Raised by Wolves

by Geonn Cannon

  Dale wrinkled her nose and turned away to look out to the bay. The water was choppy, and the waves smacked against the rocks and logs along the shore. A huge tanker was lumbering out toward the sea, and she breathed in deep to cool down the fire in her head. She hated hearing Isaac use such an offensive metaphor about Ari, but she also knew that the comparison paled in comparison to what she’d said the night before. You goddamn mutt. She almost sobbed when she remembered it. Ari’s face... betrayed, hurt, confused. She would never forget that.

  I did that. No matter what else I’ve done for her, I’m the one who made Ari look like that.

  Isaac stood next to her. Two women jogged by behind them.

  “Why me?” she asked. “Why’d you come after me?”

  “I didn’t. I had no idea you existed until a few weeks ago. But sometimes things work out. You’re the key to all of this, Miss Frye. I could never just hold up the essays and claim the threat is real, but with you by my side...” He laughed softly. “You’re the witness. You are by far the best canidae expert I’ve ever met. You can use everything they’ve told you over the years and finally expose them. You can give humanity a fighting chance to protect ourselves against this threat. Will you help me, Miss Frye?”

  She closed her eyes and smelled the salt water, felt its spray on her face. After a long moment, she turned away from Isaac and started walking again. She was putting more distance between herself and where she had parked, just in case. She looked over her shoulder at Isaac.

  “You can call me Dale.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Timothy Dodd’s office gave Ari flashbacks to GG&M, even though the aesthetics were actually quite different. Faux-marble floors, pale yellow wallpaper, golden accents on everything, and just enough mirrors to give the illusion of space without turning it into a carnival sideshow. The flowers were real enough to cause Ari to sniffle as she signed into the guest book and was directed down a narrow hall of identical offices with fogged glass doors.

  Timothy’s office door was open and Ari saw Elizabeth Burroughs inside. It really was easy to tell the twins apart once she’d spent some alone time with each of them. The office was empty except for her, and she was standing at a table near the windows pouring herself a cup of coffee. It had been brewed strong enough that Ari believed it would have been overwhelming even if she wasn’t a canidae. Elizabeth looked up and smiled when she saw who had arrived.

  “The detective. Coffee?”

  “No, thank you.” The office was empty save for the two of them. “Where is everyone else?”

  Elizabeth looked at the clock. “We’re a little early. And I assume Preston and Evelyn will both be late. Eleanor is probably in the lobby waiting until the exact moment the appointment was for.” She sipped the coffee and examined Ari. “Are you okay? You look rough, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

  “I’m fine,” Ari muttered. “I think your mother was screwing everyone around. Myself included.”

  “How so?”

  “I don’t think I saw the real Crossing-Over Place. I think it was a fake just convincing enough to fool me if I glanced at an image of it online.”

  Elizabeth said, “So the tapestry didn’t go missing in the past six weeks...”

  “It could have gone missing at any point since the last time someone in your family saw it. I assume that would be Preston, so I’ll ask him when he gets here.”

  “Ask me what?” Preston said as he came into the office. He wore a wrinkled white T-shirt and jeans. When he caught Elizabeth’s disdainful look, he sneered. “What, it’s not like this is a memorial or anything. We’re just here to listen to some guy read the will. She didn’t get dressed up, either.”

  Ari looked down at herself and realized she was still wearing the shirt she’d slept in under a hoodie.

  Before she could apologize, Elizabeth said, “Yeah, well, some people can pull off scruffy. You’re not one of them. Either grow a beard or invest in a razor.”

  Ari moved past the compliment. “I wanted to ask you about the last time you saw Crossing-Over Place.”

  “I have no idea,” he said. “I never went into Mom’s study. And even if I did, I barely even noticed the tapestry anymore.”

  “But it was huge,” Ari said. “You would have noticed if it was missing, just like if you walked into your apartment and the TV wasn’t there.”

  Preston said, “Missing? You said it was there six weeks ago when Mom gave you the key.”

