by AE Jones
Where had I heard that before?
Doc’s arrival saved me from responding. She looked through the window at Griffin. “Do I want to know why there is a table next to his bed with papers on it?”
I shook my head. “Not really.”
“Who got him to settle down?”
Bea spoke up. “Kyle did. She has a special way with him.”
“Yes, she does. I’m going to let him sleep as long as he can before he shifts.”
“Is he in danger if he changes?” I blurted.
Doc took out her phone and opened an app.
“Earth to Sabrina? Hello?”
She rolled her eyes. “Give me a second, Impatient One. I’m reviewing Griffin’s chart.”
I shut up. Wasn’t technology grand? She finished and looked up at me. “I wanted to check for any notes Doctor Jensen might have added. Griffin is doing well. He should be able to change later tonight. It won’t be dangerous, but it will drain him, so this nap is a good precursor.”
I let out the breath I had been holding.
Sabrina smiled at me. “Why don’t you go home and get some sleep yourself? You look like a raccoon. You can’t do anything here, and you won’t be able to stay for the change.”
Bea chimed in. “She’s right. You need to take care of yourself. Tea bags—regular black tea only—on the eyes do wonders.”
“So you’re both telling me I look like crap?”
“Yes,” they said in unison.
Chapter 25
My cell rang, and I grabbed it when I saw Sabrina was calling me. “How is he?”
“The proper response is ‘hello.’”
“Sabrina!”
“He’s back to his imperious self this morning. Other than a few twinges, which he doesn’t think I noticed, he’s doing well. He still needs to take it easy the next couple of days, though.”
“So the change was uneventful?”
“It was fine.” She chuckled. “Quit fishing, McKinley. I can’t tell you about his animal self. Doctor-shifter confidentiality and all that.”
“I wasn’t fishing.” Okay, maybe I was…just a little bit.
We hung up, and I wandered down the hall to the office meeting area. I was scheduled to work at the body shop later. It was hard to believe only three days had passed since Matthew overheard them planning the attacks at the Ritz. With the attempt on Griffin’s life on Saturday, it felt like years.
Misha was sitting at the table typing away frantically on his laptop. Jean Luc stood in the kitchen, which meant only one thing. He had made the coffee. He turned with the carafe in hand. “Would you like some coffee?”
“No thanks, I just finished a cup.” It took an act of will to keep from shuddering, but Jean Luc deserved the effort. He was a sweetie, but he also truly did make the worst coffee in the world. Sludge had a better flavor. “Where’s Jason?”
“He went to pick up Matthew. They should be here shortly.”
I plopped down next to Misha. “What have you learned?”
“The energy markings from the limo appear to belong to a Haltrap demon.”
“I ran into a mean one in Nevada, but I didn’t know we had any around here.”
Misha leaned back. “Normally we don’t. They usually live in the Southwest.”
“So how does this help us?”
“I can cross-reference known Haltraps in our database and see if we have any hit-demons on the market. If we can track the demons, we may be able to find out who hired them.”
Jean Luc walked over to the table and sat down as well. “We are missing something. Why did they go after Trina first? Then Tim. Why would they not have simply tried to kill Griffin?”
“This isn’t a simple vengeance kill,” I argued. “Someone is trying to take over the pack. Tim and Trina are the next in line for succession.”
Misha’s eyes widened. “Tell me how you reached that conclusion.”
I went to the white board and picked up a marker. I hesitated for a split second, right before I placed the tip of the marker to the board. Dalton had suggested we put this board up to plot out cases, and I had given him crap about it. The pen squeaked across the board as I wrote, yanking me out of my memories. I drew Griffin’s family tree.
“Shifters’ leadership is inherited through family. Griffin’s older brother, William, was supposed to be the shifter leader. He took over after their father died, but when William died, Griffin became the pack leader.”
Jean Luc nodded. “I remember. The community was in shock after William died. He had been groomed for leadership from birth.”
“Do you know how William died?” I asked.
“No, it was kept very hush-hush.”
I put a question mark next to William’s name. “I don’t understand why Tim isn’t the leader. He is William’s son.”
“I do not understand that, either,” Jean Luc added. “Misha, can you research shifter succession rules to find out why it would be the case?”
Misha’s fingers were already racing over the keys, “You got it.”
I studied the board. “We still need to figure out how the poachers fit into this scenario.”
The door opened, and Matthew and Jason walked into the room.
I looked at my phone. We were going to be late to the body shop at this rate. “It’s about time you guys got here, we need to get moving.”
Matthew’s mouth crooked up on one side into a lopsided grin, and he bowed ostentatiously. “Give me a second to change, and we can leave.” He went into the bathroom.
Jason studied the white board. “What did we miss?”
“I can fill you in on the way,” I said.
Jean Luc stood. “Misha, we need to leave as well.” He stepped in front of me, handing me my earpiece. “We will be a block over. I can be there in less than a minute if you need me.”
Booger came prancing out of the back room and circled my legs. I pulled on my coat and then bent down and scooped him up.
