by Sadie Hart
Ridgeback maybe?
Lennox bit her bottom lip as she stared at the door. It looked fine. All she had left to do was wipe their scent from the house and porch, and leave only enough that Walker would know she’d came in, walked to the body and headed right back out. Tricky, detailed work. Harder than what the killer had had to do, but not by much.
Hard enough that it strained her skills to the max. More likely a witch then, Lennox decided. But familiar with how Hounds worked? A forensic witch maybe. Damn. Times like this, it would be nice to stroll into the local Shifter Town Enforcement and help herself to the files, but she couldn’t do that.
Someone wanted to pin this on Kanon. There would be no calling in favors, no investigating or clearing him publicly until she could get a wrap on this. Kanon wouldn’t get a chance once a murder charge hit his name. No silver bars, no case to plead in court. He’d get a silver bullet through the heart and a six by six plot in a shifter cemetery.
Queasy, Lennox pressed a hand to her stomach, swallowing back the bile and the fear. She was already in too far, seen too much. If she tried to get help now, she’d lose her job, everything. Bree wouldn’t buy her side of the story over three other pack members, especially not if Lennox owned up to clearing this scene. Or if word got back that she’d been fondling their lion suspects.
Either way, if this continued to go south or reached past what she could handle, she was going down with them. They’d give her a pine box next to Kanon.
Since when did a ridgeback help a pair of lions?
Blowing out a breath she shook out her hands, feeling the magick rise insider her. The unnatural flow coursing through her veins made her inner dog cower back, but she dragged her dog-self up too, rousing the animal’s nose. She sniffed the air, carefully erasing the traces of scent that didn’t belong until there was nothing more than a quick in and out trail.
By the time she reached the front porch she was stumbling, dazed, and Kanon caught her to keep her from falling face first into the gravel driveway. “Give me five and we’ll call Hennessy,” she whispered into Kanon’s neck.
“Let me,” Tegan said, and Kanon stepped away as an arm swept under her legs. Normally, she’d have snarled over being carried, but it felt nice. Being able to trust in someone else. She leaned her head against his chest and let him whisk her away to the car. Kanon opened the door so Tegan could set her inside.
With her head against the vinyl she waited for the daze to ease and the little black dots to stop their dancing. When she could hold her hand out in front of her face and her fingers held steady, she let out a soft sigh.
“You all right?”
Tegan frowned down at her, his bushy eyebrows furrowed and she smiled. A little magick, for the most part, was nothing more than a walk in the park. Sometimes even a hefty chunk of it required nothing more than a few deep breaths and she was fine. Other times, it hit her hard.
This hadn’t been a little bit of magick. Even ‘hefty’ was a bit of an understatement.
“Yeah.” Well enough to get up and finish the job at least.
One-handed, she dug her phone out of her pocket and climbed out of the car. The moment her sneakers hit the gravel she wavered, nausea twisting in her stomach. Lennox caught herself against the car.
She needed to get a grip on herself before the Hounds showed up, but they couldn’t afford to wait any longer to call in the cavalry. Kanon touched her elbow, one brow lifted in question, and she extended the phone to him. “Take it.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched but he took it. Stepping around him and Tegan both, she moved back towards the porch. Her steps were shaky but she didn’t fall.
“Call Hennessy, tell him I said for him to get over here. Now. Make it sound urgent, but don’t admit to knowing anything. And I hope like hell you boys can feign surprise and grief.”
“Won’t have to fake the grief,” Tegan whispered.
True enough.
She gave a jerky nod and turned back to the job at hand. She’d have time for sympathy later. Right now, they needed her to keep them from getting arrested. Inside, she’d done everything she could do. And while Walker looked like a good Hound, he was nowhere near her level. From the outside, she still had a little bit of work left to do. Stretching out her fingers, she felt the tingle creep back under her skin.
She drudged up her dog, letting the canine’s enhanced senses fill her. Still no trace of the witch behind this. Whoever they were, they were good and thorough. Lennox just hoped she could keep up. Something told her this didn’t end with a bar fight and a dead Tristan and Caro.
