“Where are you?” she demanded.
“None of your business.”
“Well, speaking of business,” she said, “I’m trying to run one. A construction business. And if you—”
I ended the call.
She called back.
I answered, “Do you have a death wish?”
“You can’t wring my neck over the phone.”
Considering the cell in my hand, I said, “I could try.”
“I know Anna’s here,” she said. “You don’t have to interact with her or talk to her, but you have to do your damn job. And don’t you hang up—”
I hung up. She’d given Finn and Declan breaks when they were having issues with Sophie and Daphne. So this wasn’t fair.
In some ways, she was right. Business, work, duty. And I wouldn’t leave Daphne high and dry—the formidable human woman had her heart set on a big laundry room so she wouldn’t have to maneuver giant armloads of linens into the tiny closet currently serving that purpose. The B&B was growing as we remodeled more rooms, and apparently none of the more industrial laundry services was willing to schlep all the way out there to pick up dirty linens and deliver fresh ones. Plus, there was some kind of nonsense about the “homey” touch, according to Daphne, and she didn’t want generic white sheets.
I thought white was fine, but I liked Daphne, and giving her a laundry room in the basement wasn’t such a tall order.
After cleaning my brushes and stacking the fresh painting of Anna off in the corner with the rest of them, I locked up the garage and headed back to Daphne’s B&B.
The drive went too fast, and I didn’t feel ready to see Anna again. Or rather, I felt too ready. So I told myself maybe she wasn’t there. She’d seemed just as happy to see me as I’d been to see her, so chances were high she was already taking off. That’s what she was good at, anyway—leaving without saying goodbye.
Come to think of it, I’d been invited to her grandma’s birthday party. That was probably why Anna was in town.
Shit. I’d already said I would stop by the party. I didn’t want to offend her gram.
I’d worry about that later.
Once I reached the end of the bumpy driveway, though, I was in for a surprise. Several guests were sitting on the front porch, looking shocked, including the punk-ass troublemakers. Daphne was out there with them, and Anna, too. She was wearing clothes, unlike the last time we’d encountered each other. Didn’t matter what she was wearing, though—the sight of her got my wolf hopeful while my heart squeezed painfully in my chest.
The look on her face, though, showed horror and astonishment.
I parked and got out of my truck, not bothering with my toolbox. Something was definitely up. As I approached the porch, Daphne gave me a half-hearted wave.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“There’s—there’s a body,” Daphne said. “Someone was killed. Behind the building, on the other side of the kitchen.”
The bald guy sniffed and rubbed at red eyes. The rest of the scrotum boys were solemn. There was a young couple, too, who looked shaken. They were probably staying in the only other room that Daphne had available at the moment.
“What?” I said. Had I heard her right? A dead body?
Anna nodded. “Mitchell, here, discovered him.”
I looked at the guy Anna pointed to. He had long, blond hair and obviously used a lot of product to get it all wavy like that. He was currently staring straight down at his hands like looking for the answer to something. I already hadn’t liked these guys before the rat blood incident. Seemed like the trouble never ended with them.
Then I turned back to Daphne. “Does Declan know?”
“He’s on his way,” she said. “He’s been in town, picking up some things from the hardware store.”
“Good.” The alpha would be the one to decide how to deal with this. It made me glad as hell that I wasn’t the alpha. I didn’t want that job, no way. I had enough baggage of my own without taking on everyone else’s.
I nodded once and walked back to my truck.
“Where are you going?” Anna asked.
I stopped in my tracks. Moira had told me I wouldn’t need to talk to or interact with Anna. Yet here I was, doing both, apparently.
“I’m getting my toolbox, and then I’m getting to work,” I said without turning to look at her.
“With a dead body just outside the building?” She sounded disapproving.
I shrugged. “I’ll be in the basement.”
But apparently I wouldn’t be, because just then Declan drove up. He hopped out of his truck and pointed to me. “Come with me, let’s check it out together. Everyone else, go to your rooms, please. Daphne, can you make sure everyone stays out of the way?”
“Of course,” she said, brushing a kiss against his cheek. “I’ll make breakfast and serve it to everyone’s rooms.”
“I’d be happy to help you with that,” Anna said.
Daphne shot her a grateful look. “Thanks.”
Declan watched me watch Anna with a smirk on his face. Then he pointed around the side of the house. “Shall we, Romeo?”
“Fuck you.” I shrugged and followed him toward the back yard.
“Shouldn’t we be calling the police?” I heard one of the punk-ass guests whine as Declan and I walked.
Luckily, we had a shifter on the police force. Matt, Anna’s cousin, would be able to help us out.
“Can I film this?” another guy asked.
“All of you, go upstairs to your rooms, please,” Declan repeated through the open kitchen window. In a low voice, he asked me, “Where’s the body?”
“Daphne told me it was just around on the other side of the house—outside the kitchen.”
We came around the rear corner of the building and looked toward the kitchen at the same time, and there it was. I didn’t know the name of the guy. He had medium-brown hair and a big beard, big enough to hide things in. He was also completely naked, and very, very dead. His arms were flung out in the mud. A bright pink blanket, which looked to have been taken directly from one of the guest rooms, lay spread out on the muddy ground beside the body. A plate sat upon it, along with a cloth napkin and some silverware, and a vase of dead flowers. It looked idyllic until one looked closer at the plate, which was filled with leaves, mushrooms, dirt, and dead insects.
