Fangs

by Vella Munn

  “The puppies didn’t participate in the attack, but they were very interested.”

  “Killers in training.”

  Her breath hissed as she exhaled. “I really didn’t need to hear that.”

  “Sorry. I mean it, I’m really sorry I let that out. You’ve been through a lot lately.”

  “Not as much as Kendall Taft has. It’s going to get worse when, or if, he wakes up. I have to hand it to his girlfriend. I’m not sure I would have been able to hold it together as well as she did.”

  “I know both girls.”

  Mia stared at her friend.

  “The radio named Kendall and the others. I didn’t recognize him or his cousin, but they’re older. I figure they went to school here before I came onboard. Summer wasn’t an easy girl to get to know. Not standoffish so much as reserved. She graduated last June. It was just her and her mother. I’m certain the mother never showed up for any parent-teacher conferences. Some parents are like that. They just don’t care.”

  “Like my uncle.”

  “It happens, unfortunately. Summer pissed me off. She’s smart but she was content to skate through school. She didn’t have a lot of friends and didn’t seem to want to hang out with anyone.” Niko shrugged. “Maybe having this happen to a young man I’m assuming she loves will be the wakeup call she needs. Force her to examine her emotions. Is there anything else you know that hasn’t made the news?”

  “I’ve deliberately avoided the radio and TV. Sleeping’s going to be hard enough without repeatedly hearing the details.”

  Niko leaned forward. “Do you want to go for a run? Maybe that’ll tire you out.”

  “I’m not sure that will make a difference.” She debated, then decided to come clean. “After Uncle George died, it was months before I got decent sleep.”

  “Because you thought it was your fault.”

  “It was.” How had the conversation taken this turn?

  “I give up.” Niko shook her head. “You’re going to think what you’re going to think. Have you been contacted by any reporters? This is the kind of story that’ll bring in the media from all over the country.”

  Grateful to her friend for changing the subject a little, she said she didn’t believe her name had been made public. However, it wouldn’t take much digging for the press to identify her.

  “I hate talking about what happened.”

  “Then don’t.”

  “Easier said than done. What’s going to happen now? The cops can’t arrest the dogs. They don’t know where they are.”

  “But the cops—I guess law enforcement will get involved—will look for them. And when they find them…”

  The grays were doomed. She just wasn’t sure how she felt. On the brink of telling Niko what she was thinking, she heard a new sound. A vehicle was approaching.

  “You expecting anyone?”

  “No. Look, if it’s the media, I’ll tell them you’re my attorney. You’ve advised me to say nothing.”

  Jeff waited until he was parallel to the vehicle already in front of Mia’s place before looking at Darick. “Do you recognize the other woman?” he asked.

  “Yeah.” His co-worker shook his head. “This is going to be awkward. Niko Fox wants nothing to do with me.”

  “Explain.” Mia and Niko were watching them. The longer Darick and he stayed in the official SUV, the more complex and awkward things were likely to become. However, Mia had a right to know what Darick and he had learned.

  Darick blew out a breath. “Last year—I can’t remember exactly when it was—I’d come to the high school after someone spotted a cougar near the bus barn.”

  “I remember.”

  “I’m sure you do. You conned me into dealing with it after some parents got all excited. Anyway, after I’d given my speech about folks not needing to arm themselves, Niko said she wanted to talk to me in private.”

  The SUV’s windshield was so dusty he didn’t have the best view of the young woman his friend was talking about, but there was no missing her long, black hair or the fact that she was physically fit. Judging by how motionless she was, he surmised she didn’t want to do this. Mia wasn’t much different. Hopefully she was doing better emotionally than she had this morning.

  “One of her students had confided in her about the weapons that were in the house she shared with her mother,” Darick said. “The mother was a convicted felon. The student wanted to know how much trouble her mother would be in if the probation officer found out. I couldn’t let it go. That mother had broken the conditions of her probation. I did a little digging and learned who the mother had been reporting to. Made a phone call.”

