Lycanthropy Files Box Set: Books 1-3 Plus Novella

by Cecilia Dominic

  “Um, thanks.”

  “I apologize. The air is broken in the foyer. I’ve called the maintenance crew, but there’s no telling when they’ll be here.”

  “Typical.”

  “There’s someone who’s been wanting to meet you.”

  “Actually, it’s to see her again,” said a voice I hadn’t heard in years.

  “Iain?”

  A tall figure emerged from the gloom in the back of Galbraith’s office, where three chairs sat around a low, round table with an antique coffee service. Iain McPherson. I hadn’t seen him since the International Behavioral Genetics Society meeting in London a few years ago.

  “Joanna, you still haven’t managed to hit five-two have you?” he taunted as he enveloped me in a bony hug. Between us, we may have had enough body fat for one normal skinny person. He’d always reminded me of a greyhound with his lanky build and long nose.

  “Iain, you’re as obnoxiously British as ever.”

  “That’s Scottish, young lady.”

  “Uh-huh. Technicality. You’re still part of Great Britain.”

  He rolled his eyes. He had a few more wrinkles around them and a little more gray, but he had hardly changed at all. He was still the same old Iain, whom I’d joked was my conference husband even though he didn’t share his bed with women.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked as we sat down. Galbraith passed me a white porcelain cup and poured coffee out of a silver pot.

  “Your grandfather and I had been corresponding. He said he was close to a breakthrough and would let me know how it shaped up soon, but then I heard nothing from him.”

  “He’s, ah, deceased, we think.”

  “I’m so dreadfully sorry to hear about that.” He leaned over and squeezed my hand. “Galbraith had seen the letters I sent Charles and had contacted me to that effect. Of course I had to come and see if he had left anything, if I could pick up where he stopped.”

  “Right. That’s what I’m trying to do as well.”

  “You’re no longer with Cabal?”

  “They got bought. There was a fire. Just bad timing all around. I got laid off.”

  “Why would a company that has so much to gain with the new gene therapies lay off their most promising epidemiologic specialist in CLS?”

  I looked away. “I don’t know. I don’t really want to talk about it.”

  “What about that chap you were working with, Robert?”

  “He’s still there.” I didn’t say anything else and hoped that he would get the hint. He had known there was something going on between the two of us, but I didn’t want to discuss that in front of Galbraith.

  “I see.”

  Galbraith cleared his throat. “So you had some questions for me?”

  “Would you like me to step outside?” asked Iain.

  “No, that’s okay. I think I may need your help with this matter soon.” I took a deep breath. “I know that the circumstances surrounding my grandfather’s death are somewhat suspicious.”

  Galbraith inclined his head.

  “I was wondering if he’d actually made arrangements recently. Did he seem to think he was in danger?”

  “He essentially told me that he was going into the field and would likely encounter peril there. He wanted it to be expressly stated that he wanted you to have the bulk of the estate. I had the impression he counted on you to continue his work.”

  “Were there any safe-deposit boxes or anywhere else he might have left papers or notes for me?”

  Galbraith frowned. “Not that I can recall, but I will look through the documents again to see if, in my dotage, I misplaced something. There was one folder that he wanted me to hold for you until you had become more acquainted with the Manor and its secrets.”

  And the werewolves. “What do you know about this butler he arranged for me? You said there was something I needed to know.”

  “Yes, Gabriel…” He tapped the arm of his chair. “His last name escapes me at the moment.”

  “It’s McCord,” Iain said. “Gabriel McCord.”

  “You know him?”

  “If it’s the same bloke I’m remembering. He was a member of the Society in the UK, sort of a research assistant, but he wasn’t at the meeting you came to. He certainly was interested in your work, though. He made copies of all the slides and notes I brought back.”

  “When was that?” Galbraith asked.

  “Five years ago, to the month.” I did some mental calculations. “You’re missing the meeting right now, aren’t you?”

  “I am, but it’s worth it to see you again.”

  “Flatterer.”

  “That’s interesting,” Galbraith said as he got up and moved around to his desk to pull out a file. “I believe your grandfather had me start looking for domestic help at about this time last year, and this Gabriel person contacted me in response to the advertisement we placed.”

  “My grandfather looked for a butler?”

  “He was planning on having some renovation done on the house, and he wanted someone to keep the mess and chaos at bay while he worked. He had a woman from the village who would cook and clean for him occasionally, but he needed something a little more permanent.”

  “That must have been Louise.” I tried to block the memory of the last time I’d seen her. “Who died under suspicious circumstances.”

  “Really?” Iain raised an eyebrow at me. “Does death always follow you, or is this a recent development?”

  “It has ever since the fire.” I fingered the tip of the scar at my collarbone. “That’s when the chaos started.”

  The braying of a car alarm startled the three of us.

  “That’s my rental!” Iain jumped and headed toward the door. “What could have set that off?”

  My mind flashed back to the night my lab burned. The sound of my car alarm had broken my concentration and called my attention to the smoke that crept under the door.

  It's nothing to worry about. But there was something else, some small noise I couldn’t identify. My heart thudded in my chest and sent roaring waves through my throat and skull. Every instinct told me something wasn’t right. Iain opened the door to the lobby, and I ran after him.

