Alpha Me Not (26 page)

“I won’t have any secrets between us.” Joe helped her out of the car and into the house.

She went straight to the kitchen, kicked off her shoes, put the purse and folders on the table, and tugged him down on the bench next to her. Then she turned to half straddle him, and their glances collided.

“Coach Tommy started a program for underprivileged kids when I was doing my MBA. He asked me to help, and I did.”

“Ritchie wasn’t underprivileged though. His father was that Henderson Toyota dealer guy.”

“Yep. Coach Tommy and Gary Henderson were friends. Gary asked Tommy to put Ritchie to work in the program. Ritchie was a pain in the ass. He was sullen, rebellious, spoiled rotten, and lazy.”

Joe traced the veins on the underside of her wrist. He had been such an arrogant idiot back then. Cocky, certain, and stubbornly oblivious to Ritchie’s escalating deviant behavior, and he had paid for his egotism.

“He started not showing up for his shift. Skipped his duties. Picked fights. You name it, he flaunted it. I was angry with Gary Henderson for foisting the little asshole off on me. Long story short, Ritchie disliked me as much as I did him. Somehow he got wind of the cabin Gran-gran had left me. By then he was running with a gang in the making.”

“How old was he?”

“Near fifteen. They started using the cabin. Began experimenting with killing. Cats. Dogs. Cooked up the kidnapping scheme. Everyone knew we couldn’t stand each other. They planted all the evidence. Used my PC to compose the note. Gary Henderson paid the ransom according to the instructions. Didn’t contact the police. Cash in bags. Myriad drop-off points. About half were picked up.”

“Then they found him at the cabin.” Susie shook her head and stroked his cheek. “What do you think happened?”

“Whoever Ritchie was running with had decided from the start on the kidnapping and murder. The only mistake the killer made was leaving his and Ritchie’s blood and a couple of pubic hairs on the rag Tate and Kieran found tucked into a knothole in a wooden wall. And they only found that scrap because of their beast skills. Someone else had been in the cabin with Ritchie. And the cops had screwed with the chain-of-evidence timeline, among other things. Bob Weber and Chief Vinters fought us every step of the way.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through such a horrible experience. And Bob Weber and Chief Vinters better not be thinking about doing a repeat. I won’t have it.”

Lovely normally, Susie sparkled into true beauty when in a passion, be it anger or desire. He combed her hair and wished they had the time to linger. “We need to get going. Can you do a quick change? It’s going to rain soon.”

“Five minutes max.” She jumped up, massaged the small of her back, and said, “Can we run there? I need to get rid of all this pent-up energy.”

“Sure. Wear long sweats, though. The area we’re going to is known for deer ticks.”

While Susie dressed, he made protein shakes in case they were longer in the preserve than expected. After changing into his running gear, he strapped on a GLOCK 21 .45, picked out three small knives, two daggers, and his favorite KA-BAR blade, and added the weapons to his backpack. He stuffed a water bottle and the protein shakes into the cloth holders on the sides of the knapsack.

When they left the house fifteen minutes later, Joe decided to take the Birch entrance to the preserve, and led Susie up Elm and around the corner to Bonaventure. He had back-of-the-neck squirrellies flashing fast and furious.

The rain started when they hit the top of Birch. He checked to ensure Susie’s hoodie was snug and protecting most of her upper body. The dense, earthy aroma of fresh manure attacked his nostrils.

He scanned the street and glimpsed Gemma Arnold’s son, Jeffrey, digging yet another garden bed for his mother. Gemma had a green thumb beyond extraordinaire, and he had often been the recipient of her vegetable garden’s bounty. Since he rarely cooked, Joe gave most of the vegetables to either the Hassanis or the Lees. The fruit he ate.

“Who’s that?” Susie had picked up on Jeffrey.

“Gemma’s son. I thought you’d met him.”

“No. Hadn’t realized he was an adult. For some reason I thought he was middle school age.” Susie kept pace with him easily.

“He’s in his midthirties, I think. Seem to remember hearing Gemma had him at sixteen. Strange cuss. An English teacher. Very reclusive. Devoted to his mother and grandfather, though.” Joe sped up when they reached Terri’s lot.

The entire basement area had been covered with tarp. According to Tate, forensics had cleared the contents earlier that afternoon.

“We’re taking the same path?”

