“See? Why red?”
“Remember that shirt you were wearing the night we met?” He grinned at her wickedly and Jena forced back a smile.
“You mean ‘your special shirt?’”
He pulled her a little closer and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Yes, it is. I’m glad you recognize this now.”
They had both drunk a few beers and Caleb had gone into the trailer to get a couple more blankets, which he piled up so they could lay on their backs and stare at the stars. They were curled up around each other under a blanket, talking quietly while they looked into the clear night.
“Your favorite color?”
“Green. The color of the boys’ eyes. They both have Lowell’s eyes.” She felt Caleb tense a little. “Does it bother you when I talk about him? About Lowell?”
He paused, then let out a small sigh. “Let’s just say that it kind of does, but I know it shouldn’t. Don’t worry about it. I’ll get over it.”
“I’m not…” How could she explain? “I’m not in love with him anymore, if that makes any sense. He’s gone. But I did love him, and I treasure those memories, so it’s hard—”
“You don’t have to explain.”
“I want to. I don’t want you to feel like you’re competing with a ghost. Because there’s no competition.”
With that, she felt his arms relax and she nestled her head into his shoulder again.
“You’ve got great kids, Jena. I’m not gonna lie. I’m a little jealous.”
“You wanted kids. Your ex didn’t?”
“To be fair, it’s not something we talked about before we got married, which was stupid. I just assumed she did. My mistake.”
“And she assumed you didn’t? It goes both ways, Caleb.”
He shrugged. “It’s in the past. Does this resort worry you? This hotel that Alex wants to build? It’ll definitely change things about the town. Expose it more, maybe expose your kids.”
“It does bother me, but it’s not all about me. The town needs something. Is it going to change things? Yeah, definitely. We’re going to have to be more careful.”
“Everyone is. But you think it’s good in the long run?”
“I do.” She nodded slowly. “There had to be something or the whole town would just dry up and drift away. And then where would we go?”
“You went away once.”
“And it would have slowly killed me.” She felt him start. “I’m exaggerating, but I do feel stronger here. When I lived away, I slept a lot. Didn’t have near the energy I do here. I just always felt… off.”
“But people do. Move away, I mean.”
What was he thinking? She pulled away from him, feeling an ache in her middle at the thought of Caleb leaving. “Um… yeah. Sometimes. But I’m not moving again.”
He put a hand at the back of her neck and tugged her toward him, pressing a kiss to her lips that slowly grew from easy to heated.
“Good,” he said. “Because I like it here. And I’d like to keep you. So when the resort comes, we’ll deal with it.”
“We will?” She was distracted by his hands teasing under the edge of her shirt.
“Mm-hmm. I’m a good ally.”
“I’m not gonna lie. You knowing everything is a big relief.” She gasped when he brought his warm palm up to press against her ribs. Slow, steady strokes moving upward until she arched into his hand. He caught the cry on her lips with his kiss and pressed the length of his body into hers.
“We’ll deal with it together, Jena Crowe, because I have plans. And none of them involve leaving you.”
“Good.” She dug her fingers into his thick hair and tugged his head to the side, licking along the rough stubble on his jaw. “I like you here.”
“Right here?” He swung her leg over his hip and pressed their bodies together.
“You got it.”
“Yeah.” He smiled. “I do.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Caleb?”
He blinked his eyes and grunted.
“Hey, why don’t you go lay down on my bed? You’re going to get a crick in your back from this couch.”
“Mmnf. I’m okay.” Her concerned face swam above him when he opened his eyes. “You need help with stuff?”
“No, Low’s helping with the salad, and Allie and Ted are bringing everything else. Go sleep in my room. Aaron’s taking a nap, too.”
He closed his eyes, then opened them again as the warm afternoon light spilled into the living room of Jena’s house. He’d slept on the couch the night before, after they’d come back from their “date,” and he had to admit, his back was feeling it.