Jason smiled and held open the door. “Your carriage awaits.”
I huffed. The analogy made twisted sense, even though the carriage was a beat-up Chevy truck, and instead of mice turning into coachmen, I had men turning into cats. I just hoped I wouldn’t turn into a pumpkin at the end of the day.
* * *
Bruce smiled when I walked through the front door of the shop carrying Booger. “I’m glad you decided to come back.”
“I told you I would.” Booger squirmed, and I let him down. His yellow eyes narrowed on me and his tail hooked haughtily in the air. “Sorry!” He stomped over to the door and Bruce opened it to let him slip through.
“I thought you might change your mind once you had a chance to think about what happened.”
I couldn’t tell him throwing coffee into a guy’s face and kneeing him in the nuts was the least eventful thing I’d done in the last few days. “I didn’t want to leave you short-handed.” I peeked around the corner at Jim’s empty desk. “How’s Jim doing?”
Bruce leaned on the counter. “Better. He ended up having to have his nose set and packed, which wasn’t pretty. I told him to take today off. He’s supposed to see the doctor this afternoon and then he’s going to his first Gambler’s Anonymous meeting tonight.”
“Good to hear.”
“We had a come-to-Jesus discussion this weekend, and I let him have it. I won’t let him endanger anyone else or ruin my business because of his gambling.”
“It’s a first step,” I added cautiously.
He pointed to the stack of invoices on the desk. “I have some orders for you to type up for me. Then I’m going to check on Ken. He has a bug up his butt today, so steer clear of him.”
“And he’s just soooo nice the rest of the time.”
Bruce shrugged. “Even though he lacks people skills, he’s a good mechanic.” He paused for a second. “If he gives you any crap, let me know.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“So I hear, but
let me know anyway, okay?”
“You’re the boss.”
He walked out into the back bay area, and I sat down and got to work.
After twenty minutes, Ken came up front, carrying a stack of paperwork and slammed it down on the desk.
“What’s your problem?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“Good, then stop being a horse’s ass.”
Jean Luc’s voice sounded in my ear. “Take it easy, ma petite.”
“Or what, you’ll throw coffee in my face?” Ken sneered.
“What’s with the animosity?” I demanded. “You don’t even know me.”
“We don’t need you here bossing us around.”
“For the love of God, man, get over yourself. I’m here for maybe a week more, tops. Bruce asked me to help out, and I am.”
He snarled at me, which was ridiculously over the top for a human, and stalked off. As he headed for the back, I saw Booger sitting next to the door. He scooted into the reception area when Ken went through. He had probably watched the entire confrontation with Ken. Somehow, it made me feel better.
I took a deep breath and lifted a new invoice out of the pile. By the time five o’clock rolled around, I was more than ready to leave. I wasn’t any closer to figuring out the connections to the poachers and Ken. Now that I had alienated him, I was even less likely to learn much. Hopefully, Booger had found out something today.
At five-fifteen, I shut down my computer and went back to search for my furry partner. C.J. and Bill were cleaning up their stations. Ken was nowhere to be seen.
I walked over to C.J. “Where’s the cat?”
“He’s probably in the back room with Ken. For some reason he likes to follow the guy around.”
“What’s the deal with Ken, anyway?”
“He’s never been very friendly, but he was at least reasonable until last summer when Mark took off.”
“Mark is the guy who used to work here?”
“Yeah, he and Ken were pretty tight. They used to go hunting and fishing together. They’d brag about some of the animals they killed. I’ve never gotten into the hunting scene myself.”
My stomach twisted. I had a hunch the other guys hadn’t been bragging about normal animals. “So what’s your theory for why he took off?”
He shrugged. “Not sure. I hadn’t been working here too long. He came to work every day and did his job. Bill might know something more.”
“I better go find the cat before Jason gets here.”
C.J. nodded. “I’ll help you look for him.” We walked toward the back room. “We’ve decided to call him Sparky.”
“Sparky?”
“Yeah. We wanted it to have something related to the body shop, so we came up with Sparky.”
“Does he answer to it?” I asked.
“Funny you should ask. I could swear he rolled his eyes at me this morning when I called him that.”
I bet he did. I was about to respond when I was interrupted by a hissing sound followed by Ken swearing. My heart jumped into high gear.
C.J. and I rushed into the back room. Ken was holding his hand in the air and Booger was perched on a bench, his hair standing on end. “What’s going on?” C.J. asked.
“The little shit just scratched me.”
“What did you do to him? I demanded.
“Nothing! My phone was sitting on the bench, and he was pawing it.”
“He was what?” C.J. asked incredulously.
“He was hitting the screen with his paws. He’ll scratch it up with those claws.”
C.J. laughed. “Next you’ll tell us he was trying to make a call.”
I walked over and picked up Booger. “He probably saw something flash on the screen. I bought him one of those laser light toys. He loves it. He would chase the thing for hours if I let him.” I walked toward the door. “Let’s go home, Sparky. You’ve caused enough trouble for today.”
