by Terry Spear
Getting his annoyance under control, Allan headed toward them. Rowdy saw him first. He smiled a little, as if he knew it would bother Allan that he was having fun with Debbie when she was here to have dinner with Allan.
As soon as Allan joined them, Rowdy said, “Debbie asked if I’d have pizza with the two of you. So what do you like on yours?”
Surprised as hell that she would invite Rowdy to join them, Allan glanced at Debbie, wondering if she had felt obligated to be polite since Rowdy appeared to be alone. She was all smiles, which showed just how pretty she was, her long dark hair pulled back, her brown eyes sparkling. She seemed to be thrilled to be here, and Allan was glad he had offered to join her. But if he’d picked her up, he wouldn’t have had to deal with Rowdy joining the party.
“I love double cheese and mushrooms, if that’s good with everyone,” Debbie said.
Allan snapped his mouth shut. Okay, he reminded himself, this wasn’t a date. She was just his partner, and they were just having a pizza. And Rowdy wasn’t dating her either. Just three people that had work in common and now were having a dinner out. So why did Allan feel like telling Rowdy to get lost? Or interrogating him about why he seemed to be at the same places Debbie was today?
“Yeah, sure, whatever everyone else wants.” Allan really tried not to show his growlier wolf nature, but he was having a hard time keeping his feelings hidden. He figured at this rate, they might as well sit at one of the long tables, but Rowdy steered them to a booth and maneuvered it so that he was sitting next to Debbie on one side.
She didn’t seem to mind. In fact, Allan thought she looked pleased with the arrangement. Was she miffed at Allan because he had wanted to take separate vehicles? He’d wanted to be able to leave at a moment’s notice if any of his family called to tell him there was more trouble. And he didn’t want it to look like he was dating her if a werewolf killer was on the loose.
“So, what do you make of this latest case?” Rowdy asked.
“I’d say the person was crazy,” Debbie said. “Who traps a naked woman like that and then shoots her several times?”
The waitress came and took their orders. She brought back a pitcher of beer and mugs, then headed for another table.
“The only thing I can come up with is some lunatic thought the woman was a werewolf. I thought of vampires, but hunters kill them with wooden stakes.” Rowdy poured everyone a mug of beer.
Allan had heard Rowdy watched the TV series Supernatural and several other paranormal series, so he wasn’t surprised when Rowdy came up with that scenario as a lighthearted approach to his ongoing murder investigations.
“Werewolf? Right.” Debbie sipped her beer.
As far as Allan knew, Debbie loved the epic, more historical kind of fantasy, but wasn’t into the urban fantasy stuff—like vampires and werewolves.
“We still don’t have a clue who she was?” Allan wasn’t about to get pulled into a discussion about werewolves or any other paranormal creatures.
“No word yet,” Rowdy said. “And the victim didn’t have any wolf DNA.”
Debbie rolled her eyes. “They did not test for wolf DNA.”
Rowdy smiled and winked at her. “I asked the county coroner to look for it, and she said she always checked blood work, as a matter of course. No wolf DNA. Just plain old human blood.”
“She did not check for wolf DNA,” Debbie said.
Rowdy laughed. “If she’d found some when she did the other tests, wouldn’t you have been surprised?”
Allan couldn’t help but be amused at the way the conversation was going. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Rowdy had asked the coroner to check the blood for wolf DNA.
Thankfully, lupus garous were all wolf in appearance, DNA included, when in wolf form and totally human when they were in human form. So if anyone ran any kind of tests on them, they wouldn’t show both in any of their systems.
The three of them finally got on to other subjects, and despite disliking that Rowdy was here with Debbie to begin with, Allan liked the guy and found his company agreeable. He was a good homicide detective with a sterling reputation and a great success rate in solving murder cases and getting convictions. If Allan hadn’t loved diving so much, he wouldn’t have minded working with Rowdy in his field of expertise.
Debbie sipped more of her beer, then set her mug down. “I have a confession to make. You guys are a lot of fun.” Her eyes were bright and glistened a bit in the ambient lights in the restaurant.