Joe slowed a tad for the uphill climb. “No. We’re going to bear right at the next curve and climb the escarpment for about a mile and a half. They issued a severe storm watch for the county for the next three hours. The cops are packing up. We should have a clear crime scene to ourselves.”

“Where’re we meeting the others?”

“They’re waiting for us on the other side of the ravine. It’s about a mile away from where I found Eric.”

They jogged in silence for fifteen minutes, Joe absorbing all the different smells and sounds. The rain fell steadily, but the forest canopy kept the full brunt of the downpour from them.

Slowing so he could channel energy into communicating, he searched for Tate.

“Found anything?”

Tate was silent for a few minutes.

“You bet. We’re at the north end. I’m down deep. Patchwork of tunnels. Limestone. Crisscrosses the length of the entire ravine.”

Tunnels? Joe’d run the preserve for five years off and on, and he’d never seen any hint of tunnels. But Susie had said Eric was underground and in a twisty-turny place.

“Joe?” Susie brushed his arm. “You okay?”

He shook his head. “Sorry. I was talking to Tate.”

“What?” She staggered, grabbed a branch, and spun around, jogging in place. “Did you just say you were
talking
to Tate?”

“Tate and I can communicate telepathically. Drains us, but we can do it if necessary.” No way could he stop grinning when her mouth dropped open and she did this shuddery jerk.

“Holy moly. You can read minds. Great. That’s all I need. Am I insane? To hook up with an alpha who can read my mind?” She snorted, whipped about, and raced ahead.

He loved her in a temper. Joe accelerated and, when they were running side by side, said, “It only works with Tate, and not all the time. I don’t read his mind. We speak to each other mentally. There
is
a difference.”

“Hmph. That’s no consolation. I don’t want you in my head.”

“Slow down. We’re here. Kieran is just ahead.” They came out of the trees and into a small, round clearing.

Kieran and Gray stood at the top of a five-foot-wide zigzag crack in the ground. “See anyone on the way up?”

Joe halted and checked Kieran’s fierce expression. “No. Should we have?”

“Detectives Johnson and Sands were going to try to intercept you. They have some news on the arson. Something they didn’t see fit to share with us. How’re you doing, Susie?”

“Good. Barb?”

“Not so good today. The adrenaline’s seeped out of her.”

Joe squeezed Kieran’s shoulder. “Time, only time will help. Found anything besides the tunnels?”

“Tate’s combing through the last set we discovered.” Gray dragged a hand through his hair. “You want to tell him the rest?”

Kieran blew out a sigh. “We found vats. Like the moonshine vats your grandmother used. Four so far. Large stores of lye.”

“Your gran-gran made moonshine?”

Joe caught Susie’s hand and squeezed. “Yeah. I’ll explain later. Someone’s been dissolving bodies in lye? How recently are we talking?”

“The tunnels I explored, maybe three years ago, but the ones Gray went through were used more recently.”

Joe raised a brow. “Gray?”

“I’d say the last nine months. Trouble is, the lye destroys all the scents. I can’t track a fricking thing. From the pattern, I’d guess he started at this end and worked his way back toward Birch Crescent.” Gray stiffened. “Tate’s on his way up. He can verify my theory.”

“Theory verified.” Tate dragged himself over the top of the ravine. His blond locks were damp, and clumps of dirt clung to his forehead. “The tunnels on this end haven’t been used for some time. I found two vats. The deepest one used strictly for moonshine. The other one, lye.”

Susie tapped a sneakered foot. “I think this is the appropriate time for the moonshine explanation.”

“My grandmother trafficked moonshine. Big-time. And she and Fay Ward were chums.” Unease had the hair on Joe’s nape tingling. “Since we lived far from here and Gran-gran hated coming into the city, I’m guessing Fay ran moonshine too.”

“That little old lady? I don’t believe it. But moonshine isn’t illegal.”

“Oh, it most certainly is, sis.”

“But your grandmother kept her still at the cabin. I remember when we found it.” Tate attempted to dust the dirt from his brow, but only succeeded in smudging the brown muck all over his cheeks. “You do realize we always find Ivan near this area.”

“Yeah. He’s not our killer. He couldn’t keep it together long enough to do something like this.” Kieran pulled a water bottle from his backpack. “He’d never hurt Petey.”

It went against Joe’s grain to consider Ivan as a suspect too. “How did those vats get here? No way Fay could’ve done it without help.”

