With rage in his eyes.
Chapter 7
Wordlessly, Ger stalked over to Perk, who once again was standing frozen in place, a bag of cheap white bread in his hands.
“Cheddar or American?”
Cookie’s voice cut through the silence, but Ian wouldn’t be distracted. The hair on the back of his neck was standing straight up with every police instinct he possessed. Trisha was wound tighter than a spring, Ger was in a rage, and Perk was quaking in his boots.
“So, Perk?” Ger said in a low, threatening voice that shocked Ian. He had never heard his brother say much of anything in anger, but the menace in his voice was true and deep.
“H–hey, Ger,” Perk replied, showing a ghastly, weak grin with too many yellow teeth. “I was just comin’ to see ya today.”
“Now you see me,” Ger said icily. “Talk.”
Perk gave a nervous little giggle and seemed to cower before Ger. Ian knew that if they had been in wolf form, Perk would have been rolled over on his back, neck and belly exposed to try and placate Ger. But they weren’t wolves right now…or yet. If tempers got out of control here, Ian would have Ger, Perk, and probably Big Al in a big mess with a pretty fucked-up Trisha on his hands. Shit had to be stopped now before anything got out of hand.
“Hey, Ger,” Ian called. “What’s going on?”
Out of the corner of his eye, Ian saw Trisha give him a frustrated grimace. He partly understood that. The investigator in him was smelling something fishy, but this was one of those times that his obligation to protect Blue Moon overrode his obligation to uphold the law.
He started to move toward Ger and Perk, only to feel a small hand clamp down like steel on his arm, arresting his movement. He looked down at Trisha, whose jaw was grim and tight.
Ger didn’t move his gaze from Perk. Of course he wouldn’t. Wolf dominance meant Ger would never break eye contact first. It would be Perk who looked away, and he did, moments later.
“Ian, Trisha,” Ger said without looking at them. “Go outside. I’ll meet you there in a minute. Perk and I have something…private to discuss.”
Ian felt the slight stiffening in Trisha’s posture at the sound of Ger’s voice, and he recognized that Ger was using an alpha wolf command. Personally, Ian had grown immune to it over a lifetime of being the younger brother, but it was clear that while Trisha had excellent control of herself, she was very much open to the alpha voice.
Slipping his arm around Trisha’s waist, he guided her out into the damp, cold air. She blinked a few times and shook her head slightly, then rounded on him.
“What the hell was that, McDade?” she snapped.
“What was what, Blacke?” he replied calmly, praying for patience, at least enough patience to get them through whatever Ger had to say to Perk inside.
“What the fuck were you doing? This was important, and you just had to go calling attention to yourself and getting us kicked out of a conversation that I’m pretty sure I needed to hear.”
“How exactly do you know that, Doctor Profiler?” Ian said between gritted teeth. “Last time I checked, having a PhD in psychology doesn’t exactly give you telepathic powers.”
“You are obstructing an investigation,” Trisha ground out, coming to step toe-to-toe with him, looking up at him defiantly. “If you don’t get your act together and get your head in the right place, I’m going to get you taken off this case!”
“You can’t do that,” Ian bluffed, knowing that if someone like her made a big enough stink, it could mean real trouble. But he was having difficulty thinking about how worried he should be because having her stand so close, looking up at him with fire in her blue eyes and her cheeks pinked from the frosty air, was wreaking havoc on his body.
“I can, and I will,” Trisha spat back. “Nothing is more important than catching this killer. Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Ian breathed, feeling an uncontrollable surge of wild, hot passion rise up in him. “Then, you shouldn’t mind this at all, because it’s nothing.”
He grabbed her around the waist and forced her against the wall, hoisting her up so that she could wrap her legs around his hips. Even through her parka and her jeans, he could feel the heat between her legs, and the slight, instinctive grind she did against him betrayed the fact that this wasn’t just “nothing” for her.
“Put me down—mmph!”