“Okay.” He sat up and grabbed her arm before she could leave, pulling her into a long, lazy kiss. “Lay down with me.”
“I have to finish the food. People are coming over in an hour and a half.”
Caleb pulled her closer and laid his head against her hip. “Too many people.”
She laughed and mussed his hair. “Go sleep. You got practically no rest last night.”
And then she’d woken him up for church services that morning. Well, Aaron had, anyway. It was impossible to sleep with the small tornado whirling around. So he’d woken up, gone to his trailer to shower, and joined them, sitting next to Jena and the boys as they listened to the priest—it was the Catholic’s turn that week—offer a short homily and minister to the devout. It had been… nice. Nicer than he’d expected.
He smiled down at her. She had on a stained apron and her hair was starting to do that feathery thing around her face. The big scary “I love you” was on the tip of his tongue when Low called from the kitchen, so he bit back the words for what seemed like the hundredth time.
“I’d better go help him,” she said.
“Yeah, okay.”
“Go nap, sleepyhead.”
It never quite seemed the right time to tell her. And he had to admit that he was a little afraid she wouldn’t say it back. He bent down to give Jena another quick kiss before she disappeared and he stumbled down the hall. Looking around, he noticed the family pictures along the walls. So many pictures of Jena and her parents. Of Alma and what had to be her husband. Tons of pictures of the boys.
His house in Albuquerque had been bare. He had lived there for four years and… nothing. The few pieces of art that Leila had hung she’d taken with her. They’d never hung up pictures, not even from their small wedding.
So this was what a normal house looked like.
He opened her bedroom door and lay down on the smooth comforter, closing his eyes as he thought about the past week. Ever since they’d been shot at, had crazy desert sex—which would remain a favorite memory until he died—and had it out about her fear of him leaving, Caleb had slipped into her life a little more each day. It was just like he’d told her. He was getting comfortable. And though he’d always imagined he wanted a family and a life that didn’t completely revolve around his work, he’d still worried a little that once he did, he’d be bored out of his mind.
To his surprise, he wasn’t. Putting aside that he was constantly faced with some new supernatural element that he’d never even imagined, his life had become unexpectedly crowded. It was a little like Jena’s house. Not just crowded with pictures, but with people, memories, traces of life, and history all over the place.
There was always someone coming or going, a friend or relative. The boys tumbling around or fighting with each other. Jena teasing them, teasing him, giving them all a hard time with that subtle humor she had. And it was nice to be bored on days like this, when the afternoon sun beamed through the windows and he was tired from a long week. Then, he could take a nap and roll around in pillows that smelled like Jena. If he’d planned it better, he might be able to roll around with Jena herself, but she’d invited people over.
Caleb sighed and closed his eyes again. Other than solving the murder that was hanging over his head, trying to figure out why he occasionally turned into different people, an
d when, exactly, was the right time to tell Jena he loved her, life in Cambio Springs was beginning to seem just about perfect. And Caleb, for once in his life, was trying not to predict it all going to shit. He wouldn’t let it this time. He couldn’t.
Jeremy kicked at the porch rail a little and nodded. “Well, some people are suspicious. But just as many of them are more comfortable with you being here now that you’re more like us.”
“I guess that makes sense.” They were sitting on Jena’s porch while Jeremy briefed him about the latest social news.
One of his deputy’s assignments, since Caleb’s shapeshifting had come to light, was to gauge the mood of the town about their new chief. It had only been a few weeks since he’d suddenly discovered he could shift into other people’s skin, and he was still experimenting with how it worked. He hadn’t drunk the spring water again, and his abilities showed no indication of weakening or going away. If anything, he’d become stronger.
“You still gettin’ that nausea?” Jeremy asked.
“A little, but just for a few minutes.”
“That’s good, then.” Jeremy McCann had never been the most talkative of men, but since Caleb started to shift, he’d become even more silent about it. It was starting to bug Caleb.
