by Terry Spear
“If she’d had one and it had any reference to him, he would have destroyed it.”
Devlyn smelled the necklace and nodded. “His scent is on it.”
“So he was the last one to see Linn alive.”
“I’d say that was a safe bet. What about the location of the other two murdered women?”
Bella searched through the papers. “Omigod, I didn’t see this before, but one lived only a couple of doors down from Alfred’s townhome.” She looked over at Devlyn. “He couldn’t have killed a woman, too.”
“Let’s find out.”
Bella was sure Nicol had murdered one of the girls because of the way he seemed so upset over the necklace. But Alfred had wanted the patch of red wolf fur she’d found in the murdered girls’ apartment when she and Devlyn were on the run. Did he think Bella had found it in the apartment of a girl he might have been seeing?
“No houses,” Devlyn said, driving through the development. “Condos, duplexes, townhouses. I can’t imagine he’d want a place so compact, no yard, front or back.”
“He has a big ranch. He probably doesn’t stay here that often. Maybe just for pack business.”
“Or picking up women.”
Bella glanced at him. “Yeah, way out on the ranch, all he’d have was a bunch of cows.”
They drove slowly past Alfred’s place, where six vehicles were parked.
“The girl’s place is two houses down. There—in that duplex. Looks like no one’s home next door.”
Seeing a police lockbox securing the front door, Devlyn pulled around the back under the metal carport. A lockbox secured the back door, too, but at least Bella and Devlyn were hidden from prying eyes.
For several seconds, Devlyn tried to unlock the box using his tool kit. Bella’s skin prickled with uneasiness. Eyeing a side window, she moved closer to check it out. When she pushed against the windowpane, trying to move it up, it didn’t budge. Glancing over at Devlyn, she saw him watching her, waiting to see if she was successful. She gave him a lopsided half-smile and pointed to the lockbox. “Can’t get it open?”
“Take me a few seconds more.” He went back to work.
Looking up, she found another window directly above the locked one. Devlyn was struggling away with the lock, getting a little more aggressive, but not making any headway. Bella surveyed the area but couldn’t find anything that would help her reach the upper-floor window except for a plastic trashcan on wheels.
“Devlyn, do you want to see if you can hoist me up and I’ll check the window—see if it’s unlocked?”
He grunted. “It’ll only take me a few more seconds to unlock this.”
“Fine, have it your way.” She grabbed the garbage can and rolled it underneath the window.
He stopped what he was doing and gave her a disgruntled look. “Here, you’ll end up breaking your neck,” Devlyn warned, shoving his lock pick set into his jacket pocket.
He lifted Bella onto his shoulders, and, as if she’d been on an exhibition cheerleading squad for years, she nimbly balanced herself on his shoulderblades. When she shoved at the window, it didn’t budge.
Devlyn snorted.
“Just hold still and I’ll try again. It might just be a little stuck.”
Bella pushed again and thought she felt a tiny give. “It’s unlocked. I see the latch is turned. But it’s a bit cemented in place.”
“Maybe we should switch places, and I’ll open the window.”
“Very funn—oh, oh, here it goes.”
The window suddenly gave, sliding up, and Bella lost her balance, her feet slipping off Devlyn’s shoulders. In a desperate attempt to avoid falling, she grabbed the windowsill and hung on, her gloved hands smarting where the metal window grooves dug into them.
Devlyn grabbed her feet and then lifted her until she could pull herself through the opening. As soon as she clambered into the bedroom, she knocked over a bunch of makeup jars and a mess of other items on the dresser, sending them crashing to the wooden floor.
“Are you all right?” Devlyn called out.
Bella got to her feet and peered out the window at a worried-looking Devlyn. “A cat burglar I am not. I’ll open the window down below. Be just a second.”
She glanced at the sheets and floral comforter torn in shreds, half dragging on the floor. Not good. And she could smell the blood in the room, too. But not just what must have been the girl’s blood. She smelled a hint of Ross’s blood, remembering the scent after she had sliced him with her knife in the living room. She shivered to think she’d danced with two murdering reds and hadn’t had a clue.
