The fate of a child rests on my shoulders. Is he still alive? Is he suffering?
She didn’t even want to think about what his father was going through right now.
Everything was different this morning. She knew it was because she’d finally trusted him with her darkest secret. She’d finally let down her walls, and because of it, they’d done more than just have sex. They’d bonded. She could feel a part of him in her soul. Somehow, the lie had turned true and she really was taking her fated mate to meet the family she’d turned her back on—an out-of-towner who was here with every intention of kicking the hornet’s nest.
He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. She tipped her head back and returned the kiss, but her mind was elsewhere. She wanted to respond to him, but the emotional weight of what they were about to do and the people she was about to see felt like a stone in her stomach.
They headed out to the fairgrounds at 10:15 and arrived at eleven. There were ten plastic picnic tables lined up on the asphalt groaning with food, an all-fox bluegrass band setting up on the stage, and the smell of sizzling meat and roasting corn perfumed the air. Krista set her pie down on one of the dessert tables next to a mouthwatering pecan pie.
Krista sniffed. Was that Pearl’s pecan pie? It smelled like her pecan pie. Pearl was Hattie’s best friend and bridge partner.
Easily a hundred people were already there. Wolves and foxes mostly, with some coyotes, too. Scattered around the fairgrounds were potato sack races, a horseshoe toss, a strong-fox competition, a kissing booth, and face-painting.
Kits and cubs chased each other through grown-ups’ legs and up and over wooden picnic tables and around bushes.
It made Krista’s heart ache. Here was the best of Flowering Dogwood, the way things should be all the time—happy families leaving their cares behind. This was the side of her past that Krista never let herself think about in the years since she’d fled town for fear that the loneliness would grow so big inside her that she’d split in two.
“Krista! Krista!” A shrill voice cut through the air.
Hattie flew at them like a great-niece seeking missile and flung her arms around Krista, who hugged her back.
“It’s about time!” she cried. She stepped back and looked Krista and Blake up and down. Then she sniffed the air, long and hard, and finally nodded in satisfaction.
“I would be mad with you for not coming around to see your poor old great-aunt, but I know you needed to get some things squared away. That’s all right, then. You smell bonded,” she announced to Krista’s utter mortification. Several people glanced over at them and smiled and nodded approvingly. Krista’s face flamed red.
“That is not a thing!” she hissed.
“Then why can I smell it?” Hattie didn’t wait for an answer. She turned and bellowed out to a group of older lady foxes “She’s bonded!”
Krista looked up at Blake, but there was no help there. He looked like he was ready to explode with laughter. “Kill me now,” Krista pleaded to Blake. “Just make it quick and painless.”
“And miss the most fun I’ve ever had in my whole life?” he grinned at her, batting his eyes innocently.
Hattie poked Blake in the chest with a bony finger. She had to reach up high to do it. “You treat my great-niece right or you’ll have me to deal with.”
“I absolutely will treat her like gold,” Blake said quickly. “Platinum. Diamonds. Plutonium? Whatever has the most value per gram.” Now Hattie was looking at him with skepticism, and Blake looked embarrassed, but Krista found his awkwardness endearing.
“Well, you’re a little tetched in the head, but as long as you make her happy.”
“He’s tetched in the head?” a loud voice said, and Krista flinched.
Marigold Burton. Hattie’s bridge-playing frenemy. Marigold and Ethel were the pair who always partnered up against Pearl and Hattie. She came stomping over, wearing her best flour-sack dress and mismatched shoes, and looked Blake up and down. “Yep. Figures.”
“Don’t you give the stink-eye to my kin’s new mate!” Hattie’s face turned red and she clenched her fists.
“He ain’t nothin’. My granddaughter’s mate, he just got promoted to head cashier at the Gas and Gulp. Did you ever get promoted?” Marigold stabbed Blake in the chest with a bony finger. He just stared down at her goggle-eyed.
Marigold flashed Hattie a look of triumph. “Didn’t think so. He ain’t even talkin’. He’s simple,” she smirked. “He’s dumber than a—ow!”
