by C. T. Adams
She turned and walked to the door. Her head swung around when she reached for the knob and she winked. “I hear he’s quite the piece of eye candy, too. He’s the wrong flavor of the month for me, but there aren’t any rules about sheriffs and truant officers that I could find.”
Cara could feel a blush creep up her face and the older African-American woman laughed. “I guess you’ve already noticed. You go, girl! Have yourself a little fun. You spend way too much time being the tough one.”
She was almost out the door before Cara remembered. “Oh, one more thing, Steph—”
The woman paused, turned, and leaned on the jamb with the knob still in hand. She raised her brows to confirm her attention.
Cara decided to keep the question casual, but she’d been in the row Elliot had avoided. “You and Ruiz having any problems? He was acting a little strange in there.”
There was a pause and while Stephanie’s face remained studiously blank, her knuckles on the door knob tightened. “Nope. I haven’t noticed anything odd.” She paused. “That all?” No twitches, or sweating, but the scent of black pepper burst into the air and tickled Cara’s nose.
She’s lying. But why?
She shrugged, not letting on, or pushing it—for the moment. “Yep. Just wondering. Thanks for letting me know about Rick and finding the info on the position. I’ll check into it.”
The sunny smile returned in a flash. “Good luck. Hope it works out.”
When the door closed, Cara grabbed a sticky pad and wrote herself a reminder to talk to both Billy and Rick privately. Maybe what was up with Elliot had to do with one of them. After sticking it firmly on the bottom of her center drawer, the first place she always looked when she sat down, she shut down her computer and turned off the desk lamp.
While it would be easy to get wrapped up in looking over the files Steph mentioned, that would have to wait for another day. But she couldn’t help but admit she was sort of excited about discussing the idea with Adam on the way to Rosa’s.
Try as she might, she couldn’t keep another random thought from flicking through her mind. Or am I excited about seeing him for another reason entirely?
Chapter 11
“AW HELL.” ADAM looked sideways at Cara as the scent of frustration and mild anger rose from her. Up until that second, she was fine… discussing the possibility of a job he might actually be interested in down here. He’d never heard of a place where there was an actual attendance officer, who drove around the county picking up kids and issuing summonses to take them to court for being out of school. Some even wound up in jail, alongside their parents, for repeat offenses! Wow. Apparently, Texas took their mandatory schooling laws pretty seriously. But he liked kids and constantly struggled to get more of them to stay in school. How many hours had he spent in outreach programs, trying to convince boys as young as ten of the importance of an education? Maybe this wasn’t such a bad system—getting them to understand what they might later face if they didn’t straighten up. It was at least worth looking into more.
Cara slopped the pale gold sedan at the start of a driveway leading up to a low-slung adobe house. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and bit at her lower lip nervously. A few cars were tucked under white aluminum carports and a scattering of bikes lay on the grass. Adam looked at the seemingly innocuous scene and couldn’t figure out what might be worrying her. “What’s up? Is there a problem?”
“It looks like she’s invited the whole damned pack over. I’d really hoped to introduce you to Paco and Rosa a little more privately.” She tapped and fidgeted for a few minutes more, and her emotions were all over the place. Finally, she sighed. “Okay. How about you just follow my lead for now and we’ll sort everything out later.”
She didn’t elaborate any more than that, so he just shrugged. He’d hoped to wrap this up quickly and get back to the motel in time for the hockey playoff game. He’d been looking forward to it all day because the motel room had a good television with cable. But pack business came first. “You’re the Alpha. Whatever you say.”
Nodding once, she pressed the accelerator again and slowly pulled up to the house. Adam was glad he’d chosen a mixed outfit for tonight—new black jeans over polished cowboy boots and a cream colored polo shirt. It tended to blend at any occasion, from ball games to high-end mixers by the pool. Cara had changed out of her uniform before she met him at the fast-food restaurant, and he was glad she did. The simple, sleeveless white top was tied at the waist and flashed enticing hints of smooth golden skin, while the faded jeans were tight enough to hug every curve. She’d even threaded a white ribbon into a complex french braid and applied a hint of makeup, both of which softened her features, transforming her enough that he’d never guess her occupation if he didn’t know.