Stumbling through the living room where the couch and overstuffed chairs were ripped to pieces, stuffing scattered everywhere, she finally managed to make it to the kitchen. The room looked as if an earthquake had hit here, too. Or a wild animal had torn up the place.
Her boots crunched through broken dishes and shattered spice jars, the smell of cinnamon and paprika mixing in a nauseating medley. Reaching the kitchen window, she unlocked it and yanked up the glass. “I smelled Ross’s blood upstairs. She must have drawn blood when he tried to murder her. The smell of her blood is scattered throughout the duplex, too.”
Devlyn stood inside the kitchen, surveying the damage. “He tried to make it appear like a burglary.”
“How can you tell?”
“Computer hard drive’s missing, but keyboard’s still at the desk. Monitor’s gone. No printer, but there’s the cord.” Devlyn pulled open several kitchen drawers. “Silverware’s gone, but the spatulas, serving forks, and knives are all here.”
She followed Devlyn into the living room.
“No television, no stereo. And I bet upstairs you won’t find any jewelry,” he said and sniffed the air.
Bella’s gaze shifted to the Disney prints on the living room walls, all knocked askew. The brightly colored pictures complemented her floral seating arrangement, bright and cheerful—at one time. A collection of family photos hung on another wall, featuring the red-haired girl herself surrounded by what looked like her mother and father and a younger brother and sister, all with gleeful blue eyes and wide smiles. The Cinderella Castle spires rose in a lighted backdrop behind them.
Bella clenched her hands into fists. The reds who had murdered these girls were no more than savage killers. Now, she had no regrets if any of them should die at Devlyn’s hand. But her concern that he’d be overwhelmed by the three of them worried her more than anything.
When they reached the stairs, Devlyn motioned to the carpet. “Blood trails all of the way up. Scratches on the handrail indicate that she was still struggling to get away from him.”
“Was he enjoying the torture?” Bella asked, sickened at the way Ross’s twisted mind worked.
“More like a rabid wolf, no control.”
“But the police must have been baffled. She was killed in the same manner as the others. The police reports said canine saliva was found in her bite wounds. Why would Ross have tried to cover his tracks with a faked burglary?”
“Maybe he didn’t fake it. Maybe he really did burglarize the place.”
Bella considered the possibility and agreed. “That could be. I wonder if he was looking for something that connected him with her, too. Did he date her first, like Nicol had Linn? Or had he just stalked her and then attempted the change?”
“Not sure. Either could be a viable possibility.”
Devlyn shut the bedroom window and then led Bella back downstairs.
“Where to now, Bella? The last murdered girl’s place, or do we check out Ross’s house again?”
“What about his meat packing plant? It should be closed for the night.” She climbed out the kitchen window; Devlyn followed and then shut it.
A clap of thunder let loose another bout of rain, but thankfully the carport kept them from getting wet.
“Let’s find the other woman’s apartment first and check it out.”
“Boy, I really thought that, since this
one lived so close to Alfred, he targeted her, not Ross,” Bella said.
“He probably saw her outside of her duplex sometime when he was visiting Alfred.”
“Do you think Alfred killed the other girl then?” Bella climbed into the SUV.
“If so, the red pack’s doomed unless we can take care of the bad seeds.”
They drove around the front of the townhouse and pulled to a stop at the street. A police cruiser drove on by slowly, the officer glancing in their direction. Bella’s heart nearly gave out.
“We could be the resident next door,” Devlyn said, trying to reassure her.
“Right.” But she didn’t feel at all reassured. That’s all they needed right now—some cop asking them why they were in the parking area of the unoccupied duplex when they didn’t live there. “The last girl on our list is Lisa Campbell, the first girl reported murdered. Her place is located on the other side of town.”
