by Geonn Cannon
“I won’t apologize for making you into the person you are. I know you wouldn’t change a thing, either. I’m not saying what I did was right, and I don’t expect you to forgive or even really understand. But I was just a girl who had been victimized by very powerful people whose sole purpose in life was to see me dead. The only regret I have is that it took so long to figure out why transforming hurt you. I’ll be forever grateful to Dale for figuring that out.”
Ari kept her back to Gwen, eyes on the ground. “I don’t want any more of your money. Not a dime. And I’m going to pay back everything you spent on the office and rent when I was in jail.”
“I’ll refuse--”
“I don’t care,” Ari yelled, finally spinning to face her. “Is there anything else, Gwyneth? Anything... any other fucking horrible thing you’ve done for my own good that I should know about? Did you send those kids after me so I’d meet Dale?”
Gwen kept her eyes on the ground. “No. There’s nothing else. You’ve heard all my confessions, Ariadne. Now I guess you just have to decide if you can live with them.”
“I think you’re the one who is going to have to live with them,” Ari said quietly.
“What does that mean?”
“I mean Isaac Hayden is in Seattle because he was following a thread left by hunters. He asked me about your money. I don’t know where exactly his loyalty is, but I would be very worried that he knows what you did. The hunters may not have started wolf manoth, but they’re still around. They’re probably going to be pretty pissed off if he spills the beans.”
Gwen looked away as she processed that. Ari also turned away, stripping off the borrowed shirt and letting the sweatpants fall to the ground by her feet. By the time Gwen looked at her again, the woman was gone and replaced by a large brown wolf.
“Ari, wait... Ariadne!”
Ari didn’t bother looking back. She just shook out her fur, put her head down, and ran.
Chapter Thirteen
Dale had stayed up so she could hear all the details about Gwen’s revelation. Ari was still so angry when she arrived home that her hands were shaking, and Dale was worried the pain was starting to come back. They sat facing each other on their bed as Ari explained what she’d been told. Halfway through the story, it had become clear that Dale wasn’t sharing her anger, but she kept silent until Ari was done talking.
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, puppy, but I think you’re overreacting.”
“She’s a thief. Everything we had, everything she’s given to us over the years...”
Dale nodded. “I know. Morally, yes, it’s wrong. But...” She looked down at Ari’s hands. “I don’t really see much of a choice for her. She was scared and alone. All she wanted was to take care of this new life she found herself responsible for. You may not agree with what she did, I’m not sure I do, either. But her motives were pure. And what she did made you into the woman you are. It made you the woman who stopped wolf manoth, which means they basically funded their own downfall. I don’t know. I think that’s kind of... poetic justice.”
“She still lied.”
“Yeah. And you should be angry at her for that. But Ariadne...” She took both of Ari’s hands in hers. “I saw what happened to you when Gwen came back into your life. I saw what it meant to forgive her and the weight it took off your shoulders. It changed her, too. Don’t let this pull you back to where you were before. Be mad at her, but talk to her about it. Don’t run.”
Ari kept her eyes down. Dale reached up and tucked Ari’s hair behind one ear, resting her hand on Ari’s cheek.
“Puppy?”
“I think I want to marry you.”
Dale sat up straighter. “What?”
“I know we said it was just a stupid piece of paper, but it’s not. It’s more than that, it means more. You’re my girlfriend, my partner, my pack, you’re everything to me, Dale, so why shouldn’t you be my wife? And I want to be yours. I need you to be my rock when stuff like this happens. I know you’ll always be here for me, and I’ll always have your back, and... at some point, it just becomes silly that I can’t call you my wife. You’re my favorite person and I want to be bound to you in every possible way.”
Dale had no idea what to think and, a moment later, she couldn’t see because of the tears flooding her eyes. Ari reached up and brushed away the drops that had fallen free, and Dale turned her head to kiss the palm.
“We don’t have to change our names or do the rings. I mean...” She touched Dale’s wrist, the bracelet made of Ari’s hair braided around a few strands of the wolf’s fur. “Between this and the collar, we have the only symbols we need. It doesn’t even have to be a big ceremony...”
