by Desiree Holt
“What is it?” Ric wanted to know. “Did you smell it?”
“We’ve had a dog chasing around here for a few days,” Russ said at last. “Bitchy little stray that wouldn’t stop yapping. It smelled of turpentine. Why?”
Dante looked at the other members of the team and knew they were thinking the same thing. This would be even more difficult to explain.
Okay then. He measured his words carefully.
“The devil beast carries the odor of turpentine,” he explained. “We think it has something to do with its peculiar genetic makeup.”
“So you think it might have been hanging around wherever the dog was?” Ron wanted to know.
“It’s entirely possible.” I’m not about to get into the whole shifter thing with these people. They really will think we’re crazy.
“Jesus.” Russ whistled and scrubbed a hand across his face. “Okay, say we go with your idea. That doesn’t mean I believe this whole horror story but what’s next on our agenda here?”
“Let Ric bring in Garth Myers, our Ranger liaison, and let me tell our boss so he can send in a special forensics team.” Dante blew out a breath. “I hate to say this but we need to leave the body undisturbed until we can do all of that.”
“Goddamn,” Dan swore. “All right. Do what you have to, but I want in on everything. I mean every single thing. And some guidelines for how to protect ourselves.”
Dante glanced over at Ric who was already on the sat phone to Garth. He knew Craig would be next on the list. And he hoped that Garth would be able to give the Hammonds the highlights of his own research. Help convince them this wasn’t something they were all making up.
“For one thing,” Dante answered, “we need to be sure to keep the media away. You don’t want a three-ring circus in here.”
“What about the local sheriff?” Dan asked. “Should we notify him?” He raked his fingers through his hair. “What would I even tell him?”
“Let the Rangers handle it,” Dante urged. “You have to report the death of your hand but stick to the wild animal story. That’s the one the Rangers fed to the public about the body on Wolf Mountain and I think we shouldn’t change it.”
Russ Hammond looked at his brother. “We have to tell Mom. Harley’s death will about kill her. He’s been with us forever. And to tell her how he died? Shit.”
“I know,” Ron agreed. “I’m still not sure I believe it myself. Still…”
“Still what?” Dante asked.
“I hate to even say it, but I’ve seen a lot of wild animal attacks out here. Living on a ranch you have to be prepared for them. But this isn’t like anything I’ve ever seen.” He stared off toward the horizon, frowning. “I have to admit, you guys just might be right.”
* * * * *
The beast was tired and sated. This prey had been more difficult than some of the others because of the proximity of the huge creature with it. But luckily the creature had been put away where it couldn’t go on the attack, closed up in the small building. Still, it made screeching and pounding noises that had almost deterred the devil beast from its goal.
The flesh of the prey was firm and its blood rich, slaking the thirst that had been growing with intensity. One pounce, one puncture with its fangs and it scored victory. The red liquid slid into its body in a smooth stream, easing tension and soothing nerves. Then the final slice to open the carcass and remove the insides, licking any remaining drops of fluid.
Now it wanted to rest. To hide away somewhere before its body received the signal to hunt again.
Tiny animals scattered across its path as it made its way over the terrain but the devil beast ignored them, its hunger dormant for now. The immediate priority was finding a place to hide and rest. The unfriendly terrain didn’t offer too many choices. Every time it stopped, sharp pains streaked through its brain, agony that only movement would ease.
As it moved across the landscape, it was very careful to avoid the huge brown beasts that seemed to be everywhere. Shifting allowed it to escape some dangerous possibilities, but if it didn’t rest soon and then feed again, its shifting abilities would diminish.
The sun was high and burning the beast’s skin by the time it reached a stopping point, tired from the amount of ground it had covered. But finally, finally, it came to a rocky hill with scrub growing out of it and holes carved by time and weather. One of those holes was just the right size for the devil beast to crawl into and lie down. It was high enough to keep away the big brown creatures too.