  “That’s no longer, ah... we’re looking into the possibility that I might have been wrong.”

  “Oh, great, that’s fantastic.” He walked between them and took a seat in front of Timothy’s desk.

  Elizabeth said, “Are you still breaking into the house every night and sleeping in your old room?”

  He spun to look at her, then glared at Ari. She glared back. She didn’t give a damn what this spoiled brat thought of her, and her ability to care was even lower today. When she didn’t wither, he blew air out through his nose and faced forward again, arms over his chest.

  Elizabeth looked at Ari again. “Let’s say you’re right. Mom created a fake tapestry just to fool you?”

  “She wanted me as proof it was still in the house six weeks ago. When it goes missing, I’m determined to solve the case. If I can’t, it remains unsolved.”

  “And the insurance money goes to a dead woman!” Preston said. “That’s a genius plan. Unless she faked her death, but I don’t think we’re in a soap opera.”

  “I did check with the funeral home, and they confirmed she was cremated on Monday morning. I didn’t get much information from the clinic where she spent her last moments.”

  Elizabeth said, “Maybe a family member would have more luck.”

  “I didn’t want to ask.”

  Elizabeth shook her head. “No, we’re as invested as you are. I want to know what happened as much as you do.”

  “God, just bone already,” Preston muttered.

  “You’re a real piece of shit,” Elizabeth said without emotion.

  Ari walked to the window and looked out. Dale was somewhere out there, alone, probably confused. If what the French person had said about the essays was true, she must be having some insane thoughts. The fact she couldn’t go running to wherever she was, hug her, tell her it was going to be all right, made Ari’s skin itch. Elizabeth joined her a moment later.

  “Don’t listen to him,” she said, not bothering to lower her voice. “He’s a jealous asshole who’s always hated that I have a better track record with women than he does. And you are my type. But he still shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “It’s fine,” Ari said.

  Eleanor arrived at that moment. “Looks like most of us are here,” she said. “What’s going on?”

  “Elizabeth’s going to bang the PI.”

  “Oh, Lizzie,” Eleanor sighed.

  “No one is banging anybody,” Elizabeth said. “Preston’s just being an asshole.”

  Eleanor looked around as if Evelyn was hiding somewhere in the small office. “Where’s Evie?”

  “Not here,” Elizabeth said.

  “I can see that,” Eleanor said with the measured patience of an elementary school teacher. “I was hoping you might have some insight.”

  “Well, congratulations, now you know as much as I do.”

  Ari closed her eyes. She was starting to understand why Vivian might have wanted to screw these people around.

  Eleanor had settled in on the divan near the window when Evelyn finally arrived. She was out of breath and pushed her hair out of her face as she scanned the room.

  “Lawyer man isn’t even here?”

  “You don’t have much room to complain about someone being late,” Eleanor said.

  “Fuck you, Eleanor.”

  Ari pushed away from the wall and said, “Shut the fuck up. All of you. Just shut up, okay? Shut your goddamn mouths and stop acting so fucking superior to each other. You jump down Preston
’s throat because he took money from your mother, but she gladly gave him that money. Because he was the only one out of all of you who stayed close enough to help her. He might not have had a choice, because the three of you ran as far and fast as you could, but he stepped up. He was there for Vivian when she needed him.

  “You look down your nose at Evelyn because she isn’t punctual, but she’s the only one of you who is working right now.” She stepped forward and tugged the receipt which she’d seen poking out of her shirt’s breast pocket. “She was delivering breakfast for an app. She just made five bucks this morning. That’s why she was late.”

  Ari pointed at Elizabeth next. “Maybe you think Elizabeth was indifferent to your mother. If I was Elizabeth, I would have put a continent between myself and my mother. The things she said to Elizabeth were cruel, unwarranted, and she planned her death with no intention to ever apologize for them. She was comfortable with the fact she made her daughter feel wrong, and there is no way I could ever forgive that.”

  Elizabeth was hugging herself, head down and turned away so none of them could see her face.