  “I would have done the same thing.”

  “Yeah, well. Later, I learned the mother had been convicted of illegal weapons possession and sent back to prison.”

  “And Niko blamed you?”

  “You could say that. She showed up at the office insisting I’d betrayed a confidence. She also let me know that thanks to my actions, the girl no longer trusted Niko.”

  “Did you explain you didn’t have a choice?”

  “The thing is, maybe I did. I could have kept my mouth shut.”

  “And spent too much time worrying about what might happen if the mother decided to use one of the weapons.”

  “Yeah.”

  Jeff and Darick had been working together the better part of a year before Darick had told him why his younger sister walked with a cane. She’d been in a volatile relationship, but no matter how many times Darick and his parents had begged Harmony to leave her boyfriend, she hadn’t. Her reasons for staying had been a mix of fear and love Darick would never understand. Then the bastard, as Darick called him, had tried to run Harmony over with his car. Neighbors had seen the attack and called the police. The bastard had been taken to jail and Harmony to the hospital. Maybe it was seeing her swollen face and realizing how close she’d come to losing the sight in one eye. Whatever the reason, Harmony had finally had enough.

  She’d moved back home before the bastard found someone to bail him out. Unfortunately, despite the restraining order Darick had insisted Harmony take out on her soon-to-be ex, the bastard had shown up one day as she was getting off work. According to what he’d pieced together, Darick was certain Harmony had tried to make it clear she’d had it this time. She wasn’t going back to her husband.

  Harmony’s co-workers, who’d stayed with her as a show of support, had thought the bastard had gotten the message when he walked away. However, instead of leaving, he’d reached into his car for the loaded pistol on the front seat and started firing. Two bullets had struck Darick’s sister in the leg, shattering bones. The gun was stolen.

  “Did you explain to Niko your personal reasons for reporting the student’s mother?” Jeff asked.

  “I tried. I came to the school, but Niko refused to meet with me. It was like when Harmony was with the bastard. She had blinders on.”

  “Maybe Niko has calmed down.”

  “Maybe, but that’s not why we’re here. You ready to do this?”

  “Yeah.” He reached for the door handle. “You know more than I do so I’m going to let you do most of the talking.”

  “I figured that was why you brought me along.” Darick pressed the base of his hand to his forehead. “I still can’t believe—hopefully they’ll listen.”

  Jeff understood why Darick felt the way he did. He was still trying to absorb it all himself. “I’m sure they will.”

  As he started up the steps to where Mia and Niko were sitting, he admitted he’d been anticipating seeing Mia again. He was worried about her mental state and wanted assurances that she was holding it together, but his desire to talk to her went deeper than that. He wasn’t ready to acknowledge his attraction to her and certainly today wasn’t about that.

  Banshee had been standing between the women. Now the big dog approached and started sniffing his shoes.

  The women were holding nearly full wine glasses, and Jef
f was glad Mia had someone at a time like this.

  A time like this? That barely scratched the surface.

  “Have you heard anything new?” Mia asked and pointed at a couple of folded lawn chairs propped against the side of the house. After exchanging a nod with an unsmiling Niko, Darick retrieved the chairs and started setting them up.

  “I assume you’re asking about Kendall,” Jeff said. “I called the hospital on the way over. He’s still in ICU.”

  “At least he’s alive.” Mia sighed. “I’m not sure I should say that. What kind of life—I keep thinking about what he’ll have to deal with.”

  “How are you doing?” The chair he was lowering himself into wasn’t what he’d call comfortable, but at least Mia had invited Darick and him to sit. Going by Niko’s hostile glare aimed at Darick, he was sure she didn’t approve of Mia’s hospitality. Too bad. This visit wasn’t about mending fences.

  “I’m not sure how I’m doing,” Mia said. “It comes and goes.” She held out a steady hand. “I don’t think I’ve processed everything.”

  “Why are you here?” Niko asked. “I’d think you’d have better things to do than check up on my friend.”

