Wilder Animals

by Geonn Cannon

  Her feet slipped in mud and she stepped on more than a few twigs and stones, hissing every time the sharp end of a branch dragged across a thigh or snapped against her biceps. Dale had chosen a bush that was in the very edges of a nearby streetlight’s reach, so as Ari approached it looked almost as if the bush itself was aglow from within. She crouched and reached under the leaves and branches, scooping away the compost that had accumulated over the hump of the duffel bag so she could pull it out.

  “Sweetheart…”

  Ari froze and looked over her shoulder. The man looked like he was seven feet tall. He was wearing so many jackets and shirts that his body looked like a boulder, his face obscured by a beard and the brim of his hat. He was holding up both hands with the fingers splayed, his weight on the heels of his feet so he was angled away from her.

  “Sweetheart, are you okay? Did somethin’ happen to you?”

  It was a reasonable question to ask a naked woman in the middle of a city park. “I’m fine,” Ari said. “I promise.” She pulled the duffel bag out and showed it to him. “I’m just getting my clothes.”

  He sighed. “It’s not smart. I know it sounds fun, but you can’t be streaking. It’s too dangerous.” He looked toward the street. “Where are your friends?”

  “They’re on their way,” Ari said, not willing to tell this apparently-harmless man she was alone. “I was the first one to get here. I won.”

  “You got lucky,” the man said. “Don’t let me catch you out here again, okay?”

  Ari nodded. “I promise. Sorry.”

  He shook his head and continued on his way. Ari unzipped the duffel bag, ears perked for the sound of his return. She found a T-shirt, sweatpants, underwear, socks and shoes, and money for a payphone if she couldn’t find any all-night places willing to let her use the phone. It hadn’t been that long since the stashes were a necessity, but she couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about the process. She started to put the stash back where she’d found it but reconsidered. She wanted to give the bag to the homeless man who’d tried to help her, but she thought it might do more harm than good. Giving him a duffel bag of clothes he could trade for things he really needed might be a nice idea in theory, but if anyone found a seven-foot homeless man with a bag full of women’s clothing, they would jump to awful conclusions.

  She put the bag into the bush and stood up. Going to the east would put her in a residential area, so she went south. She passed the encampments of homeless in pop-up tents and sleeping bags, and she waved to them as she moved through their territory. She’d been one of them a long time ago, running from her mother and the horrible thing that had been done to her as a baby. She’d lived in parks and under overpasses and pushed her way between a stand of trees to find her way blocked by a chain-link fence. She sighed, climbed over, and walked across the street to an all-night laundromat.

  Inside was a man in a beaten-up wool jacket and a knit cap who looked like he’d be headed to the encampment when his clothes were done. Ari took the money from the stash and approached him cautiously. He tensed away from her, but she held up the bills.

  “Hey. Sorry. Change for the phone?”

  “Uh…” His eyes moved toward the change machine.

  “I just need the fifty cents. You can keep the rest.”

  He hesitated but eventually nodded. She handed him the bills, took the coins, and went to the trio of phones at the far end of the store. She dialed Dale’s number and slumped against the wall. Memories leaked their way back into her mind, fading in from the wolf as she listened to the phone ring. She saw flashes of light and heard loud, growling sounds of other animals and pedestrians as she raced by them in the dark. She remembered seeing the men leave Wilcox’s apartment as the phone was answered mid-ring.

  “Hi… puppy?”

  “Hey. I need you.”

  Dale chuckled quietly. “Tell me where you are.”

  Ari looked out the window and tried to remember the name of the street. “Queen Anne, southeast of the greenbelt. By the train tracks. All-night laundromat…”

  “I know it.” Ari heard the mattress squeak and suddenly felt very homesick. It reminded her of just how much it had hurt to be away from Dale for three full months. Their home, their life, had been waiting for her, and it took everything she had not to go running. She closed her eyes and smiled at the fact she would be home with Dale very soon.

