by C. T. Adams
The older man flicked his eyes sideways and sighed like a balloon leaking air. Then he stood up, turned his chair around, and sat back down. He leaned heavily against the chair back, causing a loud creaking sound that punctuated the sudden silence. The power around him dampened a bit as he picked up his bottle, took a sip, and then motioned to Salinas with it. “Alright, I’ll listen. Remember I don’t have the power to change the council’s decision. But, if you raise a good enough argument, I can take it to the Chief Justice and see if the matter can be reopened.”
Carlotta looked surprised at his sudden willingness to listen to her. No, actually she seemed more stunned and was struggling to collect herself—her jaw was moving, but nothing was coming out and her scent was confused. Frankly, Adam was a little surprised himself at the turn of events. Apparently, his old partner’s opinion had higher value to Santiago than he’d imagined. The phone rang suddenly, but apparently had been shunted directly to the answering machine. Salinas stopped to listen, so he took the moment to have a sip of pop. She was right that it had a very different taste than regular Dr Pepper—smoother and strangely, less sweet. He actually liked it quite a bit and took another long drink.
A nearly unintelligible male voice was asking for directions on the recorder. Apparently, she didn’t feel the need to pick up the phone because she shrugged and returned her attention to them.
She took a deep breath after a sip of something vile-smelling from a cup next to the stove, and blinked a few times. “Okay, then… thank you for listening. I’m sorry I swore like that, but I’m a little on edge today. That’s not an excuse, but… well, there you go.” She shrugged and then plopped a massive metal ladle into the pot on the stove and stirred the boiling goo—the scent of peppers, garlic, and cumin billowed into the room. Then she returned to her seat. He couldn’t help but notice her leg brushing by his as she did, and found that he didn’t mind the contact at all, nor the warm scent of honeysuckle, ripe peaches, and rain that rose from her skin every time she moved.
“Anyway, I think Will understands where I’m coining from, and I’m trying to figure out a way to explain this without seeming like I’m being prejudiced or anything. First, I want to make it clear that I have no objection to a few families joining our pack. That’s not the issue. But y’all can’t move that many people from another state into this region without drastic consequences!”
Santiago’s face was completely bland when he replied. “Why not?”
She raised her hands in front of her helplessly and looked around as though searching for something. “God, I don’t know if I can explain it!” After a few seconds, her gaze returned to Lucas’s and she raised one finger in the air with a smile. “Wait! Yes, I can explain it. But y’all will have to bear with me for a second.” She stood without waiting for his response, lifted the telephone off the nearby wall, and carried it back to the table. “I’m going to call my sister on speakerphone, but I don’t want her to know you’re listening. Y’all can’t say anything—don’t even cough—or this won’t work.”
Lucas started to open his mouth, but Cloudsfall raised one finger to catch the older man’s attention, smiled, and nodded. “Let her, Lucas. I know where she’s going and if she’s right, you’ll learn a lot more this way.”
Carlotta lifted the receiver, dialed a number, let it ring twice, and then hung up. As she noticed the scent of his curiosity, she shrugged. “Private family code. She’ll know it’s me calling now.” This time, she hit the speakerphone button and pressed speed dial. She put a finger to her lips and there was a small part inside Adam that wished it was his own finger touching there. He intentionally moved his leg, rest it against her knee, and was pleased when she didn’t move away.
A woman answered in a frustrated contralto. “It’s about time you called! Chingado, Carita, it’s been insane here all morning! Next time, y’all need to find another place to hold your meeting, or at least give me time to get out of town!”
Cara raised her eyebrows at him significantly, but he didn’t understand, so he just shook his head and shrugged. She put a note of confusion in her voice. “How come, Rosa? What’s up?” She paused for a moment, then continued as though she’d had a flash of understanding. “Oh! They’ve been calling you, huh? Sorry I’ve got you on speaker. I’m cleaning up from the meeting.”