Hattie and Marigold had shifted in the blink of an eye and were rolling in the dirt. Two other foxes came running forward to join them.
Krista was looking down at her watch. Blake poked her. “What should I… I mean, shouldn’t someone…” He gestured helplessly at the red cloud of furiously snapping fur.
She shook her head.
It was 11:10. The shindig had officially started at 11:00 a.m. “Time to first fight—ten minutes!” She yelled, and she was met with an enormous roar of approval and thunderous applause.
“That’s a record!” That was old man Larry, who owned the General Mercantile. “Krista bought us good luck!”
Krista, laughing, hauled Blake away. He looked over his shoulder at the pile of foxes. “They’ll be fine, they do this every single year. Usually takes a little more moonshine to get them to this point, though. Don’t even think about sticking your paw in there, you’ll just get bit. Bitten! Argh, holler talk.”
Then she glanced at a group of cubs who were running over to watch the fight, and her happiness fizzled, leaving a scorching burn inside her.
“Ethan’s missing. And I’m being a self-centered bitch, enjoying the party like he doesn’t even matter.”
“No, you aren’t.” His arm went around her shoulders and she leaned into his warmth. “You’re blending in. You’re putting everyone at ease. I mean, what were you supposed to do, barrel in and start interrogating everyone? That’d just get their hackles up.”
“I’d like to take credit for being strategic like that,” she smiled gamely. “But really, I was slipping back in time and reveling in some of the few good memories I had of growing up here.”
“And that’s okay, you have every right to do that.” The way he was looking at her, she felt as if in his eyes, there was nothing she could do wrong. “Now, what’s our strategy?”
She glanced around at the crowd. “We’re just going to come right out and ask. There’s nothing to be gained by being subtle anymore. Things are going to blow up tonight if we don’t get answers, right? The soft approach isn’t working.”
She spotted Floyd, the owner of Floyd’s diner, standing near a charcoal grill. His son was serving up hamburgers, and Floyd was stuffing one of them in his mouth, whole.
Hattie came strolling up just then, and Floyd swallowed the burger quickly and sidled up to her.
“Afternoon, Hattie. You look as lovely as ever.”
She shrugged.“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“How ‘bout if I tell you over dinner? Any restaurant you choose.”
She just gave him a saucy look and patted her hip.“You couldn’t handle all this, Floyd.” And she marched away without looking back while Floyd started after her, moon-eyed.
Krista marched over to him, and after they exchanged their hellos, she said, “I’ve got to ask you, Floyd. Everyone’s heard about the missing cub, and it’s going to tear the holler apart. Not just Flowering Dogwood, but the whole damned Zoo, in fact. What have you heard?”
He went pale and glanced around nervously, licking his lips. “Nothing. And what business is it of yours anyway?” He looked askance at Blake. “I knew you two was up to something. Don’t you drag Hattie along into this mess, Krista! She’s a good woman.”
“Blake’s my fated mate, Floyd. Don’t try to change the subject. You’ve heard something, haven’t you?”
He shrugged and casually took a couple of steps sideways, away from them.
“There’s a missing kid. And you know something.” She glared at him.
“My kid works for Dawnie,” Floyd snapped, glancing over at his son. “And I care more about him then some outsider’s cub. And if I talk to you, there won’t be enough of me left to fill a sandwich.”
Krista let out a snarl. “If the lions come in and tear this town apart, you won’t have a diner, you won’t have customers, you might not even have a pulse. So chew on that for a while.” And Krista whirled off, with Blake following her.
They worked their way through the crowd, stopping off to eat and drink, questioning anyone who she thought might have an answer.
Unfortunately, they came up with nothing. Well, not completely nothing. Some people looked too scared to talk, but it was clear they knew something—they just wouldn’t risk the wrath of Dawnie to say so.
And a lot of people just truly didn’t know where the boy was and were worried as hell about what was coming tonight or tomorrow if he wasn’t found, but they didn’t know what to do about it.
After about an hour and a half, Krista noticed something odd.