Her lips were icy cold, and the chill against his own, but the heat of her tongue was sensual and slick. He wanted to feel her cold little lips all over his body and wrapping around his cock—okay, maybe warm lips there, but oh, damn, was that her tongue now? He groaned as the anger and adrenaline of fighting with her mixed with pure lust for her and rushed blood down to his cock, hardening him against her.
He pushed her harder against the wall, now moving his lips to savagely nip and kiss her neck, her warm, slightly salty, slightly perfumed neck with the exotic smell of cigarettes clinging faintly to her hair. She clung to him, kissing him back with a ferocity that was more exciting than anything he had ever known. He wanted to cuff her to his bed and fill her pussy until she was screaming his name out as she came and came and came. He wanted to rip open her shirt right now and suck on her nipples, biting and flicking them with his tongue. He wanted to wrestle with her until she submitted to sucking his cock, all her anger driving the force of her mouth as he fisted handfuls of her hair. He wanted to…
All of a sudden, he felt Trisha stop moving and stiffen. He saw her eyes had gone wide and she was looking behind him.
“Ger,” she whispered, a deep, feminine blush turning his fire tiger into a kitten.
“If Big Al finds you out here doing that,” Ger said with a grin. “He’ll tell you to get a room then charge you for it.”
“Ger, I didn’t, I mean, it’s not what…” Trisha stammered.
Silently, confused, Ian gently lowered her down and released her. He became aware of a keen emptiness in the space of his chest, and he frowned. He knew now that she was under his skin, deep and hooked in to his nerves, his sense of touch, smell, and taste. His body had somehow become completely attuned to hers, as if he was a reluctant moon dragged into the orbit of a hot, volatile little planet that was too close to the sun.
Ger smiled warmly at Trisha and went over to her, wrapping her in his arms, despite her squirming.
“It’s all good,” he said. “I like seeing you with Ian. We all belong together.”
“What?” Trisha cried, pushing back against Ger. “I can’t believe you just said that. That’s…that’s so weird. It’s…no, whatever. Okay, forget that for just a moment. I need to ask you what happened in there between you and Perk.”
Ian watched in fascination as Trisha’s expression of frantic desire drained away into the cool professionalism he now knew to be a mask.
Ger’s own expression darkened, and he released Trisha and stepped back from her. What the hell? What was going on with his brother? Trisha’s question had now sunk in, and Ian wanted to know what was going on with Ger and Perk as well.
“I ran into Perk late last night,” Ger said slowly. “He was somewhere he shouldn’t have been, and I wanted to hear what he had to say for himself.”
“What does that mean?” Trisha asked pointedly. “Just give it straight, Ger. This could be important.”
Ger sighed, and his gaze flicked to Ian. Immediately, Ian tensed up, knowing that this had to do with the wolves.
“Hey, what was that?” Trisha demanded, pointing from Ger to Ian. “I saw that look. I’m not a fool, boys. What are you hiding?”
“I’m not hiding anything,” Ger replied. “Are you thinking Perk has something to do with these crimes you’re investigating?”
“I don’t know because you won’t tell me anything I need to know. Either of you.”
Ian felt the moment wobbling like a dying spinning top. This could go too many ways, with Ger telling Trisha the secrets of Blue Moon, with Trisha making things more difficult for everyone,
with he himself having to lie to her even more, with Trisha’s instinct getting her too close to something that might prove to be the last hunch she ever got. He stepped in.
“I hate to break this chat up,” he said drily. “But, we have about five hours of daylight left. It’s going to take some time to get out to the site and back. How about you two make a date to bicker later?”
Trisha said nothing but nodded and frowned, seeming to pull herself inward, deep into thought. Ger nodded as well.
“I’ll see you both later,” he said quietly. He stepped back over to Trisha and touched her hair in a loving caress. “I’m sorry if I upset you. Just trust me a little. I’m on your side.”
Trisha looked up at Ger long and hard but still said nothing. She turned to Ian and said, “Let’s go.”