“What do you think killed him?” Declan asked quietly.
I pointed. “If I had to guess, I’d say maybe whatever he was picnicking on.”
“Did he pull a Renfield?” Declan asked.
“A what?”
Declan shook his head. “From Dracula. Daphne made me watch the movie with her the other night. Renfield eats flies.”
“Oh.” Gross. “I don’t know about flies. I think it was probably the mushrooms.”
Declan kept his distance from the plate, probably avoiding the insects, so I got closer and took a look.
“Yeah,” I said. “Some of these are definitely the poisonous kind.”
“But...naked?” Declan asked. “Why naked?”
“Maybe some of the shrooms made him hallucinate, first?”
“I gotta call Matt,” Declan said, already looking at his phone.
Matt was perfect to call in situations of supernatural deaths. This might not be supernatural, but it was weird as fuck, so it made sense to call him first.
“What’s up, Alpha?” Matt asked on the other end of the line.
“Dead guy at the B&B, suspicious and weird,” Declan said.
“I’ll be right over.”
While we waited for Matt, Declan said, “I don’t like this. We’ve had months of quiet, then these assholes show up and now this?”
“Other than being slobs, what are they doing that’s bad?” I asked. “Oh…and besides the blood?”
“You heard about that, huh?” Declan asked. “They’re disgusting. And loud. And disrespectful. But Daphne says they paid in advance and she doesn’t want to
get bad reviews from them, so we’ll wait them out.”
We stood for a bit, trying not to stare at the dead dude.
“So, Anna’s here,” Declan said.
“Thanks for the warning, asshole.”
“I didn’t know,” Declan said, raising his hands up in the no-harm gesture. “Honest, I was out when she arrived because of the chemical smell from cleaning up the blood.”
I shrugged like it didn’t matter, but we both knew it did. Declan had been the one person I talked to right after Anna had left.
We heard the sound of a car engine. “That’ll be Matt,” Declan said.
I nodded, grateful we didn’t have to talk about Anna, and we waited for the car to park. Footsteps sounded around the edge of the building, and then Matt was there, dark hair gleaming in the sunlight. He raised his hand in greeting, then whistled low as his gray eyes surveyed the scene in front of us.
“Mushrooms?” he asked.
“Probably,” I said.
“He didn’t even vomit, though,” Matt said, squatting down to take a closer look at the picnic blanket. He pulled a pen from his shirt pocket and used it to lift a corner of the fabric. He sniffed the air. “I don’t smell anything suspicious. Probably should get Doctor Frylie to take a look at the body.”
She was the coroner. Although she was human, she was married to a shifter, so that was handy when the town had to deal with anything that looked paranormal.
“So we don’t think he was murdered, right?” Declan said.
“Doesn’t look like murder, doesn’t smell like murder,” Matt said. “So no, probably not murder. But we don’t want to rule anything out yet. Any idea why he’s naked? Is he one of those scrotum musicians?”
Declan nodded.
“In the meantime,” Matt said, “you might not want to leave Daphne here alone. It’s been quiet after the slugs and the chaos demon, but...this could be the beginning of something else.”
“Shit,” Declan said, his voice resigned. “I better call Pearl.”
I clapped him on the back. “At least it isn’t slugs, right?”
Chapter 7
Anna
With breakfast delivered, I headed back downstairs to help Daphne clean up. Given the dead body that was being carted away outside, I figured she could use the company.
“One of these days I’m going to get all of the rooms ready for use,” she said. “And everyone who comes to stay will be here for the food, the hot springs, and the hospitality.”
The part about the asylum’s history went unsaid. Curious, I almost asked why she’d decided to purchase the place if she wasn’t looking for that kind of attention. Instead, I held up my mug. “And the tea.”
She smiled over her shoulder at me as she filled the sink with sudsy water.
Banging carried down the stairs, like an approaching avalanche.
Given the impending interaction with the remaining members of Scrotal Eclipse of the Heart, I was more than ready to leave the kitchen. But I was also a little curious about them. Aside from the initial quiet and solemn looks, they didn’t seem to have much of a reaction at all to the death of their friend. The loud music had resumed, and if possible, it was played louder.
I held my cup of tea and watched as they shoved each other at the doorway to the hall. I took a few steps back, making sure when they came plowing through the kitchen like a bull, I wasn’t going to be in the way.
“Guys, please—” Daphne took a step toward them.
I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, just as the bald-headed one knocked his friends out of the way and slammed through the kitchen where she had been standing.
Baldy flipped up onto the countertop, arms flailing, and smashed the platters of food to the floor.
Daphne gasped. Baldy laughed.
His friends came in after, laughing harder.
“Everyone out.” Daphne’s voice was firm. She pointed to the door, giving the men a glare that would give Gram a run for her money.
“Sorry,” Baldy said with a smirk, before joining his friends in the hall.
“I’m still hungry,” Mitchell said.
