t I get a moment’s peace on my own property in the middle of the night?
I’d never make it to the trailer before my uninvited guest. I pulled up short, but Smooshie kept running, and without my human voice, I couldn’t tell her to stop.
I ran back to the tree line and hid. The truck was Parker’s. I should have just messaged him back. If I had, he wouldn’t have made the trip out here.
“What are you doing out here, Smoosh?” he asked. He leaned over and scratched her ear. “How’s your momma doing?”
Inside, I smiled. Outwardly, more purring. Ungh. I hadn’t thought of myself as Smooshie’s mom, maybe a big sister, but definitely not a mom. It was kind of sweet when Parker said it though. I watched him walk to the trailer. He disappeared around the side of the trailer for a moment then reappeared with Smooshie on his heels at the front door.
I watched him hesitate with his hand in the air, knuckles forward, as he debated on knocking. Finally, he rapped on the door twice. “Lily?”
When I didn’t answer because hel-lo, cat here, he knocked again. “Lily, you in there?”
He jiggled the door. It wasn’t locked, which surprised Parker. I could see it on his face. I could also see the tightness in the way he moved that made me think he was afraid. I wanted to run to him and tell him I was okay, but…cougar.
Smooshie pushed past him and jumped up into the trailer. He followed her inside. A few seconds later, he came out and went to the house. I heard him yelling my name inside the place for a few minutes. After, he walked outside, his eyes squinting as he scanned the trees. “Lily!” He walked toward the woods. “Lily! Are you out here?”
Goddess help me. Why wouldn’t he just give up and go home?
Because he was scared for me. I’d been shot at tonight, and now my dog was running around free without me, and I was nowhere to be found. Of course he was freaking out.
He pulled his phone from his pocket. “Yes,” he said. “I’d like to report a missing person.”
No, no, no. He called the police. I did the only thing I could think of to salvage the situation, I willed myself back into human form and shouted, “I’m here! Parker! I’m here and I’m fine.”
“Uhm…” he pulled his phone away from his ear, “…hold on.”
“I’m here!” I yelled again from behind a wide oak. My woods were full of them. “It’s me, Lily. I’m okay.”
“Never mind,” he said into his phone. “False alarm.” He hung up and shoved the phone back into his pocket. “What are you doing out here?” he yelled in my direction.
When I made no effort to come out of the woods, he started walking toward me.
“Stop,” I said when he was close enough to hear me without shouting.
“Are you okay?” His eyes narrowed in my direction. His eyes were probably adjusted to the dark as well as a human’s could, but it still didn’t match my ability.
“I’m fine.” I poked my head out from behind the trunk. “Why are you here?”
His expression changed quickly, as if I’d slapped him. “You didn’t answer my texts and wouldn’t pick up the phone when I called. I was worried about you.”
“As you can see, I’m okay.”
“I can see your head, but nothing about you hanging out in the woods in the middle of the night is okay.”
“And why not? They are my woods. I’m not allowed to take a run at night?”
“Lily, come out from behind the tree.” He took another step toward me.
“Parker Knowles, stop right where you are,” I demanded.
He stopped again. “Lily, why won’t you come out of the woods?”
Oh for Goddess’ sake. “For the same reason you won’t leave.” The cool air was freezing my naked tushy. “I’m stubborn.”
“You don’t sound hurt.” He took another step.
“I’m warning you, Parker. Stay back.”
“What are you hiding? You got a body out here?” He was teasing now, but there was a mild hint of anxiety to his questions.
“The only body I’m hiding is mine.”
“What?” His brows raised in genuine surprise.
“I’m naked.”
His breath left him in a hiss. When he processed my words, he said, “You’re kidding.”
I stuck a bare arm out then pulled it in. Next, I stuck a bare leg out. “Do you need any more proof? Because there might be a three-quarter moon in the sky, but behind this tree, it’s a full-moon situation.”
Parker started chuckling and quickly it turned into a complete belly laugh. Smooshie had walked behind me and tried to goose me with her cold nose.
“Stop it,” I said, unable to temper the sharpness in my tone. Smooshie trotted back over to Parker, who was starting to wheeze. “Ha ha. Laugh it up. I really thought I’d have some privacy out here.”
He finally got himself under control after a few minutes. Criminy, he’d been holding stuff in. Hysterical laughter was a stress-release mechanism. I’d suffered a few episodes myself over the years.
“This is not funny.”
He chuckled again, but it didn’t get out of hand this time. “It’s really not. Who goes jogging in the nude?”
“Someone who has enough property to keep it private.”
“Would you like me to bring you some clothes?” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Or you just want me to go home?”
