by Nova Nelson
“I think I’m going to return to Fluke Mountain,” he said. “She must have forgotten about the meeting. I have quite a few things to do before the weekend arrives.”
While Bloom wished he would hold out just a little longer, she couldn’t blame him for wanting to get on with his day. Waiting twenty minutes was already generous for someone juggling the responsibilities he had.
“Very well.”
Zax stood. “If you hear from Ruby, will you let me know?”
She didn’t miss the lines of concern around his eyes. “Of course.”
“Thank you, Sheriff. Good luck with…”—he gazed around the stacks—“all of this.”
“If only luck had anything to do with it, I would have hired a full team of leprechauns by now. Take care of yourself up on the mountain, Mr. Banderfield.”
He nodded and strode to the door, pulling it open and…
Ruby’s fist pounded him in the sternum twice before she was able to catch herself. “Oh!” she said from the other side of the threshold. “I’m sorry. I thought you were the door.” She massaged her knuckles. “Except the door is softer.”
Zax stared down at her in mild amusement, but Bloom didn’t miss the hint of relief as he shook his head.
It was the same emotion she felt upon seeing Ruby’s small body draped in her usual black robes and baggy knitted sweater. Clifford hovered just a half step behind his witch.
“And I thought you would be here at ten,” Zax said.
“Yes, that was the plan, but I was up terribly late, and managed to oversleep. Can’t swing the late hours like I used to.” She stepped around Zax and entered the office with Clifford. The werebear allowed them to pass and then shut the door again and returned to his seat.
While Gabby scooted two piles out of the way so she could have a clear view of Ruby’s face, the Fifth Wind settled herself into the chair and stretched her neck. “I think I slept funny. Slept like the dead, as they say, although we all know those pests don’t sleep. Anyway…”
Zax’s eyes were glued to Ruby with a mixture of amusement and… something else. Bloom couldn’t put her finger on it, but it carried a piercing intensity.
Ruby turned to address him, and his head jerked back a bit at the sudden attention. “Do you know,” she said, “that two of your sleuth are involved in a sordid love affair?”
He blinked. “I don’t know the specifics you’re referring to, but werebears do tend to be amorous. Overly so.”
Ruby shuddered, swallowed hard, then lifted her chin. “I’d say.”
The sheriff cut in with, “And which werebears are we talking about here?”
“Opal Barker and Cedric Pine.”
Bloom exchanged a quick glance with Zax, who seemed equally caught unaware by this. “I assume this has something to do with why you were up late last night.”
“Indeed, Sheriff. In-deed. I had a knock on my door late last night and who should it be but those two. Now, I’ve never met Cedric before, but as you know, he looks strikingly like his brother, Virgil, so I was able to guess he was a Pine. Anywho, they came to see me because they swore they’d just gotten a glimpse of Taurus.”
Bloom rolled her eyes. “Not that again.”
“Oh yes. That. Again.”
“When did they see him?” Zax said.
“Right after the restaurant at the lodge closed, after the last diners left. They were both finishing up their shifts, and apparently very busy in the kitchen when Opal claims to have seen the mythical creature staring at them through the window.” She went on to recollect the rest of their story, and Bloom was glad to see no one else in the room appeared to believe much of the cock-and-bull story either.
“So, naturally,” Ruby finished, “Cliff and I followed them.”
Zax’s brows furrowed. “You followed them in the dead of night when there was the possibility of a murderous minotaur running around?”
“I think you’ll agree, knowing what you know now, and considering I already strongly suspected something was off with them, that they were and still are the prime suspects. I had to see what they were up to, especially when their story had so many temporal gaps in it.”
Bloom nodded. She would have done the same. “What exactly did you find when you followed them?”
“I won’t go into all the details, but Cedric did as I said and walked Opal all the way home. But he didn’t stop on her doorstep. He followed her inside. And after a few minutes of silence, I decided it was best to see if I couldn’t get a look indoors.”
“Voyeur,” Bloom muttered under her breath.
