Shifters' Storm

by Vonna Harper

  Leaving the deputy, Songan joined Ber and her. He nodded at the door, then started that direction. Ber’s hand remained on her as the three stepped outside.

  “Gannon knows the whole story,” Songan explained once they were alone. “For now he’s going to keep it to himself.”

  “In other words,” she said as she faced their imposing forms, “the volunteers think they’re simply handling a search and hopefully a rescue.”

  The elk shifter started to nod, then stopped. “It’s not that simple. They know who they’re going after.”

  It hit her that those inside city hall, the whole town, probably, knew who hadn’t come home last night. More than that, they saw the missing men either as friends or someone they preferred to avoid.

  Running her hands into her back pockets, she concentrated on meeting the shifters’ gazes.

  “I need to know something,” she said. “Do you blame me for telling Gannon what I did? If I’d said nothing about them being at Wolverine, no one would be looking for them. Nature could take its course.”

  “Let it,” Songan said.

  “Eye for an eye,” Ber added. “They murdered.”

  “I know.” Groaning, she rubbed her forehead. Then she grabbed Ber’s hand. “They murdered a sow and her cubs, creatures that mean a great deal to you.”

  “And your mother.”

  “And my mother.”

  “What is it you want?” Songan asked. “For the legal system to handle things?”

  “I don’t know.” She couldn’t remember when she’d felt this raw or when trying to get someone to understand her meant more than it did right now. “I couldn’t live with myself if I did nothing and the men slowly died.”

  What she chose to believe was a softening in their expressions and their slight nods would have to be enough. And yet she had to ask one more thing.

  “Maybe the dog will find them,” she said, “but if you two are the first to reach them and they’re alive—”

  “Don’t.”

  Shocked because they’d spoken as one, she wrapped her arms around her middle.

  “You want to handle things the way civilized human beings do,” Ber said after glancing at Songan. “We respect that.”

  “Even if that’s not what you’d do?”

  Ber brushed the side of her face with a rough hand. “It doesn’t matter, Rane.”

  Rane waited until the searchers, the shifters included, had taken off in their four-wheel-drive vehicles before acknowledging Alice. The older woman stood with her arms tight around her middle much as Rane had done a little while ago. Instead of her usual grease-stained overalls, Alice had on faded jeans and an oversize men’s jacket that somehow made her look even smaller and skinnier.

  In contrast to Alice, who’d walked from her home above the gas station, Clifford Jones had driven his battered pickup and was leaning against it a few feet away. The last time Rane had seen Clifford, he’d been drinking at the Sawmill. Half drunk, he was full of bravado. Now he put Rane in mind of a trapped animal.

  “You want to say it or should I?” Clifford asked Alice. He turned his attention to Rane. “The question is why. You know, don’t you?”

  Rane stuck her hands in her back pockets. “Only Dave and your brother can explain what they were doing at Wolverine. Maybe they’d learned Songan, Ber and I were going there.”

  “Songan’s a shifter. Half human, if that.” Spittle formed on the corner of Clifford’s mouth. “The other one, Ber, he’s the same.”

  She saw no reason to point out that Ber was a grizzly and not an elk like Forestville’s residents were used to. “That’s not the point.”

  “The hell it ain’t.” Clifford jutted his chin at her. “You think everyone don’t know what’s going on between you and those two mutants. Hell, makes me sick just thinking about it.”

  “Stop it! Just stop it, Cliff.”

  Shocked and yet heartened by Alice’s outburst, she turned her attention to the mousy woman. “Are you all right?” she asked. “You look exhausted.”

  Alice scrubbed stained fingers over her face. “I didn’t sleep. Hell, I don’t know the last time I did. What’s this about?”

  “Do you really want to know?”

  Shoulders sagging, Alice nodded. “It’s going to come out sooner or later. I don’t want to be the last to hear it.”

  “What about you?” she asked Clifford.

  “I’ll listen. That don’t mean I’m going to believe you.”

