by E A Price
“Of course. I’ll pass on your details and start baking a pie this afternoon – one now and the other two when the job is done. You can bring over your laundry whenever you want.”
Zane pretended to ponder that. “Tough but fair.”
Dodi beamed at him, and he wondered if maybe his anger was abating a little. Maybe he was going soft. But then, he didn’t have anything else going on, and he sure did love pie.
*
Sky frowned as she noticed the van parked across from her apartment block. It had been around a lot in the last week, and there always seemed to be someone in there. It was… creepy. She’d called LLPD, but the van had moved away before they could arrive. She gave the LLPD the license plate, but it wasn’t stolen and really whoever was in the van wasn’t technically doing anything wrong. Loitering maybe, but the cops would just move them along anyway. The officer did tell her to call if the van showed up again, but there was nothing else to do. But then, maybe they’d just disappear again.
Inhaling deeply and with a little encouragement from her unicorn, she strode across the street, determined to find out just what they were doing. Before she could get there, the driver who looked like he had been sleeping jerked in his seat, spilling coffee and putting the van in drive, peeling away from her.
Huh. Now that was a little suspicious.
Maybe they were federal officers staking someone out – but then if they were legit, wouldn’t they have invented a plausible reason for being there?
Sky sighed as her cell phone rang and she rejected a call from her ex, Ethan. Nope, not talking to him ever again. She’d finally grown a backbone where he was concerned. Useless wolf.
She fell and fell hard for him, putting up with angry outbursts and jealous rants - dopily thinking she could change him. She went to counseling with him to try and get his rages under control, even biting her tongue when he blamed his issues on her for emasculating him and earning more money than him. Hey, was she stopping him from getting a job? Considering that he got fired for punching his boss, it was safe to say he was angry before she had to support him. But, against all sense and reason, she’d loved him – he was a huge, dominant wolf shifter and she loved his alpha personality. Loved him so much she even trusted him enough to show him the truth about her animal – something she rarely did for anyone. He’d taken one look at her beautiful animal and shrugged and said, well, you’re still just a horse. Yep, he wasn’t fazed or impressed at all. She’d told herself she was glad about that – others went speechless when they saw her for the first time. But on reflection, she was a little disappointed that he wasn’t even a little bit pleased by her revelation - perhaps another indication that he was really too self-absorbed to care about her.
Sky spent hours trying to help him, teaching him yoga, meditation, trying to change his diet to improve his mood – caffeine was the first thing to go. But when she came home early to find him sipping on a macchiato while in bed with the coffee shop girl, she gave up. She saw the selfish wolf for what he was – a user. She let him walk all over her like a pathetic rug. But unlike a rug, she wasn’t going to take it anymore. Nope, she shed him like a caterpillar sheds its shell and becomes a butterfly. Okay, the rug and the caterpillar thing didn’t really match up, but no matter. She kicked him out and didn’t look back.
The problem was, he didn’t seem to be taking no for an answer. He called, texted, left schmaltzy messages on her answer machine claiming he loved her. Then angry ones accusing her of being a heartless bitch. Then more soppy ones where he said that if she really loved him, she’d take him back. Then more angry ones saying she’d get what was coming to her. Sigh. The truth was, she’d loved him with a passion, and yet, it was surprisingly easy to fall out of love. She just had to think of the slimy look on his face as he sipped the macchiato and fondled the nineteen-year-old coffee girl’s enormous boobs.
But no, never again, she was not going to fall for some Neanderthal just because he had a big sexy, hairy chest and smoldering eyes. No way. No how.
Chapter Six
The underwear thieves – the panty raiders, raiders of the lost panties – weren’t exactly hard to find. Zane was taking a walk around the neighborhood and noticed a kid staring at Dodi’s house with as much subtlety as if he had a neon sign over his head saying obvious much.
