by Renee George
"You can't believe that. Wouldn't you want to know if something like that happened to you, even if you couldn't remember?" I asked.
"No," she said. "I wouldn't."
"I would."
"That's easy to say when you've never had anything bad happen to you." Her eyes flashed with remorse. "That's not fair," she said. "I don't know anything about your past."
My chest squeezed. "And I don't know anything about yours." Had something happened to Etta? Something she'd sooner forget than remember? I met her gaze, a new understanding forming between us. I gave her a solemn nod. "I agree with Etta. We should wait a bit to see what turns up before taking those pictures to the police."
Cal came into the kitchen. He'd changed into a pair of jeans that were just the right amount of snug on his muscular thighs. Jayzus, the man was hot-damn hot. I couldn't believe he didn't set off fire alarms every time he walked into a room. I tugged my lower lip between my teeth, then hastily let it go when I remembered the reaction he'd had when we'd been in the bedroom.
Etta threw me a quick glance and gave me a knowing brow wiggled.
I threw her one back that said, "stop it."
"I heard you guys talking out here," Cal said, glancing meaningfully at the laptop. "I don't need to see the pictures to know they're bad. Are we sure we don't want to take them to the sheriff right now?"
"I'm not sure," Dale said. "I think we should. After all, it could go a long way to throw suspicion somewhere else."
Etta shook her head emphatically and stood up from the table. She began to pace the kitchen floor. "Those girls are going to have enough to deal with when they learn about these pictures, if they don't already know. I won't have us using them because it might take the heat off us. Cal is innocent. We just need to find a way to prove it."
"Being found guilty of murder has a penalty of death in the therianthrope world," Jo Jo said. "You should be doing everything to make sure that doesn't happen."
"It's the same for lycanthropes." Etta tossed her silver hair over her shoulder and cast her defiant gaze at Jo Jo. "But we can't use these women as a means to an end." She gave Dale and Cal a nod. "We can't do that. Not anymore."
I knew from stuff my mom had said that Etta had been raised to lead the wolves, and in this moment, I believed she would have been good at the job. "I'm okay with waiting. Any of those girls could have been my sister, or me, and I'm thankful it wasn't, but if it had been, I do think I'd want to know, but Etta's right, I wouldn't want a bunch of strangers, or even worse, friends and family, ogling those photos. Luke is dead. He can't hurt anyone ever again. So, for now, we should keep this quiet unless we need it." My heart ached for Karina Wells. She was pregnant. Kyle wanted to be the father. Making Luke's deeds public would make her difficult situation even more impossible. "Besides, what if the murder has nothing to do with these girls? If we give this to the police, it's all they'll focus on. I think we should do a little investigating ourselves."
Jo Jo poured himself a cup of tea and sat down. "I'm in."
Dale's nostrils flared. He rubbed his meaty hands over his face. "We should talk to Chavvah and Billy Bob first. What we do will affect them as well as us. And with Joanna pregnant, sticking our noses in this mess feels like a big risk."
"My nose is inches deep in this already, brother," Cal said. "But I understand if you don't want to be involved." Cal put his hand on my shoulder. "If Dakota wants to get the lay of the land before we give our statements, I'm with her."
Etta's eyes flicked in my direction. "Me, too."
Dale made a noncommittal noise then sighed. "Fine, but if things start looking liked they might go sideways, we go to the police immediately."
Cal patted his older brother on the back. "I knew I could count on you."
Dale rubbed the tip of his finger over a scratch in the table surface. "Yeah, yeah."
I clapped my hands. "Great. We don't have a lot of time before Cal and I have to give our official statements. I know most of the crew Luke hung out with. Talking to his buddies is as good a place to start as anywhere." I turned to Etta. "We'll see what we can find out on our own, and if we or the police don't find any evidence to clear Cal, then we'll go to the sheriff with the pictures. But only as a last resort." I tried to smile reassuringly. "I understand those women are victims, but it doesn't mean one of them didn't do it."
