by Lola Kidd
Bad things happened to journalists who tried to tell the world the truth. And that’s what she was now. It made her so proud. Maybe she’d even win a Pulitzer one day.
She lay back on her bed with her laptop and opened the comments section of her latest article. She only recognized a few of the handles as regulars of her site. Some of the names she knew from different sites. That was very promising. She was starting to get real traction.
Tally used the handle Verdad on every site. Cheesy, but it would be easy to track her across forums and that was the point. Her website didn’t have any information that was easily traced. The only way to know she was Verdad was to see her in person and make the connection. When she went to conventions, she never mentioned her online persona and she never met anyone offline. Only her best friend knew who she really was.
That emboldened her to speak her mind even more than she did in real life. She came across as more confident than she really was and many times she would hold back to spare drama and confrontation. But online, she was exactly who she wanted to be in real life. She was bold and loud and said exactly what was on her mind. Feelings and decorum be damned. It didn’t always make her the most popular person in chats, but it did give her a reputation that brought people to her site and an authority.
She spent over two hours answering questions and debating people before she had to stop and give her eyes a rest. She plugged in her laptop and stepped outside for some air. The area really was beautiful and it felt safe. She stretched and then decided to head to the wood path behind the B&B. It didn’t go far, but she could use the exercise. There was a gazebo some feet back and she decided to make that her destination. The walk was nice. The woods were surprisingly quiet and beautiful. The only sound were some small animals scurrying away as she approached.
The gazebo was empty and she took a spot where she could see the moon. It was full that night and she could see every star in the sky. As she admired the sky, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She was being watched.
She turned quickly and didn’t see anyone. Tally stood still and held her breath. She closed her eyes and just faintly she heard it.
The beating of wings. Hoofs on concrete. In front of her was a creature that defied logic. The back half looked like a horse-type creature. It was deep brown and had a thick tail. But the front looked like a bird. Probably an eagle since it was white and had the familiar bald head. It was something out of a dream...or a nightmare.
Chapter Five
Shit. He was going to scare the hell out of her. Zach shifted as fast as he could. He had no idea what his animal was doing but this was a first. He had been going for a fly to clear his mind when his animal had brought him here. He hadn’t even realized it until it was too late and they were on the ground. This was awful.
“Hey.” He put up his hands when she started to move for the entrance of the gazebo. “I know I’m naked, but this isn’t what it looks like.”
She rushed to get past him and started for the B&B at a fast clip.
He ran after her. “Wait. I just want to talk. Privately.”
“That’s fine. I’m just really tired now. We can talk tomorrow morning. Breakfast?”
Her voice sounded calm but he could smell her fear this time. She was all the way freaked out and this wasn’t going to end well for him. He didn’t know how but he had to fix this. And fast. “Hold on. We can’t do breakfast because that would be in public. I work early too. Unless you want to meet me at my house at four a.m., that won’t work.”
“Okay, we won’t talk at all then. Nice seeing you again.”
“I wasn’t following you. I don’t want to hurt you.” He honestly wasn’t following her this time. It was his damn animal. “I happened to see you while I was flying and wanted to take this chance. It seemed like fate.”
Not entirely a lie. He had seen her while he was flying.
She slowed but didn’t stop. They were almost at the lights of the parking lot. “What did you want?”
“I told you, to talk in private.”
“Yes, but talk about what?”
He started to flip through everything he could think of that would make her stop walking. “Your work. Why you’re in town.”
“How do you know what my work is?” Her voice was high and tense. She’d stopped walking but she was standing in the light of the hotel. She turned and looked toward the building and put her hand in her pocket. He assumed she had her phone there and was wondering if anyone would hear her scream out here. He felt awful for making her afraid.
“I knew when I saw you in the diner. When I pulled you over, I thought it was just coincidence but seeing you again for a third time, well, I knew I had to come and talk to you. I’m Zach by the way.”
“Okay, Zach, I’m Tally as you’ve seen on my driver’s license. Now again, what would you like to tell me?”
“I have to tell you this in private. Could we go to your room?”
She shook her head. “Here or nowhere. I’m not going to my room with a man I don’t know.”
“I’m a KOP! Everyone here knows me. Look up and to your right.”
She took her eyes off him and looked. “What am I supposed to see?”
“Look at the street lamp. You’ll see a blinking red light.”
“Oh man. I see it. We’re being recorded.”
“Right, and people will know that I’m with you if anything happens. Which it won’t. I will not hurt you or let anyone else hurt you. You’re safe with me. You’ll always be safe with me. You just have to trust me.”
He was speaking fast and making the words up as they came to him. It sounded crazy as hell, but she was buying it all. She stepped back and nodded. “Okay. But you’re going to have to wear a towel or something.”
“Of course. I know nudity bothers you humans.”
She couldn’t help but look at him fully before turning away. He saw her blush and avert her eyes after they went too low. So he did have an effect on her. That would work to his advantage.