  Several townspeople who weren’t part of the search-and-rescue team were watching, but Rane didn’t care. Right now all anyone knew was that Alice’s husband Dave and Clifford’s brother Chip were missing and presumably lost somewhere near Wolverine.

  Her voice low, she spelled out everything that had happened at Wolverine yesterday. When neither Alice nor Clifford spoke, she continued. Her throat ached as she detailed what she believed had been the last minutes of her mother’s life and why she’d been killed.

  “You don’t have no proof it was them what did Jacki,” Clifford spluttered.

  “Yes, we do. Stop it, please. Don’t lie for your brother.”

  Like Ber and Songan, Clifford hadn’t shaved for several days, but instead of looking sexy, his gray-flecked stubble just made him appear older. Worn out, beaten down.

  Like Alice.

  Propelled by a wash of emotion, Rane wrapped her arms around the gas station owner and held her against her chest. Thank goodness for the muscles that were a result of a lifetime of physical labor. If it wasn’t for that, Rane might have hurt Alice.

  “It isn’t your fault,” she told Alice. “I’d never blame you for what your husband did and tried to do.”

  Shuddering, Alice rested her head against Rane and took several deep breaths. Then she straightened.

  “I hope you don’t. I knew—” She threw a glance at Clifford. “I knew Dave had done something he shouldn’t have. We didn’t talk. We haven’t talked for years.”

  “Then how—” Rane started.

  “I know him. Maybe in ways he doesn’t realize. For weeks now, about the time your mother disappeared, he’s been acting different. Like he wishes he was anywhere except here when he always said this was where he was going to die.”

  Rane had stepped back from Alice so she could study her but still had hold of her hands. She wondered if Alice realized she was speaking about her husband mostly in the present tense when he might be dead. She also wondered if Alice was aware of the lack of emotion in her voice.

  “I didn’t want to put one and one together, so I didn’t.” Alice briefly closed her eyes. After looking over at Clifford, she focused on Rane. “I was wrong when I said things started bothering him when your mother went missing. He turned different months before that.”

  “When?” Rane asked. When the bear poachings began?

  “What about it, Cliff?” Alice asked heatedly. “Last spring my husband and your brother started hanging around together. That when he stopped being close to you?”

  Rane’s temples pulsed. She would have given anything to walk away. Instead, she waited.

  “He’s my kin.” Clifford shot an angry look at a man around his age who was walking toward him. “Later, damn it. Can’t you see I’m busy?”

  Shrugging, the man walked away. That seemed to be the trigger for the others, because one by one they headed for their vehicles. It would be hours before there was any word about the search, no reason to hang around.

  “Chip and I’ve always done everything together.” Clifford studied his chipped nails and scarred hands. “Ma kept saying she wanted us to stay in school, go to college. But we started logging soon as we got big enough, made damn good money. For a long time.”

  Much as Clifford’s sad recital got to her, Rane didn’t have the energy to hear the story again.

  “So.” She had to clear her throat before she could get going again. “When the logging jobs ended, you and Chip—and Dave—had to find other ways of payin
g the bills.”

  “Not no more. We got that logging contract.”

  “But before. And maybe in addition to.”

  Leaving Alice, she planted herself in front of Clifford. Although he didn’t match the shifters in height or bulk, he was still bigger and stronger than her. Still, she had to get this out.

  “I don’t know about you,” she said, “but I have no doubt your brother and Dave were making money selling bear galls.” She swallowed again. “They poached, hunted out of season, trapped and slaughtered at least one sow and her cubs. The other day I came across a young bull elk that had had the same thing done to him. Killed for no reason.”

  “Damn him! Why the hell did I stay married to him?”

  Alice’s outburst had Rane pivoting toward her. Before, the older woman’s face had been colorless. Now her cheeks were red and her eyes blazed.

  “I suspected what was happening.” Clifford’s words were barely audible. “But I never asked.”

  “Why not?”