  “Don’t go out there!” I gasped and held on to the sleeve of his jacket.

  “I have to see what set it off. It’s going to eat up the battery.”

  “Give it a minute. Maybe it’ll go off.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Joanna. All I have to do is click the lock button to stop it.”

  My stomach clenched as he opened the heavy wooden door and pointed the remote at the black Lexus. I forced myself to watch as he pushed the button so I could yank him inside as soon as the alarm stopped. We tumbled to the floor just inside the door and knocked over an end table.

  “Joanie, what the hell?”

  The wooden door with its metal core saved us from the brunt of the explosion. The whole building rocked with its force, and the windows shattered inward. If we had been farther into the room, we would have been shredded. Smoke poured under the door, and we coughed, holding each other tightly as we cowered by the wall. We didn’t dare move.

  “Are you okay?” he finally asked.

  I almost didn’t hear him over the ringing in my ears. “I think so. You?”

  “Yes.” The stubble of his chin scraped against my forehead. I picked up my hand from the floor and hissed in pain—it was the same wrist Leo had adjusted a few nights before.

  “You’re hurt.”

  “An old injury.”

  “Is everyone okay in there?” a voice called from outside. “It’s the fire department. Please respond.”

  “We’re fine,” Iain called back.

  “Don’t move. We’re concerned you may be injured. Someone will get you out in a second.”

  “That was fast,” Iain commented.

  “I guess they don’t get many big explosions in Little Rock. And the fire station is just down the road.”

>   “I didn’t hear the sirens. Must be the ringing in my ears.”

  The inner door opened, and Galbraith looked out, his expression one of concern, then shock.

  “Doctor Fisher, Doctor McPherson? Are you all right?”

  “I think so. Don’t come any further—there’s glass everywhere.”

  The outside door swung open, and a fireman in full gear came through. “Is everyone all right in here?” he asked.

  “Yes. Can we get up now?”

  He held out his hand and helped me up first—by my uninjured hand—and then Iain. Galbraith picked his way across the debris.

  “We have to make sure the building is still sound,” the fireman said. “And the two of you should get checked out at the hospital just to make sure you are. The paramedics are here if you want to talk to them.”

  I wondered why he didn’t say the same to Galbraith, but then realized that Iain and I both had soot on our faces and dust in our hair. My left hand throbbed.

  “I’m fine, but Doctor Fisher has injured her wrist in the fall.” Iain stopped when he saw the smoldering wreck of what had been his car. “My god!”

  “Was anyone on the road?” I asked, craning to see.

  “No, luckily there was a lull in traffic when the car exploded.”

  A policeman walked up to us. “Was this your car, sir?”

  Iain ran a hand through his hair. “It was a rental.”

  “And when did you pick it up?”

  Something still didn’t add up. I let the paramedic look at my wrist as Iain answered the policeman’s questions. No, he hadn’t let anyone else have the keys to the car, no he hadn’t valet parked it anywhere, yes, the rental place would know the history of the vehicle better than he would, yes, he had called ahead and requested a luxury vehicle…

  I started, and the EMT apologized for jarring my wrist.

  “No, it wasn’t you,” I told the earnest young man.

  “Well, you should put some ice on it. It’s swelling.”

  I nodded but was too busy following my own train of thought to hear him. There had been a noise outside the window, a noise I’d heard before. It was what had warned me of the impending explosion. But that was as far as my memory would go.

  Again, that feeling of being watched, those invisible fingers across the back of my neck that raised all the hairs. I tried not to be obvious about it as I looked around. A shadow at the corner of the building detached itself from the other shadows and moved into the alleyway beside Galbraith’s office. The shadow turned, its tongue lolling out at me, and my heart stopped. The black wolf. Before I could be sure, it was gone, but I could hear Louise’s warning in my mind.

  The black wolf knows.

  That was the noise I had heard—the sound of an animal prowling outside the window. It was the same noise I’d heard the night of the fire before my car alarm went off and before the explosion in the hallway that started the fire. I remembered it now.

  “What happened?” Lonna pulled up with Leo in the car, and he leapt out of the passenger seat. He stopped short when he saw Iain.

  “Who’s this?”

  “Iain McPherson. He’s another CLS researcher.”

  “And you are…” Iain raised an eyebrow.

  “Leonard Bowman.” He looked straight into Iain’s eyes. “Doctor Leonard Bowman.”

  “Leo, that’s enough.” I pulled him aside. “Do you remember the black wolf?”

  His nostrils flared. “Why?”

  “I think I just saw him.”

  “Give me five minutes, then get my clothes out of the alley.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Track him.”

  “Isn’t that dangerous?” I glanced over my shoulder and saw Iain watching us. Poor guy, he had no idea what he’d just gotten himself into. But he’d be so excited to hear about what we’d found if he could get past the shock.

  “No more dangerous than letting him roam around and making cars explode.”

  “Touché. Fine. Good luck.”

  He made sure that no one watched him, then darted into the alleyway and disappeared into the shadows.

  “Is he...?” asked Lonna when I returned to the group alone.

  “Yep.”

