by D. M. Turner
She considered that. It sounded reasonable enough. Assuming the rogues wanted her back. After a conversation she’d overheard, she wasn’t so sure, but neither did she want to take any chances with her family’s safety. “Okay.”
“Good.” He nodded and straightened away from the chair he’d been leaning on. “Let me give O’Neil a call, have him take a look around your neighborhood. If we’re clear, I’ll have Graham drive you into town to the police station.”
“Thanks.” She had to be out of her mind.
* * *
Colin sat beside Tanya in the backseat of Graham’s car. Again. Tires hummed over miles of asphalt, but none of them said anything. He couldn’t decide whether he was in awe of Tanya’s courage or should dissuade her from this course of action. They could find another way to get information to the police. Anonymous calls could accomplish a great deal. There was no need for her to open herself up to the scrutiny of law enforcement. She didn’t have a scratch on her to back up any claim she might make. Granted, she was far too thin from being half-starved, but would that be enough to allay any suspicion of her the cops might otherwise have?
And what about him? He’d avoided dealings with law enforcement at every level of government all of his life. Why was he drawing attention to himself now? What if he said or did the wrong thing and caused them to take a closer look at him? What if he was the one who lost control in a building full of armed people? It would endanger the whole pack. His family.
The car slowed to a stop far too soon. He glanced around, and his gaze settled on the building on the passenger side. Flagstaff Police Department. Well, no getting around it. No more time left to figure a way out.
With a heavy sigh, Colin opened the door and slid out. He reached back and offered Tanya a hand.
“Do you want me to wait for you?” Graham called out.
He leaned down until he could see the other man’s face. “No. This could take a while. You can back up O’Neil, I suppose. If we need a lift later, I’ll call Dad or Isaac.” The latter had been sent, along with another pack member, to check out Tanya’s neighborhood. They worked in the area, so they knew it well and could patrol without arousing suspicion from the people who lived there.
“Good enough.” He nodded then faced forward.
Colin straightened and shut the car door with a resounding metallic thunk. Did the barred door on a jail cell sound like that? Hopefully he wouldn’t find out anytime soon. Preferably never.
The instant they stepped into the building, the scent of Tanya’s fear washed over him. A huge array of other scents soon joined and tried to override it. Coffee, someone had burnt a pot. Perfumes, colognes, and artificial fragrances from an array of hygiene products. Sweat tinged with fear, anger, and desperation.
He forced back a grimace of distaste. No wonder his father avoided areas where humans congregated in large numbers. Was a human’s sense of smell so poor they weren’t bothered by it, or were they merely so accustomed to it they no longer noticed?
Tanya halted abruptly and lowered her head, turning it slightly toward him. Then she stepped closer and whispered, “Ick. You suppose it always smells like this?”
He leaned close to her ear and lowered his voice to barely a whisper. “Only to wolf noses, probably.”
She coughed, covering her mouth with one hand, then straightened her spine in pure bravado and walked up to the reception desk.
The man behind it held up a hand without looking up, indicating with one finger for her to wait as he finished a phone conversation. Then he went back to scribbling notes. The moment he hung up, his gaze rose from the paper he’d been writing on. “May I help you?”
“My name is Tanya Sikes. I was kidnapped Sunday evening.”
His eyes widened. “How’d you get here?”
“Long story.” She pointed over her shoulder at Colin without a glance back. “A friend is here with me. I probably should talk to the detective handling my case.”
The officer nodded and pointed past them. “Why don’t you have a seat in the waiting room while I call him?”
She glanced over her shoulder in the direction he indicated. The fear rolling off of her intensified.
Colin followed her gaze. The room was full of people, primarily men, and some of them looked like rough customers. No wonder they scared her.
Restlessness stirred deep inside him, the wolf desiring to rise and fight off those who made her fearful, needing to protect what was his. His breath caught. His? Since when? Tanya was a lone wolf. She belonged to no one. At least, until she decided otherwise. He forced a deep breath to still his emotions.