“No big. You’re on speaker, too. This is my first chance in an hour to change Felix’s diaper. Yeah, they’ve been calling, and calling and calling! I finally stopped answering, and then they started to call my cell phone. ‘How come the restaurant’s closed, Rosa?’ ‘Why’s Cara meeting with the Texas rangers, Rosa?’ ‘Who are those new men in town, Rosa?’ Ay ay, ay, like I’m a mind reader or something! Paco said the rumors are at full tilt. Down at the donut shop Mara hinted I got closed down for a bad health inspection, and then Betty at the bank called to ask if it was true about the Rangers finding drugs under my floor boards. Drugs, Cara!”
Cara winced at that, heaving a sigh that would be heard over the speaker while her sister swore in more than one language in the background. “Okay, okay! I get the point, Rosa! No more pack meetings at the restaurant during business hours. Everybody’s just leaving. Will says hi.”
“He better not have eaten all my chile! I know how he is. For a bird, he’s got too big a stomach.” Lucas had to cover his mouth so he didn’t laugh and Cloudsfall silently flipped his middle finger at the phone. “I need to sell that chile—especially now that I’m going to have to convince people I don’t have rats and cucarachas.”
“Okay, I get it, Rosa. We didn’t eat the chile, but we did drink a few of your sodas. I’ll buy you more. I’ve got to get back to work now. I’ll call you later.”
“Yeah, yeah. And you better stop by the paper and make sure there won’t be any reporters showing up tomorrow to ask stupid questions. It’s bad enough people seeing the sheriff and Ranger trucks hiding behind the building, but I don’t even know who the attorney from Colorado is, so I don’t want to hear a bunch of questions I can’t answer.”
That brought all four of them to attention and even Cara’s jaw dropped. “What did you say,. Rosa? Who said anything about an attorney?”
Adam could almost hear the shrug. “Hmm… old Mr. Gomez, I think. You remember—he had that grandson going to college up north of Denver, who got picked up for a DWI? It was years and years ago, but he swears someone there at the restaurant looks like the man who prosecuted his boy. If y’all were having any other meeting but a pack one, I wouldn’t even mention it.”
Lucas started to swear silently and shake his head in angry frustration with two fingers rubbing the skin just above his eyebrow while Cara fought to end the call. “Okay, Rosa. I’ll call you later. Really got to go now.”
“Okay, hun bun. Don’t forget you promised to come over tonight and help me wrap tamales for Gloria’s Quinceanera party and look at the dress she picked out. The kids have been looking forward to it all week. They keep complaining how they never see Tia Cara anymore.”
That made her smile and it made her whole face light up. “You tell Gloria and Raul I’ll stop by after dinner, and give the baby a kiss for me. But… it might be a long day, so don’t let them wait up if it gets too late.” She didn’t look at any of them, but she suddenly seemed very tired; weary—as though the weight of the world were on her shoulders.
“Eh. Paco wouldn’t let them anyway. Tomorrow’s a school day. Don’t work too hard, Carita. You know how I worry. Call me later, sweetie.”
She pressed the cut off button and waited, her lips moving as she counted to three silently, then picked up the receiver, probably to be certain there was a dial tone. “So,” she finally said after a long pause, resting her forearms on the table and meeting the eyes of each of them in turn. He might be imagining it, but she seemed to pause longer on him before returning her gaze to Lucas. “You see now why a dozen families from Minnesota can’t just suddenly appear down here? There are only two newcomers in town toda
y and I’d be surprised if you haven’t already had your whole genealogy mapped out on the high school blackboard. A major move like you’re proposing would have tongues wagging across four counties and people sniffing all over the place. You gotta understand, the demographics in this county are over forty percent retired. These people have nothing better to do with their time than speculate about anything and everything. At the very least, the people selected will have to have some ties to the area.”
Adam watched as Cara nodded her head toward him, without actually meeting his eyes. But she still didn’t move her leg from where their thighs were pressed almost intimately along the entire length. “Now, Officer Mueller here is actually a pretty good pick, because there are Muellers who homesteaded in Fredericksburg—a couple of counties away. There’s a big German population there. I could come up with a creative excuse for him and possibly one or two others to move down, but a dozen?” She shook her head, causing a few stray, wavy dark hairs to come loose from the tight bun at her neck. “Nope. There’s no way.”
