Debbie suddenly shifted and began pulling on her clothes. “Because of Sarah. Did she then tell Lloyd her good friend Franny was one? And he told Otis?”
“Good bet if Lloyd was trying to stay on Otis’s good side. But we’ve had protection for Franny, so if Otis thought to locate her again to learn who was in the pack, he’s not going to be successful.”
* * *
In the three weeks before the phase of the new moon passed, Allan had taken Debbie on several runs as a wolf at dawn and dusk. She was learning the pack’s scent trails and how to get back to the cabin on her own from anywhere they ended up. She was still sometimes aggravated by the sudden urges to shift. At first, he carried a backpack with her clothes in it and remained in his human form in case she needed her clothes. For the first week of the full moon, that had been important. Three nights in a row, she’d shifted at dusk when they were out on a run.
If he had been her, he would have felt just as exasperated. He couldn’t blame her. Having little control over her life was frustrating. He tried to be patient and let her work it out on her own until she could deal with it. He had to because he wouldn’t be with her always. They’d planned so many activities for the week of the new moon, he assumed they’d be dead tired every night. If they could even get to everything she’d planned.
Today was the first day of the phase of the new moon and of her weeklong freedom from shifting. She was up at the crack of dawn, having prepared breakfast, and had already packed her diving gear in the car. He worried about her frame of mind when the full moon returned and she couldn’t do this for the other three weeks of the month. At least not for a while. As the days went on, she’d get better at it, except for the week of the full moon.
He smiled at her and wanted to say that she looked like she was ready for Christmas, but thought better of it. She’d be reminded that this wouldn’t last forever. He was glad she was so excited. It made him feel just as glad to see her so happy.
He sat down to eat his waffles and maple syrup. She had already scarfed hers down, taken her dish to the kitchen, and begun going over her list and checking it twice. He couldn’t stop thinking of the day as though it was Christmas.
This morning, they were going diving before it was even light out. Just a fun dive in the same spot where Lloyd’s body had been discovered in the stolen blue Impala. Allan didn’t think they’d find any other evidence, but since Debbie wanted to dive and do some out-of-doors investigative work, they decided to go to that location, just in case.
Sometime later today, they would pick up her car at his mother’s place so Debbie could use it anytime she wanted to. That was part of the deal. She could run off and do her own thing for the week too. With the caveat to be careful in case the shooter was looking to target her. They hadn’t had any breaks in the case and no further shootings or killings related to it, so they assumed the shooter had left the area.
Allan wanted Debbie to feel as normal as possible, like she had her old life back, except that she was living with him now and could only do police-contracted dive work this week.
“I don’t want you to feel bad about the way I feel, but I’m so excited,” she said, hurrying him out to the hatchback.
“I’m thrilled for you, Debbie. You always brighten my day.”
“Ha, not when I’m all snarly and growly because I have to shift when I don’t want to.”
“Always. It’s understandable. If I were you, I’d feel the same way, but it’ll get better. And I want you to know I love you even when you’re being a growly wolf. Hell, you should see me when I’m all growly.”
“Oh?”
“Well, not around you. But if I’d seen that damned shooter, believe me I would have been growling with extreme killing precision in mind.”
“I wish you could have. I wonder what Otis is driving now that the police impounded his Camaro.”
“If it had been me, I would have put a tracking device on it and let him come back for the car.”
“Which he might have expected anyway.”
“True.”
When they arrived at the scene, it was just as cold as the last time. Getting used to the chilly temperature of the lake always took a few minutes.
They dived as long as they could, and when they were through, they did their safety stops and left the water. They hadn’t found anything new in the water or anywhere around the area. But Debbie looked so pleased to be back to work, he was glad they’d come here first.
The pizza place was on their list, and though Allan wasn’t real fond of the idea, she had invited Rowdy to join them for her coming-out. They’d played it cool, telling the sheriff’s department her recovery would take months, but when she felt well enough, she’d step in wherever needed. They figured if she did a lot this week with the department, they would say next week that she’d had a relapse. Maybe by the time another month had rolled around, she would be doing well enough to work a little at a time.
After they got out of the water, they removed their tanks and masks and headed for the road where they had parked their car.
“Didn’t think you’d take that long on the dive,” a man said.
Parked behind Allan’s hatchback was the black sedan.
With his brows raised, Vaughn Greystoke was leaning against Allan’s vehicle, arms folded across his chest and looking like a military man with a mission.
Chapter 21
Debbie’s heart was beating triple time when she saw Vaughn Greystoke leaning against Allan’s car.
The lethal-looking man was wearing a white parka and black cargo pants, shit-kicker boots, and mirrored sunglasses, his dark-brown hair cut military short. He wasn’t wearing gloves, his arms were folded across his chest, and no gun was visible, but she suspected he was wearing one. He’d talked to Paul about coming to help them out, but then he hadn’t come all these weeks, so they figured he’d gotten busy with some other pressing issue.