“Puppy, you don’t have to keep selling it. I want to marry you. I want to marry you more than anything. But ask me properly.”
Ari repositioned herself so she was on her knees and scooted forward. She cupped Dale’s face with both hands.
“Dale Frye, will you marry me?”
Dale grinned and stretched to kiss her. Their lips met as she said, “Yes, Ariadne Willow.” They kissed to seal their engagement, and Dale squeezed her partner, her fiancée, and moved her head to Ari’s shoulder. She was crying again. “I know we’ve been together for almost a decade now,” she said, “and you’ve always made it clear how you feel about me. I never wanted to be someone’s wife. And for a long time, I didn’t think I could be someone’s wife. So... hearing it... and hearing it from you...”
Ari stroked her hair. “Probably the same way I felt about saying it.” She moved her lips to Dale’s ear and lowered her voice even further. “For some reason I was still terrified you might say no.”
Dale laughed and sat up. She kissed Ari’s chin and the corners of her mouth. “Never. You’re my puppy. Forever.”
Ari smiled and kissed Dale, lowering her to the mattress. Dale hugged her tightly. She was well aware that Ari had changed the subject away from Gwen, but she also knew her argument had worked. Ari’s anger was diminished, and she knew whatever was going to happen between her and her mother wouldn’t be another relationship-ending battle. That was good enough to let her fall asleep, arms still wrapped tightly around the woman she loved.
###
The phone was ringing. Ari was aware of that only after taking note of Dale spooning her from behind, the sound of water in the pipes from Neka taking a shower upstairs, and sunlight streaming into the bedroom door from the front room. The ringtone faded and then started again, rising in volume until Ari worked her arm out from under the blankets and reached for it. Dale protested the move by sliding one hand down to Ari’s stomach, lifting one leg to hook it over her hip, snuggling closer to her.
Ari vaguely recognized the number, but it wasn’t assigned to any contacts. She apologetically patted Dale’s hip and answered the call. “This is Ariadne Willow.”
“I’m started to feel neglected.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’ve talked to my sisters and brother, but completely ignored me.”
Ari’s brain slowly woke up. “Evelyn Burroughs. Right. I, uh, didn’t intend...”
“I’m just teasing you, Miss Willow. I’m not even sure I have any information that can help you. But I wanted to make sure you knew I was available today. I’m driving back to Portland tomorrow so I can cover a shift at the bar but I plan to be back tomorrow night.”
“Okay, that sounds great. I’d like to meet you for lunch today just to see what we can find out.” Dale gave up on snuggling and rolled away, burying her face in the pillow. Ari pushed the blankets toward her and sat up, putting her feet on the floor. “There’s a place near my office called Harry’s Fine Foods. It’s on Bellevue.”
Evelyn said, “I’ll find it. Say noon?”
“Noon is fine,” Ari said. “I’ll see you then.”
Dale’s voice was muffled by the pillow. “Don’t make dates with other women while your fiancée is spooning you. It’s tacky.”
&nb
sp; Ari hung up, put the phone back on the charger, then pounced on top of Dale with a primal yell, prompting a horrified scream from her prey.
###
This is my fiancée, Dale. Ari was seated on the booth side of a table near the door of Harry’s, a bodega-turned-restaurant in Capitol Hill. She had arrived first so she spent the time sipping a tea and toying with the napkins. This is Dale, my fiancée. She couldn’t decide which she liked more. She also didn’t know what would happen once they evolved from that to... wife? Partner? She already called Dale her partner, and wife sounded archaic to her ears. It wasn’t as bad as calling someone her ‘spouse,’ though she knew there were people who did that.
She was excited and scared by the prospect of marrying Dale. It wouldn’t change anything, but it felt monumental at the same time. The words had come naturally when she said them. Now she couldn’t believe they’d actually come out of her mouth. She was grateful to whatever had possessed her in that moment. A wedding, marriage, forever connected to Dale in life and in work. There was nothing in that to scare her, and just the thought made her eager to get on with it.