Sleep. That’s what the beast needed. Its hunger sated, it needed sleep now to replenish its energy before resuming the hunt.
Curling into the fetal position, it clapped its clawed hands over its eyes and slowly drifted off.
* * * * *
Everyone had missed lunch by the time they all gathered again at Desolation Ranch, but no one seemed to have much of an appetite. Regan busied herself with Dakota and Chloe, making sandwiches and snacks, glad to have something to keep her occupied. Looking at Harley Shaw’s body had brought back the terror and sick feeling that slammed into her when she saw Reed’s. Doing something helped her keep those feelings at bay. She wished she had more of a contribution to make.
“Reed’s research and the notes and books you gave us will be a big help,” Dante assured her over and over.
“We all feel that way,” Dakota told her when she overheard Regan’s conversation with Dante. “We just do the best we can and work toward finding the bastard doing all this.”
The scene at the Hammond ranch had been tense, to say the least. Ric had called Sam Brody, former member of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and their forensics expert, to touch base with the teams in the field and gather a crew to hustle to the line shack. A second helicopter arrived, this one carrying Garth and his forensics team. His men tried to claim ownership of the scene, but Garth tersely explained the Rangers chief had given them orders to cooperate with Craig’s people. More Night Seekers arrived and the two groups attacked their chores, working in an atmosphere of tense cooperation.
More than two hours passed before everyone declared the scene could be released and the body removed. Dan Hammond, looking thoroughly shaken, had ridden back to his house to tell his wife and the other hands what happened. And to be sure everyone was on the alert at all times.
“You can’t be too careful,” Dante told them. “But in our experience, the creature never returns to the scene of a kill. He’ll have moved on. Just—stay sharp. And let us know if by some chance the dog shows up again.”
Finally back at Desolation Ranch, Ric and Dante pulled together everything from the teams that had scouted the two counties. Ric put an enlarged map of the area up on the screens, dotted with each potential hunting spot the teams had sent back to Randi. He also sent it in a file to Craig, who set up a video call.
Regan helped Dakota and Chloe carry the platters and drinks into the war room and set them on the long table. Everyone was studying the maps on the wall and checking their own notes on their tablets. One of the screens had pictures of both Reed and the Hammond ranch hand. Regan had to force herself to look. Every time she saw Reed’s torn body, she wanted to throw up. She knew exactly how the Hammonds had felt.
Dante put his arms around her and gave her a hard, quick hug before walking to the front of the room.
“Okay, everyone. We’ve been in this spot before. Two kills with a third yet to come. We have to figure out where number three will take place and it won’t be quite so easy.” He turned to look at the maps. “Thanks to everyone’s efforts, we’ve narrowed the possible destinations down somewhat but there are still too many to cover all of them sufficiently.”
“Talking to people likely won’t help, either,” Rebecca said. “In Montana, we identified an ideal location and tried to warn the person living there. She blew us off and now she’s dead.”
“People look at us like we’re crazy,” Jonah agreed. “When I first went back to Maverick County, eve
ryone thought for sure I’d lost my mind. But when some weird shit went down, they had to listen.”
“They’re still talking about it in Zapata County,” Chloe added. “Even looking at the bodies didn’t help. And no one seemed to take Melinda’s disappearance seriously, either. Everyone was convinced she met some guy and took off. But that’s not her. And she went missing right after a fresh kill.”
“Okay, okay.” Dante held up his hands. “I agree with everything everyone is saying. It isn’t just that people don’t believe us. They don’t want to believe us. We have to figure out how to protect them in spite of themselves. So let’s get back to our notes.” He looked at his watch. “Craig will be calling in about thirty minutes.”
“Hey, Dante?”
Everyone turned to look at Sophia’s husband, Clint. He had delayed opening the bar today so he could be available if necessary. Usually he just sat quietly next to Sophia, in case he was needed.
“Yeah, Clint?”
