Raven, Red

by Connie Suttle

  Parking his car two blocks away, Lance walked toward the remains of Blue Taco. That portion of the street was still blocked off, and several surrounding businesses were closed until the street reopened.

  He stopped outside Ari's gallery first—the windows were boarded up and a closed sign hung on the door. Nico wasn't the only one who needed to speak with an insurance adjuster.

  Without any idea how long she and Nico would need to stay at the ranch, he wondered if Ari would like to take her art supplies and canvas to work on while the gallery was closed.

  Resolving to send her a text, he turned to gaze at the ruin that was Blue Taco. His phone rang while he studied the mess, still surrounded by crime scene tape.

  "Detective Elliott," he answered the call.

  "This is Officer Gray," the caller identified himself. "Now, I don't know if you've heard, but there's been an incident in Austin, very similar to the one at Ms. Leone's house. In this case, the door was kicked in, and the ah, perp took six shots from a forty-four magnum in his head and torso. Still managed to do some damage to the homeowner before he went down. Another case of a man reported dead in San Antonio, who shows up in Austin to commit a crime three days later."

  "Where are both now?" Lance asked, swiftly walking toward his car.

  "Homeowner was treated and released from the hospital. Perp is at the ME's office in Austin. Why?"

  "Call Captain Belwether in Central. Tell him I asked you to describe the events in Austin. He may have other news for you, or for the Austin PD. Thanks for the heads up, by the way. Call me back if you get more information; I'd like to talk to the homeowner if that's possible."

  Lance ended the call and jogged the last half-block to his car.

  Chapter Three

  Ari felt as if someone were pounding inside her skull with a blacksmith's hammer when she woke during the afternoon. Events from the day before came rushing back as she sat up and glanced at the bedside clock.

  Three-forty-three PM was displayed; she felt mentally drained and sluggish while the headache continued to throb. Dropping her legs over the side of the bed, she fought the desire to lie down again.

  Instead, she rose and stumbled toward the bathroom to wash her face. Fog blanketed her thoughts—what is wrong with me?

  "Ari?" A knock sounded on the bedroom door. "Ari, let me in," Nico tapped again.

  "Nico? It's unlocked," she spoke, struggling to release the words—as if speech were deserting her.

  Nico arrived just as she sank to the floor, still fighting confusion, unceasing pain and sudden, debilitating nausea.

  "Ari," Nico dropped to his knees. "Hold this. Ari, you have to hold this." He placed something in her hand that felt warm from his touch.

  "Huh?" It took a great deal of effort to turn toward him, as if doing so had only occurred to her after several seconds passed.

  "I was having a dream, Ari," Nico whispered as she blinked at him, still attempting to bring his face into focus. "I dreamed that you were really sick, and you needed to hold my shell."

  "Huh?" Ari repeated, but this time, her vision was clearer, and the headache had faded to a manageable level. "What shell?" Looking down at her hand, she found a black scallop shell cradled in her palm.

  "You had a dream?" The fog in her brain was dwindling—enough that she could begin to think rationally.

  "I dreamed that—the man from last night made you sick, and you needed to hold my shell."

  "Nico, I've never seen you with this shell before." Ari studied it, moving it around in her hand.

  "Mama called it a pilgrim's shell. They sell them in Santiago de Compostela. She brought it back to me from Spain."

  "It feels—warm. Good. I can't really describe it," she admitted. "I don't have a headache anymore." Her voice betrayed her surprise at that fact. "I felt awful when I woke up—like I was really sick and I couldn't think. I think you saved me, Nico," she said, giving him a hug.

  He stood and gave her a hand to help her stand. "Wow, I thought I'd have that headache for days," she said, handing the shell to Nico. She wasn't sure it was the shell that did the trick, but Nico's presence had certainly helped.

  "Let's go to the kitchen and get something to drink—you look hollow, Ari."

  Ari followed him out of the bedroom; he pocketed the shell on the way, as if it were something precious.

  It is precious to him, she realized. It came from his mother, and it had felt so warm while she held it—turning her left hand palm up, she drew in a breath.

