Wild Keepers

by Dee Bridgnorth

  Allie Holloway was meant to be in his life, in some way. Fate was pushing them together, almost against their will. Well, he knew that it was against his will. And it didn’t seem to be causing her a lot of happiness, either.

  He stood up, pacing the room again. Her body couldn’t lie. He had felt her response to him when she was pressed against him. He had felt her mouth responding to him and the tremors that assailed her. She felt it, as strongly as he did. He just knew it.

  He shouldn’t care. He didn’t want to care. And now she thought he was a liar, on top of everything else. He had known by the look in her eyes that she hadn’t believed him when he told her that it wasn’t him that she had seen. That she had been mistaken.

  He could see it from her point of view. Why was Caleb Stone, scientist, walking the mean streets of this district and going into an abandoned warehouse? And lying about it? He could only imagine what was going through her mind. That he was a criminal of some sort. That he was hiding something from her—something big.

  If only she knew. But, of course, she could never know. That he was a shifter; that he changed into a wolf. That he was a part of a secret band of wolf brothers dedicated to stopping a race of demons from sabotaging humanity. It wasn’t the type of thing you told someone, along with your favourite meal and movie, when you were sitting across from them on a date.

  He stopped pacing and stared at his briefcase. He needed to calm down. So, they had shared a kiss. So what? People kissed each other all the time. It didn’t have to mean anything. It didn’t mean anything. It certainly didn’t mean that he was hovering on the edge of a precipice, about to fall. He would make damn sure that it didn’t mean that.

  He needed to get back to work. It would distract him, at the very least.

  He got his laptop and opened it, sitting back down. He needed to start investigating Dr. Timothy Morgan. There had simply been no time today, and after what happened…well, his mind wasn’t focused. But he knew that it had to be. Time was ticking, as they were constantly being told. By Dr Morgan, most of all.

  An initial search told him that Dr. Timothy Morgan had an impressive reputation in the field of biological science. He scrolled through the articles that he had written over the years. He had published widely and was accepted as an authority. He read about the numerous awards he had won and his field trips overseas, researching various viruses.

  An exemplary man, apparently. There had never been a whiff of scandal, or misconduct, surrounding him.

  Caleb sighed. His instincts told him that there was more to the picture. Thad had been the one who had brought it up, but he had been uneasy about the good doctor before then. Something didn’t add up about him.

  Dr. Morgan wasn’t particularly active on social media. Well, he was an older man. He mightn’t feel comfortable with it. That wasn’t odd, in itself. Caleb sighed in frustration. There had to be more.

  He opened a remote browser. He should check the doctor’s bank accounts. Tedious, but sometimes it could reap information.

  A quick click enabled him access. The Wild Keepers had ways and means to hack into people’s personal information. That was thanks to Evan, who was a computer whiz.

  He stared at the bank statements, checking his accounts. Dr. Morgan was paid a very decent salary. He saw that up until six months ago he had a separate savings account, which had been very healthy. But it had been closed, suddenly. And all the money had been taken out of it.

  Caleb sat back, thinking. What would the doctor have spent such a large sum of money on, so suddenly? He still had a mortgage on his house; it hadn’t been paid off yet. A car? Caleb squinted his eyes, trying to picture what Dr. Morgan drove. No, his car was old and looked like it had seen better days. Dr. Morgan obviously didn’t care about shiny new toys like that. A boat? Unlikely. Covenester was inland, not situated on a bay. And besides, he didn’t look like the yachting type.

  He leaned forward, scrolling through the bank statements. The doctor made regular payments to various things, all normal. Electricity. Gas. Water. A few charities that he donated to on a regular basis.

  He stopped scrolling, peering at the screen. There was a large sum transferred to someone’s bank account. He checked, but the doctor hadn’t entered any information about who it was. Just a bank account number.

  He scrolled further. The doctor regularly made deposits, of large sums, into this account. Every fortnight. Almost as soon as his pay hit his account.

  Caleb leaned back in the sofa, thinking. It could be anything, of course. Perhaps he had an ex-wife or children. But he hadn’t seen anything to suggest that the doctor had ever been married or had a family. Gambling debts? Perhaps. People could have any number of weaknesses that no one knew about.

  Or, it could be something more sinister. He might be making these payments to someone against his will. Blackmail. They were large sums of money, in addition to the huge sum that he had cleared from his savings account. And no indication of who they were being paid to. Usually, people would put a name to an account that they were regularly depositing into. The fact alone that Dr. Morgan hadn’t pricked Caleb’s senses.

  The doctor wanted to keep it secret.

  Caleb got out of the screen, closing his computer. It was getting dark outside. The others would be back soon. His senses were fired up. He needed to get into the doctor’s office and see if there was any information there. Anything that might lead him to know why Dr. Morgan was transferring large sums of money into an unknown bank account.

  ***

  Caleb let himself into the darkened building, using the swipe card that he had taken from the receptionist’s desk the first day he had arrived.

  Carol, that was her name. He always made a point of talking to the receptionist. They knew everything about what happened in the office. They often gave him information without even realising it. Carol was charmed, he could tell. She spoke freely, leaning over the desk towards him. Not noticing anything but him. It had been easy to pocket the swipe card without her even blinking an eye.