“Really!” Ruby snapped, trying to keep a straight face. “You think I wanted to see any of that? For all I knew, he’d followed her inside to attack her. Perhaps he was actually the one who had attacked his brother in the woods! It would make sense for Virgil to want to cover for his brother and make up some insane story about Taurus attacking him.” She paused. “But in the end, he was not attacking her. Well, in a way he was mauling her, but she didn’t seem to mind.”
Zax’s eyebrows raised, but he didn’t seem especially abashed by the tale. Surprised, yes, but not embarrassed.
Bloom said, “I assume you didn’t see anything resembling Taurus while you were on your night jaunt, did you?”
“Of course not,” Ruby said. “That whole thing is made up, I’m convinced. Oh, don’t look like that, Zax. You honestly can’t believe in it, can you?”
The werebear shrugged. “I always thought it was a legend, but there’s been an awful lot of talk about it lately, and now there are three sightings and a missing person. I don’t know what to believe, so I’m keeping an open but skeptical mind.”
Ruby frowned. “You didn’t know about Opal and Cedric, did you?”
“I didn’t have a clue. But you know how it goes working in restaurants.”
Ruby cocked her head to the side. “I don’t, actually.”
“Yeah,” Bloom added. “Neither do I. I only ever worked retail before I came here. Please enlighten us about how the service industry leads to cheating.”
And now he did look slightly abashed, but he answered anyway. “Oh, just that, you know, you work in a high-pressure environment closely with others, and… well, stress and long hours, and shared experience… it can often lead to this kind of thing.”
“So can a lack of loyalty in any scenario,” Bloom snipped before she could stop herself.
Pull back, Gabby.
Her judgment often flared up like that when people talked of disloyalty. Civilization was a hearty thing, all in all, but if one thing could threaten to unravel it, it was betrayal. And cheating was the most severe and devastating of all the betrayals. The hurt it caused sent shockwaves out into the universe.
But she reeled in her judgment and added, “Regardless, I agree with Ruby that Opal and Cedric are now our top suspects. Her live-in boyfriend is missing, and we discover she’s been cheating with another man.”
Zax said, “But how do we know this didn’t start after Swamy went missing? It’s been a few days. Maybe she’s just in a state and Cedric capitalized on it? Gave her a little comfort.”
Ruby shook her head firmly. “Again, I won’t go into details, but I can tell you the way they were going at it made it clear this was not their first encounter.”
Bloom cringed and held up a hand to stop to the discussion of it there. “I think the more likely scenario is that they’ve been carrying on in secret for a while. Perhaps Swamy confronted Cedric about it and things went too far. Maybe Cedric retaliated and ended up gravely injuring Swamy or worse. Or maybe Swamy simply discovered the infidelity and decided to move elsewhere.”
“We could check at the train station,” Ruby suggested. “See if the ticketmaster remembers him buying a ticket to Avalon.”
Bloom nodded, but before she could follow that idea further, Zax interrupted.
“But what about Virgil?” he asked. “Where does his attack fit into this new theory?”
> Bloom shrugged. “It could be completely unrelated, for all we know. Or perhaps he came upon Cedric and Swamy having it out and was injured when he involved himself in the dispute. It’s not so much a theory as it is conjecture at this point. At least until we find something more substantial. However, I believe the relationship between Opal and Cedric is not insignificant. I agree that they’re our best leads. We should go speak with them immediately.” She paused, reaching to grab this morning’s edition of the Eastwind Watch off the top of a pile of forms. Ruby wasn’t the only one with an interesting development in the case this morning. “But first, we should probably address what the Watch published on the front page this morning.” She held it out for Ruby to see. She and Zax had already discussed it while waiting for Ruby to arrive, and they seemed to be of the same mind on it.
As Ruby read the headline, her fiery brows pinched together, and as she went on to skim the rest of the article, the corners of her lips drooped further and further down into a deep frown.