Allan raised his brows a little. Was she slightly…drunk? After only a beer?
Rowdy smiled.
“No, really. You know I’ve been working with Allan for nearly five months and I’ve known you, Rowdy, for what? About the same? Maybe a little less. This is the first time I’ve had a chance to just”—she pulled off the clasp holding her hair up, and the dark-brown curls cascaded over her shoulders—“let my hair down a bit.”
Allan had never seen her hair loose. Silky, rich, and thick. He could just imagine running his hands through the soft strands.
Rowdy saluted her, still smiling. “Here’s to letting your hair down.”
She looked like she was feeling a bit tipsy. But after one beer? Granted, the mugs were big, but… He frowned. She’d told him her dad had been an alcoholic. Had she never taken a drink before?
“Do you want a soda? Water? Coffee?” Allan asked.
“Nah, I’m fine.” She pointed a slice of pizza at him. “I dropped by your sister’s place to offer my shoulder if she ever needs it.”
“I heard.”
She frowned at him. “I don’t think they—your mom and sister—liked that we were going out on a date.”
He opened his mouth to object, but she quickly added, “Oh, don’t misunderstand. I didn’t say we were going on a date. But for whatever reason, I believe that’s what they concluded. Should I have repeated that this wasn’t a date? That’s why I asked old Rowdy here if he’d like to join us—because we aren’t on a date.” She grinned, then took a bite of the cheese pizza.
Rowdy laughed. “How often do you go out drinking?”
“Me?” Debbie’s eyes were wide. “Oh, heavens. Never. It’s just been a rough day, and I thought for a date…well, not a date, just a pizza get-together where everyone drinks beer…well, it would seem antisocial of me if I didn’t join in on the fun.” She finished her pizza and looked from Allan to Rowdy. “What?”
“Do you think you can drive home okay?” Allan asked. He wasn’t going to let her, but it was better if she thought it was her idea. “If not, we’ll drop you off at home, and we can leave your car at your place.”
“No, thanks. I can drive.” Then she chewed on her bottom lip. “You don’t think I’m that bad, do you?”
“We’ll take you home,” Allan said. Even if she was fine, he didn’t want her to risk getting in an accident on the way to Whitefish thirty miles away that would get her into trouble with the sheriff’s department. He doubted her blood alcohol level would be that high. Even so, the beer definitely had affected her.
“Okay. But I’m really feeling great.”
That’s what Allan was worried about. That she was feeling too great. After they finished the pizza, they walked outside and found it had been snowing the whole time they were eating. Because of the weather conditions, Allan was glad they were taking Debbie home. He drove his own vehicle, and Rowdy drove Debbie’s. She sat in the passenger’s seat, leaning her head against the window of her car. Allan wondered if she’d gone to sleep.
Halfway to her place, Allan noticed a black sedan following him through the traffic lights. The car continued to follow until Allan turned right at a street that would take him out of his way. The sedan continued on past.
Once Allan had turned around and gotten back on the main road to Debbie’s home, he saw the black sedan turn down the next street. When Al
lan passed the street, he expected to see the sedan still driving along, but it had vanished. Other than a number of businesses closed for the night, there wasn’t anywhere for the sedan to go, except to turn down the next street. He had to have been flying at that point to make the corner before Allan reached the intersection.
On the rest of the drive to Debbie’s house, Allan kept watching for the black sedan. It probably meant nothing sinister, but working for law enforcement, he was wary.
When he pulled into Debbie’s driveway, Rowdy was just parking. “What happened to you back there? I thought you’d gotten lost,” Rowdy said, getting out of Debbie’s car.
Allan went to the passenger door when Debbie didn’t get out. “I thought I…” He didn’t want to sound paranoid and changed his mind about saying anything. He shrugged. “Is Debbie asleep?”
“The whole way here,” Rowdy said.