  There was security on the building, of course. But once the alarm had been disabled, they were easy to get around.

  He padded through the empty open-plan floor, passing by the cubicles. Doctor Morgan’s office was separate. He opened the door, using the torch that he had brought with him to see. It wouldn’t be smart to switch the lights on.

  Dr. Morgan was tidy. There weren’t any papers left on the desk or files out that should have been put away. Caleb checked the draws underneath the desk. Locked. He got out his pocket knife, deftly twisting it into the lock of the first one. With a soft click, it opened beneath his hands.

  Not much in the first one. A few notebooks. He flicked through them but put them back quickly.

  The second draw was personal items. A packet of painkillers—nothing too strong. An asthma inhaler. He hadn’t read anywhere that Dr. Morgan was an asthmatic and hadn’t seen him suffering from it. There were a few photos in a packet. He flicked through them.

  The doctor and a woman with long dark hair. They were hiking somewhere, by the looks of it. He could see a jungle behind them, and they had backpacks on. Heavy trekking boots. One of the photos was of the two of them sitting beside a pool, having a drink. They looked happy, as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

  Who was the woman? He turned the photos over. He knew that older people sometimes wrote names and dates on the back of photos. Yes, the doctor still did it.

  Me and Mariana. Relaxing after trekking through the Amazon.

  It was dated a year previously.

  Caleb took out the portable scanner from his jacket pocket. He laid the photos on the table and scanned them. They could mean nothing, but he was interested to know who this Mariana was. Something to consider later.

  He put the photos back in the draw, then searched it again. Nothing else. No, wait. He could feel something, towards the back. He reached back, trying to get to whatever it was.

  He suddenly
heard movement outside the office.

  He stilled, shutting the draw. Whatever was in there wasn’t budging, and those footsteps were getting closer. He switched off the light on his torch, trying to breathe evenly.

  The door opened. He quickly hid underneath the desk. It was the security guard, he was sure of it. A small pool of light fell on the floor, from the man’s torch. Caleb could see his boots from where he was hidden.

  The man walked around the desk, slowly. Caleb held his breath, willing himself not to make a sound. The man circled again.

  “Anything, Todd?” It was a different man’s voice, near the door.

  “No,” answered Todd. “But I was sure that I saw a light in here.”

  “Probably just the computer,” said the other man. “They sometimes flicker if they aren’t switched off properly.”

  Caleb held his breath tighter.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right,” Todd said slowly.

  Caleb heard the two men walking out of the office. Their voices faded as they walked away.

  He had to get out of here now. One of those security guards was suspicious, and he couldn’t afford to put on his torch again. His hand itched to find what was at the back of that drawer, but he knew there was no time now.

  He would have to find a chance to search again.

  He crept out from underneath the desk and opened the door, listening intently. He could hear them at the other end of the corridor, near the water coolers. Away from the main entrance. He would have time to scurry away, if he were careful.

  He crept away, trying hard to remember the layout of the floor, so he didn’t bump into anything. As he passed by the cubicles, he turned and saw Allie’s desk.

  There was nothing personal adorning it, not like the others. Not yet, anyway. No photos pinned up on the partition behind the desk or a special plant brought in. It looked almost uninhabited. Well, she hardly had any time since she had started here to personalise the space. She had hit the ground running from almost her first day.

  He felt a yearning for her sweep over him, so strong that it almost knocked him off his feet. Focus, he told himself fiercely.

  He crept out, leaving the building, crossing through the car park. He walked beyond it, hailing a cab once he reached a main road.

  He sat back, letting out his breath slowly. That had been close. Too close. And he wasn’t sure on any level that it had even been worth it. The only information he had gotten was that the doctor had trekked through the Amazon a year ago with a woman named Mariana. Hardly suspicious behaviour.

  He suddenly felt tired. And frustrated. They were no closer to finding the cause of this illness, and he hadn’t found anything to suggest that Dr. Morgan was working for the Vilgath, or was one himself. Yes, there was the unexplained money transfers, but there could be a million reasonable explanations for that. Perhaps he was building a house in the Amazon so he could do more treks there with Mariana.

  He sat up in the seat of the cab, slowly. The Amazon. His mind was reaching towards something. But he wasn’t quite there yet, as hard as he tried.

  ***

  Allie curled up on her sofa, piling her quilt higher around herself. It was cold, and she was tired. So very tired.

  She checked the time. Eleven pm. She should go to bed and try to get some sleep. But she knew that as tired as she was, she wouldn’t be able to close her eyes; not yet, anyway. The events of the day were replaying themselves over in her mind, like mice on an exercise wheel.

  She had tried to distract herself by going through the books she had brought home. So many variants and possible causes. There were a million parasites out there—and they were the ones that had been discovered. If this illness was caused by a parasite, it mightn’t even have been found yet.

  It really was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

  She sighed, getting up and walking to her kitchenette. She flicked the switch on the kettle. A hot chocolate might make her wind down.

