“Mesa.”
“Okay, so let’s start at the beginning then. Are you all from there?”
“Yes,” Two of them stated, but the other three shook their heads. Great no common ground there.
“Okay, what brought you all to the protest?”
“We were at the protest fighting for the anti-lycan ruling at the school.” The man said.
The first woman nodded. “We don’t want the monsters there.”
“That was a stupid question.” The second man pitched in. “You’re going to get the monster who did this to us, right?”
Great, I was dealing with newly changed pups who hated the creatures they became.
“Do any of you remember the attack?”
They all shook their heads.
I looked at Simon to see if that was normal. He gave a subtle shake of his head as if reading my mind. I made a couple notes about where they came from. “Okay, I’m going to need names, and then I want to talk to each of you alone to find out what happened leading up to the attack.”
They all exchanged glances, and the first man spoke. “We’d rather do everything together.”
“I’m sorry, that’s not an option here,” I said gently. “I have another case that may be related to this, so I need to make sure that each story matches up to the other.” I doubted they’d had a chance to rehearse a lie.
Simon stepped up. “If you’re scared of her, I’ll stand in and make sure she doesn’t hurt you.”
What the hell? “Why would they be scared of me?”
“You’re a PIB agent, which means you’re not human. They’ve expressed that they aren’t comfortable with non-humans.”
“You’re not human.” I pointed out.
He nodded. “I’m an alpha, I can calm their wolf, and they can feel that. You’re a witch who has no particular association to them. So…you’re the bad guy here.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake.”
Their eyes grew wide and I sighed. “I’m sorry. Let’s get on with it.” I had nothing else to say about my outburst. It’d been a long time since someone was scared of me simply because I was a witch. I grabbed two of the stools from the breakfast bar and put them in one of the bedrooms. While Simon stood out in the living room and talked to the pups, I took a moment to draw a rune on the seat of one stool. The spell would make sure that the person touching the rune told the truth. I sat the two stools across from each other.
“Send the first one in, please,” I called out. Simon walked in with the first male. I took a moment to look at him, truly. His hair was carefully gelled into place with a little curve to the front reminding me of Superman. The color was even right. “What’s your name?”
He remained standing. “John Doe.”
Really? I took a deep breath to keep my anger in. “Your real name.”
“I want to remain anonymous.”
“You know, I’m going to need a name to even begin to bring in the wolf that changed you.”
“One: I know my rights.” He crossed his arms. “Two: you work for the monsters.”
I raised my brow. “Do you really think that? That I work for the monsters?”
“You’re a witch.” He motioned to the stool. “You do magic to do your job. Without it, you’d be nothing.”
I tried to see it from his point of view. I really did, but all I could see was ignorance. I tried to put it into a human perspective. “Yes, magic is a part of my job. I use it to save people, to bring in people who are truly monsters. Humans have the same thing; you call them police. We’re on the same side here.”
“Police go through years of training—“
“So do PIB agents. Many of the original PIB agents were FBI beforehand.” I kept my voice level. “Not all of us are paranormal either; I met a PIB agent who was human.” Of course, he’d gotten possessed at one point, but I left that out. “He helped me close a case that had to do with demonic possession.”
“Then he is an idiot to work with the monsters.”
“Okay, John Doe, we’ll do this your way, but know the lack of information does not help me figure out what is going on.” I motioned to the stool. “Sit down.”
“No, I won’t be tainted by your magic.”
I really wanted to do something that would scare him, some magical parlor trick that would make him shit his pants. I refrained as he’d probably put a complaint into the PIB office. “Okay then. Before you were changed, you were at the protest?”
“No, we went out for drinks afterward.”
“Okay, the PIB peace officers shut down the protest, what? About nine?”
“About five.” He shrugged. “All the monsters went to do whatever it is they do on the full moon. We went downtown, had a few drinks, and headed back to the hotel.”
“All of you? Two of you mentioned that you’re from Mesa. How do you know the others?” I made a note, putting a star by anything I thought might have been a lie.
He shrugged. “Mesa’s a college town; there’s a bunch of people up there who aren’t from Mesa. We met on campus.”
Ah, college students. So they had met there, and I had possible ages and possible connections for all of them, assuming that John Doe wasn’t lying. “What happened after you went and got drinks?”
“I blacked out halfway back to the apartment.”
Ah, a lie, he’d said hotel before. “You said that you headed back to the hotel after drinks.”
“Hotel, apartment, does it really matter?”
“It does, if you were blacked out, how do you know that’s where you were heading?”
His brows drew together as if he was trying to figure out the right answer. “Because where else would we have been going?”
“So you don’t remember anything until you woke up?”
“Yeah, that’s what I said, wasn’t it?” With the attitude, I wanted to smack him.
“Okay, well if there’s nothing else, you can leave. Send someone else in.”
The next three went exactly the same. By the time the fifth one came in, I was ready to throw the towel in. No one had given me real names and they were all black out drunk, it was amazing they weren’t murdered. I ran a hand over my face as she walked in.