  “And Eleanor...” She faltered. “You’re... Well, you’re just kind of bitchy and superior. No one likes that.”

  The office fell silent. Ari caught her breath, already regretting what she’d said, when Eleanor snorted. She brought a hand up to her mouth, covering the lower half of her face, and bent forward. Preston watched her, eyebrows raised in surprise, and then began to laugh with her. Evelyn was the next to start, and she walked over to sit next to Evelyn on the couch. Elizabeth wasn’t laughing, but she did lift her head, shake the hair out of her eyes, and smile appreciatively at Ari.

  Timothy finally arrived and stopped cold on the threshold, staring at the gathered Burroughs children who actually seemed to be enjoying each other’s company.

  “The secretary told me you’d all arrived. I apologize for my tardiness.”

  “A few minutes,” Eleanor said. “Who’s counting.”

  Evelyn laughed and bumped her shoulder. Timothy looked confused but unwilling to argue. He crossed to his desk, nodding hello to Ari, and took a seat.

  “Perhaps we should get this business out of the way while everyone is so... chipper. This won’t be a formal recitation of the will. It’s simply an itemized list of what each person is entitled to. I’m only providing the information along with any deeds, proofs of ownership, or provenance that may be required. The will can be contested, but this is not the time nor the place for those grievances. Am I understood?”

  The group nodded. Timothy nodded as well and opened the file in front of him.

  “We’ll begin with communal property. Each Burroughs child will receive two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The remainder of Vivian’s liquid assets shall be split evenly among the charities she’s outlined elsewhere. I can provide a list of those if anyone wishes to see them.” Eleanor lifted her hand. Timothy acknowledged that and moved on.

  “To Preston McBride Burroughs, Vivian leaves the house and all its furnishings save for items listed elsewhere in this document.”

  Ari expected some kind of outcry to that, but none of the girls reacted at all. Preston brought a hand up and wiped it over his face. He had just gone from homeless to being worth at least three quarters of a million dollars in the space of five minutes. It was enough to make anyone emotional.

  “To Evelyn Hannah Burroughs, Vivian leaves her vehicles. There’s an itemized list here. Two cars, and a boat.”

  “And a wheelchair,” Preston said under his breath.

  “Preston,” Eleanor scolded, but she was smiling. Her sisters were as well, and even Timothy looked like he was on the verge of a grin.

  “To Elizabeth Garrison Burroughs, my wine collection, including the bottle of Cheval Blanc 1947 which is being stored--”

  Elizabeth made a choking noise and clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. Everyone, including Timothy, looked at her. She finally blinked again and realized she was the center of attention. Ari noticed her fingers were shaking when she lowered her hand.

  “It’s... it’s the best wine of the twentieth century. It’s worth...” She shook her head. “It’s worth a lot of money.”

  Timothy cleared his throat. “Yes, well. There’s another list of the wines, vintages and value, and where they’re stored. I’ll get that to you.”

  “Thanks, thank you,” Elizabeth whispered.

  “And finally, to Eleanor Ashton Burroughs.” He tapped his thumbs on the desk and stared at the page. He worked his jaw back and forth, tapped his thumbs again.

  Elizabeth said, “Is everything all right?”

  Timothy looked at her, then at Eleanor. “Yes.” He cleared his throat and worked his neck as if suddenly his collar was too tight. “To Eleanor Ashton Burroughs, Vivian leaves nothing.”

  Preston sat up straighter. “Turn the page over, it’s probably on the back.”

  “No, no,” Timothy said. “It actually... it says the words.”

  He held up the page and Eleanor stood, took the paper, and stared at the entry. Ari watched a parade of emotions cross her face. Confusion, sadness, anger, disappointment. She pressed her lips together so tightly that they turned white. Color also faded from the rest of her face.

  Preston leaned forward. “Hey, look, any jewelry she had...”

  “If she wanted me to have it, she would have left it to me.”

  “Yeah, but come on, what am I going to do with it?”

