Bengal's Heart (29 page)

She stared at their hands again, as though uncertain what to say, or how to act. To throw her further off balance, and simply because he enjoyed the feel of her soft flesh, he allowed his thumb to run over her fragile knuckles, to caress and warm her flesh.

A little tremble went through her fingers and raced up her arm. He swore she acted like a woman unused to touch.

“Beginning nearly forty years ago, escaped Breeds were making their way to areas they felt would shelter and protect them. They came here, to Glen Ferris,” he told her softly. “A few, one here, one there, until over two dozen amassed together. Then, about twenty years ago, out of those few, there would be disappearances. Rumor would make it back that the bodies of those missing Breeds had been returned, lifeless, to the Council. There was a hunting party that called themselves the Deadly Dozen, and they were preying on escaped Breeds.”

“Some of those Breeds were sold to Brandenmore Research before being returned to the Council,” Cassa remarked, a tone of relief in her voice. “Since Phillip Brandenmore and Horace Engalls were arrested for crimes against the Breed society, information has begun trickling through linking them to illegal research.”

“Exactly.” Cabal nodded. “Our rogue Breed made his first kill about three months ago, just before Brandenmore and Engalls were caught in Sanctuary attempting to steal Breed medical information. Since then, five others have died, each rumored to be connected to the research and pharmaceutical family.”

Cabal continued to hold her hand, his grip firming each time she tried to draw it free. He found he enjoyed holding her hand, feeling her skin against his, her warmth encased in his.

“It’s obviously a Breed with a grudge,” Cassa pointed out. “A friend or family member lost to the Deadly Dozen. Perhaps a mate.”

Cabal shook his head at that. “A Breed would never wait twenty years to exact revenge against a lost mate. There are few instances of matings before the Breeds revealed themselves. Each time, the Breed left behind went feral and was killed.”

Cassa breathed out roughly. Glancing at her as he drove into Glen Ferris, Cabal took in the light frown between her brows and the concern in her dark gray eyes.

“Myron knows something.” She shook her head as she glanced back at him. “There was something about his reaction to my questions that didn’t sit right. It wasn’t in character. It made me wonder if he didn’t know what was going on here and why.”

She worried about her friendship with Myron, but she worried as well about the Breed community and the killings now taking place. Myron knew something, and that something could mean the difference between catching a killer and the safety of the Breeds.

“He lost his mate here, just before the revelation of the Breeds,” Cabal stated. “A Lion Breed female. She was barely eighteen. She was killed while helping to escort an escaped Breed through the mountains. Nearly a dozen Breeds died that day in the same valley where we found Alonzo.”

“Do you think there’s a connection?” She could feel the connection.

Cabal wanted to believe there was, simply because he needed easy answers.

“A Breed is making these kills,” he told her. “Not a human. Myron might suspect someone, but he’s not the killer.”

“Meaning you’ve already checked on the possibility,” she stated.

Cabal smiled at that. “See how well you know me, Cassa? Mating with you might well be more fun than either of us anticipated. It could get very interesting.”

She rolled her eyes at him.

Cabal had no doubt it was going to get interesting, just as soon as he got her back in the bed. That damned pill was slowly wearing off, and the sweet scent of her arousal was beginning to drift to him. Her arousal as well as the hormonal mark he had left on her body. Finally, the animal inside him could breathe easier.

That pill was dangerous. As Jonas had stated, there wasn’t a Breed alive that was safe from the Council now. There would never be an assurance of safety because they could no longer depend on being able to scent their enemies.

“Where are we going first?” she asked as he turned off the main road onto one of the side roads.

“Sheriff Lacey,” he told her. “Today’s her day off. I called earlier to let her know we were coming by. Her father was one of the leaders of the groups that protected the Breeds around here. She was friends with most all of them. I’m hoping she’ll know something about the group that was killed in the valley. It’s not a coincidence that we found Alonzo’s body there.”

“But no other bodies were found there,” she pointed out. “They’ve been scattered, and Banks’s body still hasn’t been found. Someone had to have seen something,” she mused. “There could be more than just a rogue Breed, but also one or more persons protecting him.”

He’d already checked that angle, just as he’d investigated every Breed in the county. He hadn’t questioned the sheriff enough yet. She might have more information he wasn’t getting from others.

“Lacey seems cooperative,” Cassa ventured carefully.

Cabal almost grinned at the hint of jealousy he could smell now.

“Her family has always protected the Breeds that made it here,” he told her. “She’s an important contact to have.”

But he hadn’t slept with the sheriff. Danna Lacey was cooperative and friendly, but there was a reserved air about her that practically screamed at a man to hold his distance.

Cassa didn’t say anything more. Cabal drove the Raider to the turnoff to Danna’s small house, just inside the forested tree line that surrounded the small town.

The sheriff was waiting at the door, a cup of steaming coffee in her hand as she leaned against the frame and watched them leave the vehicle and move to the house.

She was dressed in jeans and a large flannel shirt, with her hair pulled back into a braid, while her green eyes gleamed with amused interest.

Her gaze flicked to where Cabal recaptured Cassa’s hand after getting out of the Raider. His prickly little mate still wasn’t certain about the affectionate side of the mating she was now involved in.

He’d given up on remaining distant from her. He needed to touch her, needed to hold her.

“Good afternoon.” She greeted them as they stepped up on the porch. “Come on in. I just made a pot of coffee. Decaf if you don’t mind it. My doctor thinks I need to cut my intake of caffeine.” She snorted at the thought.

“Decaf is fine,” Cabal assured her as they moved to the long kitchen table. “Thanks for seeing us on your day off.”