Clint rose from his seat and walked to the front of the room, studying the maps on the screens. “All the years I lived in the bayou and then in the Maine woods, I learned to do a lot of tracking. Sometimes it was to hunt, sometimes it was for self-preservation.”
“Okay?”
“Animals move in patterns. Whatever it is that attracts them to any particular area, they’re creatures of habit. They like familiarity. Even our devil beast, which is why he hunts in a defined area.”
“The problem,” Mark chimed in, “is who or what does the defining.”
“I know, I know. Just bear with me a minute. Ric, can you put up maps of the other kill zones too?”
But Dante was the one who answered. “That’s one of the things I’ve been working on. Comparing the areas one by one. Look for similarities. But I’m not the tracker in the group. Certainly not like you, Clint, or some of the others. What’s your point?”
Tension crept through Regan’s body as she watched and listened. She had a feeling they were on to something but she didn’t know what just yet. She leaned forward in her seat, her glance shifting between Clint and the screens.
“Put up all the maps on one screen and I think I can show you.”
Ric worked a keyboard and in a moment, four different maps appeared in front of them.
“Now do your thing with the dots,” Clint went on. “One for each of the kills and also for the spots where we killed each beast.”
Regan watched as red dots bloomed.
Clint cocked his head, concentrating. “Okay, guys. Let’s see how clever you are with your technology.”
His ensuing conversation with Dante and Ric was too low for the others to hear. Regan strained her ears but all she heard was a low murmur. Then both Ric and Dante began playing with keyboards, moving things around, turning maps sideways and upside down, overlapping and sometimes overlaying them…
When they were finished, Regan just stared, along with everyone else in the room.
“Damn!” The word exploded from Dante’s mouth. They’d certainly seen these maps side by side enough. Had they missed the forest while they were caught up in the trees?
Clint shrugged. “I’m willing to bet that even those of you who’ve lived out in the wild, like you, Logan, haven’t had the tracking experience I have. It becomes second nature after a while. No biggie. I’m just glad I can contribute something.”
They all studied the graphics up on the screen. Tracing point to point for each incident they’d dealt with, it was obvious the devil beast followed a specific pattern. Maybe something was programmed into the chip in its brain, although Regan couldn’t figure why that would be necessary.
What was important was the patterns all matched—and gave them a specific location to focus their attention in Gillespie County.
“We still don’t know why the designated area covered two counties this time,” Regan mentioned.
“I’ve been going over Reed’s notes,” Dante told her. “The reason he and Lisa were on Wolf Mountain Trail is because he had the idea the beast’s handlers wanted to try it out in a more populated area, but one that was still mostly a natural habitat. That trail gave them what they wanted.”
“So does that mean they plan on unleashing this thing in more heavily populated areas?” The thought gave her a stomachache.
Dante shrugged. “That’s something we need to discuss. But it’s definitely possible.” He turned back to the screens. “Meanwhile, we need to draw a tight circle around this third projected spot and figure out a plan of attack.”
“We’ve been able to take out the beast before using the helicopter and a heavy-duty rifle,” Ric added. “The new firepower we’ve got will stop anything. But we need to narrow the target area.”
“Okay then.” Dante shoved his hands in his pockets. “Here’s what we need to do. First, print out maps of just the target area. Then, everyone in the room who’s a shifter? Ric will take you in the bigger helo to a drop zone, and you all need to scout the area. You can do it better than those of us who are just plain humans.”
A soft laugh ran through the room at those words.
“I think we can handle that,” Logan said.
“Don’t forget me when you’re counting heads,” Ben told them.
Ben was a shifter too? Regan gave Dante a questioning look. Would this be a good time to tell them about herself?
He gave her a slight nod but the look on his face also told her it was completely her decision.
Swallowing hard, she pushed herself to her feet.
“Uh, guys? And gals?” She gave a slight smile. “Or whatever titles you like…” She twisted her fingers together nervously.