  Before he could reply, Darick shook his head and stared pointedly at Niko. “We’re more than busy all right. First thing tomorrow, we’re heading up Dark Mountain.”

  “Oh,” Mia said.

  Niko grunted. “Not until tomorrow? You’re crazy to assume the dogs will stay in one place.”

  “That’s not what we’re assuming,” Darick replied, “but between strategy meetings with law enforcement, animal control, county commissioners and—”

  “The police?” Mia interrupted. “Will they be going with you?”

  “Not unless we ask them to, which we aren’t at this point,” Jeff answered. “Crimes involving wildlife is our department. The more people we have up there, the more alarmed the dogs will become.”

  Mia frowned. “So the police have agreed to wait to see what Darick and you can accomplish?”

  He could have launched into an explanation of where responsibilities among various law enforcement agencies overlapped, but that would only delay getting to why he’d decided to try to see Mia in person. The official reason.

  “Yes. It goes back to what I said about not letting things blow up. This is uncharted territory. Hopefully, we haven’t made a mistake by deciding on this approach. Darick and I talked to Kendall’s companions several times today. We’re trying to pull things out of them a little at a time. Not run the risk of it becoming adversarial.”

  “What things?” Niko asked.

  “I’m assuming,” he said to Niko, “Mia has told you about the elk she had to dispatch.”

  “Dispatch. Yeah, she did. She also told me about the orphan calf that was killed.”

  He took a deep breath and decided to go for it. “And the white bull.”

  “Yes,” Niko finally said.

  “What does this have to do with your visit?” Mia asked.

  He hadn’t known Mia long, but whenever he saw her, he wanted the time to last longer. He hadn’t felt this way since he’d met the woman who’d became his wife. The woman he’d lost.

  “Ice doesn’t have much to do with our being here,” he said. “I just needed to be sure we’re all on the same page about certain things. Now that I know we are, I want to fill you in on what I’ve learned about—”

  “You?” Darick interrupted with a grin. “That’s not how I see it.”

  “Then why don’t you take over?”

  Darick’s smile faded as he leaned back and patted his knee to get Banshee’s attention. Apparently Darick met with the Rottweiler’s approval, because the dog rested his head on his thigh.

  “I like him,” Darick told Mia. “He doesn’t rush his judgment of people.”

  “No, he doesn’t.”

  “The grays are like that.”

  Darick’s words hung in the air as the women studied him. Jeff couldn’t remember when he’d had a more emotionally complex day. He was grateful for the clean forest smells Mia’s trees were responsible for. If he hadn’t decided to do his best to safeguard the Oregon coast’s wildlife as a way of rejoining the human race, he could see himself growing Christmas trees—not that he knew what that entailed.

  “I ran a Google search,” Darick said. “Then I made some phone calls. The attack on Kendall Taft isn’t the first time gray dogs have gone after humans. From what I’ve learned, they’ve killed four people.”

  Mia was aware that her mouth was open, but she couldn’t concentrate on closing it. Night wouldn’t take over for a few more hours, but the shadows had reached most of her world. Darick’s voice reminded her of a quiet drum. In contrast, knowing Jeff was watching her kept her from sinking into his co-worker’s words—words she wished she’d never heard. From the first time she’d seen the land she’d wound up buying, she’d been struck by how timeless it was. Unless a great deal changed, the soil would always nourish living things. Long after she was gone, it would remain.

  That was what she needed to remember, that there was more than this awful moment.

  “Who was killed? Where did it happen?” Niko asked.

  Darick focused on Niko. “Let me start at the beginning, which was last summer. The attacks—from what I’ve gathered there were three—all took place in Oakwood County.”

  Niko whistled. “Here in Oregon? Why haven’t we heard—?”

  “Good question. One I asked myself. Today I had a lengthy phone conversation with Nate Chee. He’s an animal control officer with the county humane society. He was involved with the other situation from the beginning. The attacks garnered a lot of local attention, but that was right before we had that storm with all the lightning strikes. The state practically blew up.”