While a part of him was amused by the small-town game—meeting “unexpectedly” in a parking lot and leaving one car after casually chatting through the windows—he understood it was necessary to keep people from talking. His every movement was under scrutiny and Lucas had been firm about creating the right impressiòn. Cara knew the people, so she made the rules.
He watched her close her eyes and take another deep breath as she turned off the car, obviously steeling herself for what lay ahead. The tangled mix of emotions was too much to sort, so he didn’t try, and he could hardly blame her. He’d been just as much of a wreck before the pack meeting back home.
Adam reached for the door handle, deciding to give her whatever time she needed before facing her pack. But before he opened it, he turned his head. He’d never actually said the words and knew he had to. It had been chewing at him all afternoon. He reached out and touched her arm, the first time since he’d gotten in the car. It wasn’t a surprise that she twitched a bit and stared at him with eyes too wide. “By the way… before I forget—thank you. I wouldn’t be alive right now if not for you.” He squeezed her arm lightly before pulling back and unlatching his seat belt. “I just wanted you to know.”
Before her dropped jaw closed and she could think enough to respond, he opened the door and got out, closing it firmly behind him. A deep breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding leaked out of him. He’d never been good at acknowledging things, but risking her… well, at a minimum, her life to save his—no, that couldn’t just sit.
A shout of “¡Que chulito!” followed by laughter and a baby’s delighted squeal inside the house made him glance up and smile. It was always nice to hear happy sounds inside a home. He’d heard enough screams and cries to last a lifetime. A crunch underfoot and he lifted his boot, wondering what he’d just ruined. It looked like a nut. He reached down to pick it up. Sure enough, it was a small crushed pecan, still in the shell. That was when he noticed that there were dozens, maybe hundreds more of them hiding among the blades, some old and blackened but many as fresh as the ones on his counter at home. He looked up at the towering trees overhead, wondering how many nuts they produced every year that people would allow this many to remain to rot on the ground.
He felt Cara’s presence next to his elbow. Her scent was warm, but still filled with a variety of emotions. “Do you like pecans? We get a ton of them from these trees every year. There are plenty more down by the river, too, if you’re the enterprising sort.”
He twisted his head and his shoulder brushed against her bare arm, sending tingles of magic through him like an electric shock. She must have felt it, too, because her eyes widened and her breath hissed inward. “Oh yeah. Pecans are my favorite snack.” He realized after they were out that the words sounded far too intimate, the tone low and smooth, hinting of much different things—but those big brown eyes of hers kept sucking him inside and making him forget where he was.
Her tongue flicked out and ran around her lips and he could smell her nervous anticipation. He watched the fading sunlight flash off the dark pink, cherry-scented gloss and wondered if it would taste fruity, too.
“You’ve got a smudge.” She didn’t move to stop him
as he reached forward and wiped his index finger along the edge of her mouth, removing the nearly invisible bit that was outside the edges of her lips. Her eyes followed the hand as he brought it back to his own mouth and lightly sucked off the flavored coloring. Yep… cherry, and definitely worth a longer taste. He leaned toward her, and he could hear her heartbeat speed up until it was thudding hard enough he should be able to see her shirt move. Her scent grew, became unmistakable—the same as when she’d been pouring water earlier, and her nostrils flared, catching his increasing musk. He’d just lifted his hand to slide it behind her neck when the screen door slammed, making them both jump.
“¡Dios Mio! What in the world are you doing standing out here staring at the trees, Carita? And who’s your friend?”
Cara let out a small yip and flushed guiltily. She blinked several times and swallowed hard. “The… trees, yeah. That is, Adam’s never seen—” He smiled encouragingly and stepped slightly in front her, walking toward the woman on the porch with his hand out.