“Call me Adam, please… sheriff.” The sentence came out a little softer than he’d planned, causing a half-smile, but no comment, from Cloudsfall.
She looked at him then and her scent took on the light dusty scent of embarrassment. “Oh, of course. And I might as well be Cara, if we’re going to be… urn, working together.” As though an afterthought, her leg finally moved away from his with a small jerk and she looked away to glance at her watch.
Lucas was staring at his nearly empty bottle while running a slow finger around the rim. The resulting tone was like fingernails on chalkboards and it was all Adam could do to stop himself from reaching out to grab his hand to stop the squealing. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Santiago stopped and reached behind him to pull a worn leather wallet from his pocket. He removed a pair of twenties, placed them on the table, returned the wallet, and then leaned back in his chair. Crossing his arms over his chest, he looked around the table slowly, making sure he had all their attentions—as though there was any doubt.
“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. Adam, you and I are going undercover… in a rather unusual fashion.” At the trio of startled expressions, he elaborated. “See, I probably was the prosecutor for that man’s grandson. I did a stint in both the DA and County Attorney’s offices—as Lucas Santiago. So, my cover here is blown anyway. It won’t take people long to notice the Minnesota plates at the motel, either. Will is right that I should have remembered how people gossip in a tiny town. I grew up in one, but apparently have become forgetful after living in a city so long.”
He stood up and walked to the metal wire shelves next to the massive multi-burner stove, and started looking for something. He continued to talk with his back to them. “I own an interest in a number of properties in Boulder. Mostly, they’re pack businesses, but not all of them. My wife and I have been talking about my retirement from my practice, since I’ve already been the pack leader up there too long as it is. People are starting to comment on how well I’m holding up to my insane litigation schedule. It wouldn’t be a stretch to convince people I was thinking about moving to Texas… or at least, considering investing in potential future growth down here.”
Adam could see where he was going with the idea. Investors can ask stupid questions and promise about anything. People are happy to spill their guts for the potential of financial gain. That was why so few people reported being scammed by professional con men, making his job more difficult. He found himself nodding while staring at Lucas’s broad back and thought of something. “So, is that my cover, too? I don’t know if I can pull off acting like an investor. It’d be too easy to find out I’m just barely making it on my salary. One call to my bank would have my loan officer rolling on the floor at the question. Plus, I haven’t had anyone die in the family recently to fake a windfall.”
Lucas turned around, holding a short stack of white foam containers with lids. He shook his head with a smile. “Nope. You’re just going to be you… with a bit of a twist. Your story is you’ve gotten burned out, which isn’t that unusual, considering your beat. I presume you already gave notice after Josef gave you your orders?”
“Yeah, but I haven’t said anything about being burned out to anyone. I just told Reggie—my partner—that I needed to find better money. He nearly offered to walk with me, but his wife is about to have twins. I’m single, with no kids, so I’m more flexible.” He wasn’t even sure why he said that last part, but it didn’t hurt anything.
The Wolven chief returned to the table, put down the stack of containers—causing an odd look from both Clouds-fall and Carlotta—and took his chair again. “No problem there, on either side of the question. You found some information on an offshoot of your family… pick something logical. An old bible in the attic or some such, with information about a black sheep that got disowned. It happened all the time in the last century… trust me. You drove to Texas to meet up with your buddy Will, taking along an old girlfriend and discovered—” He swept both arms outward and smiled with something approaching wonder. “—paradise! Texas is amazing! It’s peaceful, the people are terrific, and the worst crime in town is the occasional cattle rustler. It’s everything you’ve ever dreamed of, but just didn’t know it. You are going to draw on every acting lesson you’ve had in your life this week, Agent. You’re in love with Santa Helena and are going to tell every person you meet just that.”