She looked up at Bloom. “Typical drivel from Arthur Flufferbum. No legitimate sources named, mostly hearsay.”
“Obviously,” said Bloom. “But the point is that this so-called exposé on Taurus attacks is only going to fan the flames. I wouldn’t be surprised if reports of sightings start pouring in from Fluke Mountain.”
Zax jumped in. “The Sheriff and I have already made a plan for me to reach out to my sleuth and tell them the reports are false and that Flufferbum is just going for sensationalism.”
Ruby tilted her head at him. “You think that will work?”
“It couldn’t hurt. And besides, weres have been on the wrong end of sensational journalism since sensational journalism began. We’re used to seeing lies between the lines.”
“But isn’t Flufferbum himself a were?” Ruby asked.
“Werebunny,” Zax clarified. “So yes, but no. Witches tolerate werebunnies. Not much harm they can do in their shifted form.”
“Tell that to my garden,” Ruby said. “But point taken.”
“The question is,” Bloom said, trying to get the conversation back on track, “that someone involved in this has spoken to the Watch about it. So who was it, and what would they get out of it?”
“There’s really only one way to find out,” Ruby said. “Someone has to go speak with Arthur Flufferbum.”
The women met eyes for only a split second.
“Not it,” Bloom and Ruby both spat.
Then they turned to Zax. “I said it first,” Ruby said. “You heard me say it first, right?”
Zax sputtered, clearly unsure of the best move here.
“You know I said it first,” Bloom added. “I was clearly the first to say it.”
Again, Zax opened his mouth, but nothing decipherable came out.
“Fine,” Bloom said. “You win, Ruby. You and Zax can go interview Opal and Cedric, and I’ll speak with that Flufferbum fool.” She stood from her chair, glad for an excuse to get out of the office and take decisive action of one kind or another, even if it meant entering the offices of the Eastwind Watch, a newspaper with a long legacy of printing incorrect information bordering on libel regarding the Eastwind Sheriff’s Department.
But no sooner had she adjusted her stiff wings than she felt the summons from Deputy Titterfield.
Heaven’s hearth! This better be good…
She paused, considering her priorities. She couldn’t be everywhere at once, unfortunately.
The choice was obvious. Her brother in uniform came first when she was on the clock (and if that also gave her an excuse to put off her interview with Flufferbum, she wouldn’t cry about it). She’d blessed the deputy with that summoning spell for a reason, and he hadn’t abused it yet.
She turned to address Ruby and Zax, who were standing now as well. “I apologize. I just got summoned by Deputy Titterfield, and I would be failing in my duty if I ignored it. You two go ahead and speak with Opal and Cedric. Once I handle this professional matter, I’ll speak with Arthur and then meet up with you when I can.”
Neither Zax nor Ruby raised an objection to the plan. Big surprise.
Because she’d given them the perfect official excuse to spend a little alone time with each other, and neither was fool enough to pass that up.
Chapter Eleven
Ruby walked with Zax on her left and Clifford on her right as they made their way up the mountain toward Treetop Lodge.
Breathe through the nose, Ruby reminded herself over and over again. There was no reason for her to be in shape, but that didn’t mean she wanted to make it clear to Zax that she was out of shape. And focusing on her breathing allowed him to do most of the talking on their walk, which she didn’t mind.
Unfortunately, he was focused solely on the case, rolling through the facts, mulling over conjectures. When he finally paused for a moment, she asked on a quick exhale, “How does someone become head of the werebears?”
He seemed to like that question, but most everyone she’d ever met liked talking about themselves, so it was her time-tested strategy for derailing a conversation. “It involves a solid reputation and good fighting skills,” he said. “When Montel Fontaine stepped down, I was only twenty and foolish enough to think I could take on any bear in the sleuth in claw-to-claw combat.”
“Foolish? But didn’t you win?”