Dale, who still looked skeptical said, "We'll keep this between us for now." He looked at Cal. "I don't want Joanna getting wind of this, you hear? She still gets frightened sometimes."
Etta walked around the table and put her hand on his shoulders. "She won't find out from us, Dale. Promise."
There seemed to be this whole conversation without words going on between the three lycanthropes in the room that Jo Jo and I weren't privy to. Once again, I felt an expanse between Cal and I that moments earlier we'd bridged. But I had bigger problems than a doomed relationship. "Etta, I think our blood work is the place to start. I hate to ask, but could you sneak a peek at the reports, and the autopsy file while you're at it?"
"Sure." She shrugged. "If you're okay with me destroying the tenuous threat of trust I'd built with Billy Bob by breaking into his files, then I'm okay with it."
"I didn't mean--"
She snorted a laugh. "I'm kidding. He won't catch me, so no harm no foul."
Things I'd learned since arriving at Jo Jo's, Etta used to deal in stolen phones and was, apparently, adept at breaking into places. "You're an interesting girl," I told her.
Cal shook his head. "You have no idea."
"You hush your mouth, Cal Rivers," Etta said.
* * *
"We should also go talk to some of Luke's friends."
"I'll go with you," Cal said.
"No. I don't think they'll open up to me if you're there."
"If they have the same proclivities as their buddy, I don't feel comfortable letting you go off to meet them on your own."
"Then it's a good thing that you're not in charge of me, so letting me or not letting me do anything is not in your job description."
Dale grunted. "I like this one."
"I like her, too," Cal said, "which is why I'm worried. "I'm sorry if I overstepped."
"Forgiven." I looked at Jo Jo. "How about if Jo Jo comes with me, and Cal, you go with Etta."
"And me?" Dale asked.
I sniffed. "You're one of Doc's oldest and dearest friends, right? You can go with Etta and Cal and run interference, maybe get him to tell you a little something about the case that's not in the reports."
"I think it's a pretty good plan," Cal said. "You would have made a good detective."
"I much prefer broken engines to broken people." I stood up. "So, we should get going." I patted my back pocket. "But first, you said you have my phone."
"And clothes," he said.
He went back to his room. I resisted the urge to follow him. When he came back, he had my shirt and jeans folded neatly, with my bra and panties shoved between them, the way I'd placed them the night before. My phone was on top.
He handed them over. "Here you go."
"Thanks."
"It's one-thirty now. Let's agree to meet in two hours at the Sheriff's station for our statements regardless of what we find out," Cal said.
I gave him a quick nod. "Okay. Two hours."
"Good luck," he said.
"You, too."
"Do you guys want us to leave the room?" Etta asked. "Because if I have to hear about Cal's dick again--"
"Etta!" I exclaimed.
She smirked. "Just saying."
"Uhm, okay, let's go, Jo Jo."
He grabbed his phone and keys. "Gladly. We're taking my truck, though, since yours is a piece of crap."
I didn't bother to argue with him because a) it was true, and b) I would die of shame if I spent one more second in the lycanthropes' presence than necessary.
"Two hours," Cal called after me.
I waved at him with the back of my hand
as I rushed out the door. "Two hours," I agreed.
"My truck would have held together," I groused.
"Don't be grumpy because you got called out on your sexy talk." Jo Jo chuckled. "Which needs a little work, by the way."
"Says you." I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back in the seat. "It was working just fine until we were interrupted."
"A few more minutes and your little dalliance would have stunted my growth."
"Emotional growth? Maturity?" Besides, there had been nothing little about Cal's dalliance, like, not at all.
"Funny," Jo Jo said. "On a serious note, are you doing okay?"
"It's nice of you to ask. Truth is, I'm not and I am. I know I should be horrified that Luke is dead, especially after seeing him. I should feel grief. This was a man I've known for as long as I can remember, and even if I didn't love him, I should feel sad. But I don't. I feel rage and shame and hate and...regret. What if he had done something like this to my sister. You know Michele went to the same parties as Luke and his buddies. What if he--"
"But he didn't," Jo Jo said, his grip tightening on the steering wheel. He kept his eyes steady on the road. "As soon as I saw what the pictures were, I looked for her in the album."