Her eye was drawn to the door when Evelyn stepped inside. She was in cargo pants and a leather jacket, which was unzipped over at least two shirts that Ari could see. She paused on the threshold and took off her sunglasses, scanning until she spotted Ari. She made her way over and pulled out the seat across from Ari.
“Miss Willow?”
“Ari, please.”
Evelyn nodded as she sat. It was strange to see her after talking, and flirting, with someone who looked almost exactly like her the previous afternoon. Evelyn’s hair was shorter and styled differently, wavier, and it better complimented the strong line of her jaw. She took off her sunglasses and put them on the table, then folded her hands on her lap and sat up straight.
“You’re playing ‘spot the six differences,’ aren’t you?”
Ari winced. “Sorry about that. Hazards of being a detective.”
Evelyn shrugged. “We’re both used to it. But enough about that... I want to help however I can. It pisses me off to think someone broke into Mom’s house and took the tapestry.”
“Were you hoping to get it in the will?”
“God no,” she said. “What would I do, hang it in my studio apartment? Try to sell it? One, I don’t have room and I don’t need the stress of having something that valuable in my home. Someone might spill a drink on it, or the sun would fade it, the apartment would burn down, someone would break in... no. And I also don’t want to bother selling it. I tried selling my car a few years ago and that was a nightmare. I imagine a historically-important tapestry would be an even bigger headache than a ’95 Saab. I didn’t even want to go to the reveal, but Dodd said he couldn’t read the note unless we were all present.”
“You came all the way to Seattle but planned to skip out on the actual bequeathing?”
Evelyn said, “I came all the way to Seattle to say goodbye to my mother and see my family. I haven’t seen Eleanor in three years.” She paused and looked away. “And I only said I didn’t want the tapestry. There’s still the will reading. There were other things in the house I wanted.”
“Want to expand on that?”
“Not really,” Evelyn said. “Not unless I have to. I want to make sure you know what you’re dealing with. Crossing-Over Place wasn’t some prize we were all hoping to win. Things got a little heated in the moment, but none of us would have been happy with our names being read. I asked Mom about it because I was terrified she was going to leave it up to us. She said she had plans for it. I didn’t care what those plans were as long as I wasn’t responsible.”
“So none of you wanted the tapestry, but all four of you made a point to ask about it.”
“If we wanted money, we could have had it. She could have had four Prestons running around with their hands out. Growing up with money can either make you spoiled or make you desperate to earn what you have. I don’t want to be rich. I’m working three jobs right now. Actually...” She took out her phone and showed Ari an app. “I’m working right now. If someone dings for a food delivery, I can pick it up even though I don’t live here. I’ve already made about a hundred bucks on this vacation.”
Ari said, “Like you said, Preston isn’t quite the same way.”
Evelyn rolled her eyes and put the phone back in her pocket. “Preston has always taken the easy way out. You saw how he reacted when he found out the tapestry was being donated. He’d been counting on that money. He’s the one most likely to steal it, but also the only person who expected it to still be there when you opened the door. He’s the one who ran upstairs. He’s the one who started pointing fingers. I think he fully expected Mom to leave it to him. One last boost to the bank account.”
“He might be desperate. He’s homeless.”
Evelyn barely reacted to that, but Ari could see it was new information. “What? No, he’s not.”
“He’s been breaking into the house every night, sleeping in his old room.”
Evelyn wiped a hand over her face. “Jesus. I mean, I knew he... I went to his apartment to ask him point-blank if he’d taken it, but the landlord said he’d been evicted. It’s not the first time it’s happened, but I assumed he was staying with a friend. Sleeping in the old house... there’s something creepy about that, don’t you think...? I can’t believe he’s actually breaking in.”
“Maybe he doesn’t have to break in.” Ari acted like the thought just occurred to her. “Is there, like, some kind of skeleton key Preston might be used to get in and out of the house?”
“We all used to have one for the exterior doors. Mom didn’t like the idea of us getting locked out, so she made sure we were safe.”