  “Didn’t want to know. Didn’t want to hear that’s what he and that old man were doing.”

  If Alice resented having her husband referred to as an old man, she gave no indication.

  “Alice,” Clifford muttered. “That’s not all they did. They…” He stretched his hand toward Rane as if he wanted to touch her but didn’t. “Your husband and my brother killed Jacki.”

  Rane tried to prepare herself for Alice’s denial. Instead, Alice stumbled over to Clifford’s dirty pickup and leaned against it. “Oh God. Rane—I wouldn’t let myself think it. Looking at you, seeing what you were going through, I should have been stronger. Told the deputy of my suspicions.”

  Clifford placed his arm around Alice’s shoulder. “So should I. Rane, you deserved better.”

  “I’m leaving him,” Alice said. “If he’s alive, I’ll make sure he watches as I walk out. Leave here. Start over.”

  Still concentrating on the older woman’s emotion, Rane wasn’t sure Alice’s words had anything to do with her. Then it hit her.

  Unlike Alice, the last thing she wanted to do was leave Forestville and the surrounding Chinook mountains.

  And the two men who’d stormed into her world.

  Rio found what was left of Dave. Watching the search-and-rescue dog standing motionless next to the body with his hackles raised and tail tucked between his legs, Ber admired the well-trained animal’s single-mindedness. Until he was given the command to relax, Rio would stay alerted on Dave.

  Rio had frequently sniffed Ber and Songan during the hike up to the cabin, his tail wagging slowly. No one had said anything, but Rio’s handler and the deputy’s expressions had left little doubt of what they were thinking. Rio knew shifters were different from humans, more interesting, maybe more likeable.

  Standing shoulder to shoulder with Songan, Ber studied Gannon as the deputy slowly approached the figure half hidden by snow. Regardless of what Gannon thought of what Dave and Chip had done and tried to do, he was a cop. If the evidence proved that Songan’s attack had caused Dave’s death, Gannon would have to take the information to the D.A.’s office.

  Putting Songan behind bars would kill him.

  “Damn. Damn.” Straightening, Gannon stared at Ber and Songan. The whites of his eyes looked enormous and his hands shook a little. “You have to see this.”

  Gannon added something to the effect that he didn’t want anyone getting so close to the body that evidence was compromised, but Ber barely listened. Even before he joined the detective, his nostrils told him what he’d find.

  Dave had been disemboweled.

  The bear or bears responsible had defecated near their victim’s head.

  An hour later, Rio found Chip. Bears had gotten to him too.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Rane stepped outside so she could wave at Alice as the older woman approached in the small moving van she’d rented. Stopping, Alice rolled down the window, prompting Rane to walk over and squeeze her arm.

  “Clifford will do a good job,” Rane reassured Alice, even though it might not matter to Alice. “He’s a decent mechanic.”

  “I just hope he can make the payments. Otherwise, I’ll have to foreclose on him. It’s going to be hard for him trying to wrap up the timber contract and keeping the station going for a while. Maybe he can get some work out of those cousins of his after all.”

  “You’re all right, financially I mean?”

  “I’ll be living with my son for a month or so, but we need that time together. His boss is hiring me to do the books.” Alice held up her hand. “No more grease under my nails. Once I get paid, I’m going to get myself a manicure, maybe those false nail things.”

  “You deserve it.”

  Alice sobered. “You mean it? After what—”

  “We’re not going there. The past is the past. We’re both looking at the future.”

  A hammering sound had Alice looking toward the house where Rane had grown up. “What are those two men doing?”

  “Ask them. They just told me to trust them.”

  “I’ve known Songan for years. He’s smarter than he looks, not that there’s a damn thing wrong with his looks. If Ber’s like him—”

  “He is. And different.”

  “It’ll work out, as long as you stay here. Never thought I’d be telling you that. I used to think your mother didn’t know what she was talking about when she said you belonged in the Chinook Mountains. Now I know that’s because I wanted out. Everyone’s different.” She nodded at the house. “The three of you are meant for each other. It’ll work out. Look, I better get going.”