As they walked to her room, a plan was forming in his mind. He hadn’t been able to speak fully with Rhett about her yet. They’d talked some but hadn’t decided what to do next. This was unsanctioned and might get him in major trouble. Maybe even fired, but it was too late. He was already in pretty deep. She knew that he was following her and if he didn’t do something, she would write about it on her website. That would be terrible, not just for the town but for all shifters. This story was going to get out of hand.
Unless he stopped it.
He was going to go undercover so to speak. He was going to cozy up to her and figure out what she knew and keep her from revealing too much or finding out anything that could do any real damage. He wasn’t sure how he was going to convince her to do what he wanted, but he was confident he could. His animal was on his side for sure. The damn hippogriff had gotten him into this mess so it better have his back now.
When they got to her room, she threw him a blanket off the bed. He wrapped it around his hips and took a seat on the chair next to the window. “Nice room. You here alone?”
He wanted that to sound exactly how she took it. She blushed again and nodded. “Yeah. I’m alone tonight.”
“Cool. Well, like I said, I wanted to talk to you about your work. We got word that you were looking into shifter affairs in Celebration and Abbott.”
“Yes. Go on.”
“I figure you and I want the same thing. We both want to keep people safe. Now, I assume you want to keep humans safe from us, but I want that too. If humans get hurt, it would be bad for shifters. See, I’ve been working on this case for some time and I keep running into roadblocks. No matter where I look, I get no answers. My boss told me to lay off last year but to tell you the truth, I didn’t. I been working it in my spare time.”
Not exactly a lie either. His cousin’s case was the thorn in his side. Rhett had never told him to stay out of it, but they weren’t investigating anymore. They knew
what was going on with the shifters. Well, as much as one could know at this point. He did think that the people in Abbott knew much more than they were telling them, but he had never pushed it. This wasn’t the time to get answers. All that mattered was that Beau was safe.
But he was curious. Just how dangerous were the out-of-control shifters and how long had this been going on? He had so many questions that he was afraid to ask. Afraid to find out the answers.
“Where was the case? Here or Abbott?”
“Both.”
She nodded. “Was it a cat shifter?”
“Yeah, a lion.” He wasn’t giving her any new info. This was on the web already. They’d checked themselves when Beau had his issues and they’d found the woman. “She lost control of her animal and was never seen again.”
“Dead is the assumed end but that’s not true. At least, I don’t think so.”
“Me neither! There are rumors of a lion shifter roaming the woods and I think that’s her. I think she might have gone full feral.”
“Feral. Yeah, I guess that’s the way to put it. I wouldn’t use that word though. I think it would frighten humans too much. I prefer to say temporarily insane. There’s no proof this woman has gone all the way crazy forever. Even if she’s in the woods now, maybe she chose to be there.”
“Maybe, but then why are you out here if you believe that?”
“Good point. I just want to know what’s going on. I don’t want anyone to get hurt, and if I can do anything to prevent that, I will do it.”
“That’s why I’m here. Since we want the same thing, I was hoping we could work together.” She started shaking her head so he put out his hands. “Come on. Give me a chance. I know it sounds crazy, but you’re the only person I can talk to about this stuff. That’s why I said it was fate that you showed up in town and I was the first one to find you. The other Kops aren’t as friendly and don’t want a human poking around in our business.”
She crossed her arms. “How do I know that I can trust you?”
“What does your gut tell you? I don’t have anything to give you. I don’t have any way to prove that I’m not a liar. So I ask you to trust yourself. How do you feel about working with me? Does it make you feel safer to know that I’ve got your back while you’re out here?”
She considered before nodding. “I guess it does. It couldn’t hurt to share information since we’re doing the same thing.”
He smiled big and pumped his fist in the air. That was much easier than he’d expected. “Great. I’ll bring over all my info first thing in the morning on my way to work. It’ll be early but I’ll give you a heads up.”
“Great. Here’s my number.”
He left with a wink in her direction before throwing the blanket at her head. “I think this is the start of something special.”
Now all he had to do was make some fake info to give her. This was going to be a breeze. Rhett was going to be so pleased.
Chapter Six
Tally couldn’t believe her luck. Not only did she have a partner, he’d confirmed the lion story. She’d been wanting to check out the woods, but now she could really do it. With a shifter by her side, she wouldn’t be afraid at all. Especially one like Zach. His animal was strong and scary. She’d almost passed out when she first saw him. He could handle a lion no problem.
She wasn’t entirely sure if she could trust him, but it was better than being enemies. She was going to have to be very careful. She didn’t want to give him anything he could use against her or any information he didn’t already have. Though, he knew so much already. A scary amount. How the hell did he know what her work was? He either saw her on the site when they were at the diner or he already knew. If he knew, that meant that shifters had a very good network that was working.
A cold bead of sweat trickled down her back. Just what had she gotten herself into? How deep did this conspiracy go? Maybe this was a lot more serious than she’d even realized and she was already taking things so seriously. She would have to start getting more serious about security. She and Bettina were going to need a better way to talk to one another. Codes maybe. But she wouldn’t be able to get that set up until they could meet in person. She was sure her room wasn’t bugged because no one even knew she was going to be staying here. But her phone could easily be listened in on. That was worrisome.