You’re in a friendly environment. Just get it out.
Then Dante smiled at her. “Go ahead, Regan.”
“I, uh, haven’t mentioned this yet. I’m not used to being able to just put it out there. Plus, you haven’t known me that long.” She blew out her breath. “My brother and I are also shifters. That is, he was but…of course, I still am.”
Chloe spoke first. “No kidding? Great! We need more women in the pack.” She grinned at Dante. “Nice going, Chicago cop.”
“I had nothing to do with it.” But the smile didn’t leave his face.
“Anyway,” Regan went on, “I want to be part of the search.” She gave a nervous laugh. “My brother would have argued with you but I follow directions well.”
“Excellent.” This from Jonah. “We’ll count on you. Good to have you join us.”
“Ric and I can work out the details over the next hour or two,” Dante continued. “Then we can mark some trails. The goal tonight is to pinpoint the most likely locations for an attack and become familiar with them. If the beast holds true to form, it will be another two days before it starts hunting again.”
“So let’s get something to eat,” Ric added. “Then get down to the nitty-gritty.”
Chapter Ten
Dante looked at his watch. Midnight. Everyone had agreed that doing this as late as possible minimized the probability of danger from humans, but there were always the unknowns that could jump up and bite you in the ass.
Standing on the back porch of the ranch house, he studied the wolves gathered there. A new pack had coalesced from Night Seekers team members and those they had brought into the fold. They were up to a total of ten, counting Ben Crater and Regan. It was a good thing Craig had insisted from the beginning on supplying them with the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter, a welcome addition to their growing fleet of aircraft. Stripped down, it could carry all of them in wolf form, plus humans to help manage the situation if they managed to find the devil beast.
Running in wolf form gave them greater ability to sense their environment, with a high degree of peripheral vision plus hearing, their second most acutely developed sense. Moving quietly but swiftly across any landscape, they were hyperaware of everything around them and able to detect danger much more rapidly than humans.
But the sense of smell was th
eir greatest asset. That sense is the wolf’s most highly developed, and would allow them to detect even the faintest trace of turpentine.
Tonight they were scouting the targets. If the beast followed its pattern, they had two more nights before it found prey and closed in for the kill. But they all agreed they needed to see if they could narrow down the possibilities and focus on fewer spots to protect the people living in the area.
Each wolf had a medallion containing a GPS locator on a chain around its neck.
“It’s a precaution,” Dante told them. “No one leaves here without it. We don’t want to lose track of you and have some rancher getting an itchy trigger finger because we couldn’t extract you in time.”
Although Ric was also a shifter, he had become their designated helo pilot so he wouldn’t be running with the pack.
“You know, Chelsea Roland has about fifty hours of helicopter training,” he told Dante. “When we get this particular beast out of the way, I’m going to concentrate on getting her licensed so we have a second pilot available.”
“Good idea. I know you wanted to run tonight and I appreciate that you’ve continued to put that need on the back burner.”
Ric held out his hands, palms up. “We all do what we need to for the team.” He chuckled. “I think it’s a little funny that the only two pilots are both wolves. Maybe I can give you some lessons if we ever have enough time.”
A hint of anticipation wiggled its way through his system. At one time in his life, Dante had wanted to learn to fly. The opportunity had never presented itself but maybe that would be another way he could contribute to the group.
The back door opened and a wolf with a cream-colored pelt padded softly out to join the others. Regan had chosen to shift in the privacy of their suite, not wanting to strip naked before people she barely knew. Dante hated missing it but he had responsibilities to take care of.
“I’ll do it again later, in private, for you,” she promised.
Sophia had stayed with her to hook the GPS locator around her neck and open doors. Now Regan moved tentatively among the others gathered there, waiting for their reaction. It was Clint, the ebony-black wolf, slightly larger than the others, who moved toward her first, rubbing his snout against hers in a gesture of acceptance. Dante could almost feel the tension ease from her body.