  The imprint of the shell was now on her palm. Had she gripped it that tightly?

  "Where's Mac?" she asked, dropping her hand and rubbing the palm against her jeans.

  "Sleeping on top of my shower door," Nico turned to her and grinned. "He's like a feather ball, all tucked up like that."

  They made a turn, walked across a massive family room, then shuffled into the kitchen. Janie was there, talking to someone on the phone. "They're right here—Ari looks fine," Janie told the caller on the other end. "Do you want to talk to her?" Janie waited while the other person spoke.

  "All right—I'll tell her you'll be here for dinner, then." Janie ended the call, stuffed the phone into a jeans pocket and studied Nico and Ari. "Lance just wanted to know if you were feeling okay," she said. "Looks like somebody else in Austin wasn't so lucky when his house was broken into. He's in the hospital, now, and the doctors are going crazy trying to figure out what's wrong with him."

  Nico gripped Ari's hand tightly. She understood that he didn't want to talk about what had happened to her only minutes earlier.

  "That's too bad—why are they comparing my break-in to one in Austin?"

  "The one who broke in—well, he didn't go down easy. Lance hinted at some other problems, but he didn't explain any of it. Somehow, he thinks it's connected, and he wouldn't say that without strong evidence."

  "So I can talk to him tonight?"

  "He'll be here around seven for dinner, and he's bringing Mona with him. She's the one who's been studying your security camera footage, so there may be some things to look at more closely."

  "What's for dinner?" Nico asked, letting Ari's hand go.

  "Pork roast with green beans and glazed carrots, and blackberry cobbler for dessert."

  "That sounds great. Can Ari and I have something to drink?"

  "Absolutely. Would you like water, milk, soda or juice?"

  "I'll take water and juice, if that's all right," Ari said.

  "I'll have the same." Nico pulled out a chair at the island. Ari sat next to him when Janie motioned for her to sit rather than help with the drinks. They ended up having sliced pears with their drinks, too.

  "I guess I was hungrier than I realized," Ari bit into another pear slice. It tasted good—like the best pear she'd ever eaten.

  "You've been through a lot," Janie said while rolling out crust for the cobbler.

  Mac fluttered in, landing on Nico's shoulder. "Pear?" he croaked.

  "Want some?" Ari held out a slice of pear.

  Mac hopped onto the island and took the pear slice from Ari. Holding down one end of it with a foot to keep it from sliding away, he set about biting off chunks of the fruit and devouring them. Ari slid another slice his way after he finished the first and offered a glass of water and a napkin.

  "Good pear," Mac said after finishing both pieces. "Thank. You."

  "He's very polite. For a raven," Nico teased.

  "Did. You say. Thank. You?" Mac eyed Nico.

  "Thank you," Nico told Janie, who laughed as Mac continued to eye Nico suspiciously.

  "It's two hours until dinner," Janie said. "There are books, games and a television in the game room. Ari knows where it is if you're interested."

  "I wish we could paint together," Nico turned his gaze on Ari. "I think that would block some of this stuff out."

  "I'll see if we can't do that. I hope they'll let us go home soon." Ari bumped her shoulder against Nico's. "Besides, I need to finish tha
t commission."

  "Val's asked the family lawyer to come to dinner—to talk with Nico about insurance and stuff," Janie busied herself at the stove. "For the house, the restaurant, cars—that kind of thing."

  "I have copies of Papa's policies," Nico ducked his head. "Papa always sent me the important stuff—it's on my cell phone. Which I no longer have," he concluded.

  "Mona may bring it back to you tonight," Janie said. "I got that idea when I talked to Lance that she was finished looking through it."

  "Still not a good idea to be calling anybody," Ari warned.

  "Yeah. I'm almost afraid to get it back, but it does have the insurance policy information on it."

  "Burke will see to it that everything gets done," Janie said. "Go on—watch television or read until dinner's ready."

  Mac hopped on Nico's shoulder; Nico followed Ari out of the kitchen. "Stairs or elevator?" Ari asked.

  "There's an elevator?" Nico blinked.

  "They have everything." Ari's voice had turned resentful.