“There are places to get food in town,” Daphne said. “I suggest you fend for yourselves.”
“We’re allowed to leave?” one of the others asked.
“As soon as I’ve taken your statements.” It was my cousin’s voice that answered. I peeked out into the hall and found Matt by the front door.
He gave me a wave. I waved back.
Mitchell, Baldy, Razor, and Blade were loud the whole way to the front door, and the silence that followed was a pleasant reprieve.
Daphne bent down on the floor and swept up bits of dishes and food.
“I’m so sorry about them,” she said, giving me a sad smile.
I bent down beside her and picked up a few of the larger pieces of ceramic. “Don’t apologize,” I said. “It’s them who should be apologizing to you.”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she said. “But it’s okay. I can do hard things.”
Steely determination was set on her face. The resilience needed to turn a run-down asylum into a thriving B&B, I could see she had it, in spades.
“Is that your mantra?” I asked, recognizing her words from a class I took about positive mindset in college.
“Yes,” she said. “I love that it reminds me that I have the power to do anything. Sometimes I have to say it a few times to believe it, sometimes more than a few times. Do you use it, too?”
“Oh, no,” I said. “I’m not one for mantras, though I’m a firm believer in do what works for you.”
“You do you.” Daphne nodded. “That’s a good one, too. Always be yourself and don’t get bogged down and judgmental.”
She scooped up the remaining bits of egg and glass from the floor and dropped them into the trash. I followed suit and deposited the pieces I held. She wiped up the last crumbs with a rag and smiled approvingly at the wet floor.
I looked at her face, wondering how she managed that smile after what had happened. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, anything.”
“Why not tell them to leave?”
“You mean not just for breakfast, but to stay somewhere else?” she asked.
“That’s exactly what I mean.” I hoped it wasn’t about the money. If it was, I imagined the damage they caused canceled whatever profit she might’ve once hoped for. And if it were me, I knew for certain I wouldn’t put up with them.
“My boyfriend Declan keeps telling me to kick them out. But I guess I’m just stubborn that way,” she said.
I nodded. “Because you can do hard things.”
“Exactly.”
I raised my mug to her and let her words sink in. Declan O’Malley was her boyfriend. I wondered if that was all that they were, or if they were mates, too. And if she knew about shifters.
“I should get going.” I turned for the door.
“Want a muffin?” Daphne opened the fridge. “I learned my lesson the first day they arrived, and stopped putting everything out all at once.”
“Smart,” I said, and accepted the cold pastry she offered. “Thanks.”
I headed back upstairs and took a bite of the muffin before setting both it and my tea on the dresser. Cinnamon chip. It was quite good.
My clothes were still in my bag, so I dug through them, searching for the dress I’d picked for the party.
I pulled out my yellow dress, the only thing I owned that was appropriate for the occasion, and put it on. Okay, it was a little wrinkled, so maybe it wouldn’t have been a terrible idea to hang up the one piece. Too late to worry about it now.
The dress was soft and billowy except for around my waist, where the fabric cut in and showed my figure. It was feminine and modest, and fell just above the knee. It also happened to be sleeveless, which meant I’d need to wear my jacket, not because I’d be cold, but because humans would assume I should be cold. It was a whole thing shifter
s had to deal with, but I was used to it.
The only other options I owned were jeans and t-shirts or the dress pants and blouses I wore for work.
I pulled my hair up and checked myself in the mirror. Nope, hair down. I let the dark strands fall over my bare shoulders. Not too bad. I put on a layer of mauve lipstick and some mascara, and I was ready to get this party over with. However, it was still a bit early.
There was a knock on my door. I opened it and found Matt, my cousin, standing there. He looked just like I remembered, with his tousled dark hair and kind gray eyes. The only difference was that his soft boyish charm had hardened into a square jaw and thicker shoulders.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi, good to see you,” I said. “It’s been forever.”
Aside from my dad, it had been a long time since I’d seen any of my family or former pack. The slight awkwardness I felt now was a precursor to the onslaught I’d have to deal with at the party.
He nodded. “In town for Gram’s party?”
“Yep.”
“We should catch up later.” He held up his pen and notepad. “I have to get your statement real quick before I can get ready.”
“Sure,” I said, gesturing for him to come in.
As he entered, he did a quick look around the room, no doubt noticing my suitcase was still packed and ready to go.
“What can you tell me about Rooster?” he asked finally.
“Rooster?”
“The dead guy.”
“Oh, right.” I crossed my arms and shrugged. “Not much. I just got into town. He and his friends are loud. I never talked to the guy.”
“Did you hear anything that could help the investigation? Any trouble between the bandmates?”
“Nope. Nothing.”
Matt nodded and closed his notebook without writing anything down. “Thanks, Anna. I’ll see you at the party.”
“Yeah.”
He left, and I was stuck with more time and nothing to do. So, I read a couple of news articles. It felt like the adult way of procrastinating or doing nothing. I could tell myself I was keeping up with current events while also watching a few cat videos in between. After I’d exhausted the interesting articles, I checked my email and noticed one from Lenore, my favorite client. Not that I had favorites.
Bound to Forbidden Page 3
