She shuddered, thinking about that painting. It had given her the creeps from the moment that she had first laid eyes on it. Those ugly creatures slithering through the desert sands. According to Thad, they were the demons. What had he called them again? That’s right. The Vilgath.
She gazed at him over the rim of her coffee cup. This was the problem with wild stories. You couldn’t prove or disprove them until you had witnessed it with your own eyes. Kind of like ghost sightings, she guessed.
“So,” he said, putting down his coffee. “What are your plans? Are you going to head back to Coyote River?”
She shook her head. “Why should I? I came here for a reason. Just because I’m still not sure if I believe your crazy stories doesn’t mean anything.”
He sighed, not saying anything for a moment.
“It’s not safe, Keeley,” he said softly. “If you stay something might happen to you. Just like something happened to your father.” He paused. “I’m starting to think that he was investigating the Vilgath, although how he knew about the building is beyond me.”
“A tip off?” Keeley gazed at him levelly. “Sometimes you get those. From people who want to stay anonymous. He might have been here trying to figure it out.” She sighed. “Or maybe he just went crazy. There is that possibility.”
“Perhaps he saw something that hotwired his brain.” Thad nodded. “I’ve seen that happen before. The mind can’t handle something and just shuts down. Permanently.”
Keeley gazed at him levelly. “You’ve told me a lot about these demons,” she said, slowly. “But tell me more about you. You claim to be a wolf shapeshifter. How on earth is that even possible?”
He shrugged. “The stories of the shifters are as old as time itself,” he replied. “Surely you’ve heard myths and legends about people who can change into animals?”
Keeley hesitated. “My grandma Iris used to tell me a story when I was little,” she said. “She would read it from an old book she had at her place. An old Scottish legend about a creature who lived in a loch, luring passers-by to their deaths. He changed into a kelpie.” She smiled at the memory.
Thad nodded. “I’ve heard that one,” he said slowly. “And every country in the world has them. Have you ever thought they might be based in fact?”
Keeley smiled. “Never. I’ve never been fascinated by other worldly things, like some of my friends at school. It’s hard facts that excite me.”
Thad took a sip of his coffee. “I’m a wolf shapeshifter,” he said slowly. “I can’t explain it rationally. At around the age of seventeen I first started transforming, and the power has never left me.”
“I don’t know, Thad,” she said, staring at him. “It just seems so impossible…”
He sighed, staring down at the table. “It’s okay, Keeley,” he said. “Maybe you should do your own investigating and I’ll do mine. If I find anything about your dad, I’ll let you know.”
He stood up. She gazed up at him, trying to hide her disappointment. She didn’t want him to go. What was happening to her? It was like he had bewitched her or something.
“Maybe we could work together,” she said slowly. “I don’t have to believe what you say. And if anything happens that changes my mind…well, I guess I’ll stand corrected.”
He gazed down at her. “Are you sure? It’s going to be dangerous. I will try to protect you as much as I can, but you need to know that.”
She swallowed. “I’m sure.”
Thad grinned. “Good. I’ll go and pay the bill and we’ll work out our plan of attack for the day.”
***
Thad watched her walking in front of him back to the Hacienda. He didn’t think he had ever been so fascinated by the way a woman walked. Her hips seemed to sway, causing the material of her dress to move softly around her.
He still didn’t know whether he had done the right thing or not. He only knew that his heart had leapt when she had said they should work together. It was warring with another part of him that wanted her out of this godforsaken place as soon as possible. He knew how dangerous this was going to be.
He watched her stop to look in a shop window. It was too late now. For better or for worse she was staying, and he knew that even if they weren’t working together she would still have stayed. The desire to find out what had happened to her father was an obsession. He didn’t think he had a hope in hell of getting her out of this town before she was satisfied she had done her utmost to find out.
She didn’t believe him. She still thought he was crazy. But she at least trusted him enough to help her. That was something.
He smiled, watching her. It was unbelievable, but he almost felt like his old self again. Coming here to this strange town had lit the fire within him again, somehow. He was burning with his old desire to crush the demons. He hadn’t felt like this in a long, long time. It was as if he had been in hiatus; as if he had been put on ice and was slowly thawing.
His heart quickened. He knew it wasn’t just the thought of obliterating the demons. It was also Keeley Walters. Somehow, she had awakened him. He had resisted it, but the truth pressed on him like a vice.
His smile faded a little. It was a pity that this would probably be the last time he would do this.
Keeley turned back to him, smiling. “Do you mind if I go into this shop for a minute? I promised my boss I’d buy him a t-shirt.”
Thad nodded, not trusting himself to speak. She disappeared into the shop. He hung around outside, staring down the street.
It wasn’t as if he wanted to die. Well, maybe he had been flirting with the possibility after what had happened in Covenester. There didn’t seem to be anything to live for, after all. His whole life had been brutally ripped apart, and he couldn’t seem to stitch it back together. But still he didn’t have a death wish.