Chapter 26
I scowled in disgust at Matthew, who stretched his long legs out in front of him like a proud peacock. He was seated in the back of the van while the rest of the team waited for his intel.
I glared at him. “What were you trying to do in there with the phone?”
“I was trying to see who he called last.”
“Why?” I asked.
“He was talking to someone. I think it was the same person he called Friday night.”
Misha spoke up from the front seat. “Did you get a number?”
“Yep.”
“It won’t help us if it’s one of those throwaway phones,” I argued.
Matthew tipped his head. “I’m not sure these guys are that smart. Ken uses his own phone, at least.”
Misha grabbed a pad of paper. “Give me the number. Do you know Ken’s number too?”
“No, didn’t look for it.”
“His number would probably be even better to have. I could track his activity and see who he’s calling regularly.”
Matthew rattled off the other phone number and then folded his legs in, sitting up. “I can try to take a look at his phone again tomorrow.”
“No way.” I answered. “You can’t afford to get caught again. If Ken is in league with these poachers, he wouldn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out something isn’t normal with you. I’ll take a look around the office for his number. I’m sure Bruce has a contact list somewhere.”
Jean Luc chimed in. “Did you overhear anything important?”
Matthew shrugged. “No specific plans like on Friday. He definitely doesn’t like Kyle, though. I can’t repeat what he said without getting my mouth washed out with soap. Otherwise he rambled on about waiting for—” Matthew did finger quotes “—the call. Whatever that means.”
“I think it means Ken isn’t calling the shots. Someone else is, and it could be the same person who tried to kill Griffin.” I turned to Misha. “Were you able to research shifter succession rules today?”
“Yeah. They’re not as convoluted as vamp rules, but they come pretty close.”
“What did you find out?”
“That under normal circumstances, Tim would be the leader.”
I frowned. “Even though he wasn’t born before William died?”
Misha nodded. “Griffin would have been in charge until Tim came of age, and then Tim would have taken over the pack.”
“Then why didn’t he?”
“I don’t know.” Misha typed on his tablet. “According to shifter law, the only reason the direct descendants would not inherit the title would be under two circumstances. William would have to abdicate, or the ruling Council would have to remove him.”
“He would have had to do something pretty horrendous to be removed.” I looked at Matthew, who wouldn’t meet my eye. “Matthew. Do you have any insight into this?”
He squirmed in his seat. “Nothing concrete. I really can’t talk about it.”
“What if it’s relevant to the case?” I pushed. “Could this secret be the reason why someone is trying to kill Griffin?”
Matthew sighed. “You didn’t hear this from me, okay?” I turned an imaginary key in front of my lips and he continued. “I’ve heard a couple of rumors over the years. One is that Griffin took over the role after William’s death and refused to relinquish it when it was time for Tim to take over. Supposedly, he holds something over Tim’s head which keeps him from contesting Griffin’s leadership.” He paused.
“And the other rumor?” I asked.
“That Griffin had William killed so he could take over the pack.”
I straightened. “I don’t believe it.”
Matthew held up his hands in surrender. “I’m not saying I believe them, either. Whatever happened, only Griffin and the Shifter Council know.”
I turned to Jason. “Can you drive me to Griffin’s? I need to fill him in on what we found out today.” And ask him some questions about the rumors.
* * *
While Jason and I drove to t
he estate, I sat quietly, watching the swirling snow. It hit the truck window in a frantic pattern, causing a kaleidoscope effect. My thoughts were as disjointed as the streaks on the window. Who was after Griffin? Poachers looking for payback for Mark Brennan’s death? Or members of the pack looking to avenge William’s death? Or could it be something else altogether? Jason interrupted my mental exercises.
“Stop scrunching your face up, Kyle. It’s not attractive.”
“Thanks.”
He cleared his throat. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“There isn’t much to talk about.”
“Do you believe Griffin killed his brother to take over the throne?”
I blew out the breath I’d been holding. “No.”
“Then it’s all that matters.”
“When did you become so Zen?”
“In the last three years, my world has been turned upside down. I’ve discovered humans are not alone on this planet. Then I thought all demons and vamps were trying to wipe us off the face of the earth. Now my best friends include a Shamat demon who is addicted to TV shows and a beautiful Succubus demon who keeps me guessing every second of every day. I think being Zen is mandatory. Either that, or I’d go crazy.”
“So what do you think I should do?”
“Listen to your feelings for Griffin.”
“Oh, no. Not you, too! This isn’t about my feelings. It can’t be.”
Jason parked the truck in Griffin’s driveway. “Of course this is about your feelings. You could have talked to him on the phone about what we discussed today. It’s okay to admit you want to check on him. You’re allowed to care about someone else, Kyle.”
“You’re a great man, Jason Watson. I had my doubts when we met. Of course, you were trying to run me over with your truck at the time, but you’ve surprised me yet again.”
“I’ve had some great teachers lately.”
“I know of a certain doctor who is growing quite attached to you. Take your own advice and tell her how you feel.”
Jason leaned over me and opened my door. “Don’t make me carry you over my shoulder into the house, woman!”