“Is there somewhere that we can talk…privately?” Vaughn asked. Despite his dark look, the man was ruggedly handsome, his attention focused on Allan.
“You were at the crime scene. Witnesses saw your vehicle,” Debbie said accusingly. “Your cousin said you had no hand in the murder, but he’s your cousin.”
Vaughn shifted his gaze to her, his hard look chiseled in place. “Yeah, I was there. That doesn’t mean I had anything to do with the man’s death. His hunting partner did that.”
Debbie frowned at him. “Witnesses saw you. No one said they saw him.”
“He was there. Watching. In the woods. But others had arrived on the scene. I went to see if the victim was dead. He didn’t survive. No one tried to rescue him. I knew he’d never last that long underwater unless he was a SEAL. Then I left, looking for the other one, Otis.”
“We expected you sooner,” Allan said, his voice darkly gruff.
Debbie shivered. “I’m freezing, folks.”
“Let’s talk this over at your place.” Vaughn sounded genuinely concerned about Debbie’s physical health. “Call in your…friend Paul, if you’d like. Or as many of your friends as you want, if you feel the need. But I’m on your side.”
Allan took a deep breath. So did Debbie, but she couldn’t smell Vaughn’s scent, even though the breeze should have carried it to them. She wasn’t staying out here and freezing to death though. She headed for the car.
“Let me drop Debbie off at a friend’s place and we…”
“No way. I want to know what’s going on just as much as you do.” She got into the hatchback and slammed the door. She was working the investigation every bit as much as Allan was. Even if she had to do some of it stuck at his cabin.
“My place then. Have you learned where Otis has disappeared to?” Allan asked.
“Let’s just say I’d rather discuss this in private.”
“All right. Let’s go.” Allan
got in the car and headed out while Vaughn climbed into his sedan and followed them. Allan got on his phone and Debbie assumed he was calling Paul. “Update: no more evidence in the lake pertaining to the murder case, but Vaughn Greystoke just met up with us. He’s joining us at my cabin.”
Allan put the phone on speaker so Debbie could hear Paul’s response, which she really appreciated.
“I’ll meet you there. If you’re at the lake where the body was found, I’m closer to your place than you are.”
Within twenty minutes, Paul called Allan back. “Looks like no one’s been here. Checked all around the cabin and inside. See you in…?”
“Twenty minutes. I’ve been watching for a tail, but the only one following us is this guy.”
When they finally reached Allan’s cabin, Paul was standing on the porch, looking dangerous. Debbie wondered if Vaughn knew that both Paul and Allan were highly trained Navy SEALs in addition to being wolves.
She was so cold. Neither she nor Allan had removed their wet suits before they took off because of the situation with this man, so when they got home, she excused herself to get out of hers. She grabbed a change of clothes, her gun and holster, and then went to the bathroom and locked the door. Before long, she was enjoying a hot shower. Using warm water made the wet suit much easier to peel off. Then she hurried to dry and get into warm clothes. Her hair was wet, though she towel dried it some, but she wasn’t spending the time to dry it all the way when she wanted to learn what was going on.
She grabbed her gun and tucked it into her holster, then joined the men in the living room.
As soon as she did, Allan excused himself to change. She thought he would have already done so. She could see how well the men worked together as a pack and as Navy SEALs. No one discussed what they were going to do, just did what needed to be done.
“We were waiting for you both to get changed before we discuss this matter,” Paul said, and she so appreciated that they would.
She fixed them all cups of coffee, and when Allan joined them, they took seats in the living room. Paul had started a fire and the place felt toasty warm, while the cold wind howled through the pine trees surrounding the cabin.
“First off, I’m Vaughn Greystoke, from a pack in Colorado.”
“Devlyn’s pack,” Paul said. “We thought you’d be here sooner.”
“I meant to be. I followed that bastard’s paw prints through the wilderness for weeks as a wolf. No way to check in. Not only is he a danger to our kind, but he left a trail of dead wolves in his wake.”
“Hell. So Sarah managed to turn him,” Paul said.
“Before he murdered her? Yes. Last laugh on him really, because he wanted to get rid of us and now he’s one of us. Well, as in he’s a gray wolf. He’ll never be one of us.”
“Not after he murdered two people and attempted to kill a woman and her baby,” Allan said.
“We have a bit of a problem,” Vaughn said. “Not only is Otis a survivalist and damn good at escape and evasion, but the human police are involved. I’d hoped I could catch up to him in the wilderness and end it. We still have to eliminate him.”
“Agreed,” Paul said. “If you’re here now—”
“He’s returned to the area. He has to be holed up somewhere in the vicinity. Instead of being housebound like Debbie must have been all these weeks, he took off for the wilderness.”
“But he couldn’t have stayed in his wolf form all these weeks, could he?” Debbie asked.
Vaughn eyed her warily. “Could you have? If your life depended on it?”
“You mean if I was out in the snow? No. I went with Allan a few times on runs through the forest, and I didn’t make it all the way back before I had to shift.”