  “Stay in touch, please.”

  “If you want me to.”

  “I do. And I’ll let you know how Clifford’s doing.”

  “I’d appreciate that.” Reaching out the window, Alice stroked Rane’s cheek. “If I’d had a daughter, I’d want her to be like you.”

  Rane was still wiping at her tears as she turned back toward the house. Last week Ber and Songan had moved out the old woodstove and replaced it with a more efficient one. Between that and a strategically placed fan in a new wall cutout, the single wood heat source kept the whole house warm. Another stove would probably be needed to accommodate the addition of a master bedroom and bath, something the shifters planned to start on in spring.

  She’d just stepped inside when the cell phone in her pocket rang. The construction sounds stopped, leaving her with yet more proof of Ber and Songan’s acute hearing. Both men, shirtless, studied her as she said, “Hello.”

  “It’s yours,” the man on the other end said. “You start the first of the month.”

  Suddenly weak, she slumped against the nearest wall. Her gaze strayed from the men to the king-size wooden bed frame they’d been working on.

  “I do?” She sounded stupid.

  “As far as I’m concerned,” Forest Supervisor Donald Cushing said, “this is exactly what should happen. Having you step into your mother’s shoes is what the district needs. I’m sorry it took so long to deal with the red tape. And in case you don’t think to ask, my recommendation carried weight. I pointed out that you changing your mind about Alaska had no bearing on your ability to do your job. Your mother was one of the most dedicated rangers I’ve known. I have no doubt you’ll follow in her footsteps.”

  Following in her mother’s footsteps, earning her own reputation for dedication to the Chinook Forest, safeguarding the trees and every creature that called these mountains home.

  “You’re quiet,” Donald said. “Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts.”

  Neither Ber nor Songan had so much as exchanged glances, yet she knew they’d heard Donald’s side of the conversation. Past caring what they might think, she wiped at her fresh tears.

  “No. None. Donald, thank you.”

  “No, thank you. The Chinook district is unique. The elk shifters make it so, and now—any idea when those grizzly shifters are going to get here?”

&nb
sp; Ber was taking off tomorrow. He intended to travel to Alaska as a human and then shift and lead the rest of the Enyeto to their new home. He’d told her that the month he expected the return trip to take would give the others the time they needed to adjust to the change in their lives.

  Instead of telling Donald everything, she said she expected to see the Enyeto shifters before Christmas. “They’ll be going right into hibernation. Spring’s a wonderful time here. They’ll fall in love with their new home.”

  “They will as long as you’re the bridge between them and the locals. Look, I’ll let you go for now. We’ll hook up in a couple of days to discuss that in detail and finalize the paperwork. Welcome aboard. Your mother would be proud of you.”

  Rane had put her phone back in her pocket but hadn’t figured out how to push off the wall when two blurry hands reached toward her. She took them.

  “You okay?” Songan asked.

  “I think—yes.”

  “I hope so. Haven’t seen you cry since your mother went missing.”

  The men were still holding her hands, which meant no wiping away the tears she wasn’t quite done with.

  “These are different.” She sniffed. “Kind of happy, a bit overwhelmed.”

  “Think you can put your mind to something else?”

  For a moment she thought her mood was making Ber uncomfortable and he was trying to change the subject. Then she realized her lovers were guiding her to the bed frame.

  “We want to finish this tonight,” Ber explained. “With me being gone for a while, we want to break it in first.”

  “We? You feel the same way?” She directed her question at Songan.

  The elk shifter nodded. “There’s details to be worked out, the whole sharing you thing, but this”—he indicated the frame—“is a start.”

  She could point out that some of the time only one of them would be sleeping under this roof, in this bed with her, but that could wait.

  Pulling free, she folded her arms over her breasts. “Then finish,” she said in her most take-charge tone, “because I’m more than ready to see what kind of craftsmen you two are.”