Allan was glad they had driven her home, given the circumstances. He opened her door, but she stirred and smiled up at him. “Ohmigod, I’ve never fallen asleep on a date. Well, it wasn’t a date. But you know what I mean.”
Allan helped her out of the car, and she was boneless. He noticed she’d left her purse on the seat and seized it. But she managed to walk on her own. “Are you going to be all right tonight?”
“Yeah, sure. Long day. Missed lunch and breakfast—meant to have both, but never got around to either. I had some hot chocolate at your sister’s house to tide me over, but I think the beer got to me. A little.”
Allan smiled and held the door to her duplex for her. She didn’t move out of the doorway, but waited for him to hand over her purse. “Thanks. I had a lovely time. Next time, I’ll have water. It would be safer that way.” She waved at Rowdy, who was standing beside Allan’s hatchback. “Night. That was fun. We’ll have to do it again sometime.”
“Next Friday?” Rowdy asked in a hurry.
She glanced up at Allan, her dark-brown eyes wide with expectation.
“Sure.” What the hell. If the three of them were going to have pizza, maybe on a regular Friday-night basis, no one would get the notion he was dating Debbie. Himself included.
“Night, Debbie. See you tomorrow.” Even though it was Saturday, they were diving to Van Lake again to see if they could find more clues.
Rowdy waved good-bye. “Night, Debbie.”
“Night, all.” She closed her door and Allan waited until he heard the lock snick closed.
“I sure admire you for the work you do,” Rowdy said as they climbed into Allan’s car. “I wanted to be a police diver. I thought it sounded really glamorous and more fun than regular police work. Then Debbie’s retired partner told me about diving in murky waters, with swift moving currents, under ice, in frigid water, and at night or other times when there is zero visibility. The worst was the idea of diving in intake pipes and sewer water. So I decided I liked my job just fine. I guess with your SEAL training, diving suits you. Still can’t figure out why Debbie would want a job like that.”
Allan nodded. He wasn’t about to explain what she had told him if she hadn’t mentioned it to Rowdy.
“So sorry about your kinfolk seeing that murder scene today. I can imagine how horrified they must have been. With both being pregnant, I worried about miscarriages.”
“They were shook up, sure. After witnessing such a thing, they’re wary now, of course. Until we catch the murderer, it’s a big concern for everyone.”
“I agree. I hope that I didn’t mess things up by butting in on your pizza night with Debbie. She was just so adamant, I couldn’t say no.”
Allan shook his head. “Like Debbie said, it was nice getting to know a little more about each other off duty. After such a harrowing day, the evening went well, I thought.”
“It did, but I can bow out next time. I didn’t want to say anything in front of Debbie, but I can make excuses.”
“I don’t have any problem with you having pizza with us.”
“She said you weren’t on a date.”
“No, we weren’t.”
“Then you wouldn’t have any objection if I ask her out sometime?” Rowdy asked.
“Not at all.” Allan told himself she should go out with other guys. They could be work colleagues and maybe even friends, but nothing serious could happen between them. And if she were dating a police officer, that might deter any lunatic wanting to kill werewolves.
So why was he so annoyed with the idea?
He dropped Rowdy off at the pizzeria so he could get his car and then headed back to the site of the woman’s murder. The location was two miles from Paul and Lori’s cabin, but he didn’t intend to disturb them tonight. Not unless he found something important related to the case.
When he arrived as close to the scene as he could get, he parked on the logging trail and hiked to the killing site. He sniffed around the area in the dark, though he could see somewhat. He was mostly relying on his sense of smell. To his surprise, he smelled another wolf.
Maybe a real wolf attracted to the blood? If it was a lupus garou, it was a male and unknown to Allan. And it was recent. The male hadn’t scent-marked the area, but his wolf scent was in the air. Allan would have shifted to see if the wolf had left a scent from his paw pads, but he couldn’t do it if the wolf killer was watching.
Allan texted Paul with the news.
Paul texted him right back: You’re at the site now?
Yeah, just got here.
Drop by the cabin when you’re through.