  Eleanor dropped the paper back on the desk. “Fuck it. Fuck this and fuck her.” She looked at her sisters, then at Ari. “Do you want to know where Crossing-Over Place is? The bitch probably burned it. She probably hired you, then burned the damn thing so you would spin your wheels looking for it. That’s what she does. Did. Damn it, it’s...” She huffed and swiveled her head to look at everyone. “We were the bad kids. We were monsters who couldn’t be left alone in a room together. Because that’s what she made us. We were her projects, her little games, her toys. She turned Ellie and Evie into twins who live six hours apart because even they don’t like seeing each other very often. She turned Preston into her errand boy and kept his dependent on her until the very end. And what was I? Who was I? No one. Nothing. Not even worth an afterthought in her will.”

  “Eleanor...”

  “Save it, Elizabeth. You know better than any of us what she was capable of. Don’t try to defend her just because you got some fancy booze.”

  “I think all our emotions and moods are all on edge right now,” Timothy said. He stood and hurriedly headed for the door. “Why don’t we take five? There’s coffee in the break room, just at the end of the hallway... If you’ll follow me.”

  Eleanor left the office and went the opposite direction of the executor. Preston slowly rose from his chair and looked at his sisters. Evelyn motioned for him to come with her, and she put an arm across his shoulders as they left as well. Elizabeth started to follow, but Ari put a hand out to stop her.

  “Your mother left Evelyn cars and a boat. Those weren’t at the house.”

  “No, they were at the storage unit downtown. Shit... we should have told you about that on Wednesday.”

  Ari waved off the apology. “No, it wouldn’t have been pertinent until I came up with the fake tapestry theory. But now, yeah, I definitely want to go take a look at it.”

  “Mr. Dodd probably has the key and the address.”

  She nodded and went to find him so she could ask. As worried as she was about Dale, she knew it wasn’t a problem she could beat into submission until she found an answer. The missing tapestry, though... she felt like she was close to a breakthrough. Even if it was just uncovering the fact that Vivian was an awful person, it would be some kind of closure.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Isaac tried several times to strike up a conversation, but Dale ignored him and just looked out at the water, trying to guess how long it would take the tanker to disappear from sight. It didn’t take as long
as she expected. When she got tired of walking, Isaac suggested an early lunch. She suggested a place called Li’l Woody’s, mainly because she and Ari never went there and she wouldn’t have to worry about her showing up. Isaac drove in silence, and Dale looked out the window, blindly watching traffic and pedestrians. Part of her wanted to spot Ari in the crowd, and another part dreaded it.

  She dropped her hand to the bracelet around her wrist. Her first instinct was to tear it off, throw it out the window, and scrub the spot it had been resting until the skin was pink and raw. But there was another part, something which felt hidden behind a brick wall at the back of her mind, that knew she couldn’t do that any more than she could tear her own heart out and drop it on the street. She remembered the first night she’d shown it to Ari.

  They were at the cabin where they first made love, taking a vacation after the war. It was a surprise, hair from Ari and fur from the wolf, twined together. She’d asked Ari to put it on her. Had it been raining that night? Yes... maybe? She was annoyed she couldn’t remember. But then again, who cared what was happening outside the car? She was focused entirely on the woman with her. No, the thing with her, not a woman or a person.

  She flinched at that, pressed her fist against the side of her head. Isaac looked over but didn’t comment.

  When they arrived at the restaurant, she followed him up the stairs and inside as if she was on a leash (like those mutts ought to be, every one of them) and shook her head to clear it of rotten thoughts. She went to a table by the window while Isaac ordered, keeping her head down on her arms until he arrived with two salmon burgers, French fries, and two milkshakes.

  “I got vanilla and chocolate both, because I didn’t know which you’d prefer. I’m good with either. And just in case you didn’t know, you can dip your fries in the milkshake, and--”

  “This isn’t a date,” she said.

  He stared across the table at her. “I know.”

  “Then spare me the milkshake hacks and start talking. Who are you really?”