This was personal.
Lennox glanced back at Kanon, his low voice rumbling over the phone. She’d have to talk to him later. Either he or Tegan had to have some ideas on who might be behind this.
She hoped so at least.
Weary, Lennox turned her attention on the outside. She’d scent the perimeter once Walker and his team arrived, that way she wouldn’t have to cover her tracks. But for now, she had to lessen the density of their smell lingering on the property. They’d been here far longer than any normal group should have while waiting and a Hound would be looking for any signs that she was covering tracks.
Hennessy had been nice so far, but his wolfhound not so much, and any intelligent Hound pack would be keeping suspects under a close eye. Especially suspects who’d seen both victims last night and had supposedly found the second this morning.
“Lennox,” Tegan called, but she ignored him, concentrating on the magick flowing out of her fingers and into the air around them. She paused occasionally, testing the air until the place smelled like they’d been there only a few minutes. Not the half hour they’d been camped out in the drive. By the time Hennessy got here, it’d seem like the right amount.
A hand brushed her elbow. “Stop. You’re going to faint.”
She gave a quiet gasp as she tucked her magick away again.
“I’ll hold long enough to get this done,” she said and turned to face Tegan. Her smile turned grim. She didn’t have a choice. Tegan held out a hand and she took it, letting him pull her into a hug. Exhausted, she wanted nothing more than to curl up in the backseat of her car and sleep. But with that out of the question, Tegan’s arms seemed like the next best thing.
A thought which would have sent her running, if she’d had the energy left.
Gravel crunched and Lennox turned to see Kanon heading towards her, handing over her phone. “He’s on his way. Didn’t sound happy.”
She wouldn’t be either. “Remember, you never saw her.”
Pain flashed through both of them and Lennox started to reach a hand out, to touch their faces and stopped herself. Her hands curled into fists.
“Whoever did this...” Tegan started and she shook her head.
“Later. When I have sleep and food in me, but we will talk.”
They both looked at her, the shared pain, grief, wonder, it was all too much. Pulling away, Lennox headed back over to her car, and leaned against it, eyes closed. There was nothing left to do but wait. Wait, and hope she’d done her job and no one would suspect a thing.
“Should we be outraged you won’t let us inside?”
A small smile tugged at her lips. They deserved creativity points. “What would you be doing if I said don’t go in there?”
“We’d know,” Tegan whispered softly, his voice so ripe with pain it made her heart hurt. Damn. Do not start caring for them, she told herself. Sympathy was one thing, but even that needed a good strong leash and a firm hand. Lennox needed to reel her emotions back in.
When all this was said and done, she needed to be able to walk away.
“Then know.” Her shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Act like that. Make it feel real. I didn’t let you in, you never saw her, but you know.”
Fingertips brushed her cheek, gentle. A hand curved down to cup her chin. She couldn’t tell which one it was, not until the soft press of lips met hers. A tongue touched the slit
between her lips. Fragile, tentative, and it broke her down faster than force ever would have. Lennox caved and let him in, kissing him back. She reached out and grabbed Tegan’s shirt and drew him close.
Her fingertips brushed the heated skin of his neck, running over the ridge of a scar. It disappeared under his shirt, but she traced it with her free hand, caressing the rough edge of an old wound, exploring. A groan roused through him, desperate and he crowded closer. His kiss came slow and tender. Aching. And she held him close because it felt right. The way his shoulders sagged and he deepened the kiss told her it was the right choice.
Tegan needed this.
The car rocked as Kanon leaned against it, but he didn’t stop them. Didn’t touch her, even as she held Tegan against her. When he pulled back Lennox let him go, her hands still on his chest when she heard distant thrum of a car coming up the road.
“Company,” Tegan said.
Kanon gave a low grunt of acknowledgement, his attention focused down the drive. He didn’t look tense or jealous. A normal man would have been jealous, right? If they were interested. Tegan’s hand was still on her hip, the three of them staring down the drive when Walker pulled up, Dade in the passenger seat.