  She walked back to the sofa with her drink. It was good. Hot and chocolatey. The only thing missing was marshmallows bobbing on the top. She remembered when her mother had made hot chocolates for her when she was little. Allie had always insisted on three marshmallows and would cry when there wasn’t enough.

  She missed her home. She missed her parents and her life there. It was ironic; she was the one who had been chomping at the bit to escape, who had wanted to create a new life in the big city. It had seemed so exciting. The possibilities. The freedom. Her parents had been the ones who had been wary, who had cautioned her that all that glitters is not gold.

  And, of course, she had been wanting to get away from the memories. Of Pete. Of them together. That had spurred her on. But she couldn’t forget that it was the chance of progressing in her career that had sealed the decision for her.

  She sipped the hot chocolate. She had only been here for such a short time and so much had happened. The attack and the strange dog. The outbreak of this mystery illness. Frances’ death. The pressure being put on her to solve it. And then, there was Caleb Stone.

  Allie raised a hand to her lips, touching them gently. She could still feel the pressure of his lips on her own. It had been a passionate kiss, full of longing. But sweet as well.

  She had never been kissed like that before.

  She couldn’t forget that she had initiated it. Yes, he had run after her and stopped her. She had seen the intention in his eyes…the longing. But she knew he wouldn’t have done it. He had put it out there that he wanted that, and she had answered the call.

  And then, she had run away again. Like a fool. As if she could escape him and the way he made her feel. It wasn’t possible. It was like trying to run away from rain or wind. You could raise an umbrella, or retreat indoors, or shut your eyes tightly from the onslaught. You could try to hide from it, but it was still there.

  What was she going to do?

  She put down the cup, staring around the room without really seeing it. Could she open herself to the possibility of something happening between her and Caleb? Did he even want that? He seemed as ambivalent about the connection between them as she was. Like he was fighting it; like he didn’t really want it.

  She thought of the way that he had questioned her in the café about whether she had a boyfriend back home. The thought had angered him, she knew that. He had shattered a cup with his bare hands. Who could do that? And it hadn’t even scratched him. The pieces had fallen to the table and scattered, but he had not been injured.

  And then, there was the fact that he lied to her about the night before. She knew it was him that she had seen. What was he hiding? Because she knew, now, that it was something.

  Caleb Stone wasn’t who he appeared to be. Who was he?

  She had thought he was a good guy, fighting to save the city from this mystery illness. But she had seen a darker side to him. The moodiness, when he would barely speak to her. The way that he had withdrawn after his phone call. The lie about the night before. The anger, when he had shattered the coffee cup. As if he was trying to control himself, but something lurked inside, straining to get out.

  She couldn’t afford to get involved with a guy like that. A guy who had secrets, and an intensity that simmered away just beneath the surface. She was trying to establish her career and a new life. She had only just gotten over Pete. It could only lead to trouble.

  She got up and walked to the kitchen, placing the cup in the sink. She needed to go to bed.

  She poured herself a glass of water from the tap, drinking it in one gulp. It tasted slightly metallic, as if it had been sitting in the pipes too long. Usually she bought water from the supermarket. Water that had been purified just that little bit more. It just tasted better, but she had no doubt it was probably better for you as well. She would have to put it on her list to get more. She didn’t want to be drinking city tap water.

  Suddenly, she gripped the glass. What had Janelle said, last night, when they had gone to the bar and
the man had collapsed?

  What if it is this sickness? It could be airborne. I think I would feel safer at home.

  A lot of viruses were spread by air. It was common knowledge. Allie had wondered herself about getting a surgical mask when she had been walking the street after leaving the bar.

  And then, there were viruses that were spread through contact. Touch. Glandular fever was commonly known as the kissing illness because it was spread that way. The simple instruction to wash hands was one way to prevent bacteria or viruses that were spread by touch.

  And then…there was water. Usually, viruses or bacteria that were spread by water had been contaminated. That was why city water supplies were regulated, and purified, to ensure their safety. Serious illnesses like cholera, typhoid and dysentery were spread through contaminated water. Water pollution was another issue, too.

  What if something had gotten through? Or been put into the water? What if the water had been contaminated, deliberately, or there had been a spill of contaminant somewhere that they were trying to hush up?

  Allie felt a grip of excitement. They needed to test the water. For something. For anything. Bacteria or viruses, and parasites. Anything that was abnormal. If they could isolate something unusual in the water, it would at least be a start.

  Chapter Ten

  Carol, the receptionist, watched avidly as Caleb walked briskly toward her on his way up the stairs. He smiled. She shivered a little. It wasn’t often that guys as handsome as him came into the building. She could probably count them on one hand. She gave him a dazzling smile.

  “Good morning, Mr. Stone. Sleep well?”

  He stopped and stared at the woman. “Very well, thank you, Carol. And you?”

  Carol tossed back her red curly hair, and her smile widened a notch. “Could have been better,” she drawled. “It’s hard getting used to sleeping by myself since Vince and I broke up.” She paused, leaning toward him over the counter. “The bed seems so big.”

  Caleb nodded sympathetically. “Always hard after a break up. Has it been long?”