  “Damn, that’s going to take me a minute, puppy.”

  “Sorry. I let the wolf take over and I guess she wanted to stretch out a bit.”

  Dale said, “It’s okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  “I’ll be waiting.”

  She hung up and went to wait in the chairs lining the front windows. The homeless man had just finished loading the dryer and shut the door with a slam. He looked at Ari, averted his gaze, keeping himself busy by folding the clothes that were already dry. After a moment he apparently decided the silence was too awkward to continue.

  “You ain’t got a load?”

  “No, I just… I’m waiting for a ride.”

  He bobbed his head. “Just… any time I see a girl in sweats and a T-shirt in a laundromat, it’s ‘cause their good stuff is all dirty.”

  Ari smiled. “You have a point there.” She looked outside, at the marquees and signs that were standing dark at this time of night. She thought back to the logo she’d seen on the side of the truck outside Wilcox’s condo. “Hey, can I ask you a question?” He shrugged and motioned for her to go ahead. “I saw a logo tonight that I can’t identify. Maybe you’ve seen it. It looks like…” She held up her hands and tried to frame it. “A hollow square with three sides, open on top, and the inside of the square is kind of poofy.”

  He frowned and stuck his lip out, shaking his head slowly. Then his eyes widened. “Oh wait. Could it have been…” He turned in profile and flexed, forming one side of the square with his forearm.

  “Yes! That was it.”

  “The Flex,” he said. “It’s a gym over in Westlake. It’s like, um, muscle laundering.”

  “Muscle laundering? What does that mean?”

  “You know how when you launder money, you gotta have an explanation for where it came from? In case anyone gets suspicious? Well, if you’re just shooting up steroids, people are gonna wonder why you never go to a gym. So you go to the gym and juice up. Then you… I don’t know… punch a bag or do jumping jacks for a half hour, then you go home. Muscle laundering.”

  Ari laughed. “I like that. Sounds like the right sort of place, too.”

  “Happy I could help.”

  “When my ride gets here, I’ll give you a little cash for the info.”

  He waved her off. “You already gave me enough.”

  “It’s not charity. I’m a private investigator. We pay informants for information like that.”

  He looked suspicious, but he didn’t protest further. Ari leaned back and watched the street until Dale’s car appeared. She promised her new friend she’d be right back and hurried outside. Dale’s hair was pinned back and she was wearing glasses instead of her contacts. When she rolled down the window, Ari saw that she had put on a sweater over a long T-shirt.

  “Do you have twenty bucks?”

  “Why?”

  “Informant.”

  Dale opened the console.

  “And some business cards.”

  Dale handed everything over. Ari went back inside and handed over the money and the cards. “Thanks for the help. If you ever want to earn a little extra, come on by. Even if it’s just watching an apartment building for a few hours…”

  He took the money and looked at one of the cards. “Bitches?!” He laughed. “Well, that’s a hell of a name.”

  “The people we’ve gone up against would testify to its accuracy. I’m Ariadne.”

  “Brad.”

  She shook his hand. “It’s good to meet you, Brad. I hope to hear from you soon. Feel free to pass those around to anyone you think might
be interested.”

  He nodded and tucked the cards into a pocket of his coat. Ari went back outside and got into Dale’s car.

  “New friend?” Dale asked as she pulled out of the lot.

  “New employee, maybe. The stash was hidden near one of the encampments they have up here. I ran into another homeless guy, and he warned me about running around town naked.”

  Dale said, “It’s good advice for anybody, really.”

  Ari nodded and reached across the seat to squeeze Dale’s thigh. “Thanks for coming to get me.”

  “Thanks for calling. I know you think it’s a burden, and maybe it is. I don’t know. I just know that I’m used to it. And I miss it when it doesn’t happen. I got three months of full-night sleeps, and I prefer this without a doubt.”