Colin stepped up to the desk and put a hand at the back of her waist. “Um… could we possibly wait somewhere more private? She’s having a hard time just being here. Put her in a waiting room full of scary-looking men, and I may not be able to convince her to stay put.”
He ignored the dirty look she shot him. Her running away was the least of his worries.
“Oh, sure.” The officer caught the eye of another officer. “I’ll be right back.”
The other man nodded.
He waved them to follow him and led them down a hallway through a door marked “Interrogation”.
Colin tried really hard not to be intimidated by that word.
“I’ll let Detective Calvert know you’re here. I don’t anticipate you’ll have to wait long.”
“Thank you.” He nodded and waited until the man left and the door closed behind him. Then he turned to Tanya. “Are you alright?”
“Better now. It’s not so scary back here.”
The acrid scent of fear decreased dramatically, reinforcing her words. At least she was reassured by their location. He glanced around the room. Didn’t interrogation rooms come stocked with video and audio recording devices? They’d have to be careful what they said, just in case.
She pulled out a chair at the table in the center of the room and plopped into it with a heavy sigh. “Do you suppose I’ll see my family before dark?”
“I don’t know. This whole situation is so far outside my scope of experience, I have no more idea what to expect than you do.” He forced himself to stand still when every fiber of his being demanded he pace. Acting like a caged animal in front of cops would probably make him look guilty of something, and he couldn’t be sure they weren’t watching even then.
No more than five minutes passed before the door opened.
A short, stocky man with a balding head of gray hair entered, a file in one hand. A piercing brown gaze swept the room, paused briefly on Colin, and then rested on Tanya. “I apologize for the wait. I’m Detective Adrian Calvert with the Criminal Investigations Division. Are you Tanya Sikes?”
“Yes, sir.”
The man’s gaze returned to Colin. “And you are?”
“Colin Campbell. A friend of Tanya’s. I’m only here to lend my support.”
The detective nodded then waved to the chair next to Tanya. “Please, have a seat. This could take a while.”
Colin did as ordered, immediately noticing that Tanya’s anxiety level had started to climb again. He reached for one of the hands lying in her lap and smiled at her. “It’s okay. Breathe.”
She took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. Her fingers clung to his with a steel grip.
The detective flipped open a notepad, clicked a ballpoint pen, and glanced at her with a soft smile. “Okay, why don’t you walk me through what happened? Start with Sunday evening when you left the church. Your parents said you returned to the car for something.”
Tanya nodded. “I forgot to grab my Bible off the backseat. I went back to get it.” Her gaze fell to the tabletop, and her grip on Colin’s hand tightened further.
He forced back a wince. If she broke a finger or two, so be it. Broken bones were far from pleasant, but they healed quickly enough, especially for a werewolf.
“Before I got to the car, someone grabbed me from behind and put something over my face. I saw
a flash of something white and felt cloth. A voice said, ‘Got one.’”
“So possibly more than one assailant.” Detective Calvert’s brow furrowed in thought as he scribbled a note. “Did you see anyone?”
She shook her head. “Whoever was there stayed behind me.”
He nodded. “Please continue.”
A deep, shaky exhale preceded her next words. “When I woke up, I was in a concrete room.”
“Like a jail cell?” The cop’s pen froze, and he gave her a questioning look.
“I… I don’t think so. I mean, I’ve never seen a jail cell except on TV.” She shrugged. “The room was concrete with a solid metal door. No bars or windows. Just bare walls, a slab floor, and a solid ceiling with a single light bulb that barely provided any light.”
Detective Calvert nodded with a tight scowl. “Go on.”
“I don’t know how long I’d been there when I heard another woman’s voice. She was crying. So scared.” Tears glistened in Tanya’s eyes when she met the man’s gaze. “A while later, I heard another one.”
“Did you ever see them?”
She shook her head.