“Hi, I’m Adam Mueller. I’m—”
Cara quickly moved in front of him, now in more control. “He’s a cop friend of Will Kerchee’s, here visiting from Minnesota. He had lunch at the restaurant with us.” She turned her head toward him and raised her brows with a warning look. “Adam, this is my sister, Rosa Ruiz.”
Ah, that’s right. I’m supposed to follow her lead.
He took more time to look Cara’s sister over. The resemblance was obvious, but there were differences, too. Rosa’s face was a bit broader, more round, and her body shorter, without the long waist Cara had. She still had a good figure for a woman with multiple children, but there was a little excess weight around her belly. “A pleasure to meet you, Rosa. I was just telling Cara how much I like pecans.” He gestured upward. “These are really beautiful trees. I’d love to have nuts in my yard just fall for the taking.”
Rosa let out a little snort, but there was pride in her eyes. “Yeah, you say that now. But wait until they’re beating the crap out of your shingles and you have to dig them out of the gutters and rake ’em up every other day so they don’t kill the grass.”
This time, Cara let out the snort and he got a sense how similar their movements were and how warm a relationship they shared by the teasing tone. “Like you’ve picked up a rake or climbed a ladder since Gloria and Raul got old enough for chores.”
Rosa fought not to smile. Her eyes twinkled merrily even though her voice was stern. “Kids need to learn responsibility. Besides, they get to eat the pies and keep the money they earn from selling the nuts in town. In wet years, they make a better salary than we do. They’ve got it pretty good and don’t you believe otherwise.”
The door slammed again and an excited boy rushed toward them. “Tia Cara! Tia Cara! You’re here!”
Cara scooped up the boy of about six or seven as he leaped toward her, and spun him around in a bear hug before easily supporting his weight with his legs and arms surrounding her so he was face to face. He had darker skin than either Cara or Rosa, large brown eyes, and straight black hair that was neatly trimmed. His natural scent was a combination of pecans with a peppery hint of sage. He was already bordering on handsome and when puberty set in—yeah, his parents were going to have a handful with this one. He knew how to blink those long lashes and work a grin to get women to absolutely melt. Cara obliged with a soft smile and a burst of cookie spice scent that nearly made Adam laugh.
“Hey, mijo! You been being good? I hear you won a ribbon for a report about weather. You going to be a scientist when you grow up?”
Rosa reached forward to ruffle his hair. “Yep. He’s a good boy—and a smart one. Well, y’all catch up and hurry inside so Adam can meet everyone. I’ve got beers and a pitcher of margaritas ready.”
Raul nodded his head vigorously as his mother stepped back onto the porch and disappeared inside the house. His voice held the same light southern twang. “Yep. I’m gonna study icebergs at the north pole.”
Adam pursed his lips. “That’s pretty ambitious. It gets awfully cold up there, don’tcha know.”
The boy turned his head, as if noticing him for the first time. His nostrils flared and Adam realized he was already catching a scent. Pretty young to be getting symptoms, but not unheard of. His answer was well worded and serious. It made him sound much older. “Sure, but wolves can stand the cold better than humans. And it’s important. Know what? The ice packs are melting. If people don’t study them now, we might not get a chance later.”
Adam nodded and crossed his arms over his chest, finding the boy’s knowledge on the subject engaging for someone his age. Maybe he should see if Kevin would be interested in corresponding with the boy. After all, he just got back from the Pole himself. “So do you think the greenhouse effect is causing it?”
Raul’s thoughtful expression showed that he not only knew what the term meant, but also had an opinion about it. He shrugged, nearly losing his grip on Cara’s shoulders. “Dunno. The shows on TV say so, but people in books Teacher gave me think it’s a natural cycle. I think the only thing they know is nobody knows.”
Cara smiled and bounced him once to get his attention. “This is Adam, by the way, Raul. He’s a friend of Will’s. You remember—the Ranger who comes to the restaurant?”
His mouth opened into an O and his eyes got wide. Suddenly, he turned back into a normal little boy with the attention span of a gnat, as though a switch had been thrown. “You’re a Texas Ranger? Know what? That’s the other thing I want to be when I get big, after I get done with the icebergs, and before I buy a ranch and raise cows. You talk funny for a Ranger.”