It was just an instinct that this was bigger and more powerful than anything he had previously encountered. A Vilgath building in the desert, which the book had told him was built for one specific purpose: to wait for the moment when the stars would align, and they would be in the ascendancy. The book had hinted at a power so great that they could take over the world…
And he was only one man. One shapeshifter trying to stop it. The odds weren’t in his favour. He had no pack to call upon anymore. In the past if a case proved too difficult the others would come to help. There was power in numbers, after all.
But the Wild Keepers were gone. And he would probably die trying to stop this.
Suddenly, he didn’t want to. He wanted to live again. For the first time in months, since it had all happened, he could finally see some light at the end of the long, dark tunnel. But it was too little, too late.
There was no way he could walk away from this and save himself.
Keeley came out of the store, clutching a bag. She flashed that brilliant smile at him and they resumed walking. He could see the Hacienda in the distance, shining orange in the bright desert sun.
He frowned. There was something going on there. Some connection with the building in the desert. He just knew it.
***
Keeley took a deep breath, walking into the reception at the Hacienda.
Jim Scott was keeping her waiting, again. She looked down at the bell on the counter and pressed it. She and Thad had decided that they would try to accomplish two things today: question Jim Scott to see if he knew anything about her father and go exploring the desert to try to find this mysterious building. At this very moment Thad was in her room taking a photo of the painting above the bed. He said that if his instinct was correct, the building he was looking for would be a dead ringer for the one in the painting.
She had wanted to do this alone. Jim Scott was short and taciturn as it was—if two people confronted him he would more than likely clam up entirely. And as far as she was aware, he didn’t even know that she and Thad knew each other. Yet.
At last. The man himself. She smiled, watching his eyes grow wary as they gazed on her.
He was dressed in a different Hawaiian shirt today, but with the same gold chains around his neck.
“Miss Walters,” he said shortly. “Are you checking out?”
“Oh, no,” she said slowly, her smile widening. “This is just the most gorgeous little town. I think I might stay a few days and explore it a bit more.”
He nodded but didn’t say anything.
“I got the idea to come here from my father,” she continued, watching him carefully. “He stayed here many years ago and told my mother and I how lovely the town was.” She paused for a beat. “Maybe you remember him? It would have been about fourteen years ago.”
Jim Scott blinked. “Why would I remember him? That’s a long time ago. We’ve had a lot of visitors since then.”
“True,” she said, laughing. “It was silly of me to think so. But he mentioned how charming the Hacienda was. Particularly the staff. You guys made an impression on him.”
“Really?” Jim Scott looked doubtful.
Keeley sighed. The lies were almost sticking in her throat. Particularly the ones about how charming the motel and its staff were. Jim Scott looked shocked. The Hacienda had probably never had a good review in its long life.
How on earth this motel was even still open was beyond her.
“Really.” She beamed. “His name was Gil Walters. A tall man with dark hair. He might have mentioned that he was a reporter in the town that we come from. It’s called Coyote River.”
Jim Scott’s eyes flickered slightly. “I don’t remember. Sorry. Like I said, it was a long time ago.”
“Of course.” She took a deep breath. “My real reason for coming in was to check in with you if you’d thought of anything else around here I might explore. Besides the gold mines, of course.”
Jim Scott scratched his head. “There’s a nice park in the next town,” he said, vaguely. “If you wanted to picnic or something.”
Keeley nodded. “That might be nice one day. Well, thanks so much Jim. You’ve been a wealth of information.” That was probably too much. She could barely keep the sarcastic edge from her voice.
He glanced at her sharply. “All in a day’s work,” he said in a sour voice. “If there’s nothing else…?”
She shook her head. “Have a nice day.” She opened the door and walked out, suppressing the urge to slam it behind her.
Disappointment flooded through her as she walked slowly back to her room. Well, that had yielded exactly nothing. Now she didn’t know why she had ever expected it would. Fourteen years was a long time ago. There was absolutely no reason that Jim Scott would remember a guy who had stayed here for a few days. Even though she couldn’t imagine the Hacienda got much business, it would still have had its share of visitors over the years. The thought that Gil Walters would have made any impression enough for him to be remembered after all this time was remote, to say the least.
She was on a wild goose chase, she thought, her heart sinking. No one in this awful place wanted to talk, or probably even had anything worth saying. It was impossible.
***
Thad glanced at Keeley in the passenger seat of the old truck. She hadn’t said much since she had returned to her room after questioning Jim Scott. The most he had gotten out of her was that the man claimed he didn’t remember her father at all.
She was gazing out the window, a slight frown on her face. He could sense how disappointed she was.
“He might be lying, you know.” His eyes slid sideways off the road to gaze at her briefly.
“Why would he?” She sighed. “It makes more sense that he simply doesn’t remember. I was stupid to think that he might. It was so long ago, Thad.”
Thad sighed, too. “Don’t take it to heart, Keeley. There might be other people who remember your dad and what he was up to in Farrow Valley.”
She snorted. “Unlikely. And even if they did, they wouldn’t say. People around here are about as forthcoming as a snowstorm on the Fourth of July.”
He laughed. “Don’t give up,” he said. “I know it’s discouraging, but we’ll keep trying. Maybe there’s some places out of town we can ask.” He paused. “Did you bring a photo of your dad?”