“Spit it out, McCann.”
“What?”
“Whatever you’re dancing around. It’s giving me motion sickness.” Which was ridiculous, of course, because Jeremy didn’t fidget except right before the full moon.
The younger man wrinkled his forehead. “Well, I guess… why?”
“Why what?”
“Why you?”
“Why did I change? I don’t know.”
Jeremy sighed. “It’s not that I resent it. I don’t. Hell, the thought of shifting into another person kind of creeps me out to be honest.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. But why did the water affect you when it’s never affected any others from away?”
Caleb shrugged. “I don’t know. Why did it affect your ancestors in the first place? Maybe there was a witch in my background. Maybe the shit I did in New Mexico really did have some effect on my spirit like my grandmother always told me it would. Maybe there was something there that collided with all that stuff when I drank from the fresh spring. I. Don’t. Know.”
He tried not to be frustrated, but did Jeremy think he hadn’t asked himself the same questions a million times?
“Sorry, Chief.”
He patted Jeremy’s back. “No big deal. I’m a freak, I know.”
“Only according to about half the town.” He grinned. “The other half thinks you’re less weird now than you were before.”
Caleb laughed and shook his head. “Does that mean the clans are going to cooperate with us about Alma’s murder?”
The young officer slipped on his sunglasses. “I didn’t predict miracles.” He turned to go, then, right before he climbed in his truck, said, “Looking pretty at home here, Chief.”
“Bye, Jeremy.”
“Just saying—” The young man grinned. “I don’t see any talon marks yet.”
Caleb flipped him off. “Like I’d show them to you? See you tomorrow, Deputy.”
“Yes.” Ted nodded and took off her glasses. “I agree with you. These could be either a small mountain lion or a large bobcat. It’s too difficult to say for certain.”
“Great,” Jena huffed and Caleb clasped her hand in his.
“It’s just the claw marks.” Ted shrugged. “If it was an actual paw print, I could tell, but just the scratches?”
Everyone had come over for dinner, feasting on the enchiladas that Allie had made, along with a huge green salad, cornbread, and beans. The youngest kids were zoned out to a movie while Low and Kevin sat with Dev, who was a decent artist. They were trying to draw the picture of the lion that had attacked the boys to see if Ted could identify the markings.
Alex said, “But we’ve definitely identified it as feline, right? Doesn’t that leave Matt at the top of your suspect list?”
Ollie added, “And he’s a bobcat.”
“But,” Allie said, “Missy was pregnant, which makes it unlikely he would have roamed that far.”
Something struck him just then. “We’re talking about a bobcat—possibly—working with two lions. Didn’t Ted say the cats are solitary?”
Jena turned to him with a frown. “Unless they’re mated pairs. And the cat I saw running away from us after we were shot was definitely a bobcat. But a lion attacked you and the boys.”
“Two lions,” Low said from across the room.
Caleb said, “So it’s a bobcat who’s working with lions.”
Ted exchanged a significant look with Jena. “Matt’s a bobcat and Missy’s a lion.”
Jena shook her head. “Missy was pregnant. She couldn’t have shifted. And there were two lions, not just one. There’s no telling—”
“Maybe she wasn’t pregnant,” Caleb said quietly.
“What?” Jena shrugged. “She just had the baby. Saw him in church today. Little guy is the spitting image of their other kids.”
“He is a little guy,” Caleb said. “A very little guy. Right, Ted?”
Ted gasped. “But how would they risk…? That could explain it. But would they? It’d be incredibly dangerous.”
Jena looked between them. “Are you saying what I think? That Missy forced a shift when she was pregnant? That would cause miscarriage!”
“Not necessarily,” Ted said. “Only if she shifted all the way. If she just let it start… You know that sensation of pins and needles we get?”
Everyone nodded except Caleb. He didn’t get pins and needles. He tried not to feel left out.