Bo Durian had shown up about half an hour ago, carrying a six pack of beer, which he tossed into one of the ice-filled coolers. It wasn’t like him to want to hang out with foxes, and it definitely wasn’t like him to bring anything to a party. All he did was take and take. And he hadn’t left yet—why was he still there? He wasn’t kin—his pack wasn’t one of those who had inter-married with the Ellis family.
Half a dozen bears were there, also not related to the Ellis family.
It wasn’t unusual for a few people who weren’t family to stop in and pay their respects and say hey, but this was an unusually large number. And as far as Krista could see, all or most of them were associated with Dawnie.
As she moved through the crowd, she saw that they were stationed strategically, spaced out so that they could listen to any conversation around them or just intimidate by glowering. Bo and the bears sat on plastic chairs or just stood there, plates of food piled high, eating slowly and watching the crowd with narrowed eyes.
Krista managed to catch Floyd’s gaze for just a second, but he dropped his gaze in a guilty fashion and scooted away.
She leaned into Blake and kissed his neck, then whispered in his ear. “Look around you. Floyd called Dawnie and said we were asking questions. And then all these bears showed up. The Reeds are definitely involved somehow. Not necessarily Dawnie, but someone from her crew for sure.”
“Is that why she’s here?” Blake murmured back.
“She who? Oh, hell.”
She stood there in the heat of the summer afternoon and felt a sudden drop in the temperature. Dread settled like a cold sweat over Krista’s body, and she turned.
Dawnie.
Chapter Sixteen
Blake’s eyes flashed and his entire body went still. He sensed Krista’s alarm, she could see that. He slung his muscular arm around her shoulders in that protective way he had, and she felt the prickle of his fur poking through his skin. He was having a hard time controlling his wolf.
Dawnie hadn’t changed in all these years. She was still slightly overweight and had blonde thinning hair and woeful brown eyes. She looked gentle and caring, and that wasn’t entirely a lie. She was caring, and gentle when she wanted to be.
Krista plastered a smile on her face, shook Blake off, and walked over to Dawnie.
Dawnie stepped forward and wrapped Krista in a tight hug, then did a half spin before setting her down again. Somehow, she managed to maneuver Krista away from Blake, through the crowd that had suddenly appeared. When had they appeared?
Krista heard an alarmed, angry growl from Blake.
Dawnie looked her up and down with an expression that didn’t exactly spell approval. “What have you been up to, baby girl?”
When Dawnie talked like that, it was like all the years slipped away and there was nothing but goodness between them. But that just wasn’t the case, and Krista couldn’t let herself fall for it. Talking to Dawnie was like sipping her moonshine; a sweet, treacherous minefield.
They still had to dance the dance, though. “Well, I’m sure you’ve heard I’m a nurse practitioner now. Working at a clinic.”
“Got your license last year, was it?” There was the Dawnie she knew. Couldn’t help but make sure that Krista was aware Dawnie had eyes on her all the time, even all the way over there in the big city. “May,” Dawnie added, to drive home the point.
“That’s right,” Krista agreed, as her eyes drifted over to her second cousin Allen, who had just arrived and who was stumbling a little, his eyes unfocused. And he hadn’t even had a drink yet. A fox shifter who was most likely Allen’s wife was watching him with a wretched, woebegone expression on her face.
Moonshine staggers.
Damn it.
Blake suddenly shoved his way through two bear shifters who were trying to block him from reaching Krista, and they both responded with furious growls and claws curving from their hands. Everyone in the vicinity backed off, watching the scene warily.
“Boys!” Krista yelled. “That’s my fated mate there. Now, why would you try to get between a man and his newly bonded mate?”
They were trying to be subtle about their purpose here, pretending they were just party-goers who happened to be standing in between her mate and her, and she wasn’t letting them. Normally she’d be all political and let them get away with it, but she didn’t have time for games right now.
Dawnie flashed the two bears a look and they settled down and stood there, glaring at Blake and grumbling. Then the oddest thing happened: Dawnie stifled a huge yawn, as if she’d been up all night. Why?