“And we all know how strong Ivan is. No. There’s no way.” Tate planted his hands on lean hips. “If Ivan’s the killer, I may as well forget about my instincts, human or wolf.”

“It’s going to be dark soon. We’ve milked this scene dry. And we need to speak to Fay.”

“Nah. Not we. You have to do it, Joe. You’re like a grandson to her. Gray and I will head back to the cabin. Check out the old still. See if we find anything new.” Tate unhooked a water bottle clipped to his belt.

“You’re right, but not tonight. Fay has to get Ivan back on his meds. I’ll go over first thing in the morning.”

“I need to head home. Check on Barb. She’s determined to go to this damned thing for Vance Ellison tomorrow night. Ellison is a board member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the chairman of the foundation will be there. She wants to get involved. Channel her grief.” Kieran dragged a hand over his jaw.

“We’re going too. Why don’t we pick you up?”

Kieran nodded. “Not a bad idea. Don’t really trust my temper in public. Especially with that asswipe spouting his crap.”

Vance Ellison had fought Coach Tommy when he picked Joe for quarterback, and Kieran had never forgiven or forgotten the offense. Joe hadn’t taken it personally. Everyone knew of the close friendship between Bob Weber and Ellison. Stood to reason Ellison would favor Grant Weber over Joe.

The rain stopped halfway back to Birch Crescent.

Kieran, Tate, and Gray all refused the offer of a drink and left at the same time. Joe watched the three vehicles leave. “Long day.”

Susie leaned her head on his shoulder. “Very. You remember that thing we saw the first time we ran?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“If someone were using the vats, wouldn’t the steam have to escape?”

“I hadn’t thought of that. I’ve no idea what happens when lye boils.” Joe’d taken only organic chemistry, and that had been years ago. And he hadn’t a clue what was produced when a body was dumped in lye. “Tate will know, or know how to find out.”

“Lordy. I hadn’t thought of
that
.” She rubbed her arms. “No wonder it creeped me out. That smoke could’ve been what was left of someone.
Disgusting
.”

Joe snagged an arm around her waist. “Absolutely.”

“Okay. I don’t want to think about that anymore.” Her fingers flexed around his wrist. “Let’s only talk about happy stuff for the rest of the night.”

“Done deal, gypsy. Let’s order in. Something nibbly we can eat in the hot tub.” Joe had several creative ideas about the use of the jets.

“Where
is
this hot tub?” Arms akimbo, she faced him.

He chuckled. “At the end of property under that spreading oak.”

“No way. I never noticed.” She tapped a finger to her mouth. “Did you show Azzo the tub?”

“Why would I?”

“Well. He told me about it. Apparently Mama Maria asked him to check up on the property while you were out of the country. He was positively effusive about the thing. Tell me, how do you disinfect a hot tub? ’Cause I’m not going in there otherwise.”

“The little
huesos
.” He should’ve known. The tub’s cover hadn’t been quite pulled down all the way.

“Huesos?”

“Russian for cocksucker.”

“Really, Joe. The one thing no one has to wonder about is Azzo’s sexual orientation. The way he talks I’m guessing Azzo may be on the receiving end of huesos, but definitely not the giving end.” She winked at him. “The way he ogles my ass, heck, that boy oozes testosterone. He lost his mother recently, did you know?”

“Yeah. Only reason his jaw hasn’t met my fist. A couple dozen times. Come on. Let’s get this show on the road. I can’t wait to get you naked in the hot tub.” He slapped her tush, unlocked the door, and escorted her into the house.

“I’ll get the tub going. You order food?”

“Deal.” She waggled her brows.

They padded to the kitchen.

Susie rummaged in the fridge. “We have a ton of leftovers, Joe. How about we just heat up some later on?”

“Perfect.” He tilted her chin.

She cocked her head to one side. “Does this mean you’re back in full working order?”

“Nope. Not getting away with that. Explicit. Am I hard and aching? Are my balls blue?”

Without warning she ran her hand down the length of his erection. “I don’t have to ask that. You seem to always be hard. This morning was fantastic—don’t get me wrong. But I like it when you come inside of me. I like when you throw back your head and roar.”

“Shit. You’re a fucking fast learner. But I haven’t forgotten you’re still in the penalty box. You’re going down tonight, missy.” He licked the seam of her mouth.

She trapped his lower lip with her teeth, nipped, and then let go. “Not without a fight, buster.”