  "I think you ought to tell me about that," Nico said.

  "Not now." Ari hunched her shoulders. "Come on, the elevator's this way."

  Ari sat at a window in the third-floor game room while Nico watched sit-com reruns on television. Mac kept him company, sitting on the back of a nearby chair. The bird surprised her, too, flying into the bathroom to take care of business, and flushing before coming back out.

  She suspected he was a shifter, but why had he kept the bird shape all this time? Surely, he understood she was the same, and now, being at the Jordan ranch, they were surrounded by werewolves. Only a few ranch residents were human, and those humans would be trusted beyond any doubt.

  Except for the one Brett Jordan had hired all those years ago, when his calves were getting attacked by a predator.

  Her father had died on a full moon, and the predator continued to prey on the calves until it was found and destroyed. Humans didn't have the nose for what had been attacking and eating Brett Jordan's cattle. Brett was looking for someone who was an expert with a gun, because he and his wolves hadn't been able to get close to the rogue animal feeding off his herd.

  A bobcat—a larger-than-normal, non-shifting bobcat—was the real culprit, but Mitchell Franks only saw a big cat when he went out on the night of the full moon. Mitchell killed James Leone from downwind and many yards away.

  Fuck you, Mitchell Franks, Ari thought in the man's direction.

  Killing her father hadn't been the only thing the man had done, but she couldn't think on that without feeling nauseous.

  "Ari? Nico?" Lance, accompanied by a woman, stepped off the elevator and into the game room. "Janie says dinner's almost ready, if you want to wash up."

  "I should change clothes," Ari mumbled, looking down at the shirt and jeans she'd slept in earlier. Rising from her chair, she made her way toward the elevator.

  "We haven't met," the woman held out her hand to Ari as she approached. "I'm Mona Sparks, Lance and Val's cousin. I work in the forensics department for Dallas PD."

  Ari took Mona's hand out of habit, nodding to the woman as politely as she could. "I need to change," Ari excused herself. "I'll see you at dinner."

  "We should talk afterward," Lance said as Ari stepped onto the elevator and hit the button for the first floor.

  "That's fine." Ari watched Lance and Mona until the door closed and the elevator moved downward. She'd agitated herself, thinking about Mitchell Franks and the fact that he was alive and probably still bragging about how he'd killed a huge mountain lion from a very safe distance.

  Fuck you, Mitchell Franks, Ari repeated.

  It was mostly small talk over dinner; Ari figured the more serious conversations would occur afterward. She recognized Burke Jordan, Brett Jordan's younger brother, who'd been at the trial, although he hadn't argued his brother's case. Someone else had done that; someone with no connections to the family, at the Grand Master's insistence.

  "I sure do wish Chuck hadn't sold his property," Val told Burke. "That idiot who now owns the ranch is already causing problems."

  "You mean Denton Franks?"

  "Yeah. He used to be all hat and no cattle. Now he's big hat and too many cattle. I got a good look at his feed lots—he's not even trying to rotate pastures or anything like that. The stench is getting really bad from too many steers being crammed into those spaces. We've called the Sheriff multiple times about the conditions the cattle are in, but nothing gets done. We've called other county officials, too, but got the same results. I've called Denton a time or two myself. If you really want to piss him off, criticize his hat and mention greenhouse gases."

  Ari drew in a breath at the mention of Denton Franks' name. Since she'd kept an eye on Denton's father all these years, she knew exactly who that was.

  "Revisiting the scene of his father's crime?" Ari hissed at Val.

  "Hey, I'm sorry. We didn't mean to," Burke tried to apologize.

  "It's a little late for that." Ari dropped her napkin on the chair after scraping it backward and standing. "Janie, the meal was excellent. Excuse me." She turned quickly and stomped out of the dining room.

  "Burke, I thought you knew better," Janie said, rising to follow Ari.

  "Yeah." Burke ducked his head under Janie's glare.

  "Some humans are nothing but tainted meat, too poisonous to feed on," Ari's father told her many times. "They're not worth your time or trouble," he'd add.