“How do you know it wasn’t the same woman?”
“Sometimes they cried at the same time.” Shame filled her face, and she lowered her gaze to the table again. “Sometimes I cried with them,” she whispered.
“That’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Colin murmured. How could she possibly feel that way for being afraid in such a horrible situation?
Tanya glanced over at him and grated her upper teeth over her lower lip. “Then the light went out. It was so dark….”
The reek of fear roiled through the room again. Colin clenched his teeth, breathing slowly in through his nose and out through his mouth to control the rising urge to lash out at the man sitting across from them. Dad had been right to be concerned about his choice to come. It’s not the detective’s fault. He had nothing to do with those who terrorized and harmed her.
“One of them started screaming. That’s all I heard. Just… screaming.” Her gaze grew distant. “She was so afraid…. I could hear it in her cries. Then the other one started.” She shuddered and lowered her head. Her breathing grew shallow and rapid. The scent of the wolf inside her rose.
Colin more sternly forced down his protective instincts. He had to maintain control, or he’d shift right there in front of a cop. If he could help her overcome the fear, they’d both be better of. He squeezed her fingers.
She turned her head to look at him out of the corner of her without lifting it where the detective might see her eyes. Blue irises were rimmed with amber.
“Take a deep breath. Let go of the fear.”
Tanya closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath. As she exhaled, some of the tension bled away. She repeated it with the same result. By the time she lifted her head again, her eyes were free of the wolf. She gave Colin a shaky smile and whispered, “Thanks.”
He nodded with a smile that felt strained.
The detective cleared his throat, drawing their attention. “Did they hurt you?”
She stiffened, hesitated, then slowly shook her head, not quite meeting his gaze.
If humans had a quarter of a werewolf’s ability to smell a lie, they’d be in trouble. She’d told a doozy.
“Unless you count not feeding me,” she added almost as an afterthought.
True. Would the detective believe that was the only omission she’d made? Colin studied the man’s face while trying to pretend not to.
Doubt flashed through Detective Calvert’s eyes. He glanced over her. “Do you know how many men there were? Was it only two, or were there others?”
“I can’t be sure. They opened the door a couple of times with the light turned out to leave water for me, but otherwise kept the room locked. I think I heard at least three different voices, but I’m not sure.”
He nodded. “How did you get away?”
Her hand in Colin’s trembled. “Men came and rescued me.”
“Were they law enforcement?”
“They didn’t show identification. I didn’t much care who they were as long as they didn’t hurt me and got me out of there.” She shrugged. “Maybe they worked for the government or something?”
Colin forced a neutral expression of concern and mild interest to remain on his face, restraining a grin. The girl knew how to lie without lying. He’d have to remember that.
Detective Calvert scowled and made another note. Anger swirled through his scent. “Do you know where you were held? Can you tell me the location?”
“No. I didn’t pay attention to street names, but I think I can lead you back there.”
He nodded and pulled a cellphone from a pocket of his trousers. “Are they the ones who dropped you off here?”
She nodded.
The cop’s intense gaze landed on Colin. “And you got involved how?”
Before he could figure out how to answer, Tanya came to his rescue. “I want him here, so he came. I never saw the faces of the men who took me. I don’t know what they look like. The idea of being surrounded by strange men….” Her gaze fell to the table.
“I understand.” The detective’s eyes narrowed. “Have you called your family, let them know you’re safe?”
She shook her head.
His brows raised. “Why not?”
“Coming here to talk to you was difficult enough.” She met the man’s eyes with a watery gaze. “If my parents were here, I’m afraid I’d start to cry and not stop. That wouldn’t be much help to you.”
To Colin’s surprise, that was the God’s honest truth. He hadn’t thought to ask about having her parents meet them at the police station, much less considered why she hadn’t opted to do so.
The detective nodded, slid his chair back, and scooped up his file and notepad. He flipped his phone open even as he got to his feet and headed for the door. “I’ll be back in a bit.” He didn’t wait for a response, closing the door in his wake.