“But those keys wouldn’t open all the inner doors?”
Evelyn shook her head. “No, there were other special keys for that. All of our bedrooms used to have their own locks, but Mom changed them when we moved out. I know what you’re getting it, and if Mom told you the only key to the study was in your pocket, then that’s the truth.”
“What about the housekeeper?”
“She...” Evelyn raised an eyebrow. “Hm. That’s interesting. Have you already contacted her?”
Ari nodded. “She had a key, but she left it at the house last Friday. It’s gone missing.”
“We were all in town by then, so it could have been taken by any of us. Or it was the housekeeper and she’s lying about leaving the key, or it could have been Mr. Dodd.” She laughed and shook her head. “I’m starting to regret having you stay on the case. For your sake, I mean. I’m starting to think this will turn into one of those urban legends. The priceless tapestry which vanished from a locked room and was never seen again. I wish we hadn’t gotten you tangled up in it.”
“Technically your mother got me tangled up in it. I just didn’t take the opportunity to cut the tangles when I could have. If anyone is having regrets, it should be me. But I’m determined to solve this one.”
“You sound confident.”
Ari smiled. “Oh, yeah. I’m pretty good at mysteries. I have clues, I have a small pool of suspects, and I’ve spent the past two days eliminating the impossible. I think it’s just a matter of time before I find the thread that leads to the only possible solution.”
Chapter Fourteen
“You came to Seattle last Wednesday, a week before the disappearance was revealed. You and Eleanor took your mother to lunch at SkyCity?” Evelyn nodded. “Elizabeth and Preston both got solo meals to say goodbye. Was sharing your meal with Eleanor planned, or did you just happen to get into town at the same time?”
Evelyn waited for the waiter to walk away, having delivered her drink, before she answered. “Eleanor was already at the house when I showed up to let Mom know I was in town. Eleanor is the one who invited me to come with them. I thought it seemed a little rude to tag along on their personal time, but she insisted. I’m used to being treated as a package deal, it’s just that I�
�m usually tied to Elizabeth. It was a nice change of pace.”
“What did you talk about?”
Evelyn furrowed her brow. “Oh, boring stuff. Family history, things we wanted to get off our chest. Mom wanted to tell us she was proud of us all.” She stirred her straw around the ice cubes in her glass and took a moment to compose herself. “You know how it is, probably. A loved one passes away, you want to make sure you say things you won’t get another chance to say.”
Ari nodded. “But no one got carried away? No one was overly emotional?”
“Not at our dinner. Eleanor was distracted by work, of course. I was anxious because one meal at that damn restaurant could buy me groceries for a week, but hey. Mom was paying and she chose the venue, so what the hell. I think Elizabeth’s meal with her was a bit more contentious.”
“Is that a twin thing? You could sense she was emotional?”
Evelyn gave Ari a good-natured glare. “No, because their heart-to-heart happened at Chihuly and then they met us at Canlis. Ellie put on a good front, but she polished off an entire bottle of wine by herself. Usually she has one glass with dinner. I sort of got the feeling she planned to have some more when she got back to her hotel.”
“Your mother didn’t mention anything?”
“Nope. She was all smiles. It was me, Ellie, Eleanor, and Mom at the dinner. Ellie joined in the conversation. She wasn’t sulking. I only noticed the wine because... well, twin thing. It might not mean anything though. Mom and Ellie... let’s just say Ellie wasn’t Mom’s favorite, and the feeling was mutual.”
“Elizabeth didn’t mention anything about her final conversation with Vivian when we talked. She did tell me that Preston was the one who took the tapestry.”
Evelyn chuckled. “Yeah, they’ve never been fans of each other. Ellie thinks that Preston takes advantage of Mom. Took advantage of Mom... Even before that, when we were kids, Mom favored him. We were all Daddy’s girls and Preston was Mom’s favorite.” She pursed her lips. “I’m not sure how much of this I should tell you. It’s not really relevant to the tapestry. But it might help you understand why Elizabeth was so quick to point her finger at him.”