The kid was staring at Dodi’s washing line with so much intensity Zane thought it might set on fire. Zane kept back for a little while, just watching. He wasn’t exactly hidden, but the kid had no perception that he was being watched. His bear sniffed the air and got the impression of a small mammal. The whole neighborhood was a mixture of different shifters. Cities had a lot of neighborhoods like these. Filled with blue-collar workers, most of which probably didn’t belong to packs or prides because they didn’t like the strict rules. Instead, they banded together with different species in communities like these to form quasi-packs.
After half an hour – by which time Dodi still hadn’t emerged to hang out any washing - the boy seemed dejected and left his post.
Zane followed the little hoodlum, over fences and through alleys, barely able to keep up until he came to what looked like an old dilapidated clubhouse. There was a sign outside that said no girls allowed. The E was backward. It was like something out of the little rascals.
With as much stealth as his annoyed beast could muster, he listened in as he heard three teenage boys arguing about Dodi and the washing. All patience fled him, and he roared, tearing into the clubhouse. The three boys, all possums, tried to flee, but Zane blocked their only escape. Zane – all claws, black eyes, and sharp teeth snarled at them, demanding they tell him where the underwear was.
The boy he followed admitted they were stealing the underwear and selling it on to their friends. They were quite the little entrepreneurs. It started when one of their friends admitted his crush on Shira, and the boys took it into their heads to steal her underwear and sell it to the boy. Since that worked out so well, they started doing it for other friends, and hey presto, soon enough they had a home business. Zane didn’t delve too deeply into what the boys were doing with the purchased underwear – if they were anything like him during his teenage years, he could guess, and it wasn’t pretty or tasteful.
Zane allowed a moment of furious self-pity as he looked over the boys. He used to catch murderers. He used to make a difference. Now he was reduced to scaring pervy little boys. Thank god none of his colleagues at the SEA could see this. Or Melissa.
Course, after the boys admitted how clever they were, then came the fear.
The smallest boy pretended to cry. “You’re not going to tell my parents are you?”
Zane’s bear snorted. “Quit the crying. And yes, I am.”
“But we’ll be grounded for the rest of our lives,” sniveled the third boy.
“Don’t do the crime, yadda, yadda, yadda.”
“We’ll give you the money we made,” suggested the first boy, ignoring the second boy, fiercely elbowing him.
But the third boy got with the program. “And I have a card for a free Slurpee from the Speed-E-Mart and this coupon for paintballing.”
Zane’s bear chuffed with laughter. “Theft, fencing stolen goods and now bribery. Jeez, boys. That’s quite a rap sheet you got going on.”
Three bottom lips thrust at him, and his bear grumbled. “C’mon, boys, time to man up.”
The lips started wobbling, and he groaned.
“For fu… Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m keeping the coupons for the Slurpee and the paintballing.” One, he was hungry and two, the paintballing might be a way to work out some of his stress. The new drugs he was taking weren’t making a lick of difference to his temper – unless you counted the fact that his pee had turned green.
“But, you three creepy boys ripped off Mrs. Demeter, so we’re going to her. You’re going to tell her what you did and throw yourselves on her mercy. She can decide what she wants to do to you. Okay?”
&nbs
p; They didn’t look altogether happy, but they were happier than a few moments before. Clearly, they thought Dodi would be easier to convince than their parents.
He ignored the sly little smiles they threw each other as he checked his watch. He allowed them a couple of moments of relief before he slammed a fist down on their small card table, making it shake ominously. The three boys jumped, one of them making a squeaking sound. Their eyes widened in terror as he loomed over them. His voice came out in a primitive growl as his bear rose to the surface. “You ever do anything like this again, I will know, and my bear will come for you. Probably in the middle of the night. Got it?”
They nodded vehemently, eyes huge like saucers and small mouths agape. Zane straightened up and gave them a half-smile. Now that they were thoroughly scared, they could move on. “Good. Now, practice those puppy dog eyes, boys – you’re going to need them.”
*
“Yes, Mom, three times a day.”