* * *
Guilt needled her. Tanya glanced at the closed door and sighed. She’d lied to a police officer, but what else was she supposed to do? She couldn’t tell him about the assault. All that vile man had done. She hadn’t so much as a bruise to show for his brutality. If she’d been honest when asked if her captors had hurt her, Detective Calvert would have heard the truth but believed she lied. She couldn’t very well tell him all of it, and explaining the fact she was now a monster, which had healed every wound, would be a disaster in its own right. They’d probably have her committed. Until the full moon revealed the truth of her admission.
Suddenly, a fate worse than death came to mind. Imprisoned. Poked, prodded, and experimented on by the government. She shuddered.
Colin turned in his seat to face her. “Are you alright?”
“I guess so. As much as I can be right now.” She leaned forward, rested an arm on the table, and laid her head on her arm, her face toward Colin. “I’m so tired.”
“I didn’t think to ask if you’d gotten any sleep since you were taken.”
She shook her head. “I was too afraid to sleep after I woke up in that cell. What day is it anyway?”
“Thursday.”
Four days? She’d lost four days in that dark place. “It felt like so much longer, but I was sure I’d only been there a day or two.” Tanya sniffed and blinked back tears. “My family….”
“We’ll see them as soon as we’re done here.” He reached out with his free hand and brushed hair away from her forehead. “They’ll be so happy to see you.”
“I hope so.” If only Tanya could be sure of that. She’d lied to a cop, because he posed a threat to the men who had saved her from slow death in a concrete cell, but she wouldn’t be able to lie to her family. They deserved the truth. No matter how hard it would be to explain or prove.
Minutes passed in silence, except for the rumble of voices up and down the hallway and footsteps that came and went. She studied Colin, whose
gaze scrutinized the room as though it contained some invisible threat. She wanted to nap, but the thought of sleeping while surrounded by strangers sent a chill through her. Sure, Colin would watch over her, but she didn’t really know much about him. She’d only known him three or four hours longer than she’d known the detective.
So, why did he feel so much more familiar and comforting to have around? Was it because he was a werewolf and, as such, wouldn’t judge her for being one? No, that couldn’t be it. She couldn’t imagine ever feeling safe in any measure with Brett, not to mention the men who’d Turned her. Was it because he’d rescued her? Hm. Yeah. That must be it.
Detective Calvert’s voice neared, and the door opened. He was on the phone. Still? Again? “Great. We’ll be there in a couple of minutes.” He slapped the phone closed and stopped in the open doorway. “We’re ready, if you are.”
Tanya forced herself upright and to her feet. She met Colin’s gaze and smiled weakly. “When this is over, can I sleep for a week?”
He grinned. “With breaks to eat and get your weight back up to a healthy level, you bet.”
She met the detective’s gaze and sighed. “Let’s do this.”
A few minutes later, they slipped into the backseat of the detective’s car. He stepped away to talk to an officer in tactical gear, leaving Colin and Tanya alone in the car.
Tanya glanced around the parking lot then frowned at him. She pointed to the street. “Right, correct?”
“Yes. Then a right on Butler.”
Detective Calvert headed their way.
“If you need any more directions, let me know, even if you just give me hand signals.”
She nodded.
The front door opened and the detective slid behind the wheel. He glanced back. “You two have your seatbelts on?”
Neither of them did, which they fixed immediately.
Their driver nodded in satisfaction and started the car. Then he glanced back at Tanya with a questioning quirk of one brow.
She pointed to the driveway. “Take a right out of the parking lot, then a right on Butler.”
As they drove through Flagstaff, she had to check with Colin a few times about turns, which annoyed her. She should’ve paid more attention. In fact, she should’ve gotten corner street names when Colin and Brett freed her. Tension went through her when the building came into view. “There it is.” She pointed over the detective’s shoulder.