Devlyn drove them past Alfred’s place, but it was even more crowded with cars now. The time was nearly eight when they reached the victim’s house. But already they could see a dilemma. Lights were on in several of the rooms, and three vehicles were parked out front.
“Looks like it’s a little busy for a visit, Bella.”
She ground her teeth. “We have to know if Alfred killed her. Since he appears to be preoccupied in town, let’s take a country drive and check out his cows.” But she couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that someone was watching them.
Chapter Seventeen
DEVLYN NOTICED BELLA CHECKING OUT THE SIDEVIEW mirror again and saw the tension in her stiffened spine. “See anything?”
“I thought I saw a black Humvee. Twice now. But when I look back, it’s gone, vanished in the rain.”
“I’ve seen it before.”
Bella looked at Devlyn. “When?”
“When we were at the dance club. I saw it parked there and then again when I took a look in the Cascades for any evidence of the murdering red’s complicity; it followed me for a while and then disappeared.”
“A red? Or Volan?”
“Volan would have confronted me. The windows were too dark; I couldn’t see the driver, but I gathered he was a red—wary, questioning, but something more. I can’t pinpoint the gut feeling I have about it, except that, even though he’s hostile—a red not liking a gray in the red’s territory and has his sights set on the only female red wolf who’s young enough to be pursued—he doesn’t seem to have any evil purpose.”
“Like reporting our actions to Alfred.”
“Right.” Devlyn was more curious than worried about the red’s business.
The downpour worsened along the highway, and Devlyn hoped that the rain would help hide their clandestine activities when they reached Alfred’s ranch.
Bella tapped her fingers on her door’s armrest. “This means he might be one of the older males who wants you to eradicate the killers from the pack.”
“Possibly.”
“You don’t think so?” she asked, her voice elevated in surprise.
“When I was alone, he followed much closer, more aggressively, letting me know he was there and watching. But when you’re with me, he hangs back, almost as though he knows he has no chance with you when I’m around.”
“The mystery murdering red?”
“Maybe. But I don’t really think so. The one who followed us into the woods, the one we recognized as the murderer, behaves differently. Skulks more in the background. I wished I’d paid more attention to who else was at the club that night. The Humvee was there, which meant this red was watching you…us. But I sure didn’t get a whiff of either the murderer or this guy.”
“Hmph,” Bella said, folding her arms. “As hot and sweaty as the humans were getting, covered in their cloying perfumes and colognes, I had enough of a time trying to smell the reds we met up with.”
“I was concentrating on a female red in the midst of a bunch of lusty red males. I should have known there would have been more of them there.” Devlyn peered into the fog, trying to locate the turnoff for Alfred’s ranch.
“I hacked into the files at the county courthouse; he owns the deed on a seven-hundred acre spread. Tax records show he has seven hundred sixty steers on the ranch and gets paid on the gain at a rate of thirty cents per pound per day with a gain of three hundred pounds. Not too shabby. He pays a tax assessment on the irrigation water from a canal, but, according to this, he doesn’t need the irrigation water and has fought with city hall about reducing or doing away with the tax.”
Devlyn snorted. “Why would anyone need irrigation water in a place as wet as this?”
Bella chuckled. “Ready to go home to Colorado and dry out?”
“You bet.”
“Okay, there’s a river on his property and his main house sits on a hill high above the ranch.”
“Main house?”
“Yeah, he has a second home, mobile home, and a bunk house, machine shop, three large granaries, two loafing shed barns with feeders, an additional barn, and two sets of corrals with portable scales.”
“Holy crap, Bella honey! Can you imagine how many reds work for him and probably live on the property?”
Bella frowned at him. “But Alfred’s not there.”
Devlyn shook his head. “No, but most of the rest of his pack might be.”
He turned off onto the ranch road along the river in a pretty valley surrounded by timbered mountains. They spotted several elk, cows, yearlings, and horses on higher ground; some of the lower-lying pasture lands were under water.
All of the buildings rested on the hilltop above the valley, and Devlyn shut off his headlights and crawled along the road, trying to get as close to the main house as he could without garnering anyone’s attention.