Part of me wanted him to go home. The logical part. But my other parts, the stupid parts, said, “Go get me some clothes. My robe is hanging on the back of the bedroom door.”
He smiled, and it made me smile. Dang it!
We made a careful dance of him not looking while I put on the robe after he’d retrieved it from the trailer. He made coffee once we came indoors, and I sat at the table and let him. Smooshie, of course, crawled back up on the bed.
“Lazy,” I said.
“What?” Parker asked. He set two cups down on the table. He’d poured both cups three-quarters of the way full.
“The dog. She’s a lazy beast.” I said it fondly. “She loves the memory foam.”
“I bet it cushions all her bones just right,” Parker said.
In my cougar form, I found that hard surfaces could make sore spots on my hips and shoulders. I understood why Smooshie preferred the bed to the floor, or even the thin cushions of the couch.
The aroma of the rich, dark roast made me sigh. I took a sip, and after standing naked out
side, I was glad for the heat.
“This is good,” I said. “Thanks, Parker. You make a heck of a good cup of coffee.”
“The Army taught me more than just how to shoot guns,” he said.
I met his gaze, and his eyes held warmth. He was kidding with me, which was good. Most of the time when he mentioned the Army, I could scent the stress on him. Not that I needed to be a Shifter to know when he was stressed, his body language usually said it all.
I smiled at him, but I couldn’t force it up to my eyes. “We have to stop meeting like this.” Tonight was a prime example of why. Parker showing up unannounced while I was in Shifter form could be dangerous for not only me, but Buzz as well. I thought I could be less careful out here, but not if I didn’t make things clear with Parker.
“Someone shot at you tonight, Lily.”
“I know. I was there. I heard the noise. Saw the hole in my truck.” I stood up and went to the sink, a panic of epic proportions welling up inside me.
Parker got up and stood next to me. He turned on the cold faucet. “It’s normal to feel freaked out.” He wet his hand and wiped the tears I didn’t realize were falling down my cheeks. The water felt cool against my skin. Parker’s calloused fingers were more gentle and less rough than I thought they’d feel.
I took a deep breath, trying to find my center.
“The first time I was in a firefight, we were taking down a compound out in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing like your tree to hide behind. Not in the desert. We’d gone in at night. I stayed just far enough outside the perimeter of the target to stay out of sight, as the more experienced members of the team went inside to retrieve documents. When they came out, it was my job to paint the building for a drone strike and lay down suppression fire for the team if they came under attack on exit. I was calm and cool that night. Three Taliban ran out behind the team, shooting their weapons and raising the alarm. I fired my assault rifle in three-round bursts, and as soon as the team cleared the strike zone, we signaled for the drone strike. It was over in thirty minutes.”
“Why are you telling me this, Parker?” I turned to face him.
He stroked a wild strand of hair away from my face. My body shivered.
“You feel feverish.”
“I’m okay.”
“I thought that too. I thought I was okay. I’d even felt a little elated. I know that sounds sick, but I did. I’d had guns shooting at me, and I’d been shooting back, and it had excited me in the moment.” He shook his head, his blue eyes like shiny pools I could drown in. “The next mission, I was tasked once again to stick with the radio operator, while he painted the target and I covered the team’s escape.”
“And?”
“And I did my job. I didn’t falter. But with the second victory, I didn’t feel the same excitement. I felt sick. I…”
“Felt like you would explode from the inside out with all the anxiety you were feeling?”
“Yes,” he said on a breathy sigh. “You know I suffer from PTSD.”
I was aware of his post-traumatic stress. I was also aware of how close his body was to mine, and how good he smelled. I loved the scent of his shampoo and body wash.
“It didn’t start with my injuries, or at least not the injuries that took me out of the Army. It started with the first mission, and every single one of them after that. That’s how it works on you, even when you’re brave.” He smiled down at me. “And you’re maybe one of the bravest people I’ve met.”
I didn’t feel brave, but Parker’s comment pleased me. He always seemed to know the right thing to say to make me feel safe.
I wanted him to know me. I wanted it more than anything else in the world.
“I found my parents murdered when I was seventeen years old,” I confessed. There was so little about my past that I could share. How could he understand that I was closer to his dad’s age than I was to his age? I had more years of stories than he’d been alive. “I walked in to find them slaughtered in our home. I’d been out with a friend. My brother, Danny, he’d been home when it happened, but my parents had hidden him away. He saw them like that…”
“Like what?”
“Throats cut. Hearts…”
I let go of what I was about to say. There would be too many questions if he knew their hearts had been ripped from their chests. No human had the strength to pull off that kind of crime. It had been a combination of Shifter power and witch magic. Two things I could not discuss with Parker.