  “Particularly around Crater Lake,” Mia said. “The news focused on the threat to the state’s most popular tourist attraction.”

  “Right. Also Nate suspects, but can’t prove, that local officials did their best to play things down. It was early fall with tourists still filling the coffers. If people realized that, in addition to having to breathe smoke, they’d have to worry about three marauding dogs—not that ordinary people had anything to worry about.”

  “What makes you say that?” Mia asked. Being able to concentrate was becoming marginally easier, and necessary.

  “I took notes—not that I needed to. I’ll never forget what Nate said. The attacks—the first victims were a couple of brothers who ran a puppy mill. Nate said the animals were in deplorable conditions. Unfortunately the local humane society is underfunded. Not enough staff to go around. The mill escaped detection. The way Nate saw it, the brothers got what they deserved.”

  “They were killed?”

  “Yeah. No one saw it happen, but Nate was one of the first on the scene.” Darick shook his head. “I don’t know if you want to hear this.”

  “Of course we don’t,” Niko snapped, “but that isn’t the point. There’s a dangerous pack of some kind practically in our back yard. We need to know what the animals are capable of.”

  Knowing Jeff intended to head out in the morning toward where the dogs had carried out their deadly mission tightened Mia’s already tense muscles. She didn’t want to worry about him, but it was too late for that.

  “Most of this wasn’t released to the press, which I’m sure factors into why there wasn’t much sensationalism,” Darick said. “The brothers were each missing a foot and several fingers had been torn off. In addition, there were deep punctures in their throats. According to the coroner, they bled out.”

  For a moment Mia had all she could do not to curse her friend for insisting on the details. “A foot gone,” she made herself say. “And fingers. Just like what happened to Kendall.”

  “Yes.”

  Having the word come from Jeff forced her to focus on him. There was something distant about him, as if he wished he were anywhere else. She felt the same way.

 
“There’s more,” Darick continued. “It plays into the theory that the grays—that’s what Nate and Rachelle called them.”

  “Rachelle? Who’s that?” Niko asked.

  “I’m sorry,” Darick said, “I should have explained—she’s the stepdaughter of the man who raised the trio. For the record, the grays that obviously came here are siblings, a male and a female. Nate told me Rachelle and he recently got engaged. I guess going through the same nightmare brought them together. Initially, Rachelle defended her stepfather to the point of wanting nothing to do with Nate and his investigation. Then the stepfather had a stroke. Nate helped get him to the hospital.”

  “You mentioned three dogs,” Mia said. “Summer and the others made it clear that they saw two adult dogs. What happened to the third?”

  “He’s dead,” Jeff said. “Killed by a cop.”

  Fortunately, before she had to try to frame a question, Darick continued his explanation. The second attack had taken place on wooded land not far from the school where Rachelle taught. A man and his adult son had been out at night trying to poach deer. The older man had shot a doe that had a fawn. Father and son were arguing about it when the grays jumped and killed the father.

  “What about the younger man?” Mia asked when Darick paused.

  “That’s what’s interesting, one of the things. The grays knocked his rifle out of his hands and herded the kid back to his vehicle.”

  Niko’s breath whistled as she let it out. “In other words, the gray killed another animal abuser, specifically a poacher this time.”

  “Yes. Close to what happened to Kendall. The final killing in the county took place next to some ranchland owned by a man Nate had been dealing with. The rancher had more horses than he could afford to feed.”

  “Then we can add neglect to what sets the grays off?” Niko asked.

  “I wouldn’t take it off the table,” Darick replied, “but that’s not what happened. Apparently, the rancher’s neighbor had it in for him. The old lady took out her hatred for the rancher by poisoning his dog.”

  “And the grays made her pay for it with her life.” Mia had to give herself a mental shake before she could admit she’d just said what she had. “So—is that when one of the grays was killed?”