Sky answered her mother while gazing at the muted television. Christian Hawk was front and center opening a new animal sanctuary for abused pets just outside the city. Her friend Alcide was going to be working there, and she could just spot the stag shifter at the back of the crowd, grinning broadly and hugging his mate. Good for him.
“And you’re flossing after every meal?” asked her mother in a worried voice.
Yes, it was the downside of having a dental hygienist for a mother – lectures about brushing, flossing and how mouthwash is the best friend you’ll ever have.
“Ummm hmmm.”
“How’s work?”
She smiled. “Great, I just started a yoga class for the over seventies and they love it. We’re having so much fun.” Work always did make her happy, even if Erik had been in a fowl mood since someone trashed his car. She felt for him, but not enough to go out with him, in spite of his numerous tacky come-ons.
“Are you dating anyone right now?”
Sky exhaled. “Not since Ethan.”
Her mother let out a small whinny, but otherwise, she held her tongue. Her mom never liked Ethan, thinking him too gruff and obnoxious. She was right of course – but then, Sky’s father was no better than Ethan. Her mom just loved her dad so much she couldn’t see his faults – perhaps an unfortunate trait in the women of their family.
Horses were majestic creatures for sure, but mustang stallions were arrogant alphas through and through. Some people were surprised about how combative male horse shifters could be. It would be easy to say that all predator shifters were growly, aggressive creatures, and all the others kind and gentle. But that wasn’t true at all. Rhinos and hippos didn’t eat meat and yet they were by no means cute and cuddly.
“He hasn’t been bothering you, has he? You know I could send your father down there…”
“No, mom, I’m fine.” The last thing she wanted was her dad traveling down from Montana and getting all upset over nothing. He was arrested the last time he had to ride to her younger sister’s aid. Headlines should not read ‘Horse shifter arrested for trying to trample fox shifter to death’. Strangely, her mom insisted on putting the newspaper clipping in her scrapbook. But then her mom sure did love scrapbooking.
Her mom snorted sadly. “I really wish you hadn’t shown him your true animal.”
Her too. Except there was nothing she could do about it now. He’d promised he wouldn’t tell anyone and… well, she had no choice but to trust him. Hiding who she was had been ingrained into her since she first started shifting. She was beautiful, rare, incredible – but she needed to hide. Lest she end up as a pin-cushion in a lab while they did tests on her to find out just why she had been born this way. It was why she lived in Los Lobos – where better to hide than in a huge sea of shifters? Plus, her family was a little stifling. Even to the point where they didn’t like her leaving the house without an escort. It was perhaps why she was so hyper-vigilant about people watching her. And she had been getting the same tingle recently that she got when cousin Alex used to tail her to the mall.
“I know mom, I – ugh!” A loud whine sounded down the line, and she held the receiver away from her ear.
“Sky? Are you still there?”
“Do you hear that sound? I think there’s something wrong with my phone,” she yelled, holding the phone as close to her ear as she could without her beast bucking and neighing at her.
“Call me back when you can, sweetheart. Love you,” said her mother and hung up.
Sky quickly replaced the receiver. It was an old phone – an old dial up phone, sixties style in pink. She bought it from a thrift store. It was only a few dollars and given that it had given her five years of perfect service, she wasn’t too bothered about it breaking. It was impressive it lasted this long.
She picked up the receiver again and heard the dial tone and then after a few seconds the whine returned. Summoning all the technical knowledge she had, she tapped it on the edge of her table and encouraged it to work by murmuring the word ‘work’ over and over.
“Whoops!”
It cracked open, and the plastic pieces fell apart. Hmmm. She scooped them up and frowned at what looked like a small, black, round dot about the size of her fingertip with two wires sticking out of it. It didn’t seem to be attached to anything in the phone. There were some numbers printed on the back of it. Maybe a serial number.
Sky fired up her laptop and typed in the numbers, her mouth dropping open when it came up with a listening device to tap phones.
Someone was tapping her phone?!
Her unicorn stomped the ground in fear, huffing and tossing her head. Sky closed her eyes for a few seconds and breathed in and out. Maybe not. Maybe the bug was there when she bought it. It could have just been sitting in her phone all along. Except, it didn’t look to be more than five years old. It looked new.