* * * *
His heartbeat was steady as he cantered through the woods. He was counting the beats and breaths, measuring his strength as he covered the miles to the place. His paws made soft, regular pats against the icy crust of the snow. It was rare that he was able to enjoy the fine powder snow that he had heard was found in the mountains of Colorado. Wolves in Blue Moon learned to run in ice, slush, and heavy snow that could catch a paw and suck it down like mud. But if you moved fast enough, you could be light and nearly silent.
Ger loved the feel of the icy air in his lungs. He felt alive. He felt powerful and free. Long gone were the days when he had cursed and railed against the fate that had trapped him in Blue Moon along with all of his wolf brothers. He had raged and prayed and paced and spent years reading about other mountains, other snow, until finally, one day, everything had melted away, and all that remained was a kind of gentle, golden peace. It was an understanding that fate’s threads were bigger than him, and that while so many choices had been taken from him for no crime at all, the biggest and best choice still remained to him. How would he choose to deal with the life that had been granted him?
There had been so much peace and pleasure to be found after that. He had learned to love the small things of life like the smell of freshly cut wood, the endless salty sounds of the ocean upon the rocks, the days and hours spent running wild and free through the woods and hills around Blue Moon, until finally, evening would close in and call him back within the borders of the town.
He only regretted that his family had sacrificed so much for him, and that for so long, he had been ungrateful for their suffering, too consumed by his own indignation and anger. His mother had insisted that she and her husband remain in Blue Moon and make a life for their son. She was tireless and fearless in confronting him in his anger, trying endlessly to talk him to reason, to sense, to acceptance. His father had never said anything but had gone everyday to the paper mill, working steadily as a union man to bring in money to support the family.
The only exception to the commitment to Blue Moon was Ian. His mother had pinned her hopes on Ian leaving the town, having been born a few years before they had moved there. He was free of the curse. He was just a normal human boy. He could go to college in another state if he wanted. He could go to Colorado or California or even New York had he wanted to. Yet, even there, Ger had found another family member willing to sacrifice for him.
Ian had gone to the police academy in Augusta and returned to Blue Moon, determined to protect his brother, his family, and the town itself from the prying eyes of the world. Mom had been frantic and disappointed in Ian’s decision. She had so hoped he would escape like she never could, especially after she had rushed, struggling in labor, to Elkville to deliver Ian. In fact, she seemed disappointed in Ian no matter what he did, just like she was overprotective of Ger to the point of suffocation sometimes.
Despite the peace Ger had in his new life, and even despite the ordinary family drama that seemed to fill in the empty corners, there had been something missing. Some spark of vitality had eluded him, something that would set his body and heart aflame. Something that would bring him and his brother closer together, united in their love for one woman. There had been women, to be sure. But always after, there was that dullness that wore away the memory of the pleasure and left distaste in its place.
He inhaled deeply, feeling the prickling burn of cold air on the tissue of his wolf lungs that could breathe in so much more and withstand so much more effort than mere human organs. He was so alive! The barren black and brown tree trunks sped by in a kind of precise blur that registered only in his animal subconscious. The gray clouds weighed the sky down, bringing it low enough to seem caught on the high branches, creating a claustrophobic, imprisoning maze among the endless trees.
He raced on, eager to be near the one person who could now light up his existence. In his mind’s eye, he could see her sharp, curious face, her full lips and the way they would part when she took in quick breaths of uncertainty. He could see the way she moved, the way she stood still, and the way she writhed under his touch. He could even summon his wolf’s power of scent, recall, and catch the memory of her spicy, smoky flavor.
He could see the gleaming red flame of her hair ahead in the woods.
And he could smell the blood.
Chapter 8
“This is it?” Trisha asked, trying to keep her teeth from chattering. She had grown up in Montana, to be sure, but it had been a long time since she had gone for an hour-long winter hike.