He didn’t press me. “Oh, Lily,” he said softly. “You really have lost so much.”
His sympathy made me cry again. I thought I’d put those tears behind me, but grief could sneak up on you. It was like herpes, once you’d been exposed, it never really went away, and you never knew when it would rear its ugly head.
“I’m okay.”
“You keep saying that, but I don’t think you are. You were shot five months ago, and then someone shot at you tonight. There are bound to be emotional repercussions.”
“Bound to be, huh?”
“Sorry, too many months of therapy. But it doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”
He wasn’t. I had been freaked out. The shot, whether accidental or deliberate, had shaken me up. Once you’ve had a bullet punch through you, you never wanted that to happen again. Ever.
“Now do you understand why I wanted to check up on you?”
“I get it, but I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.” I looked away as his stare become more intense. “I’ve been taking care of myself for a very long time.”
He looped his finger under my chin and raised my face so that I would look at him. “I wish you’d let me take care of you, Lily. If only for a little while.”
His voice was soft and low and it made my heart full. I hated myself for feeling both vulnerable and safe with Parker. I had secrets though. Secrets I could never tell him. “I can’t,” I said, trying hard not to sound as sad as I felt.
He put his arms around me and hugged me. “Yes, you can.”
I stood there for a few seconds with my hands at my sides, my head against his chest, and his strong, steady heart beat in my ear, weakening my resolve. It felt good to be held. Until this very moment, no one had held me like this, comforting, loving, since my parents died. I put my arms around Parker’s waist and pressed my palms against his back. We stayed like that for a few minutes, neither of us talking, other than the occasional, “It’s okay,” from Parker when I would start crying.
By the time we disengaged from holding each other, his blue T-shirt had dark spots where my tears and snot had landed. I grabbed a towel from the counter and wiped at the wet spots. “Sorry,” I said.
He took my hand and stilled it against his chest. I looked up at him. He dipped his head and brushed his lips over mine in a gentle kiss. If someone had been watching, they might have described it as chaste, but chaste was the last thing I felt as the sizzle went straight from my mouth all the way down to my lady bits.
“I’m not sorry,” he said. Parker eased himself back from me. He grabbed his windbreaker off the back of the small sofa. He gave me a half-smile. “I’m going to go now, before you say something that will ruin this moment for me.” It was said teasingly, but I could feel and scent that he meant every single word.
I didn’t argue. “Good night, Parker.”
He nodded to me and opened the door. “Good night, Lily.”
Chapter 12
The next morning, I called my friend Hazel. She was the chief of police back in our hometown, but she’d also been an investigator in the FBI for a decade before that, and I wanted her to reach out to her contacts for some information for me.
“Hey, Lils,” Haze said brightly. “What’s up?”
“I found a body.”
“Another one? What are you, a murder magnet?”
“Har har.” I could hear Tizzy in the background going on about what flowers would be in season in June. “What’s that about June?”
“Ford and I have finally set a wedding date.”
“Oh, Haze, I’m so happy for you!” It was a bright spot on a cold day. “What day? I don’t want to miss it for anything.”
“You’d better not. I can’t get married without my maid of honor.”
My emotions swelled and choked off my words.
“Say yes,” she said.
“Yes,” I managed to croak out. “Of course I will be your maid of honor.”
“Good. Now that that’s settled. Tell me about this body.”
“The guy’s name is James Wright, and he’d been dead for a long time in the walls of the house I just bought.”
“Wow. You really do stumble over the most interesting cases.”
“Believe me, not by choice. This guy was wanted for bank robbery. His partner was captured and sentenced to forty years in prison.”
“What do you need from me?”
“Everything you can tell me. Also, can you find out if a Merl Peterson had any connection to either of the bank robbers?”
“Your landlord?”
“He’s dead too.”
“Oh, Lils.”
“I didn’t find his body. But he died the same night I found James. I’m struggling to think it’s a coincidence.” I didn’t tell her I got shot at because I didn’t want her popping down to Moonrise and taking over. I wanted Haze’s help, but on my terms, not hers.
“Okay. I’ve got it written down. James Wright, wanted bank robber. What was his partner’s name?”
“Gail Martin.”
“A woman?”
“No, a man.”
“And Merl Peterson, you want any connection.”
“Yes.” I paused for a second then added, “And John Mills, the previous owner of this house. See if there’s a connection there as well.”
“Makes sense since the guy was found in his wall. Anything else?”
“That’s it for right now.” I changed the subject. “I’m really happy for you and Ford. I’m sure his mom is over the moon about you two getting married.”
The Money Pit Page 10