  “Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Although… it’s incredibly dangerous for you. Running around naked, getting seen by men. Yeah, these two were nice, but what if you’d met up with one of the bad ones?”

  Ari wanted to defend the homeless, but she had to admit that for every down-on-his-luck good guy, there were also drug addicts and criminals looking for their next score or an easy victim.

  “How about this? I won’t call you every time I run just to keep myself safe. But maybe once a week, I’ll make it a point to give you a call.”

  Dale said, “I can live with that.”

  “Since we’re on this side of town anyway, can we make a quick stop? I want to find a gym in Westlake that might be connected to Clark Wilcox’s death.”

  Ari looked up the gym’s address on her phone as she explained to Dale what she had seen while in wolf form. It was slightly out of their way, north of the marina, but Dale said she didn’t mind. She slowed when Ari pointed out the logo she’d seen on the side of the truck. Dale pulled over in a place Ari could see the front of the gym as well as the parking lot next to the building. The frosted glass block window next to the door was dark, but the truck she’d seen earlier was in the parking lot.

  “Want to go take a look?” Dale asked.

  Ari shook her head. “I don’t know what I’d be walking into. I want to play it safe, scope it out in the daytime first. Okay. Let’s go home.”

  Dale pulled away again. “What do you think you’re going to find there?”

  “The guys at Wilcox’s place didn’t strike me as the ones in charge. Brad told me this place was a muscle laundry operation.” She explained the term and Dale laughed. “I think whoever Wilcox was in trouble with hired some people from this place to make Wilcox cooperate. If I can find out who they are, maybe I can get a name.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” She sighed. “I still don’t understand why you’re going through all this trouble for Clark Wilcox. The guy was so scummy, Ariadne.”

  “Yeah, he was. And he was completely alone. I know that if anything happened to me, I’d have you to find out what happened. You and Diana and Mom. Milo would probably show up to lend a hand, if she could. Wilcox didn’t have anyone like that.”

  Dale said, “No parents or siblings?”

  “I was leaving that up to the real cops. Might be time to check in with Diana and see where they are with the case.”

  “Something to do tomorrow, then.” Dale looked over and saw Ari’s eyelids were getting heavy. “Go to sleep, puppy. I’ll get you home.”

  Ari smiled drowsily. “You always do.”

  She closed her eyes on the sight of the Space Needle lit up, a shining beacon of the future built two decades before she was born and still shining out over the Sound.

  Chapter Ten

  Ari was a frequent enough guest at the station that the desk sergeant let her go up without making her wait for Diana to come down and get her. One of the detectives told her Diana was running around somewhere nearby and pointed her to the right desk. Ari took a seat next to the desk and twisted to look at the personal items clustered around the computer monitor. There was a small snow globe, a single bishop from a chess set, and a framed photograph of Diana with a blonde Ari assumed was Diana’s wife, Lucy. They were standing on a rock with the Snoqualmie Falls behind them. Ari picked up the picture and examined Lucy.

  Diana came up from behind her. “That’s Lulu.”

  “Lulu?”

  “Sorry. I slipped. You should never call her that.”

  Ari smiled and put the picture back. “She’s gorgeous.”

  “Mm-hmm.” Diana straightened the picture, trying to act professional but unable to keep the emotion from her face. “So what brings you all the way down here, Ari?”

  “Clark Wilcox. I wanted to know where you were on his case.”

  Diana frowned and rested her elbows on the edge of the desk. “There is no Clark Wilcox case. Medical examiner confirmed it was suicide. Did someone hire you to prove otherwise?”

  “No,” Ari said. “But I knew him, Diana. The guy was not the sort of person to just end things that way. He would never admit defeat.”

  Diana pressed her lips together and sat up straighter. “When I was in college, I had a girlfriend. She was bright, sunny, always a smile for everyone she met. Everyone loved her. Straight-As. She had a job that paid fairly well. Good enough for a college student, anyway. Then one night she took a bunch of pills and never woke up. The only thing she left behind to explain why was a note on the back of a binder she always carried with her. ‘The End.’ Two words, Ari. That was all the explanation anyone got. You and I have jobs where we try to explain what’s going on in people’s heads, so we know how rare it is to actually get an answer.”