Grabbing a Tupperware box, Sky placed it inside and then put it in her refrigerator for good measure. Something she’d seen on a TV show. It might have been Get Smart.
Her animal let out a powerful huff, and Sky soothed her. She just needed a few moments to think. She lit a few candles and decided to meditate on the problem.
Perhaps she should go to the cops or the SEA, but all she had was a suspicion and a bug in a phone she bought second hand anyway. They probably wouldn’t do anything. Probably couldn’t do anything.
Her beast chuffed at her, offering support and then whinnying because she was hungry, and her mind was drawn to the brownies Shira – a member of her advanced yoga class - had given her when she had been too short to pay for her class. Sky couldn’t say no – Shira was her best student and sometimes came and helped out with her beginner classes. The woman was incredibly bendy.
Shira mentioned that a friend of hers had a problem and sought a private detective. Maybe he could help Sky out, too. Either he’d find out someone was watching her, or he’d just tell her she was crazy – either way she’d know.
Yes, that was the perfect solution. Her panic abated, and she soothed her beast. See – everything will work out for the best.
Chapter Seven
“Yeah, sucker!”
Zane fired off three more paintballs, putting his opponent down. The fact that the opponent was fourteen years old didn’t diminish his enjoyment in the least.
The kid called him a name he shouldn’t have known at his age and trudged away. Zane ducked behind a tree as paintballs whizzed past his head.
His bear howled excitedly. Damn this was almost as much fun as hunting. Almost – there was no satisfying kill at the end of this. Although pelting people with paintballs came close. And since he started playing, he hadn’t felt angry. Excited. Hungry for the chase. But not angry. This was better than any therapy ever could be.
He inhaled and swung out from the tree, paint guns blazing. His inner bear roared in satisfaction.
*
Zane pounded the fists of the other guys on his team. They’d won – naturally. The fourteen-year-olds had chosen well in making h
im their captain.
Damn paintballing could become addictive. Helped him work out his anger and gain some clarity.
He’d been charging around acting like he hadn’t done anything wrong, like the SEA, was wrong to fire him. But no, he’d been getting worse and worse over the months. Anger assailing him at every turn. He’d never learned to control himself properly. As a teenager, he had Melissa to hold him back. But when he lost her, he just spiraled until he eventually couldn’t hold back.
Now, he was going to make an effort to be better, to be more in control.
His bear snorted, and Zane told him to shut up. He was in charge, and the bear better get used to it. The animal sneered but didn’t try to out-dominate him or force the change.
Zane felt terrific, ten feet tall at that moment. He grabbed his phone to call Melissa and then faltered. No, he didn’t… want to. For once since he met her, he didn’t actually crave speaking to her, hearing her voice or just being near her. Since the moment he met her, even after she dumped him, he’d always wanted her. Sure it had been buried after they broke up, barely even negligible, but when she wafted back into his life, it came back tenfold. But now… he just didn’t feel like he needed her. There was still an ache inside him for her, but it felt better, more manageable - like it was drifting away.
Huh. Look at that. Progress with his bear. Progress with his feelings for Melissa. Paintball was his wonder cure.
*
Vargas growled. “The house phone bug’s gone dead.”
“Piece of crap,” muttered Jones.
“You still got other bugs in her place, though?” asked Booker without too much interest.
“Yeah. You want me to get in there and put a new one in?”
Booker considered it for a moment. “No. She hasn’t said anything useful on the phone anyway, probably won’t start now.”
The cheap bugs they used didn’t last long, and usually, they didn’t need them for long. Not this long. Either the tip off they got was complete crap and this woman was nothing special, or she was very good at hiding. He was hoping for the latter. Otherwise, they’d wasted a lot of time following her around. She must be shifting, but they hadn’t seen her do it once. All shifters had to shift at some point. Someone would see her, and someone would talk. And he needed to know for certain before they took her.