She texted Bettina and let her know that she had big news and would get to her in the morning. What was her next move going to be? She knew about the lion woman and while searching the woods was a good choice, it didn’t seem like it would get her far. They would be searching for an animal that didn’t want to be found and so far hadn’t. There were no pictures of the lion anywhere, and in this age of the mobile camera, that was saying a lot. No, she wasn’t going to make that her focus.
Tally pulled out all the info she had on her case and spread in over the bed. She was too jacked to sleep now anyway so she may as well plot her next move. She would have even more info in the morning, but she wasn’t sure how much of Zach’s stuff she could trust. He might be honest but he might be double-crossing her. It sounded paranoid, but stranger things had happened. Pretend to be on her side and then feed her bad info or purposely make sure she fails. If she started spreading misinformation, no one would believe her in the future even if she were telling the truth. That was a huge problem with conspiracy work.
If you put your faith in the wrong source, you could get burned and your reputation would be ruined in the community. She had a real fear that Zach and the shifters were going to do this to her. She was figuring out things and was going to drop the biggest story of the year if not the decade. This was going to be big, big news. And if they could throw her onto the wrong track, it would all be for naught. Right now, her story was small and barely anyone was paying attention, but the more evidence she gathered the more people would be paying attention.
So just how far could she trust Zach? Having a good feeling about someone wasn’t enough to risk her entire professional career. She needed to get to know him more. If he were telling the truth, he could be an invaluable lead. A game changer. She would be cautious but open-minded.
And she had to be sure not to get taken in by his good looks. That was going to be easier said than done. She was a pro, but she wasn’t made of stone. Zach was everything she fantasied about come to life. It was uncanny and a little disturbing. Once she knew he didn’t want to hurt her, it didn’t make her heart beat any slower around him. He was just too much.
She lay back on the bed with her last notes. Looking at it all, her next step had to be to find someone who was a witness to the lion case. There had to be someone in town who knew something if the story were true. Shifters were nearly impossible to guess their age so she couldn’t just seek out the oldest-looking people in town. Though, maybe talking to only humans would help here. Or maybe not. Humans who lived in shifter towns were even more fiercely protective of their shifter neighbors because of past prejudice. She was an outsider, so talking to humans might be the worst bet here.
Instead, she could go to the nearest human town. They might be of more help. Or she could find their human town rival. Not rival like bad enemy, but who their local sports teams were always trying to beat or who was trying to beat them. Friendly rivals. That was it. That was her next move. It shouldn’t be too hard to find at this time of year. Homecoming season. She took out her laptop and looked up the high school football team’s schedule. There were three towns that would fit the bill. They were fairly close so she’d be able to hit them all in one day if she was determined enough.
Satisfied with her next move, she cleared off the bed and put on her pajamas. She didn’t feel tired as she got ready for bed, but she was glad she’d set her alarm as soon as she crawled between the sheets. The stress of the day slipped away and she was asleep within moments. Before she knew it, her alarm was blaring at her to wake up. She’d set it for four in the morning and got up to brush her teeth. She went back to b
ed to doze until Zach texted her.
It wasn’t a long wait. He got to the hotel at nearly four thirty and greeted her wearing a big fluffy coat. He held out a backpack. “Morning. This is copies of everything I’ve collected so far. Hopefully with a new set of eyes on this thing, you’ll be able find something I missed.”
“Thanks. I hope so too. Have a great day at work.”
“I will and text me if you have anything pressing. We’re at full staff today so I’ll be able to sneak away if need be. If not, we can meet up for dinner later tonight if you want.”
“Dinner sounds great. I’m going to need time to get through everything.”
He nodded. “Okay, I’ll call you later to make the plans. We’ll have to go out of town to eat or you’ll have to come to my place. Your choice.”
Shit. “Where do you live?”
“I have a place that’s out of town. It’s a little secluded so not many women like meeting me there.” He chuckled. “But there are great places that are quiet and have privacy a few towns away. We may have to drive for an hour, but it’ll be worth it.”
She nodded and bit her lip. “I think it’s better if we meet at your place. You’ve already been to my hotel room twice so I don’t think it’ll be too suspicious if I’m at your house tonight.”
“Wow. You’re right and that’s such a great point. My place it is. We can do takeout or I’ll cook something. I get off early like I said, so either is fine with me.”
“You cook?”
“I live alone. Of course I cook. Do you have any allergies or preferences?”
“I haven’t eaten a home-cooked meal in so long I’ll take whatever you’ll serve. No allergies for me and I can eat whatever.”
“Okay, great. I’ll surprise you. I’ll text you the directions and we can meet at my place at say seven?”
“Great. See you then.”
They parted ways and she got a text less than two minutes later. She looked it up and his place was very secluded. She was going to send the address to Bettina. Not exactly the best plan, but she didn’t think he was going to murder her now that she had so much time to tell people where she was going. Plus, he’d been spotted at her place twice now. There was no way he would get away with it even if he was KOP.