She sat down without a second thought, and I’d wondered if the others hadn’t filled her in on not sitting. She didn’t look down at the seat, she didn’t notice the rune, nothing. She looked me straight in the eyes.
“I don’t want to lie to you.” She jerked her head to the door. “I know that they did and I know that’s why they didn’t sit down because you put a spell on the stool that they are scared of. But I’m not like them; I don’t think you’re a monster.”
“That’s nice to know.” I nodded. “Let’s start with your name.”
“Brittany MacTanner. I’m a junior at Mesa College. Well, I was, but there are talks about them passing a no lycan rule because of safety concerns.”
“Hurts to be on the other side, doesn’t it?” I muttered. “Growing up wasn’t easy as a witch. I faced a lot of hate as I went through school and when my magic started coming in…” I shook my head. “At one point I wanted to change what I was.”
“How did you move past it?”
I shrugged. “I just learned to embrace who I was. When PIB came about, I knew this was what I wanted to do with my life. My parents…they were killed by the type of people I bring in on a daily basis. People like the wolves who changed you and your friends against your will.”
She nodded slightly. “So we went out for drinks after the protest. We thought we were safe because the wolves all went to the desert. We left the bar, drunk as all get out, but I was DD that night, so I was basically sober.” She looked at me. “Don’t judge me, I had a few drinks, but I was still more sober than the rest.”
“No judging. I’ve had wild days.”
“So we went down the alley to get to the parking lot. And there was this wolf…thing…” She started shaking. “It stood on its back legs, b
ut it wasn’t human. Its face… I can’t even describe it. Caught in some phase of shifting?”
I motioned for her to go on. “I think I get the idea.”
“And it just attacked us.” She looked down at her feet. “That’s when we blacked out. We woke up with bite marks on us, but they healed in a few hours. The wolves that dropped us off here, they said that they were hunting for this creature. They thought it came down here.”
“I was told you were on the border of this pack’s land and that’s why they brought you to Simon.”
She shook her head. “That was a lie; no other pack would take us. Probably because the others have been so hateful and haven’t really thought about what this all means to us. Our lives are over if we fight against this. There’s no choice but to accept it because there’s no cure.”
“That’s right; there’s not yet.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry, no one should be changed against their will. But this is a great pack, Simon will help you get through all of this.” I closed my notebook. “Thank you, Brittany, for helping me while the others wouldn’t.”
She nodded. “I’ve studied the paranormal creatures, Agent Collins. I know what they are capable of and I’m not happy to be among them, because what’s to stop me from turning into a monster?”
“The same thing that stopped it from happening as a human, you have a good heart, good morals. We’re no different than humans. Humans are capable of things just as violent.” I offered her a smile. “I’ve studied humans; there are cases that you can’t tell the difference between what did it, monster or human.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.” She stood, pausing, she looked at me. “Can you tell them that I didn’t rat?”
“Everything said in this room is confidential,” I promised her. We walked out to see everyone sitting on the couch awkwardly. I looked at Simon. “My job’s done here. I need to start following up on some leads in regards to the case.”
He nodded. “Keep me in the loop?”
“I’d like to talk to you about that actually.” I glanced at the pups and then back to Simon. “Alone.”
“Go for a run.” He instructed the pups. “Stay on the grounds, and remember if any of you run, you’ll not be welcomed back.”
It sounded a bit harsh, but it might have been what the pups needed to hear at the moment. They all shuffled out of the room.
“What did you learn?” He asked as soon as the door closed behind them.
I took a deep breath. “Maddy was from a California pack that had been disbanded for violence. She went missing from her new pack a few months ago. Maddy Clark. Ring any bells?”
His eyes widened just a touch. “I got the newsletter with the name, but they didn’t have a picture of her. I never thought they were related.”
“Because she had a convincing back story.” I shook my head. “I have to get in contact with her current alpha and tell him about her death.”
He nodded. “It’s the right thing to do. Hopefully, he doesn’t blame me for it.”
“The deaths haven’t even hit the news yet, so I doubt he knows what is going on.” I shook my head. “I’ll try to keep you out of it as much as I can.”
“What happens when they hit the news?”
I shook my head. “There’s no telling; we hope it doesn’t turn into riots of some sort. One problem at a time. The pelt was taken while the wolf was alive and it was skinned with a knife. That’s all they were able to tell me.”
“Torture.”
I hated how everyone came to that conclusion, but it was the only logical one. “I think so. The question is, for what? That last pup you sent in, Brittany, she gave me some vital information. I need to know where Travis was when these wolves were infected.”
“Last full moon, he was running with me and the pack. Everyone can vouch for that.”
Which meant that my only suspect was spoken for. Crap. “Okay. I think it’s time I start looking outside the pack. I need a list of allies that my magic wouldn’t see as a threat so they could get past the circle without alerting me.” Looking outside the pack meant that I could step on toes and I could only work as a PIB agent. I couldn’t depend on my connections with Simon to guide the pack into the right answer or intimidate them. I needed to revisit Madeline and her father and call Maddy’s alpha.