So he hadn’t dismissed her after all.
Which meant Walker was coming into this scene not quite sure he trusted Lennox. Track record or not, she was fraternizing with the enemy. Both Hounds glanced at Tegan’s closeness, his hand on her hip. Tegan started to pull away when she caught his hand and held him there, unable to stop the hackles threatening to rise.
The accusation in their eyes made her want to bare her teeth.
Part of her couldn’t blame them. Had she been in their shoes staring at another ridgeback, she’d have the same look of disgust in her eye. It didn’t make it any easier to bear. No. If anything the scorn in their eyes made her dog want to crawl out of her skin and mark territory.
Mine. If they didn’t like it, they could suck it up and leave.
Instead she lifted Tegan’s hand, brushed a kiss across his knuckles and let him go. She ran a hand across Kanon’s arm, gentle, but there. He needed the sympathy too. Sesarina Dade stiffened, her lips curled back in a snarl, but Lennox disregarded her.
Not a threat, her body language said. Dade wasn’t the big dog on the block and Lennox wasn’t about to treat her like anything more than an obnoxious puppy. Walker, on the other hand, she met his gaze levelly.
Back home, she’d have outranked him. Technically, even here with seniority and her record she could call rank, though any Enforcement office would have a hay day over her seeing lions. She couldn’t afford that. All she could do was take control informally, to do that; she needed to throw him off guard. But she was on his turf, on his crime scene. If she let him, Walker would feel in control.
She couldn’t afford to let him. If they found something Lennox needed to cover, she needed to have him back down. Anger flashed through his eyes at the challenge as she held his gaze. His hands fisted at his side. She knew the war going on inside him, as Hennessey tried to stuff his dog down deep so the man in him could keep eye contact.
Once upon a time, she’d have had that problem. Not anymore. She’d worked next to Torres for too long, the ridgeback more than willing to kick her ass over any indiscretion. He’d never allowed one moment for her to slack. Any time she’d shown weakness, he’d been willing to toss her aside and find someone else to stand as his partner. Just like his wife. Bree never would have kept her on the job if she’d thought for a second Lennox couldn’t handle it.
Between the two of them, she’d cultivated strength in her dog. In herself. She knew Dade was watching them, as were Tegan and Kanon. Everyone waited. The seconds ticked by and Lennox held her stare. Calm, but firm. She would not yield on this. And unlike Hennessy, she didn’t have to fight her inner dog to meet his eye.
His lips pulled back in a grimace and Walker broke; his head angled away, gaze to the ground. It was stupid. She should have just hiked down her pants and pissed on the ground. It felt juvenile, but she needed his cooperation. She needed him submissive. It wasn’t something she’d never have demanded normally, but to protect the two behind her... There wasn’t an option.
“Follow me.” Lennox turned, instantly taking charge before Hennessy could recover. He stiffened, a slight tension pulling across his shoulders, then it eased out of him and he trailed after her. Dade’s head whipped between them, her lips still curled in a snarl.
There’d be issues later, as Dade stretched for her place.
“Stay,” she told the lions, Kanon’s jaw tensing at the command. They both jerked their heads in small nods. From outside the house, everything looked normal. Pine trees edged the yard, giving way to a forest that encased the back of the house. What was left of the front yard was neatly mowed. A rose bush sat perched on either side of the deck, window boxes sat under each window.
The white washed spindles of the front porch made it look open, inviting. If they ignored the scent of death and blood on the wind, and the quiet of the forest critters and birds. Even the crow had winged off, thanks to Tegan’s earlier roars.
Hennessy and Dade took long dragging sniffs as they approached the front door. Walker frowned, one foot on the steps. “They haven’t come in yet?”
“No.”
He glanced back at them; Lennox couldn’t help it, she did too.