"What would you have done if you'd found her?"
Jo Jo's lips thinned into an almost feral grimace. "I would have deleted them."
Relief washed through me. Michele hadn't earned Jo Jo's loyalty, but I was glad she had it. "You know, I think a certain werewolf has a crush on you," I said, neatly pivoting the conversation.
Jo Jo raised a brow. "I've seen Dale checking out my ass."
I had to close my mouth when it dropped open in shock. "You've got to be kidding!"
"I certainly am," Jo Jo said.
"That would have been an awkward conversation to have with his wife."
"No kidding." He quickly glanced at me before turning his attention back to driving. "I've given up on Michele."
"Good. You deserve better than a girl with one foot in and one foot out."
"No, worries," he said. "So, where do you want to head first."
"Jackson." Jackson Smart had always been nice to me. An easy guy, who did things like volunteer at the senior center. Luke used to equate Jackson's community works with "drumming up business" for his dad's funeral parlor. "I think he's the most likely to give us information. We may have to hint at things that Luke did at his parties. His reaction will tell us a lot about whether he knew or not."
Smart & Sons Funeral Home was on the northside of town near the Community Christian Church, a nondenominational church, and the only one in Peculiar. The interior of the funeral home smelled like powder scented room spray and death. I supposed with a business like theirs, it couldn't be helped. Alice Smart, Jackson's mom, walked out of her office wearing a knee length gray pinstripe dress that fit her curvy figure. She dabbed at her eyes, heavy with black liner and false eye lashes. The Smarts were otters, one of only two families in town that I knew of, which made them proficient swimmers, even in human form. Jackson had competed on a traveling team our junior year, but when scouts began to look at him like an Olympic hopeful, the Tri-State Council had forced him to quit. It wasn't all that unusual for them, as our governing body, to interfere if they thought something we were doing might draw the wrong kind of attention to our kind--meaning, any kind of attention.
When Alice saw me, sympathy colored her expression, "Oh, my poor dear, she said. Terrible tragedy today. Just terrible. I know how close you two were."
"Thanks, Mrs. Smart. Is Jackson around?"
"Of course, of course. I'm sure you want to talk with him. He's understandably upset, but he insisted on working today. He's such a good boy. Mary Ann has asked him to be a pallbearer." She leaned in conspiratorially. "You know, when Doctor Smith releases young Luke."
Mary Ann was Luke's mother. I couldn't believe they were already planning the funeral. "Isn't this all a little fast?"
"Oh, Jonathan and Mary Ann are devastated. The sooner they can bury their son, though, the sooner they will start the healing."
I wondered if that line was in the brochure. "I'm sure it will take them some time to grieve."
"Of course." She gave me a somber nod. "I'll admit, I was surprised when Mary Ann called this afternoon, but I think she just needed to reach out to someone. I'm an easy choice. We've been friends since high school." She jutted her chin forward and forced a smile. "Now, you were saying about Jackson? Oh, that's right. You asked if he was here. He's cleaning in the viewing room. I'll just send him out."
Jo Jo, who'd hung back at the door, said, "I don't even think she noticed I was here."
"She's pretty manic," I agreed as he joined me inside.
"More like shallow. I don't rate on Alice Smart's matter-meter," Jo Jo said.
"She's not important," I replied. "However, I wonder how much the sheriff told Luke's parents. Alice doesn't seem to know I found his body. I wonder if Mary Ann knows."
"I'm sure the sheriff will be keeping the details under wraps until the investigation gains traction," Jo Jo said. "He's got to know that if people find out that you and Cal were involved, the town is going to go nuts."
I didn't even want to think about what kind of war we'd have on our hands if people started jumping to the wrong conclusions.
Jackson walked into the lobby. He had short hair the color dark chocolate, and he wore a pinstripe suit in a similar shade to his mother's dress. His face registered surprise when he saw Jo Jo standing next to me.
"Mom didn't say you were here, too," Jackson said.