  She nodded. “You’ll have to fill me in later.”

  The rest of the day was a whirlwind. First we had to talk to the cops. Then to the bomb-squad guys. Then to another policeman, this one in plainclothes, at the station. Iain had to make a call to his travel-insurance company and straighten out things with the rental-car company as well as replace everything that had been in his suitcase in the trunk. Luckily he’d taken his laptop as well as his wallet and passport into Galbraith’s office, so the difficult-to-replace items had been spared. Lonna had left us at the police station to go to her office and finally rescued us just as the sun was setting. She suggested that we go out for dinner, but I wanted to be safely indoors if the black wolf was prowling about.

  “So who do you think wants to kill you?” Lonna asked Iain as we sat with Italian take-out in front of us and glasses—big ones—of Chianti in hand.

  “Are you always this direct?” Iain asked. He leaned forward and snagged another calamari ring.

  “Yes. And you’re evading the question.”

  Here we were again, Lonna taking the lead, and me just sitting quietly and keeping my mouth shut. Back in the city with the same old patterns. I couldn’t concentrate, though, not with the black wolf prowling around out there and Leo trying to track him.

  “I have no idea. I haven’t received any threats. I haven’t noticed anything suspicious. The first inkling I had of something being out of the ordinary was when my car alarm went off while I was in Galbraith’s office talking to Joanie.” He raised his glass to me. “I can’t thank Joanie enough for saving my life.”

  “She’s got a knack for self-preservation.” Lonna grinned, and the red wine gave her purple teeth. She looked like she’d been sucking the lifeblood out of a wine barrel. “Don’t you, Joanie?”

  “I guess.” I swirled the wine in my glass. “I just knew something was wrong. Just like the night of the fire. Just like the night Louise died.”

  “Wait a second.” Iain set his glass on the table and turned to look at me. “You mentioned her earlier, and it slipped my mind. Just how did she die?”

  “She showed up one night bloody and hurt, badly hurt. She died on my suede couch. Or maybe it was microfiber. Either way, they took it.”

  “She died in your house?”

  “She knew my grandfather, was helping him at the house. I guess she knew how to get there from the village. It’s not like it’s a difficult path, just straight up the hill.”

  He arched an eyebrow, his expression serious. “Then maybe I need to get as far away from you as possible.”

  “That’s not nice, Iain.”

  “Oh, forgive me, Doctor Fisher.” He stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets as he paced back and forth. “If you may recall, I just survived an explosion, one which you also witnessed. I lost my favorite luggage set, my rental car, and likely a few years off my life! I don’t know if I’m in the mood to be nice.”

  Lonna opened her mouth, but I held my hand up. “If you’re not in the mood to be nice, then I’m not in the mood to deal with you. I suggest you call a cab and go find a hotel for the night. Then you can skedaddle right on back to Stirling tomorrow.”

  “Skedaddle?” He frowned, then the corner of his mouth twitched. “I don’t think that a Scotsman would skedaddle.”

  “Whatever. You can leave whenever you want to.”

  He sat back down. “You know I can’t do that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because that bastard Robert should be here to protect you, not me. He’s the real reason you’re in this mess. If he’d stood up for you at Cabal, none of this would have happened.”

  My nervous wine-swirling stilled at the sound of Robert’s name. “And what do you know about that?�
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  He looked down at the glass cradled in his hands. “Robert didn’t want to fire you, but he said he was under a lot of pressure from his bosses—who were getting heat, if you’ll forgive the pun—from the bigwigs at the pharmaceutical company that bought Cabal.”

  “Wait a second. Cabal was bought by a pharmaceutical company? I thought it was another research organization.”

  “It was the research arm of one of the big ones, I forget which one. I think it only has one word in the name. The information should be online.” He opened his laptop and waited for it to boot up.

  “Lonna, did you have any luck figuring out where those vaccines came from?”

  “I’d almost forgotten. Yes, I talked to Jasmin, who looked in the state database. I could only get an idea of which ones were distributed in the region. The only company that had both the flu vaccine and the Tdap vaccine came from…”

  “Hippocrates Pharmaceuticals,” she and Iain said at the same time.

  I wish I could say that everything became clear at that point, but I felt as though I had been punched in the stomach. My foe—and the threat to me and my friends—had just gotten a lot bigger. I also knew with certainty that I was going to have to talk to Robert and find out what this “pressure” was and how my projects had changed since I had been “terminated”.

  I didn’t think I would be able to sleep that night considering the events of the day, so I was surprised when the ringing of my cell phone woke me up.

  “Doctor, is everything okay?”

  I rolled over and looked at the clock. Midnight.

  “Yes, Gabriel, everything’s fine.”

  “I was just checking the news online and saw the piece about the explosion in the Local/Arkansas section. Your name was mentioned.” He didn’t say anything about Iain’s, although surely his must have been as well. “Were you injured?”

  “Only my left wrist again. You weren’t there to save me this time.” I couldn’t keep the resentment out of my voice.

  “That is something I will always regret.”

  The genuine sorrow in his voice tugged at my heart, particularly since I had meant to tweak him, but then the conversation with Galbraith and Iain popped into my head.