Adam shook his head and laughed as the boy’s train of thought derailed. “Nope. I’m not a Ranger. I’m a policeman in Minnesota. Have you ever heard of Minneapolis? Do you know where that is?”
He nodded. “Sure. We have a map on the wall at school. That’s the state with lots of lakes and that big mall. Teacher said there are lots of bugs there, ’cause of the water, but we have different bugs here that like the heat. Bugs are really cool. I want to study them, too. Know what? Mama took me to the mall in San Antonio last week to buy Gloria’s Quince dress. I like the mall ’cause they have an arcade.”
Cara chuckled and Adam nodded, uncrossed his arms, and leaned back against the tree trunk. “Yep. We have the Mall of the Amendas—the largest one in the world. It’s probably a little bigger than the one you went to here. But I’ll bet your sister’s dress is as pretty as anything we have there.”
Raul nodded his head vigorously. He squirmed to get away so Cara lowered the boy back to the ground. “Ooo, yeah! Know what? It’s pink with this biiig skirt, like on the Cinderella video! And she even has a crown, but that looks more like Belle’s or maybe Snow White’s. She keeps it in a box in her closet.” He tugged on Cara’s hand, trying to drag her toward the door. “C’mon! I’ll show you.”
But she pulled her hand out of his with a laugh. “How about you run inside and tell Gloria we’re coming. ¡Vamos! We’ll be right in.” She winked and he grinned again before turning and racing into the house, yelling his sister’s name.
“Cute kid,” he said with a nod toward the house. “And your sister seems nice. She’s full human?”
Cara nodded and stared at the house. “Yeah. I’m the only one in our family who turned. Both Rosa and my brother Jorge are human, but their kids will probably turn because Paco—that’s short for Pasquale—and Sharon do. That seems to be how it is here—it skips a generation. Does that happen in your pack, too?”
“Mostly. Sometimes we’ll get two alphas who’ll have another Sazi, but it’s hit or miss. A lot of our families are enrolled in the breeding program just so they can have kids at all.” Cara nodded, seeming to understand what he meant, but didn’t offer any comment. Did they even have a breeding program here? That was something he probably needed to find out. The program back home was a big deal, and couples were on a long waiting list for available Sazi babies, beca
use only full humans or alpha females could carry a shifter baby to term. The moon magic often caused miscarriages, and there weren’t nearly enough suitable women to go around who were willing to be surrogates. If the pack here could have children as powerful as Raul, it might help him decide which families to bring down.
He paused and had to raise his hand to his brow to block the sun that had lowered enough to be right in his eyes. But the sky had turned an amazing color—filled with oranges and reds down low, with purples and blues higher up. “Wow, is that a sunset!”
She turned her head and watched the sky with him. “Yeah. We get ones like this a lot. You ought to see what it looks like right after a storm. I’ve got pictures of the windmill on my place with sunsets that are unreal. Sometimes I frame and sell ’em in a little shop in town.”
That perked his ears. “You like photography? I’ve just started—”
Rosa’s voice called out of the closed screen door. “Hey, you two! Get your fuzzy butts in here. Paco’s about to turn on the game and these tamales aren’t going to wrap themselves!”
Adam flicked his eyes to his watch. It was time for the game! He’d nearly forgotten—again. That was becoming a trend that both worried and interested him. “Yeah, I would like to watch that, unless you planned to have a pack meeting.”
She shook her head and moved a bit, waiting for him to step away from the tree. “No, let’s keep this casual tonight. The whole pack isn’t here. It’s one thing to tell Rosa and Paco—people would expect that, but telling just a few would tick the rest off.” Her eyes moved to his shoulder and she twirled her finger in a circle with a frown. “Spin around for a second.”
Adam furrowed his brow but obeyed and felt the light slap of her palm between his shoulder blades, brushing downward. He turned his head and looked down to where Cara had stomped on something on the ground. “What’s up?”