“The Humvee’s behind us again,” Bella whispered, as if the guy could hear them. “But he turned off his headlights, too.”
“Maybe he hopes to box us in, if he backs Alfred. On the other hand, I wouldn’t have expected him to turn off his headlights. He’s got to know we realize he’s following us.”
Devlyn parked some distance from the house in the dark, and then he and Bella headed through the pelting rain for the backside of the place, where windows enjoyed a view of the valley. He glanced up at the eaves and roofline. “No security cameras.”
Bella motioned to the bunkhouse a couple of football fields away, where several pickup trucks were parked. “No need,” she whispered, “when he’s got such a huge security force nearby.”
Devlyn grabbed the doorknob on the back patio doors and smiled when the door opened without resistance. “He must feel really secure out here with all his hired muscle.”
Inside, the place was super elegant—leather couches, Persian rugs, crystal chandeliers, oil paintings of the Oregon coastline. And brass wolf sculptures. Devlyn didn’t bother turning on the lights, not needing them anyway, and made his way through the three spacious living areas, searched the kitchen, which was big enough to serve large parties, and then headed to the bedrooms, both he and Bella dripping water everywhere.
Every one of the bedrooms was outfitted for guests, with bathrooms for each, dressers and sitting rooms, and balconies. In the last one, the room was larger than the rest and even more highly appointed, with a brown velvet comforter on a raised bed, massive oak furniture that filled the room, and oil paintings of men and women hanging on the walls, maybe his family over several generations.
Bella grabbed an old leather-bound book off a shelf in a sitting area.
“His journal?”
“Werewolf legend.”
Devlyn made a face as she stuffed it into her jacket. “Humans don’t have a clue about the real lupus garou legend. And lupus garous aren’t permitted to set down the oral history in writing, which is why some clans became confused as to what the real story is,” Devlyn said while Bella sat down at Alfred’s computer.
Her fingers flying at the keyboard, she retorted, “Right, gray clans got i
t mixed up, you mean.” She let out her breath in exasperation. “Nothing on his computer, email, files, correspondence.” Bella scanned the rest of his computer. “Not a darned thing.” She looked up at Devlyn as he paused while searching through dresser drawers. “I smell lots of reds who have been here, which would be typical. Pack probably meets here regularly. And the murdering red? I smell him here, too.”
“I got a whiff of him in one of the guest bedrooms. But no humans. Alfred probably figures it’s too dangerous to bring them to his lair.”
Then he thought he heard a faint sound of something, but before he could listen further, a woman suddenly called out from the foyer, “Hello?”
“Damn,” Devlyn said under his breath, wondering why he hadn’t heard the front door opening.
He locked the bedroom door and hurried to open a back door onto the patio. Bella turned off the computer and joined him. But as soon as they sneaked around the side of the property, trying to reach their car, the heavy rain instantly dousing them, a woman ran outside, yelling into a phone, “Someone’s broken into the master’s house! Yes, yes…I don’t know. It smelled like a gray. And a female red. What? What do you mean keep them here? They’re not here! Oh, oh, I think I see a vehicle down the road in the dark. Yes, it’s a black SUV.”
The woman was shrieking so loud Devlyn was sure whoever was listening had to hold the phone away from his ear or lose his hearing. Devlyn rushed Bella down to the SUV, and both jumped in just as a couple of truck engines rumbled to life.
“Oh, hell, Devlyn. The cavalry’s coming.” Bella wrung out her hair and wiped the rain water off her face.
“We’ll make it, honey.” But he wasn’t sure they would. With nowhere to turn easily and the shoulders along the gravel road pure mud because of the hammering, constant rain, he headed straight for the pickup trucks in a dare-to-hit-me mode, chasing one off the hill. The pickup got stuck in the water-drenched mud. But the other truck was still game.
Bella gripped the seat and looked out the sideview mirror. “The Humvee’s behind us.”