“That’s your body preparing itself. I can’t explain it really, but you can stop at that point, if you have to. Think about it. We’ve all done it, when we’re young. When we’re just learning.”
Alex’s mouth gaped open. “You think she could make herself go into early labor?”
“I don’t see why not. It would be incredibly dangerous for both mother and child, but it’s possible. And that baby has seemed small from the beginning, even though she says he delivered after her due date. Her milk didn’t come in like it did with her girls. That’s part of the reason she had trouble nursing him. If she forced a shift and had the baby early—”
“At home,” Allie said quietly. “She delivered at home. There’s no way to verify when she delivered. Her sisters helped her.”
Caleb asked, “Would her sisters lie for her?”
A resounding “Yes” echoed across the room.
“So if Missy wasn’t pregnant…” Caleb let his thoughts trail off.
Alex said, “It could have been Matt and Missy working together.”
Jena shook her head with tears in her eyes. “But why? Why would they—?”
Caleb clasped her hand. “Matt’s ambitious, honey. Your grandmother was standing in the way of the progress he’d been hoping to put his mark on.”
Alex nodded. “Matt was pushing pretty hard. Especially with the grant stuff.”
Ted said, “And don’t let Missy fool you with the bubbly personality and big blue eyes. She’s even more ambitious than Matt. She and her sisters—”
“Hey! We finished,” Low piped up. “This is it. This is the lion that was closest to us. I didn’t really see the other one on the ground, but—”
“Give it here.” Caleb grabbed the paper from Dev. Yep, it looked the same, down to the thick black lines that ran along the muzzle and the jagged tear in the animal’s left ear. “Looks right to me.” He hesitated for a moment, then handed the sketch to Ted. “Recognize him?”
“Not a him. It’s a her.” The doctor shook her head, a look of horror spreading across her face. “It’s one of Missy’s sisters. She’s my cousin, Amanda.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m the one who tore her ear.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jena glan
ced back at the headlights behind them as Alex followed Caleb’s truck down the short dirt track to Missy and Matt’s house. She could see Ted’s shadow sitting next to Alex. Her friend had been enraged by the idea of her clan members attacking children, particularly when the cats were female. Ted had called her mother and alerted her to the problem before she’d jumped in Alex’s car to tail them.
“Why?”
“Hmm?” Caleb glanced at her before wrenching his eyes back to the road to avoid a tumble of rocks that had spilled into their path.
“Why would Missy’s sisters attack the boys?”
“I’m not sure their plan was to attack, to be honest. They never really got close. They probably wanted to scare us. Keep us distracted.”
“I still don’t get it.”
Caleb was quiet for a moment before he said, “Walk me through it. What are you thinking?”
“Missy and Matt…” Jena shook her head. “I can get why Matt would target Alma. He’s ambitious. It might have even been an accident, but Missy’s baby… If she really forced her body to deliver early—”
“We’re not sure what happened. That’s why we’re going out there, to get answers.”
Jena’s brain was still whirling. “It wouldn’t just happen. The maternal instinct is too strong. So she would have had to want to do it. And it would have been dangerous for both of them.”
“But if she was motivated enough—”
“I still don’t get why. Why would she do that for Matt? And why were her sisters involved? None of this makes sense.”
He was silent for a few moments. “What you really want to know is why they killed Alma. And I don’t know if there’s any good answer to that, Jena.”
“She was going to vote yes for the whole crazy project,” Jena said softly. “She just wanted a little time.”
Caleb reached across for her hand. “Someone got impatient. And we’re going to find out who.”
She’d always wondered at Matt and Missy’s house. With Matt being the town mayor, Jena would have thought they would buy a house in town, close to the small city hall and the school. But they lived out on the edge of town, their house sitting among a stand of mesquite trees that were fed from a seasonal wash behind their house. Picturesque, but isolated. It was Vasquez land; Missy’s parents had given them the house when they’d married and the tidy desert landscaping in front was immaculate.