Krista felt a sudden flare of hope—and maybe, understanding. Maybe Dawnie didn’t have Ethan—and she’d been out looking for him. After all, if Michael destroyed Flowering Dogwood looking for his son, he was destroying Dawnie’s business, too.
Dawnie glanced at Blake. “You’ll excuse me if I borrow your mate so I can catch up a minute.”
That wasn’t a question.
“No way,” Blake growled, and several people standing nearby gasped out loud. Krista tensed. She loved that her mate was so protective, but his mate instincts were riding right over his investigator instincts, and they couldn’t afford that right now.
Dawnie gave him a smile that chilled Krista’s blood, and then she turned her ice-cold gaze on Krista. “You sure haven’t taught your mate how things work down here. Come and sit a spell.” Dawnie wasn’t going to ask again, and Krista needed to see if Dawnie had anything to say, anything at all about the mess she’d made.
“Give me just a minute, Blake.” Krista walked off quickly with Dawnie without even looking at him, but she could feel his eyes burning into her back.
They walked about fifty feet away from Blake before she flicked him a quick glance to make sure he wasn’t following. He stood there vibrating with tension and not even trying to keep the gray fur from rippling over his face. When they approached a picnic table, everyone sitting at the table took one look at Dawnie, leapt to their feet and hurried away, leaving behind half-eaten plates of food.
Dawnie didn’t bother to sit down. “You swore you’d never set foot here again. Yet here you are.” That wasn’t exactly a warm and fuzzy opening. So there they were.
Krista plastered a pleasant smile on her face. “That was ten years ago, Dawnie. I’ve grown up a lot since then, and I met my fated mate. I’m showing Blake where I grew up.”
Dawnie pinned Krista with her eyes for a second and a half. “Still mad at your momma?” Krista nodded. “Of course, you are. Well, you’ll be happy to know that Maybelline’s doing a lot better. And she’s sorry for how she abandoned you.”
“Having a hard time landing a man these days, is she?” Krista guessed. “Years of hard drinking were hell on her looks, and now she’s craving a new source of drama?”
Oh, no, she wasn’t bitter.
Dawnie shook her head in repr
oach. “Holdin’ a grudge, it’ll eat you alive. Give her a chance,” she said. “How long you staying?”
“Not sure yet. Probably leaving tomorrow.” And then Krista forced herself to look Dawnie in the eye. Her insides turned to liquid, but she made herself say the words she needed to say. “People are really worried about that missing boy, Dawnie. And all the trouble that will come if he isn’t found safe and sound.”
“Now how is that any of your concern?” All pretense of friendliness dropped from Dawnie’s face, and the look in her eyes made Krista’s heart stutter.
Once upon a time, Krista would have quailed, mumbled an apology, and fled. But the memory of the look on a desperate father’s face, and the sight of the men staggering around her family reunion half-blind and mentally addled thanks to Dawnie’s medicine stiffened her spine and she met Dawnie’s gaze steadily.
“I still have family living here, and there are plenty of good folk who are going to be hurt by this. He needs to be found.”
“That’s my problem, not yours.” Dawnie’s eyes had turned to the color of a stone arrowhead, hard and sharp and mean. “Best you be on your way after the reunion, Krista. Tonight would be good. You probably don’t want to wake up in this holler ever again. That’s all the warning I’m going to give you.”
She leapt to her feet and stalked off.
Blake was by Krista’s side a minute later, and she felt a heaviness lift from her shoulders. Whatever burden she bore, he’d always be there by her side to share it. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard.
“I’ve got an idea now,” she said. “OK. Dawnie was up all night—I would just about stake my life on her being out there searching for Ethan. Now, I don’t know exactly what’s happened, but I do know this. It’s got to be someone close to her that’s responsible. If it were someone who was working for her she’d strip their skin off inch by inch until they talked, and she’d find Ethan and give him back. It’s got to be either—”
Blackmailed By The Wolf (Shifters, Inc. Book 6) Page 12