She nodded. “An old one. It was taken just before he came back from here.”
“Good.” He negotiated a bend in the road. “We’ll stop at a few places and bring it out. I want to show people the picture I took of the painting, too, and see if I get any responses.”
“How can you be so sure?” She turned to look at him. “About the building, I mean. That what you are looking for is the same as in the painting.”
“I’m not sure,” he said. “But it’s the only lead I have at the moment. And sometimes people tell more with their body language than their words. I’m pretty good at telling if someone is lying or pretending not to know something.”
Keeley frowned, staring out the window again. She had the feeling that she wasn’t the only one on a wild goose chase. The chances that Thad was going to find this mysterious building—that it was suddenly going to materialise out of the desert like a mirage—was remote.
She turned back to gaze at him. The thought of finding this place seemed to have transformed him, somehow. Back in Coyote River, he had always seemed listless and uninterested in everything. Now, she could feel the energy pulsing through him, like his synapses were firing with possibilities. He was excited. The thrill of the chase.
And it was as sexy as hell.
She was catching a glimpse of the guy that he must have been, before it had all happened. His tragedy. Before he had crawled into that cabin like a snail retreating into its shell. A dynamic guy. And coupled with his new look, it was an almost irresistible combination.
She had always known he was sexy even with all the hair and the moroseness. But now she felt it. Strongly.
A pity he was crazy, she thought, a little wistfully.
***
She must have dozed off for a while. Because the next thing she knew she was jolted awake by Thad screeching to a halt and reversing wildly.
“What’s going on?” she mumbled, confused.
He didn’t answer. Suddenly, he pulled into a tiny shack. There was a sign hanging in the window. Something about fresh squash for sale.
“We need vegetables?” she asked, still as confused as ever.
He turned to her finally, pulling on the hand brake with a lurch.
“I want to ask around,” he said. “I almost missed this place. Maybe someone here might be friendlier than they are in Farrow Valley.”
She nodded. “Let’s do it, then.”
They both got out of the truck. A man in a singlet and shorts walked out of the shack, grinning at them.
“Welcome,” he said, his smile broadening. “You people wanting some squash? My wife just harvested some peppers too, if you’re interested.”
Keeley stared at him. He was old and weathered. His skin appeared to have the same texture as the leather on her father’s old satchel, and he had an alarming turn in one eye, which disconcerted her. Was he looking at them, or somewhere else? But his smile seemed genuine, and it was the first such smile she had seen on anyone’s face since she had come to this place.
Thad seemed to sense his friendliness, too. He stuck out his hand. “Thad Morgan. And this is Keeley Walters.”
The old man looked surprised, but took the outstretched hand, shaking it firmly.
“Josiah Connelly,” he said. “Are you folks travelling through to the city?”
Thad shook his head. “Actually, we’re staying in Farrow Valley for a few days.”
The old man’s eyes widened. “There ain’t much there,” he muttered. “It’s been getting worse over the years. Almost like a ghost town, now.” He paused. “My wife and I avoid it if possible. We do our shopping in the next town over.”
Thad nodded. “It is a strange place. People aren’t as friendly as we might have expected.”
The old man snorted. “That’s the understatement of th
e year,” he scoffed. “Folks from Farrow Valley are an insular bunch, that’s for sure. They don’t like strangers. And even people like us, who have lived on this land for over forty years, aren’t welcome there anymore.”
“Why is that?” asked Thad. “Keeley and I have both talked about it. We thought a little town like Farrow Valley would be chasing the tourist dollar.”
The old man coughed. “Well, now, there’s rumours,” he said slowly. “But I don’t know anything about what goes on near there, and I don’t want to know.”
Thad frowned. He pulled his phone out of his jeans, scrolling through it. Then he passed the phone to the old man, waiting for his reaction.
The man stared at it, confused. “It’s a strange painting, that’s for sure. Why do you want me to look at it?”
Thad took a deep breath. “I was wondering if the building in it was of a place around here,” he said. “The painting is in the motel in town that we are staying at. The Hacienda.”
“I know it,” said the old man slowly. “Falling to ruin more and more with each passing year. That Jim Scott doesn’t take care of it.” He studied the photo further. “I’ve passed this building over the years. But you don’t want to go near it. It’s not for tourists.”
Keeley felt her heart quicken, and she turned to Thad. His eyes were glittering.
“Why?” His voice was high with excitement. “What is it?”
The old man rubbed his eyes then handed the phone back to Thad. “I don’t rightly know what it is,” he said slowly. “It was built years ago. So many years ago, I can barely remember.” He paused. “If you go anywhere near it, their security system is tripped, and all of a sudden you have guards and dogs after you. So, I stay away from it.”
Thad nodded quickly. “Where is it?”
The old man blanched. “Like I said, you don’t want to go there.” His voice was firm. “Strange things have happened there over the years, too. I’ve heard of people going missing when they’ve been in that area.” He lowered his voice. “People have whispered that it’s a secret government place. Where they conduct experiments on aliens.”
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