“He might have waited through the week of the full moon, but he’s also been a lupus garou for longer than you have. So he may be able to force himself to remain longer as a wolf. At least until he could reach cabins where he broke in and stayed for a day or so. I found a pattern of break-ins. I was always a day behind him, as if he knew someone was following and would leave sooner the next time or stay longer if he could. When he headed back here, I had to see you and warn you that he has returned to the area.”
“What were you doing at the lake if the other hunter killed Lloyd?” Allan asked.
“When Sarah talked to Devlyn and Bella about joining the pack, she stated right away that she was a pacifist. She didn’t believe in killing humans who learned about us.”
“Even if one was trying to kill werewolves?” Allan asked, surprised.
“Devlyn didn’t think to ask about a werewolf hunter, per se, since that’s mostly unheard of. He did ask what she’d do if a human saw her shift and tried to kill her. She said that turning the human would make him see we weren’t evil and change his mind about us. Devlyn disagreed. Since she left, that was the end of any further discussion on the subject. He thought she didn’t want to join us because we would kill men like those.”
“Otis doesn’t seem to have known who our pack members were. Thankfully. So why not come forth with this information earlier?” Paul asked.
“I’ve been playing chase with this bastard. I followed the two women who located Sarah’s body to ensure that Otis hadn’t followed them. If he had, I would have taken him down. Then I followed Debbie from one of the women’s houses—for the same reason. He knows I’m after him. He gave me the slip, but before that, he was headed back here. I thought he intended to target the rest of your pack, but he never knew who the members were. He got sloppy, killing genuine wolves exploring the blood left behind at the scene of Sarah’s murder. He thought they were werewolves.”
“Where were you when Otis shot Tara and Debbie?” Allan asked.
“Across the border in Idaho. I was trying to figure out how Sarah was connected with Otis and Lloyd. I discovered they’d all lived in Idaho and thought maybe he’d returned there.”
Paul told him about Franny and her involvement with Otis and Sarah. “She was from the same area.”
“Okay, so Otis might be after Franny to eliminate her, or maybe to discover who her pack mates are. Or he could be just planning to get his stash and leave for good now that he’s a wolf. I keep thinking his focus will change, now that he’s one of us. But he might be so angry he was changed, he’ll try to infiltrate werewolf packs and kill them. Just on principle. The problem is that he may believe Franny made a fool of him, not only by dumping him and finding someone else, but in knowing werewolves were real. He might think she was laughing behind his back all along. Both her and Sarah.”
“Agreed,” Paul said.
A thought suddenly occurred to Debbie and she turned to Allan. “So that was the reason we went down south to talk to Zeta? Because Sarah had wanted to join your pack?”
“Sorry, Debbie. I couldn’t tell you at the time why Rose knew about her.” Allan reached over, wrapped his hand around hers, and gave it a squeeze.
She couldn’t help going over all the stuff that had happened and realizing how much of what she had believed had only been half-truths.
“Do you want to help us on this?” Paul asked Vaughn.
“Hell yeah,” Vaughn said. “I’ll continue to try and locate his lair.”
“I’m game,” Debbie said. She told herself it wasn’t for vengeance, that they needed to take Otis down before he killed any more innocent people, but who was she trying to kid? She wanted him dead. It wasn’t her growly wolf side that wanted it. She’d come to realize that the members of Paul and Lori’s pack were hard-working, law-abiding citizens, just like any other decent folk raising families and earning livings.
Wolf pups like Meghan and Eliza were just like any other five-year-olds, only they had a wolf side too.
The werewolf killer was the monster, not the werewolves.
“If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to Franny and Gar
y’s place so when you’re not tracking Otis, you can have some good home-cooked meals and watch out for him if he shows up there,” Paul said.
“Sounds good to me. I could use some good meals.”
“Gary’s a world-class chef,” Paul said, “but he’s not trained in protection like we are.”
“Then that works out well for all of us.”
They said their good-byes. Debbie just sat on the couch, pondering the case.
Allan rubbed her arm. “Did you want to get your car?”
She had scheduled a million things to do. None of them had taken into account they might learn that the shooter was back in the area.
She shook her head. “Where would he have his stuff stashed? His rifle, silver bullets, hunting traps? Clothes, all that stuff while he was running as a wolf?”
“Storage facilities? Motels that rent by the week or month? Furnished apartments that rent biweekly? Once he learned he was a wolf, he had to have found a place where he could store his stuff without making anyone suspicious. We never figured on him doing that. We assumed he had packed up and gone.”
“We could split up and start investigating storage units and the other places by sections of the city of Bigfork and surrounding areas.”
“We don’t split up,” Allan said. “But if he has to deal with turning into a wolf, that might narrow it down some.”
“To more wilderness settings.”
“Right.”
Allan wanted to find and catch the killer, but he knew how important it was for Debbie to have her time to do as she wished. He figured even if she hadn’t allowed for it, she was going to fall asleep at some point. He really didn’t want her to miss out on a chance to do some fun things without the worry of shifting.