by Mac Flynn
Orion led me outside with our boxes in our hands. The gray sky hinted at snowfall and a blustery wind blew past us.
I cringed and wrapped my free arm around me. "I don't think we're going to find anything at the highway. Not after this long."
He turned to me and tapped the side of his nose. "Don't underestimate the power of the nose. I'm not the local hunter for nothing."
"You told me you helped people find things," I commented as we walked down the street in the direction of the motel. "Is it people?"
"Among other things," he told me.
"What about paths leading out of the area?" I wondered.
He paused and turned to me with a frown. "Mab told you to stop having those thoughts."
I shrugged. "A girl's gotta have a goal in life."
"And that goal is to leave here?" he guessed.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Listen, I didn't ask for this trouble."
He slipped his hand into his box and pulled out a bit of lemon. "Nobody asks for lemons in life, but what they can do is make the most of it."
My eyes fell on the lemon and flickered up to Orion's face. "You're not seriously making lemonade out of that stuff, are you?"
He shrugged and slipped the lemon back into his box. "Maybe I'll make some martinis. That is-" his eyes flickered to me, "-if someone's still around to enjoy them with me."
I pursed my lips and turned away. My eyes swept over the small, snow white town. A few people walked along the sidewalk, and the kids were back at the sledding hill. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Those martinis better have the little umbrellas."
He grinned and offered me his arm. "Do you prefer blue or pink?"
I smiled and accepted his arm. "Definitely blue."
We walked arm-in-arm to the motel. My car was parked in the same spot. Orion searched his pocket and pulled out my keys. He held them out to me and jingled them. "Care to do the honors?"
I swiped the keys from him and nodded. "Of course. No self-respecting reporter would let her side-kick do the driving."
He chuckled as I unlocked the doors. "So I'm a side-kick now?"
I looked over the top of the car as he stood by the passenger door. "Would you rather be the comedy relief?"
He shrugged. "I thought I could at least be the dashing hero."
I shook my head. "Nope. You're all wrong for the part." I ducked down to hide my snort as his face contorted with disbelief.
"Hey! Wait a sec!" He slipped into the passenger seat as I started the car. "What do you mean I'm all wrong for the part?"
I had a hard time suppressing my grin. "A hero can't have a nickname like 'Sour,' can he?"
His face fell. "You too now?"
I shrugged as I pulled out of the parking lot. "I'm just saying it'd be pretty hard to take a guy seriously with that kind of nickname."
"What if we say my real nickname is 'Orion,' and go with that?" he suggested.
I wrinkled my nose and shook my head. "Nah. Nobody would ever believe it."
Orion threw up his arms and nearly tossed his box of pancakes. He juggled the box and slapped it back into his lap. The mighty hunter sheepishly grinned at me. I rolled my eyes and shook my head, but I couldn't hide my smile.
We drove through the town and out to the highway. The deserted road was plowed, and I wondered if the pass was open. Unfortunately, our destination didn't take us as far as the road block. I stopped the car a quarter of a mile past the town turnoff and gestured at the road.
"That's about where I saw whoever it was."
"And you're sure it was a werewolf?" he asked me.
I tilted my face towards him. "It wasn't the Easter Bunny."
"Was it male or female?"
I swept my eyes over him. "It looked like you did last night."
He pursed his lips and looked out over the road. "Male, then."
Orion stepped outside and walked down the road. I followed behind him and watched as he knelt on the ground and brushed his hand over the paved road.
"Damn. . ."
"Your spider senses aren't tingling?" I asked him.
He stood and shook his head. "Not when a snowplow's been by here. But fortunately the scent isn't entirely gone."
Orion walked over to the steep snowbank and plunged into its deep depths. He was buried up to his waist in the white fluffy stuff, but he pushed his way through the pile to the untouched wilderness beyond the ditch. He paused beside a half-covered bush and plucked something off the bare leaves.
"I don't think now is a time to harass the local plant life," I teased him.
Orion turned around and studied something pinched between his fingers. He trudged back to me and held out the item. "If this is plant life then we have bigger problems than the Sickness."
I leaned forward and squinted. Between his fingers was a small tuft of hair. I reached up and rubbed the fur between my fingers. "What's it belong to?"
"Wolf, and there aren't any natural wolves around here," he told me. Orion looked past me in the direction of the car and frowned. "And the plot thins."
The crunch of wheels on the snow caught my attention. I turned around and watched one of the local police vehicles drive toward us.
I glanced at Orion and jerked my head towards the cop car. "Did we break a rule or two by coming out here?"
He pursed his lips and shook his head. "Only if it's unwritten and was passed unanimously last night."
The cop car pulled up to us and Chief Orso stepped out. He slammed the door shut and strode over to us. "I was informed you two went in this direction. Mind telling me what brought you out here?"
Orion held up the tuft of fur that was pinched between his fingers. "This."
Chief Orso took the fur and turned it over. "Wolf fur. You can get it off half the town."
Orion shook his head. "Not that fur. I don't recognize that scent."
The chief lifted his head and arched an eyebrow. "So you're saying this is from a stray?"
Orion nodded. "Yes. I'd stake my hunter reputation on it."
Orso pursed his lips. "All right. I'm going to need you two to come down to the station and make a statement." He pulled out a plastic bag and dropped the fur into the bag. "There's also last night's trouble you haven't already put in a report for that."
Orion set his hand on the small of my back and smiled at the officer. A strange smell came to my nostrils, but I blew it away. "No, but we'll do that right now."
Orso kept his attention on Orion but nodded at me. "And I'd be glad if you kept her in town, at least for the present. She wasn't none too pleased with the mayor's decision last night, and the last thing we need around here is more trouble."
Orion nodded. "I'll be sure to do that."
I glared at both of them. "'She' doesn't need watched by hmphph-" Orion had placed his hand over my mouth.
My sidekick nodded at the road. "Won't you lead the way, Chief?"
Chief Orso turned and walked back to his patrol car. I pulled Orion's hand off my mouth and gasped for air before I snapped my head in his direction. "What the hell was that for?" I growled.
He held up his hands in front of him and gave me a teasing smile. "Just trying to help. We don't need to get on the bad side of the chief and his men, at least not this early in the morning."
I narrowed my eyes. "You're going to regret saying that."
He walked around me and toward the car. "Maybe, but let's go before the chief cites us for loitering."
CHAPTER 14