  It was the only reason Mitchell Franks was still alive. Night had fallen as Ari dropped into the comfortable chair she'd occupied earlier in the game room. Still, she could see clearly enough outside. Nothing moved, and only the faint sound of night insects filtered past the double-paned glass.

  A half-moon shone high over the Jordan Ranch; Ari would have to find someplace to turn in two weeks' time. It sure as hell wouldn't be here, in case Denton Franks wanted to take a shot at her.

  Please say his father isn't living with him, Ari sighed. Mitchell's wife had died three years earlier—she'd read the obituary in the Dallas newspaper. As for Val's wolves—he ought to be worried about their safety on the full moon, too.

  "Ari?" Janie had found her.

  "Val's wolves won't be safe on the full moon, with that family living next to the Jordan Ranch," Ari blurted.

  "They've already worked that out—that they'll either run on the northeast side of the ranch, or go elsewhere," Janie sat on a matching chair opposite Ari's.

  "But," Ari began.

  "They've been warned to stay off our property," Janie attempted to calm Ari. "Val's already said he won't vouch for their safety if they trespass."

  "But if they get in a lucky shot, they'll walk away free men. Again."

  "Ari, listen to me carefully. If they harm anyone on this ranch, they will die on this ranch. Even if I have to drag them out of that house and onto our property to do it. I don't care what kind of shifter or human is staying here with us; if the Franks trespass, they die. One way or another. Mitchell Franks claimed your father was killed on Chuck Danforth's property instead of Jordan property. We know different, because we found the place where he died. If Brett had been given permission by the Grand Master, he'd have gone after him."

  "Mitchell Franks is a liar," Ari hugged herself.

  "Arianne?" Lance stepped off the elevator.

  "If you need to speak privately," Janie started to rise.

  "Stay," Ari held out a hand. "I don't think Lance will say anything that you can't hear."

  "If that's what you want."

  "I do."

  Lance pulled a chair away from a nearby game table, setting it between Ari's and Janie's. "I have some news," he said. "About the home invasion in Austin, and about the man who attacked Ari at her house."

  "Are they related?" Ari asked.

  "I'm worried that they are, although the FBI is now involved, and so far, they're just as shocked and puzzled as the rest of us."

  "Then start at the beginning, because rig
ht now, you're not making sense, Lance Elliott," Janie demanded.

  "Well, the man who broke into Ari's house really was declared dead in Corpus Christi," Lance said carefully, as if he still didn't believe those words himself. "His body disappeared shortly after he was taken to a funeral home. Three days later, he breaks down Ari's door and tries to get past her, but she doesn't allow it. She nearly severs his head in the process. He is then tagged and sent to the ME's office, for forensics to examine.

  "This afternoon," Lance hesitated for a moment, searching for the proper words to describe the events at the morgue, "they had to evacuate the ME's office because the perp rolled off the table and started destroying everything within reach, his head wobbling on top of his neck the whole time. Right now, he's full of bullets, strapped to a gurney and still twitching." Lance closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath.

  "What about the guy in Austin?" Ari whispered.

  "Same type of break-in," Lance opened his eyes and blinked at her. "Homeowner ended up shooting the guy several times to bring him down. Sent the body to the ME's, just like we did. Once we found out about it, we sent a warning to Austin PD. They tied the guy down, even though they were skeptical about it. Turns out, they were glad they listened to us."

  "And the homeowner?" Janie prompted.

  "He got banged up in the altercation. Went to the hospital. Got released. Three hours later, he's back at the ER, and now he's in an isolation ward, because they can't figure out what's wrong with him. Texas Bureau and the FBI were called in, and now Austin and the ME's office here are crawling with agents. I gotta ask, Ari—are you feeling well?"

  Ari felt the blood drain from her face. She'd been far from well after waking earlier. She understood that Nico didn't want to talk about what had happened. "I did have a headache when I woke up, but Nico came looking for me and it cleared up shortly after that."

  "You're fine, then?"

  "I think so. I don't feel bad, if that's what you're asking."

  "We'll keep an eye on her, but she doesn't smell sick," Janie told Lance.