  Ari nodded absently, then sighed and shook her head. “There has to be an answer here. There’s too much evidence that something was going on. Something led to this.”

  “What have you found?”

  “Some guys broke into Wilcox’s apartment on at least two occasions. They were looking for something. The second time, they left with a trash bag. I don’t know who they are, but I have a lead. I’m going to check it out later. Were you able to get in touch with his family?”

  Diana reached out and tapped on her keyboard. “I reached out, but I didn’t find anything. Parents are long gone, only child. He had an ex-wife who sounded like she was going to turn it into a national holiday.” She turned the monitor so Ari could see the file, but Ari didn’t try to read it. “You were the last person who spoke to him. You said he was maudlin. Depressed. Maybe the fact he didn’t have anyone finally got to be too much. Maybe all the shitty things he did in his job got to be too much. I think it’s great that you’re going to all this trouble to find out why, but to be completely honest, I don’t know why you’re bothering.”

  Ari started to give a flippant answer, but when she spoke something else came out. “Because I nearly killed myself.”

  Diana stared at her. “When?”

  “Earlier this year. Before the summer. You know all about my… pain issues.” Diana nodded. “They were horrible. And I was looking at a whole lot of bad options. I was looking at paralysis in just a couple of years. And that would’ve made Dale my caregiver. I didn’t want to do that to her. And the cure… the cure had a possibility of death, too. I was terrified of even trying it. So one night when I couldn’t hold the wolf back any more, I transformed knowing that going back to human form would be hell. I knew I’d spend the morning in agony, and Dale would have to take care of me. So when I went out that night, I ran to Montlake Bridge and watched the cars go by. I kept telling myself if there was a truck big enough, going fast enough, I would just step into the road and let it happen.”

  Diana looked horrified. “Have you talked to Dale about this?”

  “No. No, I pretty much pretended it never happened.”

  “Why did you… I mean, at what point did you walk away and decide to keep the pain?”

  Ari shrugged and looked down at her hands. “I thought about Dale. Either way, I was going to cause her grief. If I hung in there, at least she could have a chance to say goodbye.”

>   Diana said, “Maybe that’s the only difference. Clark Wilcox didn’t have someone like that to bring him back from the brink. He took out the gun and there was nothing to talk him out of pulling the trigger.” She reached out and put her hand on Ari’s wrist. “I think you took this case for the right reasons, but I also think it’s time for you to stop.”

  “What about his secretary? Tiffany. She deserves to know.”

  “I agree. But that’s not on you. That’s on Wilcox for not knowing how much she cared. You don’t have to beat yourself up trying to find answers that might not be there.”

  Ari said, “I can’t just give up.”

  “Okay.” Diana took her hand back. “In that case, just be careful. And tell Dale about what happened. She deserves to know what was going on.”

  “You’re right.” She took a deep breath and knocked her knuckles on the desk. “Okay. I’m going to do whatever I can do. Thanks for the therapy session.”

  “My pleasure.” When Ari stood, Diana added, “Do you have Thanksgiving plans?”

  Ari said, “Maybe. We got an invite. Why?”

  “I thought if you and Dale were just staying in, you could come over. Lucy comes from a big family, so she likes to cook a ton of food even when it’s just us. If you’re there, it’ll be two fewer slices of pecan pie in the fridge for me to eat over the weekend. Besides, it would be nice for you to meet Lucy. She’s dying to meet you.”

  “Oh. Does she know about…?” Ari made a growling face.

  “Not that. She knows we used to go out, she knows you’re a private investigator, but the other thing… no. I didn’t want her to think I was crazy. Also, it wasn’t my secret to tell.”