Ian nodded grimly and pointed to a plastic pole with a yellow plastic ribbon dangling limply from it.
“They left the marker of where the body was found,” he said. “Or rather, the remains.”
“This is so weird,” she murmured, turning in place to look around her. “It’s so…remote and hard to get here. Yet, his other dumping sites are very close to the highways. Maybe this makes sense, though. Hang on, let me think.”
She felt her thoughts starting to tumble around, as if in a dryer. If she could just catch them in time, they’d come out ready and smooth. It didn’t help that she was completely distracted by Ian’s presence next to her. The awkwardness of the moment when Ger had found them, and her irritation at Ian interrupting her, had melted into a confused silence in the drive out here. The only words exchanged were questions and answers about the location, distance, and average travel time. Her own silence had been confused, untamed, and worried, but it felt like Ian’s silence had almost been…hurt. Almost sad.
As they had made the hour-long hike out, Trisha had worked hard to keep up with him, and she got the impression he was slowing down to make it easier for her. The woods had grown denser, and the outside world had slipped away, leaving her caught in an endless maze of trees and snow and clouds. She felt edgy and vulnerable, and for the first time, she had turned to Ian, glad of his presence and seeking strength and reassurance from him just being there.
Oh! Of course. That was the answer.
“He dumped this far into the woods because he—for whatever reason—couldn’t get far enough afield to his usual dump zones,” Trisha exclaimed. “He must have figured that even though he had to compromise on the site, by going this far in, he would be able to at least hide the remains well or delay their finding for a long time.”
“But, he hasn’t exactly cared about the remains being found before,” Ian pointed out, narrowing his eyes and peering deep into the woods as if searching for something.
“Maybe because he thought he was going far enough away from home that it didn’t matter.”
“You mean it doesn’t really matter to him where he leaves the remains?” Ian asked. “The dumping by the highway is just random?”
Trisha tilted her head to the side and thought about this. Unconsciously, she took a few steps closer to where Ian stood.
“I think disposal of the body is not part of his ritual,” she said. “Everything he has needed to accomplish the enactment of the fantasy is done by the time he dumps the body. The question I have about it is whether he is dumping so quickly to be done with the ‘chore,’ or whether it is some sort of feeling of disgust at the remains
that is prompting him to get rid of them.”
“It’s a long walk into the woods with a body,” Ian remarked. “Heavy. And, you said that he’s probably not a very big man.”
“That doesn’t mean he can’t be strong,” Trisha replied. “And he could have devised a way of carrying the body that made it easier. Especially if it was in parts and mostly just bones.”
Ian grinned, chuckled at Trisha, and said, “You know, you’re pretty sexy when you talk about parts and bones.”
Trisha felt her jaw drop. For once, she had no words because he had completely taken her by surprise. Her heart did a flip-flop that left her trying to find her balance. She could easily tell, that for once, Ian wasn’t being nasty or sarcastic. He was taking a risk and being open. He was acknowledging the burning in their bones for each other and inviting her to make a decision. The scary part was that her heart was already ahead of her and knew exactly what decision she was going to make. But her head stepped in, full of old doubts and old habits, and kept her from throwing herself into Ian’s arms right then and there. She was a fucked-up FBI agent who was terrible at relationships and had seen too much of the worst the world had to offer. She traveled too much, smoked too much, and was too cynical and suspicious and snappy to ever make anyone happy.
Including herself.
That realization was a sucker punch to the emotional solar plexus.
She found that all she could do was smile awkwardly back at Ian, a genuine, feminine smile that felt far too old and rusty. And maybe the flip side of all that fucked-up thinking and cynicism—something that she knew Ian shared as another wanderer in the world of law and horror—was a compassion and belief that there was happiness to be found for others.
A twig snapped, its sharp crackle shattering the silence of cold breaths between them.
Trisha jumped, her heart in her throat, and she felt herself roughly clasped to Ian’s chest as he drew his gun and scanned the area.
Blacke and Blue Page 6