“That’s not a problem,” she assured him. “But I am curious. What do you need to know that it couldn’t wait until I returned to the office?”

Cabal lifted the brown envelope he’d carried from the Raider and laid it on the table before extracting the aerial shot of the valley where H. R. Alonzo had died.

“This valley.” He pointed to the area. “Twenty years ago a pride of Lion Breeds were killed there. What can you tell me about those who were mated?”

Cassa watched as the sheriff moved slowly to the table and picked up the aerial shot. Her expression transformed for the briefest second into lines of pain before she took a deep breath and shook her head sadly.

“There were ten Breeds,” she said as she looked up. “They were headed by Patrick Wallace, an escaped Breed from the UK. He’d banded most of the Breeds together into his pride. He took ten of them that night. The youngest was a little Lion Breed female. She was only eighteen years old but she was one of the fiercest fighters they had.”

Danna moved from the table, poured coffee, then returned with cups for both Cabal and Cassa before she took her seat.

“What was significant about the female?” Cabal asked.

Cassa knew before the sheriff answered, but she listened, and ached at the regret she heard in the sheriff’s tone.

“I was twenty-three myself then,” Danna sighed. “The girl’s name was Illandra. She had just married one of our group’s young men, Myron James.” The curve of her lips was tight with sadness. “They were escorting a Coyote Breed through the forest. He was wounded, too weak to get over the mountain on his own, and they couldn’t risk taking him by vehicle or allowing him to stay in the area. They went on foot instead, thinking they could avoid the Council Coyotes and soldiers that had been sent for them.”

“What made this Coyote so special?” Cabal asked her. “At that time there were few Coyotes that opposed the Council.”

“Maybe that was what made him special,” she stated as she shrugged heavily. “I didn’t know who he was, or why he was there. We rarely did. Patrick was pretty secretive.”

“They were caught in that valley though?” Cabal pressed her.

Danna nodded. “They were caught in the valley by a group of men sent to hunt them. Most of the male Breeds were killed. Illandra and the other female in the group were captured and taken away.”

The sheriff reached out and pulled the picture toward her once again. She sat staring at it as Cassa watched her face. She had obviously known the Breeds who had died there well.

“Illandra was Myron’s mate, you said?” Cassa sked.

Danna looked up, her lips pressing together painfully. “She was so vibrant. She had only just started laughing. Myron would make faces at her, bring her flowers and candy. He was always spoiling her, always trying to make up for the horrors she’d experienced in those labs. He was devoted to her.”

“What about the other female?” Cabal asked. “Was she mated?”

Danna frowned at that. “She was mated to one of the Breeds in the group. He was killed as well.”

“No one survived?” Cabal questioned her again.

Danna smiled sadly. “If anyone survived that night, I would have known about it. My father searched those mountains for months looking for some sign of where they’d been taken. Finally, Illandra’s body was returned to the lab she was created in. We did get word of that. Most of the males were returned as well. From what we later learned, those that never showed up again, there was nothing left of them to return. The group that captured them had sold them to an independent scientist who used most of the body parts for various experiments.”

“Were there any rumors as to who that scientist was?” Cabal asked her.

Danna laughed at that. The sound was hollow and bitter. “Not until recently. There are rumors it was Brandenmore.” She shook her head at that. “He and Engalls kept an elaborate cabin in the mountains, but we had no idea it was being used for anything like that until he was arrested last year by your people. I heard there was a research facility beneath the cabin?”

There had been. Cassa had seen the pictures of the underground lab, and it had horrified her. Not that there had been any proof that Breeds had been tortured there; they had been smarter than that. But the extent of the equipment found there, and its uses, horrified the imagination.

“Danna, have you heard any rumors of vengeance strikes by a Breed against the group of men who attacked the pride that night?” Cabal asked the sheriff then.

Cassa watched the sheriff’s gaze flicker between the photo and Cabal before she frowned back at him. “You think Banks was part of that group? And that he was a killer?” she asked curiously.

She was sharp, Cassa gave her credit for that.

“I know there were rumors that he was a part of the Dozen, but I didn’t take them seriously.” There was an edge of a laugh in her voice. “You didn’t know David Banks then. He was a bully, yes, but he puked at the sight of blood. I don’t think it’s possible.”

Cassa disagreed with her. David Banks would have no more fainted at the sight of blood than Cabal would have. The man had been hard-core evil, despite the compassionate facade he often used.

“We’ve definitely tied him into the Dozen,” Cabal assured her.

Danna’s frown deepened. “You’ve found his body?”

“Not yet, but we will.” Cabal shifted his shoulders as he blew out a hard breath. He pulled the photo back toward him as he lifted the envelope.

“What else do you have there?” Danna leaned forward as the edge of several other photos peeked free at the top of the envelope.

Cabal looked up as though in surprise. Cassa knew better. Breeds were rarely surprised by anything or anyone, especially Cabal.

It was interesting to watch these two together. Beneath her calm facade, Danna was obviously irritated that information was being held back. It was also clear that she was well aware that something was going on in her county. It would be impossible to miss with Banks’s disappearance and the sudden influx of Breeds running around.

Cabal pulled several more photos free of the envelope as Cassa watched Danna’s face. The other woman paled at the sight of the first bloody picture. The features were indistinguishable, but there was no doubt that the victim had been horribly mauled.

It was a photo Cassa had seen herself. It had been in the file that had included the crime scene photos of Dr. Ryan Damron. Where he had been murdered Cassa didn’t know, but she had a feeling it was in the same mountains where H. R. Alonzo had died as well.