“Actually, that’s not true at all.” Cara’s voice was matter of fact, sounding very much like a cop. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest, causing the badge on her pocket to flash sunlight in his eyes. “There’s crime here—lots of it. Meth, both labs and users, is bad all over the county, we’re the back door for illegal immigration heading north and I’m fighting a losing battle with keeping the San Antonio gangs from recruiting in the schools. It’s not just picking up estrays and truants down here. I’m understaffed, underfunded, and overworked. I turned off my radio for the meeting, because my dispatcher knows she can call the restaurant to get me. But if I turned it on, you’d probably hear the same codes you’re used to hearing back home—robberies, domestic violence, drug busts, and even the occasional murder.”
A light dawned in Adam’s head. “Okay, so let’s go a different route. I’m just here visiting Will, but suddenly am swept away—seeing a place that can still be saved. A place where I can make a difference and help it not become Franklin Street.” Lucas and Will both smiled, but Cara looked uncertain, so he added in total seriousness, “You wouldn’t want to see the beat where I work. It’d make you welcome the San Antonio gangs into town.” She looked startled when both Will and Lucas nodded in agreement. He was getting into the idea of going undercover again. It had been a long time. “Okay, yeah. I can do that. But—” He shook his head and grimaced a bit. “That might be too much of a stretch for Vivian. She’s not that good an actress, and no matter how much money she gives the theater guild she never will be.”
He noticed a confusing mix of scents from the sheriff and turned to see her staring at the side of his face with near sadness, mixed with anger. She shifted her eyes when they met briefly and smelled suddenly embarrassed. He’d thought it was just that she didn’t like the plan, but could it be she was jealous? That’s sure what it smelled like. But he hadn’t considered whether she was attached, either. He hadn’t noticed a ring, and now her hand was tucked underneath her arm. Would it piss him off to find out she was married? He realized with surprise that it just might.
“She doesn’t need to be,” Lucas said with a serious expression. “She’s going back to Minneapolis with me in a few days… whether or not she realizes it. I don’t know her very well, but I know her type. She couldn’t exist in a small town any more than a wolf could live underwater. No, we want Ms. Carmichael to act just exactly as we know she will. While you’re waxing ecstatic about the town, she’ll be making snide remarks and being a general pain. By comparison, you�
�ll be a breath of fresh air to those who love living here and, at worst, you’ll be looked at as naive by those who feel they’re trapped. That’s all fine.”
Cara cleared her throat and raised a finger. His eyes dropped automatically, before he could even register the motion in his brain. No ring. “But won’t people ask questions when she moves back down here—especially if she made rude comments?”
Adam shook his head, possibly too vigorously. “She won’t be moving back down here. I decided that when I learned on the way down she was trying to push her way in as alpha female. I told her in no uncertain terms that there was already an alpha female. I won’t stand for any power plays. Besides, after meeting you I know me and my pack members will be in good hands.”
LUCAS AND CLOUDSFALL wore the same startled expression that was probably on her own face. “You heard right,” he continued with a single nod, “I don’t plan to be the alpha male down here. But if you’re in need of a second, I’m your man.”
Lucas sighed. “I figured you’d probably say that, Adam, but I’d ask you to reconsider. Your people are going to need both an alpha female and an alpha male for a time. If you later want to step down, that’s fine. But Cara might not survive leadership challenges from some of the Minnesota pack, so—” She felt her eyes widen at that but she didn’t comment as he closed his mouth suddenly and pursed his lips. She didn’t know much about timber wolves, but a lesser wolf could take her out? That was a little scary.
Then he started to tap one finger in the air. “Actually, you know what? I’ll need to check with Charles for verification, but I think there’s precedent to make some temporary changes to the rules down here. When the bears moved out of Bavaria to join the Siberian group early in the last century, there was so much infighting that the council set up a no-death period. No challenges… leadership, mating, or otherwise would be to the death, until the people became properly integrated and every challenge had to have a Wolven official present, just to be certain there were no… accidents.”