They stood together, eyes on her. On the house. They knew. Anyone with eyes could see they knew, but nothing beyond that was telling. Tegan looked away first, as if the scrutiny of his grief bothered him. Kanon stared straight at her, ignoring the Hounds around her as if they didn’t exist. I know, his gaze said, and his lips curled into a gentle smile. Stay strong.
He was bothered by their deaths, the grief plain on his face. It was in the downward tug of his eyebrows, the sadness in his eyes. But that was all he gave away. Any anger or fear at seeing his name in Caro’s blood on the door, he’d stamped that down and locked it away.
Lennox was grateful for it.
“They knew the moment they stepped out of the car.”
“And they didn’t fight you to go in?” Dade’s voice said she didn’t believe it; Lennox really didn’t give a lion’s ass.
“No.” She slammed the full weight of her attention down on the wolfhound, expecting another stare down, but the Hound’s gaze flicked automatically away. Dade’s jaw tensed, realizing it a split second too late and she tried to jerk her gaze back up. To force a stare, but Lennox had already turned away.
Lennox let them in. The sunny paint seemed dreary under the weight of the scent of death. She led them into the kitchen, straight for Caro. They scented the whole way, but Lennox knew they’d find nothing that she hadn’t wanted them too. And there’d been nothing that would lead them to the real killer. The thought twisted in her gut.
She let them walk past her, standing clear of Caro’s body. While she’d cleaned up magickally, she’d checked the woman over for any clues. Nothing. Carolyn Hale had been disemboweled while alive, her throat slashed open by a huge paw while she’d lain bleeding on the floor. If she’d put up a fight, the only sign of it was a knocked over kitchen chair.
And that was hardly evidence.
With Tristan, he’d been ripped open the whole way as he’d ran down the alley. But he hadn’t fought. In the corner where he’d died and had finally turned to face his attacker, it looked as if invisible arms had bound him tight. There were no skin scrapings under their nails, nothing in their teeth, no shifting...
They’d never had the chance to fight back.
Lennox waited, careful not to touch anything while they finished inspecting the scene. Walker’s shoulders slumped and he turned to her. “Anything?”
Pretending to go over the body, Lennox double checked everything, knowing what she’d find. “No.”
“Damn.”
Lines etched around his eyes, Hennessy looked beaten. Defeated. As if this were the only scene here. Bracing h
er hands on her knees, Lennox pushed up from her crouch. “Perimeter check?”
“Shit. Didn’t even...”
Yeah. She’d gathered that. With a wave of her hand she gestured them out, following. She shut the front door softly behind them. Lennox tilted her head towards Tegan and Kanon—the pair of them still leaning against her car—in a silent order to stay. Then with a shimmer of magick down her skin she shifted.
The dog poured out easily. One blink she’d stood on two feet, the next on four paws. Her clothes vanished beneath the rich, red fur of her Rhodesian ridgeback. Droopy hound ears pricked forward, Lennox headed for the woods, head low. She circled through the pines at a trot.
Nothing.
Except, Lennox paused, head tilted towards the road, one paw lifted. Oil. She padded towards the edge of the road and stumbled on a small clearing in the trees, just off the dirt shoulder. Fresh tracks and oil.
Masculine, her nose told her, but anything else was gone. With a frustrated whine she tilted her head back and yipped twice for the Hounds still up by the house. Walker came striding through the trees, hands in his pockets, a large brindle wolfhound at his heels.
Dade curled back her lips, revealing fangs. A growl split from her throat. Walker reached for her a split second too late. The brown and gold burnished dog leapt at her, jaws opened wide. Instinct took over. Lennox dodged, darting underneath the larger dog and jumping up. Her teeth snared over wiry fur and nipped flesh. Not hard enough to draw blood. Yet.
Where Dade’s inhibitions were gone, her dog driving, Lennox kept hers firmly in the passenger seat. She needed the form, the body, the senses... Not the wanting to go roll in dead squirrels and eat cat poop. She needed her human-half’s reasoning abilities, something Dade was now running amuck without. Dogs didn’t think like cops any more than they thought like fighters in a boxing ring.
It was a lesson Dade would have to learn the hard way.