Jo Jo shrugged. "Dakota didn't feel up to driving." It was a small lie that I could live with.
"Your mom said that Mary Ann called already about Luke."
Jackson nodded. "Yeah. I just can't believe it. Do you know what happened?"
"I was hoping you would," I said. "Is there anything you can tell me?"
"The last time I seen him was last night." His gaze wandered as if in thought. Then he said, "When you took off with that werewolf, Luke got real angry. We all went back to my house when the sheriff kicked us off Jo Jo's property." Jackson sounded tired, not angry.
"Who all went back with you?"
"The whole gang. Luke had insisted that he was going to kill someone if he didn't numb the pain." Jackson winced. "I shouldn't have said that." He clasped his hands, his eyes darting away from my gaze. "Luke could be like that sometimes. Impulsive."
That was one word for him. "Jackson, uhm, do you know if Luke was taking any drugs?"
He startled at the question, but then shook his head. "Why do you ask?"
I didn't want him getting suspicious, so I feigned worried ex-girlfriend. "He'd been a little erratic the past couple of months. It was like he'd turned into another person. I thought he might be taking something. It would explain so much."
Jackson's voice grew soft and quiet, "I can't really talk about this here." He gestured with this head toward the back. "But I'd had a few worries, too. Luke had begun running around with integrators from some of the neighboring towns and bringing them out to my house."
"Do you know their names?"
"Some of them," Jackson said. "You might ask Michele. She was pretty chummy with one or two of them."
My heart sunk. "I will do that."
I walked up to Jackson and took his hand for this next part. "I'm sorry about Luke. More than I can say." I was sorry he was a low life scum bag, I thought, who'd tricked me into thinking he was a decent person. "I know he was one of your best friends." I waited until Jackson's gaze dropped down to mine before proceeding. "I hate to ask, but I have to know. Had you ever heard of him doing anything with...uhm, other girls at these parties?"
Jackson looked genuinely confused, which was both disappointing and affirming. "I never saw him hook up with anyone. All he ever talked about was you." Jackson hadn't known about Luke's sadistically perverse dealings. He hadn't known his best friend was a rapist.
&nbs
p; "That's comforting to hear," I said. As if an afterthought, I asked, "Can you text me the integrators names that you remember?" I frowned. "I need to get a better picture of what Luke had been going through lately. And maybe some of them can help with closure."
"Of course, D. Anything you need," Jackson said. "Oh, and Jack Trevors came out to the house last night. He told Luke that his parents wanted him to come home. This was early in the evening, and Luke sent him packing, so it's probably not important." He turned to Jo Jo, his expression full of remorse. "I hope you know that I was just along for the ride last night. I didn't know Luke was going to go full-on riot at your place."
Jo Jo grunted then nodded. "We're cool."
But I wasn't. My frustration with Michele was at a ten. She'd been chummy with integrators. Integrators who had probably brought drugs into town. What other stuff was she keeping from our parents? Worse, what had she kept from me?
Chapter Eleven
"Well, that was odd," Jo Jo said when we got back on the road.
"You're not kidding." There wasn't much traffic to fight as we made our way down Oak Street, but when I saw the Dwyer's black luxury sedan, I scootched down in the seat, cupping my hand over the left side of my face as the vehicle passed by us toward the funeral home. I blew out the breath I'd held and sat up straight when they were safely out of our sight. "Talk about timing."
"They didn't even look in our direction," Jo Jo said. "You know, I've never been a fan of Luke, but I'm sorry for his parents. Losing someone like that can take a toll."
Jo Jo's mother had disappeared thirteen years ago, and it had turned his father into an unemployed alcoholic. It had taken nine years for Jo Jo to finally find out what had happened to her, and the truth of her death had shaken the town to its core.
"I feel bad for them, too. But I don't know how to be around them knowing what I know. They deserve a moment of peace before the truth of Luke gets around."
Jo Jo ran his hand through his short dark hair. His eyebrow piercings glinted as the afternoon sun shone through the windows. "Do you want to talk to Michele next?"