“Well, yes, but it was through sheer luck. I was an idiot to think it could have happened any other way. I was up against Linton Stormstruck in the final match, and he stepped in a small hole at just the right moment. Well, the wrong moment for him, but the right one for me. He stumbled, and I leapt on him and managed to pin him with claws pressing against the skin of his throat.” He looked down at Ruby. “We don’t fight to the death. We’re somewhat civilized.” He returned his gaze to the ascending path. “Anyway, that’s how I became the leader. Well, that, plus the rest of the bears approved my leadership. But that always happens for the combat victor. The vote is just a formality.” He paused. “I wouldn’t be leader if it weren’t for a little bit of luck. I never let myself forget that. Linton was a fierce fighter, and he would have beaten me ninety-nine times out of one hundred. All the Stormstrucks are fierce fighters.”
“Swamy included?” Ruby asked.
“From what I’ve seen, yes. Which is why I’m almost ready to believe that Taurus is running around in the Silent Reach. Only something that fierce could have overpowered a bear like Swamy without leaving a trace. Perhaps a lesser being could have snuck up on Swamy and dealt a quick death blow, but for there to be no blood or trace of death means that Swamy would have still been alive when he was taken. And I can’t imagine him not putting up a fight if he remained at all conscious.”
“That is a disturbing prospect,” Ruby replied. “I understand you were involved in the search party yesterday?”
“Sure was. Deputy Titterfield put me in charge of organizing the search in the middle third of the Reach. We combed all the way to the creek. One of the volunteers was a werewolf, and his nose picked up a scent of Swamy, but we lost it at the creek. Didn’t pick it up again anywhere within our perimeter.”
She allowed herself a moment to puzzle over the new information, then asked, “How deep is the creek?”
“Doesn’t get more than five feet deep in the middle.”
“Could he have drowned in that shallow of water? Then perhaps his body floated down the river?”
Zax shrugged. “I don’t see how that’s impossible. But he was well over six feet tall. Seems strange that he would drown where his feet could touch the bottom with his head completely out of water.”
Yes, that did seem strange. “Perhaps someone helped him along. Then it’s just a matter of guiding the body along with the current. The creek leads where?”
“Widow Lake.”
Ruby frowned. It was what she’d expected, but that didn’t make it good news. “If his body is in Widow Lake, we’ll never find it. I doubt anyone would want to try.” There were th
ings in that lake that people whispered about. And worse, there were things in that lake no one even dared whisper about. There was a reason the town’s only vampire had settled there and built himself a castle on a small peninsula jutting out into the water. Only fools would darken his doorstep.
“You think he’s dead, though?” Zax asked.
“I don’t know. He hasn’t paid me a home visit, if that’s what you mean. And if someone snuck up on him and drowned him, I’d be surprised if his spirit simply accepted that and moved on. It’s a perfect recipe for a restless spirit.”
The lodge came into view, and Ruby was grateful for that. All the chatter on top of the climb had asked far too much of her lungs.
Ruby had overheard Opal and Cedric mention working the following day when she’d followed them back to Opal’s home the night before.
But when the host greeted Ruby, Zax, and Clifford and Zax asked to speak with the pair, the host simply shook his overgrown mane of blond hair and said, “They ain’t here today.”
“Who is?” Zax asked.
“Virgil Pine and Abigail Shoggins, sir.”
Ruby met Zax’s eyes, and he seemed to be thinking the same thing as she was: the suspects had fled.
Zax said, “We’d like to speak with Virgil, then, if you don’t mind.”
The young host nodded and went to fetch him.
“Where do you think they are?” Ruby asked.
“Who knows. If they’re the ones behind Swamy’s disappearance, I’d guess they hopped the first train to Avalon today. They may already be deep in the woods of Wisconsin by now.”
“That would be the smart thing to do if they wanted to evade justice, yes, but do they strike you as especially intelligent?”
The werebear considered it. “Not especially. But fleeing is something even a dumb criminal would do. They just wouldn’t do it particularly well.”
“And that’s assuming they’re the criminals,” she added, “but what if they’re not? Then how could we explain this behavior?”