Allan hadn’t wanted to alarm Lori, but he texted back: Sure.
Lori was the pack leader too. She had to know everything going on with regard to the pack.
Allan tracked the wolf’s scent trail for two miles into the wilderness. Snow covered the tracks, so Allan couldn’t tell if the wolf had been in human form or was a wolf. He thought if it had been a lupus garou, he would have headed for a vehicle parked on the logging road. But he hadn’t. He tracked it for another four miles and got another text. He checked it out.
Paul had texted him: Where are you?
Just tracking the wolf trail. I’m coming in. Be there in about two hours.
I’m coming for you if you’re not back in two.
I hear you.
Allan headed in the direction of his car, his boots crunching in the snow. He told himself the trail had to be a wolf’s. Why would a lupus garou be running through their territory in the vicinity of a crime scene?
He reached his car and paused, listening to the wind howling through the snow-covered branches. Then he got in and drove to Paul and Lori’s cabin. As soon as he parked, Paul opened the door. He was bundled up, looking as though he intended to search for Allan, which Allan hadn’t wanted. Not with Paul still on the mend. On a summer’s day, he probably could take a short hike. But in these snowdrifts and with his leg muscles and tendons still healing, no.
“Sorry it took me so long.”
“Verdict?” Paul asked as he pulled off his gloves and coat while Allan shut the door.
The place was quiet, and except for the living room, the rest of the house was dark. “Is Lori asleep?” Allan asked, his voice hushed.
“Yeah. She knew you were on your way. She hasn’t been sleeping well, so she wanted to go to bed early. I’ll let her know the news tomorrow.” Paul got them some beers. “So what’s going on?”
“No prints. Too much snow had fallen for me to tell if it was a wolf or a wolf shifter. But it was male and he didn’t mark the territory, just moved through it. He could have been attracted to the blood, thinking it was a fresh kill. We have a number of real wolf packs in the forests here, so that’s reasonable.”
“Your gut instinct?”
“My gut instinct is it’s a pure wolf. Why would a lupus garou be up here at the crime scene otherwise?”
“He’s related to the woman who was
murdered?”
“I hadn’t considered that. Or maybe the killer was a lupus garou, but the first time he came through the area, he used a hunter’s spray to conceal that he was a wolf.”
“I don’t buy it.”
“I thought someone was tailing me today. Well, not me, but Debbie. I swore a black sedan was following me after we left the pizzeria, so I turned off on another street, then came back around, and the black sedan continued to trail Debbie’s car.”
“Why were you following Debbie’s car?” Paul sounded a tad suspicious of Allan’s motives.
Allan stiffened a bit. “She’d had a little too much to drink.” Before Paul could ask why he allowed her to drive home, he quickly said, “Rowdy met us at the pizza place and he drove her home. I gave him a ride back to the pizzeria.”
Paul visibly relaxed.
“I wouldn’t let her drive home like that.”
“I understand.”
But Allan thought it was more than that. Paul was glad Rowdy was with them sharing pizza, and he had driven her home.
“So how long did the sedan follow her vehicle?”
“As soon as I was behind him, he made a quick turn onto the next street. By the time I reached the street, there was no sign of him. There wasn’t anything really suspicious about him, but with this situation with Lori and Rose, and Debbie dropping by to see Rose today…I just feel the need to be more vigilant.”
“Agreed. I take it you didn’t get his license number?”
“No. I planned to when I was behind him, but I didn’t get close enough.”
“Okay, so we’ll have everyone watching for a black sedan and be on the alert for a male lupus garou stranger. And a red Camaro, if Franny’s ex-lover has found her and is stalking her. I’m glad to hear that there’s nothing serious going on between you and Debbie. Rose and Catherine were worried about you.”
“Rowdy is asking her out. I’m not dating her, Paul. I know the rules. We just shared some pizza and beer. Next week, we’re planning to do the same thing, the three of us, unless Rowdy starts dating her. Then it’s strictly just work and she’s all his.”