Simon went to the counter to write the information down for me again, and I went through my notes as he did. “The wolves that came to you last night, they were hunting for the wolf that did this to those pups. Any idea where they were heading next?”
“They said they’d be out of town by morning. I didn’t think I’d find their heads in our territory.”
I hadn’t either. “Okay, I was hoping they might have mentioned where they were going.”
He handed me a paper. “No luck.”
I looked over the names on the paper. “Thank you.” There weren’t any names on it that looked familiar, but I didn’t know everyone in or near town that socialized with the wolves. Clearly, I needed to spend more time with them if I was having people sneak over my magic.
“Of course. What’s your next step?”
“Talking to people and going over the evidence. I’ll keep you in the loop. You worried I’ll find something I don’t like?”
“I’m worried about how this all seems to be creating the perfect storm. If something happens to you and a wolf decides to kill you…” he hesitated. “I don’t want your blood on my hands.”
I patted his cheek. “I’m a big witch Simon; I’m going to be just fine in handling this.”
He nodded. “I know.”
I left and climbed into the Hummer and set off towards the city. Some good ole fashioned research at the office would help me out. Some on the computer, some by telephone. The sun sank behind the horizon as I drove and I knew that I’d be pulling another late night.
I walked into my office to find an envelope on my desk. No one had access to my office without a key-pass. I picked it up with a sigh and wondered who I was going to have to shoot around here to make sure that the office was secured. I recognized my uncle’s scrawling handwriting on the back. Simply my name and nothing more.
He probably copied Nick’s badge to get in. I wondered when they would update the database so that he couldn’t use it anymore. His file already said deceased. I opened the envelope and found pictures. I frowned. Bodies laid out in rows, all dead judging from the color of the skin. All men again. I flipped the first picture, trying to stop the bile rising in my throat. What the hell were these?
The next pictures had rows of beds with IVs next to them, a red liquid filled the IVs with tubes running down. There were no bodies or people in these, but I knew that the dead bodies had been removed from the scene. It was a modern day version of what Nick and I had found at the haunted house. I flipped the picture and found a note on the back.
“What Levi is dealing with.”
There was no signature, and I wasn’t sure if Oliver was there with Levi or not. There wouldn’t have been enough time to fly out there, find him, and take pictures. Maybe the two were communicating a bit more than I thought. I flipped to the next picture and saw people being loaded into ambulances. They had living victims. I wanted to talk to them. I wanted to see what drove them to accept what Ira might have offered them. One of Ira’s associates had mentioned that the people that came to them had been willing. Did they take that willingness back at any point?
If they wanted me to stay away, they were doing a bad job convincing me, because I wanted to go there and help. Something caught my eye in the picture. The ambulance was in English, not Italian. They were back in the states. If the license plate was right, it was a fucking Colorado plate.
I snarled and looked at the clock. Either Oliver had fucked up, or he was giving me a clue to what was really going on. If Levi was in Colorado, I should have been right there helping him with the case. But Ira…
No. Oliver and Levi both said that Ira couldn’t hu
rt me without consequences in the territory so he’d be less likely to attack. I raked a hand through my hair, trying to decide what to do. I called down to the lobby desk. “Hey Mandy, I need to know the location of Grayson Yorkingson’s office.”
I heard her typing on the keyboard. “He’s special task, vampire? What do you want with him?”
“I need to ask him about a previous case,” I said easily. “Do you have his office number?”
“Sure do, he’s in the basement, number twenty-six. Next door to the new lab. Looks like he’s in tonight. His badge was scanned just after sundown.”
Perfect. Grayson had warned me about the case when Nick and I were on it. As special forces, he’d known about the bodies, assuming they were reported to PIB. If they hadn’t, I’d be digging further into it to figure out how Levi and a bunch of bodies were alluding me. I turned around and walked back out the door and took the stairs down to the basement.
I knocked on the door and heard a gruff “come in.” Yorkingson stood behind his desk, shuffling through papers. He looked up at me with his two different colored gaze. “Agent Collins.” He looked surprised to see me. “What can I do for you? You weren’t so pleased with our last meeting.”
“Have you handled any cases that have to do with the haunted house case?” I didn’t follow any pleasantries.
He shook his head. “No, I’m on a rogue witch case. Why do you ask?”
“I haven’t heard from Levi, and I had some interesting pictures passed my way from an anonymous source.”
“Can I look?” He raised a brow. “I haven’t heard from Levi either. I assumed he was still on vacation.”
I hadn’t been aware that the two were close enough for him to know that. “What, does he send out a memo saying he’s on vacation?”
“Something like that.” He shook his head. “The pictures?”
I handed him the pictures. “You keep this between us?”
“If it hasn’t been turned over to PIB, there’s a reason, so yes, it stays between us.” He flipped through the pictures. “I know where this is. It’s not far from here.” He continued. “This is Ira’s work for sure.”
So he knew about Ira too, what the hell was going on? Where were all these people who knew Ira when my case brought in over twenty bodies? I kept my anger to myself. “Okay, where is it?”
To Skin a Wolf Page 10
